Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #75 – Meds for Both Rylee and Lydia

Tuesday, May 29th, 2018……  This morning I woke up really sore.  My left knee is still giving me fits and now the muscles are tight as well.  Yesterday, I felt the same way but found that walking a bit helps loosen it up to where I can walk semi ok.  Still have a limp. This morning I’m going to take some Aleve and see if that helps.  Rylee is doing well on her meds.  I called the vet and they said he was off today but they would relay the message to him. His associate said she thinks he will suggest I keep her on the probiotic but may adjust or cancel the antibiotic.  I needed some more dog food (she’s still on the prescription food) so I told her I would be by later today to pick that up and get some more probiotic.  Almost $80.00 later (who said having a pet is cheap!) I was back home with what I needed.  Meanwhile, the team was back today and started on the walls. They got a good bunch done and will be back tomorrow.  I’ll take pics when they get farther along. Kirk came by and got a lot more done on the flowerbed.  He will be back next week. Lydia said she had labs this morning and took off to go do that. When she got back she told me wasn’t feeling well and told them that.  They ran a culture which may help find out what’s going on. Should be back tomorrow. She spent the day resting and watching tv.  But later she was hungry so we heated up the rest of yesterday’s steaks and made sandwiches. Yummy! We ended up the evening watching the first of the season’s America’s Got Talent.     

End of day 38......

Wednesday, May 30th, 2018……  Rylee is still getting me up pretty early in the morning.  She pees outside before bed but I worry she wants out and I’d rather train her to let me know that than just go inside on the piddle pads. So, I get up. Afterward, I let her up and the bed and she settles down again and I can sleep for an hour or more. Then it’s on! I try to play with her enough to make her happy then I feed her, which really makes her happy! Then I can shower and get ready for the day.  This morning I took off and got breakfast and coffee/tea. I waited a while and then went out to start string trimming the areas on each side of the driveway.  This is the part that I can’t mow with either the tractor or the mower. Lydia waited until 10:00am or so and then went online and looked for her lab report.  It was there and showed nothing negative for anything virus or infection.  So, she called and they said they were going to have her come in for an antibiotic shot plus they will call in a prescription for her. So, she went off and did that. I stopped my work and played with monster puppy and kept her busy.  I also got a call from my sister asking me to go check on Quincy later this morning.  She said she’s had runny poop and was throwing up.  Once Lydia got back I went out and checked on the dog.  Everything is fine.  She’s feeling fine now and no signs of any issues. I came back and finished up the weed eating and put everything away.  I also helped Tim run my DirecTv coax through the back wall and down the wall.  He added a baseplate about 8 inches off the ground which I will use to run the coax out of and straight under the rear of the coach and out to the front where my connection is. That keeps it tucked out of sight and I won’t run over it going in and out. I got a call from Dr. Hiett and after a quick update of Rylee’s progress, he decided to take her off of the antibiotic and just extend the probiotic another week so what I bought was what I needed. I ate another late lunch so I didn’t want dinner so Lydia fixed a bowl of pasta and I ate some cheese and crackers and we were good.  She’s still a little down but feeling better.  I’m sure the meds will help as well. I got an email that my sweeper was in at Lowes so I will go tomorrow to pick that up. We watched the new MasterChef and then called it a night.

No pics today – it’s just partial drywall anyway.     

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #74 – A Racing Day and a Day to Remember Those Lost

Sunday, May 27th, 2018……  I woke up this morning before Rylee did! I went in and she was laying on her bed instead of standing at the gate waiting for me to let her out. She wanted back on our bed again – it’s now a routine – so we did that. I got her out later and we played until it was time for my shower. Lydia slept through it all.  She was really tired from all of her work yesterday.  She is also stiff and sore.  No worries – no work planned at all for today!  We’re going to lay around and rest and watch tv and play with super pooper.  Speaking of that, she is already showing signs of improvement in her runny stool.  It’s starting to firm up.  I’m hoping I can shorten the time I have to give her meds for this.  I am supposed to check in with the vet on Tuesday and I’ll give him an update.

For me, today, was racing heaven. First up is the Monaco Grand Prix Formula 1 race, then it was the Indianapolis 500.  Last on the race day is the Coca Cola 500.  I may not have liked all of the results, but I sure enjoyed the day! I did spend some time on my checkbook.  I still keep track of all of my spending in the checkbook, even though I write very few checks now since almost everything is auto deducted. I also have a spreadsheet of my spending and I worked on that as well.            

Monday, May 28th, 2018…… Memorial Day!  Started in 1868, issued as a ‘general order’ designated May 30^th as a memorial day honoring Civil War comrades who died in defense of their country.  Please remember those who gave their lives to keep this country free! For me, it is my high school buddies who I lost in the Vietnam war. I always think what their lives would be like had they made it through and were around today.

Our plans today included a bbq.  Even though I hooked up the gas line to my Jenn Air and tested it weeks ago, we hadn’t actually cooked anything yet, so today was the day. Lydia had bought steaks and she and Penny had prepped everything else and was ready for me to fire up the barbie! I got it going and got everything grilled and we ate.   The steaks were really tasty and everything else was good too!

Guess what? Our workers showed up today! Turns out they had gotten back from their fishing trip a day early. They own a 28’ boat docked in Newport and were out for 4 days and Tim’s son, TJ was off today and wanted some work, so they came over and he helped get the rest of the battens installed and then they worked on the drywall for the ceiling.  Might as well use the labor!

