Winter Weather fun

After a mostly mild season so far, Winter finally arrived this week.  It started with a light snow last Sunday, was followed by a heavy and very wet five inches on Wednesday, and then a couple more inches overnight. 

Mina and Peaches have been loving the snowy wonderland in our backyard and have spent lots of time outside playing with the neighbor dogs during my work days.this week.  They run and bark and zoom around the yard until I force them to come inside to warm up,  and they can't wait until I let them go out and do it all again.

Fiona has also gotten her first real experience with snow.  According to Nicol,  she isn't happy when the blowing snow hits her in the face, but she has enjoyed crawling around sticking her face into the snow, trying to eat it. 

She is also spending lots of time standing all on her own and will walk while holding on to anything stationary.  It is only a matter of time before she starts walking all on her own.

The girls and I have been getting out for our three walks per day, even in the snow.  I think that the change from one long walk per day to three shorter walks has helped keep Mina more settled during my work days.  Our longer Wednesday walk in the snow was fun, and the only other people I saw out were my neighbors who were walking their Huskies.  Thus is the life of a GSP owner. 

Mina is back in class, attending her Doggie Do Good class, so we our back to our daily routine of a minimum 15-20 minute walk, 5-10 minutes of training, 5-10 minutes of structured play time, and then meal time twice per day.  Since she is pretty quiet in the morning we've been doing this as a mid-day and after work routine.  Our third walk  of the day is a short 10-15 minutes and varies depending on my schedule. I have to say that I feel like my entire day is spent working and then walking and training dogs.   But it's definitely been good for the girls.  I think they like the routine.

Yesterday Mina turned 9 months old.  It is hard to believe she's two-thirds of the way to her first birthday.  We started the day slowly and took a nice late morning walk.

After our walk, we headed out to visit Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona.  We were expecting some potentially slippery roads starting later in the day, so I wanted to make sure to get this visit in before the roads got bad, since it's been almost a month since I last saw them.

I was too busy playing with Fiona to take any pictures, but Nicol sent me this one a couple days ago.  I also got to play with Picasso, and before we left, I took a short half mile walk in Nicol's neighborhood with the girls.  I figured they could use the change of scenery as much I as I could since we haven't left our neighborhood on our walks all week.

Snowfall had started before we got on the road, but the drive home was smooth and we made it home before the snow started to stick to the roads and sidewalks.  Not knowing what the weather had in store for us, I decided we'd take a nice 2 mile walk while the snow fell.  

After our walk, the girls had a short play session in the yard, got in a nice training session where I learned that Mina loves chickpeas, had a quick game of fetch, and then ate dinner.  By 6:30, Mina and Peaches were soundly sleeping and were quiet for the rest of the night.

I planned on a quiet day at home today and thanks to my neighbor, Bill, I didn't even have to leave the house to shovel.  

The girls have been outside to play a couple of times and we had a nice game of fetch earlier.  We skipped our mid-day walk, but added an additional training session, and they had lunch in the Kong Wobbler and each of them has had a collagen chew.  Surprisingly, Mina has been quiet most of the day. 

I'm not quite sure how Peaches is feeling about our lazy day at home, but it is just what I needed.   I'll be cooking the meat for Peaches' meals for the next couple of weeks, making turmeric paste, getting some chili in the crockpot, and putting together a lasagna, while I catch up on this week's Jeopardy episodes so I have less meal prep during the week since I've now got commitments for two to three night each week for the foreseeable future.

I'm looking forward to welcoming February this week and I'm enjoying the later sunsets and longer daylight hours I've noticed over the last week.  We still have some Winter adventures planned, but I'm excited about the fact that March and Spring are right around the corner!  

January Adventures

We have been keeping busy over the last week enjoying our mild Winter weather.  It has been so mild that I often forget we're more than half way through January.  Honestly it feels a lot more like early November than the middle of Winter. I certainly haven't minded the warmer temperatures, but my muddy backyard would probably appreciate a break and some freezing temperatures. 

The lack of snow makes the palate of the world mostly gray and brown here in Michigan.  I wouldn't mind a little white stuff to add a little more character to the world around us, but it also makes getting out for hikes, daily walks, and geocaching adventures a lot easier.

