Dazzling Smiles

We couldn’t put it off any longer. The teeth had to be cleaned….they were beyond awful and we just won’t talk about the breathe. I really hate taking the dachsies in for teeth cleaning because there is that anesthesia bit. I immediately picture two of our dachshunds, Ginger and Heidi (that passed away some time ago), as they staggered bewildered back to us after they had their teeth cleaned. They were still a little dopey the next day. As a result, I put the cleaning off….and off…..and off until my son said “Mom, they just have to have their teeth cleaned or they will be as bad as Heidi’s teeth were.”
Gretchen and Willy are both 11. You would never know it as Gretchen acts more like Harley’s age which is almost 6. Now Willy’s teeth are not pristine by any means but they really aren’t bad at all and he just isn’t as robust as the other two so it’s Gretchen and Harley off to the dental cleaning. I partially blame the activities below for the tartar encrusted teeth.

From the time Gretchen was a puppy, little old Heidi taught her to clean out Heidi’s mouth and Heidi had bad teeth and bad breathe. So Heidi passed on…..Gretchen tried cleaning Willy’s mouth but he was having none of it.  Then Harley came into the picture and Gretchen was back in business as he was a willing participant.
I don’t have any “before” pictures but that is probably just as well. Gretchen’s teeth looked like they had ugly caps on them. Harley’s weren’t quite as bad. We arrived at the vet for the appointment. A big dog came around the corner surprising all three of us. I was already holding Gretchen and Harley scooted between my legs and the check-in counter. Of the course the lady with the big dog just smiled and said “he likes little dogs” as he was poking Harley. A man in the other corner was holding a little chihuahua that was crying pitiously and the man didn’t look in much better shape. He was ahead of me for a teeth cleaning. He went on and on about “please don’t turn us in for not taking care of her teeth…we didn’t know”. He was really afraid she was going to loose all her teeth. Not something I really needed to hear. I asked if they could put Gretchen and Harley in one crate because I knew she would be scared of the whole place but they said they don’t do that because even dogs that are always together sometimes go after each other in unfamiliar places.
With that bit of wisdom, I had to leave them. It was a nerve wrecking day for me. Steve picked me up to go run around and keep me busy. I called at 3:30 like the vet’s office asked me and they said both dogs were alert and ready to go home. Once we picked them up, they advised me to skip dinner for both of them so Willy got his dinner in the other room.
Both Harley and Gretchen were alert but still sleepy that evening. But the results were worth it.

Willy wanted me to check his too.

Willy will probably need to get his cleaned too but I think I need until fall to recover from the stress. 

Don’t get me wrong….the vet’s office was great….I’m just a nervous nelly when it comes to the furkids.
And yes, Gretchen and Harley are back at it again.

Happy Egg Day

The "egg hunters" arrive and get their baskets for the hunt in the front yard. The longdogs would have made the hunt very short lived if they got to join in.

One color of eggs for boys and one for girls eliminates any arguing; however, it doesn't always eliminate "faces". lol

You probably already picked up on the fact that these eggs are plastic with goodies inside, even a few quarters.

Next up, coloring hard boiled eggs......I know, backwards, but we don't hide the real eggs.

And then on to Easter dinner. It was a jam-packed day but the kids and grandkids had other activities planned for Saturday so we had to fit it all in on Sunday.

It was a great day for all of us. Of course, the grandkids had to go back to their mother late Sunday afternoon but it was fun having everyone together.

More Texas Spring Eye Candy

Sunday, my son and I along with his dog and one of mine, headed up to Willow City Loop north of Fredricksburg Texas. I was hoping to get a big bluebonnet fix. The bluebonnets and other wildflowers were blooming all around 1604 in San Antonio and the drive up I-10 is beautiful, lots of bluebonnets and indian paintbrush along the sides and center median. There were even quite a few flowers driving north on 87 and 16.

Then we got to the Willow City Loop. It wasn't that there weren't any flowers but things seemed so much drier just off of highway 16. The grass was even shorter.

Somebody had an awful lot of old cowboy boots but it sure added character to their fence. The Willow City Loop is actually private road through ranches who are gracious enough to share. They just ask that you don't go traipsing off into the fields as there are cattle grazing.

We made one quick stop along the side of the road.

Angus doesn't like sitting on unfamiliar ground.

Willy was enjoying his afternoon drive too.

Steve liked the vistas he could see across the ranch land.

A spectacular wild flower season takes spring rains. They were spotty across Texas this year. Some areas have great blooms. Willow City Loop apparently missed the rains although I-10 got enough to be really great.

It is definitely dry here.

We stopped back in Fredricksburg for a walk and lunch.

And we got caught in some sprinkles on the way back home.

This field is in Cibolo, Texas.

Hope you enjoyed the wildflowers. They will disappear for the year before we know it.

Heading Home

Thursday morning found the Traveling Longdogs and I headed back down the same direction as I traveled yesterday.

I had to take a few more wildflower shots along the way.

Through the rolling cattle land....

Then I headed down through the piney forest around Bastrop. There is still a lot of devastation from the big fire here that will take many years to erase but it burned erratically so there are lots of trees in between bare swaths of land.

It was a lovely drive through Texas in the spring. Home again, the 5th wheel is backed into the driveway until tomorrow when I will take it back to the storage yard until the next journey. We are already missing being on the road.