What the Wee Hours Look Like

This morning is a blur because the middle of the night was a task to be dealt with. The puppies seem to be unhappy and at 4AM Garbo let me know she was going to get out of the whelping (bathroom) room door if she had to eat her way thru it. So up I got, let her out and tried to quiet the yelping three week olds. Haven't a clue what the matter was, but almost every one of the ten was making some sort of unhappy noise. I turned up the fan, cleaned out the box, held the ones who were the most disturbed, helped them discharge what they could out the back end and wondered what to do next. Decided to worm them. Turned down the a/c two degrees just to see if that helped. Gradually it did. Was praying it wasn't the herpes virus, but their symptoms just don't jibe with that, thank heavens. About 5:30 the crying stopped and everyone appeared to be sleeping comfortably spread out in the box. I didn't awaken again until 11AM and am still groggy. Let Garbo in to tend to them, which she surprisingly did without objection this time, and they all lumbered about trying to keep up with her. They are sleeping again now and tomorrow I'll try exposing them to gruel in the hopes that they will take to that, and their daily care will be easier to manage since their mother has pretty much gone to Unemployment. I'll be placing her as soon as she gets back to normal, for no more pups after this third time. She's an absolute delight and an easy keeper as long as she realizes that she's not always in charge, but she's not a dedicated mother after Day 5, so we won't be doing this again for sure.

Will hope to spend the rest of today cleaning up around here and making things look less congested. It's so hot and humid that doing anything outside will be put off until the evening.

Our boarder went home yesterday afternoon and we are now down to the bare essentials: Rummy, Stuff (The Boss), Garbo and her daughter Boogie, along with the two young pups, Roja and Stone. Of course, Georgia is here trying to assert her leadership over the entire bunch including the three cats, but that might only be possible in her snoring dreams. The 2 quarter sized lesions on her back appear to the vet to be a strange sort of hot spot since scrapings didn't show anything else and she had the EXACT same thing happen a year ago this week! Go figure.....

My sister, Susan, and brother-in-law, Randy, made it to Park City in fine fettle and enjoyed meeting their daughter, Stephanie, went out ahead of time. They said the weather is great and the sales at Nordstroms are even greater. Susan called me from the shoe department wanting to know if I needed any Merrells, but I turned that down in an effort to economize. Can't wait to get out and enjoy the WEST. Almost ten days to go before flying away.

Finished the biography of the double spy for England and Germany in WWII. It is a true espionage story so convoluted that if a movie was made about it, everyone would think the whole thing was made up. Definitely a difficult book to put down. Called AGENT ZIGZAG, it's the story of Eddie Chapman researched by author Ben MacIntyre. Chapman was a bonified British crook prior to his capture by the Nazi's when they took over the Island of Jersey after appropriating France. What happens to Eddie from then on is truly a bizarre and entertaining read. He's a slippery character who pulls off some of the most unbelievable spy stunts. Some of the things the British did to outwit the Germans are truly amazing, and so is Chapman's participation in making sure they succeeded. If you have a chance to find it at one of the big book stores or on Amazon, DO read it!

Heard they are getting a Trader Joe's in Athens. Good for them. Only wish they'd get one in Stone Mountain, although that would be awful for my weight and bank account. As it is, having to drive an hour to get there is probably a good deterrent. If someone has access and hasn't yet tried Trader Joe's, don't wait any longer. I've never had anything from there that wasn't top notch, period. All their foods are well prepared, low priced and reliable for the best gustatory experience. That's the only thing I'll miss about moving to Colorado since they won't be establishing themselves there for various competitive reason, I'm told.

Off to get my morning latte and wake up, maybe.....at least at the moment the pups are quiet. P