AUG 31 2020 BAILEY CHAIR

 Shame on ME---   Why did I not try to invent this I don't know ----   I am very excited to have all kinds of emails about the Bailey chair it looks absolutely perfect for big esophagus pet um and thanks to the fund fund  TO WHICH    YOU ALL  contribute -----   I will order one today obviously very small size and then we just have to grow with it it looks absolutely perfect and there are many videos around where you can see how it works .   so if we get a small one maybe all our carpenters could make us medium and large size as the dog gets bigger also oh …….in their advertisement they show a photograph of a typical megaesophagus X Ray and the problem is sort of from the shoulders back it's not in the NECK ck of the dog /

We seem to be doing pretty well with Myrtle is that her name ??? she has spit up about a coin size gOOP  and this is not really just for your information not a vomiting procedure with a lot of gagging this is just sort of a hiccup and out it comes my hope is that she has only about a dime size pocket that we're dealing WITH .

I forgot I don't have to type  

   the fact that the name of the chair is the Bailey chair has to be good old goalie our ghost of the left hand drawer --  who finds these things for us with the help of some camera people ….there is 1 video   where the dog runs and turns around and sits down in the chair herself which is kind of funny there's also a video of two great Danes being helped into position which is also kind of funny ..   the fact that those DANES are old speaks to the fact that must work .

now for our other eating problem Nayla   she is due at the vets this morning for scoping I think it is she's been eating very well again I think she's on the medication to increase her appetite I'm not sure …   the fact that I'm not sure it's not a good thing I should know ….  and with our new overnight form I should be able to look it up this morning

the new overnight form also contains what medication was actually given to the dogs in the barn along with what dog is where …. and I was amazed to find we have 40 kKENNEL possibilities .

 

Next related topic--- A Carpenter a Carpenter my Kingdom for a Carpenter ----    Goldie has seen fit to provide a Carpenter … yesterday  I  Was determined to build one of our little doggie tunnels ..I don't know why but I just had to do that yesterday .   we have a problem with the dogs in the barn coming outside to pee if it's raining .   it took me a long time to figure out that the rain off the roof was discouraging them from going out there doggy door … so we have little tunnels 3 foot long which deflect the rain off the roof in the past hold 15 years they're pretty beat up and I've tried for two years to get people at dog vest the building for me ..   it was my fault I never really had a working model but I made one yesterday …. just finishing it up in time for a family to arrive and the husband with 3 children teenage type and he is a Carpenter so he offered to come back on Wednesday and bang 'em all together quick … how perfect is that ????  IF NOT GOLDIE, THEN   THE LORD WILL PROVIDE.. .

he and I had a long discussion about the virtues of oh MIKE ROWE…you know that dirty jobs guy .  he said even a framing Carpenter can get $175 an hour and that doesn't take an awful lot of  skill to make great big rectangles with pieces 16 inches apart no ..

So today I will have to get myself to the lumber store and pick up plywood and 2 by fours in a quantity which will make the trailer necessary … that will give the men at the lumber store the chance TO panic when I pull into the alleyway because they'll figure I don't know how to back out .. I haven't had a problem yet hopefully I've not tempted FATE .

 

…I did hit the house with my golf cart yesterday just once … you know everybody around here is watching ME and if I hit three things in one day they're gonna make me stop driving .

----

NEXT PROBLEM…  Vaccinations puppy vaccinations they are six weeks old today apparently now for my approach to vaccinations I know there are many people who object do vaccines as possibly causing neurological problems ..  to those people I asked what is the percentage of problems with vaccines compared to the problems with no vaccines . right at the moment you have the entire world tide up with no vaccines .. the choice is clear to Me have 'em .

I always get nervous with puppies leaving here and coming back like Megan is doing and the mega puppy because I don't know what other dogs they are exposed to when they don't have their shots . we have dealt with all the dogs getting parvo and what a zoo that was with intravenous drips running all over the place .

---the added complication during that parvo was that one of the three companies that makes the Ivy fluid was shut down because they found a particulate in the product so there was a nationwide shortage of Ivy fluids .. both hospitals and vet hospitals had a shortage .but our camera people came through and we ended up being overloaded with bags of fluid from Canada and Britain we even got fluid which was very expensive to Mail . We still have some of that fluid but I don't ever want to have to use it again .

---FYI .. I think I got the vaccines from Valley vet .. you have to buy him in packets of 25 I think .

aug 30 2020

2020 8 30

 

Somebody sent me an email and suggested I go look at Facebook comments EPW so I figured you know maybe the time had come so I clicked on Facebook and put in EPW and then I was told that I was not allowed to see anything there so you know I backed out I just don't understand what the fascination is so once again I gave up on Facebook .

