Sold Our Saturn Vue - 8th Grade Recognition ceremony

For the last 3 years or so, we have been towing along this Saturn Vue behind our motorhomes. First it was towed behind our Safari. More recently we did tow it behind our littler Winnebago View.  We decided that we enjoyed the e-bikes and the little cargo trailer much more than just towing along our Saturn. It was time to let it go...

Since it was all set up and ready for towing, including the baseplate, extra wiring and the battery kill switch, we decided to sell it as a tow package. Along with it we sold the toolbar and safety chains and electric auxiliary braking system. 

I wrote up an ad and put it on Marketplace. Within 3 minutes, I kid you not, some friends of ours from Lower Michigan contacted us. They wanted it, SOLD! Yep, I sold it in 3 minutes!!!

They were already planning to come to Wisconsin for a concert down in Madison. So it just made sense for them to stop along the way, and hook up and take it right along with them. 

Incidentally, they have a Winnebago View just like ours!

It looked pretty cool to have two Winnebagos parked in our driveway! 

We had offered for them to stay overnight in our driveway. The term for that is called "moochdocking". It's when you offer your driveway to someone where they could plug in, top off their water, hook to our free Wi-Fi, and enjoy a visit. 

Our special honor guest was Miss Sophie! A beautiful Great Pyrenees who came to give our pups a little visit. She was extremely gentle, and granddaughter Claire took to her right away.

She is one big fluff bucket for sure. Great Pyrenees are known for their loyalty, and their dedication as a stock dog. Watching out for everything and making sure nothing harms their flock or herd.

Nicholas wasn't quite sure about playing with her. When she would bounce up and down and dodge to initiate play, he was a little perplexed.

We invited them to dinner on the grill. They brought us this very interesting type of pickle that is only available in the lower Peninsula of Michigan. It is made without vinegar and is a refrigerated type of pickle. They are very crunchy and have an extremely good taste.

We looked online and found out they are not available for shipping. You can only buy them in local stores down in Central Lower Michigan. So next time we go through, we are going to have to stock up!

The guys putzed around between both motorhomes, and Mark needed to top off his DEF fluid. In the meantime, Tracie and I were busy with hints and ideas and storage and modifications on the inside of our motorhomes.

Theirs is a 2016 G model just like ours. But ours has the upper bunk over the front and theirs has the large skylight window on the front. That's really the only difference. Everything else inside is about the same. It was kind of fun to go through each other's motorhomes...

The next morning, Mark finally got in the Saturn and drove it the full distance of our driveway out to the street! Now that is a trusting buyer. He didn't even take it for a test ride...lol! 

We got them all hooked up step by step. Tracie video filmed the entire process, so they could refer to it again and again until they become familiar with each step. Sometimes it can get rather complicated for towing, and the last thing you want to do is forget a step. Not only can it ruin your own equipment, but it could endanger the life of somebody behind you if things aren't hooked up properly.

IT'S A VIEW WITH A VUE!!

We said our goodbyes, and soon they were on their way headed towards Madison. I'm sure we will see them down the road somewhere and say hello again to our Saturn Vue.

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On Monday, we had the honor to attend our granddaughter Chelsea's 8th grade recognition for graduating. Next year she will be a freshman in high school. Where has the time gone?

We were very proud of her, as she was recognized for a number of special achievements, including citizenship and an essay on patriotism.  We were proud when she received her award. I was filming and taking pictures, so Grandpa and her parents had to clap double loud to make up for me.

One by one they got to walk across in front of the audience, receiving a certificate as well as a school T-shirt to keep as a memory of their time at Oconto Middle School.

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I will finish up this blog with a little bit of flowers around the yard. We wait all year for these beautiful yellow irises to pop up around our flagpole. Last year we barely had any, for some strange reason. But this year they were back in full force!

