Group & Lunch

Went to my weekly Grief Support Group today. Seems like we now have the same regulars all of the time. Have not had anyone new for several weeks. After group, the usual group of ladies went to Backwoods Inn for lunch. We were getting tired of the same old places we've been going to for the past year or so and decided to go somewhere different. Backwoods was Ben's favorite place to eat in town. We used to go there every Saturday for lunch. Got home a little later than normal. Hiker must have been asleep when I walked in the door because she was not there to greet me. Once I got inside though, she came running. She “helped” me put the trash bins out at the curb and walked up to the mailbox with me and then she “helped” me rake the leaves in my backyard. Had an email from Jean this morning that her little dog Sassy (Hiker's BFF) had thrown up a couple of times this morning. Hope she is OK. Got up into the mid-80's today.

Prayers For Oklahoma

Had our regular dog walk/play date with Jean and her dogs this morning. After our walk, it started getting really windy here with Santa Ana Winds so it started getting really warm really quick. After Jean left, I had breakfast and then headed over to Sam's Club. Too hot to do anything this afternoon so I was watching TV and saw that a huge tornado slammed into Moore, OK. They think it was an EF5 and they said it was up to 2 ¾ miles wide at one time. It took out hundreds of houses for miles. It took the exact same track as the EF5 that went through Moore, OK in 1999. They said it hit 2 schools that were full of children. I just sat there watching with tears rolling down my cheeks. After surviving 2 big earthquakes myself, I kind of know what those poor folks are going through.

Had A Nice Morning Hike

Got up at 6:30 to get ready for a morning hike with Jean. We went over to Whitney Canyon and did a little over 2 miles. Glad we got there early because when we were leaving, all of the mountain bikers were arriving and Hiker hates bikes, so at least we got our hike done before they got on the trails. When we first started out, Hiker spotted a little jack rabbit on the trail. As soon as it saw Hiker, it took off. About a mile into the canyon, we turned a corner on the trail and Hiker started growling. Off to our right there was a skunk about 20 feet away from us. We saw that tail go up so we turned around and high trailed it out of there. This is a good reason to always make sure your dog is on leash when you are out. If Hiker had been free, she would have ran right at the skunk and gotten sprayed. I would have taken a photo of the skunk if it had been farther away, but it was much too close to stop and snap it. On the way back down the trail, we warned everyone we saw about the skunk, just in case it was still there. Everything has turned brown since the last time Keith and I had hike this canyon. It was so green and pretty just 2 months ago. It was nice and cool this morning when we were hiking but this afternoon it got up to the high 80's.

"Chillin' & 'Unlaxin'"

Pretty Good Saturday

Hiker and I decided to sleep in a little later this morning. That's the first morning we've done that in over a week. I'm trying to get out of the habit. We got up just before 7:30 and went out for a morning walk. Now I have two main reasons why we cannot walk on hot afternoons...don't want to burn Hiker's paw pads and now that she has been shaved, I don't want her to get sunburned. Plus I hate the heat anyway. I put her monthly flea/tick medication on her this morning. I started using VetGuard Plus instead of Frontline Plus. I read where it actually kills and repels more parasites than Frontline Plus and it's a lot cheaper to buy. Smells good too. Just like lemons. Hiker was acting like she was mad at me today. She seemed to be avoiding me. Don't know if it's because I made her get a bath and a haircut or if it was because I put her flea/tick medication on her. I know how much she loves to ride in the car, so after lunch I took her for a drive up to Vasquez Rocks because I wanted to check to see if the new Interpretive Center they built there was open yet. It was, but it was too hot to leave her in the car if I went in, so I'll check with Jean and see if she'd like to go up there next week. I could smell smoke in the air all day. Can't see anything, but I do know there is a fire up near Castaic and also one up by Frasier Park, so I'm sure that I am smelling smoke from them.

Lazy dog

It's Friday

We had another marine layer here this morning. Had our morning dog walk and play day with Jean's dogs and then headed over to Jean's house so she could groom Hiker. She shaved so much hair off of hike that she completely filled a 2 gallon trash can with it. There was enough hair there to cover a couple of hairless Chihuahuas. I said it was too bad neither Jean nor I could knit because we could use Hiker's hair to make a Calico scarf (LOL). We had a good laugh when Jean had Hiker in the tub bathing her. Hiker kept farting, then after the bath, Hiker kept farting and boy were they strong ones if you know what I mean. I don't know what she ate that gave her so much gas. Maybe it was just nerves. Anyway, Hiker no longer looks like the same dog. She looks so lean and sleek. She sure does not have any fat on her body. After lunch I took Hiker for a walk around our community and we stopped by the office to show off Hiker's new “do”. Started getting breezy while we were out. Watched a good movie on NetFlix with Andy Griffith, a comedy called “Playing The Game”.