NOV 30 2022

never any soap residue----and must have 1/2 teasp sugar---and if you have fingernails rubber gloves are highly recommended

Nov 30 2022

 

I do feel better--- the residual is literally a pain in the  butt...   So that when I woke up at 2:00 o'clock all I could think about was fresh bread.. and I did buy the makings for that the other day ( dry yeast and flour i knew we  had an egg or two..) thought I was crazy which is true.. so I got up and I started to remember... when the kids were young I made all the bread they ate it was cheaper I'd buy flour by the 50 pounds..  and it was good,,

 

so I started trying to remember the things I needed to remember .. like lookout for soap must not have any get anywhere near the yeast....but it needs a ½ teasp(palm of your hand type )– sugar to accitvate the yeast      and never let the yeast cool off.. which means that you don't take the flour out of the refrigerator or the egg or whatever gotta warm it all up but having this stove it worked out really really well and other than making a mess   WHEN TO YOU SET IT FOR THE FIRST “RISE”.?   WHEN YOU HAVE ADDED ENOUGH FLOUR SO YOU CAN PICK IT  UP IN ONE LUMP...

there is a pot of bread now sitting in the door of the oven with the other opened and it has raised risen doubled in size maybe now I'll go punch it down again and make it into loaves maybe..  actually when I started this I was thinking of a piece of fried bread for breakfast so maybe I'll make a couple loaves and save a wad to fry and maybe put a little cinnamon sugar on it..  

 

 

NO FRIED BREAD...well judy arrived and It is now trying to be 2 small loaves of bread.  

If I ever decide to be realy really messy... I know how to make sticky buns—which is much the same except after the first “rise” you punch and flatten to about ¼ inch++  thick. Dust with brown sugar, maybe soft butter ( yessss) ciniminan – roll and  slice about 1plus inches thick and arrainge in a baking dish that has brown sugar cinnamon and  dark  karo syrup ( that is the goooo)  let it rise again and bake it ---- after baking .. it is upside down on a plate and it should slide out all gooey. ... them is goooooood

 

That is the cooking less on forothe day

 

Bread making is not hard--- all you need is courage.and teh knowledge NO SOAP --A BIT OF SUGAR—AND DON’T ALLOW THE YEAST TO COOL.

RUBBER GLOVES HELP...

 

WE HAVE A “JOB THIS MORNIGN --- 62 PEOPLE TO ENTERTAIN

P.S. THE TIME IS COMING.. MEANT FOR ME TO HAVE MY VERY OWN GLASSES AND NOT BE USING THE BUSSHEL BASKJET FULL YOU GUYS SENT ME.

 NOV 29 2022

therE  will be a slight delAY-- LIKE to  MAYBE TOMORROW....

I CAN SIT.. I CAN STAND . I CAN WLAK... BUT I CANNOT LIE DOWN WITH  BACK SPASMS

I DO HAVE A DR APT TODAY---FOR MY EYES/GLASSES... BUT I THINK......TIME HAS COME....

 nov 27 2022

there is nothing exciting going on with the dogs at the moment..... thankfully.... no excitement or emergencies--  i did hear a rumor that janine and crew were going to " straighten out the arena so they can get more action  in front of the arena camera with. a horse that wallace is trying to make stop bucking.... so it sounds interesting... all that will take place around the feeding schedule of the dogs on camera. should work..i am happy to see more use of that arena.  

making hay while the sun shines....    because rain and hay  don't mix.   yesterday judy and i managed to get 80 bales to meridith-- where WHO ELSE UNLOADED IT... but elizabeth's husband. !!.. i only drive-- and be sure the battery is charged so the dump trailer dumps....80 bales... probably a weeks worth...  ERN DOES HAVE quite a following who help pay for the hay-- at any rate... i don't..... i just drive.  actually i just back up the trailer when needed... judy does a lot of the  forward type driving.. especially when it interferes with my napping time.

eve-- of eve and finn---

The holiday weekend is coming so we had to be sure to wish another very big good luck to Ms. Eve Dahl (Chronicles of Eve and Finn) and her partner, from Fred Astaire Dance Studios - Brookfield, Mr. Ernie Olivas Fads Pro, as they have taken off on their adventure to Malta to represent our region at the Malta Wheelchair DanceSport Open Dance Spectacular, November 26th & 27th! Such a little star and we couldn't be more proud!

