Autumn!

I wish I could post a picture of what a beautiful day it is here, but this stupid desktop won't read anything I plug into any of its USB ports. But it's sunny, breezy, and cool but not cold--a picture-perfect autumn day.

The dogs and I have been outside for most of it. They got to run around and play. I distributed part of the compost pile. Ran into a small problem: it's full of maple tree roots. (Hint to gardeners: Do not plant Norway maples anywhere near your property. Ever. And if you have one nearby, have it sawed down if you possibly can.) That means I spent about 5 hours stabbing in with a spading fork, working it back and forth, then going through it with my gloved hands, pulling out huge wads of matted roots. Then I could use the spade to shovel the compost into the garden cart. I don't know if there's any nutriment left in the stuff or if the maple tree got it all, but I went ahead and spread it around thinking that it might at least act as a mulch and soil amendment. The bin is still about a third full, but I'm pooped, and I'm not going to be able to move tomorrow.

I also managed to slash the tip of an index finger, so typing is a bit awkward. Ouch.

Robert the handyman came by today and put leafguards on the gutters in front. I underestimated how long the house is and didn't buy enough, so I need to order more. As long as he was here, I decided to have him put up plastic over the east living room windows. I'm glad to have that do ne--I never got anything up last year, and it was drafty in here! I can do the south windows myself since they open onto the front porch, so I can do them later.

It took me TWO HOURS on the landline yesterday to get my Tracfone reactivated. I knew there was a reason I don't ditch the landline. I think I talked to 6 different people. One of them was in South America! She was very nice.

I celebrated by calling my brother, and while we were talking, the mouse stuck its head in from the kitchen. I freaked out. Taenzer, who'd been sprawled on the couch snoring, opened one eye and went, "Huh? What's up, Mom?" I put out a mousetrap before bed, and I think it went off about 5 minutes after I turned off the kitchen light. I feel guilty about killing it, poor little mouse. But I really don't want mouse fleas and turds in the house, either. I had put the trap beside the door between the kitchen and living room, since that's where I kept seeing the mouse, so it was pretty much out in the open, and both dogs went trotting blithely by it on their way out to potty this morning. Mouses just aren't on their radar, I guess.

Finally, I'm very happy to say that my smart doggies are catching on to this walking thing. We're practicing twice a day. We're at the stage now where I walk down the sidewalk. Whichever dog it is usually shoots past me, but as they come into heel position I click and offer a treat. At first they were so excited they just shot right past, and I turned and went the other way. They hit the end of the leash, go "Oh! Okay!" and come shooting past in the new direction. I click and offer a treat as they come into heel position. They're now slowing down and taking the treat on their way past, and with Taenzer we can get actually two or three or four steps before she heads off again and I turn around. Part of the problem with Timber is that he's never been way food motivated and I've never found anything that really makes him want to turn cartwheels. I've tried cheese, Wendyburgers (plain), ice cream, nuked hot dogs, and freeze dried liver, all things that have worked with other dogs. Still, he's working on it, he's getting the idea, and he'll actually put it into use better than Taenzer--he's a very practical dog.

Another thing we've been doing is, when people come down the sidewalk toward us, I back us off the sidewalk, have the dog sit, and then just shove treats into their mouth until the people have gone past. The idea is to give them an idea of something to do other than jump on people (i.e., sit), and to reinforce it.

We're not exactly ready to take this stuff on the road yet, but I do feel we're making progress.