Month: November 2012

A Needle in a haystack or Glory?

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Each year it is tradition that my sister-in-law Lynn and I (whoever else wants to tag along also) go shopping on Black Friday. Last year we pulled a all nighter since the stores were opening at midnight. This year some stores were opening at 9:00 pm so we decided to do some sale shopping Turkey day night. I looked at the flyers and saw that Shopko had some good sales on blankets, heated mattress pad, heated blankets so that was the place I wanted to be. We went to Shopko and I managed to get all the stuff I wanted, stood in line 48 mins to check out but it didn’t matter as this was tradition and I was getting my blankets on sale. I buy blankets to put over my couch so it keeps the couches somewhat clean from all the dogs that lay on the couch. This year I brought brown micro plush blankets. Friday I put the blankets on the couch and of course Gambler chewed up the packaging which didn’t matter it goes in the garbage anyways. John burnt the garbage and then Saturday morning I noticed 2 holes in one of the blanket. I didn’t know if it came that way or if the dogs toe nails put the holes in it. Nontheless I had to sew up the holes since I couldn’t return the blanket. I kept the blanket on the couch, grabbed my needle and thread started sewing up the hole while Glory laid on the couch and watched. I was done, tied my knot and needed to cut the needle off the thread but realized my scissors was on the coffee table on the other side of Glory. I got up went around Glory and grabbed the scissors came back and the needle was gone! Where was that needle? Only obvious answer was that Glory did something to it as she was laying right there and the needle was missing with frayed thread left behind. I searched and searched and searched some more. I was beside myself as I was thinking the worse and that Glory had swallowed it. I did more searching, tore everything apart and no needle. It was like trying to find a needle in a haystack! Glory was watching me and showed no sign that she had eaten it. I would ask her “where is the needle?” and she wasn’t answering.  I spent the whole weekend looking for that needle and watching Glory for any signs of a problem.

Monday I took Glory to work with me so I could xray her as the needle is metallic and show up in her like lights on a Christmas tree. I started with a neck and chest xray.

Neck and Chest.

No Needle in here, phew! Then it was time to xray the abdomen.

Abdomen.

No needle in here, phew! Just a stomach full of food waiting to make big poopies.

I then could sigh a sign of relief, I didn’t need to take Glory to surgery to get the needle out of her. But where o where is that darn needle? I still have no idea where the needle is but am SO thankful that it isn’t in Glory. My Turkey day sale wasn’t so much of a sale as that darn blanket cost me 2 xray’s and a weekend of worry that my baby girl needed surgery. I was very thankful that she is ok.

One day I will be cursing when I either sit on the needle or step on it but it will be a good curse as I will then know where that darn thing is.

I didn’t find the needle in the haystack yet!

Wordless Wednesday

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Wordless Wednesday is a community linkup of bloggers. Visit our host, BlogPaws, and you can use the icons below the post to hop from site to site. It is a great way to discover new blogs…..or even just a convenient way to find all of your favorites in one place. When you visit each site, be sure to leave a comment and let them know you found them through Wordless Wednesday.

Monday Mischief – Glory Hunting

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This weekend Glory got to go duck hunting. Friday she went with just John and they got one duck. Saturday I went along with and we didn’t get anything. John went to the marsh on Friday and there were thousands of ducks in the refuge and flying around, just not flying near them. Saturday there were NO ducks anywhere’s. We knew there wasn’t any ducks as 8 eagles would fly through the refuge and no ducks got up. Ducks don’t like eagles as eagles are predators to the ducks so when an eagle flies near any ducks the ducks get up and leave making it harder for the eagle to get them. This is a catch 22 for the ducks, the ducks get up to get away from the eagles so they don’t get killed then they fly towards the hunters and if the hunters are good shots then the ducks end up dying anyways.

I’ve learned not to take my good camera in the canoe in the marsh as it is very muddy and wet. I brought my old camera and of course the pictures didn’t turn out as good but that’s what happens when I don’t want to ruin my new camera.

Glory is such a good girl in the canoe, she has only been in the canoe a handful of times in her 11 months so I am quite happy with how she acts. She doesn’t get into mischief while we are paddling out but she did get into some mischief when we were hiding in the cattails and she wasn’t retrieving any ducks. She was getting board so she would cry and look out past the canoe to the area that was open in the cattails. She jumped out of the canoe and would sniff the cattails smelling for wounded birds that were hiding in the cattails. She didn’t find any but she did have fun trying. She then would grab pieces of ice that was broken in the water and play with that. She finally went to the bathroom on the cattails and jumped back in the canoe, her mischief was done.