I love my little kissing Dutch boy and girl. We bought them when we lived down in Chilton and we were sure to take them up to Oconto when we moved. They are very heavy, made out of solid concrete. Every year I touch up their paint a little bit as needed.

I am pleased to see my clematis vines are coming back as well. They took a while to get started. The last two years I've left the old growth on the trellises. It seems it gives the new growth something to grab onto.

This one on the right side is already blooming this gorgeous burgundy red bloom!  They continue to bloom on and off throughout the entire summer until fall. I have a mixture of the burgundy ones and the white ones on both sides of the pergola.

~~~~~~~~

It is also the anniversary of a raid upon a horrible nightmare of a place in Midland, Michigan. This awful woman had entrapped 38 breeding shelties in a mobile home. She would only meet with people in public places to sell them puppies, citing that she was an elderly lady and was just being cautious. She didn't want to have people at her own property. She was hoarding them and they were in awful health. She didn't have any food left or running water. One of the neighbors reported her to the sheriff. The Michigan Sheltie Rescue, along a partnership with the Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue, took in the 38 decrepid diseased and awful conditioned dogs. Soon they became 72 dogs with all the new puppies that were born. It was horrible! They had volunteers around the clock as well as veterinarians and staff helping aid all of the deliveries. Many of the new puppies were born with health issues.  The mature dogs were in horrible shape.

Why do I say this? Because this is the 11th anniversary of when our darling little Binney was rescued!!

Here are the before and after photos....

Binney was heartworm positive, she was skin and bones, and her hair was falling out in clumps. Her genetics are awful, as well as her dental situation. She barely has any teeth left now at 11 years old. It took a long time to nurse her back to health. Not to mention overcoming all of the emotional damage that these dogs suffered from such a rough start in life.

Also, at that same time, our little Finnegan was born to a litter mate of Binney's, by the name of Daisy. We were fortunate to have Finnegan in our lives for 7 years. He passed away from multiple cancer tumors, as have so many of the other dogs that came out of this mess. 

I guess we have to enjoy each and every day that we can with our furry family friends.

As for now, 

we are on the road. 

Heading out camping 

somewhere up north.

 I will blog about it later...

Have You Ever Had a ''Gotcha Day''?

We are suffering with the bitter cold moving into Wisconsin and the Midwest.  Tonight we are down to zero already and wind chills are in the 15 below range. The winds are going to kick up and drive them down to the 20-30 BELOW range. Brrrr then followed up by about 8-12 inches of snow arriving on the weekend. Geesh. We are cozied up with a fire tonight in the fireplace and no where to go. Winter is really here I guess.

As for the title... do you ever have a Gotcha Day?

We are celebrating the anniversary of TWO Gotcha Days this week.

It was a mere three years ago we had a Gotcha Day for our little Finney!!!  Yes, a Gotcha Day is an anniversary of the day we adopted our little sheltie from the Michigan Sheltie Rescue with the assistance of the Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue.

At that time we only had old Duke.  Since our silly Ducky collie had passed away the previous summer, he was slowing down and looking sad.  We applied to the Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue to find him a pal .


A little background: In June of 2013 a wicked lady name Jean had 38 shelties crammed in a mobile home in Midland, Michigan.  The neighbors reported her to the sheriff and they arranged to remove all the of animals from the horrid conditions.  I won't go into the details, but it was bad... really bad.  Including the two dead males stuffed into dog food bags in the hall... why?  Because they were ''fighting'' she said. Oh geesh.

The Michigan Sheltie Rescue took over caring for the malnourished sick and uncared for dogs, setting up temporary nursery stations because a lot of the female dogs were pregnant.  Soon they became 72 dogs when all the pups were born.  One of those pups was destined to become our Finnegan.  The pups were born with all kinds of health issues...  This particular pup had ''puppy strangles'' which are swollen cheeks and neck. It could cause failure to thrive and block the ability to swallow. Robin, the caregiver, had to get him and a few of his littermates some special medicine. This took months to heal so he was not adoptable until he reached the age of 5 months.