Rylee got back in her pool twice today since the weather is warmer up here now. It was up to 75º today with clear skies, so the water warmed up pretty quickly. She and Quincy played again today.  Quincy is really hesitant at first but warms up to Rylee after a while.  They ended up running around the side yard nonstop for about 10 minutes, then collapsed in two heaps on the lawn!   

End of day 37....

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #73 – Lab Results, Window Trim, and Yardwork

 

Friday, May 25th, 2018…… Rylee woke me up again around 5:00am. Same drill.  At least she’s getting used to relaxing on the bed. This morning we had Chuck come by to mow the back field and the west forty. He charges $60. an hour and he started at 9:05am and finished about 12:20pm.  I rounded up and paid him $210.00.  That’s close to the $200.00 I paid Allen last year. Allen has an older smaller mower and took 5 hours.  Rylee helped me check it out.

Chuck's tractor is set pretty high (to get through the really rough fields) so it is not lawn quality mowing. So, I think I will mow the back field myself from now on and let Chuck just do the west forty.  While he was doing that, I started in on the window trim in the garage. For some reason, Walt didn’t case the two windows in there.  They were looking kind of sad, so I got the first part of the trim inside the casing cut and installed.  Next up is the trim around the windows, then the curtains. Later, I got a call from Dr. Hiatt saying that all of the big problem labs came back negative.  Still, he needs to address the runny slimy poop issues.  He’s thinking it’s a colon issue, so he decided to give her an antibiotic (pill) plus a probiotic (mix-in for her food).  I went and picked those up and paid for them plus the last set of lab work.  I sure hope they work.  We decided to have me go out and pick up fast food.  Lydia waited for Kirk to show up, so she could show him which flowerbed to get started on first. He has another big job going here in town but he was able to stop by to give us a couple of hours.  He’s a great guy and we’re glad we found him. Later, we watched our own taped shows until bedtime.          

Saturday, May 26th, 2018……  We didn’t have much planned today, so I decided to go ahead and mow the lawn again.  This way the clippings aren’t too thick.  Also, I have to wait until June 4th when my grass sweeper comes in (to Lowes). I did have to wait until the dew evaporated but at least this lawn doesn’t take but an hour or so to mow. So, I took off and made a quick trip over to Albany and to the Home Depot because I needed to pick up some more bags of rock salt for the water softener.  I also got the trim moulding to finish up the garage windows. I made a side trip to the Walmart there to pick up some more Nathan’s Pretzel Dogs that the Lebanon Walmart was out of. I got back and started on the garage window moulding.  Penny came by to run Quincy since the fields are now cut down.  She went home and then stopped at a kennel she had called to meet with them as a backup in case something happens, and Daisy has to cancel her flight up here.  To date, they would be able to take both Rylee and Quincy which makes us feel better just in case. Later, she came by and she and I took off to go book all of our shuttle rides to and from Portland airport.  I went back out and finished the mouldings. It sure looks a lot better. 

I rested a bit and ate lunch and then went out and started the tractor and went to work on the lawn. I was about right on the timing.  About an hour. That done, I was done for the day.  Kirk made a nice dent in the weeding yesterday.  He started out in the front flowerbed island out by the street. He will be back next week once he finishes up that job he has going. Meanwhile, Lydia was out again pulling weeds and trimming shrubs.  She has made a giant dent in the yard and has the side of the house all done! It looks great! The back of the house isn’t so bad so that won’t take long to do.  But she’ll get to it when she feels like it. We both got done about the same time.  I ate a big lunch, so she put the pork chops back in the fridge for tomorrow.  She fixed a salad and I had some cheese and a few cookies and I was good.  I did go out a bit later and trimmed up around the water spigot and tie strapped a hose hanger to it to keep the water hose off the ground.  That’s where we put Rylee’s pool. Now that the field is cut down, I can put the pool back out and get some water in it for her. I started the meds from the vet today.  At breakfast, she gets 3/4s of an antibiotic pill - yeah, I had to use a pill splitter on all of them to get 3/4s! and at dinner, she gets the probiotic (it may actually be a prebiotic – not sure) sprinkled in her food.  The vet said to give her 4 cups of food per day now - she’s getting a cup and ½ of food at breakfast and dinner and a cup for lunch. But she’s not fat at all.  Long and lanky, not at all like Bailey at her age. But that’s good.  I’ve got to say, she sure has a great appetite!  I try to run her around and get rid of some of that energy, but she wears me out!  We haven’t seen any poop today, but last night she used the piddle pads and it looks like it’s starting to firm up a bit.

We finished up the evening playing and running outside. It was 8:30pm and still light out.  I wore her out and she was sound asleep when I got her up to put her in her area for bedtime. But I’ll bet she’ll be up and whining around 4:30am tomorrow!    

