Purple Day ~ 2025

Although my precious angel left this earth just 16 days ago, I was and remain a big proponent of the Five Sibes’ Live Gib Strong Epilepsy Awareness Day. As many of you know, Elsa was adopted back in the autumn of 2016 and two weeks later was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy following several severe Grand Mal seizures. Having owned an epileptic dog before, I knew a little about what to expect. Because I was 100% committed to keeping Elsa and helping her enjoy a good life with me despite being offered the option of returning her to the rescue. That option never occurred to me. Instead, I became obsessed with providing her with the best life possible. Enter two fellow bloggers who are lay experts in providing the best life for their own epileptic fur companions. FiveSibes and Knotty Toys for Good Dogs became my go-to for info, tips and resources and I couldn’t have found two more dedicated advocates for the treatment of canine epilepsy. Both of these remarkable epileptic ambassadors provided Elsa and I with amazing info to manage her condition along with our vet. My vet once told me, the advice I was getting from them both helped me keep Elsa’s seizures manageable all the while providing me with some much needed hope when I needed it most. To both of them, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart. Please keep sharing your valuable info and resources for epileptic pets as well as their caregivers all over the world. Thank you for all you do.

Elsa, epilepsy

Many people don’t understand that epilepsy affects both the epi-warrior as well as the caregiver so having reliable and supportive info can make all the difference for us. I will always be grateful beyond words for their help as well as for all the resources they shared. Their advocacy makes me want to continue to be a supporter for Purple Day even though Elsa is now seizure free at the Rainbow Bridge.

For more educational information and a list of resources, please watch this  short video.

On a closer and more personal note, I also want to thank everyone who sent donations in Elsa’s name to RMOES Rescue as well as notes of condolences after she earned her angel wings. Your notes of gentle support have buoyed my heart and I know the rescue is equally grateful for your donations.  Your supportive thoughts of comfort have been so very appreciated. Blogville is the truly the best at supporting its own and especially at times of heartache. If only words of gratitude were as easy and heartfelt to express as what your support has meant. I’m truly at a loss for the right words of gratitude and will simply leave it with the humble but deeply sincere “thank you,” from the bottom of my heart.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ March 3, 2025

Happy first Monday of March. Neither Elsa or I are 100% healthy yet but are holding our own. You may correctly surmise that I’m improving with a scrappy greeting to today’s weather forecast by yelling (as much as one can with no voice) to today’s weather forecast, “bring it on” as the Ranch braces for the first spring storm arriving later this afternoon. Spring storms in Colorado are normal and welcome in March as they tend to drop a lot of moisture and melt fairly quickly. With 17 days until the official arrival of spring, we’ll see if Nature goes along with the forecast of 8-14 inches of white stuff. In the meantime, let’s enjoy a lighthearted look at life.

In accordance with Colorado consumer law, I recently received a  notification from the LexisNexis Consumer Center indicating I was eligible for a free disclosure copy of my credit report so today’s smile ironically seems in line with what our pets face all the time. It came as a rather big surprise since I wasn’t aware of LexisNexis (you can click on the link to reach their website to see if you’re interested in checking out) having a presence in the credit reporting arena, being only aware of the big 3: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Looks like the day won’t be a total loss as I learned something new and discovered there’s yet another place to check to keep my online identity safe in this age of online theft, scammers and mischief makers. Anyway, hope it’s a lighthearted look for you to start out the week. Wishing all is well wherever you’re located and this smile allows you  to usher the week in with a little chuckle. Happy Monday.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ February 21, 2025

{Cough…wheeze} Welcome to this week’s wrap up from last week’s visit to the Broomfield Depot Museum while she was killing time waiting to pick up the House Pony from the groomer. Elsa here…I’m only a little better so if any of you have wizard-like powers, I’d sure appreciate you sprinkling me with some good Juju magic.

Today we’re going to share info about Broomfield’s Depot Museum Please enjoy this YouTube video on the Depot’s restoration.

Wilson: Mum loves historical places and always likes to investigate unusual or unexpected things inside and outside the Depot. After capturing those prairie dog images, she went inside to see what  life in general looked like in 1909 Broomfield.