On Dec 14, 2013 we got the call that the Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue had a young male pup, age 5 months, coming in on a transport and our application had been approved. Our home was deemed suitable and we had experience with other two other rescue foster dogs years ago, from when I worked with the Green Bay Shetland Sheepdog Club.

The weather was raging with the start of a three day blizzard.  A wonderful transport volunteer named Ceora was driving back from doing business in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and had the pup with her at a motel overnight. She planned to bring him up to her home in Marquette and then drive it down the next day to the Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue at Stockbridge Critter Sitters Boarding and Grooming.  Well,  the weather was only going to be worse on Sun and Mon so she said she would drive the pup as far south as she could on Sat... and could we drive up and meet her halfway?  About Menominee, MI was a good halfway point.  We grabbed a dog crate, a leash and harness and some snow gear.  Hopping into our four wheel drive Tracker, we headed out into the blizzard to get our new pup!

We met up at the predetermined place and they handed over this shivery little ball of legs and elbows, and HUGE ears!!!!  Yup, it was LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT!

We scooted back home with him to meet his new big brother Duke... we introduced them outside on neutral territory.  Well.. the old Duke needed a new buddy.  He instantly bonded with the pup and took him under his wing.

We took them inside and it was sniff sniff, and drink some water, share some food and then they started to PLAY!!!! Awwwwwwwww

The first night we kept little Finnegan in his crate, but we brought it up to the foot of our bed so he was in the same room. Duke laid down next to the crate with his fur touching the little pup, who laid with his back tight to Duke from the inside of the crate too. They were bonded.

The next morning (this is my FAVORITE pic) ...  we took him downstairs for potty outside and then a snuggle on the couch while I was still in my jammies. I swear the look on his face is a smile that says ''Wow! I wasn't dreaming after all!  I DO have a new family!''

They slept together, ate together, went outside together and back in... Duke taught him how to be a ''Good Dog''.

Duke taught him all the good stuff like fetch, tug, treat and how to dig through the big basket of toys to find just the right one.

Most of all, Duke had to show him the ropes about the MOTORHOME.. ya know---- that big moving house thing that when it stops, the door opens to a NEW place to sniff. Each time it stops, it is a new place to sniff and there isn't anything to be scared of.

He taught him how to get up the stairs into the motorhome, 

where the water dish goes next to the toilet
and best of all, 

which drawer the dog treats are kept in! 

Life went on for a year.... Finney grew into a fine young dog, and did everything with his buddy Duke.  But old Duke just could not make it much longer.  He was 12 and having congestive heart failure. He was slowing down. We knew the end was near. He was also having more and more seizures. It was time.

Our Dukie Palookie 

Nov 3, 2014

Six weeks went by.

Sunday, Dec 11, 2014 was our Gotcha Day for Binney.

Here is how it happened:

In that same hoarding situation, another dog was being fostered over in Michigan. This is what she looked like when they removed her from that awful place.

Our little Binney (then named Number 16) was skin and bones, and her hair was falling out. She was heartworm positive and needed a lot of gentle love and care.

Number 16 needed a lot of care, and special medicine to slowly kill off the worms wound through the muscles of her heart.  If you kill them off too fast, you kill the dog too.  It can take a year or more of the medicine to take care of it.  She was fostered out to a MSR member who took care of her and a few others dogs too in her home.  She was named Debbie, as in Debutant (being number sweet 16).  Awwwww  After a year, little Debbie was finally able to be adopted out.  The foster family was seriously thinking of keeping her, because she was such a little sweetheart, but long term illness struck their family and it was better to find homes for the foster dogs.

