Ginny's Dogs

This entry isn't about cancer. Every now and then I like to dwell on pleasant memories. Today it's about my Aunt Ginny's dogs.

Mamie was Ginny's first dog. She was mostly cocker spaniel. Ginny loved the dog but she didn't do the usual cocker things with her like having her tail docked or her fur trimmed. Mostly Mamie lay around being a pile of fur. (One time Ginny did have Mamie's fur trimmed. Later in the day my grandmother saw her and tried to shoo her away because she didn't recognize her.)

To give you some time perspective Mamie was named after President Dwight Eisenhower's wife which puts this narrative in the early 1950s.

We lived in West Milton, Ohio, a small village north of Dayton. West Milton extended perhaps three miles from one end to the other. Mamie had Visitor Dog Syndrome. There were no leash laws and she could go pretty much wherever she wanted to go. My family lived near the south end of town and we were never surprised to see Mamie show up.

One of the bad things about not being leashed. Like most dogs I've known Mamie was terrified of fireworks. One July 4th she ran far and hard. Sometime during that trip she got hit by a car. It broke her jaw but she survived.

Ginny used to drive to the local soft-serve ice cream shop and buy an ice cream cone. She'd wedge it in the back seat and Mamie would eat it. Good thing that Mamie wasn't lactose intolerant.

Ginny's other dog was Stella John. Not sure of her breed; she was one of those little fluff dogs.

Stella John had a thing for bugs. If a flying bug got into the house she would chase it until she got it. Ginny worked this into a routine. If she saw a bug she would say "Buggies!" and Stella John went into action. Ginny worked on the dialog until all she had to say was, "Hon, I think I see one" and Stella John was off and going.

The dogs enriched our lives and I hope we enriched theirs.

Less Heat

The highest temperature I see in the forecast for the coming week is 95. And there are temperatures cooler than that. Yay!

I don't expect to be out and about much but still it will be nice. I am waiting in dread for my electrical bill. The A/C has been going nearly nonstop for the past few weeks.

As for me, I'm a bit wobbly today. I will use my cane when I go outside with the dog. Inside I will just try to be careful.

I am weak. Can't lift the 40-pound dog. Doesn't look that heavy, does she?

So what I have to do is accept. And I do.

Today is a hospice visit. I enjoy those sessions. My hospice worker is very understanding and helpful.

That's a good thing

Flower Mountain

A few years ago we had a small brick patio installed in the back yard just behind our sun room. The workers piled the dirt next to the patio excavation. Diana took charge of planting native wildflowers on Flower Mountain. She planted a good stand of echinacea. They're lovely when they're in bloom. We do not chop these down when they're done blooming; rather we let them stand until the small birds in the area start eating the seeds. Yesterday we got our first glimpse of a finch eating the seeds. There will be more. I will try to get a photo of this later on. Not an easy shot but I think I can do it once it gets a bit cooler outside. The outside temperature is not quite as high as it has been. The weather bunnies predict 90 degrees.

Upstairs/Downstairs

I have a solution to the stair-climbing dilemma. I will use my old laptop computer (the iBook G4) upstairs to do some of the things that keep me going up and down. I was not able to set up a network as I envisioned it but I did get a couple of things done. I can now send and receive e-mail from upstairs. I can also play my favorite card game, Australian Patience, from the laptop. If Australian Patience seems like a waste of time remember that it's on my bucket list.

Thanks to all who offered alternate solutions. I think I will be OK now.

Snoozing

Forgive me. I've usually posted by this time but today i got caught up in a nap marathon. I have an idea for the stairs dilemma. I will work on that this afternoon and will do a post later today.

Pax

Not Easy

One of the things I face several times a day is going up and down the stairs to the basement to work on my computer. It is a slog.

The lighting isn't good. On the left you can see three small white dots. These are motion sensor lights that help illuminate the steps. There is a handrail on the left. Tried to install a rail on the right but the are no wood studs to attach it to.

I know that someday we will have to rearrange things so my computer is upstairs. That distresses me because I won't be able to move my computer desk. I'll include photos of that in a forthcoming blog. I built the computer desk by placing a door on top of a couple of filing cabinets. Nice, but I will lose it. 

One time I fell while I was trying to make my way downstairs. Probably trying to carry too much with me on the way. I landed in a heap at the bottom of the stairs. Fortunately I didn't break anything.

Not sure how soon I will move the computer upstairs but if anyone has any suggestions I would like to see them.

Manor Grove Village

Now and then I have to choose a blog topic that brings back some pleasant memories. One such is a condo in Wilton Manors, Florida: Manor Grove Village. I lived on the second floor of a three-bedroom unit. The condo came with swimming pool, tennis courts, royal palms, thousands of singing frogs, and a flock of raucous parrots that used to land in a palm tree just off my patio. Visitors sometimes asked who the parrots belonged to. Easy answer: themselves. 

Farley the Cat lived there, too. He helped me discover one of the less-desirable features about the condo. There was a air-conditioner vent in the bathroom. Every now and then I would take the vent off to clean inside. One time Farley managed to jump from the bathroom sink and through the vent. Gone. I went into the attic and discovered that there were no building firewalls from one end of the building to the other. Duly noted. We moved on to other locations

Years later I read an article that the building that the building burned to the ground from one end to the other. 

A cautionary tale