Category: Blogging

Big News Monday

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 73 Comments

NormanNorman here with some {imitating Ed Sullivan} reeelly, reeelly big news. Mum has been dizzily working on a project that I’m happy to share with you now. Last August a group of committed volunteers who had worked in various capacities with the Old English Sheepdog rescue from where I came [you can read about my story here] got together once it became apparent that old rescue was going close. They realized there was still a need to help dogs like me and decided then and there to form their own sheepdog rescue. Enter…{trumpets blowing} the all new organization, Rocky Mountain Old English Sheepdog Rescue.

RMOESR Logo

While there are no dogs in the new rescue yet (we’re still setting up infrastructure, getting insurance, obtaining bookkeeping assistance, writing policies, etc. that are still being formulated), but the website has gone live, though there will be limited activity until we’re further along while things are getting set up. Mum said they’re taking it one day at a time and are doing everything by the book. It took some effort just getting the non-profit status approved with the IRS but it’s official now and allows the rescue to set up and participate in fundraising events. But I’m very chuffed there will still be a place where sheepies like me will get a second chance at a fur-ever home.

We hope you’ll send us ‘pawsitive’ thoughts as we continue to move forward for all the red tape required. Who knew there was so much involved with creating a dog rescue?

In other news, after much deliberation, Mum shuttered her e-commerce shop over the weekend. The amount of work (and expense) to maintain it wasn’t even close to making it profitable to justify maintaining it. She has decided to just make cards for friends and family and no longer will offer them or (dog related items) for sale in the e-shop. It wasn’t an easy decision to come to but after careful consideration, Mum realized it makes sense. She wanted me to express our gratitude to everyone who has supported the shop over the years and also to those who provided encouragement. We feel truly blessed for your kindness and generous support.

And with those announcements, we hope you have a truly pawsome week.

Smiles

Live, love, bark! 🐾

WordPress Issues

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 52 Comments

Gif   Greetings fellow WordPress bloggers who have been experiencing issues trying to [easily] leave comments (and in the misery loves company category, I have had the same problem with some of yours). I managed to figure out a work around but became frustrated having to do it frequently so I reached out to the WordPress Happiness Engineers. Their initial thought is they believe the issue is a bug (bloody cockroach is more like it but I digress) and will move it up the chain “to the team” for further evaluation. Great {dripping with sarcasm}.

So…have you been receiving this message lately when you try to leave a comment?

WordPressAfter experiencing it on several blogs I follow and receiving a number of messages from folks who follow me (thank you very much for letting me know), I contacted the WordPress Happiness Engineers who suggested the following work-around (although why this suddenly woke up the blogging gremlins didn’t make sense to me, but then again I’m no techno-wizard or blogging expert so who the heck knows).

You can clear your cache if you want to. You can also test turning off the setting at My Site → Settings → Discussion → Comments → Comment author must fill out name and email” [For the record, making this change did not seem to rectify the issue for me but it might work for you]

Turn off the setting for “Comment author must fill out name and email.”

Check your Discussion settings page on your blog to see how it may be configured.

The only thing that seems to work for me thus far is best described in this graphic. Whenever I receive that error message, I first copy my comment (no point having to retype it again) once I get back to this view:

WordPress

Rather than retyping my comment, I paste the copied comment and then fill in the info at the arrows. Sorry this is turning into a cluster, but hope this info helps until WordPress fixes the bug. I’ll share any info they provide. Good luck to us all.

P.S. As of 7:00 AM MDT, I had not heard back from the advance team. Sigh.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

A Midweek Introduction

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 65 Comments

Hello friends, I’m a bit late to this party, I could not let an opportunity to share the news of someone who’s been a good friend of the Ranch and introduce you to his new blog despite being tardy. Let me just say this seasoned blogger knows how to serve up a tasty post.

Allow me to dish up the inaugural post from our friend, Frank, he of the former “AFrankAngle fame.” Frank thought he was done blogging but then realized he had another voice where he could showcase his “Beach Walk Reflections” posts on a new blog. His insight and thoughtful prose is definitely worth a check out, so please drop by. Frank also has some of the cleverest followers and everyone will leave you with a good feeling with thoughtful observations at a time when we need it the most. Very best wishes, Frank…may you experience continued success my friend. I know I am looking forward to this new batch of thoughtful posts, lovely images and videos and smart followers. So check it out at and see why the Ranch hands gives this new puppy their 4 out of 4 paws endorsement:  Keep up the good work, Frank! https://beachwalkreflections.wordpress.com

Pawprints

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Catch Up Tuesday

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 67 Comments

Returning from a wonderful vacation, I’m more behind than ever so this week may not see a lot of blog action but don’t be alarmed if I don’t comment on your posts. The WiFi situation (along my international data plan) were inadequate to keep fully on top of things but rest assured, I will read every blog post that arrived in my inbox, even if I don’t leave a comment.

