Categories Google Ad, Solar Power

One of the Google ads just now…..

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….was for the GE Ecomagination Challenge  which in turn reminded me of this company: Clarian Power. 

If you’ve not heard of them take the time to look over their site.  They are attempting to make solar and wind power (complete with backup system) available at a reasonable price to the average consumer.  Instead of a single solar panel that you pay a fortune for that then requires either signifigant electrical know-how or a paid professional, they plan to offer to the public an easy to install “plug-n-play” solar panel and wind turbine setup that requires minimal extra know-how beyond basic tool handyness and ability to follow instructions.  Still not CHEAP, but much more reasonable than the current standard setups currently on the market.  They hope to have at least some product on the market by the end of this year.

Categories Birds

Just what trick of evolution……

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….resulted in the Northern Cardinal?  I get the whole brightly colored = poison thing, but that doesn’t apply up here as much as it does further south, and you’d think a bird that looks like this:

 
would be prone to being picked off by predators in the winter.  Afterall they positively GLOW against green pines, dead tree branches, and white snow!
But I guess not, there’s currently 5 males and at least 3 females sitting in the front pine tree.
Categories Birds

Something went THUNK against the window…..

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….and both cats promptly went nuts trying to get at whatever it was.  So I put down my book, and got up to look outside.  Sure enough a bird had run into one of the front windows.  Kinda that surprised this is the first one (that I’m aware of anyway), though the windows aren’t oversized in anyway.

Figured I might as well go out and see if it was still alive, and if it wasn’t toss the body into the woods for the scavengers.

Little guy sat on my hand for several minutes before deciding to take off.  Very cute.

My husband asked if I’d have done the same for a starling…..and I advised him I wasn’t stupid.  I’d have still gone outside to check on the bird, but I’d have worn gloves and would not have held him till he recovered!  (and yes I scrubbed my hands afterwards!)

Categories Cats

The difference a single pill makes….

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So back in mid-January my husband hauled the cats into the vets for me, as I was unable to get off work, for their yearly checkup and rabies shots.  Had to have the vets check both cats’ ears (both have had ear infections in the last year), as well as various odds and ends.

Trouble has allergies to something, vet says they’re not severe enough (at least at this point in the year) to be worth medicating her for (I won’t argue, I just wanted to be sure it wasn’t a respitory infection or something).

Janie on the other hand has been having some odd issues for a while.  None severe, none regular, just odd, they finally got regular enough to make me ask the vet about them, and after some discussion the vet ordered bloodwork.  A week later I got a phone call, Janie has a hyperactive thyroid.  Not hugely bad, but enough to be throwing her off.  Normal is 3 (3 what I didn’t catch), she’s at 5.7 (ditto…), but the vet said thats not as high as its sounds, she’s seen as high as 13 previously with no more symptoms than Janie is showing.  End result is a little pill shoved down her throat once a day and a return for more bloodwork in 3 weeks.

Its been a week and a half since we started medicating Janie for her thyroid, and the difference is amazing.  She’s got to have been having thyroid issues for a whole lot longer than I ever thought possible.  Her coat is fluffier, and shinier, she LOOKS better, and is acting just overall like a whole new cat.  I gotta say, if your cat has a “sensitive stomach” with no obvious cause or regularity, is loosing weight, or just can’t seem to put ON weight no matter how much you try to feed her, occasionally seems to have trouble jumping, and you realize that she isn’t the perkiest you’ve ever seen her you may want to have your vet check her blood levels.  I now feel horrid for not bringing the various symptoms to the vet’s attention sooner, but I really never did put them all together.

Sigh.  At least we figured it out eventually, hopefully before any real damage was done!

Categories Dog

Because I’ve gotten tired of answering this question.

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“Why didnt you just go down to the shelter or local rescue to get a dog?? Theres lots there that need homes!!”

Well, the answer is kinda complicated.  It starts out with: I have two cats who’ve never seen a dog before in their lives.  For their sake we wanted a smaller dog to introduce them to things.  BUT, we want a big dog.  That means getting a puppy.  Are there puppies at the shelters?  Yes, but they’re almost always the first ones to find homes so we’re not really leaving them in the lurch.  Add in being picky about the type of dog we wanted, and wanting to know as much as possible about the dog’s background and genetics and we decided we were better off finding a reputable breeder.

In the end, do I feel guilty for not taking home a dog from the shelter?  Yes, but I’m also confident that we made the right decision for us under these circumstances.

Categories Apollo, Dog

Oh yes, the new puppy…..

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So when we bought the house this past summer, the husband and I realized we finally had the space to get a dog, not just any dog, but a BIG dog!  So we did some research to narrow down the breeds we were interested in, and then started looking around at breeders.  We settled on the Tibetan Mastiff, and the breeder we chose is Himalaya Tibetan Mastiffs out of Virginia.  A bit further out than ideal (its going to be a 10+ hr drive each way to pick up the puppy) but after having done tons of research we feel comfortable with both the breeder and our choice of dog.  We’re due to pick up the puppy at the end of Febuary and I can’t wait!!  If you go to the site, click on the Puppies link, its the 2nd pairing from the top.

Categories Nothing Much

The First post ever…..

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The first post on my blog…..um…..yah, not got lots to say.

For anyone who manages to wander across this,  don’t expect lots of posting, or lots of long winded rants.  This’ll probly be the place where I gripe about my day, tell you about the silly things the cats did, or babble about the new puppy.  Doubt I’ll end up using it for much more.