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #72 – Yardwork and More Labs

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018……  Rylee has been so good these past few days.  She’s really got her tricks down now.  She can sit, shake, high five, lay down, and catch.  I’m working on roll over now. She still has energy so we’re hoping the labs come back negative.  I went out this morning and got breakfast on my way to Lowes and Home Depot.  I wanted to pick up some trim moulding for the garage windows and also get two motion sensor lights for the rv pedestrian doors. I found the moulding but not the lights.  I need to make a trip soon to Eugene to go to Cabela’s, so I can check Jerry’s for the lights. No hurry. We waited until noon and then I called the vet to check on the lab tests. Dr. Hiatt got the intercept on the call and told me the labs for the two tests they ran both were negative.  But I was still concerned and so was he, so I authorized then to run the full battery on the sample they already had.  Of course, we will need to pay for that, but I think it will help them decide what to do.

While I was gone, Lydia started in on some weeding on the side flowerbed. The sun had come out and she found a shady area to work.  I went out and picked up the brush and told her to come in and get cleaned up – I was taking her to dinner.  Penny came over and she drove us all to Skyline Diner for a nice light meal.  We came back and let monster puppy loose while I went out and figured out where I want the Directv cable to come in to the rv garage. They said the insulation folks were coming either tomorrow or Friday, so I figured I might as well run some lines in while I have the walls open. Once I came in, we settled in for the evening a relaxed and watched our taped shows.  I’ve taped 22 hours total of the Mecum Auctions from Indy and I’m behind, so I got those started.      

Thursday, May 24th, 2018……  We slept well last night, and I actually got up early (5:00am) and let Rylee out and then put her up on our bed.  I don’t go back to sleep but it’s nice to just lay there and relax for an hour.  I got her breakfast and we played until Lydia got up and in her robe. I went in and fixed my breakfast and watched tv while I ate.  Rylee likes to come in and watch me eat even though she hasn’t had anything other than her dog food. She doesn’t stay so I think she just likes the smell of food! I always take her with me on her leash to got out in the morning to get the newspaper. We also do it for the mail in the afternoon. Other than those two trips, she doesn’t get much leash time.  She’s got two thirds of her puppy shots completed so we have another month to wait until I can take her for longer walks. We did get some good news (and I forgot to write about it until now). Penny’s friend Daisy has got her flight booked to come up, so she can dog sit for us! We are still checking on kennels as plan B, but I’m hopeful this will work out. I’ve worked it out with my sister to split the airfare.  We won’t have a lot of time for her to get comfortable in the house because her flight in is the day before we leave! But we’ll make it work. We now can reserve our shuttle to Portland, which was one of the last loose ends we have.  All that’s left now is to get ready for the trip!  Tim and Dana were no shows today, but the insulation crew got her and started working.  Ok, it was just one guy, Helio, but he went to work and got all of the walls done in just a few hours. 

I don’t expect to see Tim or Dana tomorrow because of the holiday on Monday but we’ll see. Lydia decided to go back out and pull more weeds today.  Rylee stayed out with her and I decided to make a run to Eugene which Lydia wouldn’t especially like to go on.  I needed to go to Jerry’s and get the motion lights for the garage. I also went to Cabela’s to get some fishing stuff.  Then it off to Camping World.  I had seen dog dishes there that matched the one we had at the house, so I got two of those, one for water and one for the motorhome. When I got back Lydia was almost done.  I helped her dig out a couple of stubborn weeds and then we cleaned up and stopped for the day.  She will soak it some more tonight and go at it again tomorrow.  Also, Kirk will be her for a part of the day.  We will have him start out in the front yard where the weeds have overrun everything. We had leftover casserole for dinner and watched the remainder of the Survivor finale.  It was an interesting contest and if you watch it, you know that two of the three finalists played the best and either deserved to win.                   

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #71 – Parts For the Tractor & Getting More Labs

 

Monday, May 21st, 2018……  It was a great night last night for sleeping!  We (ok, I) had a good workout with Rylee right before bedtime. We were both tired and she went to sleep with no noise at all.  She woke me up around 5:30am or so and we did our routine again.  After we were all finished, I took off and got breakfast and coffee/tea. The guys showed up again and got to work finishing up the back siding.  Later, we went off to Walmart to do some light shopping.  After we got home, I went online and started searching for the lawn sweeper attachment for my tractor.  I wanted to just go to the local Sears up here and pick up the one we had seen last year.  But the Eugene Sears has completely closed and the Salem Sears didn’t have much in their garden section when we were there a few months ago. But we decided to take a drive and check it out anyway.  So, we loaded up butthead and took off.  First stop was in Albany where we used our realtor’s recent mailing card good for a free car wash.  It was just the drive-thru kind but they did a nice prewash by hand so they got most of the trouble spots on the car.  Rylee was sure interested in watching the action going through there! Then we drove up from there to Salem (about 27 miles) and went to Sears.  We took turns because I don’t believe in leaving an animal in a car, even for a short period. I did find what I wanted but they don’t stock it and it doesn’t show up as available on their website.  So, I ended up ordering one when we got home. We stopped at Taco Bell and brought lunch home and rested.  Tim and Dana got all of the siding finished and started on the battens.  If you look at the photo below they are the narrow 1x2s that run vertically along the wall. That matches the shop exactly. They also had the rough in electrical inspection today and that was approved so they are now able to work on the inside to insulate and drywall when they get to that stage.

Since we ate a late lunch, Lydia only wanted scrambled eggs and I chose nothing but had a piece of pie later in the evening. We watched Dancing With the Stars. I was sure surprised last week to even see Tonya make it to the final three but I think America got it right with Adam winning, although I would have been ok with Josh if he would have won. I don’t like the quickie contest though.  I think the stars need time to adjust to the dancing and at least get some time to improve.  I would vote to do double elimination though the first four weeks to help get rid of the really, really bad dancers who probably don’t want to stay anyway. 