On Sunday afternoon we were in the Okemos area running a few errands to help Vanessa who was stuck home sick.  While we were in the area, I discovered a couple of small parks with some short hiking trails and I decided they would make good spots for our Sunday adventures.   

There is nothing like a new hiking spot to really poop out a puppy.  We enjoyed our walks and checking out some new places.  

After being gone all last week, I took full advantage of the MLK Day Holiday on Monday to get some stuff done around home.  Cleaning, shopping, yard work, some really nice walks around the neighborhood, and plenty of snuggling made for a productive and mostly relaxing day.

On Tuesday, Mina had a trip to the vet's office because she contracted a mild case  of pink eye during her time in boarding.  She was happy for the visit because she got to see her friends and she got to meet some new kitties in the office.   I was given some eye drops to help clear up the infection, and she has been so good about letting me put them in her eyes.   I'm really proud of her.

In between our daily walks, playtime, and training, both girls settled nicely into my work days.  I've definitely seen a change in Mina.  She seems to be able to relax much better during the day while I'm working.    

On Wednesday, we took a lunchtime adventure to a local park.  It was a good way to break up the day and ensured that the girls got out for some fun.

Wednesday night, I walked adorable little Oklahoma during our Dog Walking Club walk.  He's a pretty cute little guy.

We had a rainy Thursday, but got out for a  few short walks.  We have also been working on lots of training this week because Mina started her Doggy Do Good class.  

After a crazy day of work on Friday, I was happy that the weekend had arrived.  I was up and out of the house earlier than normal on Saturday to head to the shelter to meet up with Vanessa and Katelyn for Dog Walking Club.  Vanessa and I each walked a dog and when we got back, we took two more dogs for a little shorter walk.  It was nice to spend some time with friends doing something I really enjoy.  One of my walking pals was Wyoming.   He's shy and nervous, but absolutely a sweetheart. 

After our dog walk, I headed to the Lansing Mall with the girls for a geocaching meet up and then we took a walk around the mall and did some training.   We even had an audience while I was working with them.  

We spent our afternoon doing some geocaching around the Eaton Rapids area.

We even found a new, fun little park to explore. Neither of the girls were happy that I made them stop for pictures. 

We had several geocache finds and a really good afternoon adventure.  The bonus was a very quiet evening at home.  It had been an excellent Saturday. 

Today we woke up to a light dusting of snow on the ground.  I was glad there wasn't more, but it was definitely a nice change.

Vanessa picked us up mid-morning and we headed to Augusta to check on some geocaches we had placed in the area along the North Country Trail.   

We had a nice 3.5 mile hike along the trail in the Augusta Prarie to get our 2023 Hike 100 challenge started.  It was a beautiful morning for a hike.  

Peaches and Mina thoroughly enjoyed their time on the trail.   Peaches was pretty excited that there was some snow to roll in and Mina enjoyed all of the smells.

After our hike, we stopped a lot a local restaurant for a really good lunch.  I was not disappointed with my Teriyaki Salmon wrap with homemade curly fries.  It was a delicious end to our day of fun.

We did a quick 3/4 mile walk when we got home, followed by a short training session, and a little outdoor playtime, and then the girls came in for a late lunch.  Other than when Mina woke up ready for dinner around 6:30, it has been very quiet at my house since we got home.  I'd say it was the perfect end to our Sunday.

We are just a little over a week away from February and I've noticed the daylight hours are slowly getting longer.  The temperatures this week will remain mild for the next few days before dipping at the end of the week.  We'll be making the most of the last week of January.  

Home is where I belong

Happy Sunday everyone.  I've committed to myself staying on track with a weekly blog post this year, even if there isn't much to say.  The blog this week won't be very exciting because it was a pretty boring week, but I'm keeping that commitment. 

I left my house before sunrise on Monday to drive to the airport for my flight to Orlando for our Leadership Conference.  I rarely fly direct from Detroit, so it was strange finding parking and going through security there, but all went smoothly.  Our flight was slightly delayed at departure, but overall the flight was smooth.