Elsa: Mom was skeptical as to whether there was electricity for that toaster from last week but she discovered that electricity actually came to Colorado in the late 1800’s during the railroad boom. It makes sense that this stop would showcase some of the modern conveniences of the times that passengers liked. Pictured above is the Kolster Tombstone Tube Radio with a vintage Kodak box camera on top of it. However both items were actually from the mid-to-late 1920’s. They were likely added to the display because of their antique-y look of the period and might have been added after the Depot was opened.

Wilson: You’re right, Ninja. She suspected many of the items displayed at the Depot were more associated with the 1920’s, like this amazing looking ice box.

Elsa: That piece is in great condition, though and is similar to this early 1900’s wall-mounted telephone. I’m going out on a limb by saying they probably didn’t use this phone to order an Uber carriage ride home after they reached the station.

Wilson: That’s likely a good bet. But we’re very sure this next photo showing a Hall’s Safe & Lock Company safe (circa 1849) actually was one of the initial things they had when the Depot opened to safely stash ticket receipts. At that time, the Cincinnati based Hall’s company sold half of all fireproof and burglar-proof safes and vaults in the US and was the largest vault company in the world by 1892.

Elsa: I’ll bet that was one heavy safe and it looks like it too was in pretty good condition.

Wilson: It sure is. As is this classic Hoosier cabinet which was very popular from 1900 to 1930. Around the 1890s, several furniture manufacturers in Indiana discovered that a stand-alone kitchen cabinet with storage and workspace would be an easy sell. Having a kitchen workstation where ingredients and various utensils could be stored, yet easily accessed when preparing meals and they were all the rage. It’s always a treat when Mum finds antiques like these especially when they’re in such good shape. She used to go antiquing years ago and still has a few nice pieces she collected nearly 50 years ago.

Elsa: Whoa…didn’t realize that Mom was that old. {heh, heh} Because I know how much you like meals, where do you think they stored the dog food?

Wilson: {oooh..yum…smack…drool} Good question…I personally think our food should have been stored in that large door on the bottom left but I’m sure things were a lot different for us dogs back then.

Elsa: Easy on the drool, buddy. Let’s get back to focusing on what else Mom found at the Depot.

Wilson: {disappointed} You sure know how to take the joy out of sharing these images.

Elsa: Not everything is about food, dude.

Wilson: {gasp} Perish the thought but I saved the best history for last. There wasn’t any info that Mum found during her quick poke around inside the Depot but she did a lot of sniffing around when she got home about “Shep, the Turnpike Dog,” after she came upon this spot outside. She wanted to know all about Shep.

Elsa: So the story goes that back in the early 1950’s when the Denver-Boulder Turnpike toll opened, Shep was already a fixture on the scene. Rumored to be part of a litter of pups who escaped from a farmer, Shep apparently made his way to the construction site where the toll road was being built. Workers on the toll road would share their lunches with the friendly pooch and then Shep was eventually enticed to sleep in the toll booth on a cold night. Being no ordinary fool, Shep welcomed the invitation and then spent part of his days with the toll booth operators where he quickly became their mascot. Soon travelers would offer treats, toys, bones and even left donations to fund food for the engaging dog as they made their way along the toll way.

Wilson: He sure sounded like he enjoyed his ‘job.’ I know first hand people love dogs with a purpose and he likely brought a lot of joy to folks traveling on the turnpike.

Elsa: He was beloved and after he was shot, he managed to return to the toll booth where workers rushed him to a nearby vet, Clyde Bruner who treated the canine celebrity for free. Shep lived the rest of his life at the toll booth and Dr. Bruner treated him for various injuries incurred from coyote interactions. As Shep aged, he began to lose his eyesight and toll booth workers decided rather than have him suffer or get seriously injured around all the cars, and he was euthanized in 1964 at age 14.

Wilson: That seems rather sad, though Mum told me he lived a good life and was personally buried by the highway superintendent, Paul Kempf. A donated headstone marked the grave until 2009 when the Department of Transportation gave the Broomfield Museum permission to move the grave from Zang Spur Park to the Depot Museum which also had been relocated from its original location. He lived at the tollbooth for 14 years. [Photo credits: Justin Kent, L, and Jeff Kissinger, of Broomfield Parks, dug out the grave markers for Shep the Turnpike Dog for the move from his resting place at the intersection of Hwy. US 36 and State Hwy. 121 to the Depot Hill Museum in 2009. Photo courtesy-Staff photo/David R. Jennings.]