End of day 34…….    

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2018……  Yesterday we called the vet and asked if we could bring in another stool sample for more tests. It’s still very runny and we think that she may not be over what she had when we got her.  We dropped it off and picked up some more of the prescription dog food they have her that they think might help.  So far it hasn’t.  We continued on to Walmart and got some things we needed (and some we didn’t) and came back.  Lydia went over to Penny’s to let the housecleaner in.  When she came back she said her and Linda talked about her coming over tonight to give us an estimate if/when we need someone to come in now and then. She also reminded Linda about checking on the status of her friend’s upcoming estate sale because they might have a couple of tractors to get rid of.  We could buy one if the price was right. She also told Linda about me mowing the property and needing someone to mow the west forty.  Her husband, Chuck, does that as a side job and they would both come over to see the house and the field and give us prices. They did show up this evening and we had a nice conversation.  Turns out they both know Tim & Dana very well (it’s a small town!). Lydia will wait on housework but I’m having Chuck come this Friday to mow both the west forty and the back field. Then I will gauge if /when I need him back again. We finished up the night watching the finals of Master Chef Jr. I was glad to see Beni win.  She’s adorable and was the best kid chef although the others were terrific too! We played with Rylee up until bedtime and she went right to sleep in her penned area.

Day 35 - no pics today     

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #70 – Dinner at Sis’s and Checking on the Build

 

Saturday, May 19th, 2018……  We did get some good sleep last night.  I got up and let super pooper out and then just stayed up with her so we could play.  We’ve got an easy routine going – I stay with her until Lydia gets up, then she can play with her and feed her while I shower.  Then we reverse roles so she can shower and get ready for the day. I went out and checked out the final work completed because when we left yesterday, everyone was still on site working away.  I found that the back siding is half finished, and the electrical is in and there is power running to one circuit in the rv garage.  They roughed in everything but finished up one electrical circuit with a plate so they will have power for tools and such.  They will call for and get the rough inspection approved before they can proceed to insulate and close in with drywall all of the inside. The front and back outside still needs finished siding and those nails sealed and then the trim around the windows plus the corner trim needs to be installed. Then it will be ready for paint. While I was out with the puppy, Tim and Dana showed up to do some Saturday work.  Tim wanted to finish up the siding so they worked on that. Meanwhile, I got the tractor back out and finished up the grass pickup.  I am very pleased about how good it looks without all of the clumps of grass laying out there! I do have to figure out an easy way to dump the clippings.  Right now, I take them out to the dirt pile they made with they excavated for the garage.  It’s quite a drive just to get out there. Lydia came out to help so I started dumping the loads close to our big trash container and she is just transferring it in there. I think this will work in the future and make for an easy job. I was able to get the all of the grass picked up and the catcher cleaned up so Tim could take it if he wanted to.    

Later, we were invited to my sister’s house for a bbq so we loaded up monster puppy and went over.  It was a nice evening although Quincy felt like the little white turd had invaded her house! But as time went by, she ended up spending time with her outside and actually got semi comfortable with being around her.  I think Rylee sensed that if she is less aggressive, then Quincy would calm down. They ended up playing a little bit and had a good time until Quincy retreated to her bed. Be relaxed now old girl, because it won’t be long before that little turd will be able to get up on that bed! I also got a chance to look at and adjust her sprinkler system and set the zones and timers to her specs. We headed home and spent the evening relaxing and planning our Sunday before going to bed.   

Beginning of day 33....  

End of day 33....

Sunday, May 20th, 2018……  The plans for Sunday were actually no plans.  So, we spent some time sleeping in, if you can call 6:00am sleeping in, then got up and going for the day.  Rylee is still gated in the guest bathroom until she gets us up. She goes potty, then wants up on our bed. I’m ok with the schedule but Lydia likes to sleep late, so I end up taking her out to play in the living room.  She gets fed and then I can start to get ready for the day while Lydia watches/plays with her.  I spent some time walking the jobsite.  I wrote a note for the electricians to ask them about how they’ve wired the rv circuits.  I want to double check the volts going to those plugs.  They need to be 110v.  I learned this the hard way – in Long Beach, my electrician wired the circuit like he would for a dryer – 240v, which damaged some of the components in the rig (one of which was a toasted microwave!). They won’t be back for awhile until final to hook up everything so I needed a note. I always take Rylee out with me to the work area.  It gives her a chance to get used to the area and she always stays close. Of course, everything there is up for grabs!  She picks up every scrap piece of wood that she thinks is hers to chew.  So, I have to pry stuff away from her every time.  But, we’ve set out the three boxes of Bailey’s toys from the shop storage so she always wants to go in to that area and pull out something new. The rest of the day was spent watching tv and relaxing.      

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #69 – Electrical Work and a Flying Car!

