Ann’s Weblog

The head count at the Pet Hostel has gone up again slightly: today Belle, the dog that looks like a Rhodesian Ridgeback came. Also, we have a very old border collie cross named Dustin, a poodle named Misty, a beautiful Maremma X Golden Retriever named Amber, and a Red Wolf named Makalu. I’ll post pictures another day.

I groomed a little Shih Tzu-Poo today.. oh, my goodness she was wiggly. But I got the job done with patience and some finesse!

Oh my goodness, am I NEVER going to get back to the POTTING?? Oh, I did put together the pipe frame to the greenhouse. When I bought it I believed I was going to put it up and it would stay that way for MANY years. Yeah, right… The wind has picked up the whole damn thing several times, and each time the pipes bend and some of the bolts are lost and the clear tarp-like covering tears. I’m anxious to get it set up so that I can move the potted perennials out

I learned tonight that one of my friends has Hepatitis C. Some people never have a symptom, but she must have been exposed more than 30 years ago. It might explain some symptoms like depression and inability to fight infection, and fatigue. I feel very sad, even though it’s not a “death sentence”. Isn’t life always a journey? She was distraught for a couple of weeks, and “hid out”; I feel guilty because I just thought she was BUSY and didn’t know of her distress. I wish I could have been more help to her.

I’ll try to get back tomorrow. We’re planning to attend a birthday (sixtieth) dinner for a friend, and that will be a HOOT. I’m making chocolate cake for about 20.. it’s made and in the freezer un-iced so far.

Take care, all. Love, Ann

Well, it’s been a few days. Part of the trouble is that our Internet connection has been so poor. I complained politely to our server guy, and he actually LIED to me about some past changes he’d made (which instead of improvement, had resulted in a failure of our signal at the time). I’m very frustrated and about “THIS CLOSE” to going back to Telus and DIAL-UP connection again. At least it was reliable and you don’t usually get a curt, condescending LIAR on the phone if you have a legitimate complaint!

On Monday, I received fourteen boxes of perennial bare roots and baby plants. I just stand at the door of my grooming shop, where the opened boxes and SOME potted plants and packages are, and think “Oh WHAT have you done, Ann???” I’m overwhelmed. I got just the minimum number of each of the plants that I thought the public might ask for, or that I took a fancy to (for myself), but it added up to almost 800 plants, roots, and packages! I know that many folks in the valley look forward to my efforts in this garden business (whether they come to my sales at the house, or just to the Farmer’s Markets. So I will report back here about the situation.

Gradually, I will get the potting situation under control. This week, I also had quite a few dogs and one cat to groom. It’s all good!! Even though all of the dogs that were boarding during Easter and Spring Break have gone home, new ones have come.

I’m too tired to write more now. I’ll try to add a little tomorrow. Sorry to anyone who visits this blog regularly; I’ll also try to get the camera out again!

~Ann

A search engine just for weblogs suggests I post this link to my blog. I’m not sure where it is REALLY supposed to reside, but I HAVE, at least, put it here.

Will be back later with something more interesting about the day. Am going for “brunch” with my friend Barb, and that is always fascinating.

The weather today is BEAUTIFUL and spring-like. Most of the boarding dogs have gone home, and after brunch, I will get into the cases of perennials that arrived yesterday! Yippee!

~Ann

I think I mentioned “Luka” as the Jack Russell terrier which we are boarding. ACTUALLY, Luka went home, but we are babysitting Luka’s brother “Buddy” ! Silly me. Above is a picture of Buddy, who is a darling little house dog like his sister, and never any trouble. He seemed slightly less bashful of the camera this afternoon.

The other picture is of “Beau”, a medium-large, very handsome mixed breed male dog. He was no trouble at all, also: enjoyed most of his time outdoors just surveying the land, watching the horses. Every time I checked on him, he greeted me like his long lost friend (but you should have seen his joy when he saw his owners!). Considering the selection of pets that we were privileged to board in the past two weeks, it is little wonder I’ve stayed in business almost 21 years.

Please check my website, including the Pet Pictures page, for more, uh… pet pictures. I’m always delighted if visitors sign my Guestbook, too.

Stay well everyone.

Hurray, hurray! My perennial roots, bulbs, and packaged products came today!! The odd thing was that I was helping unload 14 cases of plants IN THE COLD WET FALLING SNOW. At least there was no wind to speak of today. Gosh, with the weather, anything can happen, and does.

I had such a busy day grooming and then napping on the couch, that I haven’t opened the boxes yet, but perhaps I’ll get into it tomorrow. The sooner that I can plant the bare roots in pots and expose them to light, the better they’ll look for my plant sale in May. I’m very excited, as you can probably tell, but once I get started planting, it will be a long job.

Just as they are saying on the news about obesity being a national epidemic, the timer on the oven goes off: the cream puffs are baked! Well, everything in moderation, eh? Gary has a simple supper of chili waiting for him, so I’m sure he’ll be able to leave room for desert.

Perhaps I’ll get back here tonight with pictures of a dear dog who went home today: Beau. I did manage to take the photos and he certainly seems photogenic! I also took pictures of Luka, a Jack Russell terrier, who in the past would hang his head in a fright every time I brought the camera out.

Time to serve up the fancy dinner.

~Ann

A self-respecting grooming shop ELSEWHERE would laugh at me: I consider a GOOD grooming day to be 3 dogs! It is my honour and pride and joy to clip and wash two or three dogs, several days per week; between THAT and pet boarding, I can make a living.

On tomorrow’s roster is a matted dog of mixed breed. This little dog’s owner suggests that his coat might be difficult to clip, but I’m looking forward to the challenge and will be as artistic as I can! I try NEVER to let a client feel guilty about letting their pet get “neglected”, but instead praise and thank them for getting the grooming done. Also for tomorrow, I have a CAT scheduled for clipping of matts, which might be another challenge.

The wind has simply HOWLED all day long here. It somehow preys on my nerves and makes me feel grouchy. I dealt with a difficult customer today; this is a rare occasion, but I can’t very well explain it in a weblog!

Perhaps tomorrow I’ll have time to take some pictures to post on weblog and on the website:
www.annschwartz.com .

Stay well, everyone. Take care of each other. ~Ann