Broomfield Enterprise Photo
Photo: The Denver Post

Elsa: Gotta love the inscription on the newer headstone. Sounds like quite a dog and another story of famous dogs from the metro area. Well done, House Pony.

Wilson: Many thanks, Ninja. Sharing stories like this always warms Mum’s heart. We dogs are special creatures and by telling their stories, others recognize all of our contributions.

Elsa: Umm, let’s not get carried away with nostalgia but it’s suffice to say how important it is to learn about the local history. So what’s on your dance card for the weekend? Our weather will be taking a detour on the winter from hell tour (color us happy) At the time this post was written we had high hopes but after last night’s 8-10 inch dump, it looks like Mom will only be digging out. I feel sorry for her sternum and torn bicep because this is a heavy snow. Originally I had hoped I’d be well enough to go for a short walk but Mom barely let me go potty this morning. . No offense Mom, but being inside with you all day is getting old, even with the snuffle mats and the Licki-Mat bowl to exercise our minds. Whatever you do, we hope your weather permits you to enjoy the nicer elements that Nature might offer. If you can find them.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ February 14, 2025

Welcome to this week’s edition of Nature Friday. Today is Valentine’s Day…the day of love. It’s been a helluva week for all of us. Both Mom and Wilson are exhausted after some very intense visits at the hospital, visiting tons of people and patients and Mom had multiple commitments every single day this week. On top of that she’s been trying to nurse-mate me to feel better. She’s took me to the vet again today and it looks like I have a mild case of pneumonia. Any POTP wishes you can spare would be greatly appreciated.

Please join us along with our friends from Adventures of LLB Gang as we celebrate Nature on this day of love. Be sure to click on the link to see what others shared.

Wilson: Mum especially loves it when she can find slices of wild nature in the depths of the city and not just on Valentine’s Day. Because I had hospital duty this week, that meant that I have to get bathed and groomed and Mum was in no shape to do it herself so she took me to the nice people at The Dirty Dog in Broomfield. Miss Sydney loves us sheepdogs and got me totally spiffed up. Everyone knows I don’t like baths but Sydney is very sweet to me and always she tells Mum I’m a good boy for her.

Elsa: Bet Mom would appreciate it if you’d be that as good for her as you are for Sydney. The last time she bathed you, she thought she was in a steer wrestling contest.

Wilson: I don’t know why I hate baths so much and I was sorry I got Mum and the bath totally drenched. I know with her sternum and now torn bicep, she couldn’t easily do me and like most kids, we tend to behave better for others than our own parents. Umm, sorry Mum. Anyway, Sydney trimmed me up and because of all the nasty dirty snow melting of late, my feet and legs were extra dirty. They had to give me multiple washing. Ugh. Luckily like all dogs, I live in the moment and soon forgot the torture. I was a happy boy at the hospital and brought a lot of joy to lots of doctors, nurses, staff and patients because I don’t discriminate…I love them all, even when it’s not Valentine’s Day. Heh, heh.

Elsa: Oh for crying out loud, you’re such a suck-up. So whaddya got to share this week that’s nature inspired.

Wilson: Well, while I was getting washed for the 87th time, Mom went hiking around the neighborhood after she met up with a rescue board member who lives up north. They were able to have coffee and catch about rescue matters and Mum dropped off some supplies. Afterward, Mum went to explore the nearby area. The Dirty Dog recently moved into a new space not to far from their old shop but it was a world away in terms of finding slices of nature.

Elsa: What the dawg are those furry creatures?

Wilson: Ha! Speaking of dogs, Mum said those are prairie dogs. Mum says they are a keystone species having a huge impact on the environment. Native to the grasslands of North America they eat various plants  and are especially found in newly developed areas where humans are taking over their habitat.  While not actually canines, they belong to the family of similar critters like marmots, chipmunks and are related to my nemesis, squirrels. You can imagine how sad I was to not be able to accompany her on that walk. I’d have shown those scurrying little varmints how fast I really am.