 

Thursday, May 17th, 2018……  I took Rylee out last night in an attempt to tire her out.  Well, it worked! She didn’t whine until around 5:30am which is better than before. Today was appointment day.  Lydia had a hair appointment, I had a dental cleaning, and Rylee had a vet checkup.  Lydia ended up changing the hair cut until tomorrow and she booked me in as well.  The electricians got in about 8:30am and had some general questions. I opted to have the wall outlets up at workbench height, plus I had them change out the porch type light either side of the garage door to one security light over the big door. I then added a porch light to the pedestrian door which I will have set up as with a motion sensor. I then had to go to make my dental cleaning on time. Meanwhile, Lydia took Rylee in. My teeth cleaning was business as usual. And Rylee’s visit went pretty well too.  Lydia told the doctor about Rylee’s runny poop so he asked us to get the breeder to call him and tell him about the coccidia and the giardia and what they did as treatment.  Her ended up giving her some different dog food for us to try. Other than that, she’s in good shape and got her shots and otherwise a clean bill of health. We returned to find the electricians hard at work.  At the end of the day, they ran out of parts so they will be back tomorrow. But they got the bulk of everything done. Meanwhile, Tim and Dana worked on the house wrap, front and back and then got started on the siding. Later, Lydia threw some baked potatoes in and then broiled some steaks and with green beans we enjoyed a nice dinner then settled in to watch tv before calling it a night. Didn’t take Rylee on her walk because we played with her right up till bedtime and she settled in with no problem. 

Friday, May 18th, 2018……   I slept in until 5:30am and then got up, and, after my potty break, I let Rylee out and she immediately wanted up on our bed. No toys, so she went back to sleep and gave us another hour of sleep which was nice. Tim brought me an attachment for my garden tractor I asked to borrow.  It’s a giant sweeper that he said would pick up the excess grass clippings on the lawn.  I found a pin and hooked it up to the tractor and took a few rounds and tested it out. I wanted to see if it would work as I wanted it to before I bought one of my own.  It did the trick and got the bulk of the grass.  So, now I have to add that to my list of things to buy! They’re about $230. or so. But well worth the money. I’ll finish the yard tomorrow and clean it up so I can return it to him. Later, I got showered and we got ready to go pick up my sister.  We were going to dinner and then to the Majestic Theater in Corvallis to see the play, ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’.  We got a place to park and went to Block 15 for dinner.  Even though we had a 20-minute wait, we still had time to eat and then go find a parking spot for the theater.  I ordered the tickets on the Majestic’s website and we had to settle for back row seats. We had never been there before so we didn’t know what to expect.  The theater is more of a community style playhouse so it’s not very big. We were in row M which was 13 rows back.  It was fine – except Lydia and I had a couple sit in front of us he was tall and she had big hair! The presentation was pretty well done.  I wanted to have a fast forward button in my hand for some of the songs but it went by pretty quickly. We will be going back to see other upcoming plays in the future. We got out around 9:45pm and drove sis back home and then went home to ‘release the hound’ from the bathroom prison. We played with her for a while and then brought her to bed with us.  She didn’t tire out soon enough and wanted down so we had to lock her back up for the night. She soon settled down and we got some good sleep.      

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #68 – A Round of Grass Cutting and Work Continues on the Jobsite

Tuesday, May 15th, 2018……  Nice sleeping night last night.  The weather was warm yesterday but once the sun went down, it cooled off nicely. It’s not like SoCal where it stays warm all night.  As a matter of fact, it actually gets chilly at night.  So, we still are keeping the sliders in the bedroom closed. We got up this morning and lazily started our day. We played with monster puppy for a while and got her fed and then pooped and then pooped out and ready for her nap.  Eat, run, run, run, run – plop down and snooze!  My plan today was to mow the lawn. So, I had to go out and get the tractor out of the shop this morning so Dana’s truck wouldn’t block me in.  The weather turned again. It was overcast early, but the sun came out around noon. Plus, it wasn’t hot.  Just right for mowing the lawn. I waited until it was nice and warm with a breeze and started in.  The lawn itself only takes me about an hour to do.  I want to keep on it so it doesn’t get too high and throw too much grass out for mulch.  This worked out well.  I also plan to do some string trimming around the areas I can’t get the tractor in. Maybe tomorrow for that. Everything looked good. The flowerbeds still look terrible, though.  Kirk will be working on them soon but he texted that he can’t get over until Friday. After getting the lawn finished, I was done for the day.  I came in and showered and relaxed and watched leg three of the Amgen Tour of California.  Tim and Dana got here fairly early (for Oregon time) and this time brought Jessica, Tim’s daughter, who was off today, to help out. She’s a good worker. They first started cleaning up the jobsite, and got everything ready for the inspector, who showed up on time and passed everything so that’s good.  They got all of the nailheads sealed over, ready for paint, plus they got most of the roof shingled. They stop working up there when it gets hot.  Dana says Tim doesn’t like to step on the hot shingles because it makes marks. Did I say he was picky!  They also got all of the four windows installed.  Tomorrow they will get the man doors in and finish up the roof. The electrical rough-in is due on Thursday. We’ll see.  Rylee is glad when they come.  She runs over to say hi and the nail gun doesn’t bother her anymore. Jessica is in love with her and wants a puppy!   

Our problem today was that she now thinks it’s ok to take off and run over there. We are watching closely especially when the work crew shows up. Later, we ate leftovers and watched tv until bedtime. 

End of Day 29….

