Dan and Molly and I are just hanging out, doing our own thing, being Canadian – ’cause that’s what we are, that’s what we do.
Happy Canada Day for all of those celebrating today. 🇨🇦
For everyone out there, Take care and have a great day!💞
Take care and have a great rest of your day!
Raising a pup to become a dog always has it’s challenges. Apparently, raising a big pup has BIG challenges. This week we are dealing with one of Molly’s.
Before we brought a Great Pyrenees sheepdog into our home, I did a fair amount of reading on the breed. Since having her, I have taken Molly to the vet’s three times and have asked about any specific issues with this breed. I spoke to people who have Pyrs, as has Dan. (Apparently, they are quite a popular dog!). For all of our research, neither of us came across anything noting that since herding dogs are so intuned to their environment, they are particularly sensitive to loud sounds.
Since Dan and I are both relatively quiet, this sensitivity to sound has not been an issue – until now
A few days ago, Molly and I started daily walks. On Monday, we were walking across an open area across the street when there was a loud BANG. It sounded like a gunshot. Molly freaked out! We turned back and came out of the park and she calmed down so we went on to walk around the neighbourhood, keeping to the sidewalks. The bigger, and louder vehicles bothered her but she seemed to manage once such vehicles were past us.
That night, our new nextdoor neighbour put up a basketball net for his two young sons. They were exuberant and well LOUD. It was early in the evening and Molly seemed okay. She did coming flying into the house and spent the evening laying beside Dan on the sofa, but she seemed okay. She wasn’t.
Yesterday, Molly was terrified of going outside. I had to drag her out. She would run to the gate and peek around a cedar to the basketball net nextdoor. I brought her lunch outside, thinking that would distract her. She was too scared to eat. Dan and I took her for a walk in the park across the street and she was fine. We had her on an extendable leash and she raced and leapt around, ears flopping – having a ball! We came back home, came into the yard, and she was terrified. It was a brutal day.
This morning, Molly was slightly better. I got her to come outside to do her business and to come back in to eat her breakfast. I turned to Google and read a few articles about dogs who are terrified (terrorized) by loud sounds. One thing that sounded promising was that dogs find the smell of Vanilla calming. I rubbed a bit on my left hand and let Molly sniff at it. She immediately, and noticeably became calmer.
I put on her leash and took her out for a walk. She was stressed getting out the door and across the yard but she was fine once we were on the other side of the gate. We walked around the block, came to the back of the house through the back alley (where I knew Dan was chatting with a friend). Molly was excited to see them, and was happy to be fussed over by both of them. We resumed our walk and went through the park and back. Molly was a bit hesitant about a small tractor working in the park, but she dealt with it.
On our return home, she balked at the gate but she came in without too much of a battle. I unclipped her leash at the gate and came into the house. Molly followed within a few seconds. I sprayed Molly’s kennel, stuffed elephant, her blanket, and the carpet in the porch with diluted vanilla. It seemed to calm her considerably – until her favorite human stopped in unexpectedly.
Our granddaughter Genie was passing through from Winnipeg, on her way to Calgary, and she was fortunately allowed a few hours stop in Regina. She managed a few minutes to come by. Molly was beside herself (and on top of Genie) the entire time.
When Genie had to leave, Molly bounced out the door with her and walked her to the gate. She barely glanced at the dreaded basketball net. 👍
We seem to be heading for a gradual recovery, but if anyone has any suggestions for dealing with our fearful pup, I would love to hear them. This is thunderstorm season in Saskatchewan and The Weather Channel has a warning for tonight. 😳🌩️⚡
That is it for today. Take care and have a great day!💞
It has been nineteen weeks since I started my current, and most successful ever, fitness journey.
I have three things of note on my weekly update! 🤗
#One – My husband came home sick a couple of weeks ago. I don’t know if it was a chest flu or what, but he was miserable. I did feel so bad for him BUT for the first time since I met Dan twenty-five years ago, I did not catch whatever he had. Not a single sniffle! Dan is back on his feet and feeling much better, so I can be happy for him now, as well. 🥰
#Two – I am shedding noticeably less hair this week than I have been for the past couple of years. I don’t know if it is because my health is better or because I started using Dove hair fall rescue shampoo, but YAY!
#Three – Molly and I have started daily walks! 🌟
On Saturday, we took a short walk around the block. Molly did not appreciate the traffic, the people, and she was particularly taken aback by the other dog yards. It did not go well.
Yesterday, I took Molly to the ball diamonds across the street and she did MUCH better. By the time we returned home, she was walking beside me like a pro.
