November gales in Lansing

This week went by quickly with little excitement since I sat down Tuesday night to write, so this week's blog will be short and sweet.  

The weather has been mild all week, which has been marvelous.   The girls have spent hours outside during the day while I worked.  I caught them just lounging in the warmth many times during the day, but of course there were plenty of games of chase and lots of wrestling as well as numerous yard patrol sessions.  It reminded me of Spring and just how much Peaches has always enjoyed spending the days outside  then.  

On Tuesday and Thursday, I spent the little over an hour of daylight after my workday doing things around the yard and preparing for the Winter, which is coming whether we're ready or not.  Trimming trees, cleaning up perennials, and other small jobs were my focus Tuesday night.  Thursday was spent mowing.  And after an hour or so of work, I would spend the last 20 -30 minutes of dwindling daylight playing fetch with the girls.  We came in both those nights just before it was dark to eat dinner and then settle in for the night.  

I spent Wednesday night at the shelter for our weekly Wednesday night Dog Walking Club.  Sadly it was the last Wednesday night walk we'll do in daylight until February.  The shelter dogs had a great time and I was grateful for a nice night for the walk.

Friday at work was busy and the girls again spent a lot of the day outside.   After my work day was over, I headed outside once again for more work in the yard.  I had a small section of the yard that I had to mow still and then I planned on finishing the leaf cleanup in the front yard and along the curb, since the leaves are officially gone from all my trees.  

I did what I could and it was dark before I decided to call it a day, leaving a small section along the curb to finish later so I could get the girls inside for dinner.   They ate and we played a few rounds of fetch before they decided it was time to settle in for the night.  Apparently they both thought my lap looked comfy.

Saturday we had a forecast with the potential for rain and wind, and while we had hoped to get out with Vanessa for at least a shorter hike on the NCT, I wasn't feeling 100% and decided to scratch the idea of hiking and just stay home instead.  

The morning was still warm and dry so the girls headed outside to enjoy the day before the weather turned.   By mid morning, some rain had moved into the area so the girls came inside and we spent the rest of the morning snuggling and watching TV.  

We ran a few afternoon errands, but for the most part we just spent a quiet lazy day at home.

Late afternoon, the storm moved  in, and while we had nearly no rain, we had some pretty bad winds.  I saw that there had been gusts of 60 MPH just down the road at the airport. 

I headed outside with the girls to ensure they got in a potty break before the storm arrived, but neither of them seemed concerned about the ominous clouds and wind gusts.   Peaches was looking for birds and Mina was playing with her friend, our neighbor dog.  But I didn't let them stay out for long with the wind we were experiencing.

As we sat inside watching the trees blow in the huge wind gusts, we lost power.  It didn't just flicker or go out and come right back on like it normally does for us...it was out.  It was shortly after 5:30, and I knew it would be dark soon enough so I gathered what I thought I'd need to make it through a dark few hours.

The girls ate their 6pm dinner and took a quick trip outside to potty.   Peaches then  immediately put herself to bed and Mina sat on my lap as we watched the daylight fade.  It was a long, quiet, dark evening.  

Our power was finally restored sometime in the wee hours of the morning.   I heard the beep from the stove as the power came back on, but I didn't look to see what time it was.  

Changing the clocks back an hour this morning was easy since I had ro reset them all due to the power outage.  Surprisingly, the girls weren't up at any crazy early hour due to the time change and we've had a quiet morning so far.  

Today we're going to get out for a walk along a local trail because we all need that.  I've got some stuff to do around the house and some trip planning to do for some short day trips I'd like to do before Winter arrives.  And before the day is over, I plan to take advantage of the nice weather to get my Christmas lights up outside so they'll be ready to turn on in just a few short weeks. I can't believe it's only 12 days until Siver Bells in the City, and only 18 days until Thanksgiving!

Hopefully next week we'll have more fun to share, although with the sunset before 5:30, weeknight adventures are hard.  But I guess it is time to start settling into our Winter routine.  Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday and a great week.

Farewell to October

We had a pretty boring week last week, and with a busy day Sunday followed by Halloween, I'm running behind in posting the blog.  My work week was busy and stressful, but I did try to get the girls out for some good walks most evenings so we could enjoy the end of the Fall colors..

Monday night we headed to Fenner Nature Center.  The girls were so happy to be in the woods and the deer were out, so they were crazy!  

