Monday Mo(a)nings ~ November 7, 2022

We’re now back on standard time but there’s nothing standard about the overabundance of political ads currently being broadcast. I don’t know about you but the midterm elections can not be over soon enough. The endlessly redundant ads have had me screaming whenever the TV is turned on. It’s gotten so bad I haven’t been able to enjoy any sports; in fact while trying to watch a hockey game over the weekend, there were so many consecutive ads for nearly every state candidate running back to back to back, for one brief moment I thought one of the dogs may have inadvertently changed the channel. I was beginning to think maybe those &#@% gambling app ads (that I absolutely hate and which are played far too often), aren’t all that bad. The worst one that sends me into orbit shows a particular athlete smiling while on the ‘can’ as he’s placing his bets. Seriously. Argh!!!

When looking for a smile for today, this one seemed timely and made an accurate statement about the current state of politics these days in the US. Whichever way you lean politically, we hope you exercise the fundamental right to vote. In Colorado voting is done through mail-in ballots; the system is simple, convenient with no excuse not to vote, but honestly I still think pets would choose far better candidates. Where in the world do they find some of these candidates…under rocks?!

Smile

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Mo(a)nday Musings

Smiles

Well, I’d only want another Sunday if the Broncos weren’t playing. Boy did they stink it up yesterday. They’re becoming the Miami Dolphins of the West! How’d your team do? Here’s to a good week, no matter how your team played.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Musings ~ May 3, 2021

You may have noticed we’ve been absent lately. A death in the family has taken an emotional toll on my heart and posting has been the last thing on my mind. When I returned home from being with the family, I was greeting by a deck of cards on the floor along with a certain card shark. Through my tears from the unbearable loss our family has suffered, the clouds over my heart lifted for a just a moment. Today’s moral…never play cards with the Ninja. This girl plays to win and will eat you alive.

Elsa

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Mourning Monday ~ August 5, 2019

Normally we begin each week with a smile but after the latest mass shootings over the weekend, it’s hard to share a silly cartoon. As a general rule I avoid expressing  my political thoughts here, but with the most recent cities joining a less and less exclusive and heartbreaking club of victims and survivors dealing with the aftermath of gun violence in America, perhaps it’s time to make an exception.

Let me start by saying I have no simple solution but clearly the usual way of coping after this happens doesn’t seem to make a difference. And I don’t know how to eliminate assault weapons or high capacity magazines from the hands of those who would use them to wage their particular flavor of hatred. I can only hope we take a long, hard look at the ugly image of America staring back at all of us in the mirror and finally resolve to actually do something to change these nearly daily occurrences. With over 200 mass shootings tallied this year alone (the exact figure is difficult to precisely pinpoint with various agencies tracking these events using different metrics), no matter which number you settle on, by my way of thinking it’s still over 200 too many.

Yes, thoughts and prayers are the normal offering at times like this, but it seems they do little to resolve this seemingly never ending problem in America. We must to do more than just offer platitudes.

Love more

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Moanings

Some serious excitement around the Ranch today. Elsa literally cornered a squirrel near the back door and there were several minutes of it trying to escape the poodle jaws of death while she was trying desperately to figure out why she couldn’t climb up the brick exterior like the squirrel did. I finally managed to corral her as the squirrel figured out how to reach the rooftop and dash away to the safety of the maple tree where he proceeded to hurl insults at us from 25 feet up. He then started stripping small twigs and flinging them on the ground in a tantrum. Sheesh dude, lay off the caffeine. Oh, to have been able to capture that mayhem in a photo. Snap!

Should have figured it was a sign of more sinister things to come.The lovely folks at PayPal have shut down our e-shop account so no orders can be filled at this time. I suspect it relates to the CBD listing but am attempting to resolve it and will advise once the shop has reopened. The joys of trying to be a small business person in a modern e-commerce society.

In the meantime, how about a little humor? Humor can turn that upside down frown into a smile and lord knows I can use one this morning (nothing like sitting on a few hundred dollars that you can’t access). I thought we’d all enjoy the Indian Hills sign from the small mountain town located just west of Denver in the foothills. Indian Hills is a quirky little  community who is fortunate enough to have some guy with a clever sense of humor who changes the roadside sign at the community center periodically from timely public announcements and meetings to some funny memes. It is locally famous and draws tourists to catch up with the fun.

Colorado native and community center volunteer, Vince Rozmiarek began the funny signs over 5 years ago as an April Fools stunt.  When my daughter and her family lived there a few years ago, she was even the recipient of birthday wishes being posted on the sign. She and her husband had been members of the volunteer fire department and were well-known in the community. For other smiles, you can see more signs here on their Facebook page.

Indian Hills

We hope your challenges are few and easily resolved this week. Elsa in particular, hopes everyone has success catching their neighborhood nemesis.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Moanings ~ January 28, 2019

Up the river poodle

Today we woke up to poodle zoomies weather, otherwise known as a good 6 inches of snow. Elsa zoomed up and down the dog run racing around in jack-rabbit gallops and yet happy to come inside (and shake off…once in the house). Does anyone know why dogs ALWAYS wait until they’re safely indoors before shaking?

Today should prove to be interesting since I have an appointment this morning. Just hoping I can return safely and get back up the little hill to the driveway. Hoping you aren’t stuck ‘up the river without a poodle paddle’ and your Monday starts off on a ‘pawsitive’ note. To our friends in the upper Midwest, stay safe and warm in the midst of a Polar Vortex this week.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Moanings

Looks like we missed National Dog Day. The fur-kids want a do-over. I reminded them that it’s National Dog Day every day of the year around the Ranch. I’m not sure Sam’s buying it but Elsa believes anything so long as there are treats and a nice nap. Here’s hoping you don’t miss anything ‘impawtant’ this week!

Live, love, bark! 🐾

 

Monday Moanings ~ August 20, 2018

Yikes, we overslept this morning while it was a lovely 52F degrees outside. It felt so good to be snuggled up in a nice warm bed-even the pups were sound asleep. After our first walk of the day, this inspiration is guiding me to face the new week. Hope you had a good weekend and are now ready for a refill or three. Happy Monday, happy first day to a new school year.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Monday Moanings

Seems like Day 27…mom is still gone. Sigh. How DO people do Monday’s without their mom?

How was your weekend?

Live, love, bark 🐾

Monday Moanings

Ugh, is it really Monday already? We’re…umm…feeling a bit sluggish after the weekend. Following Elsa’s torture spa treatment, she had a tiny little seizure on Saturday. She’s fine now but I’m closely monitoring her since this was the smallest seizure she’s ever had and I don’t know how it figures in going forward. We received maybe 16 flakes of snow Friday and it was quite windy and cold. The extreme weather may also have been a factor with Elsa’s seizure on top of the stress of listening to a hyper-barking dog. On the plus side, she  looks and smells amazing. I think the little Pomeranian that was waiting for its huMom to pick it up and barked non-stop for 45 minutes with a high pitch yapping may have left Elsa feeling overly stressed out…heck I was stressed out with that racket. It gave me a headache and left Elsa frazzled. Poor thing wouldn’t even eat any treats for being so good for Rebecca, our groomer and Elsa never passes up a treat. Ever. Looks like I’m going to need to try to maintain the cut better so she’s not subjected to any future rounds of a screeching banshee.

Aside from looking good, there was enough hair left on the floor to make a whole other dog. To bad I don’t knit. Guess she really was resembling a Muppet bear before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re gonna kick back today, get our paws under us and prepare for a visit to West Pines later this week. How was your weekend? 

Live, love, bark 🐾