Suffice to say the trip was worth every sun-filled moment. What’s not to enjoy and love when there’s good company, good food, and good drinks? Oh, and a gorgeous view that will remain in my memory banks for a good long time.

On a less happy note, just a week shy of being six-months seizure free, Elsa had a small seizure last night. She’s fine and back to her normal self and resting right now. While I was gone, she apparently learned how to amp up the motor that controls her tail wag speed because when I walked in, I had never seen it wag so fast. It fills my heart with such joy to see this once shut-down precious Ninja expressing canine glee. In looking back over her seizure log last night, I noted this has been the longest period of time she hadn’t had an episode which I attribute it to the switching of CBD oil brands to Black Dog Botanicals (which can be found in the e-shop here in both canine and human strength). Her blood values will be screened sometime over the next couple of weeks and I should have a better sense of her progress then. The vet said if we could limit her to a couple a month, she’d be happy, so I’m sure this will merit some pawsitive note in Elsa’s medical file.

Sam, Elsa and I  send our very best Happy Thanksgiving greeting to you and yours. We’ll see you soon!

Live, love, bark!🐾

Monday Musings ~ A new title

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 60 Comments

Last week you may recall that the Management met with the Ranch Hands to discuss safety protocols. While I’m sure the status quo will return in no time making winter walks dicey again at some point, I’m happy to report they have been on their best paws during our walks. No assassination attempts have occurred but then again maybe it’s because the weather warmed up and gloves haven’t been needed in the balancing act of leashes, filled poop bags, squirrel alert, etc. We’ll continue to keep our fingers crossed.

K9 ShopThat said, Management has been offered and accepted a(nother) new role around the Ranch. Some of you already were aware that we recently launched an e-shop and several of you have already purchased products from our K9 shop for which we are grateful. In case you haven’t checked it out, I hope you’ll consider swinging by as new items are being added all the time as we gear up for the ‘howliday’ season. The Ranch Hands decided the new title was a good idea and promptly dubbed me the Ranch’s CEO/Pet-trepeneur. Like all good companies, when you want to make someone feel good without giving them a raise, what do you do? You give them a new title.

So what does a Pet-trepeneur do exactly? I’m still learning the ropes of the new position but the Ranch Hands say I’m supposed to create products, try to maintain the website(dear Lord), advertise and market our little corner of the ‘Net and of course, handle customer service. The dogs tell me that last part includes baking organic, healthy dog treats like we used but I’m waiting for a marketing analysis report to come back. Yeah, that’s the ticket…marketing analysis. LOL


So to launch the e-shop properly and as my first official act as the new CEO/Pet-trepeneur of the Ranch, the dogs thought we should offer a contest just in time for Halloween; one of our reversible bandanas. This particular bandana comes in two sizes, regular and small. How can you win one of these reversible 100% cotton bandanas? Leave a comment and the official Prize Committee will choose a winner. Who’s on the Prize Committee, you ask? One Knucklehead and one Ninja. We’ll do this all very scientifically (till I can figure out the Rafflecopter plugin – oh boy, another digital cluster) going old school by printing each comment and having their busy-body noses decide sniff out a winner. Should be interesting so leave us a comment to be entered into our first official give-away. Sam and Elsa said they will accept bribes but rest assured, I put the kibosh on that. Knuckleheads! Good luck, ‘effuryone.’

P.S. We’ve added a few Howliday items  and will hopefully add more this week. Just 63 sleeps till Christmas. Don’t mean to rush to it before Halloween, but they’ll be here before you know it.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Throwback Thursday~Yeah…we’ve been away a while

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 51 Comments

Hi-ya, ‘member us? It’s me, Sam. You know, Chief Knucklehead and Standard Poodle Extraordinaire from the Ranch. Lately it’s been a rough time here. We lost a couple of beloved pups in our extended family (R.I.P. Aria, aka Big Dawg and cutie pie Wriggly-we hope you’re running free and enjoying life at the Rainbow Bridge-we hope to have a better memorial post once we can locate a couple of photos) and Mom’s been out of town for too long handling a family emergency with her mom that we hope, (fingers crossed) has been resolved. Can I get a woof, woof?! Mom came back Tuesday evening and boy am I and my goofy Ninja sister thrilled. I haven’t stopped wagging my tail and won’t let her out of my sight for a second, which has made her trips to the water torture room kind of interesting. 

