The days of early darkness

What a week we have had!  With Daylight savings time ending last week, we entered the week with 5:20pm sunsets.  Between work life and early darkness, this time of year really makes it hard to get out for weekday adventures.  But as a GSP owner, I know the importance of regular adventures to make life happier for everyone in the house.  Now that Ruby is staying with us, this is more important than normal.  Thankfully working from home affords me the opportunity to get out for some short lunchtime adventures during the week.  

We took advantage of a warm, sunny Monday to get out for a nice walk and pick up a geocache over lunch.  The weather was perfect, and we explored a park we hadn’t visited before which made it a little more interesting for all of us.  Ruby was crazy and I felt like I was relearning how to walk with two dogs again.  It is weird walking two younger, healthy dogs again after the last year of our life with a slow old lady, but I’m adjusting and grateful to be able get out on some nice walks again.

Since we took our walk at lunch, I was able to get outside right after work Monday to get the Christmas lights up around the house in preparation for the holidays.  While I’m not turning them on quite yet, when I’m read, so are they, and I didn’t have to freeze to get them done.

We have started to settle into a new routine during the week now that Ruby is here.  She loves to play in the morning, and she and Peaches have been able to spend a good amount of time outside since the weather had been mild.  They like to play chase or wrestle and Ruby loves to grab stuffed toys and shake them around a lot.  As the week went on, she began to relax a bit more each morning after a good round of play.  She’s able to keep herself entertained which makes working from home much easier, which is important.  

After a busy morning, she has started to settle down a bit before lunch, but she always gets a surge of energy in the early afternoon, so I’ve been giving them both a frozen kong or other fun treat after lunch to keep them happy.   

Ruby loves to ride in the car so on the days that we don’t walk over my lunch, we usually take a quick drive somewhere close by to pick up my daily geocache.  I’m just 20 days away from completing 365 days of finding a geocache every day and I’m so glad that I strategically left some easier caches close to home for these next few weeks so that I can make those finds over lunch.  Ruby really enjoys those car rides even if she doesn’t get out of the car.  

On the days that we don’t get out for a lunchtime walk, we make sure to get out right after work for a walk around the neighborhood so that we can complete our walk before it gets dark.  Those walks get better every day as Ruby learns to pull a little less each time.  After our walks each night, I have been feeding the girls dinner using some of my special feeders.  The treat ball was a big failure since Ruby couldn’t figure it out and I spent the entire time rolling the ball around for her, trying to show her how it works.  The last couple of nights, I’ve pulled out the snuffle mats for dinner time and they have been a big hit!  Between the car rides, walks, and other activities, I feel like I’ve been doing a pretty good job of keeping the youngster happy…and there is hope for the day when I finally bring a new puppy into the family.

Dinner time completes our fun for the day and both of the girls tend to lie down and relax for the evening.  It’s so nice that they relax so well and I’m loving that I don’t have to make multiple trips to let them outside after dinner, especially as the weather gets colder.  In general, they snuggle up on the couch and sleep most of the evening.  Sometimes I end up with one of them on my lap(or occasionally roosting on my shoulder) for a bit, but that never lasts long, and they move back to the couch to settle in for the night.   

Our nights always end with a trip outside for a potty break and then the girls come in and head back to bed.  Ruby is great about sleeping through the night and tends to sleep until around 7am when we get up, the girls head out for a potty break, and then come in for their breakfast.  After breakfast, Ruby is happy to head back to bed and snuggle for a bit longer, but she’s generally up and fully ready to start her day by 8am.  Peaches, on the other hand, is happy to sleep a little longer. 

After a busy week, I was excited to get out for a real adventure with the girls this weekend.  We were joined by Vanessa on Saturday for a little geocaching and hiking fun close to home.  We picked the perfect time of the day to meet because the temperatures were in the low 40s, we avoided the rain for the most part, and the sun even came out for a bit.  It was a pretty day in the woods, and we had a couple of great hikes.  We also found all of the geocaches that were on our list to find for the day.  