----

there was some discussion about mega safaga's which is what one of the puppies one of May's puppies does have---- this apparently it still could be something else but it probably makgesophagus which is basically a deformed swallowing Department which means that all of the food does not wash down into the stomach ---causing her not to vomit but to expel whatever gets left in that pouch----- that in itself is no problem -As long as she gets the nourishment ---the problem is if it should become aspirated and she gets pneumonia with it---that would be a bad problem i---n the meantime we are feeding her in a raised position …. At the moment she is lapping up 60CC of the gruel that her brothers and sisters are eating out of a dish we then wash it down without 10 cc   of chicken broth --so far so good ---g      and it's not just raising the dish it's raising the whole front end of the dog…. we had a dog with this before actually two of them and the way we resolved it was to feed the dog on the stairs where you get the front end the dog raised and the food raised those tables we've used in the barn are the kind of thing that is needed with a mega safaga's dog in the meantime just to keep the puppy's head up in a nursing position we are feeding her the Grohl and baby food out of a 6 0 CC syringe and she seems to be lapping it up very nicely in the four meals we've given her like that she has spit up what someone described as half a dime and somebody else later on said a nickel which I suppose is half a dime …

whatever

---

we have someone who's willing to cope with her thank heavens for CL V because they're working at home and can deal with this feeding with her head up in an extended position hopefully we can let her take hurt today this is this is a trial deal there are a lot of people that have not been successful dealing with megaesophagus dogs we have had some success Anne I'm just not gonna quit till we've tried the problem will be if she aspirates it gets pneumonia so far she's very healthy Myrtle your name is wanna maze pubs

what I really don't need to have happened is for everybody to look up mega safaga's on line or in books and then start telling me how to do it or more critically if anything goes wrong be right there to say well if you'd only done it the other way ….I don't need that .   there are an awful lot of people who have failed at trying to raise up megadog we have had some success which should entitle us to least try creative solutions but they are just that …what's the veterinary profession would probably advise at this point is to put it to sleep well we're not gonna do that till it's necessary and hopefully that will be years down the road ------you give them a happy life and when it's over you let them sleep …..has to be our philosophy .

with difficulty  And Dennis is help we did get a new cover on the donkey cafe it wasn't easy it was also in the pouring rain which had the added attraction of trying to organize a canvas tarp over my head and every time I tugged it I made a depression which caused all the rain possible to run down my arm down my body and into my shoe .    getting this done required me changing clothes once but because of my laundry managing techniques I have only three changes of clothes as it cycles into the washer into the dryer and back on me. so after the 2nd change I figured it's up far enough and I quit and went to bed with the heating pad .. with no rain today we can finish straightening it out

just playing fluid management around here is a constant concern ---yesterday's storm was enough to cause minor flooding around the dumpster but the major part off the arena did go down into the swamp very nicely

and it's not just rain for fluid management --- try watering all these animals and to some degree coping with their used water ‘’’   used to be we spread Lyme powdered lime in all the stalls to kill the ammonia …. now tractor supply had a new product PVZ or something like that which really does a pretty good job ..   and we have used it in the arena which to some degree is 1 great big Kitty litter box well doggy litter box …   we could prove pick the solids with our wonderful pool pickers but the fluid seeps down in and stays hidden except for the smell but that PVZ does seem to work .

 

once again it is time for Sundays stew  ---  yes it really is a shame  that we no longer have the fire and the hanging iron pot of chicken and vegetables which just everybody ate.   maybe eventually we can try it again …   maybe at this virtual dog fest which we are having next month September .    we better get organized

the shirts are in you can order them linda's all set to Mail him

I am sending out boxes of the little plastic tubs 32 a box along with a few toy Surprises  like monkey fist

the postage on these boxes seems to be between 15 and $20 California is always expensive .

 

please do keep at the chicken bricks… it is our payroll !! 

aug 29 2020

 FOR ALL OF YOU WHO DON'T LIKE A RAINY DAY,...... HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE LACK OF RAIN????  ASK PEOPLE OUT WEST HOW  DO THEY LIKE THE BEAUTIFULLY DRY -- BLUE SKY---  

I REMEMBER... WHEN I WAS A KID, IF IT RAINED ON A DAY WHEN SOME OUTDOOR EVENT WAS PLANNED, IT WAS CALLED OFF...  NOW IT SEEMS MORE LIKE YOU DO IT ANYWAY AND JUST GET WET... \\

I FORGOT, I DON'T NEED TO TYPE THIES.

Amazon is gonna take over the world ….and to some degree rightly so ….Speaking of rain I'm trying to water what could be called lawn around here which comes out of our well by the way um----- I bought 2 100 foot metal hoses so I could run it across the flat field where the dogs are and hopefully they wouldn't try and drag it around like a big snake ….well one of those hoses leaked very badly------

NORMAL CONVERSATION DISTRACTION… I FORGOT THIS WAS ON….  yeah thank you Judy is coming up the puppy sit she's coming to puppy sit I heard that that's wonderful I know 10:00 o'clock she said to be here Donna oh that one Cortana why put it 60CC syringe right there right there stop down yes I want to try and put the baby food in that jar baby food jar baby food and just very slowly screwed into his mouth with his head up like he's nursing alright if it works with the life saver if you wanna be able get out there however the bottom to get out of there let me say open it is that is is that that does that go away anyway but if that's not a 60 piece orange there is 1 that maybe 3030 yeah well there isn't one it's even bigger it would be down the ICU try that see if you can squish it out the little hole and when he's got his head up in the air so that we don't feed him look for the first time it's really hard small I don't know well that's the case we could always cut it off but I think I think you'll get it I don't know maybe alright which case will come off ---- OH  SHlT  look what happened oh **** OK so much for getting about dictating----- well I'll just leave it

OK back to leaking hoses I went to the AMAZON  seller web where they said I could return it which historically would be a pain in the neck---- but now ..all I had to do was let UPS know that I had something to return ---- within 2 hours I had a packing slip with their address on it an empty box in the place where they usually leave boxes … coming in to service dog project .  we put the hose in the box and the next time the truck was here to leave things they picked it up and left ------that same afternoon I got a box which I thought was gonna be a cake it was heavy it turns out it was the replacement hose----- I don't see how you could be any more efficient than that .

