Dust

I think I’ve mentioned before how difficult it is to stay in one place for a long time. Seven weeks is too long. The dogs have been appreciating the routines we’ve gotten into while staying at the same camp for so long, especially the team walks at 5pm every evening. Although, it took us a few weeks to discover a route where we avoided the town’s loose aggressive dogs. We’ve been able to give the dogs several games of fetch or free-time in the field every day, but I’m getting frustrated with how dry everything is out here now. The dust gets everywhere. We haven’t seen good rain for months.

Today, we had a severe storm warning out. We even had a storm-chasing group pass through our town earlier, on a storm chase. But, nope, no storms today. Just unrelenting humidity and hot enough that it feels like winter is nearly over for another year. I guess it is, really.

 

We spent five days last week sorting through our storage shed – five years worth of stuff, layered by year. Right at the back was stuff we hadn’t seen since the end of 2010, when we first put it back there. We ended up taking three loads of stuff to the secondhand shop, and four loads to the dump. It was intense work, stirring up more dust, and memories. As always I’m thankful I had my beautiful dog to keep me company when I eventually had to just walk away from it all for a while.

(Photos are of the clean-out in progress – I forgot to get any at the end of day five, my poor brain was done!)

 

Meanwhile, I’ve been working on Sparkie’s fitness, and building up some muscle. She’s nearly seven now but aside from the greying around her muzzle, nobody can tell. I’ve seen too many fat old dogs, and I don’t want that to happen to Sparkie. She appreciates the extra exercise, too.