This morning, I decided we should go back to the ball diamonds to reinforce yesterday’s training. Molly did great until we got half way to the diamonds and a particularly raucous bird startled her. 🙄 She had almost pulled herself together when there was a loud BANG. It was probably a vehicle but it really sounded like a gunshot. WELL, that did it for Molly! She spun around and decided to hightail it home. The good news is, I stayed on my feet and managed to hold onto her.
When we got out of the park, Molly calmed right down and decided she was ready to go for a nice walk afterall. We walked to the end of our street and turned onto Sherwood. It was about 8 A.M. and Sherwood is pretty busy at the best of times. Molly didn’t mind the cars, SUVs, and half-tons. Then she saw a semi. She came to a screeching halt and sat trembling as it went by. This was repeated when she saw the bus. When the garbage truck rattled by, I think she upped the drama queen routine by experiencing a short fainting spell. 😞
We turned right on Elphinstone. The traffic was a bit less of an issue as there were vehicles parked along the side of street, between us and the semis, buses, and garbage trucks. Things were uneventful until we turned onto MacKinley. We met up with a few pedestrians and Molly wanted to be a little too friendly. I kept her in check and I was feeling pretty good about how well we were doing. Molly and me, walking down the street like pros!
Then, for probably the LAST time ever, Molly drifted right. I didn’t see her coming into my path and I stepped on her foot. Molly let out a high pitched YIPE and stopped dead in her tracks. I did not. I went head over tea kettle and did a totally imperfect faceplant. Fortunately, for me (not so much for her), I landed on top of Molly.
I scrambled to my feet (I can do that now, because I am in such good shape), Molly stumbled to hers, and we proceeded home – each on our own side of the sidewalk!
That is about it for week nineteen. I am still doing my Zumba workouts, drinking my beet juice, and eating my sauerkraut. I am looking forward to many more walks with Molly and can’t wait until we are ready to tackle some more challenging parks and hiking trails.
Take care and have a great day! 💞
We finally did it! I took Molly for her first official walk yesterday. We went around our block and to say it went badly is an understatement. She had two speeds – fast and stop and she insisted on walking right in front of me or right behind me (perpendicular to me of course 🙄).
This morning Molly seemed bored. (Sometimes, it is hard to tell if Molly is bored or tired, but when she stole the bra out of my drawer and went racing around the yard with it flapping in the wind , she didn’t appear to be tired). I decided this could be as good a time as ever to try walking her again. I traded her a Milk Bone for my bra and got her into her harness and leash.
Today went much better. I took Molly to the ball diamonds across the street (a ways) from our house.
Molly did fairly well on the way to the ball diamonds. I took her into one of the diamonds and walked the bases with her, teaching her to walk nicely on my left side. It took about 30 sudden u-turns but she got the hang of it and walked home like a pro – even when we had to walk past the scary miniature dachshund (in the fenced in yard ten feet from where we were walking).
We practiced sitting to wait before crossing our street. Finally, I stopped for a chat with Liam and Molly sat (occasionally rolled) patiently.
All in all, today went pretty well. It will be interesting to see if she remembers the lessons tomorrow and fun to see how things progress on busier and more distracting paths.
That is it for today. Take care and have a great day! 💞🌞
I had a couple of things I wanted to share today.
The first is a post from a page that I follow on Facebook.
I started following this site when I read the book ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear, shortly after I retired. This book is full of common sense suggestions for making the most out of our lives. It is a guide to breaking habits that are detrimental to our well being and replacing them with constructive habits.
I love this particular post because it is so relevant to my life right now. When I retired, I had a fixed idea of what I wanted my life in retirement to be. Two years in, I have spent a lot of time focused on creating that life and I have enjoyed the journey, but my ultimate goals have changed – or my concept of retirement has. It isn’t a matter of what I want to do or to have anymore. It is about who I want to be. It is funny, when people retire they often talk about losing their identity. I am just discovering mine. 🤗
The second thing I wanted to share was yet another photo of Molly.
That is it for today. Take care and have a great day! 🌞💞
It is the first official day of summer so I am showcasing a new seasonal appropriate header photo. I forgot to ask her to autograph it, but this one comes from our twelve year old granddaughter Maddy. It has to be a self portrait because it sure reminds me of her – right down to the perennially skinned knees.
We are starting out the summer with a gloomy, cloudy day but it will be all rainbows if we get some much needed rain today.
To finish getting Molly ready for summer walks and outings, we paid a visit to the veterinary clinic for her final round of puppy shots yesterday. I am so glad that we are done with that and so grateful that we can afford the care and protection that it takes to keep her strong and healthy. She weighed in at a whopping 42.5 pounds at four months old.
Here’s wishing all a wonderful summer. Take care and have a great day!
