And to further continue the dog theme.....

Continuing the dog theme...

Riley's latest food pilfering was last week: he finished off a one quart container of homemade chicken stock that was thawing in the sink. I don't know how he got it out of the sink, but he got it to the dog bed and enjoyed a lovely "chickensicle." I'm sure Decker helped. Anyway, I just saw this list this morning of "things removed from a dog's stomach" and thought I'd share. It's from a British newspaper. Fortunately, Riley is mainly into food - or things somewhat edible....

The top twenty list in full is:
1. Ten-inch tent peg
2. Christmas decoration (star shaped)
3. Kitchen knife
4. Alphabet fridge magnets
5. Man's wig
6. Ann Summers underwear
7. Bell
8. Fishing hook
9. Socks
10. Rubber duck
11. Baby's dummy
12. Golf balls
13. Coins
14. Balloons
15. Metal ball from a computer mouse
16. Shoe laces
17. Power ball
18. Corn on the cob
19. Needle and thread
20. Box of chocolates

Back at work

Christmas is over and it's back to work. I've got some pictures to share over the week, but for now, just wanted to give a quick update. It's supposed to be in the low 70's the next few days, but it's still chilly out right now. I hope the forecast is correct because I would love some warmth!

Check this out - a good way to put your lazy dog to work!

Last day of work for a while

I took some vacation days next week, so combined with the Christmas holiday, I'm going to enjoy a full week off! I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to it. Now if I can just shake this cold... I hope to get in a bunch of surfing while I'm off (sick or not). This time of year is normally big, powerful winter surf, and that's not my cup of tea. Strangely, it's really flat right now and predicted to be that way through early next week. This morning, it was so flat, I'm not even sure it was surfable! We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Saw this earlier, and had to share it with you :) Click on it to enlarge it if you can't read it...

That time of year

Behold - the dog bed that is ignored nine months of the year. Somehow, having a fire makes it seem oh so appealing. It's been cold and rainy here the past few days, but we got a bit of a clearing today. More rain for Friday though.

I've been fighting a cold, so took a sick day to get some rest and try and knock it out. Back to work tomorrow, but then off for Christmas week!

Sent Via Blackberry

Fairy ring

Saw this on campus the other day. The mushrooms don't go quite all the way around the tree, but they are a definite ring. I don't think I've ever seen one before. So of course, I had to go to Wikipedia and read about them, which you can do by clicking here. I'll have to keep any eye on this spot from now on and see if it gets bigger & more dense.

Riley is doing better every day. Now that he's just one one "heavy" drug, he seems much more normal. Normal enough to eat 1) a banana off the counter and 2)finish the apple crisp I made the other day. Yes, I would say he's on the upswing....

Riley update

We got Riley home from the vet last night....$1800 later. Ouch. Can I say that again? Ouch. He was really drugged up. He stumbled when walking and it seemed like he had severely reduced vision. He couldn't settle down and kept wandering around, ending up in corners where he couldn't figure out what to do. And then from time to time, he would just start crying - it was sad :( He finally settled down at bed time, but got up a few times during the night. He seems to be doing better today, so we are hoping last night's behavior was just the remnants of all the IV drugs he was on over the weekend. The Phenol Barbital will make him drowsy until he gets used to it, so we are expecting some sluggishness, not just the level we saw last night. We'll keep you posted.

Stuff

Here's a beautiful sunset from the other night. Of course, this picture (taken from the hot tub steps) doesn't begin to capture how amazing it was, but it gives you the general idea. We are entering our "late fall" weather pattern right now: cold at night, but in the low to mid 70's during the day. That's the forecast for the next 10 days, and I like it :)

In other news, I think most of you know that Riley has epilepsy. Unfortunately, it's become more symptomatic over the past two months. Yesterday, between 2:00 am and 8:30 AM, he had three seizures, the last two being pretty intense. We took him to the vet at 11:00, and he checked out just fine. The vet decided it's time to put him on the next level of meds, and told us that if he had another seizure in the next day, we should bring him back in. Of course, he had a seizure in the parking lot.... He's spent the night at the vet on an IV getting a steady feed of anti-seizure meds and as long as he hasn't had an seizures by later today, we can go get him. The low estimate: $1200. Merry Xmas from Riley! Fortunately, the new meds should do the trick and they are inexpensive. It's actually Phenol Barbital, so he is going to be groggy at first until his system adjusts to it, but then he should be his same old "what can I eat?" self.

We are off to Santa Barbara to pick up a new living room chair....

R.I.P little mouse

Well, we got him/her last night. Not that I'm terribly proud of killing things, but the old fashioned mouse trap did the trick. I was sitting on the couch in the living room and watched it dash into the kitchen, then into the dining room, under the hutch. I made the Whippet stay on the couch, then moved the mouse trap near the hutch, and went back to sit on the couch. About two minutes later I heard the tell-tale "snap," and the deed was done. I don't know if that was the only one or not, so we'll keep an eye out for more counter-poops and nibbled bananas.

Scared of Santa

This is a photo collection from the Chicago Tribume - too funny! Click here to enjoy....

Invasion!

We got back from Thanksgiving to find that the apocalypse had begun in our kitchen. OK, maybe not the apocalypse, but we have a dual infestation going on right now. Alright, I exaggerate again. It's not an infestation: it's one mouse and a bunch of fruit flies.

We walked into the kitchen Sunday evening to find mouse turds all over the counter. We hadn't left any food out when we went away, but some little critter was still on the lookout. I cleaned up the mess and checked for damage, but didn't find any. Well, until we got to the office at least. The little guy/gal came in via the door separating the office from the garage. It chewed away about 3" of weatherstripping and unfortunately, chewed a way a portion of a solid Mahogany door. The damage is minor, but still annoying. I bought some mouse traps yesterday, a new plastic kind, and set them out last night. Apparently they make good mouse feeding stations but don't actually kill mice. We'll be buying the old fashioned ones today.

The little guy actually made two appearances last night. One on the counter, but when he saw me, he vanished behind the stove. And then again later while I was sitting on the couch. He ran into the living room, then under the TV cabinet. Lucky for him, Riley was sleeping.

As for the fruit flies, a couple of our other neighbors have reported them being a problem this fall as well. We found (thanks Google) a great, easy way to kill them though. I put about three tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar in a ramekin, then filled it with water, up to about 1/2" from the rim. Then, I stirred in about a teaspoon of dish soap, and put it on the counter. I had my first victim within minutes, and this morning, there were probably twenty dead fruit flies. At least we can kill something (not that I'm gloating about that, mind you....)