In came Ginny!  She is a gung ho Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue Transport volunteer who is full of energy, love and willingness to drive long distance to transport the dogs.  She buzzed on over to Lower Michigan and took those sweet three foster dogs and trotted them right back to Wisconsin where Lisa had homes pretty much all figured out for them.

What I didn't know, and Lisa usually does, is that we were READY for another dog in our home.  Yes, our old Duke has passed away and Finney was very lonely.  It had been six weeks.  Our hearts were broken over Duke being gone, and we were fawning all our attention on Finney. But he was hankering for canine companionship.  I made a play date for Finnegan to go play at Lisa's boarding kennel while I ran errands up in Appleton for the day.  I didn't know anything about Ginny bringing three new dogs to the Wisconsin Rescue until I got there to drop off Finnegan.  Well, that Lisa popped little Finney in the same crate with that Number 16 Debbie Debutante and they bonded instantly!

When I was done running errands in Appleton, I sat right down the floor and held that tiny shivering girl in my arms. Finney of course had to be right there too.  Lisa said the little Debbie needed a ''sleepover'' at our house because she was so scared and timid in the big noisy boarding kennel.
Bwhaahaaa what an excuse, eh?   I called Steve at work and asked him to swing by on his way home... stopping at the boarding kennel to check this out and see what he thought.  Hmmmmmm what do you think?

 Yes.. she came to a sleepover ... and never went back!  

This is from the first night, cuddled on the couch with me. 

We named her Binney.  Mostly we wanted a name for her that was close to Finney so when I called him, she would hopefully come too? We sometimes had said to Finney in the past:  ''Finney Binney, do not know what a Binney is....''    just for some silly reason we would say that to him.  Well, now we knew, it was the new name of his friend to come to live at our house! 

Binney Name Meaning. English (chiefly South Yorkshire): topographic name for someone who lived on land enclosed by a bend in a river, from Old English binnan ea 'within the river', or a habitational name from places in Kent called Binney and Binny, which have this origin.

She was very timid, emotionally damaged and high strung.. and would sometimes zone out, freeze in terror, or have flashbacks of the horrid place she came from.  When things frighten her, she will blindly run in any direction and not seem to hear or see us. That is why she can never ever be off a leash. We even double leash and harness her, just in case. She is easily frightened and even after two years of trying to socialize her, when meeting people, she just reverts back inside to a quivering bundle of nerves. 

Except for one granddaughter...  Chelsea.. who seems to bond with Binney and keep her comforted. From their first meeting, they have a special bond together. Actually both dogs do. They enjoy her visits and Binney does not run and hide in the corner or the closet like she does with other visitors. 

One time, not long after she came to live with us,  I heard Binney crying and whining in her sleep... and I looked over the edge of our bed. I saw Finney lean over and lick her face to calm her, and they both went back to sleep.  Yes, she needed us as much as we needed her. 

(they sleep at night together, alternating from one dog bed to the other,

and both get covered with little blankets that the grandkids made for them) 

We have talked with the folks in the Michigan Rescue and figured out that Finney's mom Daisy and our Binney are most likely sisters!!!! That makes Binney the Auntie and Finney the Nephew!

Daisy and Binney certainly seemed to recognize each other when we got them together at a later date. They are the exact same age and coloring, have the same mannerisms and quirks that their rough start in life bestowed on them.

Daisy on the left, Binney on the right

So our home has adapted to the loss of both Ducky and Duke..

and now we have these two goofballs

Finney and Binney.  

They are training us well.

We have made a big difference in their lives 

by adopting them to our home. 

And they have made a huge difference 

in our lives.  

I can not imagine us in a ''dog-less'' house.

Every day is full of exciting puppy fun

adventures and 

rambunctiousness

So this is a pretty good reason to celebrate these Gotcha Days! 

 Thank you to the 

Michigan Sheltie Rescue

Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue

Ginny and Ceora and Robin and Carol and Lisa

and all the other wonderful volunteers

for trusting these souls to our care. 

on edit... here is an article on where our dogs came from:
Seized shelties on the road to recovery

Adopting our Puppy Process

I had a few questions in emails about our puppy adoption process....

The 38 Shetland Sheepdogs were taken from the horrible conditions in a rescue mission with police/sheriff involvement in Lower Michigan and then checked by vets and volunteers.  Then they were doled out to various Rescue Members' foster homes to be evaluated and nursed along till many of the females gave birth to puppies.   38 dogs soon became over 70!

Daisy (who was mentioned in the article links on yesterday's blog post)  a young pregnant female went to a kind woman named Robin Matthews for the rest of her pregnancy and delivery of five puppies. One didn't make it.  From what I know, our little guy and his brother were the last of the puppies to get forever homes.  They were born with "puppy strangles" which is Puppy strangles is a disease of puppies, also referred to as puppy head gland disease, juvenile pyoderma and juvenile cellulitis.   

Both male pups were treated and finally deemed healthy enough to be adopted.  Daisy, the young mom dog who just turned ONE on New Years, was already adopted to someone in Wisconsin who was bringing her to an event nearby, so we got to go see her!

Many of the Michigan dogs were transported over to Wisconsin where the Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue worked to find them qualified adoptive homes.

Being an agreement between the two Michigan Sheltie Rescue groups and the Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue group, some volunteers transported dogs five at a time in crates on the ferry between Ludington MI and Manitowoc WI.... here is one set of volunteers with some of the dogs.

Well, the gal named Lisa who heads up the Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue invited us over to her Open House Event at her boarding kennel called Stockbridge Critter Sitters in Stockbridge, WI near Chilton. http://stockbridgecrittersitters.com/    Lisa is full of wonderful information.    We came to the holiday open house event and saw shelties shelties shelties everywhere!    Here is Lisa with Santa....

I had such a fun time with all these furballs to pet and stoke and hand out treats

We got to meet little Daisy... the tiny mom dog who got pregnant at 5 months old and had a litter of 5 pups at the age of 7 months old!   She is adopted by a very kind lady who has two other dogs and little Daisy is fitting in well and adjusting to a life of kindness and love and tenderness. She was hanging out behind the counter while her new owner Brittany was helping with sales and information at the open house.

Yes, this is Finnegan's MOMMY! 

We handed over our application papers to be approved to adopt a sheltie.  With me being a previous sheltie owner, and having a background in showing and training in obedience really helped.  We were given one photo of little "Sprite" as he was known then....  pictured here:

and we stared and stared at it trying to determine his manner and temperament and personality before we knew for sure that we were approved and he was going to be OURS......

When we filled out the pages of application information, we had to give vet and personal references, and detailed information about each pet we have had and what had happened to it at what age etc.   Our application fee of $10 was to help process the application and help the group with determining who would be a good fit for which dog.  Imagine all the phone calls and time involved in checking out a prospective home?

Then.... 

We were notified that "Sprite" would be coming to us!  

Whee heeeeeeee!!!   

Once we were notified and approved, we gave a check for $300 which includes the adoption fee, the neutering, the microchipping, and all shots and wormings up to date!  What a deal!   We also signed agreements that if we ever didn't want the dog, it had to be returned to them, and not surrendered to a pound or shelter.

Then due to weather conditions, we were told the dog was coming a day earlier than planned!   It took various teams of volunteers to transport the dog up around from the Lower Peninsula of Michigan up over the Mackinaw Bridge and into the Upper Peninsula... and then we were to meet the last leg up at the Michigan border by Marinette/Menominee.

Also required by the rescue organization is that you have a fenced in yard that opens directly from the house so there is no chance of an escape by a door left open by unsuspecting family members or visitors.  Many rescue dogs are from stray or roaming situations, so the rescue organization wants to be sure that does NOT happen again.

