Thankfully my dog tale/tail had a happy ending!
Pull up a chair and mug with Coco and Deborah and me for the ultimate coffee tea date: and I’ll tell you how I’m trying new/old stuff, spending more time outdoors, and finally getting to see (but not hug) my mom.
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you everything old is new again. I have been fascinated by herbs for a long time. I’ve taken a few classes in the past, making some herbal teas I rarely drank. I have come full circle back to that, but now I am drinking my herbal teas. I guess I’m not alone, because it’s been hard to find some of the herbs I want to use!
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you even though we have not been that hard hit up here, I’m not up for large groups yet. It’s a personal decision and everyone has to do what they’re comfortable with. It’s not always about one person, sometimes it’s about the people in that person’s life. I am down with one on one in the open air.
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you we are slowly working on making our backyard more of an oasis, although Mr Judy does most of the work. There’s the Yoga platform. I put the Wicker chair I dragged home from a dumpster a few years ago behind the platform; it’s my meditation seat.
Mr. Judy is working on a fountain (all his fountains have been made with things we have at home so far, except for the power sources and pumps). Actually, now he’s working on another fountain with an old fire pit we dragged home this week. We’re planning to move our trellis over there, and I’m planning to hang some wind chimes from it.
Then I found the outdoor rug I’m carrying above — I carried that home about 3/4 mile (with multiple stops). Turns out that it’s pretty stained, but I’m working on cleaning it up and hoping to use it for my Yoga students (they can put their mats on it).
The sad part is that I’m the one that spends all the time out there and Mr. Judy does most of the work!
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you I walked the dogs last week, and at one point I noticed a dog that I thought was in its backyard. Then I noticed it wasn’t in its backyard. I tried to hustle the dogs along, but that’s when the dog noticed us. He ran over to us, and chaos ensued (if you’ve ever walked two dogs meeting another dog, you’ll understand).
Lola was freaking out and being all reactive, while Bandit was standing patiently and letting the dog sniff him. I felt terrible leaving the dog there, but I couldn’t try to get it into its yard with the way Lola was acting. The dog (who was very sweet) ran after us for a while, then headed back, and I was pretty sure I knew where it lived, but I had to get the dogs home first.
I went back as soon as I dropped the dogs off at home (I was basically far enough away that by the time Mr. Judy could’ve gotten to me, I would’ve been home already). As I was looking for the dog (and saw that indeed, the gate was open at its house), someone called me from across the street and wanted to know if I was looking for a poodle.
We chatted, I told him where the dog lived, and he was going to take it over later (it was still pretty early in the morning). I felt so much better, I’d felt terrible leaving the dog loose, but I couldn’t get him to his home safely with Lola raising such a fuss.
If we were enjoying tea/coffee . . .
I’d tell you we finally did make the trip to my mom:
- 4 hours in the car
- 1.25 hours chatting, socially distanced, outside, with masks
- 1 pit stop
- 1 hyper geriatric dog
- 1 carsick dog
Totally worth it, even though it always makes for a tiring day!
Ever had to wrangle a loose dog to its home?
Have you picked up any new skills while in quarantine?
Are you working on making your backyard more inviting?
ICYMI: I’ve got another new Yin Yoga practice to help keep your immune system strong — or possibly help your digestion and breathing — maybe both! It’s a relatively short practice for Yin Yoga, a bit over 30 minutes long. Check it out here.
I am also linking up with:
I am also linking up with the Fridays with Fairytales and Fitness from Fairytales & Fitness.
Chocolaterunsjudy 
So nice that you could see your mum! I bet she was happy. Sounds like a tiring journey with the dogs, though!
Love that you’re upgrading your yard by recycling items! It’s good for the environment and thrifty as well.
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Well, it’s my husband doing about 95% of the work. Then I get to reap the benefits!
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Glad you enjoyed your visit with your mother.
Our yard is big but I’m only outside to weed and water. My hubby is obsessed with growing grass and I have my new perennial garden. We took down 3 huge pines recently.
I have worked a little in the deck. Even bought an umbrella to do that. Looks like I’ll be home through Labor Day. As you would understand, many people are still uncomfortable around others during this pandemic.
Mostly I’m out walking running or hiking. And now socializing. Miss my friends when I don’t see them face to face. Very excited that restaurants have opened for outside dining.
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The outside restaurant ps are basically a glorified cafeteria right now. We’ll probably continue to get delivery. Actually I had enough leftovers that I skipped a few weeks. Hard to tell if ultimately we’re not spending as much. Maybe. The no travel saves lots of $$.
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I’ve been cooking and not doing take out – that saves a lot of $$ Have only done take out for brunch after our runs.
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We just do restaurant delivery once a week (just like normally we only ate out once a week.
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I go out to eat for the social aspect of it. Not because I don’t like cooking. To each his/her own.
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I’m so glad that you were able to see your mom 🙂
I think that here in Connecticut we can meet up in groups of 10 or less, but I still haven’t met up with my weekend running crew yet. None of us feel comfortable right now, but maybe next month.
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I’m the only one that doesn’t want to be in a group, but then, I’m also the only one with a 92 yr old mother! I don’t see being in groups (for me personally) anytime soon, even though we can.
