Snowy Days

Posted on December 26, 2017 by TJ

I hope everyone had a tremendous Christmas!

After we moved to Northern Michigan, we started a new tradition of going to the theater to watch the latest Star Wars movie on Christmas day. We were all set to do it again this year, but there was a winter storm warning out with the possibility of at least a foot of snow, blowing snow, frigid temperatures, and hazardous/impossible driving conditions. The weather in our area ended up being not that bad. We had several inches of snow, wind that swirled the snow around, cold; those north of us had it much worse. There was no way of foreseeing how bad it would be so we decided to just stay home, eat popcorn and other snacks, snuggle, and watch all three Hobbit movies. It was a good cozy day.

It was also good to stay home because we weren’t sure how Hannah Joy would handle being alone in the house with the cats, particularly with Luke who is still lurking and ambushing, and hissing and swatting Hannah. We’d like to give Hannah and the pets more time to adjust before we leave them alone.

Today was colder than yesterday with temps about 8 degrees. It was less windy than yesterday but still windy enough to blow the snow all around. EJ spent several hours snowblowing the driveway. About halfway through he took a break to eat lunch before heading out again. At the beginning of his break, I turned on my new electric kettle for some hot tea for him and began to fry him some hamburgers. I left the room for a minute and we heard a huge bang in the kitchen. We discovered that Hannah had grabbed the pan off the stove and onto the floor and was gobbling the half-cooked burger. We got her away and cleaned up the mess before she had eaten too much. I then made cooked some macaroni and mixed it in with the leftover chili to stretch it.

Poor Hannah Joy is really hungry, but because her previous owner starved her, we have to be careful not to feed her too much too soon.The animal shelter people said to only feed her about a cup of her special food four times a day or she could get bloated and die. It’s a challenge to cook or eat near her because she is prone to grab what she can. Yesterday she grabbed some of my popcorn before I could stop her. Today EJ set a bag of trash outside by the garage that had turkey bones in it and Hannah kept asking to go out and trying to pull me over to it. She didn’t stop wanting outside until she saw that we had put the bag away in the garage. In spite of her wanting more food, when I get her bowl of food and tell her to sit, she sits. In fact, after only a couple of times she didn’t even wait for me to tell her to sit–she just sits on her own. Of course, she surges forward and gulps it when I try to put the bowl on

Hannah letting me know she wants something.

I made her a vet appointment for Friday afternoon to get her rabies shot, etc., and I plan to talk to the vet about when we can start feeding her more. Poor girl.

It’s fun to learn Hannah Joy’s characteristics. She is very expressive about making her wants known. If I ignore her, she will get put her front legs on my chair and look at me. If I continue to ignore her, she will get onto my chair and press her forehead against mine so I can’t ignore her. I ask her if she’s trying to mind meld with me and/or communicate by telepathy. She loves to sleep on the footstool of my chair. At night she sleeps in bed with us.

I ordered Hannah a very pretty collar from Etsy. I always bought Danny a simple collar. He had so much thick fur that it was difficult to even see his collar so a pretty one would have been wasted. I’d like Hannah to have a pretty feminine collar so people look at her and see a pretty girl dog and not a scary breed. Besides, I really, really love the Nordic/Elvish look.

Hannah Joy will look awesome in this coat.

I also ordered a coat for Hannah. I’ve never bothered to get coats for my dogs before. When I was a child, I gave two different coats to my schnauzer-poodle mix. I can’t remember…but I think I made her one and my sister made her the second. Both times she ran off the very day we first put them on her and returned later without them. I think the coats embarrassed her. Danny’s hair was so thick that he never needed a coat to keep him warm. However, Hannah is short-haired and so starving thin–with no fat on her–that I think she could use a coat to help her keep warm if she’s out for any length of time during the cold Michigan winters. I feel bad when I take her outside in the frigid cold. I chose a blue Nordic/Elvish coat. I think blue will look awesome with Hannah’s reddish coat.

Maybe I just want to spoil Hannah Joy a little because she’s been so mistreated in her life. Or maybe I’m just so glad to have a dog again that I want to spoil her a little.

Image may contain: dog — He needs a home.

The last dog that was rescued with Hannah from the abusive owner will soon be put up for adoption. I think that he was in the worst shape of the three of them. The animal shelter said that they are working with the local veterinarian hospital to get him healthy. “He is heartworn negative, has been dewormed, has had two laser treatments on his feet and tail to get blood flowing better. He is on a special feeding regimen and pain meds as well as antibiotics. He had a check up and laser treatment today with his Doctor. She feels with the right loving home Bo can have a loving family the first of next week. He loves people, does well with other dogs and cats. He even has met horses and no problem there. He tries so hard to please! Do you know someone who would be a great family for him? He is neutered and needs an indoor life.” I don’t know how anyone can treat dogs this way. I hope this adorable little guy finds a good home soon.

The hat JJ bought for EJ arrived on Saturday. It is called a “Jayne Hat” because a character in one of our favorite TV series (called Firefly) wore it. Every time EJ wears it, we go around quoting from the series. I think EJ looks adorable in his hat.

EJ wouldn’t let me take a turn snowblowing the driveway (I suspect to give me a break) so I made a few turkey potpies this afternoon. It was difficult because I had to keep everything out of Hannah’s reach, but I managed without any mishaps. I froze two and baked one for supper. While we were eating our pot pies, four deer came to eat the seed from the birdfeeders. There was a mama with her two young-uns and another adult, which she chased off. Hannah saw them and went right up to the window and they weren’t scared of her at all. While the Mama deer was eating from the tray feeder, she pulled it and the bracket down on top of her head. It scared her and they all ran off. We will have to fasten the bracket better. Maybe EJ can do it for me with screws instead of the nails I used.

JJ had to work today. He got home about 2 p.m., changed his clothes, and then went to visit his girlfriend.