Scenes from a dog's life

I came home from William's Kendo class last night only to find this:
Apparently Fudge was falling asleep and channel surfing at the same time. In case you are wondering, that is MY side of the bed. For the sake of my wife's modesty, I did not include her, asleep, in the photo. She can thank me later.

Tonight, after dinner, it was very quiet and Molly, usually at my side, was no where in sight. Instinctively I grabbed the camera and found this: Molly, on the couch, not far from Fudge. Seems the girl is hitting her comfort zone. I love her!!!! Tomorrow she gets a doggie bed next to my computer. She should be mite free and once her skin heals she'll feel much better. The fabulous vet, Richard Leggett, put her on a dose of Prednisone today when I called and complained that she was hot and itching worse than last week. He was very kind in explaining how the mite's death trigger's a cascading allergic reaction.

new Alzheimers and related Dementing disorders info

There is a new ad campaign, I haven't seen it on TV, but got some good links from the USADementia and DASN yahoo groups. I do want one of the Tshirts (and I'm not a Tshirt kind of person). I can't decide if I want Voice, Open or Move though. (click the blue text that says ad campaign to see what I'm talking about).
There is a link to this site and I was shocked to see they had an entire forum, complete with a wide variety of topics, for Early Onset. It may have chat, my friend Sandy says it does, but I haven't noticed it.
for Chat I used the Fisher Center, DASN chat room at 2, 8 and 10 pm Central Time. I used to hit chat regularly. But when the boys got more activities, I found I didn't remember in time very often. I always love the core group. They are fun, witty and irreverent. We are not just a bunch of fuddy duddy old demented farts! ;)
Wish I brought my camera to Early Stage support group (third Wednesday of the month, at the AA office in Memphis) yesterday, what a fun crew. I think there are 10 of us. The director is kicking around the idea of an Early Onset group and asked me to lead it. Too bad there isn't any money in it! Heaven knows it's tight around here since I retired. Maybe we can work something out, but for now it's just in the planning stage. I wish they had a presence on the web. If you google that group there's only one hit and it's from an old server. If you have early stage dementia related disorder OR are early onset dementia disorder, call

Sheryl Ludeke-Smith
Regional Director, West Tennessee Office
Alzheimer's Association
326 Ellsworth Street
Memphis, TN 38111
901-565-0011

fun at Vera's

It took weeks, but we finally got the kids together after their very successful Eclectic Homeschooler's entry into PeaceJam 2007. It was warm, then cloudy, sunny and hot. The kids had a blast! Vera was a saint (as usual) and took everything in stride despite the fact she was having out of town company the next day. The dogs even got along. Thanks Vera!

William completes Saturday school at MCA

With some luck and a bit of talent, William earned a scholarship to Memphis College of Art! Here he is at the final day with some of his work. He took printmaking. We are hopeful he will get a scholarship to Summer Camp there as well.

Rose comes to visit

I got a surprise call from my friend Rose a few weeks ago. She and their youngest son, Tyler, dropped by for the evening on their way from Pensacola, FL to Missouri. We always enjoy time with them and it is never long enough. The boys played Runescape, XBox and munched potato chips with root beer to wash it down. Poor Rose didn't know it was Passover when she asked to spend the night :) The temps dropped and we woke up needing sweaters, so Rose is wearing the sweater my grandmother knit for my mom :)

First attempt at grooming Molly

BeforeAfter
incase it wasn't clear which was which. I started trying to tidy up her face and somehow 30 minutes later, there was a rough attempt at a Wheaten pet groom. I haven't done finish work on the legs and I cut too much from her muzzle the day I got her (I foolishly thought I should see her eyes). What do you think of that tail? A little too long, but I suspect it's a natural tail. She looks like she has a grey body in the lower shot but she really is wheat colored except for around her neck. Thanks to everyone on swheatensocial yahoo group for their great support and encouragement during her first few days. Can you believe she's only been here 72 hours?

Forging along

William has been trying to get active with blacksmithing for almost a year. With enormous amounts of help and luck, he and his Mama (who I handed the job off to) have got the forge up and running, coal, some tools and are out there playing with fire whenever the weather and time permit. Max has taken a liking to "managing the fire" but not actual forging yet. Maybe one day the River Bluff Forge Council will have an up-to-date website?

Cold, drizzle= crawfish festival

My friend Shannon, who vends at this event every year, says the weather is guaranteed to be lousy. I volunteered this year because the event benefits the local Alzheimer's association. Volunteer set-up didn't go quite as well as I might have liked, but I did work for 3 hours, then got the family and brought them back for crawfish. It was too cold for beer, so I gave my vouchers to Shannon, who was stuck there for the duration. She got to come home to a warm, dry house. Here are some shots of us playing with our small, stinky food.

a few more tidbits about the new dog

Here are a few photos after we all had dinner, a drink and a rest. I trimmed her face a tiny bit, but aside from washing off some of the necrotic tissue, I didn't want to stress her out too much. She had a nice comforting oatmeal bath. For a breed that doesn't shed, she sure has a ton of undercoat that acts like Velcro. I think I could strip her for hours and not get to the end of it. The vet and I think she is about 3. She only weighs 24 lbs! That seems a little light to me, but I'm sure with some GOOD food in her (Professional Lamb and Rice) and some treats, she'll fill out a bit. She appears uncomfortable with the hardwood floors and steps. She isn't showing any signs of pain or lethargy and her incision is tiny, about 1 inch long! it has purple glue on it. With the sarcoptic mange dots a lovely shade of pinky red and the purple glue her belly is a neon show :) We are still fiddling around with a name. She hasn't really sparked to any of them, but she is very overwhelmed by her long day (who wouldn't be!). NOTE: Saturday afternoon we settled on "Molly". Long story short, it was a last minute addition and became a finalist (other choice was Hermione). Our favorite restaurant is Molly's la Casita, rescuing this dog has depleted our Molly's money for a month and Molly McGuire was a legendary social activist in Ireland, Molly Brown was a legendary American woman of Irish descent.
And here is a photo of Fudge, because I have to be fair and say the only reason we ever thought about another dog is that he is SUPER!!!