and apparently she has won several awards(i lost the details--- which my computer swallowed...) Finn had a few days off and stayed with friends..... flying to Malta.. was a bit much with 2 wheelchairs(normal and one for  dance i think)

 nov 26 2022

a lot going on..... black friday  may define shopping, but to us it is pull together enough staff to care for all the animals over the winter.. both. the service dog operation here at crazy acres, but the hay supply over at meridith farm for the rescue horses and donkeys there... 

you normal people don't reqalize. animals are a 365 days a year and very nearly 24 hour days-- there is no let up-- well---there may be a few moments when ther is a break... but at any moment that can change to immediate demand stop everything and do something you had not planned to do. THINK BLIZZARD  AND SNOW --- WHERE ARE  ALL THE SHOVELS???  IS THERE DIESEL IN. THE TRACTOR ( AND DOES THE HEATER WORK???). there has to be someone here at crazy. acres to deal wiht the possibility of immediate demand.... haley  was "IT" for thanksgiving....and i thank her- i just cannot deal-- a skeleton crew is all that is needed.... to do "warm.. feed... water.." and send up alarms if needed... IT GOT DONE... SO FAR... 

i think. "hay". and driving to get 75 bales at a time is about all i can do--- but someone has to unload it ----so the trailer is empty for the next load....meridith is using 7 or 8 bales a day and we--2 or 3-- any way you look at it that is more than one trip a week..  we could order it from the grain store... but that is more  $ per bale- so even with the price of gas... judy and i trundle back and forth...

our  purple frying pan count for last week was just over 100 people smilers-- the biggest being the assisted living where the crowd was about 30 but as i finished babbling funny stories about an hour later....we had more like 50 in just that one spot... 

sneezing has slowed up both judy and i..  judy's nose... my back---but we are both better... i have learned to grab the wall if a sneeze is coming on...  it works.. looks odd... but what the heck.. too late to worry about looks.

DUNKIN DONUTS HAS A BACON LITTLE BAG SNACK--- THIS IS A BAD THING.

hay or shaving s. the quantityis massive

 nov 25 2022

the more we change, the more we remain the same....

40 years ago i was running around with a bunch of kids and their ponies wondering  who would fall off and which pony would get loose.... yesterday i just meant to watch the hunt get off...  starting at what is supposed to be the state's  oldest --- from 1638 ---continuously operating farms in mass... having the hunt start there is just another interesting facet---  not just fancy perimeter but utilitarian  stone walls being another....like 4' tall stone walls around ? 1 acre pens? now that might keep animals enclosed !!

2 of janine's "rescues " were in the bunch of about 60  horses... ( one being a mule !!)----- turns out..... way back in teh 1920's? myopia passed some law so a mule was allowed to be in the hunt..this would be mule #2...janine's neck was on the line.   .so  with betsy ( remember her.... jewelery and scarlott's owner) onboard.... xxxxx was right in there with the best ( most expensive) thoroughbred horses...both  of the "rescues" performed well up to the high standards of this "hunt" ... i.e.  they jumped the walls and fences without loosing a rider...  for 15.7 miles..

the rest of that story is... being a "drag " hunt. where the hounds are following the sent of a rag that was soaked in someting and dragged over the prescribed course  earlier that day... we knew where they would be going and pulling up to rest....  i drove from point to point.. and janine.. being worried.. ran/jogged about half the time behind the horses !!  i wore my generic "i have fallen and i can't get up" button which. is a 911 from anywhere... we did not use it....as the hunt pulled up at the end..janine's relief was obvious... having  rescues  to  successfully complete this day  erased anyone's inclination to cast negative comments  at  the horses / mules who for one reason or another were sold by the pound. -- after "vetting" the vet  said mommy "rosie"---  mother of foal "bud" --- was the best horse he had seen in a while.  

that --- with the successful mule--- was a huge relief to janine-- who had stuck her neck waaaaaay out with this hunt.