Watching for ducks to fly over.

Taking a nap since no ducks.

Hanging out.

Getting into mischief.

Pee break.

This is a Blog Hop. Thanks to Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog , Luna, a Dog’s Life , and My Brown Newfies for setting up this hop. Please go to any of the sponsoring blogs to find out who else has been mischievous.

My UK Adventure – Day 8

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My UK Adventure – Day 8

This morning is my last morning in the UK, for the last of my trip I got to spend the morning with Marie in the park. Steve took me to the park near their house so he could do a little training with Fender and Marie. He wanted me to see how Marie was doing before I went back to the states. The dogs get to come to this park quite often as there aren’t many spots to take your dogs to do any running let alone any training. They are fortunate that they have a couple of parks nearby their house where they can take the dogs and they work out  quite nicely since there are trails threw out the woods so you can toss marks and have the dogs retrieve in a straight line. There are open meadow areas where they can do marks or blind work.

I had great fun watching and taking pictures of the dogs working. This was another highlight of my trip; the time I spend with Marie was priceless. She is such a different dog than my own Gambler who is her brother. I raised both of them from 7 weeks to 7 months when Marie went over to the UK. When Marie and Gambler were growing up I called them the Terrorist as they would get into everything. I know now that it was mainly Gambler and Marie was just following along. She is the sweetest most quite dog ever. All she wants to do is please you and love on you. In the UK your dog needs to be very obedient and make no noise when competing, well Marie has that licked. Hopefully she will do well with her field work overseas. I can’t tell you how proud I am as a breeder to have a dog out of my breeding overseas. It’s something that one only dreams of and now I am living the dream as well as Marie.

Training time was done and time for me to grab my bags and head to the airport. Zoe was nice enough to take time off to drive me to the airport so I didn’t have to take the train by myself. We weren’t sure if my plane would be taking off or not since Hurricane Sandy was reaching the East Coast of the states and flights were being cancelled. The internet said my plane was on time so we shall see.

I said my goodbyes to Steve and Fender. I said my goodbyes and gave big hugs and kisses to Marie. I got in the car, Steve sat Marie he crouched down next to her and held up her right paw and waved her paw goodbye to me as Zoe was backing out of the driveway. At that moment a tear was shed. I was leaving my girl for the second time. It was bittersweet as I was leaving her with 2 people that loved her so much and I left knowing I would always have my memories of our time together.

We made it to the airport and my flight was on time. I hugged Zoe and thanked her for the great hospitality and great time. A friendship was made between 3 friends and I.

I boarded the plane and was ready for my 8 hr flight home. As the plane was taxing down the run way and I was staring out the window I thought to myself as I was watching London go behind me that I was one lucky girl to be able to have taken a trip of a life time and that it was. I have many people to thank for making this trip possible. Without great friends, family co-workers this wouldn’t have happened. This was indeed something I could cross off my bucket list but I’ve decided that I’m not crossing it off my bucket list until I make my return trip which I hope is very soon.

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My UK Adventure – Day 7

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My UK Adventure – Day 7

Today’s adventure was going downtown London (if there is a downtown London) and do some shopping, walking, more shopping, more walking. We took the train again into London but got off at a different station, from that station we then got on the underground subway. This was my first time on a subway also and it was kinda neat. We would get on then we would get off and get on another subway so that we were on the right one to get us to our final destination. I realized that a parent should use all their spare time taking their kids on subway rides and teach them from little on how to read the subway maps so they know how to do it as an adult. This subway trip was incredible, there were so many people so many subway cars and I didn’t have one clue as to where or what I was doing. Zoe did tell me that I would need to check my nose as I would have black boogers. Glad she filled me in on that, wouldn’t want to be walking around London with black boogers.

Our first stop was the famous Harrods shopping center. This is a shopping center with 7 floors totally the equivalence of 4.5 acres. That’s a lot of shopping in one building. The top floor had a small gun room where they had maybe 20 guns. The first gun I looked at was 84,000 pounds, which would be $134,000. Too much for me! The clothes I looked at also on the top level were way more then I would want to spend on my clothes. This place is for the ritzy ritz. It was interesting to look at all the nice stuff but need less to say I didn’t buy anything except gifts in the gift store. One of the floors had a really nice food area where they had all there specialty foods. They had a room with all their desserts, a room with all their coffee, fruit section, meat section, pasta section. I found it odd that people would go there and get there specialty foods rather than go to a grocery store which seemed easier. I guess if you want the best then you brave the crowds and traffic and go there.