The girls were pretty pooped after our adventures and it was a quiet Saturday afternoon at my house…until dinner time when I ended up with both of them in my lap!  But once I fed them dinner, they once again settled in for the night.  

The weatherman promised us rain and snow for our Sunday, and he didn't disappoint.  Luckily it was only a light dusting of snow and there was a break in the rain late morning, so we were able to head out for another adventure today. The girls were very excited to get out for a walk at Hawk Meadows.  

We saw a deer, plenty of squirrels, and several nice people who stopped to say hello to the girls, and I was able to pick up my daily geocache before we wrapped up our walk and headed home.  Since returning from our walk, we've enjoyed a much needed quiet, relaxing day at home.  It was a great end to our week.

The weather over the next week looks like its going to be fairly mild and we’re going to make the most of it.  We are less than two weeks from Thanksgiving, and I know eventually Wintry weather will arrive, but until that happens, we’re going to keep getting out as much as we can to enjoy what remains of Fall.   We’ve got some fun plans for this week, so next week I’ll have more fun to share.   I hope you all have a great week.  

The arrival of November

As crazy as it may seem, we have reached November.  I swear every year goes by a little faster as I get older.  I think that the strange weather we've had all year has me confused too.  From our unseasonably warm Winter and early Spring to our rainy, cool Summer and abnormally warm Fall, nothing has seemed normal this year.  Things have started to cool down though and we had some more normal weather with freezing temperatures and overnight frost earlier this week which has finally brought on the color changes and falling leaves that we expect this time of year, although there is still plenty of green out there and just last weekend I was still picking tomatoes and broccoli from my garden.  It's just been a strange Fall overall.  

This week has been a blur too, though I'm not sure why.  It's hard for me to believe we celebrated Halloween just one week ago.  It was a quiet Halloween here, but we did get a handful of trick-or-treaters.  Peaches donned her costume and tolerated me getting a couple of pictures and then proceeded to sleep the rest of the evening.  Maddie's presence was especially missed because I had no dog beside me watching for the little ghouls and goblins.  It was a new Halloween experience for me because Imke and Maddie always got so excited on Halloween night, but I know that everything is going to be a little weird over the next year as we adjust to life without Maddie.  

Our walks early in the week were done in our neighborhood.  The Fall colors are really beginning to pop out here and I enjoy the walks close to home when the weather is a little cooler and the sunset is earlier.  It's just hard to get out for much of an adventure when the sunsets earlier than 6:30pm.  

In addition to our daily walk, I spent time in the yard on Monday evening doing some garden clean-up to prepare the garden for Winter.  It's sad to see my little garden with no plants and the fencing down, but I look forward to the Spring and seeing what I can grow next year.

On Tuesday, I worked the evening session at the polls for our local mayoral election here in Lansing.  It is the second election I have worked and I enjoy being able to be part of the election process.  Since I worked my normal job for the first portion of the day and the election for the rest, Peaches and I didn't get out for any fun, but I made sure she had plenty of time in the yard while I was home and a special treat while I was gone.

Since we aren't going somewhere different for our walks every night, I make it up to Peaches with fun brain games for her mid-day and evening meals.  She has really been enjoying using the treat ball and snuffle mat more and I like that she gets to use her nose and brain while doing something as simple as eating a meal.  Plus it takes her longer to eat which is also a win.  But that doesn't keep her from the occasional moment of begging.  

Thursday morning we welcomed a new foster into our home.  Ruby is 3 1/2 years old this month and weighs just about 38 pounds.  She's a tiny little thing, but she's full of personality.  She was an owner surrender, and I was lucky that the family was driving right through Lansing on Thursday morning, so I met them just 3 miles from home to pick her up and bring her home with me.  