 i picked up the dinner and was home at 2:02... to no one there to even unload the dinner boxes. janine got there within minutes .. we unloaded and were starving( having had no breakfast) she left to nap it off and elizabeth and family arrived-- having ordered a family dinner  and the store ran out before they "got the bird"   so they were thrilled with the paper plate banquet.  while  l watched from the sofa- they ate, packed extras,put everything away spotless like..and took off to go back to meridith to dish out meds which had got skipped in. the morning rush.

  they are "do-ers".

 once again "  ELIZABETH. WHERE THE HECK DID YOU FIND THIS GUY????"

 he can .. and does.. load a dishwasher as well as anyone.

 nov 24 2022

NOTICING ------i went  to the store yesterday ( so what's the big deal?)and as i sat rolling up and down the windows for the dogs.... elizabeth's husband came out of the store and as we passed pleasantries---- he asked if  i would. like him. to go back in the store to get the few things on my list and save me what has become a noticeable effort. at least at the moment....

. where the heck did elizabeth get this guy.. ???  

there are a few...  when i was at the craft show, i dropped a marble in the process of making monkeyfists... the "crafter" person across the aisle noticed and ran over to retrieve it for me.. i was impressed and threw her the next 2 monkey fists as thank you..

i should take the walker - not specifically for walking, but it is the standing around that gets me- it is a portable chair... and i may use it today..maybe.

plan is to meet janine at the start of the "thanksgiving hunt"  where she has at least 3 people to help get off the start... then in my warm car move to ann's where the whole bunch is expected to go thru the winthrops at 10:30-- ann invited me to park on her field and not  her lawn... the difference between the 2 is about 1/2 inch of grass... .  warm is warm. it is a spectacle... and i think  it may be the first time a mule i
s in the group !!!  that will be a big deal...  

then go pick up the  whole meal ( they load the car) about noon and be home by 1 to get the 

"home fires " burning....  without wood somehow.  because matt has not realized i am going thru a bucket of wood  a day...  maybe i will have to break up some of this old furnature...  i do not do   "cold". 

 we are not having a "thanksgiving dinner" as such... it is more "feed the troops" of people who will be caring for all the animals both here and at meridith.i somehow will keep it all warm on the iron stove.... as soon as i get more wood....   and there are piles of it in the g-tent.

have a happy !!

this was a couple years ago... it does draw a crowd

 NOV 23 2022

Nov 23 2022

 

My biggest excitement is  a check....that Janine ( and elizabeth) sold some horses to some wonderful homes --- the mom... now a riding horse and  the 2 babies togetehr to an experienced horse woman in ?virginia?   .... all cleaned up and beautiful  rescued ... just in time to pay the hay bill for the next ones she just bought in penna over the weekend...she is a facebooker so often the details are there --- I have only a phone call to go on so far..

 

The big horse thing is tomorrow.s thanksgiving day hunt at myopia......   realllllly fancy—hounds--- braided manes and tails..  for years the HUNT has far outshadowed our  family dinner routine...

 

  Interesting is the progression  over the past 45 years.. I think. It went like this......

At age 9  janine dreamed of riding with the hounds at myopia and at  winthrops

At age 10. She rodea pony “ tinkler “  in the hilltop group ( non  fence jumping group) with a too big jacket covering her hands...

Then a few years.... “That Horse” jumped things very reliably  and she moved up—earning $20 to braid other horses for the big day..

She worked in the  myopia kennels to earn some credits

Eventually getting her “colors”  a yellow collar which corresponds to the red coat of the major men.. who ride $50,000 horses bought from ireland ( another $15,000 airfare I am told)

Rode respectifully for a few years on a horse she bought as a 6 month old baby --- she  looked very respectable 

And selling a horse or two... which. “ had been hunted in a snaffle by a lady”

And introducing a mule or two  which betsy is riding..... in with these $50,000 beautiful irish hunters

All the way to...... This year ---where  I. don’t think she has a respectable horse to ride  tomorrow..

If she climbs on a horse that she just bought  by the pound over the weekend--- I can not  go watch.

She would not do that

Would she?

 

I bought. The complete TD dinner ( for teh 10^th year....). will pick It up at noon... keep it warm ont eh iron stove and see who shows up to eat.

