Dog Whisperer

Since I am on a little roll about pets. Has anyone watched the Dog Whisperer? He is on the Natl Geo Channel.Awesome!! I love this show. Man, with a little hiss sound and snap of his fingers he has mean dogs under control. He stresses that dogs are dogs and not people. He actually trains people and rehabilitates dogs. That is his quote. Dogs that have a pack leader, PEOPLE, are happy dogs. They don't have anxiety and behave badly when they know who is the boss. And we really should not, NOT let the dogs be the boss.
{clears throat} Not that any of us do that, right? I just said recently that after 8 or 9 years now our dog has us about trained.

Its been real funny doing the chores alone. When hubby does them the dog goes everywhere with him and she gets to carry a glove back in her mouth and then gets a small treat. Well the weather is warmer now so no glove. Do you think she wants to go out to the barn with me? Only about half the time, when she wants to poop in the pasture! No glove, no treat, why bother? But fetching mail is still on the agenda. Fetch a piece of junk mail, get a treat, nice mommy.

In the picture of her above, you can see the boo-boo on her eye brow where the baby donkey, Flossy kicked her last fall. Flossy still chases her sometimes, but the dog has gotten smarter and runs to me for protection. The kicking up of the heels has about stopped as Flossy has gotten older. Will have to post a new pic of her. Does anyone know a Donkey Whisperer??

To All Non-Pet Owners Who Visit & Like to Complain About Our Pets:

1. They live here. You don't.
2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the furniture.
(That's why they call it "fur"niture .)
3. I like my pets a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, it's an animal. To me, he/she is an adopted son/daughter
who is short, hairy, walks on all fours and doesn't speak clearly.

Remember: In many ways, dogs and cats are better than kids because they:

Eat less
Don't ask for money all the time
Are easier to train
Normally come when called
Never ask to drive the car
Don't hang out with drug-using friends
Don't smoke or drink
Don't have to buy the latest fashions
Don't want to wear your clothes
Don't need a "gazillion" dollars for college.

And finally,
If they get pregnant,you can sell their children :-)

Whew! Had to come to work to rest!

Below are 2 pictures of the projects going on. One is of the bathroom tile over the tub. Still a work in progress. Have a pro doing this job. The other is the adjoining bedroom. The red ribbons is to keep "little" brother from hitting his head on the light fixture, {again}. When we lived in this house before, about in 1990 to 93 we did alot of remodeling and we had this room paneled to cover old walls. Well the "brothers" who owned the house last wall papered it, and a crappy job if I do say so. Yes I do say so! Anyway before they papered they painted the ceiling and slopped paint on the paneling. I really didn't want to remove the paneling so I stripped off the old paper, ran caulk around the ceiling, patched all the holes and have one coat of primer on. I found the paint that I think will look great. It is called sandstone. IT is textured, like sand. I have the carpet squares ordered. Bro. is putting down the underlayment today. Went to Lowes yesterday and ordered the new vinyl windows for the bathroom and bedroom. Plan to get them all replaced thru out before the year is out. I ordered custom sizing so they should be easy to replace the old ones and not mess up the woodwork. Picked up the new BR vanity and medicine cabinet and light and floor tile. Whew! That was the fun part! Wish I were alot younger I would have gone to school and learned how to be a REAL carpenter!! Think I would have liked that better than nursing.

Oh, I changed my mind, {you know I am allowed to do that} The wall is staying between the little dressing room and the bedroom. Cost was a factor and I really like that little room with a small window in it. makes a nice place to iron. Going to just enclose the closet that is at one end of it. and tore out the little open closet thing that was at the other end. Will make a nice place to put hubby's desk.

So thats it for now. Going to put the last coat of primer on tonight and will have to make another trip to town to get the paint. Thought I could get it cheaper at Walmart but they only sell it in spray cans. Did you know that Walmarts paint is good stuff. Valspar and some other quality brand, They just package it under Walmart name. I have used it for years and now I know why I like it so much.

Primer over the old paneling

New BR tile going up

While the mouse is away!!!!!

