And to all a good night. Sleep tight.
Can you believe this photo was taken yesterday, December 26th? It was 66 degrees in northeastern Ohio, the day after Christmas.
So of course, we took this fine opportunity to go hiking with dogs. This most of the pack, sans Nikki. She is 12 and no longer up to going on walks. Zekie, Shelby, Cassius, and Baxter thought hiking was a grand idea.
Zekie, my reactive dog, even did very well. He was fine with the other people we encountered. We only met one other dog whose owners had him on the side of the trail. I told Zekie that he was being a good dog, and to keep going with the “on by” command. He looked at the other dog a few times but did not bark or react until the other dog, who appeared to also be reactive, barked. But after Zekie barked in response a couple times, he continued walking at my command. It was a proud moment for me!
Good boy, Zekie, good boy!
Merry Christmas dear Readers.
Our dogs had an enjoyable day as well. The Sheltie girls got treats. Nikki’s are soft for her old teeth. Shelby got chews. Zekie got a nylabone chew toy.
Cassius got a new coat of his very own! No more hand me downs from previous greyhounds.
And Santa brought Baxter two frisbees!
Cassius tried to make off with one of the frisbees.
Cassius, Baxter, and Shelby even got to join in for Christmas at grandma’s!
I hope all of you got to spend the holiday with your loved ones as well.
The pups did good work visiting at the nursing home last evening. Here Nikki holds court with her admirers. Really she just doesn’t like to be on the floor because she’s afraid she’ll get stepped on. She’s laying on my coat so she won’t scratch the table. If I put her between two people like this, they can both Pet her.
Cassius also did some fine work relaxing the residents, and himself. He gets the hang of it a little more with each visit. He goes up to some people on his own now without me leading him every step of the way. He certainly enjoys our visits. He can’t wait to get in the car.
Shelby is my old pro. I can give her voice commands and hands on where to go and who to visit. Here she is visiting with a new resident. She makes me proud.
Taking the dogs visiting was what I did on my birthday. It was a fine end to an enjoyable day.
Now that the weather is cooler, soup season is here! I love homemade soup. We rarely have canned soup because homemade is so much better in all ways. It is more nutritious, has less salt, is more filling, and tastes better. And you can put whatever you want in it. My daughter says, that I “get” soup.
This morning I took my soup sack out of the freezer, dumped the contents in a pan of water and let it simmer for more than an hour. After it cooled, I scooped out all the chunks from the soup sack and let the broth cool. Everything I scooped out got thrown away. All the flavor was cooked out. I let the liquid cool and used my fat separator to remove the fat. You can also refrigerate the broth until the fat solidifies and scoop it out that way. Then I split the skimmed broth in half. Half went into the freezer and the other half went in today’s (and probably tomorrow’s) lunch.
I cooked some sweet white onion in olive oil until it was soft. Then I added the broth which I spiced with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powders, dried garden basil, and oregano. While this simmered lightly, I went out to the garden and cut some Swiss Chard. It is still growing even though we had frost last night. It is a hardy vegetable. I sliced the stems, chopped the leaves, and added both to the pot. From the pantry I added a can of garbanzo beans and some bronze cut penne pasta, along with two links of sliced Italian chicken sausage. All of this simmered together for two hours. Part of the secret to delicious soup is this long, slow simmer. It allows the flavors to to meld and become one.
Personally, I don’t eat the meat because of the whole “dead animal” issue, but my husband does and I only want to make one soup. This however makes me very popular with the dogs if I find any meat in my portion.
List of ingredients:
I did not bother listing amounts because, it’s soup, it doesn’t really matter. Make it to your preference. If it’s too thick, add water. If it’s too watery, boil it down. That’s the beauty of soup. There is no wrong, make it your’s!
How many dogs does it to shower? This is my view as I get into the shower.
For me, the answer is three. Three of our five dogs must be present. Baxter and Nikki do not participate. Baxter keeps an eye on the house and trusts that I can handle it. Nikki just doesn’t care what I’m doing as long as it doesn’t involve her.
Shelby, on the right, must be present to bite the bathtub faucet when the water is turned on. She started doing this back when the faucet squeaked every time we turned it on. You can’t have that faucet thinking it can squeak without repercussions. The faucet has long been fixed but Shelby stands by her tradition.
Zekie and Cassius, left and middle respectively, must accompany me because, hey, you can’t be that far away from mom. You never know when she might sneak out the bathroom window, never to be seen again. Or so their thoughts seem to go.
How many dogs does it take you to shower?
We had a good evening yesterday. We took the four larger dogs for a walk since the weather was considerably cooler than it had been. It was also Nursing Home night. Nikki was happy to go visit her friends there since she didn’t get to go on the walk.
And I saw something I had never seen before. One of the ladies inadvertently put her arm down over Nikki’s paw. Nikki put her other paw on top of the arm and hugged the lady’s arm for about 10 minutes. It looked like they were holding hands. This made them both very happy!
Shelby thoroughly enjoyed her visit too as you can see from one of her trips to check in with me and make sure all is well. She knows we are working as a team so frequently checks in with me for feedback.
Cassius was also a happy boy last evening. Needy, much? Yup, he’s a momma’s boy.
It was a beautiful Sunday for hanging out on the patio and enjoying our gardens. Here is a video I took so you could enjoy it too. Life is good!
After a long holiday weekend and a return to work, what is a good reward? Time on the patio spend with my dogs, a good book, and a glass of cranberry iced tea. Above is Cassius hanging out with his mama (me!).
The girls, Nikki and Shelby, are always happy to pose for a photo. Shelby will do anything to be near me.
Baxter doesn’t care to have his picture taken but was gracious enough to accommodate since it was getting near mealtime.
And once I get home from work for the day, Zekie’s life is complete. Dogs are good for the soul.
Sunday evenings are for relaxing. Shelby is a good relaxer.
Yesterday she went along to visit the grand pups and kitties. Just as at home, she appointed herself as Sherriff Shelby and ran interference, and kept the other animals under control. They were actually just playing but she doesn’t like too much rowdiness under her patrol.
The grand pups are Milo and Coco, two corgis who are full brother and sister although from different litters. So Shelby is resting up from her busy day yesterday.
Cassius is also resting. He stayed home yesterday but being a good hound, he knows that Sundays (or any day) are a good day to rest.
Sanctuary Acres 