What the world forgets is... with animals there is no holiday-  there will be a crew here and at meridith taking care of all. those animals.so the least I can do ... literally ... is feed the people

just to get back to. reality... i must investigate the rumor that brian (DVM).  has the crew at meridith  giving horses pills IN THE OTEHR END...... IT IS EASIER????

WHAT???????

 nov 22 2022

coffee...perked!  still lovin it- handy hint from my  momma-- i remember her saying her friends always -- beyond being polite---commented on her good coffee and her solution was to wash the pot !--  i  know of one dunkin donuts which has very bitter coffee- and i am sure they don't wash the pot... not quick rinse... soap and hot water...
so i religiously do that every morning..... after lighting the stove fire.....i am a picture... luckily the. camera is pointed the other way... or a thousand people would be watching me  in my jammies....sitting on a milk can, poking the fire and waiting for the perking to stop.   very poetic...

born today, my mother would have been a chemist- however it was the woman thing.. she studied ?social services? at vassar- and applied her chemistry to being sure to add a pinch of sugar to bread making to make the yeast "work?"  

i don't know what she was baking  but before  she put it in the oven she would stand in front of it and say " flour sugar soda salt eggs milk and butter". which meant she was also a student  of how errors are made.

there was another.. "

“Little Johnny passed away little Johnny is no more for what he thought was H2O was H2SO4” 

I think farming or more specifically the raising of animals requires someone to be extremely observant of minor details... it becomes a study in how errors are made because errors in farming are permanent you don't just change the code and go on -----better try things on a minor scale Like plant something in a 3 foot by three foot garden before you plant the back 40 acres..

Try a sample... It allows more creativity...  Like if you feed a cow enough red dye will you get strawberry milk -  the answer to that one is “possibly no”  because we may not have had enough red dye. that is back to the logic problem of trying to prove a negative....  Results of a pregnancy test are always either yes,   or probably not.(i won't even go to the report i heard of age and "people AI " for lack of interpersonal relationships due to the internet)  Or to bring it up to current I think the COVID tests are about the same. Which are “yes, or not at the moment try again in four days...”

 

With regard to COVID I do have concern over why China is taking COVID so much more seriously than the United states.... they have locked down entire towns for months on end..  and we have “masking optional”--  is there something we don't know-- Or are they actually trying to increase their population?

 

kicking that can on down the road.... I can not  remember a lot of things... not new...but probably worse... I have dealt with the irs before- and have always found them reasonable.  The last time I had some miserable  fine for something I thought not  correct,instead of hiring a lawyer,  I went to the irs office... only about 10 miles away in andover and it was not.... frightening.... or unreasonable .. we did make a deal..... literally.." will you settle for $320 fee for not allowing the "commuting between offices".--------  i had set up a dr  office in what is now the condo.. so technically  my husband was driving between offices( which was deductible and technically true).. and not commuting to the office...( not deductable) . i settled. 

 

 now I think I will have to be---- exactly what I. am ... the  confused little  85 year old lady   just trying to get it straight..  and maybe pull in “cov made me do it” ------ just when did I. file my last 1040?  and “may I have a copy of it so I can copy it for the next 2 years ---why should  have to hire an accountant the numbers are all about the same.—I will pay. The irs additional $$$ if I don’t have to hire that guy for $2000” .... I have tried local offices and the internet and I have had no help... ( true) it’s your fault...   lets make a deal !

maybe they can at least provide me with another topic for this   dd..

• i can' t  read all this.

NOV 21 2022

 DEAGLE HOUSE 

twenty degrees.... now that is serious...  bud got both the fireplace and stove going and we are  now heated by the old split rail fences... next emergency is to get the heat emergency lights activated..... in barn kennels, laundry kennels, nutt house and deagle house. there are plug in things which will turn on a light if the temp falls below 55 degrees... so if no light it is ok???? not really... we have to have a second light to prove there is electricity in that socket to begin with..  so walking around you should see one light in the window of those buildings... if two lights it is a heat emergency.  and anyone who says that is not an emergency is welcome to sleep in the cold barn...... sometime in my life, i have slept in those raised bunk lofts... not overnight, but i napped there to see if it stayed warm enough.. and it did---  the heat vent pipe went down the back of the loft.... and i poked a few holes with a nail  in each loft so some warm air went there... i am not sure that pipe is even used now.... bud reminded me we had lexan( strong plastiglass type) walls on the front of the lofts to contain the heat in the lofts. they may still be around...he said we numbered them... between the lexan and the nail holes...it would stay over 55 degrees...   why 55?.....if the outside temp was 55 we would think it was liveably  warm !!

