Here we go again

This was yesterday's entry, but I messed it up so badly, it's taken me 24 hours to come back to the computer and try to fix it.  Guess what?  I just didn't bother to fix it completely.  I'm sick of this entry!

Yesterday our temperatures got up into the 50's.  Today we've plunged back into the deep freeze.  Honestly, I'm grateful to have the mud frozen again.  Our yard is ruined.  when we moved hack here to what once was part of the pasture, we planted grass in our front yard.  It was so nice!  But over the years, thanks to four-wheeled traffic, moles, drought, and mud, real grass is non-existent.  It's so bad, I doubt if there's even any crabgrass growing any more.  I'm hoping to convince Cliff to assist me in tilling up the front yard (he's thinking, "Oh, you mean poor old Cliff gets to do it") and planting grass again.  Of course we'd need to put out some grub treatment or the moles would have it ruined again in no time.  Dreams of spring in the middle of winter, right?

After reading about coyotes killing so many small dogs, I've decided to keep Gabe on a leash when we walk in the pasture.  I hate this development as much as he does:  His chief joy was being able to run as fast as the wind and head down into the hollers.  Just watching him in action made me joyful.  Typical of terrier-type dogs, he pulls on a leash something awful, but my oldest granddaughter passed  something on to me that she couldn't use:  A harness that won't let him pull.  I'd tried the Halti head halter back when I had Sophie, but this kind was new to me.  It goes across the dog's chest.

It isn't as severe as the head collar, but it does work.  Although my dog can't run free any more, I want him to have some room to sniff around, since sniffing is his favorite hobby when he's outside.  When he's here at the house, I use the six-foot leather leash the granddaughter gave me when I first got Gabe.  Don't you love it when your dog gets hand-me-downs? I love that leash, although when Gabe was a puppy he kept chewing off the metal snap that attaches to his collar.  Cliff re-attached it each time, so now it's only about 4 1/2 feet long.  I finally ordered a new one a couple of days ago (surprise, Cliff).  Anyway, I got out the retractable leash I hate because it gives him some room to roam while I'm slowly walking in the pasture.  The first time I took him out with the halter and leash, he broke into a run as soon as I opened the gate, as was his custom.  It was a short walk, because when he got to the end of the leash he came to a halt.  After the first five minutes he seemed to get used to it and didn't fight it much, so I've actually found something the retractable leash is good for.

I feel in need of a road trip, but this time of year isn't the best time to travel with the weather around the country like it is.  Cliff doesn't tolerate long car trips, so I've been trying to think of someplace not far away where we could go, someplace with museums and places of interest; We've been all over Iowa with our tractor club folks so there's not much left to see there. I wouldn't mind going to the Flint Hills again, seeing some things we missed before, but not in winter; We had a great time in Lincoln, Nebraska, but I think we saw everything there was to see there.  There are blog entries HERE and HERE about that trip.

So this morning my mind went in all directions, trying to think of someplace far enough for a road trip, yet not so far we couldn't get there in one day; guess what came to mind?

Colorado!  That won't work in winter, though.  I guess I'll just stay home and plan a summer trip to Colorado.

Have a great day.  There will probably be another entry soon, because I have other things to say.  

Your bumbling blogger,
Donna