We landed in Orlando and I made my way to the bus that would take us to the resort.  Once everyone who was to take the bus arrived, we were off for the 45 minute drive to the resort where the meeting was being held.  I checked in and was finally able to make it to my room and then grab a late lunch before getting changed and heading to our first meeting of the week.  The rest of the day was spent in a meeting or at our welcome reception with 700 people, most of whom I've never met.  It certainly made it hard to find the people I actually know!

The picture above is the view from my room Tuesday morning before the longest day of the week began.  For the next 14 hours pretty much all I saw was the inside of the conference center.  It was a long and exhausting day...definitely not my idea of fun.

Wednesday morning started the same as Tuesday, but I did have something to look forward to that day.  We had a couple hour break in the afternoon, and I was looking forward to having some alone time.  Still, I spent about 7 1/2 hours in the conference center.  But boy was I happy when 3:15pm arrived.

I had one goal for my break: take a walk off the resort property to pick up a geocache about six tenths of a mile away.  I got my geocache and a couple more and ended up walking just over 4 miles.  After sitting in meetings for so long, this walk is just what I needed.  I even had time to sit down and stick my feet in the pool for a few minutes before heading to our evening event.

Four more hours of meetings on Thursday morning was followed by the 45 minute ride to the airport and very slow airport security.  Thankfully I was able to grab a quick bite to eat at the airport before boarding my flight back to Detroit.  It was a bumpy flight, but we made it back safely.   

We landed on time and I made my way to the parking ramp for the drive home.  I picked up some dinner on the way home and arrived to a very quiet and dark house, very thankful to be home!  I spent the night without the girls since I wasn't home in time to pick them up from boarding, but I was able to do a little catch up on some work items before just relaxing for the night.  Boy had it been a long, exhausting week!

Friday morning was busy with some Teams meetings and calls I had to make and just trying to catch up after a week out of the office.  I finally left home at 11:30am to pick the girls up from boarding.  It was a happy reunion, although I'm pretty sure I was happier to see them than they were to see me.  

Mina was a busy body all afternoon while I continued my work day, but Peaches was happy to lie down under the desk and not move.   We took a nice walk around the neighborhood after I finished my work day and then we settled in for a quiet evening.  It was nice to be home.

Saturday it was back to my normal routine.  I went to the animal shelter on Saturday morning to volunteer and I was able to enjoy a nice walk with Michigan.  He's a cute little 10 month old puppy and I couldn't resist that adorable face.

After volunteering, I came home and took the girls for a nice walk.  We visited Ingham Park, which isn't far from my house, and they got to sniff around the woods and work on some training with the distraction of the nearby disc golf course.

Then, before the day ended, I was off to meet a transport for the National Brittany Rescue & Adoption Network.  Zeus and a

Apollo are 12 week old puppies who were moved from Iowa to their foster homes here in Michigan.  I dropped them off in Flint for the final short leg of their very long journey. Boy were they cute and really good passengers too. 

I was fortunate enough to also get to add little Chopper to the transport.  He came from a breeder in Michigan and is just six weeks old, but he has a serious health condition which requires an extremely expensive surgery.  The rescue is going to help him get that surgery.  I was told that if he gets the surgery, he has a 90% chance of living a completely normal life.  Without it he won't live to see his first birthday.   Things like this make me so proud to be part of the rescue community.   I sure hope the little guy lives a long and happy life.

We had some snuggle time this morning and the girls are now out playing with their friends.  I've got lots to do today around the house, but I think we'll get out for some fun too.  Mainly I just want to have a lazy day at home, but I know that won't happen with a GSP puppy.  I'm just so glad this conference week is over and I have a long weekend to recover.  Mostly I'm just glad to be home with the girls.   

A New Year and a Birthday Girl

We started the new year at our final family Christmas celebration of the year, my mom's family Christmas.  Because I knew that chances were good that it would be nearly dark before I got home, I brought the girls along with me so that we could stop for a little adventure on the way home.  They sat nicely in the car during the party, got to meet some family members at the end of the party, and were thrilled to get out for a walk on our way home. 