the  extra heater in kennel 10 is blowing right at the lower  thermometer so it reads a few degrees higher than the loft height..i.e. artifically  supported,----- minus the electric  heater there was 20 degrees difference.... anyone want to try  that 20 degrees difference ???

now. the  delivery of that electrical power--  i was 100% shocked -- i had to go give a Ride to someone in boxford... and ended up on the  proverbial " MY BUNCH OF DOGS  MUST THINK IT QUEER TO STOP WITHOUT A FARM HOUSE NEAR.'    ...    AS I 

stoppED to read my paper map ( yes paper) i happened to look up and saw there was a  small tree limb that had grown between two of the high up wires-- which i think cArry electricity... whatever...   IS THERE NO ONE IN BOXFORD KEEPING TRACK OF WIRES AND TREES??  BOXFORD HAS SOME REAL ESTATE DISTINCTION ...LIKE ONE OF THE HIGHEST INCOMES... OR IQ... OR KIDS SAT'S    OR  "PROFESSIONAL PEOPLE"   WHATEVER...

WELL GOOD MORNING BOXFORD.....  IPSWICH HAS IT'S SHARE OF DEAD TREES WHICH COULD CAUSE HAVOC( AND PROVIDE FIREWOOD... SO I AM WATCHING. ).. BUT TO GROW BETWEEN THE WIRES... HAS TO HAVE BEEN LIKE THAT FOR 3 OR 4 YEARS TO GET THERE???? I AM PRETTY SURE 98% OF EACH AND EVERY RESIDENT OF BOXFORD COULD HIRE THEIR OWN "GUY WITH A PICKUP AND A LADDER" ....YET THAT WOULD. NEVER GET PAST SOME COMMITTEE.... AND PROBABLY OSHA......AND PREVENT THE HAVOC THIS WILL EVENTUALLY CAUSE.

I WOULD ALSO GUESS THERE ARE CONSIDERABLE TEENAGERS  IN THAT TOWN  WHO CLIMB MOUTAINS...AND ROCK WALLS -- I KNOW THERE ARE .. THAT IS A SPORT...... CLEARING EVEN THE LOWER INTERNET  LINES WOULD BE WORK..  THAT JUST WOULD. NOT OCCUR TO THEM !!

TIL THEIR  CONNECTION TO THE WORLD  DIES...

 nov 20 2022

here is the article for this weeks news... i got sidetracked...

Last week you heard from milarky ----he's my younger brother.   my name is Jiminey short for jiminy cricket-- I'm told... I'm the more sensible one as I try very hard to think about things-----I was removed from the service dog training program because of an extremely unusual.  surgical problem now fixed...   I am a thinker and I have to admit there are a lot of things I think about of which I don't approve.. or at least I question why humans don't think differently.... or at least consider things from the dog's point of view.

Most recently. when I am in the car with mom and larkey, -- which is often--- and you want to  throw 400 pounds of horse food in the back door of my car,  at least be polite and tell me what you're going to do.  .  there's not an awful lot of room  for 3 danes in  the. back of that car – but  we are happy  to accomodate  lots of things and visitors..  just ask ---from my perspective, it looks like some kind of  invasion.  Just think.

 

There are a lot of things I wish people would consider my perspectgive.....

This week it  is the relationship between sleeping on the lovely soft doggie bed  on the floor in  Carlene’s room ---or sleeping on the sofa that is about 18 inches off the floor..  which is also about 10 feet from the wonderful Glenwood 500 wood cooking stove ( That stove is  really  warm  for  about 5 hours before it “goes out”  .).  . the huge factor in my decision is.....that bed is under a window.....She has no idea how that window leaks cold air which drops down to that bed.  If I was in a crate under that #$%^& window I would be miserable.

