RUNNING WATER!!!!

Eight days later and LOTS of hand sanitizer, bottled water and borrowing of neighbor's shower, we have running water at last. Of course, this situation was fraught with more problems than just a plain ole lightning strike late on a Friday night. First the well pump had to be extracted....190 feet of pipe and a funny-looking silver thing that was the fried pump. When that got replaced (four days) and reattached, it was clear there was a further problem. So what was it? Apparently the wiring from the pump to the house (underground, of course) was also fried. That took another two days. Then came the realization that the newly installed pump had come loose from its housing and had to be extracted AGAIN and reattached (two more days, doesn't that make eight???).

Saturday morning we have running water and can flush toilets once again in a modern manner. Thank goodness the pool had lots of chlorinated H2O available. The dogs drank that with no problem intestinally and we used 5-gallon buckets of it to make the toilets flush when we couldn't stand it any longer.

What a nightmare....once again, NEVER NEVER NEVER ask what can happen next!!!

On the way to pick up a cutie of a red Labrador female originally from Gregg Tonkin, she being transported by dear Kay to me and meeting me at Newnan, well, wouldn't you know....the Chrysler overheated. Yep, the only car I have since the Subaru was in at Bethea's Auto Repair for a NEW TRANSMISSION. So I limped back from Newnan, "Poppy" aboard behaving herself beautifully, and went to Bethea the next day to trade cars.

Here's the NEXT "happen next": When I got thru transferring all the folderol from the Chrysler to the Subaru and charged proudly off with my new transmission, THE DARNED THING WAS MAKING THE SAME SCRAPING NOISE IT WAS MAKING WHEN THEY DECLARED IT WAS THE TRANSMISSION THAT NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. Go figure...better yet, go to BED.

I left the Chrysler there, drove the Subaru as if nothing was wrong, and will exchange cars once again tomorrow. The worst part of this is the exchanging of stuff like the XM radio gear, etc. I'm thinking of putting it all in a single box and just hoisting it from one vehicle to the other with a big smile instead of the laborious method now employed. Tempting but it won't work b/c everything has to be plugged in and set in properly.....ARRGGHHH......

The GOOD thing that occurred was that Lori called to say that our Simba granddaughter was finally in season and did I want to breed her? YEP, you betcha.....want to get some of that old stuff back into this line if possible. So yesterday after a long and involved drive around the Atlanta airport trying to find Continental's version of cargo, I met dear Lori and her boys and left with "Peaches" to get her to Dr. Ana's for a progesterone test.

Needless to say further complications ensued: Peaches may need to be bred on Tuesday. This necessitates getting a proper transport kit to Pam in Memphis so she can send chilled semen from Justin to arrive on the right day. Okay, call the doc who invented this method of procreation to see whether the two kits I ordered on line the night before had indeed been sent. Nope, just a recorded message. He did indeed call me back and left ME a message, and after about four of those, I spoke with him. NOPE, he's at a conference and won't be back in time to even READ his email orders until Monday....oooops...what to do now? CALL the ever-reliable MiniTube folks. Of course, it costs about $125 more to have the kit sent overnight tonight for delivery tomorrow so Pam can get it collected and sent out Monday. BUT what we do for puppies? We spend it, of course.

Keeping all appendages crossed that this plan will work out for black and yellow pups in about 65 days. She's a lovely bitch, sort of a cross between the field and the show looks--reminds me of my old Porsche in a more "English" way--lots of bone and substance and great angles with an old-fashioned head and gorgeous pecan brown eyes. Her temperament is FABULOUS. Reminds me of Old Simba himself. And she's a big girl, so I hope that means she can hold a BIG litter since these pups should be ready to go out sometime around the holidays. All I want is a nice yellow girl whose lineage goes back to my beloved Simba with improvements in some of the places that he lacked conformationally. He didn't lack ANYTHING in temperament or smarts. I miss that old fellow every single day of my life. What a good fortune for him to have been the first real Champion in my Labrador life!

In re-reading this tome, I am reminded that my mother's good friend, Betty, who lived in Miami before it became a foreign country, used to send a Christmas card along with a typed sheet listing all the gruesome things that happened to her and Elmer during the previous year. We used to sit and guffaw at what Betty thought was interesting. We thought it was totally off the wall that someone would want to read about how she survived a whole year of troubles sent along with a cheery card during the holiday season. Guess I'm sounding a LOT like Betty these days!

Okay, enough....gonna go brush my teeth in running water instead of a little glass of spring water for a change...heck, I might even take a shower instead of dousing in hand sanitizer!
More later....MsP

What Can Happen Next? Now I Know

Okay, I'm trying to be positive. Really I am....smiling, assuming a happy attitude, thinking good things....HONEST! That is until last night at 11:30 when I tried to wash my hands before going to bed--NO WATER, just gurgling from the faucet. We had terrific thunder storms and lightning for about four hours, with the tv going out about every three minutes, but it was over by then. Had just finished filling the puppies' bucket for the next morning's exodus and there had been plenty of water to do that. Now NONE! Joseph came down stairs and said, "Aunt Patty, something the matter with the water???" "I dunno, Joseph, but there is none." Nothing amiss in the electric boxes, no switches out, etc. So a text message went out to Jack and I went to sleep to toss and turn all night. At 6:30 AM, he came, turned on the light and declared, "It's probably the pump b/c there is nothing in the water tank and electricity is okay. Call your household insurance. Can't fix it until Monday, so you'll have to make do." Can't brush teeth, flush toilet, wash dishes, clean anything in sink, etc., etc., etc. Shades of the Good Ole Days.

