What are you up to?
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Artyczar
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I've been busy, yet dragging. I'm getting enough sleep, but I'm sleepy all the time. I have been working on a small job for a friend to bring in some extra money. It's super low stress, but of course I want to do an excellent job and am probably working way more hours on it than I should. Maybe one day I'll get back to the painting, but he physicality of it makes me want to give up before I start. The whole thing is making me moody and tired. Thanks for allowing me this time to vent. 
Katie
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What do you mean too wild? I vaguely remember reading you had moved someplace.Wish I could have a dog again, but it's too wild here. I could get a bigger dog, but I'm not in much of a position to take care of one. Oh jeez. It's too hard to even talk about. I just wish I had a dog again.
Artyczar
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I live against the national park in the high desert (Joshua Tree). My dog was eaten by a coyote. She was small. I was diligent, but there was nothing I could do. It happened 20 feet away from me. It will be a year come this September.
I can't get a bigger dog because my boyfriend isn't so into them and my disabilities make it difficult for me to really exercise a big dog these days. But that would be the solution for me to have one in my life again. A big dog that bobcats and coyotes wouldn't bother with.
I can't get a bigger dog because my boyfriend isn't so into them and my disabilities make it difficult for me to really exercise a big dog these days. But that would be the solution for me to have one in my life again. A big dog that bobcats and coyotes wouldn't bother with.
Katie
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That sounds like a nice place to live. Sorry to hear that about your dog, that must have been devastating for you. Dogs take work, that's true, I have four but I have help with them. They are good company, they soothe me somehow. I just feel happy around them and my daughter and partner are the same.
Katie
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What about a cat? They can be very soothing.
brianvds
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Went ton the local little nature park again. Decided not to bother with a big camera, so of course, the place teemed with wildlife (they always seem to know when one only has a cellphone camera at hand).
It's winter now, and the whole place is dry and dusty.
But the weaver bird males have already gone bright yellow and started building nests, so spring is just around the corner.
Soon they'll be hanging upside down from neatly woven nests, trying to attract a mate. If the feral cats don't get to them first, that is...
It's winter now, and the whole place is dry and dusty.
But the weaver bird males have already gone bright yellow and started building nests, so spring is just around the corner.
Soon they'll be hanging upside down from neatly woven nests, trying to attract a mate. If the feral cats don't get to them first, that is...
Artyczar
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We are both highly allergic to cats. Also, no one has cats here, unless they are confined indoors or they would surely be prey. The rescue shelters are filled with cats.
But luckily, these are no kill shelters around here. It's just sad how crowded they are.
Maybe one day I will be able to afford a dog that is trained to help those with disabilities. They are very expensive, and I'd have to talk mjp into it, but maybe one day. Most of them are Golden retrievers, or shepards. They would need a lot of exercising. We used to have a border collie. He died at 14 and we had him for 12 years. He was 45 pounds (small-ish for a border collie) and was a bit too much dog for my partner. I grew up with them, so he was great for me, but I was a bit healthier then, and we had a big fenced yard at the time. I'd wear him out with the ball everyday, which was easier for me.
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Katie
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I see your point regarding cats. Maybe you will get a dog when the time is right for you!We are both highly allergic to cats. Also, no one has cats here, unless they are confined indoors or they would surely be prey. The rescue shelters are filled with cats.
But luckily, these are no kill shelters around here. It's just sad how crowded they are.
Maybe one day I will be able to afford a dog that is trained to help those with disabilities. They are very expensive, and I'd have to talk mjp into it, but maybe one day. Most of them are Golden retrievers, or shepards. They would need a lot of exercising. We used to have a border collie. He died at 14 and we had him for 12 years. He was 45 pounds (small-ish for a border collie) and was a bit too much dog for my partner. I grew up with them, so he was great for me, but I was a bit healthier then, and we had a big fenced yard at the time. I'd wear him out with the ball everyday, which was easier for me.
Artyczar
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Nope on the dog thing. We actually fostered two dogs since Gemma died. We bought a whole expensive set up: an electronic pet door that fits into a sliding glass door (we don't have any other type of door we could use and we are renters, so we can't break a hole into a wall). The door poked into a large-ish, fully enclosed dog run that we put onto the concrete patio. Then we got one of those grass pad thingies so the pup could pee and poop on something.
Well, it really didn't work out with either dog. We trained them both to use the door, but it was a matter of getting these dogs proper exercise and not being confined to the house and a cage. I can't walk a dog, which would leave that to my partner 100% of the time. I could take the dog to the dog park maybe twice a week, but I'd need assistance there too. I'm the one who wants the dog and wasn't fair to put all that on someone else.
