Snow and Dog Shows and Staying Alive

It snowed in Oklahoma yesterday. A lot. It snowed a lot. Maybe around 5 inches, which is pretty heavy for this part of the planet. Tulsa got over 7 inches. Down south in Oklahoma City, they got a couple of inches of ice UNDER their 7 inches of snow.

I don't mind snow. I really do not. I love playing in it, and I like Listening to it. Did you know that snow is the Ultimate Quiet?  It is one of my favorite properties about snow. The Quiet. I like to go outside and listen to it. It makes my eyes big....

What I DO mind is Living in Purgatory.  You see, The Liddle Wolf Cubbie and I were scheduled to go to a Collie Specialty Show down in Oklahoma City this weekend. There were THREE shows in one weekend. I'd paid our entry fees, made (non-refundable) hotel reservations, and packed my car with grooming tools, table, crates, chairs, blow dryer, towels, show clothes---all the paraphenalia associated with a wonderful weekend of prancing my Collie around the ring.  To quote from the movie, Drop Dead Gorgeous...
"I was ready."

I knew that snow was predicted, but, being the person who sez, "there's Got to be a pony in here Somewhere," I was predicting sunny weather and Winner's Dog.....

When the world began freezing, I then became a resident of Purgatory.  Being raised a Methodist from the cradle, I never really understood that phrase.....Until this week. Now I see that Purgatory is its own special brand of hell. It's the "not knowing" the "you cannot Plan for this" that un-nerves my soul.  I think this comes from being a bit of a Control Freak.....I hate to straddle the fence...to Wait....to keep to myself until someone Else decides what I shall do.

And I must admit that I did not handle it to the Best of my ability. I was a bit snippy, maybe even whiny. Rob will attest to my dour mood. I don't DO dour very well....And tho, I DO try to remind myself that "Life is not a Dress Rehearsal," I did not bear this performance with grace...

By Friday morning, it was apparent that I wasn't going ANYwhere with my Collie....not even out of the cul-de-sac. We were in a Winter Wonderland, and no matter what the weather conditions might be down in OKCity, I was stuck in Tahlequah.  Then, the email came from the show chair.  The 2 days of shows (there were 3 shows) were cancelled.  Cancelled. Not postponed. Not rescheduled. Cancelled. Thank you for your contribution to the Oklahoma Collie Club......

Durn.

Crap.

Dirty toilet seats and pussing sores.

But you know what?! With that email, I was literally launched out of Purgatory, and a huge cloud was lifted from my cold, icy heart. It wasn't so Bad anymore. At least I knew what to Expect.....Cuddling on the couch, cooking delicous meals, romping in the snow, cleaning out the junk drawer, playing Where in the US is Carmen San Diego.....
So, first we romped in the snow.....

Here's a shot of The Cutest Boy in the World:

This is James' "tolerant" look.....He's not too crazy about getting stuff on his coat. He walks Around rain puddles. He will avoid the grass when there's a sidewalk available. He Prefers being inside. Were he female,

 we would call him a Diva.

Prosper, on the other hand, DElighted in the white stuff! He touched every one of his toys, rolling them over and chewing on them to inspect their "frozen-ness." He soared around the yard, leaping over the jumps, tumbling past the other two boyz.

Baden is the Hall Monitor. He can't keep up, rpm-wise with the younger Collies, but he makes up for it by barking. Barking. BARKing.

Prop and I played fetch with this oversized waterbottle until my hands were numb with cold. He found that the red handle was, well, quite Handy for bringing it. I'm thinking I'm gonna use this handle-grabbing behavior in the future and make it work big for me.

The yard was FULL of wonderful "designs" in the snow.  I truly wish I had my friend Joanne's "artist's eye," but I did capture a few artsy shots.  This is the bench in the backyard.

Back inside, I baked a WONDERful turkey pot pie. Rob made coffee, and we snuggled in for a warm, delectable dinner.

One more side note....Regarding Priorties in this household.....The snow has been on the ground/roof now for 2 days. Suddenly, we noticed that the satellite dish was not working. We were only receiving the "local" stations, nothing else. Well, this would Never Do, according to The Man Who Never Turns the TV Off.....

So, Rob went outside with a very long pole he found in the storage barn, and proceeded to tap the Dish until it was free of ice and snow....

Always there must be a Collie in assistance.  Here's Baden close by:

Inside, Rob cked out the TV......It Worked! He got to watch Queen and Paul Johnson, after all....

I Keep TRYIN to tell ya...This boy ain't rite. But he sure does make a good cuppa coffee.  And he Does have innovative ways of solving our problems....