We stopped at a couple of spots on the way home to pick up a few geocaches, and then we headed to Harmon-Patridge Park in Owosso for a walk.  I had never heard of the park before, but there was a geocache located there, so we stopped.  I wasn't disappointed with this stop because there was a nice trail along the river and we were able to get in a nice walk at dusk.  It was a beautiful start to our year.

As a bonus we found this cool sign and tree.  Having grown up in the area, I thought this was a cool spot.  

We drove through downtown Lansing on the way home, and I had to stop as we drove by this awesome ice sculpture. We took a short walk around the Capitol and the girls got to say hello to some of the crew members working there cleaning up after the inauguration.

I had the day off on Monday.  While I was hoping for a quiet day at home, we always have to get out for a walk. We left mid-morning for a quick walk around the neighborhood, and ended up taking a 3 and 1/2 mile walk instead.  After we got back to the house, we jumped in the car and headed out to meet Vanessa on campus for another walk and a little geocaching.

We made one more stop on the way home to pick up one more geocache and a short walk around Poxson.  After all of our fun, we had a nice evening at home.  

Wednesday night is our dog walking club night, and I normally head out to the shelter after work to help lead the walk.  This week, my normal walkers were out of town or not feeling well, so I decided I'd get to the shelter earlier than normal and take a few dogs out myself.  I brought the girls along so that we could get in a walk after I had finished walking the shelter dogs.  I was able to get three dogs out of the shelter for walks and then the girls and I took a nice walk along the same route.  

Thursday morning, I had an eye doctor appointment and had to drive by the Capitol on my way home.  In all of the years I've lived here, I've never seen them taking down the Christmas tree.  I thought this was pretty interesting to see.

The best day of the week was Friday because we celebrated Peaches eleventh birthday.  While I had to work, I made sure to make it a special day for her.  In addition to our normal daily walks with Mina, I took Peaches out for a little one on one time.  We enjoyed a short walk, a trip to Soldan's, and a stop for a pup cup at Biggby, and I was happy to be able to spend some time with her snuggling too.  

It is hard for me to believe that she's been with me for five years now.  I'm so glad that she outlived the original two years that I was told to expect to have with her.  She has been such a blessing and a joy.  She's definitely starting to show her age, but I think that the 10-12 year old age range for GSPs is pretty perfect.  We are looking forward to many more years of adventures together!

Saturday morning, I headed back to the shelter to walk some dogs again.  I had promised Bob Cratchit that I'd get him out and so he was my first dog walking buddy of the day.  We stopped at the Family Farm and Home along our dog walking route and he got to say hello to a few people.  He was such a good boy!

I then took Tipperary out for a walk in the woods and picked up a few geocaches along the way.  She is a big ol' sweetheart and loved her time out of the shelter.  I just love her!

The girls and I got out for a walk around the neighborhood once I got home and then we settled in for a nice day at home. 

This morning we needed an adventure, so we headed out to Legg Park.  There were several new geocaches placed there recently (thanks Vanessa), and so we headed out to find them.  

Vanessa joined us for our adventure.  It sure was nice have her along to help with the girls, and to give me a few hints when I was struggling to find one of the caches.  We had a great time caching and it was the perfect morning for a walk through the woods.  

After we dropped Vanessa off, we made another stop for another short hike before heading home.  I had a few errands to complete and the girls were happy to be along for the ride.  Once we got home, we had lunch and did a few things around the house before we headed out for one more walk for the day, a quick walk around the block.  

This week I'll be attending a work conference, and sadly, the girls have to be boarded while I'm gone.  So after our last walk, I loaded them into the car and headed to the boarding facility to drop them off for their stay.  I'm happy to know that a one of the employees is a GSP lover and just recently lost her own GSP.  She was extremely excited to meet the girls and it makes me feel better knowing that someone who understands them will be there with them this week. But I really wish that they didn't have to stay there.  I know they'll be fine, I'm not sure I will be.

The house is exceptionally quiet without them and I'm in the process of cleaning up the last of the Christmas decorations to keep myself busy.  I always wait until January 6 to take the tree down, and I decided it would be easiest to take it down without the help of a puppy.  

I'm sad to see the holidays come to an end and to leave the girls behind for the week, but I'll try to make the best of it.  I'm already looking forward to the reunion with the girls.