Ok now I am ready to get busy. Hubby always knows that when he leaves me alone I do something to tear up the house. At the present time I have the carpenter redoing the bathroom. Will post a before and after pic when he is done. Hubby knows I am going to tear wall paper off the bedroom and rip up the carpet, but,,,,,,,,, he doesn't know I am having windows replaced and move one wall!. See there is a big sort of dressing room at the end of the bedroom. By taking out the wall and putting a closet in across the back wall it will open the room up and it will be about 12X18. As we do work on an area we are taking out the old windows that we put in about 15 years ago and putting in vinyl ones, The metal frame ones drip all winter. I am headed out tomorrow to get the bathroom vanity. When we did the bathroom 15 years ago we put in all blue/gray fixtures,tub, sink and toilet. Am going with a nice clean white, and a pretty tile for the walls. I want to do the bedroom floor myself. Looking at the new 24in. carpet tiles. Think with a little coaching I can do that.

So have lots of work to do. Plus take care of the horse, donkeys, chickens, and dog. Gee piece of cake!!

Oh, didn't mention where hubby was going! Silly me. He is headed out to Nv. to help his sister with packing up. Then will fly back out middle of next mo. and be there to help her with the movers, then drive her back in her car. AGAIN.. We just did all this last year at this time. But she had to go back out to Nv. and try it on her own. She just wasn't ready to make that move yet. Lucky her house didn't sell here so she can just move right in. Have had a painter working in there doing some repainting of all the rooms for her and that will make her happy.

So there you go. Lets see where did I put the motrin??

OK, do I believe?

My last post triggered a question of my opinion on the topic of UFO's. I have read quite a few books on the subject, and I have to say that it is very compelling. I like to read books on the metaphysical and paranormal. Guess that's really 2 different subjects, but what I am getting at is that I keep an open mind. I really believe that the mental capacity that we use is so tiny compared to what we are meant to evolve to. So are there aliens helping us to evolve. I sort of like to think so. I think what makes be believe in UFO's is that we have to be very smug to think that this huge universe could only produce one intelligent species, come on! Our world is like a tiny grain of sand in the grand scheme of things.

So I keep an open mind and try to fill it with stuff and learn all I can in this life. Now as for the next life, that will have to be another post. Hint: Of course we have been here before and will be again.

Could UFO's realy save the world? See the story!

OTTAWA (AFP) - A former Canadian defense minister is demanding governments worldwide disclose and use secret alien technologies obtained in alleged UFO crashes to stem climate change, a local paper said Wednesday.

"I would like to see what (alien) technology there might be that could eliminate the burning of fossil fuels within a generation ... that could be a way to save our planet," Paul Hellyer, 83, told the Ottawa Citizen.

Alien spacecrafts would have traveled vast distances to reach Earth, and so must be equipped with advanced propulsion systems or used exceptional fuels, he told the newspaper.

Such alien technologies could offer humanity alternatives to fossil fuels, he said, pointing to the enigmatic 1947 incident in Roswell, New Mexico -- which has become a shrine for UFO believers -- as an example of alien contact.

"We need to persuade governments to come clean on what they know. Some of us suspect they know quite a lot, and it might be enough to save our planet if applied quickly enough," he said.

Hellyer became defense minister in former prime minister Lester Pearson's cabinet in 1963, and oversaw the controversial integration and unification of Canada's army, air force and navy into the Canadian Forces.

He shocked Canadians in September 2005 by announcing he once saw a UFO.

OUCH!

Did you ever pick a hair off the front of your husbands shirt?
And it wasn't a dog hair!

Darn Pushy Horse!

I wanted to share my row of birdhouses I made for gifts for our family reunion. I am using photobucket to add this picture. As you can see from the pictures, the little houses are decorated with license plates and recycled siding that I spray painted, and even the pepsi emblem that I cut from a can. Makes me want to get back to the saw and my favorite tool, the electric staple gun that shoots little 1 1/4 in brads. Great for these little projects. I don't recommend the foo foo stuff for the little porch if the house is to be used outside for real birds. My brother has had a family of house wrens live in his the last couple years right on his back porch. I like to collect birdhouses too. One of my favorite is in my store now, an oriole nest that the ice storm brought to the ground. It looks like the perfect little bird cradle. A fantastic creation of weaving of twigs, horse hair and even some fishing line. I will take a picture of it and post it soon. So now if I make some more birdhouses I plan to make little back doors on them so that I can open them and clean out for them. Have lots of bluebirds that nest in our yard.

Where did my tax refund go??

Lowes got alot of my income tax refund yesterday!! New bath tub, some purty tile for the walls, and accessories to go with the new wall, corner shelves and towel rod to be worked in with the tile and new faucet fixtures and a new hand held shower. Got a pretty tile that is sort of sand colored with little darker flecks and swirls, and the grout is a sand colored. (figured the soap scum wouldn't show up as bad)
When we get that all done will start on a new vanity and sink, not sure if we will continue the same tile for the counter or get a pre-made top. THEN after all that I hope to move on to the kitchen and do the counter with a new sink and faucets.
So there is my project list for this spring. I hope my carpenter will be speedier than when he did the breezeway. But he did an awesome job connecting the house to the garage with this big roof. Hubby says we should put a cross on top and hold services under there!!