I WON'T ASK THAT QUESTION AGAIN (the one that says What Can Happen Next??) -- So am off to buy gallons of water, hand cleaner, etc., etc. to carry us thru until Monday or Tuesday.

GOOD THINGS THAT HAPPENED: The Braves won at the bottom of the ninth in Chicago with a three run double and two outs! Ankiel put his best bat forward and hit a line drive shot between Center and Left field with the bases loaded. We won 5 to 3! Boy, those Braves are sumpin else!

"Tiny" went out this morning. The Schrowangs were pleased as punch with the little one. He is SO special and has such a fabulous temperament. I got to see Shadow (one of Mariah's last litter) and he was so excited to be here that he literally jumped up and down in delight....hadn't been here for over five years! Just goes to show you they don't forget!

Bye, Bye -- Wally World, here I come! MsPatty

OH BOY DOES A TOOTH ACHE INTERRUPT LIFE

Okay, I admit it, I'm not fond of going to the dentist, but at this point there appears to be not much choice. I've had funny sensations around my "pre-molars" for about six weeks and now it aches and I'm occasionally dizzy. Unfortunately there's no dentist around who honors Medicare, so the coffers will be reduced once again. Getting old is for the birds and terrorists IMHO. So am off to find a dentist and try not to remember the good ole days when there wasn't so much to make a dental visit more pleasant. I had a horrible experience when in the fourth grade, but not as awful as my sister did when she had her tooth pulled by an old butcher who didn't even give her anesthesia b/c she was crying so hard. Still can remember her screams at the age of four when that happened....even remember his name: Dr. Morrison. Good grief, I know it's not like that now, but somehow an imprint remains.

Good news: the glorious lovely beautiful fandamtabulous black boy out of Garbo and Monkey has finally come out of his shell and become Mr. Ethel Merman. Everyone has noticed....used to be shy and retiring. Now he comes dancing over and solicits attention and kisses like crazy. Think Georgia can be credited for this accomplishment, for he observed her behavior while they were romping in the yard yesterday and it seemed to make a dent in his original reticence. I love this fellow (BG) and hope he didn't inherit his mother's propensity for deciding that once around the ring was all she was interested in doing. We're going to work on this boy to offset any semblance of that trait long before it's time to show him off in the conformation ring. He's a jewel in the making I HOPE!

Okay, I've put off searching for a dentist, so here I go. Thanks for reading, P

WEIRD

Well, after two-plus weeks in fabulous Utah with the family, I'm back and suffering from the heat, humidity and drabness of being here in Georgia when I'd much rather be out there. Also have found that communication with folks who were thought to be part of my family has dropped to zero which hurts my feelings to say the very least. Very depressing.

Actually last weekend was relatively fun b/c five of the Garbo/Monkey pups went to new homes, as did our return beauty, Sassy Salsa. Sassy was returned while I was gone b/c her owners were in a financial bind and couldn't afford to keep her any longer. She was skin and bones at about thirty pounds at five years of age when she arrived, but by the time I got here, she had gained about five pounds and was coming out of her scared s....... mood. Must have been an awful transition for her. BUT she's now living the life of a queen as the companion to the grandmother of one of the families who got a yellow male pup out of the latest litter. What a wonderful break for her and for us as well. We would have loved to keep her, but since she was spay and not very tall, she was meant to be a companion and not a brood bitch.

Anyway, the Utah trip was fabulous and I miss that place and my daughter and grandchildren like crazy. Also the rest of the family which melded together and had a blast together. We went to an exhibit of dinosaurs and 3-D IMAX film about sea creatures, a rodeo, the WONDERFUL Park City Juried Art Show, and several markets where we stoked up on local veggies and treats. It was just perfect and not only that, but there was time to READ without interruption....bliss!

Thanks to Joyce Woods for taking care of my pups during the trip. They were in top shape and I am forever grateful to her for doing such a great job of it. I've decided to keep the big black boy out of the litter. He'll be registered as Sumo's Monkey Bizzness By George and we call him BG. That's in honor of his gorgeous father, CH Fortune's Curious George who's known as "Monkey." There's still a black girl (8 weeks next Monday) who's not claimed and she's a beauty of the first order. She was claimed until the folks on the list for her decided to take an older yellow pup instead, so we have a beauty available now.

I am (can you tell???) in a blue funk and currently believe I'm developing a molar problem...headache, dizziness and ache on the left upper side. No fun after having such a great time out West.

So far, no further news about the property dispute except to note that the bank which has the property now at least sent somebody to re-survey everything. That's at least the sixth survey on this property since it was first sold years ago, including my own at an astronomical cost not to mention the lawyers' fees, etc. Maybe before I kick the bucket this issue will be settled and I can get to selling the rest of this place, assuming of course somebody can qualify for a loan at a level I can afford to sell. At the moment I feel like GIVING it to anybody who asks and getting out of Dodge ASAP.

WEIRD....not very interesting, so to bed now that the Braves have beaten the Nationals. P