Waiting for puppies

Yesterday started off a little unconventional and in retrospect, I should have figured out that something disappointing was going to happen.

Yesterday morning, Gimli was very clingy and wanting to snuggle. Instead of our morning walk, we sat on the floor for a while, while I gave him belly scratches and massages and kisses. The rest of the day, he was never far away.

Then in the afternoon I received the e-mail from Gimli's breeder. Turns out we won't be getting a puppy in February. The Momma dog, Gimli's 1/2 sister, had a false pregnancy and so there are no puppies. The breeder only realized something was amiss when Momma dog's milk started to dry up. The breeder's going to breed Gimli's other 1/2 sister when she comes into season in January, but she's not sure if she'll breed this last Momma dog again.

This means waiting til June before a little four legged creature get's to join our family.

After work, I took Gimli on a walk and we ended up going through the park.  It was getting dark and there wasn't a soul around.  We had a good run back and forth, Gimli played with the leash and wiggled his butt and, as silly as it sounds, I felt better.  I felt grateful that I had Gimli and that I get to see him every day.

Wordless Wednesday - Soft and Fuzzy

Schloss Waldeck

After our day in Alsfeld, we hopped onto the Autobahn and headed to Schloss Waldeck, (Castle Waldeck).

I must admit, though I knew we were going to stay in a castle for a few nights, it hadn't actually dawned on me that this was where we were going to stay.

Legend has it, Schloss Waldeck is the castle on which the Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs story is based.

We arrived in mid-afternoon and we had to park the bus at the base of the hill because there was no way that bus was going to make it up the narrow, sloping road.  Of course, if the bus couldn't make it up the hill, then we had to trudge up the hill to the narrow entrance to the courtyard.

Mike struggled and we were fortunate enough that one of our fellow travelers helped push him up the hill because there's no way that I was strong enough!

At the top of the hill, we met up with the King of the castle and he allowed us to enter.

We were taken to the rampart where they had a small area for refreshments set up for us.  Then we saw this and my eyes widened.

The body of water below is is Lake Edersee, on which we were scheduled to visit the following day.

We received our room key and headed in to relax and change before dinner.

I'll leave you with some pictures of Schloss Waldeck.

Next in the series is an experience I had that I never expected.

Saturday Smiler - Can I come too?

Flat Gimli - Wolfie

You know you're crazy when you ask a guy dressed in a wolf costume to pretend to be a flat version of your dog.  I do hope this poor man isn't scarred for life.

Wordless Wednesday - Tucked in

Little Red Riding Hood - Alsfeld

One of the delights we experienced in Alsfeld was the play, "Little Red Riding Hood".

There are local performers that put on various fairy tale plays for the many tour guides that visit Alsfeld.  The tour took us through the winding streets as we took up pursuit of the wolf and Little Red Riding Hood aka "Rotkappchen".

Now now Red, don't go talking to strange creatures.  Especially men in wolf suits...

Guess who?

No no, I couldn't possibly harm a nice little girl walking by herself in the forest.

Grandma???

Apparently after you eat a little girl, you must drink large amounts of wine.

Red and Grandma are saved, all the while the wolf sleeps with a belly full of stones.

Take aim!

Poor wolfie

Saturday Smiler - What and get these paws dirty?

Flat Gimli - With a monster

I don't even know what this thing is, but we had to get a picture of Flat Gimli with it.

Germy... again...

Please forgive my absence over the past week or so.  What started out as being busy as the weekend started, quickly became yet another bout with germs.

I haven't posted about our September trip, but I got the cold while on vacation... awesome, I know.  Although, in my defense, I did pick it up either on the airplane or in our hotel in Las Vegas.  Two places known for their cleanliness, right? ;)

Then, this past weekend, I picked up the flu.

This makes about the 7th time I've been sick this year ranging from the stomach flu, colds and respiratory flu.

I'm doing much better now, the chills and aches have gone away and physically I feel stronger.  Only a slight stuffy nose and sore throat remain.

I'm at my wits end to develop a way for me to stay healthy and stave off the germs.  If I could wear hand sanitizer on my fingers full time when out in public, I would.  The fact that cold and flu season is upon us, I fear more bouts with germs.  I've even half considered wearing a surgical mask while out in the malls and so on where germs are more rampant in the winter months, but we'll see.

Flat Gimli - Alsfeld Part 1

After we walked into Alsfeld and approached the main square, we came across the "Dog Station".  I had to get a picture with Flat Gimli.

Wordless Wednesday - My paintbrush

Laundry helper

I was the only one that does laundry in this house.  The only thing Mike does is transfer the clothes from the washer to the dryer and fold after.  The only thing Gimli does is look in the washer, then the dryer for the presence of his toys.  He saw me put his toys into the appliances once and now he's convinced I'm hiding toys in there.

Yesterday, I washed Gimli's towels and blankets.  Gimli followed me into the laundry room and because I made him slightly excited, he was very interested in the contents of the laundry basket.

Back in the living room, I started removing the towels and I wrapped Gimli in one of them.

My apologies for the quality, I took it with my cellphone.

I think he liked it because it was so warm.  I wrapped him in a second one. He then ran over to the blanket and dove right into the folds and rolled around, making cute corgi sounds.

See, even a corgi can make laundry fun!

5 things going on in our house - November

I had a post lined up in my head for today, but I forgot what it was going to be.  This occurred as I was lying in bed, so I think I ought to put a notepad on the night stand to write these things down.

As usual, there's no shortage of things going on in our house this month:

1. Christmas is coming and I'm already going crazy trying to come up with ideas for presents, deciding on cards as well as decorating the house - inside and out.

2. We need to start Gimli on a play class so he can learn to play nicely with other dogs.  He knows how to greet them, but he doesn't know how to play. This will become VERY useful in the next 3 months... ahem.

3. I still have a backlog of posts, so much so that I don't know where to start, which makes me forget what I was going to post for today.

4. My Gimli picture taking has become non-existent of late and I feel bad.  I think I just have to grab the camera and start snapping away.

5. I haven't worked out in about a month and I have to get back with it.  Christmas is coming and I have plenty of baking planned.  I've got to counteract it somehow.

Saturday Smiler - Well Hello

I'm smiling even though my mouth is closed.

What is October?

To a great many North Americans, October marks the beginning or middle of Fall - depending on where you live.  It's a time for the majority of the leaves to turn, the weather to make a sharp turn from balmy to the cold that shocks you because your body temperature is still set to summer and you're not ready for the prospect of putting away your shorts and t-shirts.  It means Halloween and trick or treating.

For Mike and I, it means 3 different things.

In order of occurrence:

Our wedding anniversary.

 

This year, I got Mike a set of wooden plaques that I found on Etsy.  I couldn't resist and they match with the purple/gray walls in our living room.

He got me custom M & Ms with little sayings on them :)

Gimli's arrival.

 

Gimli came to join us in 2008 and our life has been full of corgi hair ever since.

We moved into this house.

After a particularly trying 3 months, we moved into the peace and tranquility of our house - on Halloween night no less.  We had no candy to distribute and we were tired from moving, but happier than ever to be on our own again.

Flat Gimli - Heidelberg Part 2

Here's part two of Flat Gimli's travels - Heidelberg Castle.

With the real Gimli's favorite person in the world

With the real Gimli's 2nd favorite person in the world