I have never been “crated” or caged,---- whatever you call being imprisoned-- but I have heard about them...

 

 I have heard horror stories from my friends in the Beverly dog park.., of how they are put in crates at night on the floor somewhere in the house or garage,  under a window or in drafty places and they just cannot get away.  Their owners don't seem to know that the floor is  cool to cold... which is very nice to know in the summer time when  Cool is very nice... but winter is here and I know how lucky I am to be able to find the warmest most  comfortable and available place to sleep.

 

I have heard on doctor Pol.... he's that TV veterinarian--about Guinea pigs , birds and lizards and the like who are sick --in his office with nothing wrong with them except being caged in a draft.  I believe that !

and then ......

i did. not know this song... but many people have sent  it to me...

And the sign said "Long-haired freaky people Need not apply" So I tucked my hair up under my hat And I went in to ask him why He said, "You look like a fine upstandin' young man I think you'll do" So I took off my hat and said, "Imagine that Huh, me workin' for you" Whoa Sign, sign Everywhere a sign Blockin' out the scenery Breakin' my mind Do this, don't do that Can't you read the sign?
 And the sign said "Anybody caught trespassin' Will be shot on sight" So I jumped on the fence and I yelled at the house "Hey! What gives you the right To put up a fence to keep me out But to keep Mother Nature in? If God was here, he'd tell you to your face 'Man, you're some kind of sinner'"
 Sign, sign Everywhere a sign Blockin' out the scenery Breakin' my mind Do this, don't do that Can't you read the sign?
 Now, hey you, mister, can't you read?
You got to have a shirt and tie to get a seat You can't even watch, no, you can't eat
 You ain't supposed to be here
 The sign said, "You've got to have a membership card To get inside" Uh And the sign said
"Everybody welcome Come in, kneel down and pray"
But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all I didn't have a penny to pay
So I got me a pen and a paper And I made up my own little sign I said, "Thank you, Lord, for thinkin' 'bout me I'm alive and doin' fine" Woo! Sign, sign Everywhere a sign Blockin' out the scenery Breakin' my mind Do this, don't do that Can't you read the sign? Sign, sign Everywhere a sign SignSource: Musixmatch

 nov 19 2022

thought for the day ......a camel is a horse designed by a committee..

i have never "done" a craft show before - but today is the day...  me and my monkey fists-----i will be allotted an 8 foot table  with 2 chairs...for $25 from 9 to 2.. with specific instructions that i must fit in the 8 foot with no spilling over into the next 8 foot... gotta love it....

 talking about anticipating problems... and the whole thing could get out of control very easily.... i am looking forward to it... probably  with one dog and the other 2 left  in the "condo" .

trying to manage any operation is bound to get complicated... you would not believe.......i mentioned wiping our dogs off with waterless shampoo before assisted living visits to "improve the  odor factor"  and someone accused me of not caring for the fact that some people are alergic to scents.. and where was my mind

when i did not care that the smell of shampoo could kill her....i was going with the generic norm.. and it seems to me each person has some personal responsibility to  manage  their  diversions from the norm if necessary... like a sign on a adult care  door  " i hate dogs ... go. away". it can not be as bad as the peanut allergy problem or i would have heard  more of it.

why do we often let the negatives dominate just because they are the noisiest?  i would  love to see ipswich have a dog park-- or even 2--- but  .... it is easier not to have one... unless you are a dog  on the end of a 6 ' rope..

signs..... who says we need to believe every one... you don't have to go further than  "big sale...save up to75%"   that "up to" covers a multitude of sins...

 the local hardware store almost got me on this one... " free 5 gal bucket and whatever you can fit into it at 20%off" 

along with "just pay the. postage" .

 there are soooo many signs designed to  have us  miss/ not read/ or ignore.  don't forget i purchased a voting booth from  florida used in the bush  gore fiasco... it is a thing of beauty.  someday someone will study that....

 it is in the cellar somewhere.

love it  the sign is wrong....

this beach access  is not closed to the creative....