We hope to be back full-time blogging after mom decompresses catches her breath like we used to, so we hope you’ll be patient with all of us. And I know she is ever so grateful for those of you who have reached out and asked what’s up with us. We appreciate your kindness, concern and fur-iendship. In the meantime, look what I dug up out of the archive backyard. My predecessors, McKenzie, Eliot and Crosby. I know, I hear your ‘awww’s through the screen and admit they were pretty adorable. I think McKenzie looks like he could have been the Ninja’s older brother. Eliot always looked like a giant stuffed toy and Crosby was mom’s first dog when she moved to Denver who also had the dreaded Epi-Monster visit him way too many times. I think mom might have been able to treat his condition better now days than she did back in those olden days. She’s learned a lot with Elsa which seems to make a difference since the monster hasn’t visited her for a number of months. We hope you’re all doing well, staying warm, safe and cozy. So what have we miss?

L to R McKenzie, Eliot and Crosby (circa 1997)

Live, love, bark! ❤︎

Working Wednesday

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 52 Comments

While the rest of the world is publishing cute memes today for Wordless Wednesday, my delinquents gang decided to call an editors’ meeting. As writers we all have to deal with editors and while this day wasn’t totally convenient time wise, I agreed to it. Lately, Elsa seems more interested in the editing process {otherwise known as interrupting me with barks, lots of nose nudges under the arm and pestering in general till she gets the attention she wants}. Since I can always use some inspiration from the muses, I thought, what the heck. Sam frequently comes by when I’m on the laptop and will ‘request’ an editor’s meeeting. So I decided to bribe them with snacks just I used to back when I was in working in the law firm. Nothing seems to inspire people or pets quite like a plate of goodies, so when I put a plate out, they practically dashed to the ‘conference’ room. Here’s a transcript of our meeting.

Elsa: Oooh, hiya, mom. Is that plate of goodies for our editors’ meeting?

Mom: Hi sweetie. Yup, thought we could all use a snack while we’re working. Kind of helps the creative process or so I’m told. It always worked well in the law office when…

Sam: [Interrupting as he barges into the conference room] Yo dudes…what be shaking?

Elsa: Dudes? What. are. you. yapping. about? It’s my first editors’ meeting. Isn’t that cool, I’m so excited, let’s get started on the agenda. I think the first item on the agenda are those treats!

Sam: Wait what…now she’s barging in on my editor’s meetings, the ones where I crawl across your lap, rest my head on the laptop, receive extra attention and ear scratches so you can’t get any work done?

Elsa: You mean you get extra attention at these meetings? Woof! Sign. me. up!

Mom: Um, we seem to be starting off topic already. We’re supposed to be figuring out ways for you guys to inspire me on future posts.

Sam: Inspire?! You mean I have to work here and there won’t be any attention or extra ear scratches just for showing up? What kind of chicanery is that? Um, could someone please pass a treat?

Mom: Sam, you know the rules, there is no such thing as a free lunch treat. You have to earn them.

Sam: [Looking mortified at the thought of having to actually earn a treat.]

Elsa: I have some questions and was told you know the answer to everything so I’m hoping you can explain a few things to me.

Mom: Well, I’ll certainly try my best. Go for it.

Elsa: Ooh, ooh, mom, mom, MOOOOOMMMM!!!!!

Mom: Whaaaaat Elsa? You’re standing right here next to me! You don’t need to bark shout.

Elsa: Well…First I was wondering how come when we’re walking along and I spy a squirrel 87 feet ahead of us and we’re sneaking up on it nicely and I’ve got the pawfect plan ready to snag it with my jaws of steel when suddenly, ‘someone’ slams on the brakes and we lurch to a complete stop…totally messing up my pawsome timing and allowing said squirrel in my sights to scamper away?

Mom: Funny you should mention that. There are many days when I feel like I’m in the Middle Ages with you two trying to draw and quarter me. Your tearing my shoulder out of its socket as you race toward unsuspecting critters and mom’s in one direction and on the other side, Sam ripping my shoulder out from slamming on the breaks so he can take a pee break in the opposite direction.

Elsa: Yeah, what’s up with that anyway? He does that every 10 feet.

Sam: Hey, I’m just catching up on the local gossip around the ‘hood, reading and writing pee mails.

