How is everyone doing these days?

[alligande]

11 hours ago, GentleLake said:

@alligande,

Doesn't sound to me like Duende's dog is a puppy, so the exercise comment probably doesn't apply.

@Duende, congratulations on your new dog. What she said about brain games is still very relevant. Your adult dog will need some exercise but trick, obedience, agility and other types of training (like scent work) are all very mentally stimulating and can do a lot to tire a dog out. Since you've only had your dog for a short while, take this opportunity to train good manners and anything else  you can think of just to occupy his brain.

By the way, we love to see pictures here.

I completely miss-read the post  .......

[juliepoudrier]

I’ve been working from home since mud-March. Fortunately my work is easy enough to do from home. I work for a university and everyone is home for the foreseeable future. 
 

I think the dogs are happy because I’m home. It means more long walks for them. I’m on a farm in a very rural area and I think there’s a lot of denial out here, unfortunately. My housemate goes out a lot, which makes me crazy because it puts us both at risk. 
 

That said, we have livestock, chickens, a bunch of baby plants In the greenhouse and a garden that’s ready for them to be planted in, fruit and nut trees, grapes and berries. We may not be able to easily get staples and paper goods, but as the summer goes on we should be able to feed ourselves relatively easily. 
 

I may go a little stir crazy at times but I don’t miss my long commute and I’m finally getting enough sleep at night not having to get up at 4 a.m. to make the drive into Richmond. 
 

As long as my job doesn’t become collateral damage I’m hoping to just weather this storm. And I hope all my friends and family stay safe. 
 

My home office “help”:

[urge to herd]

I LOVE the second shot, Julie! She looks pretty happy to have her pic taken. Lots of walks being taken here, too. For a while we had some nice sunny weather, but now it's overcast most of the day and on the cool side. The walks are still good ~ for Gibbs, EVERY walk is a good walk. Some of them are even great!

Ruth & Gibbs

[Pcooran]

On 4/8/2020 at 7:52 AM, GentleLake said:

 

So so so gorgeous 

[Flora & Molly]

Molly and I finally moved!

We now live on the ground floor in a newly made appartment in what used to be an old shed/barn. 
Molly is very happy to be back with me and is very keen to do anything and everything for me (I think she's scared I'll bring her to my mum again if she doesn't listen well enough).

It's definitely a lot more fun to be stuck at home with a dog, especially since there are many opportunities to walk here as it is surrounded by nature.
Molly watches me all day long, I tried to take a picture but she pretended she wasn't staring at me  or she wanted to look like a model in the picture. 

I hope you are all well and hanging in there!

[amc]

What a lovely place!  I'm sure you and Molly will be much happier there!  Congratulations!

Amy

[beachdogz]

Well, here in Western Pennsylvania, we are preparing for the "soft opening" of many businesses in May.  I am still a little nervous about that.  Being home all day has not been that different for us.  My husband is retired and he is home all day anyway.  I am over 65 and have a small 4-hr job in the mornings.  So I am missing going out to work for those 4 hours and seeing people.  And I really miss going to dog class two days a week in the afternoon.  Those were socializing times for my puppies, as well as their every-two-weeks appt. at the groomers to get their nails clipped (basically to get them used to the whole process.)  Added to that is that we have had crappy weather - cold, rainy, or both.  So I have been limited in getting them out to different places for socialization (without people and dogs due to social distancing.)  You would think that with all this time, I would be out there training and training -- but alas, lack of dog class plus lousy weather has made me less than motivated to train.  Although I must say that two 10-month-old puppies have made staying at home fun -- never a dull moment with these two! 

I hope you all stay safe and healthy.  I would never have thought that I would ever see in my lifetime what is happening now. 

Bonnie

 

[D'Elle]

On 4/25/2020 at 5:40 PM, beachdogz said:

I would never have thought that I would ever see in my lifetime what is happening now. 

Bonnie

I know....me too. It is like something out of a science fiction film or novel. Many times in the past I thought that a virus might come along one day and decimate the human population, and that it would benefit every other species on the planet if it did. Now here it is, although I doubt that it will actually get big enough to wipe out a truly significant percent of the world's  human population. It could, though.....we don't know....and that's the most unsettling thing of all, I suppose. Even if this situation only goes on for the rest of this year, I don't think the world will ever be the way it was only four months ago. People say "when things get back to normal", and I understand thinking that way, but I don't think the normal will be something we go back to. 

Congrats, Flora and Molly!  Looks as if you got yourself a great place to live. Molly looks so sweet, and reminds me of my Kit, whom I miss a lot.