Wednesday, May 16th, 2018……  We slept in this morning. I went in to get the pooch and let her out around 5:00am and even though later we had a fluffy white visitor on our bed, we didn’t get up until 6:00am!  Rare for us!  But we still try different things to get a better routine.  Right now, we play with her after dinner and wear her out.  She sleeps from about 8:00pm and is wide awake at our bedtime and wants to play. We put her to bed and she quiets down pretty quickly now but she will wake us up about 3:30-4:00am (today we were lucky). Tonight I’m taking her for a night walk right before we go to bed to see if that helps tire her out enough to sleep later in the morning. Tim and Dana got here this morning and got started on the remaining tasks to get the garage weathered in.  First task was to finish the roof shingles and the roof vents, so that’s done.  They installed one of the two pedestrian doors. Now that the shear inspection is approved, they can finish the front and rear of the garage. That’s for tomorrow. The electrician is supposed to be here early tomorrow for rough-in.  Plenty of work while he gets going on that. They need to install the second door and then work on the house wrap front and back, install inside shear walls front and back, install outside finished siding front and back, plus seal those nailheads as well.  Except for the garage door, that would make the garage weather tight. Then they’ll need to put up the battens on the outside walls, and then seal those, then it’s ready for paint. The rain gutters come next, then they can move to the inside to insulate and drywall.  That’s only after the electrical rough-in is done and inspected. Not sure of the order for all of this, but as you can see, there is plenty of work still to do.  But it’s getting there!  I got out to work on installing the bug zapper we bought from QVC and got it set up in the flowerbed.  I ran an electrical cord under the porch to it and was also able to now plug in the motorhome on this new line.  That eliminates the line I had running in through the office window. It did hurt a bit to get down on my sore knee but I went slow and took it easy. Penny came by and brought Quincy to run. Problem is Rylee sees her and wants out to play with her!  If we don’t let her out, she whines and wiggles at the door. She did get her walk and spent time running – ok, so it was running from Rylee, but she got some exercise.  Later, we decided to go for Chinese for dinner so we put Quincy in our room and closed the door and gated stupid head in the bathroom so she didn’t have run of the house with the doggie door closed. We had a nice meal and Penny and Quincy went home and we kicked back and rested for the evening.            

End of day 30…  Not much to see at the end of the day so no pics today.

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #67 – Mother’s Day and Bicycle Races

 

Sunday, May 13th, 2018……  HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!  I put Rylee in the guest bathroom last night because of the cool vinyl flooring.  I heard her whining about 3:30am and got up and let her out to pee.  I left her out and put her up on our bad and she went to sleep there.  But, for some reason I woke up about 5:30 and she was ready to get up too, so we played on the bed.  Lydia had tons of sleep so she was awake too.  I showered and got dressed and went out and played with Rylee before feeding her and then making my breakfast. We go out on the leash (her – not me!) every morning to get the paper. She still wants to walk right in front of me but we’re getting better with that with practice. The rest of the morning was spent playing, catching up on emails, and straightening up the house a bit. This afternoon we just kicked back and watched tv. Of course, we still have puppy duty.  She keeps us going.  I’m working on training routines with her even at this age.  She can sit, shake hands and high five so far.  Not an expert yet, but we’re learning! Lydia heard from the kids wishing her a happy Mother’s Day but for the most part, we had a quiet day. 

Rylee's rock!.....

      

Monday, May 14th, 2018……  This morning I woke up about 4:30am and did a potty break. I heard Rylee so I got up and let her out. She had pooped on her piddle pad and then outside.  Same routine as yesterday. But this morning we stayed in bed until 6:30am! I went out and got my breakfast and Lydia’s tea, then went out and talked to the team, who showed up today to finish the siding that they could do to this point. The front and back walls can’t be done until the shear nailing inspection which is now scheduled for tomorrow.  My knee is still sore and I decided not to go out and mow the lawn today.  Plus, it is the hottest day we have had so far this year.  It got up to 85º today.  But later, I did get my tool bag out and went over and adjusted my sister’s side gate and fixed the latch.  She also bought a vine-covered screen (similar to one used to go around an outside air conditioner or pool pump) to cordon off her side yard.  She doesn’t want Quincy going back there to aggravate the neighbor’s dog. I pounded in three long stakes to tie the screen to and that was done. We visited a while and then I came home and had lunch. Rylee is now watching for me to come home and comes running when she hears the garage door opening.  I rested after lunch and watched the Amgen Tour of California.  Similar to the Tour de France, it’s the largest field of any bicycle tours in the US.  Yesterday they started the first day of the tour in downtown Long Beach, which was cool for me to see. Today they are in Ventura and Santa Barbara area. They will end up on Sunday around Sacramento.

As I said, today, Tim and Dana got everything ready for inspection.  Tim also started on the roof shingles. Plus they picked up the windows and doors. Lydia made dinner and later we sat out on the back porch and played with the ball of energy in the yard and also talked about some of the things on my to-do list for tomorrow.  Then it was tv until bedtime.     

End of Day 28....     

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #66 – Yard Sale and Urgent Care

 

Friday, May 11th, 2018……  This morning I got up and got Rylee out of my office and outside to do her business. No issues.  I went back and got showered and took her back out on the leash to go get the paper. We ran into our neighbors who came over to meet the little girl.  We talked a bit about the weekend.  They are having family over for the weekend for Mother’s Day. Our other neighbors are having a yard sale today.  Lydia took off to go do her labs this morning and when she got back we went over to visit.    

