Charley is getting his own Casita

Charlie has proven unreliable as a house dog. Being a male dog he tends to view all things vertical as an appropriate place to lift his leg, on furniture, vases, columns, (yes we have columns) couches, chairs, tv’s and even the piano!

But our life style has changed, now we life in a beautiful home with many beautiful vertical objects, plus marble, granite and carpet flooring all of which look better without a yellow stain.

Charley is not the only abuser, Susu, a Pomeranian pooch does her share, but in smaller quantities, plus she is the Reina, she has lived here longer and is in tight with Richard, plus she doesn’t lift her leg!

Charley was a great RV pal, living outdoors, he was free to pee pretty much anywhere and not get into too much trouble, he never had an accident inside even when I was gone for hours. He was a great guard dog, kept us safe but now we have gates and alarms, though he can still be our first alert together with Susu, nothing gets close by without their atención

Alas, Charley will need to abide with new house rules.

His new house, looks like an igloo, very nice and he’ll have a long run and an inside crate to stay in when indoors. His new house should get here tomorrow so we’ll get him all set up outside cozy and comfy. I’ll add photos later. He can sleep upstairs in his crate, He doesn’t mind it upstairs but needs treats to be coaxed into his downstairs abode.

I feel a little sad, even shed tears but I refuse to scrub pee from the carpets one more time, and clean anywhere else he chooses to lift his leg, we need to adjust to life changes, especially when the changes are so unexpected and wonderful.

He’ll still be able to chase the deer in the early morning at least for a while before put on a leash again.

Photos to follow!

This got lost somewhere so I’m republishing and will send photos later, Charlie still sleeps upstairs!

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High Winds in Caballo

We have to batten down the hatches as they say, because stuff is going to blow around today and for the next three days, but it’s warm and sunny and I’m so glad it’s not cold. In Chinese medicine it’s referred to as pernicious wind because of everything in the unhealthy air we breath, a mask would not be a bad idea. Today driving into town with the car window cracked I past some work being finished up on the highway and they’ve put something green on the ground that smells strong enough that it bothered my throat passing by it. I wonder what it is,Weed kill I suspect I wonder if the workers were protected applying it. The roads look great.

Colorado man should be here next week, he hasn’t been dismayed by my suspicions and has valid explanations for my concerns so I’ll be glad to see him. I’m not enthusiastic about continuing this search for the perfect man, maybe he’ll find me, I’m still on the site but distances are long and I’m busy living right now right here, one possibility has quit looking which is too bad as I enjoyed his writing and another says to let him know if Colorado man turns out to be an ass hole. Sweet!

This problem I have with Charley is really my problem I admit that I am sometimes a little lazy about keeping him on his leash for his morning dash across the street to pee. Usually he will run out pee and run back because he wants to share our morning ensure, chocolate regular not extra protein cuz we don’t like it, and go back to bed in my bed under the blankets to sleep a bit longer. But today he bolted out before I could get out to monitor the activity and didn’t come back for 10-15 minutes. I wasn’t going to get dressed and go looking for him he always comes home when he’s done something where he shouldn’t and CJ will have spotted him, Not good! So he finally appears all happy ready for sharing our ensure but surprise no ensure for Charley today! I don’t suppose he can relate that as consequences to his disappearance. I let his sleep in my bed and he was still up there when I got back from town asleep at noon.

Update Colorado man arrives late tomorrow night hungry.

Empathy is the antidote to shame

Beene Brown

I

Back home for some time now

But haven’t been in the mood to get started here again. As a matter of fact I’ll close my account and continue using my free account so soon my blog will be just tailgateart-othon.wordpress.com or something similar.

The trip was good, GG was excellent until I left the lights on and the battery died. I was at my sons place in Plano Tx and he took care of it for me and got me a new battery after AAA wasn’t able to jump it

Oh a note about AAA.. I had an account with them for both my car and RV. I found out when I got home and checked my mail that they had terminated my account of both because I live full time in my RV…which I told them when applying for coverage. Did you hear that…I found this out when I got home, I drove GG all the way home without knowing I had no coverage!!!