it is the beach that may be closed

 Armpits-----   An unlikely topic for discussion .. and I have avoided it for about a week now...  the rest of the story is... in the process of making the rounds of senior assisted living places and the like... last week in an Alzheimer group. larkey was fascinated with someone's armpits... I mean it was catnip type fascination and I had to pull him away which was easy enough..  and I remembered at that point this is not the first time he's done that.. I remember a few weeks ago in a fairly normal group I think it was in Home Depot he was fascinated by some woman's armpits and I didn't think too much of it pulled him away at that point.. so when he did it the second time I recognized that this was something I had to watch for and certainly did not understand... but I was not in a position at that point of asking these people what the hell they had in their armpits like deodorant???  two days ago I was in a senior drop in center which shall remain nameless..  and he again was fascinated with the director's armpits... well here was the situation where she was an intelligent humorous sort.. so I went so far as to say "excuse me for asking but what type deodorant do you use"   there's not a lot of people you could say that to but.. I briefly explained.. and she was game and said “secrets”

 

so I went to the drugstore and found that secrets have 147 different scents. so I have reached a bit of a dead end and that may not be the reason at all but I am pretty good at reading my dogs and lockie was clearly telling me armpits had some strange smell to him... and it was only armpits no other parts (which are sometimes fascinating.). . so the only thing I could think of was something that got added to armpits as in deodorant... 

 

we do not begin to understand the depth of perception dogs have with smells... so I totally respect what he's trying to tell me.. and I have to be very careful about pulling him away from somebody's armpits for fear he decides that he shouldn't do that again... that is a very delicate procedure... because I stand guilty of becoming the weird lady with the dog who asks strange questions about your armpits. however there is an unanswered question  there.

 

 I must remind you of the little girl at the prudential towers Christmas celebration that Tiffany shall we say alerted to one year

and the same girl  caused the same reaction a year later with no alerting on the 100,000 people that had patted her in the interim.

 

I am also reminded----  before I got going on service dogs, there was a brief. Where the army was offering $90,000 for a bomb sniffing Beagle.. actually I'm not sure it was the army but certainly someone connected to airports

 I seriously considered that.....but  to teach scent discrimination... I couldn't figure out living here at crazy acres how you could eliminate or cause to be accentuated anyone particular smell to get the learning to learn portion of their training over with.

 

Annisett liquor fell into my mind at this point because I think that is the smell that they use on the rag that they drag around the countryside to lay the path for all the people riding horses..  it's called a drag hunt and I think it's annisett

 

the next thing that fell in my mind ----being rather open this morning.. I remember annisett being the preferred liquor for several of the Santa clauses that rode the wagon with me in parades and into hotel ballrooms..with my 8 tiny reindeer

 

that's all I know today

 I have to get ready for the craft show from 9:00 to 2:00 tomorrow I've never done anything like this before .. I plan on larkey and I ---------I think that's supposed to be larky and me... ( where is Ann Peterson when you need her. she's the only one I know who knows the difference.  i or me.   because she speaks 7 languages one of them being English so there)

NOV 17 2022

 even just running around with the dogs re introducing ourselves  to " the main desk '  kind of thing... we provided amusement for  137 the first week and  another 68 as of yesterday-- that first week we did a walk thru of one place with 62 people.  every activities director  is thrilled  to  talk with us...now if we can only schedule "real" visits in some logical  geographic order all over essex county..

it is amazing what you run into..... someone... a deaf. someone.. had seen a dane walking on the beach in lynn and wanted to see if they could get a dane for hearing....

welll the dog they must have run into must have been  the recently departed "opal"  who was bentley's sister..in our wanderings judy aqnd i  have made that connection... judy is pretty good at signing ASL...  if there is anything i was LESS accomplished at learning than spanish... it was ASL . but i know a little-- enough to "talk" to the guy at home depot...i never practice... and i should-- at any rate... we will loook into that

.as for training a dog for a deaf person/.... the first serv dog i put out was "annie"  for a woman who had balance issues and was deaf....  it did not take me long to add the deaf training... which in her case , she needed basically  reacting to a repetitive noise...