From Harrods we got on the subway again and went to Covent Garden Market. This was an old part of town that still exists today. It used to be a farmers market till all the farmers markets became extinct and shopping centers moved in. It was a nice old world atmosphere with many different restaurants to eat at. Jacky joined us for lunch at Covent Garden’s; she took the train also so she didn’t have to deal with traffic and people. It took her 3 hours to get there from her place in the country since part of the train stations were closed down she had to take a bus for part of it. I thought that it was very nice of her to take that kind of time out of her day to come have lunch with me and say good bye, which meant a lot to me. We had a very nice lunch and then Jacky was off to catch the train again back home. She said there were too many people in the city for her and she was right. Talk about people there were tons of people. I’m not sure how many of them were tourists like me but there were tons. We walked and seen all the sites of London shopping. I saw the building where the Movie premiers are played at, saw the big billboard where companies advertize their businesses and you can see the billboard during televised events. Crossed over Carnaby Street and had to take a picture of the road sign. We went past the China Town of London, got pastries from a little café on the corner.

While we were on our walking tour I walked past a Weimaraner with a tail and had to take a double take as then I remembered the dogs in Europe can’t have docked tails or cropped ears like they can in the states. Another thing I had to make sure I got a picture of since I am a Veterinary Technician and work in a clinic that see’s patients with docked tails and cropped ears.

I didn’t buy much while on my shopping trip except gifts for my friends. Steve and Zoe saw that I wasn’t buying any souvenirs for myself so they bought me a souvenir plastic duck that had a British flag on it so I had a memento of my time overseas.  I thought that was very lovely of them!

We took the train back home and enjoyed chili that Zoe made that was amazing! We watched TV and I turned them on to CSI Miami which they tell me now they are addicted to.

This was another amazing day and once again Steve and Zoe did a fabulous time showing me the sites of London. One of the best parts was coming home to hang out with Marie. She is such a love!

Here is a youtube picture video of my trip to London:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWVf-Vytjx4&feature=g-upl

 

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My UK Adventure – Day 6

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My UK Adventure – Day 6

Today I woke up at Steve and Zoe’s lower level flat with Marie and Fender there to greet me. I became friends with Steve and Zoe thru face book and Jacky. Marie is living with them now as she was getting lost in the pack at Jacky’s. She needed a smaller household in order for her training to take off. When I planned this trip to the UK it was to meet Jacky, Steve, and Zoe and to see Marie once again since she left my household earlier this year. Jacky lives in the county so I spent the first part of my trip there to enjoy the county life and then the last part of my trip was with Steve and Zoe in the city so I could enjoy city live in the UK. It was the best of both worlds for a trip, to meet up with newly made friends and be able to see both types of living. I couldn’t ask for a better trip.

The day started with breakfast at McDonalds, oh how I was missing McDonalds. I went from eating McDonalds once a day to 7 days of withdrawals. Their egg McMuffin was on an English muffin which was so much better than the hard biscuits in the states. After breakfast we had a busy day ahead of us. First I had Steve take me to the nearest Harley Davison store so I could get T-Shirts for my Harley friends back in the states that said London on them. Then it was off to London it was for all the touristy activities. Steve and Zoe wanted to make this a memorable trip for me and had our day all outlined so I could get the most out of the two days I was spending with them. The first experience was the train ride. I have never been on a train or to a train station. I had to learn that when I stuck the ticket into the meter and walked thru the revolving thing a maginy  that I needed to grab my ticket as it came out the top of the device so I could get back on the train to come home. They live only 15 minutes from London so the ride wasn’t that long. Most people take the train because there are just so many people living there so not many places to park cars; it also saves on pollution and saving the environment.

We arrived at the London station and our tour began. We started by going to the London Bridge Experience: The London Bridge Experience & London Tombs is one of London’s top award winning attractions offerings its visitor’s two attractions in one offering both history and horror.

Take a gruesome trip through the dark history of London’s most famous bridge that includes bloody Roman soldiers, giant rats but be sure to keep your head when you meet the executioner! Then plunge into a former plague pit; the London Tombs where your pulse will race and your throat will grow sore from screaming at the UK’s top scare attraction!