Although Duke and Ducky always used a runner cable along the garage to access the backyard while hooked to their collars, the rescue organization wanted a more secure area for the outside duties of the prospective dog.

Sooooo we ordered up a used 5x10 six foot high kennel from someone on Craigslist who would deliver it to our house.  Well, because of the move-up on the pup delivery date, we had to postpone the kennel delivery and setup till the following day.  But Lisa knew we were serious and I sent her pics of the kennel we were buying and having delivered.  So the pup delivery went on as scheduled. 

We zoomed over quick to Lisa's to pick up a borrowed dog crate to transport and potty train the little stinker. We drove through a blinding snowstorm at times, slippery roads and awful weather.  We went in the fourwheel drive Tracker.  We were about 20 minutes late to the pickup point, as were the folks we were meeting were also 20 minutes late... so it worked out perfectly! 

Ceora and Ron Hull from Marquette pulled in and opened the door of their car... and they took out this sweet baby, soon huddled right into my arms!   I think the pic says it all:

Their two sweet little doggers, Merlin and Dodger, came along for the ride, so I gave them each a little treat and made friends and thanked them for keeping our pup company in their car, so he wasn't afraid to ride alone.

We got little "Sprite" settled into his cage and started our journey home.  We talked to him and let him know our voices and kept telling him he was wonderful.  We stopped for a bottle of water and took him out on a leash for a potty break.  He shivvered in the cold and was timid, but lapped up the water and ate a few treats out of my hand.   Safely ensconced in a cage in the back of our Tracker, we headed to his NEW HOME!  

We traveled through snow and slush and winds and cold.... 

making it home after dark.  

Out in the yard we made introductions on "neutral territory" 

and the doggers were best buds right off the bat! 

Duke has always been great at meeting new dogs, in campgrounds, on walks, 

 or when babysitting any of our grown kids' dogs.

We knew it was not going to be an issue for them to meet.  

They bonded right away and were playing within the hour! 

We tried out a few different names, and were thinking of something Scottish... and found Finnegan to be a suitable moniker for this wee one.  Finney... Finster... Finnigan-Innagin-Outagain....   they all fit!

Time for potty training, leash and harness on and off, and in and out every two hours till he gets potty trained and reliable.  We went out and in and out and in till he finally decided to go.  Ahhhh now he got the idea.  With Duke along side of him, showing him how, he is catching on quickly. 

By the next morning, our hearts melted when he snuggled up, looked deep in my eyes, and SIGHED....  as if he said:  "Now I am HOME" .....   and I think he knows it.

Here is the kennel we set up in two sections to make our "fenced in potty yard".   Ahead of time, we measured and planned to use it in sections to contain the space between our house and garage, making a perfect potty yard!  

and here is how it turned out! 

Since he is only 20 weeks old, he is still teething and the pricked up ears could be trained to tip over like most shelties adult ears.  During teething, a sheltie's ears will fly up straight and the cartilage can stiffen and stay that way.  So a dab of "tear mender" non toxic glue on the hairs to glue the tips to the base of the ear----  (no skin, just hair to hair)  and now they are tipping over nicely in 2 weeks.  We will keep them this way for a while and soon he will have tipped over ears like Duke.  We have already found two puppy teeth laying the floor as his new molars are coming in. 

Christmas was exciting around our house, and the new pup blended in well.

We had a few parties and he enjoyed the guests and learned to socialize. 

Plus... 

Santa brought both dogs lots of toys, 

Ours days have been full of potty training, with only two mishaps in 2+ weeks.  Both were our faults, once I was on the phone and not seeing his signals that he wanted out. The other time Steve took too long putting on boots, jacket, hat etc. and the poor pup couldn't hold it any longer!  All in all, things are settling in nicely with our two dog household. Since Duchess has been gone last summer, Duke has been very lonely.  This little pup sure has brightened him up! 

Duke and Finnegan play together so well.

Sunday mornings are now a two dog cuddle time up on the bed,

with two stinkers getting snitches of our donuts ... hmmmmmm 

they sure look happy, don't they??

 and THAT is how we adopted a puppy!