Saturday, May 12th, 2018……  Lydia woke up early after a bad night.  Her diverticulitis has kicked back up again and she was in pain.  She decided to go to urgent care.  Meanwhile, my sister came by and after her walk with Quincy, we loaded up super mutt into the truck a headed over to the Farmer’s Market, in Corvallis. Needless to say, she was a big hit!  I couldn’t go ten feet without being stopped so she could be petted. Plus, there were all of the other pups there so she was in heaven.  

But for me, I couldn’t even concentrate on the booths.  I did manage to buy Lydia some flowers for Mother’s Day though.  We worked our way out and got Rylee some water.  She was pooped! I heard from Lydia that she was in and out of urgent care and they took a culture and also gave her some penicillin and told her to go home and rest.  We met her there and Penny and Quincy left and Rylee and I had lunch and then we settled in for the day and rested. Later, Lydia said she was hungry and wanted Taco Bell so I went off and got us dinner.  Then we watched our shows.  For me it was racing and for her old movies. She decided to go watch tv in bed and was able to get some comfortable sleep.  Diverticulitis is basically inflammation in the colon. She says she only has pain when she has a bowel movement but that takes time in the system.  So, getting sleep when she can is good.

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #65 – No Work on the Shop and a Shopping Trip

 

Wednesday, May 9th, 2018……  I got to sleep in today! Lydia got up and took Rylee outside while I slept. She came back to bed and put super pooper up there with us.  We played a bit then we all got up and got going for the day.  I went out and got breakfast and coffee/tea and then after bringing everything back and eating. I worked out in the shop for a while.  Rylee is now used to following me around just about everywhere I go so she went out to there with me.  I also took her to the motorhome and she went right up in there to check it out. I did have to hold on to her as she went back down the steps but she wasn’t too scared at all. The guys didn’t show up today – no call or text – so I’m not sure what’s going on. My sister had me on standby today.  She took Quincy in to the vet this morning to have a small skin tag removed from Quincy’s chest.  Then she headed off to her radiation appointment. I was on call if Quincy was ready to be picked up before she got back.  Turns out they waited until sis got home so I wasn’t needed. Later, Penny came over and brought Quincy to rest here with me so her and Lydia could take off to go to Kohl’s.  They both got the 20% off mailing that starts today and they want to see if they can find stuff for the Maui trip.  But before they left they noticed the sale doesn’t start until tomorrow so they will wait.  But since Quincy was resting on our bed here we decided to drive into Albany for some seafood.  We like The Depot just outside old town Albany.  They have really tasty scallops.  I like their shrimp salad with homemade blue cheese dressing.  The fries are also hand cut and come out nicely cooked and not greasy.  They are a bit pricey but hey, we only go there every now and then. Kind of like Tony’s on the Pier back in Redondo Beach back in SoCal. We got back, full and happy.  Penny gathered up Quincy and took her home.  She will have to rest up a few days before she is allowed to run but is doing well. Rylee was a little disappointed that she couldn’t chase her around but she will soon. We watched our own taped shows until we got together to watch Survivor before calling it a night.        

Thursday, May 10th, 2018……  I mentioned before that we have been leaving Rylee to the run of the house at night.  We have to leave the doggie door closed because we have coyotes howling out there most of the night so she can’t go out. For the most part she’s been good, just a few accidents where she’s missed the piddle pads. Last night she came in about 2:00am and woke me up. We went outside and she peed and then came back in and followed me back to bed and wanted up.  She ended up sleeping with us the rest of the night. She woke me up about 5:30am and I took her out again. I was awake but took her back to play on the bed so I could relax some more. Later, she managed to get around to jump up on Grammy’s head and got her up too! We ended up starting our day about then. I showered and ate breakfast and walked her while Lydia got ready.  She had to go for labs this morning.  I didn’t hear from Tim or Dana all day yesterday and they hadn’t come by this morning so I texted asking if they were ok. “Yep”, was all I got. I’m guessing they are taking some time off. Lydia left a little later and went and picked up Penny and they went to Kohls.  I took Rylee out for a little walk around the yard. My knee has been bothering me since I was working on my sister’s sprinklers.  I felt it stretch and pop when I was kneeling down.  It was ok until today – now it’s swollen and is really sore. I walked on it out in the flower beds until I started to limp. I was checking things out to see what work I need to do to clean up the weeds. I can’t kneel down right now, and Lydia can only do so much at any one time, so, we decided today that we would call Kirk to come back and do some flower bed cleaning for us.  Not like last time – just a few days.  I still need to call him to come over and tell him what we want. Probably next week.  We put stupid head in my room for the night.  She’s been ok with run of the house but still misses the piddle pads so Lydia wants her crated. I just locked her in the room with the doggie door.           