 

It looks like the minute I placed the call saying I had something to pick up and return a label got made in the truck that was out here in the Woods already delivering and within minutes   They---- being ups ---KNEW that we were a regular customer made the label picked up and delivered ….Now the rest of the story which is even a little more frightening is that the pick up and delivery we're in two different trucks absolutely gorgeous shiny ram vans with the Amazon :) on the side oh ….the other part is that both drivers we're new and did not no about pushing the button for the electric gate but they pushed some button and an automatic phone call came in during Mail call saying Amazon delivery is here …. apparently did not have a robo call which would say we're stuck at your gate can you come in meet us but the efficiency is overwhelming .

 

Efficiency overwhelms me easily ---case in point --somehow people in the barn we're keeping a book of doggy activity and this is pretty critical when you have personnel changes every four or seven hours…They cannot be like ships that pass in the night----- they have to know what is going on that's a good thing …… except in this case it was a dead end and the fact that we have several dogs who really need to have some concentrated effort on them ----loose stool--- not eating --you're familiar with nala  ---but the book is a dead end it never came up 2 Donna and Me in the house .so although the next person in the barn know that someone wasn't eating they weren't the ones to do anything about it---- anyway that piece of information never landed where it should have .. Now that I know about it there's information I need to give to the veterinarian to help diagnose but the problem…. is that book that everybody's been Writing in is too much detail too many dogs to make it useful for health purposes .

 

So I am now trying to figure out how to get information  where it needs to go  in a manner that will ensure  That the staff will actually do it with the least possible effort … so far    it is a fact that all medications are to come by way of the counter over our dishwasher in the kitchen usually by Donna six days a week so if she bags up whatever pills are necessary for the day with the dogs name on it it attaches it to what is called the overnight sheet  that piece of paper should then be the source of  what happened to those pills when people have to initial when they give him and then at 5:00 o'clock the person who closes the barn gets to say which dog is in what kennel .which should also assume the health and welfare of every dog at 5:00 PM--daily - that paper should come up to the house --- daily

That expression “no news is good news” Can also mean that one of the parts of the operation have fallen off a Cliff and you just don't know it .that's where we're at ….   I am working on it  

-----

I am writing to find what the protocol is for retiring a Service Dog and requesting another.

While Dolly is still able to work and is still healthy I have noticed a significant decrease in her ability to stand when out for any length of time. 

We have been able to work around this for the most part and thankfully right now we are not out and about a significant amount of time. With COVID we 

are still laying kinda low. But I am hoping that I can still use her for another year or so, I am hoping!! 

I wanted to make sure I contacted you early so we have plenty of time to rematch me with the right fit, if I am lucky enough to receive another SD. Linda, Dolly has changed my life so much, for the better. I have gained so much freedom and independence having her. I would not still be able to continue to work without her help. Dale and I have done so much traveling in our motorhome and seeing things that I was not able to see before because I was unable to navigate the terrain.  I am actually able to go places with my grandchildren that I would not have done before, because I was afraid to take them out independently. It's crazy to think that shopping with my grandchildren or going to the playground could bring so much joy. I absolutely love the independance. These are just a few things that have changed since getting my gift of Dolly. I can not even think about going back to the life I had previously.

Is there something formal that I should do? Of course once Dolly is retired we would keep her here with us and she can watch TV and eat BonBons when I am out.😉 

Again, Thank you for all you do!!! I just feel like I can't say that enough!

Brenda Swarts

AUG 28 2020

 2020 8 28

Thankfully I had some serious help with hanging that door and the chicken coop not only is it going to be a door but it should be a very large whiteboard kind of thing .

that white stuff is wonderful polymax even the very thinnest of it is used in car washes and horse stalls and piggeries or something . and this farm tech catalog that I use so much the only place I know where you can get it 5 feet wide 10 feet long the general world of construction deals in 4 foot by 8 foot plywood but pharm tech has that 5 foot what gets you is the shipping of it it comes on a pallet wrapped in shrinkwrap all curled up and we use it for so many things then I ordered 10 sheets at a time the rest of it is stored in what was called the giraffe tent .

 

In case any of you are thinking of putting these buildings up I do have some experience to relay

when I put up that white clearspan building 30 x 40  there were some camera people they called it the a garage for giraffes or the “G tent”   . Is basically the same as are arena which is 60 feet wide and 80 feet long.  I can't say enough good things about the company clearspan they put it up . I had a regular wooden arena in that spot which collapsed during some Blizzard or another..

 with a great deal of difficulty . and many d ugly dealings  With the Ipswich building inspector who would much prefer I hired his friend to put up another wooden one , I bit the bullet and put the current arena up and I love it .

I looked at the buildings put up by many different companies and this clearspan had much more significant piping and ways of construction ..the arena came in two 2 trucks and three people to put it together ..  clearspan then sent an engineering type from Iowa to check over how they had done it and made a few corrections and the thing's been great .except for dogs eating two holes in it it's been perfect and light .highly recommended  & comes in all sizes .

Well you may not be putting up a building for yourself but many towns around here are now having to cover the salt piles to get the ice off the roads and I have seen many of these buildings in this area they're great .

 

Daily report…

The vomit report is not good today…   we have a pup vomiting more than “normal” .  Seven times in one night is not normal so we may have to go to the vets with that one today is one of maze pups.