S'wheatie is HOME

I meditated this morning and the told the universe that I release all my expectations and would take whatever I was offered. About 20 minutes later the shelter vet called to say S'wheatie had a terrible case of mange and did we still want her? I said YES! They agreed to spay her.
After a long and difficult day, many phone calls to our vet and pediatician, she is home. She is spay, she is dealing with a bad case of sarcopic mange, she has been bathed and she is resting in her crate. Until then, here are photos. It has been a challenging day for both of us.

Names for the New S'Wheatie and a rescue comes to visit

I remembered treats, a brush, a tennis ball and a notebook, but forgot the camera. Sorry! This photo is compliments of the shelter volunteer who posts animals on the web. Many thanks to the long-suffering Ginger for giving up her lunch hour and not getting a lunch only to rescue a life. Ms. S'Wheaten Thing is joining our family maybe Thursday. No, she does not have a name. She is young. She is mellow, she is curious.

1. Saoirse (SEAR-sha) Gaelic for Freedom
2. Sheenagh (Sheen-ah) an irish form of Jane and means God is Gracious
   
3. Faraday, heroine of The Wayfarer Redemption and last name of famous Irish Scientist
4. Freedom
5. Taffy
6. Freida

are some names we're kicking around. While I am intellectually drawn to Saoirse, I like the sound of Faraday. I am, however, hesitant as I fear she will become electric in a bad way if we name her that.
On another note, the other dog we had considered in the finalists, Hannah (a Chesapeake bay mix) is coming to foster at our house until she jumps on the doggie transport Thursday of next week. So for a brief moment we get to help her. The kind rescue lady, Katherine, took pictures of Hannah and William and used them to help get Hannah accepted by Connecticut Lab rescue (I think). Hannah is just too mellow for our family. We hope she blossoms when she's here.

Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Rescue

This is dog that is scheduled to join our family. She is a young Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. Aside from an abraison on her elbow and quite a few ticks, she is healthy. She is scheduled to be spay hopefully Wednesday and we will be able to pick her up Thursday. I feel ever so slightly nauseated. It feels an awful lot like when we were trying to get pregnant with child #2 and the test came back positive. Excitement then "what were we thinking? can we really do this?" kicks in. I am hoping she'll be an easy addition. She has no name, but we did find some mardi gras beads in that fur. It's soft, you have no idea how SOFT! We brushed and brushed her today at the shelter. She was fine with it, but there is a lot of hair to remove before she looks good. She never barked the entire time. She was very easy going.

Ann Hood, "Knitting Circle" is coming to Memphis!!!

If you do not live in Memphis, check out Ann's website and see if she is visiting a bookstore near you (hopefully a wonderful independent bookseller). We are fortunate to have Davis-Kidd Booksellers here and their special event and marketing staff are phenomenal. I met with them in January and they gave me several copies of Knitting Books and asked if I, we, MemphisSnB/DK Knitters had any suggestions etc. They are wonderful and accommodating and we enjoy meeting there bi-weekly (no matter what special event they're hosting) and knitting, chatting, noshing etc. Today Katherine (marketing) called to tell me that Ann Hood, the heart-warming author of "Knitting Circle" was coming! Mark your calendar:

Ann Hood, "Knitting Circle"
May 30th, 6 p.m.
Davis Kidd Booksellers
387 Perkins Road Extended, Memphis, TN

Ann is rumored to call this leg of her book tour the "BBQ tour" and I am waiting to hear back from her (or more likely her publicist) because I know several of us would love to take her out for lunch, dinner, drinks or a massage (but even I draw the line at a massage with BBQ sauce, yuck!). Stay tuned to this site for more information. If you have NOT purchased your very own copy of this book, please purchase it from Davis Kidd. I know you can get it for less at Amazon etc, but they aren't bringing Ann to town now are they?

There's no Seder like our Seder, it's fun and it's not long!

Can you hear Ethyl Merman singing that? (go ahead, try) So ultimately we hosted a total of twelve people for first night. Big hugs and thanks to my darling wife Ginger for helping clean for days and ironing linens (which she announced as she dropped off to sleep last night "must go to the cleaners next time") Thanks to Diane Mc and Pat S. for loaning card tables. Thanks to the boys for making the plague bags, peeling oodles of potatoes and making salad. The Haggadah was our very own and I noticed more errors than before (the Aricept is working!) so I might make a new one or buy a new set. Any one used the "30 minute seder" with any luck?
The menu turned out well, if I do say so, and I should probably post the recipes on my other blog, but that will have to wait until I have regain some energy.

• Chicken Soup with matzo balls
• chopped liver
• gefelte fish (thanks Pat!)
  
• homemade maror & charoset
• salad
• potato kugel
• carrot tzimmes
• orange stuffed chicken
• matzo latkes (thanks Scott!)
• cheesecake (thanks Dave!)
• wine (Thanks Terry, Scott & Dave)
• chocolate macaroons (thanks Michael)
• chocolates & coffee (thanks again Ginger)

A neat idea this year was to make the meal on the grill! The side burner heated the soup (which was made in advance), the grill cooked the chicken (in a roasting pan) and the kugel. It kept the heat outside and worked great. Here are a few photos. Guests in attendance were Dial & Terry, Pat, Dave and Charlotte (I'm dancing at your wedding), Scott, Michael, Ginger, Max, William and me.