Warm February

This month has been very warm overall.  Yesterday and today it got cold again, but we had lots of warm, sunny days.  Daffodils are blooming in the neighborhood:

Mocha has been on Doxycycline for Lyme disease since early this month.  She seems to be feeling better...  she had been limping, and seemed to be feeling unwell, which is why I took her to the vet in the first place.  They did bloodwork, and found her levels indicating Lyme were 185, when normal is under 30 (don't know the measurement).

And I have been going to physical therapy for knee pain.  And I think it is helping!  I now have lots of exercises for flexibility, strength, and balance.  When I go to therapy, the PT manipulates my knees, trying to create movement of the patella.  All in all, I think everything taken together is helping. 

A Sunny Day!

Finally, the sun came out after many dreary, rainy days.  Although when Mocha & I went out at 7:00 the sun wasn't quite up yet.  We had a chilly walk, but did our usual route.  Mocha didn't find anyone to get huffy about, and we came home and she had her usual morning nap.

Then around mid-day, it was time for me to walk Maddie.  She was happy to see me, although I had to call her - she must have been upstairs snoozing.  She was nice and warm when she came downstairs.

We did about a one mile walk.  Lots of sniffing, and some bird feathers which she was tempted to sample.  I asked her not to, though, and she listened.  We also passed a half-eaten Pop-Tart which she didn't even notice.

When we got back to her house, she had her snack, and then she got on her "bridge" with her toy.  Apparently, she's not much of a chewer:

This toy looks brand new!

 Tomorrow will be another two dog day - looking forward to the warmer temps!

Mocha and the Blustery Day

What a blustery day!  Mocha and I didn't go for our walk until 9:00!  That is late for us.  As soon as we got outside, Mocha headed north - and we usually go the other way.  I think she wanted to go toward the wind - probably because lots of good and interesting smells were coming from that direction.

We passed lots of downed trashcans, and saw a dog headed down a nearby street, but nothing else was going on.  When we got home, Mocha went back to bed, and I wrapped her up - she looks like a burrito:

Yes, a dog is in there.

As for me, I have been walking quite a lot.  I just did a streak of 5 days in a row, and today I'm going to take a rest day.  I did lift weights today.  My knees have been achy quite a lot, but I'm going to keep walking and maybe they'll calm down soon.  I did ice them a couple times last week.

Glad to get back to the blog - Happy 2017!

Rain!

Well, it is finally raining.  There hasn't been much rain lately around here, and wouldn't you know, Mocha and I were out in the dark this morning for an early walk when the rain started.  We were about halfway through our walk when we started to notice a few drops.  Then the rain began in earnest, and we were totally soaked when we got home.

This picture is from last fall, but you get the idea!

Mocha got her drying, though, and now she is back in bed.  I think we're going to wait until daylight from now on for our morning walks. 













On an exercise note, I went to a race-walking clinic at the end of August.  There were several instructors there, and the attendees got to try race-walking.  The presenter said that race-walkers can go faster than "power walkers", but so far I haven't been able to do that.  I probably don't have the technique down yet.

Mocha's New Toys

I haven't written for a while.  I haven't been running since March, and since then, I've been power walking to try to keep my cardiovascular fitness up.  I'm going to start writing more about that, and other ways that I exercise.

In the meantime, Mocha has gotten some new toys.  They are from the Bark Box gift that her Aunt Kathleene gave her.

Here she is on her bed starting to work on the sunflowers.

She is standing guard over her magic bus.  

The bus is now flat and de-stuffed, but the sunflowers still have some life in them!

Over the weekend, I walked on a flat trail for 3.47 miles.  It was fastest pace since I've been walking, and I'm sure that was because there were no hills.   It felt good to walk in a different location.  Afterwards, we went out to brunch at a bagel shop to re-fuel.

Happy Monday!

Lots of Dogs!

Today on our morning walk, Mocha & I saw lots of dogs!  First up was Tucker, a well-mannered Golden Retriever.  For some reason, Mocha doesn't like him.  We were on the opposite side of the street, and I tried to distract her, but she gave a little growl and acted up. 

After that, we saw Jack & Puggy taking a walk with their parents.  They are both barkers, but we were kind of far away from them, and we waited until they were even more distant before we continued. 

We could hear barking in the distance, and I think it was Puggy and a little white dog that was out in its yard.

Soon we passed by a house where 2 German Shepherds live.  They are fairly new to the neighborhood, and we hadn't seen them before.  They were not barking, and Mocha didn't give them much attention.

Then we came to the yard with the barking little white dog.  Mocha ignored that one too.

Next, we saw Sydney across the street.  Mocha has seen her a lot, and we know her mom, so Mocha just looked at her and was good.

So all in all, a pretty good walk, even though it was a doggy morning!  Now for some rest...

Painting Day

Today I will be painting again, and that means relocation of Mocha's bed!  I have moved it into the office where she will get sunshine in a little while.  So far, the relocation has taken:

bed relocated temporarily

On the walk this morning, I saw 2 deer in a yard.  Mocha was oblivious.  The deer were watching her, waiting for her to notice them, but did Mocha see them?  Nope, she was too busy sniffing the ground.

Got to get started on my painting soon - it will be good to have it completed!