 

Between that aND 70 EMAILS OVERNINGHT..  THIS IS A SHORT DOGGIE.

aug 27 2020

 

Snow melts....and with what's going on in the rest of the country , 4 foot of snow is looking better and better all the time.  feel free to remind me of that in January   Several of our volunteers have to work the polls ..  this made me wonder if I had ever posed the logic in the daily doggy of the possibility of hundreds oh people being bussed  from Massachusetts to New Hampshire for illegal voting .  Now if I ever heard of such a scheme I would be first in line to get on that bus and do whatever they told Me, then come home and contact the various news people and I would be exceedingly wealthy selling the story to  the news  ----  consequently it is my belief that they could  not collect even one busload of people in Massachusetts who wouldn't take advantage of that money earning possibility .   I remember long ago when they would come on an airplane and ask for volunteers to get off the plane for which you would be paid handsomely and they would either put you up in a hotel or on the next available plane  it worked out nicely.... so ....   I had the aisle seat one day when the stewardess ask for volunteers--- she had barely gotten started and I stood up and ran for the door  and   got out .  I didn't realize that my husband had put his seat belt on and couldn't get up as fast and couldn't get out ..... this was in the days before cell phones and there was a little confusion before we both landed Boston but it seems to me I was $400 richer .   So back to 4 foot of snow.--- the first thing that comes to mind is the guy From Chelsea who was bottling the 4 foot blizzard  in Poland Springs water bottles and selling them to people all over the country......I had a brief  Conversation with him after I mailed him a bottle of our puppy breath .  we had a lot in common.. I forgot to bottle any puppy breath with the last litters..  We have a shoe box full of vials leftover from vaccines all cleaned ready to go and I just forgot there are always a few who would like to have the calming nature of puppy breath sitting on their computers or as camera mark does ....he opens one at Thanksgiving dinner and sprinkles it around the table so that no one starts the usual family fight that could happen at Thanksgiving dinners. We even have The sign erlene made which says Puppy Breath Manufacturing Company would she would put in front of the cameras as she carefully bottled puppy breath .   which also reminds me of the other company associated with service dog project . that would be the Frozen Rodent Delivery Company ..  .. Since we don't allow any poisons on the property we use the old type Victor snap traps which allows us to collect and freeze the the dead rats and mice . we had connections with rehabilitators of Raptors like Hawks and things .   George Myers was one of them . we didn't charge for these things but it was a way of providing a service that no real cost to us . we should have some note on the guest house freezer....  "contents could be shocking"....   people----- especially accounting type people---- constantly ask for a 5 year business plan .   my business plan has always been ---define a need ....and fill it .  especially if it's not gonna cost anything to do that .   This is why I'm now packaging 30 of the purita dog food containers per  box  and adding a Few goodies like poker chips and monkey fist parentheses mostly because I'm making monkey fists faster that I get requests for them parentheses   We have 5 orders so far waiting to be mailed as soon as I figure out how to minimize the postage ...the boxes are very light .. so I don't want to get involved with priority mailings . as we go along we should be able to send a box full of 30 every two or three days . I just thought of the tile for this project  “ PROJECT NUTTY” For mixed nuts .   Bailing no no mailing ....that's better...  I had to order mailing envelopes for the upcoming calendar mailing ..   we have ordered calendars ---mark WANTS 500 for his dart board customers so I ordered  2500  and 1200 envelopes as a nice round Number .  We do make a few dollars on the cattle or project , but the postage is significant .  the calendar for the last five years low battery low battery low battery has been slightly larger than this years . this year concentration on puppy pictures  .. 7 of the 13 pictures are puppies.. The fact that they're harlekin puppies with variation in coloration makes them much more interesting ....in my opinion   Please remember the Wayne Gretzky shirt and Bobby Orr books which we have on our website find all your hockey friends and get them to buy a a number on our web page. hi The first thing lmread when l go on my tablet is your SDP Daiky Doggie, l am hooked on it now and find  it a very good read, l agree with you on many aspects, l also have been connected to people with disabilities and mobility issues, you ought to have a radio spot where you can give advice to people and talk to them about your Service Dog Project. A .lot of people out there dont understand this problem especially police, some mainstream  schools don't have the knowledge about children with a disability, l know lve been there with my two sons. Anyway l just missed you last night showing how ti do this knot, can you show it again thats if you dont mind.  -------- We haven’t been the best about keeping in touch as if late. But we want you to know the Gibson “tells” us everyday that we are lucky to have him!! Between adult children visiting, visiting our elderly parents and the social distancing an travel involved in that ( We might have taught Gibson a few more bad words!! Lol) Jim has foot issues - in an out of hospitals an Dr. offices ( more bad words) and he was given another class to teach ( starting next week). He teaches at BU and he has had to “zoom” more that he has had time for , for instruction, planning, rules, TA introductions uuugggg!  And in this HEAT!!  As you know life keeps a rolling, but we tell Gibson multiple times a day how happy we are he’s such a good boy!!  He can go from play time to service dog almost in an instant!! He is a soys chef, assistant handyman, paper boy, clothes folder an in folder, cleaning 🧹 person.. you name it he very well rounded!!!  Thank you is such a small word for the the feeling we have for SDP and you!  Xo Kim

AUG 26 2020 START SDP

 2020 8 26

 THERE  are times between matching dogs to people when I get to wondering what on earth were doing ----  especially since the people who have had dogs for over six months have kind of forgotten about sending me emails and the ones who've had them less than six months only send me emails when they have some kind of QUESTION ---that is very unnerving and I wonder how on earth I got into this mess ,,,,And then I remember introducing a person to a new dog and when she stepped up the curb to get into the Market Basket supermarket she burst into tears because she had not been able to step up a curb and I never thought how a simple 6 inch curb wood  BE A fencE  TO someone with a mobility problem with or without a wheelchair .