And the insurance agent never returned my calls

So angry

Except for that and poor Charley hating and shaking every time I started up the motor the trip was good, we slept in truck stops and once at Walmart, no problems, just a very long ride

And I think, no I know I almost killed Charley. Because he is so nervous I wanted to sedate him a little to make it easier on him…and me too. So I got Benadryl liquid and a syringe to shoot it in his mouth. Unfortunately some got down the wrong way and he aspirated some of it. He started wheezing and struggling to breath, it was awful. This lasted about an hour while I’m trying to massage and clap on his lungs not being sure where exactly I should clap and my sister is googling what to do in case of aspiration. Somehow he pulled out of it and another hour later we hit the rode going home. Next time a pill

is the only way I’ll try again…oh he was not sedated at all by ingesting Benadryl

It’s cold in Caballo tonight, it’s going to freeze which reminds me I have to remove the water hose from the RV so nothings breaks. I’ve brought all plants inside and they have taken over the cab, I’ll add a photo, they love it up there, the geraniums are flowering as never before, I mist them and water them when dry

The cab florist

I’ve got iffy wifi so the pic might not happen today. My hot spot keeps dropping

Charley being elegant

Winter notes

Yesterday was Sunday, about 5:30 I was setting up my next weeks medications for my weekly meds container and set aside my nights meds that I usually take at about 8pm. Without thinking I took those medications and vitamins right then and by 5:30 I had that sleepy feeling that feels so good. I’m a longtime insomniac and sometimes don’t feel that sensation all night so when I do I take advantage of it to go to sleep. I woke up about midnight feeling wide awake but it’s cold and dark so instead of writing here I day dream a great post which now I can’ t remember to put it on paper. You would have liked it!.

It’s 34 degrees outside and cold in here I turned on my space heater but it’s having a hard time,spreading some heat, glad my electric blanket warms us while under the covers, I say us because Charley is sleeping with me while its so cold, it will be hard to get him to sleep in his own bed when it warms up in Spring. When I bought this RV I tore out the furnish coils because the huge coils took out so much room and I wanted a space for cabinets and books. I thought that this small space could be heated with a space heater. I have the afgan my daughter made me hanging as a curtain to keep out the cold by the window and that helps and looks nice…….plus Charley doesn’t get it full of dog hair,my only regret in getting Charley is the fact that he sheds like crazy!

Today ‘s high is a delightful 68 and sunny. I may wash some clothes. I have to wash in small groups, because its a small machine, last week underwear, next day socks…I have many of both so I wash in groups when I run out of socks or underwear. Sometimes I hand wash clothes inside and then take them out to the washing machine to spin and then hang outside. I wait for a sunny day, last time my socks didn’t get really dry and when I put them on they feel cold so when the sun shines I’ll take them out to finish drying. Wet socks are the pits. I don’t do any scrubbing but rather refreshing my clothes, today I’ll refresh some of my warm clothes that I’ll need for cold mornings then by afternoon I change to something lighter.

washing machine

I’ve been painting the same thing over and over lately, not exactly the same but the same style and I think I’m over it and can start painting something different, something recognizable rather than abstract shapes and colors. I wanted to make some xmas cards for friends here in the park but my wifi was so bad I couldn’t get a signal for my printer. So I painted some little 5 x 7 panel paintings, abstract and colorful but weird because they were nothing about xmas or new years either. I haven’t gotten a lot of feed back for them, not too surprising! I used some chalk paint on them, very bright.

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Christmas cards!!

Charley is waking up, he likes to sleep in actually he just likes to sleep, that’s just about all he does, I guess life is boring for him with this old lady who takes him out a few times a day when she is restless.. He’s pretty good about running out to pee and running back inside for a treat. I tell him in an excited voice to run fast fast fast come back for a treat. He is not supposed to be without a leash, but damn it’s cold outside and he usually comes right back though at night it’s a little tempting for him to wander but I have a powerful flashlight that I train on him so he knows I’m watching him. We go to the dog park for him to do his poops. He has this process before going that I have been tempted to video it is so funny how he dances in circles before the actual event. On that note I’ll close for now and wish you a good day.

You see that Charley has grown into his legs.

Charley now

Charley when I got him

Charley is Jealous of my Guitar

I thought I’d get an inexpensive learner guitar and hopefully learn a new brain saving technique.

Whenever I start messing around with the guitar Charley begs for attention, attention and a belly rub. He throws himself in my lap, really it’s like he does a back flip bottoms up.

He doesn’t like it when I’m busy on my computer or reading either.

He’s spoiled and has doubled his arrival wight from 12 pounds to 24 pounds! He’s beautiful and generally well behaved.

He is happy to stay home alone because he hates going in the car, he shakes from the time we go til the time we get back. So now I leave him home with a treat.

He knows when I get my keys and put on my shoes I’m going in the car. He does very well home alone now, I don’t need to use that supersonic noise thing to keep him from barking, neighbors report he has not been barking, it’s because he’s happy not to go with me in the car.

