Imabug’s Neighborhood

Some of this is accurate but I don't agree with some parts. 

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NBPC - The Daydreamer

                       

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We finally got in the right size Bark n Boots for the dogs.  Last night we tried them on.  They did a little better this time.  They weren't as freaked out but still didn't walk normally, especially at first.  But I still took a video.  It's grainy but you get the idea. 

 

Hopefully later this week or over the weekend we'll get them outside in the boots.  Maybe in the backyard fetching first to see how they do.  Then we'll go for a hike in the woods and hope we come back with two dogs and eight boots. 

Yesterday Andrew and I went with his parents to the John Ball Zoo.  It's a small, local zoo in Grand Rapids.  Andrew and I have been there once since we moved back to Michigan, but it was in the fall when many of the outdoor exhibits were closed and it was a few years ago. 

We met Andrew's cousin, Kayla, there.  She's in high school and she loves animals.  She has spent much of her summer volunteering at the Humane Society and the zoo.  She gave us a tour of the zoo pointing out her favorite animals. 

Andrew as well as my ILs have been to the zoo as kids since they all spent some time living in the area as kids.  Andrew told me that when he was a kid he had a plastic snake that he put in the boat that John Ball is holding while he was taking a picture. 

Along the way there was a volunteer holding a snake.  Andrew said that he'd pose on this saddle if I touched the snake.  I think I got the better end of the deal.  The snake wasn't that bad and I got a photo of Andrew. 

This wallaby has a pretty big joey in her pouch.  A back leg is sticking out over the head!   I wonder how comfortable it is in there when you're cramped. 

All of the Budgies liked Kayla's shoes.  There always seemed to be a bunch of them checking out the shoes.  She was the only one they were going to like that.  Although Andrew did have one on the camera case for a while. 

My favorite part was watching a cougar play with a Kong.  It was chewed, batted around, and chased.  It was nice that there was something to play with and entertain the two cats.  Andrew plans on writing something about this soon on our business blog.  You can see more photos from the zoo here if you're interested. 

  After we got back from the zoo we cut down a dead tree in our front yard.  It was a pretty busy weekend filled with lots of things.

Our weekends lately have been filled.  Things don't look like they're going to change either.  Last weekend we spent Saturday (Vicky worked at the store) and Sunday helping Andrew's aunt build a deck.  The weather was nice.  It was actually fun helping out, although I was beat by Sunday evening. 

It's not even August yet and the month is filled up with things we're doing or have to do.  Some remodeling at the store will happen this weekend.  I'm looking forward to moving things around and having a new look.  As of now it doesn't look like we'll be able to do what we had hoped but it will still look better than it is now.  I'm eager to get out some of our new products. 

We'll be heading  a couple hours south on Saturday to see some friends I worked with at the bank.  I left there eight years ago (and worked there for three).  I worked in commercial loans at a bank.  It was my first job out of college.  I started out as a loan processor and ended up as a manager.  I learned a lot there and am looking forward to seeing some old friends. 

On our way to the above mentioned gathering we're planning on stopping at a couple of pet supply stores that we think rival what we're doing.  We want to see what others have done.   There isn't anything like us too local, which is good I guess as far as competition goes. 

Andrew's cousin is getting married in August.  We have other things going on as well.  And we have to fit things in not knowing if one of us has to work at the store on Saturday.  Lately Vicky has been working Saturdays for us since she's here doing puppy adoptions.  This has been nice.  We've actually had some real weekends rather than just Sunday with both of us off.  And a VPC volunteer has been working Mondays from time to time so that I can have time off.  This too has been nice.  I've been able to get things done at home and not feel like I'm spending all of my time at the store or doing business things. 

The down side is that Vicky and Annette aren't paid employees.  So we don't ever know when they'll work for us.  We generally get a couple of days notice but it's rare (unless we schedule something) that there's a lot of notice.  So it's more of a challeng to plan things since we don't know when we'll be off or working. 

I'm sure I'll be complaining about cold weather and snow before I know it!

 

The dogs provided some laughs and entertainment last night.  We got some of our Ruff Wear stuff in yesterday.  I'm looking forward to getting it out on the floor.  There were some things that were back ordered so I'll have to place another order in a couple of weeks. 

One of the things we tried on our dogs were Bark n Boots.  They've never had boots on their feet.  It turns out that we need a different size for both of them but it was still entertaining. 

We started off with one foot for each dog.  They wondered what was going on, especially Haven who hates having things on her (and she already had endured a flotation vest a few minutes before the boots).   Neither of them wanted to put weight on the foot with the boot.  Then the other front foot took on a shoe.  They had to put weight on one of their shoed feet. 

We had them walk around with shoes on their front feet (Mini Naturals were handed out as incentive to move around).  They kept lifting their feet with the shoes on high off the ground.  At first they didn't want to move but eventually they gave in.  Finally the two back feet were fitted with shoes. 

When they walked around with all four feet booted up they looked like fawns trying to take their first steps.  Beacon adjusted sooner than Haven.  Neither were walking normally in the end but they were getting close.  Once we have the right size for both of them we'll try it again and take them out in a field (where if one falls off it'll be easier to find) to run around.  I'll have to take pictures and maybe a video.  Andrew and I were cracking up last night as the dogs were trying out the boots.  They were good sports about it. 