 

There are two specific incidents which got me going in this service dog bit--- the first was a guy in a wheelchair trying to get between Boston Common in Boston gardens or whatever those are and there is a ramp to get up on the sidewalk but he didn't have enough umph to get himself up there and from a distance I watched three cycles of the  traffic lights change before anybody offered to push him .

the second guy I    specifically remember I was at an Adi  conference maybe Toronto I had Bailey with ME consequently people were noticing a white dane,,,  there was a veteran  in a wheelchair with a West Highland terrier in his lap who approached Me and tsaid  “first they blow my legs off me  and then they gave Me this #$%^&* lady's lapdog…   I want a dog like yours .”…

 

That was the same ATI conference where the president of Adi   said   “you Great Dane people are all nuts”   which I  I am still struggling to counter and thus provide a whole new type mobility dog that  is a big enough to do the job . at that conference they were trying to use yellow labs at about 80 pounds and they had rigged a metal handle similar to the seeing I handle except they repositioned this handle at the dogs girth---- the seeing eyeI handle pivots at the dogs shoulder .I objected loudly because if you have a mobility patient who is going to fall anyway on occasion ,  the twist on the dogs rib cage is very significant and in a fall it could happen. It is taken the best part of 10 years to have them stop using that metal handle to try and make a tall dog out of a yellow lab------- I haven't seen one lately .

I have an adaptation of that harness hanging behind my head at Mail call . it was given to ME ---I never would have paid the $650 that it cost . but way back at the beginning I did use that harness so people would associate me  and my dog with the seeing eye dogs who were the ones that made the whole bit legitimate .. the book that describes the start is “the first lady of seeing eye”    I think by Morris Frank ..

 

Finally we are considering more of  the things that a dog can do- we are just learning…..

------
It's been about a month since Abby and I were matched and if I had to describe what SDP has given me in one word, it would be freedom. Before Abby, my mobility challenges made mountains out of molehills. Every street curb, snowdrift and sidewalk crack presented an insurmountable obstacle. It took so much physical and mental energy to navigate the world that going out often left me feeling utterly depleted. And that's without falling, which I did a lot. There were so many things I wanted to do that I just couldn't manage on my own. After Abby, those towering mountains have shrunk back to very manageable molehills. I can go anywhere! It's hard to explain how exhilarating this is. I live a block away from a beautiful park that I hadn't been able to walk to on my own for years because the road was too steep and bumpy. Abby and I now visit every day -- easily! It's like layers and layers of stress and worry about getting places have lifted. I feel lighter and happier and excited about venturing out in the world with my smart, beautiful and trusted partner. 

 

Thank you and the SDP team from the bottom of my heart for this incredible gift. 

Mary ,  cp2020   MA

 

 

I LOVE THE MOUNTAINOUS MOLEHILLS  INTO MANAGABLE MOLEHILLS 

AND THE LAYERS OF STRESS THAT ARE LIFTED… 

Those deserve to be quoted somewhere .  ?  4M SHIRTS????  

Hi! Just wanted to give you an update. Harry is really happy and doing well. He hates the heat so can’t wait for cooler fall weather when he can resume comfortable zoomies. He is being a ac hog for now. I remember you saying that if you don’t have a sense of Humor then a Dane is not for you. Well that is the truth! He thinks he can speak English and will talk and talk and talk until I figure out what it is he saying. Not barking but talking. He is completely un phased by rabbits and nearly pooped on one in the yard tonight. Not much to report as life has Gone rather pear shaped right now.  I have included some photos for you of Harry!  Stay well and safe!

aug 25 2020

  That last storm did blow off the roof of the donkey cafe and within hours someone asked me when I was gonna replace it----- let me tell you take awhile--- all those pipes that hold it up I just plain iron pipes and I always wanted to get a coat of paint on him anyway so they don't rest too badly so the problem now is to try and get a coat of paint on those pipes before I put up another tarp.

 now the problem there is very annoying

 I have a way of tying a knot is sort of half of a shoelace deal--- it holds--- it's quick release ---and it works and I really wish everybody here knew how to do that but they don't---- So what has happened with that tarp is that they have taken either rope or hay string and wrapped it around it around it around and around and around with hopes that it holds so now to get the get the string off the pipe so I can paint it it's going to take hours of clipping off those wrapped on pieces of hey string

It's one of those cases where people really should take 5 minutes to figure out how to tie that knot---- I'm happy to show them and it saves hours down the road--- but it does take a little bit of mental effort ….not much or I wouldn't be doing it…… 

the same kind of problem …I see all the time when I'm sitting in the tractor waiting for someone to hook a piece of chain around something I need to pick up with the bucket and we have the same problem people have not taken the extra minute to learn that there's usually two different ends to a chain ----one will let the chain slide the other is more narrow and allows you to clip the chain to itself again a 5 minute concentration saves hours down the line and what it saves hours down the line for two or three people at the same time it can be significant .

      which brings another topic of prioritization---- when you have a tractor that you hired as I often do with Mr Masterson you give it your full concentration and don't do something like get all mixed up trying to tie a knot while  this $500.00 an hour tractor sits there well you fumble with the hay strings .

tie the quick sdp special knot… and go back and do it Differently if you think it's necessary and in some cases around here that can be 30 years because all the pink hey string is very old tide in the special knot and doing a super job still holding up fencing we put in 30 years ago I haven't yet seen it necessary to go back and fix it any better ….. probably with blue hey string now currently in use .. 

