"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end" ~ Senica
We had a nice Christmas and I hope you did also. It was the year for "Florida Four" (daughter, SIL, and two grandkids) to stay in Florida, so we were a small but lively group. Here I am with one of my gifts. Cute pillow!
If you want one, it is available on Amazon.
Actually, the new year has not gotten off to a great start for me. The first thing that happened involved flickering lights and my guardian angel. I flipped the bathroom light switch, saw a flickering light bulb, decided it was wearing out, so I put in a new one. Still flickering, as was the light in the bedroom. We were getting ready for church, so Lynn went downstairs to the electric panel and flipped the switch, saying we'd deal with it when we got home.
When we returned home, we decided to call an electrician. I was reading and decided to make myself scarce while the electrician was going up and down the stairs and into the rooms that were affected. We have 3 spare bedrooms in our now empty nest and I decided to go in the one that had belonged to our oldest. I opened the book to read and heard a quiet but annoying rattling, like a piece of plastic caught in the floor heating register. The room had been occupied by our granddaughters, and I thought perhaps one of them had dropped something that ended up in the register. I leaned over the side of the bed to look and what did I see but sparks flying out of an outlet! The electrician did the repair and all is well for now. It seems that whoever built our house in 1964 used aluminum wiring on all the outlets in the rooms that have outside walls. They all have to be replaced as does the electrical panel. The estimate was $12,000. Happy New Year.
In such cases, a person has to look for a silver lining: we did not have a fire, we are alive and well, the dogs are fine.
A few days later, I received a phone call telling me I'd won a Publishers Clearing House prize. Oh boy, and I never even entered the contest! The caller said I would get 4.5 million, a 2023 BMW, and $7000 a month for the rest of my life. I hung up on him. (Just so you know, if you happen to be a lucky PCH winner, they never call, they always come to your door to deliver the good news.)
Still, you know, when you get a call like that, you cannot help but wish it were true and ponder what you would do with all that money...
And then, my computer was hacked. I imagine many of you reading this already know that because the hacker got into my joyslynslhasas@outlook.com email. I am so very sorry that happened and hope that if you received an email from me asking for money that you recognized for the scam it was and did not fall for it. I would never ask for money like that! A few of you called to ask me about it and I appreciate your concern. I did have virus protection for the computer, but....???
I haven't slept well since it happened. I keep thinking about it and wondering what else the "Hacker from Nigeria" may have gotten into. People who know me well know that I am a worrier. It is not a wonderful way to be, but it has helped me become rather pro-active. I tend to look at a situation, think what could go wrong, and then figure out how to keep it from happening. The hacker was smarter than I am.
This hacking incident has caused many emotions. I am, of course, angry and scared when I consider what else the hacker may have done. I hate feeling so vulnerable, frustrated, and helpless. I think of all the stories about what people lose: identity, money, reputation, peace of mind.
So that is the main reason this blog is later than usual this month. The computer spent some time at the Computer Source store in town to be cleaned and when I got it back, it has take a lot of time to change the many passwords, contact my bank, and call the credit card companies, "just in case."
You need to know that the outlook.com email account is not working. If you sent me a message after January 9th, I did not get it. If you need to contact me, until I get things sorted out, use jk-johanson@wiu.edu
On to Other Things
I ran across a special holiday deal on piddle pads so I bought 600 of them! Do you know how much room 600 piddle pads take up? Let's just say that closet shelves, book shelves, empty dog crates, and numerous other nooks and crannies are now housing piddle pads.
The puppies have all left for their new homes but the last photos we took of them were all so cute that I want to share them.
This is Autumn's puppy that we called Little Pete. His new name is Ollie.
Pearl Puppies: Amelia and Paul
Emmy's Puppies: Lucy, Tia, and Tashi
We'll be entering some shows soon, weather permitting. The busy Christmas season, the recent snows and way below zero temperatures have kept us from the much-needed training classes. Ebony has not been to a show since early September and Deacon has never been to a show, so let's just say our first shows of the year might be "interesting." Anyway, here are recent pictures of Ebony and Deacon.
Notes and Photos from Others
Many thanks to those who took time to keep in touch during the hectic holidays!
Sally sent this picture of Jaxon and Ginger
Nanda sent pictures of the "twins," Ty and Gigi. Here is one of them.
Debi sent an update on her Lacey: "...Lacey is wonderful! We can't believe she is already 2 years old. She brings us so much laughter and joy! She is a happy girl and full of energy. She loves to run. We have a piece of cardboard in front of our sliding glass door because when she gets the zoomies, she runs full force grunting and crashes into the sliding door on purpose, LOL. She also loves to chase after toys and the cats sometimes. Her favorite thing to do is catch her stuffed toys in the air. She will run ahead before you throw it so she can catch it in her mouth, then she gives you that proud look...She is definitely a character, but that is one thing we love aabout her so much!"
Jan, Rick, and Nick sent holiday greetings and a photo of Sophie and Zoey. Nick wrote, "The girls give us so many reasons to smile, and we are so grateful to have them."
