Nov 12 - making a break

End of the day.  Cassie's kennel/crate has been at my side of the bed.  We've both gotten used to that.  She's content & I'm content.  Her occasional fidgeting, however, is bothering Sandy so we moved the crate into the walk-in closet which we figured is better than putting her in the laundry room.  When I put her in there last night she cried piteously and barked.  We can't have that.  So ... I lied down on the floor (it's carpeted, not too uncomfortable) beside the crate for 1.5 hours (ok, I slept too) and she settled down.  I then went to bed and she was fine for the night.  Hopefully that's done it and I don't have to do this every night !

During the day she's been going into her kennel without issues.  She lies down and is totally comfortable.  We only do that when we're both out, for example, Sandy was at the dermatologist when I left for my bike ride, so I put her in the crate.  She was home alone for about an hour before Sandy got home.  That's working quite nicely.  Hopefully it will work just as nicely in the new location.

Thinking back, Abby's crate was in the mudroom closet in Radnor.  That was a small space between the garage and the kitchen that also housed the washer & dryer.  At the cottage, it was in the laundry room.  Hopefully we can do that with Cassie when we go north for Christmas ... we could also ultimately do the same here in the laundry room or put the crate in the small area which is the elevator lobby.  Of course ultimately she won't have a crate, it will simply be a dog bed.  At the cottage, Abby's dog bed was by the fireplace.  In Radnor, I frankly don't remember, perhaps she was still in the crate at that point.  At the Saxon house she never had a crate and I don't remember where her dog bed was but it must have been by the sliding doors at the back of the house, anywhere else would have been in the way.

As any reader can tell, our lives pretty much revolve around Cassie at this point.  Everything we do has to consider the puppy, from going outside to errands to whatever. 

I had been cutting dead banana leaves to clean that up a little and yesterday morning I hauled them to the side yard.  Cassie was running around like a fool pulling at the leaves in my arms and then running around the yard dragging whatever she managed to pull away.  She had a blast and tired herself out.  She also got a short walk; let's call it a little leash training rather than a walk.

My DVD ripping is making good progress; it goes quickly with six drives.  That was a good decision.  It would go just as quickly with two drives if I was seated at my PC all day, but I'm not.  You're more likely to find me at my laptop in the kitchen, with Cassie around (like right now).   Copying my Dad's videos is underway right now and almost finished.  That reminds me that I have to backup everything that I've done to date here in Florida.  I should probably do that today after I finish the last couple of Dad's DVD's. 

There were a couple of weird packages in the mail yesterday.  They contained license plates.  It seems that the DMV replaces license plates after a certain number of years but they limit themselves, maybe ?, to vehicles and box trailers.  That's a guess.  The two boat trailers are newer, from a licensing standpoint, so perhaps those plates will come in another year.  Yesterday's package included plates for the three cars and the 5x8 trailer along with stickers for the Harley, the 4x6 trailer and the two boat trailers (Whaler and Bayliner).  No doubt I'll receive a plate for the Skiff trailer in a few days. 

On the way back from the dermatologist (facial), Sandy stopped at Hulls and picked up tuna.  It was tasteless -- not bad tasting but tasteless.  That typically happens when tuna has been frozen.  Disappointing.  She also picked up lionfish that we'll have tonight.

I did ride yesterday.  It was hot.  From the forecast, the weather is finally breaking.  Thank goodness.   I forgot to fill up my water bottles before I left, only had half a bottle leftover from the prior ride.  I knew that would get me to the turnaround point and I'd pick up some water at the 7-11.  When I looked in the cooler, they also had Arizona Iced Tea (green/diet), which turned out to be quite good.  I'll have to look at that as an alternative to Snapple.  It's miler tasting and not as sweet.

That's pretty much it ...

Onward!