Charley and friend.

Learning the guitar is not so easy, not easy at all! It looks easy and cool just strumming and humming but so far I can’t even remember the g string. Memory, that is the challenge I’m working on, it’s a bitch!

It’s been cold in Caballo but the afternoons are briskly pleasant. I am now a resident of New Mexico. I like it here. I should get my new drivers license and plates soon. It’s only taken me 2 visits to the DMV so far needing birth certifcate, marriage license translated insurance info and more but it was in the nicest DMV I’ve ever been in, no waiting efficient and a clean organized process. A far cry from my experience in TX. Small towns are great and almost no traffic!

I planted a few perennials today, hopeful for a splendid ‘Spring. I lost a few plants to frost even though they were in my studio, very sad and sorry my beautiful succulents collection froze.

Charley

Charley’s new car seat

What a Beautiful Day, Time to get Busy!

It was a beautiful morning only 65 degrees but Charley was shivering, I will need a jacket for him sooner than I thought he has very thin skin (me too) So I spent much of the day in the studio trying to make one. First I tried using a Mexican blanket I wasn’t using but that was not a good idea because after cutting it up I realized it really wasn’t warm, and besides I’d made a mess of it. I looked for patterns on line but did poorly making my measurements of Charley though he tried to cooperate but got impatient with my “stand still Charley”. then I remembered this huge soft bathrobe my sister gave me a while back and figured I could share a piece of it to make him his own bathrobe.

So far it’s not working, after hours of trying I gave up for the day and will try again tomorrow hoping we have another cool morning. It was a beautiful day until later when the winds picked up and blew over my chairs, all good

Living with Charley means making some changes, like when do I get groceries? He hates the car and snuggles too close to me, maybe his own seat belt may help him feel more secure but I doubt I’ll ever be able to leave him in the car to shop and I know he will not be quiet if I leave him in the RV alone. So now I’m seeing how long I can wait before getting groceries, using the staples I have on hand. I’ll probably save a heap of money staying out of town!

Could I say he’s a therapy dog? What kind of requirements are there? He certainly qualifies, giving me emotional support and loving companionship. Does he need a badge? Who gives out the badges? Can I make him a badge or whatever, guess I’ll look into this possibility, he is a calm pooch and when I took Becky out to lunch for her birthday he sat nicely under false pretenses of being a support dog.

Later………

After some research it seems there are no special qualifications for the dog, but I would need something wrong with me to need a emotional support animal. I’m old, alone and sometimes feel a little bit lonely so I qualify and could probably get a MD note saying so but don’t expect to need one, really who is going to ask me for it? Its not like I want to fly with him or rent an apartment.

After spending $100 on a collar, leash id and vest I now have an emotional support pet that I can take in the stores or where ever I go, he goes with me.

I guess I don’t have to tell you that I ordered the wrong set of what I need , at least I noticed it immediately but not in time, so there you are.

Hoping to catch up with myself again!

Finally starting to cool down here in Caballo. I even was chilly this morning but we’re still in the upper 80’s all week.

We went out to get a new leash this morning, the one I got from Joan broke and I couldn’t repair it, they allow you dog in the store if on a leash, they have everything Charley needs at this place, which is very good as I won’t be able to bring him in when I need to grocery shop. It gets complicated, he barks if I leave him alone for more than 2 minutes.Now he is sleeping in my space and I am in his., we need to work on that.

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The park hasn’t been real busy, people park for a night and are gone in the morning. There have been some really huge RV’s in here lately. Soon the snow birds will be here, CJ (owner)expects many of the same people as were here last year. A nice sense of community here. I look forward to seeing them.

I’m having serious procrastination issues lately can’t get started on my to do list. It’s because I’m reading too much. I get library books on Overdrive. and I just keep reading. I don’t even cook. Do you have it on your reader? Saves huge amounts of money and I can read anytime on my ipad. If you have a library card you can download it. I just don’t have space for a lot of books and this is a great option.

My paints have dried up so I ordered new, can’t wait to get started, I want to paint the mountains that I see from here, it won’t be easy but I have time to work on it, ready for a challenge.

I’ve only had one Acupuncture client recently, one treatment only but I wasn’t able to help her with her stiff neck, she only gave me one chance had she been willing for a 2nd treatment I think she would have been fine, she wanted a magic pill so went to a clinic. I thought I had a good chance to fix her as she had only been hurting 1-2 days. She’s is feeling better now, I’m glad.