Elsa: Pfft…writing…ha! More like texting like a little girl.

Sam: Hey, I’ll have you know I’m leaving impawtant messages for the brahs in the neighborhood. Maybe I’m also being chivalrous telling the male dawgs to stay away from my sister. Did you ever think about that?

Elsa: Wow, you can say all that in 5 drops?! Mom, how does that work?

Mom: Well Elsa, it’s just something boy dogs do, they mark territory.

Elsa: Wow, who’d have thought you could put all that info in a teeny text pee?

Sam: Those are NOT texts!! I’ll have you know, I’m the master of brevity.

Elsa: Haha. Whatever gets you through the night. I’ve read those texts…they all read like gibberish. They don’t even make any grammatical sense. I mean, puleez. Who you trying to kid with that hooey?

Sam: Wait, you’re reading my pee mails? What kind of sorcery is this, Ninja?

Mom: Um, can we get back to the agenda by the whole “attempt to inspire me?” You know, something clever for our readers?

Elsa: But mom, I need to know, how come he does that? And while you’re answering questions, why is the sky blue? And when are we going on a hike to see the leaves change colors in the high country? And…and…and…

Mom: Ugh. Meeting adjourned. I need to get some real work done.

Sam [walking out of the room with Elsa]:  See, I told you she doesn’t know everything.

Elsa: She knows a whole lot more than you do, doofus.

Are your editor meetings as ‘productive?’

Live, love, bark! ❤︎

Some Belated Acknowledgments

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 41 Comments

Yes, it’s Sunday and we don’t post on Sundays but I just can’t let another day go by without posting a public acknowledgement (and apology for being so tardy).

As you know, we don’t generally share blog nominations on the blog but we had to acknowledge and thank three of our favorite bloggers who were kind enough to nominate us for the One Lovely Blog  in July and early August. Our fur-iend, Lucy at Lexi the Schnauzer & Friends initially  surprised us. A post was drafted but languished with the craziness and hectic schedule we’ve kept over the past few weeks (although I was appreciative in my comment at the time). Everyone loves Lucy’s mom and we’re no exception. Thank you so much, dear Amy and sweet Lucy. No sooner than we were nominated by Lucy, I received notice a couple of days later that fur-iends, Miss Harper Lee and her adorable sister, Tallulah, had nominated us too! And then earlier this month, our friend Michael over at Golden Kali (with yet another pair of sweet Goldens) nominated us too. Wow you guys, I’m so touched by you all thinking of us for this nomination. Thank you from the bottom of our paws. We are so humbled and honored. And I apologize for not having posted about it much sooner. Life just kind of got in the way of me properly acknowledging your generous kindness. Thank you all very much for your nominations, your support over the years and your fur-iendship!

The award calls for me to list 7 things you may not know about us which are kind of difficult since we’re pretty much an open (and somewhat dull) book. But here goes:

  1. Sam is the first poodle I’ve ever owned (and I’ve owned 6 of them over the past 87 years) who won’t swim (or get near any water) even though his feet are webbed like Aqua Man.
  2. Sam is finding it somewhat challenging to be a good brother setting a pawsitive example to a stinker of a little Ninja sister who is corrupting him more often than not. Talk about peer pressure getting to him.
  3. Sam was adopted a few months after the tornado that leveled his hometown (Holly, Colorado (see Denver Post article here) and where he sired two litters of Golden Doodles (that dawg!).
  4. Sam aced his AKC Canine Good Citizen test despite being a stubborn butthead struggling during some of the training sessions.
  5. One of Sam’s favorite treats are pig ears (with apologies to our friend, Bacon) though I haven’t given him any in a couple of years.
  6. I am a naturalized citizen who once owned a hardware store and can cut keys and mix paint with the best of ’em.
  7. In my copious spare time, I make greeting cards to send to friends the old-fashioned way…snail mail, as well as create homemade dog treats, skin care lotions and bath bombs. If you ever want a greeting card, just send us your snail mail address. 😄

Many thanks to Amy and Lucy; Miss Harper Lee and Tallulah; and Michael, Kali and Kloe for thinking of us and for being such supportive blogging friends. It doesn’t seem reasonable to limit any “pay-it-forward” nominations to 15 fellow bloggers since everyone I know has probably received this one before. You all have such clever blogs that charm us but if in case you haven’t, consider this your chance to know we think you’re fur-tastic enough to receive it now!