Elsa:  You probably would have made those burrows a whole lot bigger. No wonder ranchers don’t like them because any horse or cow whose leg fell in one of those holes never ended well for livestock.

Wilson: Right you are! Those rodents make my life a living hell and I just can’t help myself trying to chase them down. Not sure what I’d do if I ever caught one, but Mum is very keen on keeping me as far away from them as possible.

Elsa: So where were those little cuties. I always love when the bark at us while sitting up on their mounds when we visit our Grandpa’s house.

Wilson: They were behind the Broomfield Depot Museum-a small unassuming little structure that was built in 1909 as a stop for train travelers. While Mum waited for me to get finished, she took a tour through it. It was one of the first steps that led to Broomfield being created as a regional city. Here’s a photo from their website since Mum forgot to take one herself.

Elsa: Nice building. Wow, look at this old bee hive that was out back. Very cool.

Wilson: The inside of the depot was pretty fascinating too. Just check out these photos from the living room and kitchen.

Wilson: Life must have been challenging for uprights back then but it looks like this place had all the conveniences of the time for travelers.

Elsa: Yeah, things must have been a lot different back then. Guess that makes us pretty lucky that we’ve got soft comfy beds, and modern conveniences like furnaces, running water, but don’t think much toast would be made around the Ranch with that appliance.

Wilson: Times were different back then. Next week we’ll finish up Mum’s visit to the museum with a special surprise she found near the beehive. We’re hoping today is a nice day after all the sub-zero temps this week but heard Winter is returning this weekend. It’ll be a good time for us to lay low, chill and catch up on our rest. You’ll forgive me if I hibernate to stay warm with this new haircut. Hope you all have a great weekend and if you can, get out there to check out what Nature shares with you.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

 

Monday Musings ~ January 27, 2025

We managed to survive the snow and relentless cold this weekend and hope you did as well. Our forecast for the last Monday of the month will see Mile High temperatures reach the mid-40’sF (7C). Woot! It’s still dark in the morning when we rise and will take longer to rectify that as I heard on the morning news we’re in the 10 hours a day range of sunshine. Today’s smile reminded me there’s one thing that remains constant no matter what time of year it is.

Here’s wishing you have a ‘wagnificent’ Monday and an even better week. Let’s just hope the coffee kicks in to match my alarm clock.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ January 3, 2025

Graphic courtesy of BlogPaws

Welcome to the first Friday of 2025. We hope you had safe and magical holidays.

Elsa here today and as usual, we’re joining our friends from Adventures of the LLB Gang. Don’t forget to click on the link to see what others have shared. Now that the holidays are behind us, people are starting to get back to normal. Let’s see what’s happening in nature-less Denver. Nature-less you ask? You bet your sweet bippy, it’s nature-less. It’s drab and brown out there and truth be told, Mom and the land hippo brother of mine pretty much have had bupkus as far as nature photos go. The weather has been bone dry and windy…a double whammy on the urban landscape…so that’s why I’m calling this nature-less. With our windy conditions, nobody wants to go for walks to find if there is in fact, any nature worth sharing.

Wilson: Mum was so distraught about a lack of photos she even contemplated featuring previously posted photos. Gasp! I flat told her there was no way I could go along with anything like that. I think she grumbled something that sounded like “Go pound sand.”

Elsa: When she told me she was going to run repeats, I suggested to her why not feature some clever ways folks had use holiday lights in their gardens since it’s kind of an unwritten rule in Denver to leave the lights up until after the National Western Stock leaves towns (the show & rodeo is open from January 11 through the 26th). Not only did that go over like a lead balloon, as we walked the neighborhood yesterday on our walk, folks all over the neighborhood were taking down light displays and decorations. What. the. actual. dog!? The only things we saw tended to be  brown, dead or both.

Wilson: {shuddering} No, we are absolutely not featuring any those dead things again. I had to put my paw down.

Elsa: Good for you. I’m kinda surprised you were able to convince her.