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Glad you could visit your mom. I wish I could say the same about my dad. I got our yard spiffed up last year for Thing 1’s grad party. I’m bummed though about how many perennials did not survive the winter. I’m thinking it was TOO mild. Many years ago there was a very large black lab loose and lingering around the school bus stop. After I got THing 2 on the bus, I walked home and found him in our driveway. So I lured him into the garage, shut the door and called animal control. Turns out he’d been reported missing and the owner came and got him with not so much as a thank you. Crazy how some people are.
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Our backyard isn’t that spiffy, but it’s better & mostly just great that I can comfortably spend time out there now!
Before I had dogs, in TX, off leash dogs were a common occurrence (it’s different down south!). I once had a dog follow me on a walk & then literally follow me into the house! But I had 2 elderly cats at the time.
Ok, someone not thanking you for returning their dog is definitely crazy.
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So cool that your hubby repurposes things and makes fountains out of them! So good for the environment and for your backyard.
You wanting to be careful with social distancing is definitely understandable. The last thing you want to do is introduce the virus to your mom. I bet she was so happy to see you!
Good for you for helping to get the “stray” dog back home safely. I am so worried about my dog right now. We were returning from a short walk yesterday and he flopped over on his side. He rested for a while and got up, but this morning, he flopped over again (in the house) and lost control of his bladder. We have an upcoming appointment with the vet but I am scared!
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Oh no Laurie! I hope that it’s something very simple with your dog, like the heat was just too much for him at his age. Crossing my fingers for a good dx.
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How wonderful that you finally got to see your mom. I can’t wait to see you backyard oasis once you’re finished!
Have a great weekend!
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Our backyard isn’t really that exciting. But it’s much nicer than it was before. Part of the problem was that when we moved here, it was “temporary “. 11 years later . . .
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That’s great you got to see your mom again! I just put down some stones yesterday in my backyard. The dogs had worn a path from the garden to one of the gates on the fence and I thought I’d put down some stepping stones to make it look like a proper path. My husband had just put down mulch along the path as well. It turned out nicely!
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Sounds nice!
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Glad you were able to see your mom! I haven’t seen my parents since I left Florida in March. How crazy is that? We’re going to Wisconsin in a couple of weeks, so I’ll get my fill then.
Last fall I was driving through the neighborhood late at night–I don’t remember why–and there was a dog wandering around. I picked her up and called her owner. He was worried sick about her! She was so sweet, got in my car without a fuss.
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It had been since mid-feb since I’d seen my mom. Without the burden of caring for my dad, she’s actually doing quite well. Just sad this had to happen at the same time — we’d finally convinced her to go to visit my brother in CA & of course that was cancelled.
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That was lucky that you saw the dog! My husband unfortunately ran over & killed a small dog that was loose at night. He never saw it, didn’t even know he’d done it until someone came to the door. Of course he felt terrible. 😔
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It’s great that you got to see your mom 😉 I have tons of work to do in our back yard. Lots of hosta to split and transplant. It got so hot so quick, right now is not an ideal time unless I dig them up real deep (the entire root ball #heavy) or meticulously water them a few times each day..
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We’re actually going back & forth between really hot & really cool weather — hard to acclimate to!
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That’s so great that you were able to see your mom! Sounds like a long day but I bet it was worth it. We are trying to slowly make our deck a little more comfortable. We have an old rug that I put out there this year. We still need to clean it and take the covers off some of the cushions.
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The rug I carried home needs a lot of cleaning. Then somehow I managed to work on the underside! Headplant.
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Yay that is so great that you got to see your mom. I bet she was thrilled to have you. Can’t wait to see what your backyard looks like. I’ve been working on ours as well. I think we will be spending a lot of time out there this summer!
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I know I’ll be spending a lot of time out in the backyard. I’m lucky; Mr. Judy does most of the work!
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Thats great that you were able to see your mom! And a wonderful idea to make your backyard more of an oasis. I was thinking of working on our yard as well.
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Our backyard is pretty shady. Which is great in Summer!
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I am so happy you got to see your mom!!!!! You must have been over the moon!
And I love watching your backyard transformation. It’s going to be gorgeous when Mr. Judy finishes!
I’m always down to rescue a lost dog. I’ve returned several to their homes and am glad I could help.
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It was definitely good to see my mom in person.
Thankfully we don’t see a lot of stray dogs here. TX was different but most weren’t strays, just dogs whose owners let the dogs take themselves for a walk. 😔
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A backyard oasis sounds awesome! I wish we had trees in ours so I could set up my hammock out there, hehe.
I’m glad the dog got back home and that you got to see your mom!
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I’d be sad without a backyard — unless there was a pool. Although right now I probably wouldn’t want to swim in a community/apartment pool.
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Your backyard oasis sounds lovely! We have too many mosquitoes around here for me to enjoy our yard much. I’m glad you got to see your mom and that it was worth it — that’s a long time to be chatting socially distanced.
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I understand about the mosquitoes! They were horrible in TX. Plus the fire ants. Not too npbad here unless we get a very rainy summer (and no fire ants!).
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I bet your Mom loved to see you. Glad you were able to make the visit, even if it made for a long day. I have never found a loose dog while walking mine. I’m sure that made for a challenge. Glad you were able to find the owner.
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Yes, I know that visits always lift my mom’s spirits. Luckily my sister lives a lot closer (and doesn’t have to worry about bathrooms).
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I do not like loose dogs. I definitely plan my routes to avoid CP’s off leash hours, because I’m glad the dogs have the chance to run. Glad this one found its humans
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I get very upset an bad dog owners, so I totally understand. I’ve almost been taken out by dogs more than once.
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