Monday Grab Bag

Catching up on a number of dog and grandkid bits and pieces.

First, a dog update.

Kaya had a ridiculously invasive procedure intended to shut down her puppy-factory abilities. The cone of shame was to keep her from licking the incision. "Keep her calm and NO WALKS for two weeks!" we were told. Keeping her calm is impossible - it would be easier to teach her to manage this blog.

After three days, the cone could come off, which was a blessing for us since she had learned to use it as a weapon.

So we tried the t-shirt trick. My shirts were a bit too big and she kept walking out of the arm holes.

So we tried one of Mrs Notthat's shirts and it fit a lot better. She didn't seem to mind the shirt so much, but by morning it was off and nicely folded in the middle of the living room.

The grandkids and their parents are moving from the duplex they had been in for five years or so to an apartment. The apartment is not dog-friendly, so we have inherited their dog, Dove, for the next six months or so (at least that's the plan - HA!).

When Dove was younger, she was easily Kaya's equal when it came to being an overactive, rambunctious puppy. Now that she's older (she's maybe three or four), she's mellowed. And become the cranky old guy yelling at kids to get off the lawn - she cannot stand Kaya's bounciness.

But they do have their moments of peaceful coexistence, such as when they are plotting to escape through the front gate.

Now for some grandkids.

The grandkids stayed with us for a few days while their parents worked to move into the apartment and clean up the old place.

Grandkid Second Born @ 9:12 AM: "I HATE cinnamon Chex! You can't make me eat them!"
Grandkid Second Born @ 9:13 AM: "This is the BEST cereal EVER!!!"
Me: Massive eye roll that nearly caused an injury.

Grandkid First Born and I decided to try something that I read about on the Internet. (What could possibly go wrong, right?) The idea is to make cupcakes in ice cream cones.

GKFB filled the cups. We had no guidance about how full to make them. And also, I had the brilliant idea to top some of the cones with marshmallows. (The cones were a bit top-heavy which made them eager to tip over. The cupcake pans were really no help. I have a theory about how to better do this in the future what would even include being able to use sugar cones.)

Lessons learned: Only fill the cones a little over halfway and the marshmallow idea was a winner, although it was a bit messy due to the cones being a bit too full (the kids would not try them). And possibly marshmallows about halfway would be fun too. Or maybe M&Ms or other surprise candies.

Neighbor Amles (not her real name) and the grandkids enjoying ice cream cone cupcakes in the backyard.

I have no idea who this woman is, but she apparently HATES leaves. A week ago she was going up and down the street raking leaves from the sidewalk out into the street, with the hope that the city would come by and suck them up as they have every year since we've lived here.

But apparently the city has no money for this, and the leaves in the street are getting stale. So this woman is now filling up her compost bin with street leaves. We have filled up our bin a couple of times now with leaves, but this weekend was reserved for the leaves created by trimming our hedge.

GKSB volunteered to help compress the leaves so we could shove more into the bin. GKSB needs to put on a bit more weight if he really wants to be effective at this.

So skinny Mrs Notthat jumped into the bin. She was much more effective. Granted if I had jumped in there, we probably could have fit twice as many leaves, but I'm not nearly graceful enough to manage that sort of challenge.

GKSB loves winding up the dogs. And the dogs love being wound up by him.

And no matter how soulful and pleading Kaya can make her puppy dog eyes, GKFB wasn't having any of it and did not share her grilled cheese.

And this card that came with an item I ordered online pretty much sums up my thoughts. (Although my thoughts are just a bit ruder.)

That's it - move along...