Bro. came out yesterday and cut a nice hole in the closet floor and framed in a good access for working under the house. The previous access was this small opening from the outside that would only let a fairly small man to get thru there. You notice I said "man" I'm not going under there!!

Bro. and I are conspiring to do our own renovation while hubby is away in March. You know when the cat is away the mice will play. Going to move all the bedroom stuff out. So I can tear off all the wall paper and rip up the old carpet. Will have to put down new plywood flooring then I want to look at the new carpet squares for a do it yourself project. Anyone had any experience with them? Looks cool. Not the old peel and stick that they used to sell. Then I can take the old closet "shag" carpet out and continue the new stuff thru there. Oh, and hubby really doesn't care. He likes to let me do pretty much what I want with the house, just don't move his stuff around in the garage to much!!! Last time he was gone I sort of cleaned the garage and he claims he can't find stuff. Well just because you aren't tripping over it doesn't mean its not there somewhere.

Spring is on the way. I am ready to get out and dig in the dirt!!

Two fish swam into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says "Dam!"

Aquarius, yes, thats me!!

AquariusJanuary 20 - February 18
There is no question about it, dear Aquarius, you have been working hard these last few weeks. As an approaching deadline looms, you may find yourself waking up at night, running numbers through your head and mentally rewriting project proposals. It's exhausting, to be sure, but know that the end result will make all this aggravation worthwhile.

Well since I just had my taxes done this week, I think this fits very well. Looks like I might be able to go ahead with remodeling my bathroom!!

Have a great weekend. Dark and stormy here today.

SOLD, to the lady in the front row!

I just made my first E-Bay sale!! I listed it one week ago and the auction closed yesterday afternoon. I had put a min. bid of $1.00 on it, and on the second day I got a bid to cover my min. I thought "hey this is OK" No more bids till about 2 min. before my time closed and I got 6 bids and sold it for $3.28 plus the $3.12 for shipping and handling. Of course E-Bay will take a small cut of that but I was excited. Now I see my act. has been paid so will get the book wrapped up and kiss it good-by.

Well gotta run. Have a couple books I want to get listed today!!!

What is the Book Lady reading?

I finished 2 books yesterday. Woman on the Edge of Time was very interesting. Didn't end very clear so was a little disappointed in it. Then I finished A Dean Koontz book, The Face of Fear. A good read, not like his other books I have read, It was more like a real mystery with the bad guys chasing the good guys and you know who wins in the end, right? Still reading a Sara Davidson romance, Cowboy. It is my treadmill read for now. A silly romance that isn't bad.
Getting ready to start a Nicholas Evans book. I am sure I won't be disappointed as he is such a great writer. This one is The Divide. I still want to read The Horse Whisperer, I was told that the movie ended much different than the book, so have to read it and see. I caught the tail end of the movie on TV the other night. Oh, that Redford!!

My sister is trying to get me into quilting, I think I would like it and have done a little of it in the past. I could set up a table here in the store and sew between customers, but then how would I read all these books? But I would feel more productive if I did something other than read. So I am thinking I will give it a go. I have been collecting denim pieces for along time as I think I would like a quilt of denim with the seams on the outside all frayed. I saw one in Park City Utah one time that was just awesome. They had stitched pieces of jeans onto some of the blocks, like a belt loop, or pocket.

The weather is teasing us with a little warm up. So glad, as I am anxious to get out in the flower beds and sunshine. But keep the wood box full as it will get cold again I am sure.

Oh, one more thing, I sell my first book on e-bay today. I was surprised I got a bid on it right away. I am getting my feet wet in this areana. Have been ordering books for folks who don't want to do it themselves and I charge a small fee for handling that. It has been working pretty well. I think I have ordered 7 books in the last couple weeks. It is fun to help them find what they want if I don't have it. So I have been taking pictures of books this week so I can post a couple more on e-bay. Wish me luck.

I need a favor!!

I need a favor!!

My neighbor has a puppy he's giving away (FREE!).
It's a Dachshund, it's house broken, and it's great with kids.

He's giving it away because his wife says the dog 'stares' at her when she is undressing ,

and that gives her the 'Heebie Jeebies'. I think she is just weird !