 

[Mark Billadeau]

It’s been a while for everyone to adjust to the new “normal”.  How is everyone doing?

Ive been at work most days of the week; it’s hard to do lab work on the computer at home.  My employer is very serious about safety so I feel safe there.

[D'Elle]

All I can say when someone asks me this question these days is "I am hanging in there", or "Still here".

This is a very rough year for everyone I think, and I am only one.

And a very lucky one, at that. I am not losing my home or going completely broke and I haven't caught it. Yet. But my life is very different from what it was, my plans for this year all went up in smoke, I have lost a lot of money paid in advance for a big Trip Of A Lifetime that I was going to do this year, and I am constantly horrified and depressed by the state of things in the world and most especially in my own country. And there's no light at the end of the tunnel.

So, yeah, just hangin' in there.

 

[gcv-border]

Hangin' in there too - although because both my husband and I are retired, we do not have to go 'out' to mix with the general population. I have realized that approximately 75% of my daily activities are basically uninterrupted by the pandemic. Most of the other 25% I wanted to change anyway. (DH likes going out to eat lunch almost daily. I think it is a waste of time and money.)

That said, my heart is heavy with the worsening conditions and attitudes this country is facing. I don't want to get too political, but I was looking a real estate in Canada online. After about 10 minutes, I slapped myself up side the head, because I remembered that we are basically prisoners in our own country.

I am missing attending dog activities (lessons and trials) because that was my main socialization, but my dogs are fine without them. I am taking an online agility class and hiking. Both activities make the dogs, and me, happy.

[Mark Billadeau]

I’m waiting on pins and needles to hear from family about my nephew’s covid test results.  He was exposed at his work to a coworker who was found to be positive.  After the exposure he started not feeling well.  If he turns out positive, my sister (who has cancer in remission), my >80 mother, and possibly my >80 father (lung cancer survivor) were exposed.

 

negative test result!

[amc]

Good news on your nephew, Mark!

[urge to herd]

Wonderful news about your nephew, Mark ~ hope his recovery is going well.

Nice to read everyone's updates! I'm about an hour north of San Francisco so I'm living with the smoke, etc, from the fires on the West Coast. As a good friend of mine says, 'Will this f***ing year EVER be over?"

I'm working virtually, which is a boon. I've been in an amateur improvisational comedy group  for a few years and we started meeting virtually last March. Thank god for the laughter I get with those folks. Gibbs will be (gulp) 13 in a few weeks. It's hard to believe I've had this guy for 11 years. Having a dog at this kind of crazy time is really, really good for me. I still need to get out and walk with him, still get to say hi to neighbors a couple times a day, still have that canine bond & adoration. Which is mutual, by the way.

Like GVC I'm worried for our country. It's a turning point in a big, big way. Not very religious, but now I'm meditating and praying daily for sanity to be restored and our health as a society.

Thank you all for being here,

Ruth & Gibbs

[D'Elle]

2 hours ago, urge to herd said:

I'm about an hour north of San Francisco so I'm living with the smoke, etc, from the fires on the West Coast. As a good friend of mine says, 'Will this f***ing year EVER be over?"

My sentiments exactly.......except that I know things won't magically get better once 2020 is over.

Here in Tucson, the skies have had a smokey haze for a week now. It looks very strange, and is making me cough a lot. One day the sun came up just a dull red ball and stayed that way all day. We don't have any clouds, yet cannot see the blue sky at all...just a dull white haze. I never would have thought smoke from California would get all the way to here. 

I feel so bad for all the people displaced, all the losses, all the forest. And very worried, also, for our country.

[Eileen Stein]

I'm on the east coast, but we had a high level haze that is hiding the sun for most of the day, and the weather reporter said it was caused by smoke from out west being carried here by the jet stream.  Said it was at too high a level to be a breathing problem.  But talk about traveling a long distance!

Sure glad to hear your nephew tested negative, Mark.

[Lawgirl]

As an Australian, I have been so sorry to see the photos of what is happening on the West Coast.  It brings back such sad memories from early this year in Australia.  Although where I live was over 400 miles/700 kilometres from the closest fires, I still ended up with breathing difficulties in January because I happened to have the bad luck to get a chest infection at the wrong time.  I can't imagine the impact that the smoke and particulates from these fires will be having added to COVID19.

