Tuckered Out

Gypsy and Cleo roused us from sleep in the middle of the night, both of them yapping like cheap chorus girls. This morning they rekindled their efforts to get our attention. We wandered around outside and found a huge pile of bear 'scat', and a bird feeder that had been recently filled was torn to smithereens. Thank goodness we took our son's advice and didn't put our garbage out last night for pick up this morning! The bear had paid a visit to his plantation the night before.
We've been scurrying around like rabid chipmunks tidying things up, mowing the lawn, washing windows, etc. because a real estate agent from Spokane is showing our house this afternoon. We are also signing the final papers today to purchase the twenty acres overlooking the Columbia. Big day for us.

Planting Time

We got the garden tilled up and planted a bunch of goodies yesterday and today. I sure hope it isn't too early but just can't wait to work in the dirt. There are a lot more things to plant but this is a start. The real kicker is to be finished with writing when summer arrives so we can be outside enjoying the warm weather instead of  sitting at a computer all day.

Another Day in the Neighborhood

The weather has been absolutely beautiful for the past week. It's hard to stay inside in front of a computer. Both of us are trying desperately to finish the novels we are working on in order to take advantage of the up-coming summer days.
The corn and garlic is growing and there are many more goodies to plant. We were grateful for the high fence around the garden when a doe and her yearling fawn strolled past it.
The creek is still high and one of the beaver dams washed out but the others seem to be holding.
I baked chocolate chip cookies and the house smells so good it's too bad no one came to see it today...they would have bought it just for the fragrance!

Dog Gone

We took our pups for a long walk and when we returned went down to the creek so Gypsy could lay in the water, as is her custom, and Cleo could get a drink. The water is REALLY high and the currant is extremely swift this time of year so I was watching them closely. Gypsy found a safe eddy to take a dip but Cleo was having trouble reaching the water from the high bank. It was only a second after I mentioned to Gale that I didn't look forward to jumping into that cold water to rescue her if she fell in that SHE FELL IN. Naturally, I was there in a nano-second to pull her out and am definitely grateful that it was more like a hole she slipped into rather than the rushing water. Did she learn her lesson? I don't think so because she ran right out on the bridge, stretching her neck over the side to watch the bubbles. I had to put a gate up to stop her.

CATaclysm

Torpedo, the cat, loves to instigate Gypsy and Cleo into chasing him so that was nothing unusual this morning, except that at the same moment he was making a mad dash through the kitchen, I opened the door under the sink. He crashed into it head first and looked like a cartoon accordion before he unfolded his fur and took off again. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, it was sooo funny, but I felt awfully sorry for him, too. Of course he was not injured.
I also discovered why our hot tub water is green...YUK! It all started because I had a bad cold and got in there with Vicks on my throat. That situation will be rectified immediately!

No Show

Our Realtor called to let us know another Realtor wanted to show our house yesterday between 12:30 and 2 but didn't want us to be home when they arrived so Gale and I made ourselves scarce. We were waiting at Luke's house so we could watch for when they came and left. By 1:45 no one had arrived so we came home. Bummer. Nope, no one ever showed.
On the brighter side, we sure got a lot of small jobs done sooner rather than later, like burning the trash, cleaning the Hut and the back porch, etc.

No Garlic

My son said his garlic is coming up but there is no sign of mine yet and I'm not too happy about it. I planted four varieties last fall. The seeds I planted in the house are growing like crazy and I'm not sure what to do with them. It's too early to put them in the garden.
We now have a nice For Sale sign at our driveway. If someone will come along and buy our place we will be able to move to our new property that has a milder climate.
My youngest son bought three little pigs for the kids to raise for 4H. The little critters (pigs) are soooo cute I can't imagine anyone EATING them.
Gale is on page 225 of the Amulet and I'm on 98 of my new story. I contacted Grey Dog Press about Saving Terrene Glebe. He said he would be interested in a few months. We might have it published through iUniverse by then or at least decide to go that route...we'll see.

Anxious

Sunshine today! We went to town yesterday for Gale's physical therapy on his shoulder but I got to have lunch with a friend while he was occupied. I also bought a few more vegetable seeds and am sooo anxious to get them in the ground!
The problem is that it has been so darn cold. The cantaloupe and corn I started in the little peat thingies are sprouting so that just antagonizes me further.
Gypsy and Cleo have a bed under my desk where they curl up during the day while I work on the computer. Every now and then I hear a strange grrrr or uhf uhf from Gypsy. I never knew before she came along that dogs dream, and she can be quite vocal about them! It sounds so cute.

Sad New

Luke called yesterday. His dog, Snoopy, finally passed away. That is such sad news. Snoopy was nearly fifteen years old, quite an achievement for a large dog. Lexi grew up with him and felt really bad. It doesn't matter that we all knew he had cancer and couldn't live much longer. He was a good dog.
To make matters worse, Lexi's little gray cat had crawled up in the engine of Luke's truck so when he started it up to take Snoopy in to have him cremated, the cat got caught in the fan belt. Luke eventually freed the poor little thing but it took off. So he doesn't know if it will be okay or went someplace to die. He said it was covered with blood and smelled really bad. What a rotten day for Luke.
Closer to home and more pitiful than sad, my little Cleo has developed a terror for the dishwasher. When it's running, she hides in the office and cries for me to come to her, then shivers with fright until she eventually goes to sleep on my lap. If I take her to the kitchen and offer her a treat she ignores it and tries to get away. In fact lately, if the clothes dryer is running she won't eat from her food dish. That was a puppy thing she had gotten over until a few weeks ago when a jar dropped out of the cupboard next to her bowl.

Nothing New

Not a great deal going on around here. We've seen several coyotes and deer in the meadow but no sign of beaver yet. The weather has been so wet and cold neither one of us want to go outside and my poor little dogs sure miss their walks.
We had a delightful visit with Dave Gordon, the author of 'Hangin' with Jack', which I highly recommend to anyone interested in spirituality.
Gale wants his literary cowboy's to have a mug of beer instead of a shot of whiskey, as is always portrayed in the movies, but we can't seem to find out when beer was first served in early west bars. I think he's just going with it anyway because beer was around, especially after the railroad reached the west coast.

Wild Life

What fun! We watched two beautiful coyotes on the trail of two deer that gave them the slip. The deer vanished into the woods but the coyotes wandered out into our meadow. Gypsy and Cleo saw us staring out the window so they had to charge out to keep an eye on things. However, when Cleo realized what we were looking at she made tracks for the door.
The Mallard pair should be building a nest soon. When they're not paddling around on the pond, we see them flying overhead making a bee-line for the water.
The mule deer have been visiting the salt block in the meadow the last several days, too. They are so huge! They really show up with a little snow in the background. The patch is gradually shrinking.
I was visiting Jimbosfrontporch blog site and saw he has invented some new crochet hooks...really unusual...too back I don't crochet because these things look interesting. The regular ones are beautifully handcrafted things! 

Feeling like a Computer Guru

After three days of battling this computer to download my illustrations I succeeded today! The darn thing would take one but not the next or would say one was saved when it wasn't. Whew! Then I couldn't find the cruiser stick where 'Saving Terrene Glebe' is stored. I called the printer in Colville and they said it is still there, thank goodness.
Gale is putting up a good fight with the miserable cold I shared with him but has had a couple crummy days.  He's been putting in some long hours on the 'Ghost Dance' sequel, too, and is now about half way through.
We stepped into our hot tub just before it started to hail today. That was okay...we were wet anyway and the water is warm but when the thunder began to rumble, we figured it was time to head for higher, drier ground. Seemed rather odd to have hail and thunder at the same time.