The yard, even if fenced in is full of chollas. A fence would also obstruct the view of the rocky hills, and like I said, we rent.
Even if a dog is on a leash out here too, survival is not great unless you have a bigger dog and that would require even more time, plus even our border collie (who passed years ago) was a bit too big for my partner and I never really considered him to be a "big" dog. I/we became little dog people after him.
If we ever move, we will make sure it's a place suitable for a dog for sure. We really didn't see this coming, or at least we were being super naïve about it. We still have a hard time forgiving ourselves. Although, even when we lived in Los Angeles, we lived in the hills and coyotes came around fairly often. She could have been eaten there at any given time too. But out here, it's more than likely than it would happen. More so than it would ever be in LA.
Sorry that was a long explanation.
Well, it really didn't work out with either dog. We trained them both to use the door, but it was a matter of getting these dogs proper exercise and not being confined to the house and a cage. I can't walk a dog, which would leave that to my partner 100% of the time. I could take the dog to the dog park maybe twice a week, but I'd need assistance there too. I'm the one who wants the dog and wasn't fair to put all that on someone else.
The yard, even if fenced in is full of chollas. A fence would also obstruct the view of the rocky hills, and like I said, we rent.
Even if a dog is on a leash out here too, survival is not great unless you have a bigger dog and that would require even more time, plus even our border collie (who passed years ago) was a bit too big for my partner and I never really considered him to be a "big" dog. I/we became little dog people after him.
If we ever move, we will make sure it's a place suitable for a dog for sure. We really didn't see this coming, or at least we were being super naïve about it. We still have a hard time forgiving ourselves. Although, even when we lived in Los Angeles, we lived in the hills and coyotes came around fairly often. She could have been eaten there at any given time too. But out here, it's more than likely than it would happen. More so than it would ever be in LA.
Sorry that was a long explanation.
brianvds
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As snoball said, a weaver bird. This particular species of weaver do look rather like orioles, mind you. But orioles can't weave, and weavers don't orio.
Iain
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I was sorry to hear about the loss of Gemma, which I read about in your newsletter. My dog had been euthanised a few months preciously and I wanted to message and express my sympathies. I know it is little comfort, but please, try not to beat yourselves up about what you did or didn't do. You obviously loved and cared for her, but that isn't always enough. You weren't to blame; coyotes are wily. I know that from the cartoon! I cannot remember the encounters we had walking our shih tzu in bull terrier country. The young men with the powerful dogs on the estate must have thought I was either crazy or a sissy, or both, walking a bit of fluff on a string...
Artyczar
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Yes...it is maybe even just as hard to put an old sick dog to sleep. It is absolutely gut-wrenching. We had to do it twice. Our border collie, Buddy actually lived a really long life for that breed (13 1/2), but he wound up with intestine cancer and suffered badly in his last days. It was sooo hard for me to put him down, but Hannah had to push me and show me how he was suffering despite how I was trying to take care of him. He was my dog of all dogs.
Then, we "inherited" a Bichon Friese from my parents when they died, "Little." My parents did not feed him right and he probably would have died even earlier had we not helped him for the couple years we had him. He was overweight and my parents fed him American cheese and bacon! He died of kidney failure ay age 11. It took over him in a matter of 24 hours, but we do suspect he ate a peach pit in the back yard.
Warning, never bite into a peach pit as it will poison you and you can die. There is an enzyme in it that basically turns to cyanide when it hits your stomach acids. A dog will die. You might live through it, but it's extremely dangerous. It will poison your system.
We didn't know about this until it was too late, but we are not sure if this was what happened. It's probable because it came on so suddenly. Hannah ripped that tree out of the ground after we found out.
Then, we "inherited" a Bichon Friese from my parents when they died, "Little." My parents did not feed him right and he probably would have died even earlier had we not helped him for the couple years we had him. He was overweight and my parents fed him American cheese and bacon! He died of kidney failure ay age 11. It took over him in a matter of 24 hours, but we do suspect he ate a peach pit in the back yard.
Warning, never bite into a peach pit as it will poison you and you can die. There is an enzyme in it that basically turns to cyanide when it hits your stomach acids. A dog will die. You might live through it, but it's extremely dangerous. It will poison your system.
We didn't know about this until it was too late, but we are not sure if this was what happened. It's probable because it came on so suddenly. Hannah ripped that tree out of the ground after we found out.