Where I am has been very lucky in terms of COVID19, no cases in my city, closest case was over 50 miles/90 kilometres from us, over a border when border movement restrictions were in force.  My 70 year old mother has been living in the outer areas of Melbourne, Victoria, which is the state where 7/8ths of Australia's deaths have been.  She has left her home only a handful of times since March (other than some short daily masked exercise) and she has not been able to see us or my brother's family (5 grand kids) since February, except on video calls.  My sister lives in the same town with her three kids, and even they have been able to spend very little, socially distanced time with her.  My mother has been getting a ridiculous amount of knitting done...

I am hoping that everyone pulls through this year okay.  2020 is becoming a swear word in my home.

[urge to herd]

21 hours ago, D'Elle said:

My sentiments exactly.......except that I know things won't magically get better once 2020 is over.

Here in Tucson, the skies have had a smokey haze for a week now. It looks very strange, and is making me cough a lot. One day the sun came up just a dull red ball and stayed that way all day. We don't have any clouds, yet cannot see the blue sky at all...just a dull white haze. I never would have thought smoke from California would get all the way to here. 

I feel so bad for all the people displaced, all the losses, all the forest. And very worried, also, for our country.

No, nothing will get magically better. Perhaps marginally better on it's own, and I remain hopeful. There's not much I can do individually except vote and encourage others to do so. And I am definitely doing that.

Ruth & Gibbs

[GentleLake]

I'm in upstate NY (eastern US for those of you elsewhere) and though there's not a cloud in the sky it's uniformly hazy from smoke coming from the west coast. This should be brilliant blue.

My mom died about a month ago, and while it wasn't due to covid I'm sure the restrictions in the nursing home hastened her death. The isolation was devastating to her and I'm sure to many others in her situation. My sibs and I weren't even permitted to visit. We were finally allowed to see her the day she died, but the OK didn't come until an hour before she passed. I live 4 hours away . . .

 

[gcv-border]

Condolences on the death of your mom, Gentle Lake.

My step-dad had to be hospitalized a couple of months ago. I am 12 hours away. Needless to say, I couldn't travel to see him. His kids, who live local to him, were able to go and 'see' him once he was transferred to a ground floor room in a rehab center for about 10 days because they could stand outside the window of his room while talking on the phone.

Yes, here in Virginia, we are seeing the hazy skies and the red sun as a result of the Western fires. Very scary.

[amc]

I'm in the 'real' northern California, about 20 miles south of the Oregon border on the I-5 corridor.  Our local community of Happy Camp, 75 miles down the Klamath River, was devastated last week by the Slater Fire.  150 homes in that tiny community of 800 people were lost, and 2 are confirmed dead to date.  The majority of the losses were around the edges of the town, the business district and schools were spared, as were the administrative offices and medical/dental/behavioral health clinics of the Tribe for which I work.  We are scampering to get computer access for the essential business functions as well as assisting with the humanitarian efforts aimed at those who lost everything.  Power was just restored to the town late yesterday and I imagine people will be allowed back in soon to assess their damages. 

Our local no-kill shelter, Rescue Ranch, has taken in 40 dogs evacuated from Happy Camp, among them two young Anatolians owned by one of my colleagues from work.  I visited them yesterday and sent her photos - she and her family are evacuated to Santa Rosa.  Rescue Ranch is doing a fabulous job housing the canine evacuees - Sweetie and Max were happy, goofy, and enjoying their large chain-link run.  Evacuated cats are being cared for by another local volunteer organization, SNIP, at the county fairgrounds.

As a health-care professional, I'll be watching to see if we have a CoVid spike in our rural community as a result; agencies are doing their best to help people maintain social distance, wear masks, sanitize, etc. but it really is something of a war zone.  It's heartbreaking and also heartwarming to see the community come together to help people and animals in need.

Amy

[Mark Billadeau]

Amy,

thank you for the update; I’ve been wondering/worrying how you were fairing with the fires.  I’m happy to hear you’re doing well (as well as can be expected).  Stay safe and healthy.

Mark

[amc]

Thanks, Mark.  I appreciate your concern.  It's been quite a year, hasn't it?

Amy

[Mark Billadeau]

2020 has been “surreal”

[urge to herd]

9/17/20 - The sky was blue, blue, blue yesterday, no taste of smoke or grit in the air. Took this morning's walk with no mask on! For the first time in several days, maybe a week. I took one with me, just in case I ran into someone I'd chat with.

It's gray out, but much more like our normal a.m. fog. Might get out and do some yard work today and that will feel soooo good.

Amy so sorry to hear about your community and the losses suffered. The tragedies seem unending. If your friends in Santa Rosa need anything, please give them my contact info and I'll help if I can.

Gibbs says 'Hallooooooo!'

R&G