8/4/2017: Celebrate the Small Things

It's Friday and time to post my Celebrate the Small Things on this blog.

If you'd like to join in the fun or check out some other participating blogs, click the image to the right or the link at the bottom of the page.

My small things for this past week, some not so small, but all great!

First was taking Cooper to his first doggy day camp visit. He loved it and we got some time to run errands and see a movie. What movie? "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets", which we both enjoyed.

He was POOPED!

Second was spending time with old friends. One was a former co-worker of mine who drove all the way up from Atlanta to have lunch with me. Due to bad weather, she spent the night. We had so much fun chatting and we promised each other to do a real weekend visit this fall.

The other was an old neighbor of mine. She was about 16 the last time I saw her. Since then she graduated high school, enlisted in the Army, got a college degree, got married, had a baby, returned to civilian life and got divorced. She currently lives in NC but is thinking about moving back to TN. I sure hope so - she has the most adorable little boy. We had breakfast and chatted for over two hours and would have stayed longer but had crated Cooper.

Third was the progress I made on Paradise Dead. The last time I wrote anything in it was back in mid-April. So I opted to edit the first ten chapters, getting my head back into the story. I got that done AND I got another six chapters written. Hoping to close it out this weekend and rush it through edits and proofreading before the August 12th deadline for publication. Phew!

Fourth was the birth of our newest great-grandson to my late husband's grandson and his girlfriend. This is the second boy and they are thrilled (so am I)!

Ciao for now!

7/28/2017: Celebrate the Small Things

It's Friday and time to post my Celebrate the Small Things on this blog.

If you'd like to join in the fun or check out some other participating blogs, click the image to the right or the link at the bottom of the page.

My small things for this past week, some not so small, but all great!

First is a successful baking of blueberry banana nut bread. I took two recipes and adapted...a little moist but oh my, DELICIOUS!

Second is the addition of a puppy to our household...yes, I am seriously nuts. But what a joy he has been. What work he has been! Housebreaking is going okay - as long as we are paying attention. He has his own Instagram account and his own Facebook page, Mighty Mini-Cooper!

He had his first vet visit on Wednesday and all was generally good. He could stand to gain weight so we increased his food. A little irritation in his ears, very common on the Doodles (Poodles, Golden Retrievers, Labs, etc) so we have some natural stuff to hopefully clear that up. He got shots updated and goes back in three weeks for the rest and to recheck his ears.

He has made himself right at home...ya think? LOL!

Third is finally getting back to working on Paradise Dead, the second in my trilogy of novellas in the Lei Crime Kindle World. I hope to make my August 1st deadline to get it out to my beta readers and typo hunters. Phew!

I hope you've had a spectacular week and have some small things to celebrate!

Click to see the other blogs participating in the Celebrate the Small Things blog hop.

Ciao for now!

Introducing Mini-Cooper, the Mighty GoldenDoodle

Many of you have followed us for a while and enjoyed Sadie's (our PitBoxer pup) tales. When we moved to Ecuador, she moved in with Stu's oldest and her family. She is now a well loved and well spoiled member of their family. We see her when we visit them in Delaware.

But being without a pup since 2013 was wearing on us. While we love Sadie, we knew we didn't want another pit mix and we didn't want a female this time around. We both fell in love with the Poodle mixes we ran into while traveling - LabraDoodle, NeufyDoodle, GoldenDoodle and of course the ever popular YorkiePoo.

So, we promised ourselves if we gave in, it would be to get a Doodle mix. Looking for a medium sized pup that wouldn't struggle with space when we are in the RV, we initially watched for a rescue of an older dog. We soon realized many of these were troubled dogs, a product of poor breeding or owners who didn't understand what they were getting into. At this stage of our life, we opted for a puppy over an adult rescue. (We may rescue a second dog once Cooper is about a year old).

I ran across an ad for GoldenDoodle pups for sale in the Crossville, TN area. We started talking to the breeder and before we knew it, we had put a deposit on a puppy. Fast forward two months and yesterday we brought home our own little Mini Cooper, GoldenDoodle extraordinaire. Here are a couple of photos of his trip home...in my lap.

First stop was Tractor Supply to get a halter so he could ride in the back seat, strapped in. He did well for his first time ever with a leash. We lucked out and got the harness at 50% off, we also picked up a water dish for outside.

Once home, he's been a jewel - almost too quiet. Weighs about 20# according to our scale. No accidents, slept in the crate all night with only 10 minutes of protest, eating, peeing & pooping all good. Even lets me brush & comb him and behaves on the leash most of the time.

But he doesn't play much. I'm used to puppies wanting to play all the time. Thinking it's just an adjustment period. Also, unless he is really hungry, he ignores treats including peanut butter, bananas and even a tiny bit of cheese. Definitely not food motivated...

While Sadie had her own blog (now merged into this one), Cooper will only have a Facebook page and an Instagram account [@Mighty_Mini_Cooper]. I hope you will follow him there.

His first 24 hours and 1) he slept all night, okay 11-5:30, 2) his first nap in the crate he cried for 20 minutes, the next two times it was 10 minutes, 3) he is eating and free feeding is working well, downside is he isn't food oriented, not even cheese or peanut butter, 4) he whimpers when he wants to go out, we're still working on the bell training. He's not a fan of his worm medicine and other than magazines, hasn't tried to chew on anything.

Ciao for now!