If you're interested, or know someone who is, let me know.

Here's a picture of the dog.


Please see the nice doggie below.

My Prison Experience

A fellow blogger asked me to do a post about my experience in prison. Gotcha!!

Actually I am an RN and worked at a mens prison in Nv. for 7 years. It was definately the highlight of my 33 years of nursing. I worked OB most of the time, during the first10 to 15 years. I had my first experience with inmates while I worked at a Nv. hosp back about 1985. At that time the local prison had female inmates and when they would have a pregnant inmate they would deliver at our facility. Yes they did shackle them to the labor bed and the delivery table and an officer was placed outside the door. I remember thinking this was rather barbaric, where were they going when they were trying to push a baby out! But having worked on the "other side of the fence" so to speak, no literally, I can see the necessity. There has to be standards. I know now that inmates are classified with numbers that indicate their risk for violence, or an excape risk. This no. will indicate the level of security required. But to my knowledge when they are off the prison yard there is still a pretty high level for all.

Years later when I worked at the prison we did not have women there, but there was a period of time that we housed about 50 or so at one unit, temporarily. Well ended up being over a year. Since I was the "yard nurse". It fell to me to make rounds daily to that unit and answer complaints, do nursing assessments, and order treatment and care that I was allowed. Mostly all they wanted was laxatives and hormones. When they complained about pimples, I had to blow them off. Their presence took up about 2 hrs. of my time daily out of 8 hrs. that had already been very busy, doing sick call to the lock down units of a couple hundred men and the work camp that joined the main prison. I was so glad to see them all transfered elsewhere. Oh, I forgot after I did it for about 6 mo. they assigned a nurse to handle just the women, 8 hrs a day!! Well I didn't begrudge her the job. Women are the worse, whiney complaining critters.

I got to use my OB experience once with a gal who claimed to have her water break and no labor, so since I had experience they sent her to the clinic for me to see and examine. No one else there, even the dr. didn't know how to examine a laboring patient. Well she was really in labor with ruptured membranes and gross leakage, so it was a no brainer. BUT, See this is how one could plan an excape if not monitored, claim water broke, no labor, but would need to be sent to hosp, and maybe have a boyfriend waiting in the hall to wisk her off to a car and gone. So these are reasons that there has to be security measures.

Some of the women were in for crimes of violence, but a huge number of them were for drug related offenses, 1. theft to support habit 2. selling drugs 3. buying drugs 4. prostitution to earn money. Even in a state with legal prostitution, you can't just work on your own. Alot of the time the women are there because of bad boyfriends or husbands. The guys are the drug dealers and the women get sucked in and when arrests are made they go down with the guys. Did you know that if a member of your family is dealing illigal drugs out of your home, you stand to be arrested and jailed even if you didn't actually buy or sell. I am pretty sure I am right about that. Someone correct me if not.

Well long story, but that is my experience with women inmates. Now I will have to do another post or 2 about the men. They are a long story, or many stories. I rather enjoyed taking care of them, and never felt threatened,{well there was that one guy} I had something they wanted, medical care, which means medication!!

Blessed are those who can give without remembering and take without forgetting

Happy Valentines Day to all,

I enjoyed my day off Monday, even though it was cold and rainy all day. At least we could be thankful that the rain was not freezing to ice. I headed out early and went to Ar. to spend the day with my favorite daughter and go book hunting. Both ventures were very successful! We had a good time even though she was coming straight off of working 12 hrs. Don't know how she does it. Guess at her age I was doing the same kind of thing. Glad I don't do that any more.
I came home with about 100 books to add to the store, so that was good.

Business is good some days and not so good others, but guess that's the way it goes. I still keep busy. Have opened an act. with Amazon and with E-Bay. Have several books listed on Amazon now and will get my feet wet with the other this week. I watched a set of 103 Louis L'Amour hardback leatherette books sell for over 400$ And another set of 109 books for over 500$. I have over 80 of them, I thought I would get them listed as soon as I am sure I know what I am doing. I don't usually deal in hardback books, but bought these up on a good deal from a young man wanting to unload them. And I have started ordering books from Amazon for customers and adding a couple dollars fee on for the service. Shoot I even got a box of candy bars and put on the counter to sell. Oh, and I got one of the real estate plastic boxes for flyers and put out by the front door and made up new flyers to keep in it.

Well best get back to the tax stuff. Wish me luck. dc

Just a reminder of summer:My Moon flowers