Andrew and I watched this show last night for the first time.  It seems as though reality TV has taken over the airwaves.   Since we don't have cable we don't have many options if we want to watch something in the evening, even if it's just background noise. 

I'd watch this show again if I don't have anything going on and I remember when it's on.  But it's not something I'd set the Tivo (ha - if we had one) up to record.  Poor Beacon and Andrew didn't have good representatives as their namesakes.  Beacon's a girl and Andrew is a frou frou dog with stuff in his hair. 

There were some dogs that we did like.   One reminded of us of foster dog Betty.  Another reminded us of our own Beacon.  There were also some annoying owners, which resulted in annoying dogs.  But I guess that's to be expected in a reality show. 

We commented on how well we thought our dogs would do at the various tasks.  In some cases our dogs would have buried the competition.  In other instances we could see Haven getting distracted or Beacon getting pissed off. 

If nothing else it's good to see a dog related show on network television.  Although it sucked that there were adds for crappy dog products. 

Our weekend seemed like it was non-stop.  And I know I'm going to crash when it's time for bed. 

Friday night Andrew and I played a bunch of PackRat on Facebook.  It's our latest obsession.  That and MouseHunt.  The former is a major time sucker but addictive. 

Saturday we ran errands, which included taking some puppy pictures at Vicky's.  Vicky was working at the store for us so we actually had a two day weekend with both of us off.  We also got to see (and photograph) some two day old puppies.  We spent some time at the store after it closed.  The person who has been selling higher end boutique items is moving out.  We've been contemplating what we'll do with the extra space and how we'll rearrange the store.  We're beginning to develop a plan but it'll likely take a few days to actually complete the move.  We're targeting the first weekend in August at this point but will likely have some time beforehand in transition. 

Part of our restructuring is going to include adding Ruff Wear to our line of products sold.  We've always liked their products and now that we'll have more retail space in the store it's the perfect time to add it.  We've been working this weekend on getting an order together.  We'll be purchasing a bunch of things for our dogs to try out so that we can tell people how the merchandise works and what we think of it.  And the dogs will be spoiled in the process. 

This morning Andrew and I completed a marathon.  I was on bike and he was on inline skates.  I'm tired and sore and am looking forward to sleep.  But it's the good kind of tired and sore.  On the ride I though a rabbit and a chipmunk were going to dash out in front of me.  Parts of the White Pine Trail were pretty crowded too.  It was a nice and sunny this morning with little humidity. 

We're relaxing and hanging out with the dogs now that our Ruff Wear order and another big order with one of our distributors is finished.  Weekends need to be longer. 

I leave you with a silly photo of Beacon and Haven from a couple of weekends ago.  We were trying to get them to sit together.  Beacon yawned and Haven was making funny faces.  I like how this shows off their silly personalities. 

Yesterday I didn't have time to upload my photos and post.  We spent most of the day with Andrew's family in Ann Arbor but before we left we took some pictures.  The three rabbits were all snug in the nest.  No real changes other than being a little bigger. 

When I got home from work today we went out to the nest.   It looked like the grass and fur weren't packed down as tightly as usual. We wondered if any of the babies were in the nest.  We looked and only found one.  His or her eyes were open and it didn't want to stay in my hands very long.  And once it was back on the ground it didn't want to go back into the nest. 

We're not sure if a predator (cat or bird) got the other babies or if they were off exploring.  I did see the mom go to the nest this morning before I went to work.  We didn't see any signs of another ground animal or a bird landing near the nest.  But we also got some heavy rain today so marks could have been washed away. 

Perhaps the lonely bunny was late with eyes opening so he or she was late leaving the nest to explore.  I've read that that the babies will come back to the nest on their own for a couple of weeks.  Who knows if we'll see them again.  We'll keep checking each day to see if they're there for a while. 

We didn't see any big changes today other than the baby rabbits are a little bigger.  Their eyes are still closed, but I suspect that they'll open any day now.  Once that happens it'll start getting harder to get photos! 

Sadly we discovered that one of the babies had died.  We wonder if he or she was dead yesterday and we thought he or she was just trying to hide in the dirt to get away from the light.  All four were still alive on Day Four.  Who knows if the rabbit suffocated by trying to go too deep and got covered by the other rabbits, if somehow all of the rain we got had something to do with it, or if it was just too weak and wouldn't have survived anyway.

The remaining rabbits look healthy.  We had to take them out and place them next to the nest as we took out the dead rabbit.  We didn't want the dead rabbit to start smelling or for the mom to neglect the other babies.  Hopefully with one of them missing she won't wonder what happened.  When the three babies were on the ground near their nest they were crawling around trying to find some shelter.  They looked pleased to be back in the nest.

The babies continue to get bigger.  Their ears are starting to get longer, stick out, and open up.  Their eyes are still closed.  I've read that they'll open between day six and ten, so we must have found the nest when they babies were just born or a day old. 

Today Andrew held one of the babies for a photo.  They look smaller in his hands compared to mine.