Saturday, October 03, 2026

Little Notes of Hope

ONE MONTH UNTIL THE MIDTERMS!

Friday, October 02, 2026

Natural consequences?

This is from Jack Blasts Off.  I have read several of the books in the series with kids at the library, but am still somewhat unclear about the relationship between rabbit Jack and the Lady.  And, does the dog, Rex, belong to the Lady or Jack?

 Not sure the punishment fits the crime here.

An old woman with glasses scolds the dog Rex.  The text reads "The Lady is mad at Rex. "Jack", she says, "we have to blast you to space.  You too, Rex"

 32 Days until the Midterms

Thursday, October 01, 2026

MUMS for October



33 Days until the Midterms!

Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Exit September 🍂

 Another secret painting.  Now I need to get all three framed and gift them on October 17th.

34 Days until the Midterms!

Tuesday, September 29, 2026

Canine agility

When we posted the picture of Archer on the agility equipment, Catreona asked about it and I answered her in the comments.  Thought I'd talk about that in a post, and include another picture of Archer doing his thing. 

For anyone not familiar, here's the Wikipedia page about dog agility.  Briefly, a handler directs a dog through an obstacle course, and in competitions they are rated on speed and accuracy.  Demetrius and I have taken Archer to the first three levels of agility classes but don't currently have plans to enter any competitions.  But people say that German shepherds are dogs that need a job to do, and he seems to enjoy the classes. He especially loves the A-frame and the tunnels, and I think he's starting to get into the jumps too.  There is an activity called weave polls--a set of upright poles arranged in a straight line where the dog has to "weave" back and forth between them.  Anyway, that's the one where Archer still needs the most work.  According to the Wikipedia page, weave polls are one of the most difficult obstacles to master. 

So I guess that makes me feel less bad about his slow progress. Planning to start a new 4 week session of classes with him next month.  Demetrius set up some weave poles in our back yard and I thought I started to see some of the lights go on in Archer's head, so maybe he'll be better at that in his next class. 

Here he is coming out of a tunnel that was created through one of the hills at his favorite dog park. 

German shepherd emerging from a tunnel that is built into a hill at the dog park

 35 Days until the Midterms!