Along the same lines if one of our pays staff is standing around talking to four volunteers that's no particular problem now if one of our volunteers is standing around talking to four of our paid staff ----that's different-

 

So back to my painting pipes I have vision of dunking a washcloth in a bucket of paint and just wiping the paint on these pipes unless somebody else has a better idea -----spray paint him you waste an awful lot of paint and there are about 40 pipes which has little bit of rust on them now .

 

there is a lot of painting  projects  to be done in the next month around here… the chicken coop being one of them .…

My father impressed up on me  that I should save hardware in general but especially hardware that matched any other hardware ---this concept as caused Me to accumulate an incredible number of hinges from tiny little ones the closed kitchen cabinets to 2 foot long cast iron barn door hinges------ if archaeologists ever start digging in this place 100 years from now they're going to have a field day trying to figure out why .

Speaking of kitchen cabinets and house training dogs . I saw the best solution was too cut a doggy door in the exterior wall behind a kitchen cabinet and then have just a 10 foot by 10 foot area in the yard as a doggy restroom …  defining the 10 foot by 10 foot area makes it much easier to pick up.but most important  you can let the dog out simply by opening the kitchen cabinet or shutting it ..  so all of you who are building a house--- as I'm sure it dozens of you have you are doing .---. that configuration will save a great deal of time and energy .

 

plus FYI a Great Dane will fit through a doggy door 14 inches wide which is the space between studs in the house and the other thing is you don't have to have the doggie door go all the way to the floor … many of my doggie doors are 6 inches off the floor ----- the dogs kentuck up their legs and squeeze through what the world thinks is a German Shepherd doggy door and being New England the six inches keeps the snow from blowing in sometimes .

Unfortunately since this is a log home cutting holes in the exterior walls has to be done with great care .but the idea is wonderful .;

Moving on …..

flying     

TSA try to separate us -----pixie was having no part in that. They asked if they could try I said sure go ahead but it’s not gonna work out she found her way back to me she was able to see me but she knows her job and she found her way right to me she was about 15 steps away from me when they had to put me into the machine to scam me to make sure everybody was safe doing the protocol and she came running up to my left side. The TSA agent was so impressed and said he’s never seen a service dog so it’s in addition to somebody’s needs. And then she saw me stumbling and caught my fall. And then they must’ve passed it along as we were walking down the hallway to the gate they said we heard about this dog she’s absolutely beautiful and look at how she’s walking right by your side nice right up to you. I just smiled with such pride from home she is so well-trained and how I could not thank Service Dog Project for all that they do for me and all that pixie dust for me. I would’ve never been able to do all my traveling that I did yesterday. With the flight my legs get a really crazy I’m going up in the air when we landed they were so wobbly she kept me upright the entire time. Some lady has gotten frustrated and she wanted to go out ahead of me Because of course I walk slower and I walk what we call the not normal in society but my normal so we just kept on trucking and we made it up off of the plane and Pixie kept me up right and then all the way through the entire airport. I am so super blessed. She doesn’t only give me the Ability to walking she gives me the confidence to be able to feel comfortable being out in the world and being who I am. I just want to thank you Linda for all that you do to help everybody like me and also thank everybody at the Service Dog Project because without these wonderful dogs we would not be able to do all these things and make life so possible. I’m looking forward to my new venture in life with Pixie. 💜

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telephoning....

there is a person who's name i with hold , but the phone number ends in 1674  who calls..says nothing... and hangs up...  basically our office is open from 7am til 6pm. and  to call   after 6pm  UNLESS THE BARN IS ON FIRE..... is annoying. and often wakes me up.

my only recourse is to publish the number and let  all of you CP's  help  by  calling  it at random. and asking them to stop......  

aug 24 2020

 Megan  is coming today to pick up may and her puppy for an overnight... the pups are on 3 meals a day and may could stand some relief...goqal is to get them weamned in the next few days and she can get her home for some R & R

Habits are hard to break .....I forgot and type d that ---

May looks very thin.. in spite of what would be called massive meals  with chicken ... beef ..cheese,,,and  whipped cream.  She will be very happy to go with Megan and I'm sure tomorrow morning will be very happy to come back as she continues to make milk when she's gone .  she will have one puppy with her to help drain the faucets but that's not the same as all nine . Both litters of pups looke wonderful even if the mothers are a little worse for wear .

----

Huge storm went through here last night and I haven't done anything besides look out one window and I don't see any trees down but we could have a problem .

which makes me think--- I should never complained about too much snow when the rest of the country is either on fire or drowning .  The only thing that hasn't happened which they are forecasting is for the earth to be hit by a meteorite the 1st of November so I'm wondering if whatever gods there are have saved New England for that occurrence ? I did hear on The Weather Channel there was a correction that it's only 7 feet across so therefore shouldn't do any damage well I can think of plenty places where seven feet can do an awful lot of damage however ...

those people watching our cameras can tell how hard it's raining by watching the chicken coop camera where if it's this is significant rainfall a River will start to run from right to left .

