Monthly Archives: April 2015

animals, life, relationships

counting down and a lovely morning walk

When you spend so much time on your own, you tend to lose track of the days, dates and holidays.
Apparently today is a holiday. “Good Friday”
Which means everything German is closed and pretty much everything American too.
I was going to go to Ramstein to buy some much needed things for Odin’s arrival, but I then thought about it and realised that because it’s a holiday, it would be very busy and I’m not a crowd person at the best of times. So I will go tomorrow and hope it’s quieter.

Countdown to his arrival…. 4 days…
I’m going to start taking my Rescue Remedy today I think. Just to keep me on an even keel until then and when he arrives. For his sake, my sake and my girls.

On the note of our morning walk – absolutely GORGEOUS morning out there – still nippy enough to need my hat and gloves (at first) but the sun is shining and it’s crisp and lovely.
Dogs were AMAZING! Azzie constantly made EXCELLENT decisions (don’t eat that poop, don’t go racing off after the deer, into the brambles, don’t chase that bird, don’t zoomie into the thick brush, once again don’t eat that crap) and was an utter joy. Gina’s tail remained up, and waggy, the whole walk 🙂
What an awesome morning for it.
Both dogs pooped – both excellent.
If this keeps up, I might make it a policy to feed them one marrow bone a week.
But we’ll see how this goes first before I make decisions like that 🙂

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life, military, people

sometimes I wonder about people

I’m all for sprucing up your home and hanging your photos etc, when your HG arrive and you’re all flushed with happiness and a feeling of “finally this is home…”
But… at 20:30 at night? Really? You feel that hammering things into the wall in the late evening is “OK” ? Why couldn’t you do it during the day? Or wait until tomorrow… it’s a 4 day weekend… nobody would mind if you hammered things into the wall then.
But no, you feel you need to bash away at the wall for 30 minutes or more because it can’t wait until tomorrow and regular hours.
*shakes head*

Sorry. Just having a “moment” – apartment living. Woo.

On a shiny note: The moon is kILLER out there tonight! SO beautiful! Got an aura around it too. Gorgeous!

animals, life

and on a lighter note

I’ve discovered a sure fire way to make my dogs happy and relaxed and utterly ZONKED for hours: give them a marrow bone, after a LONG morning walk in the rain and wind and cold!

I waited nearly 5 days after giving them their first marrow bone in years, just to be sure it didn’t affect their tummies adversely. All well! They both have had excellent poopages for the last few days so I’m taking a chance, but I gave them another one today after the long walk through the village this morning. It was pouring with rain, windy (thankfully not like the other day where it nearly blew my beanie off) and pretty damn cold, and we came across some camels, dromedary, donkeys and ponies (and I think there might have been a goat, too) and they behaved like super stars – no barking, no lunging, no silliness. They did want to have a good look, and when we got downwind they sat and had a good smell for a few minutes – but they were brilliant. I said to them that it was like “walking clouds on leads” soft and easy and relaxed, for pretty much 95% of the walk. Just a few silly moments near the end, when Azzie got tired and she started behaving like a pumpkin.

We were all exhausted and soaked to the skin when we got home, but it was a nice long easy walk around the lake, and then through the village.

Instead of feeding them, I gave them their new HUGE marrow bones and they’ve been gnawing on them, and then snoozing, and then gnawing on them again and now they are OUT like lights – and this is the usual time we would be walking again for the second time…

Hopefully, these marrow bones will also go down well and they won’t have any issues. We have only a few days until Odin arrives… and dealing with dogs with unhappy tummies while also trying to introduce a new dog to the pack is NOT something I would be looking forward to 🙂 So let’s hope this is also a positive marrow bone experience 😀

It’s still pissing down out there, so I’m quite pleased with the nice relaxed, sleeping pooches I have at the moment… I can stay snuggled on the couch with the blanket my mum crocheted for me and a cup of hot chocolate (I’m way below my calorie limit :D) for company.

life

An interesting article

My friend Steph posted this article about a topic that’s quite inflammatory and divisive and seems to be intensely debated over the last year or so. I know where I stand – I don’t see why women who choose not to have children are vilified and called “selfish” and asked “WHY?!” as if it’s some kind of crime to make a choice that doesn’t affect ANYONE else except the person who makes the choice.

But that’s my opinion.

 

A quote from the article…

Today, 19 percent of women end their potential childbearing years without having had any children—making childlessness as common as it is irrationally controversial. We had the chance to talk about the topic with Meghan Daum: author, LA Times columnist, editor of the forthcoming essay collection Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids, which is out tomorrow, March 31.

By email, Daum and I discussed everything from why childless-by-choice people are often forced to produce a “why?” for the (sometimes) well-intentioned crowd who demand an explanation for their decision to not procreate; the hubbub around egg freezing; what drives people to remain child-free; and why the phrase “child-free” itself needs to be retired.

 

Thoughts?