it was a while ago---  where it was wires before blue tooth....  so i strung wire to a doorbell and put it  over the door with a cup of goooooood treats  i could sit in the sunroom and make it ring.   annie went to the door-- as most dogs naturally do-- it did not take her too long to come to me and say" why are you not going to that noise"-

so i went. praising her as i went... reached for the noise/cookies and gave her some  and stopped the noise.....

about 2 of those and she was trained to that---it didn't take long to.  move the bell..... add someone knocking at the door....the cooking. timer, ---the phone... and someone calling a name...any repetitive noise... she worked beautifully for ?8 or 9 years.. and is buried here.. she was one of " the merle girls".  all 3 great dogs/.

i would hate to guarentee a deaf dog training..... but my  other "deaf trained dog" woke her owner and an entire appartment building when a fire broke out.. .i think that was in. ?pittsburg pa????-- and it was a merle too.. peggity !!

goldie at work again?

 nov 16 2022

practical report of the day....that sous vie cooking did a wonderful  butterfly leg of lamb--which i bought alreqdy vac packed in some seasonings-came home .. plopped it in the gurgling sous vie bucket and forgot it for several hours and it was excellent.. i had some -- mark had some--- and i will finish it up for breakfast . 

experimental dishes to be continued....

working on the senior drop by/ assisted living loops...

 Trying to devise an overall plan a wandering around with the dogs—Judy—and sometimes meghan  plus  me...... it is developing into three different type  visitations .

**The first just wander through wave at people and give everybody something to talk about at least ---which is critical for the staff --as well as the inmates.. doesn't take 10 minutes to cheer up probably 20 or 30 people on one run through....

** the second would be if the people there were sitting in a room. we could stop and visit with each person with the frying pan and entertain everybody probably 30 people and staff with the dogs running back and forth ---the frying pan and Judy rattling forth as only Judy can rattle.. she relates beautifully to---  shall I say ---seniors.

One nurse at a place asked  me if I wound her up before I put her in the door ----she does a perfect job at that.. That routine it's usually about 45 minutes and we're back in the car in an hour.

**the third visitation type would be to set me up in one spot to speak to a group. which could be set up on calendar ahead of time and I'd have to be very careful to to take that very seriously ---  I could do miscellaneous conversations from dog training to the movie business with cockroaches or something.  when I have done that ---so far---- the crowd has been very joyful and laughing in  appropriate places... which is fun to do. 20 minutes to half hour... stand around with the 3 ( or 4) dogs and answer questions and be out within the hour.

 

So far  for RE- introducing ourselves-----we have gone to 3 or 4 places a day—places we used to  go to BC. Before covid... And the concept has been really more than well received they're anxious to have us come back.

which brings up the topic of each one of these places has to have in activities director ....it seems like.. and the poor activities director has very little budget  and sometimes  is trying to entertain people with extremely varied abilities... and they're job depends on their ability to fill up a monthly calendar-----consequently to add us to it fills up one square on their piece of paper which is pawed  over by some board of directors ---always with questions of why can't you do more... it's an extremely challenging position so to have us mentioned taking up a 45 minute block these people are thrilled.. it doesn't take much.. and let's face it the dogs are beautiful------sort of almost doesn't matter what we do.

 

We have the pieces... it doesn't take much... to prepare for this I did buy a large gallon size waterless shampoo.... bio groom is my favorite---if I dampen some paper towel with bio groom and wipe the slobber off a dog .. they look beautiful and smell terrific.. .. And if sizzle does absolutely nothing except stand still facing the door (looking for the car..)  people are impressed.... amazed and comment how beautiful that dog is and how well behaved ... when. she hasn't done a thing besides stand there.

 

So far we have three loops--- Danvers x3....N Beverly--and Beverly.   the next day we did. Georgetown.. North Andover... Andover.x 2 .. and skipped over topsfield but we thought about it.... And I forgot the third one..

today I'm thinking of ....Ipswich... Rowley.... Newburyport.x2   amesbury and Salisbury ----which would put us at The Hay guy  Around lunchtime if we dragged the trailer with us.

there is also a loop involving Wakefield ...stoneham...melrose...malden... saugus

 

do we know exactly what  we are doing?    No... It is more productive at this point to be shall we say.  Unstructured...  it leaves more time to develop things we hadn't thought of... of which there are a lot