Wilson: Well, like you said, the wind makes people crazy. She was none too happy with me on our walk. I was shocked with some of her language, I mean I was just being a dog chasing squirrels and blowing leaves and she got all bent out of shape. Good grief!

Elsa: I tried to tell you the wind makes people and pets crazy. But man, dude…you gotta stop taking off to chase moving things especially in breezy conditions. The wind makes Mom very crabbish and having you act like some kind of deaf nutcase, well it only makes sense there will be some inevitable HBO howling.

Wilson: I guess so. She was pretty steamed at me and said I was at the top of her short list. I mean, I’m just a sweet floof…I don’t understand how she could be upset. By the way, what’s a short list?

Elsa: You don’t want to know. Just know it’s not good. When it’s as windy as it has been, there’s no accounting for how people and  dogs act.

Wilson: Umm, I don’t know. I just can’t help myself. It’s gotta be the wind…I mean, what else can it be?

Elsa: {head shaking} You are such a dolt. You’re just lucky Mom had errands to run yesterday and drove past the park and saw all the birds on the lake and stopped to take a few pics.

Wilson: Whew…it’s not a great batch of photos but it’s better than posting photos of dead inflatables. With the wind blowing, you could see how it left frozen spots in the water. The geese looked like they were having a good time sliding around on the frozen parts. A few were swimming in the open areas but they still stayed huddled up closely in others. Check out the ice chunks forming.

Elsa: Makes you wonder why don’t they congregate closer to shore instead of being out in the middle of the lake. You gotta think they’d be warmer near the rushes.

Wilson: That’s what I thought! I really don’t understand ducks and geese. They seem to do odd things. Guess you have to make do with what you have. Me, I just snooze on a sofa or a dog bed to stay warm. I’m not an ordinary fool.

Elsa: Ha! I could say you’re an extraordinary fool since you brought it up, but I won’t.

Wilson: Umm, you say you won’t but then you did. That makes no sense.

Elsa: It’s not for you to understand. Just leave it at that and scoot over.

Wilson: Stop hogging all the blankets. However you pass the time these winter days, we hope you find something outside worth checking out. Have a jolly good weekend and stay warm.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

The Ranch Hands Wish for 2025

Greetings and salutations. Wilson and Elsa here to express our sincere hope that your 2025 will be a canvas filled with beautiful moments along with a palette of vibrant experiences for you and your good pet. Cheers to a year that’s safe, healthy and full of joy with a few tasty treats.

Happy New Year.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ December 16, 2024

Happy Monday and happy birthday to my beautiful daughter. Love you sweetie and hope your day is as special as you are. I’m so proud of the fun loving, smart, amazing woman, mom and daughter you’ve grown into. Have a wonderful day!

Let’s make having a birthday on a Monday extra special. Let’s  do a two-fer because you can just never have too many smiles on a Monday, right?

This is our second fervent wish today that I can’t stress  enough.

Wishing everyone a ‘wagnificent’ Monday and may all your holiday and birthday wishes come true. Happy Monday!

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Nature Friday ~ November 29, 2024

Welcome to Nature Friday. Today is the last Friday of November, 2024 and no doubt some of us are moving a little bit slower today, no doubt still under the influence of a Thanksgiving Day food coma. For those needing a spot of pressure, there are only 26 days left until Christmas and only 33 days left in 2024. As always we’re joining our pals from Adventures of the LLB Gang. Don’t forget to click on the link to see what others have posted. We hope your ‘holiday’ was safe, full of good cheer and that you were able to enjoy Thanksgiving with friends and family for those who celebrate it.

Elsa here to start things off. Mom got a hankering to trim up my paws because she said, and I quote…”my feet were looking like a muppet.” I hate getting my paws trimmed and won’t let her use clippers. She can only trim them with scissors but she’s gotten fairly good making them look halfway decent. But we’re here to talk about Nature things. Mom went to spend the Thanksgiving howliday with our Grandpa with a few family members. He’s going to be a busy fella over the next few days, as other siblings will show up extending the holiday and food fest. I’m jealous as there will be some amazing foodables while they’re celebrating which will be good for him to see other family members from out of state who will begin to arrive this weekend. Let the fun and food continue.