Anyone close to me in real life or online knows that in mid-February I went on a mission to improve my fitness. My initial ‘program’ has evolved considerably as have my health and fitness and my ultimate goal.
I think this evolution can best be explained by posting the TOP 10 benefits I have experienced in these past eighteen weeks. (Not in any particular order)…
#1 – I am stronger – I can easily lift weights that I have not lifted for years. I mean full, heavy garbage bags, rocks, BIG solid fry pans – on Saturday I even lifted our big dog Molly into our pool! Every part of me is stronger. I opened a new pickle jar with my bare hands yesterday. Seriously! This is real life, everyday strength that makes my life easier.
#2 – My balance and flexibility has improved. – Again, this is life changing especially when navigating around our garden or Molly and her toys. (Or Molly and our shoes, sofa cushions and anything else that she makes off with).
#3 – My husband has noticed and remarked on the noticeable improvement in my physical shape. That is great because I want to look good for my husband, even after 25 years, and because it isn’t just about how I look. He respects the effort and dedication that I have put into improving my health and fitness. Respect is huge in any relationship.
#4 – I breathe easier. I still have asthma, COPD, and bronchiectasis. I always will, but getting fit has improved my lung function despite asthma, COPD, and bronchiectasis. I breathe easier and in turn I sleep better!
#5 – My collagen levels have improved. I know this because I have a genetic collagen disorder and because collagen levels drop for everyone as they as age – making things even more noticeable for anyone with pre-existing collagen issues. For me, an improvement in collagen has meant healthier skin. It has meant muscle strength and joint stability. I can crouch/squat down AND get back up. And it is so noticeable in the connective tissue between all of the multiple little boney areas in my body. My hands are virtually pain free, the little bones in my middle ears no longer wobble around causing vertigo, AND when I get up in the morning my feet do not feel like I am walking on bags of marbles.
#6 – My mental health is stronger. My mind is sharper. My memory is better. Overall I am functioning better and it is just easier to perform any mental task.
#7 – My emotional health is better. My life isn’t perfect. Lately there have been some seriously stressful family situations. Sometimes I struggle to meet the challenges. But I do meet them! I laugh, I cry, and I function in a healthy way.
#8 – My clothes fit better. That isn’t the be all, end all of any fitness program but it feels so good to just feel good in ones clothes. For the past ten years it has been hard to get anything to fit right because nothing about me was proportional.
#9 – I am excited about my future health and fitness levels. That is a big one for me because I am turning 67 years old next month. But for me, I know my best fitness years are not behind me. I am in better shape now than I have ever been in my life and I know that I can and will keep getting better. I don’t know how much better and I am not looking for immortality, but I know that unless I get hit by a bus or stricken by some major disease, I will get better. I have found a system that works for me and I know I can adapt as I go to make it better.
#10 – I have inspired others to work on their fitness and well-being. I am not saying that to brag or anything, but people have mentioned it. I had a long talk with my sister-in-law yesterday and we got on this subject. She moved from Costa Rica to Canada last year and has been struggling with the same type of health issues that I have struggled with for years and we are the same age. I started telling her how well I was doing and it turned into such a good conversation. She was so excited about starting her own fitness program when she gets moved into her new house next week and I am so excited for her! Never in my life have I ever inspired or imagined that I could inspire anyone to improve their level of fitness. 🤗🤗🤗
Anyway that is it for today, and for how my life has been going for the last eighteen weeks. Take care and have a great day!
Happy Father’s Day to all the father’s out there – including Dan, and those like him, who stepped up after the fact. It isn’t always easy (or economical) but hopefully the good days and the grandbabes make it all worth it.
Happy Father’s Day to my Father and all those who have passed on over the years. It is incredible now to think of all they did to provide and care for their families.
And Happy Father’s Day to the new generation of fathers out there. These guys amaze me with how involved they are with their children. Not just the fun stuff! These guys are hands on from day one. This new generation of fathers are loving the experience and their children are all the better off for it.
That’s it for today. Take care and have a great day!💞🌞
Harmony – “The quality of forming a pleasing and consistent whole.” – Oxford Dictionary
“He who lives in harmony with himself, lives in harmony with the universe.” – Marcus Aurelius
“When we create peace, and harmony, and balance in our minds, we will find it in our lives.” – Louise Hay
“You are only afraid if you are not in harmony with yourself.” – Herman Hesse
“Music is the expression of harmony in sound. Love is the expression of harmony in life.” – Stephen Gaskin
“Harmony makes small things grow, lack of it makes great things decay.” – Sallust
“Nature reminds us how to be in harmony with life itself.” – Harold Baker
Have a great and harmonious day! 💞🌞
Seclusion 101 with AnneMarie 