Yes, It is still Winter

It is snowing, and will continue to do so until some time tomorrow.  A normally quiet Sunday is even more quiet.  Occasionally a plow truck or someone who absolutely has to get somewhere drives by the house.  The wind continues to blow.  Tonight's weather predictions have it going as high as 50 mph; too bad nobody can give nature a speeding ticket.  The sound of a shovel scraping or a snowblower growling its way through a snow pile breaks the silence as another neighbor attempts to reduce the amount of snow that will have to be cleared tomorrow.

The entertainment industry chose wisely when they centered their business in a warm, sunny place rather than northeast Wisconsin.  The Oscars red carpet fashion show would be way less interesting if everybody showed up in parkas and snow boots.  Well, I'm off to see if the snowblower can hack its way through the pile at the end of the driveway.  Wishing you a warm and cozy Sunday.

Pet Psychology

 So the other week there was a family emergency about which I will not elaborate.  It meant that I spent a fair amount of time away from home and away from my somewhat overly devoted dog Hunter.  Being the object of his obsession isn't always healthy for him.  He worried himself into quite a state during the times I was away.  That combined with a definite need for his spring brushing, bath, and shave caused some digestive issues resulting in no other way to say it "splody-poo".  He did get his brushing, bath, and shave, which reduced his overheating issue.  But not having time to make special food for him (and having bad results with him in the past with lean meat and rice), I have resorted to feeding him canned soft food for a while, which has thankfully cleared up his digestive issues.  I chose a variety of flavors to keep him from getting bored.  Apparently this evening's flavor (ProPlan beef and rice) was not to his liking.  He refused to eat it twice when presented with his dinner.  Knowing that the food is typically good and nutritious, I figured he was just being stubborn.  As a last resort, I gave his bowl to Duke the cat.  Duke started chomping away like he'd hit the jackpot.  (At Duke's last vet appointment the vet had gone so far as to suggest I feed him some miralax.  We disagreed, I prefer to offer Duke some foods that are simply higher in fiber, without the possible side effect of "splody-poo" emanating from the cat too if the dosage accidentally went too high.  A very small serving of soft dog food seems to do the trick, that or a couple spoonfuls of pumpkin.)  So back to the original story - Hunter looked a bit jealous and worried that the cat would eat all of the food in the bowl, and that he wouldn't get any dinner at all.  I took the bowl away from Duke, gave it back to Hunter, and the third time he was offered his supper, he ate it all.  Time will tell if it agrees with his insides, all the way through.  I guess sometimes pets being jealous of each other can be used to their benefit.