It was a beautiful evening to be out with them, although they dragged me all over and made our walk less than pleasant.   We did have a nice conversation with a young couple who hope to get a GSP someday, and the girls were happy to get the extra attention. 

Tuesday i was able to leave for a lunchtime walk at Hartrick Park.  I was happy for the chance to get into the woods and away from the stress of my day for a bit.   

 

It was a gorgeous Fall day with everything glowing yellow.  Of course the girls enjoyed the adventure too.

Wednesday was a rainy day. but the girls spent time outside when they could throughout the day as I worked.   There were plenty of games of chase and wrestling, but no adventures for the day.

Luckily the rain held off for my volunteer time at the shelter Wednesday night.  I got to walk Easton.   He's a sweet older guy and we enjoyed our walk.

Friday arrived, and it was a beautiful sunny day.  It was the perfect day to participate in the annual Howloween trick-or-treating for dogs in Old Town.  After my busy work week, I was really looking forward to this fun event.  

I got the girls into their costumes and we headed to Old Town.  And boy did we have a great time!  I love this event every year, and this year's event was no different.  Mina and Peaches loved meeting new friends, both two- and four-legged.  I think Mina is going to learn to love this event every year too.

Saturday we visited with our our friends Barb and Tom.  I was excited to get the girls together with Sherman and Ruby for some fun.

While our attempts at getting good pictures weren't very successful,  the dogs had a great time playing together. There were plenty of games of chase and Mina dragged out all of the balls and played lots of games of fetch. 

It is crazy that my now 6 month old puppy is basically the same size as Ruby!

On Sunday, we had plans for a nice hike on the North Country Trail with Vanessa.   The majority of our walk was road walk along dirt roads.  

It was a fairly uneventful walk with the exception of missing a turn and ending up having to back track and adding over 1 1/2 miles to our hike.  We also had one small incident with a dog...and we got charged by a bunch of cows.  Thankfully they were behind a fence.  After 9 1/2 miles of hiking, we stopped for lunch at the Saucy Dog BBQ in Jonesville. 

After our lunch, we headed back out to finish a shorter section of the trail through Fireman's Park in Litchfield.  This section is a nice wooded section of trail.  We hiked  and geocached our way through that final 2 1/4 miles.  At the end of the day we had hiked 11 3/4 miles, 10 1/4 of them on the NCT.  We're also getting really close to completing all of the miles in Hillsdale County.  I think that is pretty exciting. 

Our Halloween festivities included pumpkin carving and dressing the girls up for our trick-or-treaters.  

Mina enjoyed her first taste of pumpkin guts and watching for the ghouls and goblins..

The girls were so well-behaved and we had a great Halloween night. 

And while I didn't get to see Fiona on Halloween, I did get this adorable picture of her dressed for the occasion.   Crazy to think she's 28 weeks old now.  She's really starting to show a lot of personality.  

We've now officially reached November.  Most of the leaves have fallen, and we're about to enter the long, cold, dark months of the year.  I'm not looking forward to the end of daylight savings time this weekend and 5:30pm sunsets.

The weather this week is looking pretty good, though.   The Halloween decoration are down, and with the mild weather, I'm going to get the Fall yard clean-up done and  the Christmas lights up before the week is over.   We'll also get outside to enjoy it!

Howl-o-ween Fall Fun

I had a busy and hard week at work.  Coupled with cold, rainy weather, I really had a tough start to the week.   Changes at work, lots of things to get done, and the poor weather also made it difficult for us to get out to do much and that just isn't good for any of us.  We didn't even get more than two miles away from the house between Sunday and Thursday evening.  

Luckily on Tuesday, the rain held off long enough for us to get out for a lunchtime walk at Benjamin Davis Park, just down the road from home.  The colors were really pretty at the park, and we made it back to the car just as it started to rain again.  We all enjoyed our mid-day walk and I think at least one day a week, we're going to make this part of our regular routine.  

I feel like I spent most of the week with Peaches hovering close by and staring at me a lot.

Mina kept busy harassing Peaches, hiding chewys, chasing balls, and playing with her treat toys.  She is really pretty good at keeping herself occupied and she's quite the busy little puppy most days.  