 

Small fyi ----From tiny depressions great caverns are built   or something like that

those people watching our cameras can tell how hard it's raining by watching the chicken coop camera where if it's this is significant rainfall a River will start to run from right to left .

the edge of our hottop had a very small depression right with this River crosses and with each rainstorm that depression goes down another half inch which is now beginning to undermine the hot top....    it was so insignificant to start with so  I didn't pay any attention but I've now filled that damn hole three times since they put that hot top down couple months ago  ... once again displaying the fact that  when it comes to water the water will have its way ...

the state of mass has decided to open colleges and restaurants which has mixed up  my plans for the fall...  lynn is still coming mid september... but I had 2 othere barn and grounds keeper /generic help types who now cannot come..... I had several really good people all set to start September 1st becausw they were .. Either college students or in the hospitality business which they called restaurants and thought they would be out of a job at that point.....  now the colleges  calling the students full time while they're providing one or two lectures a week they charging full tuition... I'm having a problem with that ... especially if the professor opps to stay home and lecture by the Internet .  it's bad enough with Colby  grandson  and the university of New Hampshire and Laura with nursing school but the worst I've heard is niece debbie's twin sons getting their college education at home via  computer for $60,000 a year each .

Janine --- the X college professor---- had a very interesting take on the requirements for a degree versus the cost of getting those requirements and how those requirements would be provided

this problem is not restricted to those 50 colleges or so that went out of business on a Friday about a year ago,   Leaving the students with no  course credits and a huge student loan . that story fell out of the news cycle but thousands of students were hurt .now with all this cLV confusion and virtual classes where is the value in the real world of these virtual  classes

------

Long live Mike Rowe ( tv’s dirty jobs)  ..  when the handyman in topsfield is charging $85 an hour cash on the barrelhead .. and I found it even better one well the man came to pick up the dead donkey, he had a brand new truck and winch ....... it was early on a Sunday morning he loaded that donkey  and as I handed him the $500 cash he said he had two more to pick up that morning that's $1500 cash .

 

not that we should all go into the donkey rendering business but it indicates there are certain Americans who will survive . all is not lossed ....yet  .

....

Mind you I hope someone is studying how to cure cancer and the COV 919 but I do suspect The concentration of many of these colleges is to get the students there so they can charge them with very little regard for the actual value received .

  it is a business

---

In Britain I think the students are divided at an early age into University students or trade students .... consequently Britain has an adequate number of plumbers and doctors 

and I'm not sure we have either .

Medical insaurance Is being matched by  pet health insurance  and then  insurance against anything in your household breaking .   pretty soon plumbers will have to deal with pre existing conditions and codes  for broken pipe , frozen ---or---- broken pipe, impact .

aug 23 2020 chimney fire

House cleaning is one thing apparently most people do often….. I don't know bout that part …. I do know the barn and yard cleaning around here really needs doing at least every 10 years and with Dennis is help I've been at it and I find ….

I am the proud owner of 3 nearly new looking BMW tires .I have no clue where they came from or why I should have 3 . I also have 4 new tires for my Sequoia because when I bought it the tires it had on it well the kind with no knobbies at all -----in my lifestyle I need snow tires year round not for the snow necessarily but the mud and everything else I get into so I changed those the first day I owned that car . this gives me a grand total of seven tires that are up for grabs for anybody who could use them especially if they make a donation would be nice . I did offer one BMW tire to Dennis  As a spare …if he could put it on his car to prove it fits .

that hasn't happened yet.

This cov  interlude  has caused much house cleaning to take place and one of my neighbors called with eight big crates dog crates that they want they could get out of their cellar . I don't get out and drive around much lately I'm waiting for the temperature it'll be less than 90 because my car's air conditioning is broken and if I could just last another couple weeks I won't need to have it fixed till next June .

 

With that attitude  of ….. why fix the roof it's not raining now , ….  it

brings up the matter of the chimney and the chimney fire…   which thanks to modern technology I now must put in a stainless steel liner to protect the house from the fact that one 6 inch piece of mortar got chipped away in the fire between the ceramic liner which has been fine for  35 years….   -----keeping in mind that ceramic liner is still 24 inches away from anything burnable

my fires are mostly caused by burning Cardboard too much all at once and with a bang  it burns out the creosote ---that's how I thought you cleaned chimneys 

I didn't call the fire Department when it happened because I've had so many before that I had always just let burnout without any complications .  there's a lot of fieldstones AKA rocks in that chimney that probably measures 6 foot by 4 foot from cellar to roof . but somebody came in and inspected my chimney with a camera and found this little chinke in the mortar so they reported it to the fire Department that I had this chinkc and now I can't use the chimney until I put in a $5000 liner or my insurance is no good

however   there is one story....     my husband was burning paper in the fireplace ..   in the summer—and I heard the familiar  BANG….I didn't really do too much about it until I notice the skylights there was a tiny flame right next to the skylight where apparently the pine needles which were on there we're burning I I know about roof fires and I thought that's probably not a very good thing to have happened--- so I screamed and JANINE, who was in the guest house heard Me and came running -----the fact she was scantily clad , shall we say , in  her Victoria's secret's best was Immaterial ----there was an emergency and she was dealing----so I grabbed the 8 foot yellow wooden ladder which I was using to hold our towels in the bathroom and ran out and held that in position for her to climb onto the roof----- the 8 foot didn't reach the roof it was a little wobbly but she got up it with me holding it----- I handed her the fire extinguisher and she extinguished the fires--- there were several fires actually up there---- what I didn't know while  all this happened was that my husband had gone down the driveway looking for a call box. being a city dweller…..  he thought there would be one on every telephone pole …   he eventually got to the fire Department and told them and they came roaring up the driveway with two trucks in a whole lot of men in big black jackets and boots------they arrived  just as jeanine needed help getting down from the roof with this ladder ,   which was too short in the first place.------ however they were very happy to help her slide down through the foam of the fire extinguisher ….  and one was heard to say “I wish all our calls were like this .”

actually THE  FIRE CHIEF TOOK ME ASIDE AND SAID… “NEXT TIME CALL US.. WE DON’T CHARGE FOR VISITS”--------SO I PLAN TO DO THAT.