But first, jeez Mother Nature, could you be a bit more kinder on the thermostat? It was 18ºF freaking degrees this morning when I went outside to pee at oh-dark-thirty. As the popular musician Collins Obinna Chibueze (otherwise known as Shaboozey) sings in his chart topping A Bar Song remake of the 2004 single song Tipsy, “oh my….good Lord!” We aren’t nearly ready for walks on the frozen tundra.

Wilson: ‘Morning little sister, boy are you right about the temps. I hurried my morning constitution in record time. For a quick minute I thought perhaps it might freeze to me private parts! Since you’re the native of this landscape, I’m guessing this is the norm for this time of year but even with my double coat, I’m grateful Mum will be taking us out for our morning walk later, hoping for a few degrees of warmth from the clear skies and sun. But I’m guessing those same clear skies are why it’s so bloody cold. Brrrrr.

Elsa: Right you are, House Pony. Those clear blue skies, while pretty as all get-out, are what makes things so cold. But they also make for some beautiful pictures, even when you’re whizzing past familiar sights. Mom can never get enough of seeing Pikes Peak; she’s written about that view before. It’s that view that inspired author and poet, Katherine Lee Bates to write the lyrics for America the Beautiful after she saw the gorgeous view from the summit of this well-known 14,000+ ft. peak.

Wilson: She really enjoys seeing it, both when she drives through Colorado Springs where it looms over the city as well as the back side once she gets to her Dad’s house.

Elsa: It’s very close, it’s easy to see why it’s such a draw. Then again, it’s our Mom so there’s always that. She loves seeing  mountain majesty anytime and Pikes Peak is so close and can be easily captured even with a cell phone.

Wilson: I guess so…the area is so different from what I was used to experiencing in Missouri where the highest point was a mere 1,772 feet (540 metres). These fourteeners are something else.

Elsa: Our state is very lucky to have so many tall mountains; and especially at this time of year, when we’re focused on gratitude for the views they provide. By contrast, the Great Plains spread far and wide and have their own special beauty. Mom volunteered at the OES rescue booth at last weekend’s Denver Dog Fair where there were over 150 adoptable dogs from breed rescue organizations with scads of inside and outside activities with loads of vendors.

Wilson: Righto, Ninja. Mum loves the views on the plains and captured this windmill at the event site in eastern Arapahoe County with the landscape being so wide open with nothing to stop the wind.

Elsa: My ears would be flapping like the Flying Nun in those breezy conditions out there.

Wilson: Indeed. But you’d have enjoyed it inside where your first vet, Dr. Jeff of Animal Planet fame gave a talk to the attendees. He and Mum talked about how you’re doing these days since he relocated his practice up in the foothills southwest of the city.

Elsa: Oh yeah, I remember him! He’s a good guy and does so much for the community on the topic of overpopulation despite being diagnosed with cancer and challenging the local veterinary community with his low-cost affordable care model. Glad Mom got a chance to talk with him and find out how he’s doing these days in foothill area of Conifer, CO. He was well received at the event.

Wilson: And here’s a trained pup from one of the many dog trainers with one of his graduates. This Doodle fancied about carrying a bag of treats in his mouth. I can’t. even. begin. to. fathom. not eating treats I was carrying. I mean, I barely taste them as it is without having to carry them.

Elsa: Oh brother…there you go again thinking with your 17 stomachs. All an all, it was a good event and the rescue managed to receive a decent amount of donations. Their first mission was to promote a senior OES named Reagan and we have our paws crossed that someone will adopt her. If you’re interested, please check the rescue’s website and fill out an application. Technically we’re not fully set up to take in dogs but Reagan’s situation prompted a special case scenario and we are doing what we can to help her. Isn’t she quite the gorgeous lady?

Wilson: Miss Reagan has come a long way since we began to foster her and we hope she will find her fur-ever home soon. She truly deserves a second chance.

Elsa: Well that’s it for this week’s hodgepodge of rather unrelated photos. We hope everyone has a great weekend and manages to find a lovely view or three of Mother Nature at her finest. Stay warm and make it a pawsome weekend.

Wilson: Yes, what my little sister said. Happy Friday and have an even better weekend.

Live, love, bark! 🐾