Pam sent this picture of Rusty napping. Sweet boy!
Lisa sent this picture of her Joyslyn's boy, Duncan (black and tan) and his housemate, Dresden, Christmas shopping in their matching outfits.
Ginny sent pictures of Maple and wrote, "We needed a shorter than normal cut at grooming this last week as our normal every five week schedule was pushed back a bit and things got a little out of hand...she'll be fluffy again before we know it and wearing our Piper's sweater until that happens"
Jan and Diane sent this picture of Gabby decked out in her holiday reindeer antlers! Gabby is a litter sister to Bekka and Chance.
Molly Anne sent an update on Luna's 2023 adventures: "...she attended 3 outdoor concerts, 2 tea parties, a St. Patrick's Day get-together, the St. Patrick's Day mile walk, had a special birthday by a lake, and the Christmas tree lighting in Grove Park. We go on a trail walk or to the dog park every other day...She continues to amaze me with her courage, curiosity, and intuition--not to ignore she's a perfect hedonist. She loves delving down into her down pillow. She is a joy every day!"
Jerry wrote that Bekka (who is Luna's daughter) has finally learned how to jump onto the bed. "Against all expectations Bekka is now able to easily and consistently jump from the floor to the bed..."
Judy G updated me about Winter. "Winter was so happy to go back to Canine Connect this morning. Her dog friends were there to greet her. She missed a month of classes and it showed in her taping. She decided that I could not walk around her. Who knows why? So we had 10 points off for that miscue, plus a few more for not sitting straight. We should get a leg. We will find out in a month after and AKC judge scores the taping.
I am awed by Judy! Besides keeping busy with her Lhasas in agility and rally training and trials, Judy is an accomplished artist. She does stained-glass and other artistic projects. Here is an example of a piece of art she did for me of our dog Kimmi. I sent her a black and white photo of Kimmi. She applied the image to glass and it was fired to 1465 degrees. The result was the photo in a sepia tone on a white opalescent glass.
Here is a photo of the glasswork, but it does not do justice to the actual artwork.
Valaree wrote about Tia: "She did great on her first night with us. She was very well behaved in the car. For some reason she wanted to sit on my shoulders and once she was up there she slept the majority of the ride. She is getting accustomed to her new home and is just so cuddly and sweet.
Nick sent this photo of Paul and told me that Paul was adjusting well to his new home.
Dawn wrote about Ollie: "You are correct that he is a pistol! We don't mind and are thrilled to have him. Our other dog , Bailey, is not very happy right now but hopefully she will warm up to him in a few days."
Kalah wrote that Tashi "...is such a good, loveable little dog.We are so happy with him. Bob said that he is everything we hoped for."
Jacob sent pictures of Harley and Lucy
I know that some of you may not have the space for it, but if you do, get an exercise pen to use during these bitter cold days when neither you nor your Lhasa wants to go outside. I have an exercise pen set up in our garage. The dogs use it when we have bad weather - rain, snow, bitter cold temps.
Now Here Is An Idea!
Does your Lhasa put his whole head in the water bowl for a drink and then drip water through your house as a result? Think about using a water bottle adapter. Those things are great and the dogs learn to use them quickly. Our last litters watched their moms drinking from the adapter and quickly learned to lick the spout.
Here is a picture of the water bottle attached to the dog's crate so you can see how it attaches.
But...what if you are a person who does not have a crate for your dog? Well you can still use the water bottle and adapter, if you want to pay about $90 for a lucite free standing holder.
Instead, make your own. First, buy a paper towel holder that looks like this. You can get them at Walmart for not much money at all.
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| Paper towel holder + water bottle with adapter |
Then all you have to do is attach the water bottle and adapter to the paper towel holder. Ta-da!
If you think you need a sturdier base, you can attach the bottom pieces of the towel holder to a piece of wood.
You can buy the water bottles and adapters from https://www.pawmarks.com/water-bottle-adapters
This is so cool!!
If you have time, take a look at the the 3 videos listed below. Bernie, who is a brother to Nanda's Ty and Gigi, and his owners, Jody and Bob, have "adopted" a 3rd grade classroom in Texas. Bernie is known to the students as "Bernie the Science Dog."
Bernie, Jody, and Bob present a science challenge to the students. This particular one challenges the children to build Bernie a dog house to the specifications Bob gives them.
The videos below show (1)Bernie and friends (human and canine) with the previous challenge - the bus project - and the new challenge - the dog house. (2) The children receiving gifts and supplies from Bernie, and (3)the results of the children's responses to the dog house challenge. (I cracked up when I saw that one group of children wanted to make sure Bernie knew where to poop!)
https://drive.google.com/file/
https://drive.google.com/file/
Things to Remember
- This too shall pass (but maybe like a kidney stone!)
- We all have a special angel watching over us
- Watch out for hackers
- Count Your Blessings
- Until I can get things working again, use the email address jk-johanson@wiu.edu to get in touch
- Life is Better When You Have A Lhasa to Love You
May you have an apsolutely happy, healthy, and prosperous 2024.
Thanks for reading!
Joyce
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