TheCapeBlog

Gave Teddy his monthly heartworm and flea/tick prevention meds yesterday.

Spent a good part of the day in the kitchen. Made a big salad, baked zucchini slices (supper) and spaghetti squash.

We all slept in until 6 am today. Gorgeous sunrise. Teddy and I did a short walk in the field, then the circuit. Solar panels are clear of snow.

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Slipped on the front “deck” this morning heading out for the paper.

Ron is doing rondry. I took Teddy out at 5:30 for a quick 19 degree trot, then a regular 37 degree walk around 9.

Poor Teddy didn’t do well with steps today. I wasn’t paying attention and he fell when trying to get off the steps and couch.

Ron walked Teddy a couple of times. The three of us did the last short one after dark. I sat out with him in his “area”.

I am tired of the cold.

We got another couple of inches of snow last night, so more shoveling this morning.

I took Teddy around the block twice before 8 am. Ron did another circuit. Teddy’s doing great with walking on leash. Still barks when we put him in his private den unless he has company, though.

Teddy’s stairs arrived yesterday, and it’s like pulling teeth to get him to climb on them. One website recommends putting his food dish on progressively higher steps.

Ron and I loaded the truck for the transfer station, and he made the trip while I stayed with Teddy and worked on a minor website edit for NEPS.

We lucked out. Snow started yesterday at little after noon, but it was mostly done by nightfall. I/we were able to shovel easily this morning.

Teddy let me sleep until 5:30, at which time we did a quick trot to his “play area”. We did the “circuit” at 7, a respectable hour.

Ron has been working on straightening up his den/office. The drapes I ordered came in yesterday, so now he has proper curtains for both windows.

We also received a treat bag. Teddy’s stairs should be arriving today.

We had a package of good frozen vegetables – white and sweet potatoes, cauliflower, broccoli seasoned with garlic, s&p – and it made a fine frittata with four eggs, a little smoked paprika and the remains of some old Feta.

Teddy and I were out once before and once during sunrise today. It’s mid-twenties with no wind.

I shot and sent photos of the panels to Sunnova in response to their observation that our production is down. The panels were snow-covered until yesterday and it slipped my mind to take the photos then.

Ron made a ramp for Teddy yesterday to help him get into the van. I brought it in today for him to get used to it. He’s not interested in climbing on it, at least not yet.

Today is Betsy and David’s 59th anniversary. What a life, what an accomplishment!

Impressive customer service from our Assessor’s office yesterday. I’ve been curious about a vacant lot on County Road. Turns out, it’s the end of a parcel that starts at 500 Nathan Ellis that the Town took (presumably for nonpayment of taxes) in 1999. A staff member called me minutes after I submitted a question through the Town website.

Not sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the lot includes the little pond.

It’s pretty wet out there but Ron decided to wake Teddy up. I insisted that he walk him as a consequence, which he did, more or less willingly.

Teddy barked a couple of times last night. I didn’t get up to check on him, and he did settle down. I fell asleep with my clothes on before 8 pm and woke up around 5:30 or 6 this morning. Felt great.

Ron is feeling better, too, now that he has Teddy to walk with on a regular basis.

Teddy’s new harness arrived yesterday and he walked extremely well with it this morning. We like it so much that we checked out the manufacturer’s website for other ideas and found some folding wooden steps that might help him get in and out of the van or onto the couch.

Still waiting for DNAMYDOG to acknowledge receipt of Teddy’s sample. They say it can take up to four weeks, plus two weeks for the analysis. We still have coverage on our homeowners, though, and I just paid another month’s premium.

Started listening to the Great Courses Books That Matter segment “The Federalist Papers” a couple of days ago.

Snow is entirely gone from hard surfaces, including the roof and the solar panels.

I made a heavy soup from frozen turnip (has been in the frig forever), leftover cauliflower parts, onion, garlic, carrot, tomato soup and vegetable broth. Good!

I finally got the driveway completely clear, removed snow from the larger bushes and the bulkhead and cleared some from the solar panels with the Unger pole.

The damnable squeegee got stuck on the pole. It’s held on by pressure rather than a neat screw-type arrangement like the soft head, and it was a nightmare to remove. But we got it with some lube.

Teddy was wild from 3:30 to 4. I gave him his tranq, fed him and was finally able to walk him in the field from our yard to Old Barnstable and back. He misbehaved almost the whole time until we got back to the house. I thought he might even bite me.

Two neighborhood dogs were in a fight yesterday afternoon. It looked like one had “invaded” the yard of an extremely aggressive dog. As far as I can tell, we have at least four rescues in our immediate neighborhood. I wonder how much information and support the other dog owners are getting.

I can’t seem to get Ron to stop doing two things: grabbing stuff away from me when I’m working on it and shouting. I’ve tried to explain to him that I was screamed at for most of my young life, and I turn it off because it scares me. He can rapid-fire multiple demands in a loud voice and in seconds, and it just causes me to shut down.

You’d think he’d “get it”, but in ten years, he hasn’t. Sadism or just plain stupid?

I’m nursing a glass of Malbec upstairs, so having finished blogging and checking email, calling it quits for now.

Yesterday, I made two recipes from “Country Kitchen”, a veg version of Betsy’s mother’s cranberry loaf and The Forge’s Indian pudding.

Watched the rest of the impeachment trial and am wondering if there are consequences for lying and slander and if McConnell really has given up on the Trumpists.

Driveway and road were slick early today. A little later, I took Teddy for a walk and cleared more snow and ice off the deck and stairs.

Ron did laundry. Changed the sheets. Also finished cleaning the frig.

Nothing special for Valentines Day, but we did enjoy episode 20 of LIVE AT THE FLAT IN GREENWICH VILLAGE.

I couldn’t listen to the ambulance-chaser for long yesterday, so picked up my meds at Walmart and caught the Q&A session, which was pretty good.

Teddy and I did the circuit this morning. It was in the mid-twenties and a good deal better than yesterday. I did catch up with Ron and Teddy late yesterday afternoon after my Falmouth run.

Teddy didn’t need a walk after 6:30 yesterday evening. Ron was ready to take him out, but doggo was passed out. I gave him his 100 mg med around 3:30, and that seems to have worked for the last couple of nights. Today I was up at 5 and had time to myself for the first time in a month.

The 30 foot retractable leash arrived yesterday, and it’s a game-changer, especially for training. I am thrilled with it.

I made salad, tofu crumbles, hard boiled eggs and chocolate pudding yesterday, thus assuaging guilt over Moto pizza purchase the day before.

We watched the impeachment trial for most of the day. I did have a long phone conversation with Laney, ARL’s Animal Behavior Manager. Good info and I started to use her “look at me” technique.

Teddy and I have been out a couple of times already today. I enjoyed hanging out with him in the pen just before sunrise. Really like his pen with its bit of woodland character. It’s a quiet time of day and as long as there’s no wind, pleasant, even in the twenties.

We’ve done a couple of circuits around the block and have been practicing loose leash walking.

While Ron was shopping, I made a broccoli/cauliflower casserole with onion, garlic, a parm cheese white sauce and neufchatel. Ron was ravenous, went through three small servings of different entrees, peanut butter and crackers and a haagen dazs ice cream bar.

We are watching the last day of the House managers’ presentation to the Senate. The behavior of the Trumpist fools is a disgrace, but no doubt their constituents don’t care enough to rebuke them. There should be a process to disqualify them from voting on the outcome.