Snow Tunnels

Last week the boyz and I travelled up to KCity because Baby Daughter had surgery on her wrist. I went to change diapers and monitor bath time, but by Monday, three days after surgery, little Ms "I Do Not Need Any Help" was up and runnin' again. My van was packed with goodies for the grandchildren and weineroni for my son in law and warm, wooly clothes for me, so I trekked up there anyway.

It was SO fun to be there with no schedule, no deadlines to meet, no real "purpose" besides reading books and shopping for crickets for the frog.Yeh, the frog named Dav.... If you need more information on this family, Kathryn's blog is listed beside my posts.

Grace is nearly 5 now, and has (nearly) given up her pacifer and (completely) her afternoon naps. As a grandparent, this is Good News. Sleep is greatly overrated and a waste of valuable Time where grandchildren are concerned. Naps cut in to our Time Together.  Bedtime comes soon enough in that household.

So, while (nearly 2 year old) Samuel napped in the afternoon, I had one-on-one time with Grace. We shopped on the computer, we searched for hidden pictures, we played Polly Pockets, we read crazy GrandTone books.

AND....we played in the snow! Kansas City got over 14 inches of snow during Christmas, with more falling every week thereafter. Although it is beginning to melt, and the ground becoming quite saturated, there is still a huge "mountain" of snow in the middle of the cul de sac in front of the Farris' house.

I think I have my brother's engineering heart some of the time....Tho my "structural expertise" is quite lacking, my desire to build and create remains unquenchable. And when one sees a huge amount of snow and ice packed in front of one.....well, the challenge to DO something with it, despite the freezing temperatures and limited choice of tools, was more than I could ignore.

So we dug.  We dug with a garden hoe and a miniature shovel.....
And, of course, there Always must be a Collie helping to supervise the construction. That's James managing the job site.

At some point, in this cold endeavor, Grace exclaimed, "GrandTone! I can see your shovel!" She was on the other side of the tunnel.....mountain climbing, using the hoe as a stabilizer for reaching the peak.

Yep... East had met West....but we weren't finished yet! We had to make the hole bigger so that we could actually CRAWL thru it!  So the digging continued. Do you know how Warm you can get whilst shovelling snow! And while you warm up, the heat from your body can melt the snow you are kneeling on, making your pant legs quite soggy, and, consequently, Cold...

Meanwhile....Our very own Sir Edmund Hillary had reached the summit and stood victorious high in the thin,cold air.....

As a Responsible GrandTone, I must admit that she DID make me a bit nervous up there all by herself....But how could I take away her victory by telling her to be careful....So, I did what ALL Grandmothers do....I prayed for her stability.  Guess that is a prayer that I shall Always pray.......for All the mountaintops they scale.....

Tunnel completed, we now must see what Life is like on the other side.....

And, then, of course, it was MY turn....Once inside, the hole I'd dug seemed quite a bit smaller....and colder....Being born could not have been more difficult.

Never forget the Site Supervisor....He loves to "Go Tunnel!" It's Agility in the snow! Where's the weave poles, Mom?!

And now it is time for some Hot Chocolate, according to the Adult in Charge.....uh, that would be the person on the other side of the camera.....So...one last shot, then we head inside to peel off our wet drawers and warm up by the fire. Anticipating Spring is highly overrated.....

Happy Birthday To ME!!!

Well, even tho my Happy Birthday isn't until next week, my present came early!!! I don't think I would have been more pleased if I had been given a brand new van!!! Thank you SO much, Rob Bailey, for KNOWing me and knowing what I love. But you DID spend more than the allotted, customary $20.

If you go to this site you will see ALL of the products that these folks have to offer. It is a TOTALLY portable set of Obedience Jumps that ALL fold nicely up into this little bag.

I set the jumps up int the livingroom (couldn't Wait till tomorrow, and it is dark and cold outside). Prosper immediately jumped over it.

This is the "bar jump." As you can see, the bar is adjustable to 40 inches (I'm guessing for Schutzhund work?). My boyz jump 24, but to introduce this jump I lowered it a bit. Doesn't seem to be a problem with a 65# breezing over it. The "towers" didn't ever wobble.

The Broad jumps have collapsable poles inserted in them. There are 4 of them. When I had them all "sprung out" and the poles put in them, I discovered that they actually "nest" inside each other, for easy portability even if they are not completely broken down. WOW!


Here's my teenager trying them out. Baden is pushing 13 this year.


















Even Eddy Mercyx the cat liked the bar jumps. He ain't rite, but we keep him anyway. He fits right in to our household.....
























Thanks, again, Dear Rob, for wanting this for me. Fifty eight years old, and getting dawg toys for a present! THESE children think I'm normal.....