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #64 – The Garage and the Puppy - Work Goes on for Both

 

Monday, May 7th, 2018……  Rylee didn’t do too well last night in the poop and pee department! I had to clean up two places.  Plus, she goes on the entry carpet.  So, tonight we’ll cover it with piddle pads and see what happens. Monster mutt got me up early again and I let Lydia sleep and let her out in the yard for a while then played with her and put out her breakfast.  Lydia was still sleeping so I let the puppy in the bathroom with me.  She was upset when I stepped in the shower and closed her out!  She whined until I finished and opened the door and let her check everything out in the shower.  She seemed content with that and I was able to dry off and get dressed and done. We played some more and then when Lydia got up I took off to go get my breakfast and coffee and then headed over to Albany to get a few things.  First stop was Petco for dog food and a real bone, only filled with edible dog treat. Then I went to a place we’d been to before, called Wheeler Dealer, which is kind of like a Dollar Store/Harbor Freight/Big Lots.  They buy overstocks from various stores and do have a nice selection of a lot of nicer tools and such. I bought another rake for the yard plus some dog toys.  Then I went to Dollar Tree to get another cord for my phone. We think we left mine in Rick and Janie’s rig.  No worries, they are reasonably priced. I got back and gave Rylee the bone.  Oh my God! She loved it!  She chewed and chewed and got some of the stuff out of the middle.  We had to take it away for a while so she can rest. The team got here this morning and started to work putting up the other side of the roof sheets.  That done, they started on the tar paper.  I was told they had called the inspector to come by and do the shear inspection so they can get that part closed up too. Turns out Dana didn’t call him yet. The weather is nice today, but it’s supposed to cloud up tomorrow with rain forecast.  But the sunny days are starting to outnumber the rainy days so we’re happy about that! I went online again and spent some time searching for Hawaii deals.  I needed a rental van and I wanted to book the Haleakala bicycle downhill adventure.  I searched several car rental websites and got a really great price for the van!  I also chose the bike company that gave me the best price for the tour we wanted to take.  We get picked up at our rental house, we go to the bike company, get fitted with gear (bikes, helmets, gloves, rainjackets, bike locks, etc.) and then we get taken up to the top of the mountain with the bikes in the trailer.  We ride down the 28-mile long mountain and back to the shop. We can go at our own pace and can stop when and where we want for pictures and food if we want (that’s why we get locks).  We did this on our 25^th anniversary there and we can’t wait to try it again! Later, we went out with Rylee to check out the job done today and visit with them (she loves Dana!).  After that we all sat and watched Master Chef and Dancing With the Stars and then went to bed.  

End of day 26…..    

Tuesday, May 8th, 2018……  This morning I got up and let Rylee out and let Lydia sleep in. We played a bit and I finally got going with my shower and such then it was back to doggie duty while Lydia made breakfast.  Yummy!  I finally went out and weed whacked/mowed the grass around the grapevines and trees and the blueberry cage. It got me super winded and I was hot and sweaty and covered with grass so much that I had to get out of my clothes in the garage before coming in and showering again! The guys are progressing with the rv garage, and today got the roof shingles up and staged.  They finished the roofing paper and started back working on the rest of the house wrap trying to finish up the siding when the rains came.  It was a little earlier than quitting time but they left shortly after. I went out and cleaned up the shop area a bit then called it a day. We had leftovers for dinner and settled in to watch our shows until bedtime.  

End of day 27….

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #63 – Sprinkler Repair and Playing With the Pup!

 

Saturday, May 5th, 2018……  This morning we both got up about 5:30am.  But I stayed up and Lydia went back to bed. I took muttley out to do her morning business.  She’s only had one slipup in the house overnight, so we’re pleased with that.  My job in the morning is to play with her and get some energy out of her, then feed her, then I can turn her over to Grammy to watch while I take my shower and get ready for the day.  After breakfast, it’s my turn again, while Lydia gets ready. Penny came over a little bit later and Rylee got to run with Quincy again.  They are getting used to each other – or should I say Quincy is getting used to Rylee! They run and run around the yard, which is good for short legs – it wears her out for her power nap! Later. I went over to look at my sister’s sprinkler issues.  I took her over our oscillating sprinkler but we were able to pinpoint some of the issues and after a trip to Wilco, I got her up and running for now.  She still needs Kirk to come over and move the rocks in her rock wall so he can straighten up one of the sprinkler heads.  I can fix the ones out in the front yard. She also needs to get an expert out to go over her water system and see if there’s a reason why she can’t get more pressure out of the backyard system.   

When I got home, I rested for a bit, then went out and tested my sprinklers since it’s been several months since we used them. The big lawn sprinklers are working well, but there were a few drip/bubblers/sprayers in the flowerbeds that I needed to work on.  I still have one main line of flowerbed sprinklers that run around the east and south side of the house that I have to work on.  That’s one that was quoted by Stutzman last year at $1200. That’s for a whole new line. But I think I can go slow and steady and work on repair of what’s there and get it done myself.  But it will take a while. Meanwhile, while I was working on the sprinklers, Lydia was working on cleaning up the dead plants and made a very small dent in that! Of course, our new little girl discovered that she was definitely a waterdog!  When we finished up and came back in, she looked like she’d been swimming.  She had bark mulch all over her paws! Crazy dog!    

Sunday, May 6th, 2018……  This morning we woke up to thunder and lightning.  We had seen that storms were possible today but we didn’t expect it so early.  But that was good because it cleared up and it was a fairly nice day. After letting her out to pee and checking out the house, we got monkey butt up on the bed and played with her for a while, then got up and showered and got breakfast made. No plans today so we spent it catching up on taped races and hallmark movies. You know who watched what!  Lydia thawed out some chicken breasts which got cut up to go in her chicken and noodle casserole. It was yummy and still is one of my favorites! We got caught up on Master Chef Jr. and watched our own shows until taking missy out and then calling it a night.