I love haunted houses so this was a great attraction for me to see. I started out being the leader because Steve was afraid of the dark but by the time we made it to the tombs then somehow Steve got in the lead then Zoe and I. We all had to hold on to the person’s shoulders in front of us. The goblins would jump out and scare us and I would start laughing because I knew what was happening or going to happen and the others were screaming. When we would hit another dark area Steve would go “please don’t touch me”, “please don’t touch me” then they would jump out and scare him! I was enjoying watching Steve and Zoe go through this. The scenes were all set up so scary and real like along with the chainsaw scene, a haunted house isn’t complete without its chainsaw scene. It was an amazing haunted tomb.

From there we walked the streets to the London Bridges.

The sites were breath taking. I saw the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge, a London Hospital, and City Hall which was a round unique building made of glass then I saw the tallest building in London called the Shard which was all glass also.

The biggest tourist attraction was The Tower of London. We had to stand in line forever for tickets then when touring the castle people were all over the place. The castle was really cool being old and all but they didn’t have the artifacts or room set ups like in the castle that I visited the other day. They had signs hanging on the wall with pictures that explained what room you were in. The main attraction was the Crown Jewels. Everyone made sure they visited that. What a crazy mad house that was. You went into the building where the Crown Jewels were and then you would go into a big room and then threw a normal size door into another big room. Everyone thought that they were not going to see the Crown Jewels so they were pushing and shoving to get threw that doorway faster than the other person. That did not make the experience fun at all. Finally made it to the Crown Jewels and low and behold they were still there, no one stole them after all. They were a magnificent site to see but not worth someone getting hurt over. Checking out the part of the castle with the armor, swords, guns, canons, and life size horses over the years and how they changed in appearance was really cool.

Next was lunch time so they took to me a hopping burger place. We went to Byron’s Hamburgers.

It’s known for its great hamburgers and they were delicious. The onion rings were better than any onion rings I’ve had in the states. I think it was their secret green seasoning that I seen in the batter on the rings. They also had micro brewed beers.

After lunch our walking tour continued this time we were walking around London seeing all the sites around the Queens house. We say Charles & Camilla’s house on our way to the Queens house. The British flags were up and down the road that leads to the Queen’s house, once we reached her house with the many other tourists it was a site to see. The gates to the property were a site to see in themselves. The Queen’s place was hugh and the water fountain in front of her place was amazing. It was a nice place for tourists to stop and get some really nice photo’s since you really couldn’t get up and personal with her house. There was one light on in an upper room of the house and I believe I seen the Queen way to me but I couldn’t be for sure. We walked on the opposite sidewalk for the rest of the journey. You could see the London Eye and Big Ben from a distance. There was a wooden fence along the sidewalk and I said “with all the queens money you would think she could afford a decent fence” Steve and Zoe laughed at me and said that was probably left over from the Olympics just like the barricades that were still out on the sides of the streets. We saw ministry of defense buildings, museums, The Common Wealth building and many other historic buildings. It was all the stuff I seen on TV during London broadcasts and I couldn’t believe I was finally there seeing it all with my own eyes. I did find out that if you need to go to the bathroom you need to pay to use the public toilets. Guess I shouldn’t have drank that beer as I had to ask Zoe for change so I could use the toilet.

We walked past Big Ben and that was another amazing site. If I didn’t get to see any other historic part of London I would have been fine with that as long as I seen Big Ben. When the sun was going down the face of the clock lit up and had a beautiful glow to it.

Another site I wanted to see was the London Eye. Zoe hadn’t been on the London Eye either so it was nice to share in the experience.

We went at night and saw it at prime nighttime and it was a beautiful site to see all the different lights of London and to be able to pick out the different buildings. It was raining when we went so the pictures didn’t turn out. I have the memories in my mind that will last a lifetime.

Back to the train station and home to play with the pooches for the rest of the night. What a fabulous day and great tour guides!

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Couple of Thank You’s

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The gang send’s it’s THANKS!

A big thank you to 2browndawgs for nominating me for Share This Sunday by Molly The Wally. I can’t thank 2browndawgs for helping me get my blog out there for others to see and for Molly the Wally being so kind to include one of my posts on her Share This Sunday so others can read my blog and hopefully stop by and read other posts.

For those of you who haven’t stopped on over at 2browndawgs I think you should stop what your doing and go now and take a peek. They are called 2browndawgs but they really have 3 now with a year old chessie addition, they also have a very lovely cat and action packed adventures.

I just recently started reading Molly The Wally and where have I been all this time? She is a hoot and her outfits are out of this world. She is one special pup to pose for the pictures like she does. I recently went to the UK for a trip to meet a gal on facebook, I wish I would of know about Molly The Wally as I would of liked to meet up with her. Next time I am able to go I will make a point of meeting up.

Hope you all have a great Tuesday!