She has some really adorable personality traits and is pretty quickly making herself right at home here.  She is feisty, loveable, and fun, and Peaches is slowly adjusting to having her here.  Peaches takes a bit more time to adjust to new dogs in the house; it's never been as easy for her as it was for Maddie or for Imke, but she tries really hard and I think she's happy to have a new friend.  But after 10 years of fostering, it is strange not having Maddie here to welcome our new visitor.  She would have loved having Ruby here.  Peaches and I are happy that we're able to give her a warm, safe home to lay her head while she waits for her forever family.  She'll find one quickly, I'm sure, because she's an awesome little girl.

After a busy morning of emptying all of the toys out of the toy baskets and running around the backyard, I thought it would be important to get both girls out for a little walk on Thursday evening.  We headed out to Shubel Park, which is a Lansing area park that I had never visited.  While I had seen the sign for this park many times, I had no idea what a beautiful little park it was.  Wooded with some short trails along the river, it was a beautiful place to start our walk before heading into the adjoining neighborhood as dusk fell.  Boy did the girls enjoy that park.  I'll definitely add it to my list of places for a quick walk.

After a nice walk around that neighborhood, we made it home for dinner around 7pm and, once they had eaten, the girls quickly fell asleep for the evening and we all slept well that night.

Friday morning started with a little neighborhood watch.  It's funny how Ruby perches herself to look out the window to watch the world go by.  Peaches didn't want to feel left out, so she joined in the fun.  

Late Friday afternoon, we got out for a little geocaching fun and walk through the woods.  

I wasn't sure how geocaching with the added pup would go, but Ruby did surprisingly well.  She and Peaches thoroughly enjoyed the time in the woods and all of the wonderful scents of the woods in Fall.  I only had to untangle us a few times, so I thought it was a very successful first geocaching outing for Ruby.  

I thoroughly enjoyed the beautiful colors and peace and quiet of nature.  While we saw a few people, for the most part, we had the woods to ourselves.  The weather was perfect-sunny and in the low 50s and we had a nice long walk in the woods.  It was just what I needed after a long, exhausting week.

We had a busy Saturday which started with a little cleaning followed by a 2 1/2 mile walk through the neighborhood.  I left the girls home for a few hours and headed out to enjoy lunch with a friend, an author event and book signing with the local library, and picking up my daily geocache on the way home.  Both Peaches and Ruby love to ride in the car, so I picked them up and took them with me and when I went to get my hair cut.  I knew they'd both enjoy the time in the car.  We ended the day with another 2 mile walk around the neighborhood just before sunset because this is the last sunset we'll have after 6pm for about 3 months and I was going to take advantage of it!

When we returned from our walk, I decided to see how Ruby would do eating dinner using the treat ball and let's just say that she's going to take some time to learn that one.  Peaches enjoyed her dinner in the ball and I helped Ruby hoping she'd eventually figure it out on her own.  They have now made themselves comfortable on the couch for the night.  It was a good day for all.

Tonight the clocks Fall back an hour as daylight savings time ends and darkness will arrive earlier and earlier for the next 6 weeks.  Thankfully we expect sunshine and low 60s for our Sunday and I have plans to make the most of that weather.  We'll get out for another nice walk in the woods tomorrow, will do some leaf clean-up in the yard, and I will probably start putting the Christmas lights up while it's still nice too.  It may also be the day that I finally open up Maddie's ashes and bury a portion of them in the backyard so she can join Spunky, Jake, and Imke there.  

And as I sit here tonight, I can't help but think about this night 3 years ago.  At this time that night, I was sitting on the floor next to Imke with her head resting on my knee not knowing that the next day would be the day I would say good bye to her.  I remember so much about that night so clearly and I'm glad that I have those special memories.  I sure do miss that girl.  I always will.  So after our adventures tomorrow, we will eat some Mexican food for dinner and then we'll head out for the final day of the season at our favorite local ice cream place, Twisters, and eat some ice cream in her memory.   I know she'd approve.