Live, love, bark! ❤︎

Tongue Out Tuesday

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 43 Comments

It’s not a full tongue out, I’m just practicing to get ready for my week at the hospital so if you don’t hear from us, you’ll know why. Today’s gonna be a hot one but I’m looking forward to seeing my friends at the hospital and hospice. Stay cool and look for us in a few days. 

Live, Love, Bark! ❤︎

Thankful Thursday

~ Tails Around the Ranch ~ 81 Comments

When it comes to celebrating blogiversaries, I have been fairly taciturn to publicly share those dates and have never posted anything about receiving any awards but since being recently notified that our “Ranch” was one of PetNitro’s Best Dog Bloggers to Follow for 2017, as well as realizing over 600 of you amazing readers follow us, it seemed appropriate to acknowledge both milestones and express my gratitude to those responsible. That’d be you guys! Sure I know there are gazillions of you who have scads more followers and been doing this blogging thing a whole lot longer and are far more successful than the likes of us, but I kind of had to think…WOW! Had you asked me after publishing that first post (A new baby arrives) a year ago this week (which came a month after setting up the blog) whether I’d have thought any one other than maybe my kids or a friend or two would have read it, I’d have laughed myself into delirium and needed oxygen. Apart from an eye roll, even contemplating such a silly notion of having a blog read by anyone, let alone something still being read 3 years later, from my vantage point at least, was so far off the radar-screen, it still makes me chuckle even thinking about it.

I mean, I had this stress filled nightmare job with an unreasonable boss whose purpose in life seemed to be to hoist me on a petard every day. Who’d want to do anything else, right? Ha! He could have cared less about what I thought or did so long as his personal life was made easier. But I did somewhat enjoy the client work and my co-workers were the best so that generally got me through most days. But as the years and ignoble personal requests piled up taking their toll on my soul, I realized a creative outlet was imperative for sanity and decided to try blogging as a creative outlet to avoid committing some criminal act. I had no idea what I was doing, had minimal graphic skills (some things just never change) and yet, there was this voice inside that was awakened and needed to be shared. Originally I wanted to create a design blog and then quickly came to realize that wasn’t gonna happen. Sure I had co-owned a hardware store before and could wield a mean paint brush and cut a key in record time, but who was I kidding? I didn’t have the wherewithal to move interior walls and handle plumbing projects from scratch (I’d rather set my hair on fire frankly than deal with ANYTHING plumbing related) let alone do an amazing makeover like the rest of the Martha Stewart/MacGyver types who are able to create something fabulous from paint, pillows, a bit of spit and maybe a rubber band or two.

Then it hit me…the real muse was wagging his tail at me in a hospital room so what better way to harness that inner voice than to share stories about a certain lovable knucklehead rather than trying to redesign some tiny little kitchen or rehab project around the house without dynamite or a Sugar Daddy. We were already doing therapy work and it seemed natural to share our adventures on hospital visits. It was fulfilling and rewarding beyond measure. Was I terrified hitting the ‘publish’ button in the beginning? You betcha…I still am! But life has a funny way of encouraging you to make changes or to see that most of the time you spend working doesn’t have to be constant misery-inducing for someone happy to suck the life out of you.

So after finally having a steaming mug of crap filled to overflowing (aka end-of-the-year cluster), I came to the conclusion life would be infinitely better blogging full-time than to be someone’s whipping-post for their unhappy existence. With that, I left the legal biz a little over a year ago walkING out with my head held high, a smile on my face and never looking back.

Those of you who know me well, know I’m not into tooting my own horn and any level of accomplishment is not dependent on awards or anniversaries but instead comes from smiling when YOU guys take time to comment on our escapades. I am grateful beyond words and know my rewards are about the back and forth dialogue and sharing of your experiences. For that I continue to be grateful. Your warmth and support have been re-affirming and you taught me the “3 E’s of blogging.” Engage, educate and entertain, for which I can’t thank you enough. We invite you to stick around and continue to hear our drivel stories.

This peanut sized space on the Internet where people come together and have a genuine love for their 4-legged-better-parts, sustains and fills me with a joy that is often indescribable. The fact that you are so generous with your kindness and comments is beyond touching and makes my day. Thank heavens I had the good sense to avoid the design genre (far too many design peeps seem to lack any kindness DNA…and besides, who wants to paint rooms the color of puce just to be part of a catty, mean-spirited clique anyway?). Love you guys for your kindhearted encouragement, empathy and smiles! So as I commemorate these two events, I hope we share half as much joy in your life as you do to ours. Sending tail wags and nose nudges to you all.

Live, love, bark! ❤︎