------

fyi eggs   

hard boiled eggs cooked in an instapot aka pressure cooker fresh or not ALWAYS peel super easy. I don’t find the fresh vs not reliable for easy to peel eggs... also I think you should leave all the names you call your computer in the daily doggie!!! 🤣🤣

and eggs that float are too old?  ( i willl have to try that one.) 

aug 22 2020 training

 Thanks to the people on the Internet who cringe quietly when things don't go perfectly and they never can ...we have a lot of new volunteers here who are learning and I will catch up with them eventually but I can't be everywhere -----yesterday's confusion was one of sizzle's puppies had more seizures and had to be sent to Annie  at the Rainbow Bridge -------she must have some kid that needs a puppy up there .  By way of general interest this puppy had a strange skin tag on the side of his face---- the only ones I have ever seen this on before were two puppies long ago that also had seizures and they're the only ones I ever saw that had this funny skin tag on the side of their face ---Donna is the one that remembered them ----- the veterinarian said that there were more problems than that with the pup and that we did the right thing which is always reassuring.... however we are down one...... 17 now

  Used to be before George retired  he would drop by and wave his hands over the litters just kind of listen to their hearts and lungs and a 3 minute exam with each pop and I'm wondering if I can get him to do that again------ alternately put them in  the back of my car and drive them  somewhere where somebody with a good set of ears can just wave their hand over the general health .  Raising animals or people is not an exact science

I dare say I put more thought into breeding animals than  the breeding of most people ----well I probably shouldn't get into that... There's so many things I shouldn't get into there's hardly anything left to write about  ..... which is why historically I've written dissertations on toilet seats that pinch and how I would like to redesign the state police . I've written about 3000 of these things ------would you believe it !!!

Training...   I do try and give these some generic interest - pamala collected some and gave me the list of Of the daily doggies which have training comments .My way of training Danes is very different then the usual Golden retriever yellow lab methods I I say my dogs are educated not trained and the education starts at three weeks which is about where we are right now with the two new litters we have oh siz and mazys  .

I will probably never write another book so Pam collected some of these comments from the daily doggies---- I have not re read them but she thought they were interesting so here they are

April 12, 2020

May 5, 2020

June 7, 2020

July 9, 2020

July 10, 2020

July 23, 2020

Aug. 2, 2020

Aug. 7, 2020

Aug. 13, 2020

Aug. 19, 2020

Aug. 21, 2020

I am certainly no expert on much of anything but I do have an accumulation of knowledge that I try and share with people who have not been exposed to the same kind of thing ...like boiling eggs that peel -- I did look into that at one point from the national eg g board ... And they said that fresh eggs don't peel well then if you leave them in the icebox for two weeks then peel boil and peel they'll be fine .. I have tried that and it seems pretty true eggs right out of the nest that shell is stuck to the rest of the egg and they're not pretty .

Speaking of FY eyes about eggs -- I never realized there was such a thing as a Julian calendar  (That numbers the days starting January 1st with one in using just plain numbers all the way to December 31st )   and that egg cartones had that Julian date on the end of each one to know when they were put on the marketlaid... or  whatever .

I hav e a lot of that  “Accidental  intelligence”

A great deal of what I write comes from the camera people who watch us 24 hours a day everything we do the good the bad and the different .   mostly it's enjoyable to have these followers making friendly comments or suggestions or criticisms but every once in awhile something negative will get going and it it would be devastating if it wasn't  usually so ridiculous ---

 .I remember   when this first started with the cameras September of 2012 there was a learning. For all these camera people and one well meaning person called  me at 2:00 AM to say there were birds flying around the barn . after that we had a great discussion about birds in the barn being normal and they weren't to call Me at 2:00 AM unless the barn was on fire and they've been very good about that we did have a donkey fall into the water tub and get upside down and  they called .

 

These camera people have also been carefully trained not to publish any photos Of Me running out to deal with some puppy problem in my pajamas because the added complication when I run out is that I have to bend over at a serious angle to deal with puppies at my feet and this can present plumber problems . sometimes I don't have time to think about it .

Someday I will write a dali doggy regarding the tensile strength of elastic in pajama bottoms

now there's a good one .

... I know Courtney has received lilo... thnks to megan flying out  to california and back in one day. I do not do facebook ----  but  She apparently has some Facebook page with some interesting details and I did try and find it but Facebook doesn't know my name ---my computer doesn't know my name ---and all it wanted to show Me  was two people racing forklifts . great is my frustration with computers .

I remember the good old days when you turned  it on---- the screen was black----you told it what to do ----and it did it .

I don't know if Megan is now quarantined for coming into Massachusetts but if so I hope she can come in her car to our driveway and we'll send may out to her so she could take her to lunch .  May could stand all the lunches we could give her --she's awfully thin

dictating this thing is wonderful but instead of correcting typos I have to eliminate some names  I call  this computer as it is extremely creative in the errors it can make .