Nether of them like the rain, so neither of them wanted to spend much time outside when it was raining, but they did get some time outside.  We also did some short car rides.  They always like a ride in the car, no matter how far we go.  While we didn't get out for many long walks, I must have done something right because the girls put themselves to bed shortly after sunset every night.

Thankfully, by Thursday evening, the rain stopped and the weather began to improve.   After seeing that Thursday nights were dog-friendly nights at the Jack 'O Lanterns Unleashed event at the fairground, I decided to buy a ticket and head out to Mason with the girls for a little Halloween fun.  

The jack-o-lantern displays were pretty cool and it wasn't too busy, so we took our time to enjoy the displays.  

It was a little over a 1/2 mile walk and after our fist slow walk around, I decided we'd go for a little faster second walk around the path.  

There were lots of interesting things for the girls to smell and lots of people stopped to say hello to them.  They had a great time and I was really glad that we went.

I even let someone take a picture of me with the girls as we were leaving.  I was pretty happy about how well this turned out!  I still hate getting my picture taken, though!  

Friday was a beautiful sunny day, so I made plans to head to Marshall after work.  We started our adventure to Marshall with a walk along the Marshall Riverwalk.  

I always enjoy a Fall evening walk here and this walk didn't disappoint.  It was a gorgeous evening for a walk.  

The girls were having a fantastic time...Fall always gives them lots of great things to smell.  And I was enjoying all of the pretty colors.  These red maples always make me happy.

We moved quickly and were able to get in a three mile walk by sunset.  It was a great start to our weekend.

After our walk, I stopped for dinner at Oye Amigos in downtown Marshall.  I good taco salad and some buttered tortillas hit the spot.  

After dinner, I got the girls out of the car and we walked down the street to the Holiday House.  This house is pretty awesome.  They decorate it for most Holidays, but I have only seen it at Christmas before this.  I was glad I had made the trip to Marshall to see it decorated for Halloween.  

We then took a short walk around town to see the skeleton displays.  We even ran into a fun group of Witches out on the town.  It was a good night.

Saturday morning I started my day at the animal shelter for our Saturday morning Dog Walking club.  We had a nice walk.  Afterwards, I decided I had time to take Trillium out for a Sniffari.  The Sniffari program at the shelter allows approved dog handlers to take a dog out on the town for a fun adventure.  Trillium and I walked around downtown Mason, visited a couple of the businesses that welcome dogs, and then stopped at Biggby for a pup cup before heading back to the shelter.  I think Trillium had a great time.  She's a bit shy and needs to build her confidence so I think I'll take her out again next week if she's still there.  She such a sweet little girl.

When I got home, I had some fun planned for the girls.  The first stop of the day took us to REO town for the Howl-lo-ween event put on by a local rescue.  

There were businesses handing out treats for the dogs and some dog-friendly fun like bobbing for balls, a pumpkin pie eating station, and paw print painting.  Look how talented they are!

Our second event of the day was a trick or treating event at the Capital Area Humane Society.  We got there a little early and had to wait for it to start, but we were first in line when the event finally did start.

They had some Halloween decorations along the paths that they use to walk their shelter dogs and eight treat stations set up along the way.

The weather was perfect and the views were pretty too.  The girls and I both really enjoyed this event.  We were spaced nicely, so we didn't see anyone else along the trail and really got to enjoy our walk.  I really hope they decide to do this again next year.

By the end of the day, Mina had completely caught on to the meaning of Halloween events.  She did so well meeting people and other dogs, was well-behaved, and I was very proud of her.   And the girls made quite a haul of goodies between the two events.

After a fun-filled Saturday, we spent Sunday at home.  I did some work around the house, including some extra cleaning of a couple of closets.  With the nice weather, the girls spent a lot of the morning outside.  We had a short mid-day siesta...I was trapped under Peaches while Mina napped on the couch.

Once they were rested up, we headed outside to do some work in the garden, to mow the lawn, and to enjoy the beautiful 70 degree weather.  

Mina and I even had some fun playing in the hose and then played several rounds of fetch.  It was a productive day, but we also had some fun.  

After dinner, Peaches was ready for some more snuggling.  She's been extra snuggly the last few weeks.  Maybe it's the changing of the seasons.  

Our weather should remain nice the rest of this week, although after 70s tomorrow it is going to cool down into the 50s and 60s...but that is much better than 30s!    I expect another busy work week, but we have big plans for some fun next weekend and I'm looking forward to it already!