It’s Caturday and the middle of Tocktober, so what better conversation starter could there be than this picture from reader Jan B., of Lily shows off her delightful ‘tocks!
Weekend Open Thread
37 thoughts on “Weekend Open Thread”
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How lovely your ‘tocks are, Lily!
Our house is very interesting. Last Sunday afternoon we got a new family member — another greyhound, who is black with a white patch on her chest and white toes on her back feet, *just* like Melody. It wasn’t our intention! But we went to a meet-and-greet, and she was the dog who fit our standards for a hoped-for future therapy dog the best.
Her track name is Yoofi, and we were going to call her Ladybug, the nickname her foster had given her, but she just doesn’t like it. She is Yoofi! She arrived Yoofi and Yoofi she will stay! So she’s Yoofi. A friend researched it for me and found that it’s a Yoruba exclamation meaning “How lovely!” which is entirely appropriate for her. She’s settling in beautifully, already has the family schedule down pat and is making friends with Sebastian very nicely, and everyone is very happy. It’ll be a couple of months before we can start working towards therapy with her, but in the meantime, she’s a lot of fun. I’ll send Mike a picture to post. And no, it’s really not Melody!
Yoofi was a racer — not a good one; she never ran better than third place, and that only once — but it’s clear her life was a bit rougher than Melody’s. Not abused, just knocked around in races so she’s got a number of little dings on her face and joints from getting shouldered out on the first turn by a bigger dog. Frequently. She didn’t finish about half of her 53 races! And she’s much more like a regular dog than Melody, who was more of a cat in a dog suit. We have no difficulty telling them apart; they’re totally different.
She’s a doll, and we’re very happy to have her in our family!
Congratulations! You sound very happy with her already.
I am so happy for you and your family, and for Yoofi, who has found a wonderful furrever home.
Yeah for good news! And Yoofi sounds like an appropriate name for her.
And here’s Yoofi!
Oooo. Gorgeous girl! I liked the name Yoofi right away. Woofi Yoofi. Like wolfie!
Enjoy her!
Look at that smile! 🙂
Clearly this gorgeous girl has taken over the house! So happy for you all. Yoofi is the luckiest girl in the world.
She certainly thinks she is! She’s quite a girl. Now if she only stopped jumping up on us, or on our bed, or….her enthusiasm gets the best of her, regularly. We need to calm her down before she can start visiting fragile people.
Oh Laura, the happiness on that face!! Her enthusiasm is her showing love her love!
Such a beautiful girl! Glad she’s found a new home and working out for you guys!
Well, now that I know what it means, Yoofi doesn’t sound so goofy. 😉
Glad to hear she’s settling in so nicely. She is quite lovely and looks so happy. Nice to know she’ll never have to race anyone but herself, if she wants to, ever again.
How do you pronounce her name?
Yuff – ee
You–fee
And congrats!😁
We’re saying it You-fee. No idea if that’s correct or not, but she doesn’t care as long as we call her for dinner!
Ah, Lily tocks! That’s my baby! The only agenda in the picture is under her front right paw; the blue string sticking out is the tail of one of her mousie toys that she’s just pounced on!
And now a report from “Cat-sumer Reports”… Lily rates the new sheep sheets 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟! The percale is resistant to claws as she creates a nest to sleep in, they have excellent heat retention out of the dryer, and the blue sets off the colors of her coat nicely. 5/5 would recommend!
Oh that looks so cozy!
So sweet! Makes me want to go back to bed and curl up in my own little nest.
First pic of Lily was lovely and her in the sheets even lovelier. I really want to join her, rough night dealing with clueless college students who think waiting outside someone else’s home for an Uber is just fine. Not fine when you and the puppy are trying to sleep and they’re outside being typical 20-year olds, laughing and talking loud. So crangy neighbor had to go outside and tell them Get Off My Lawn! And Move Along!
Vet visit for foster puppy today, hopefully his mange is gone. If not, it might be more meds. And as his previous owner has just too much going on to add a dog into the mix she okay’d my friends taking in Koda. This is the family with the 11 year old twins who just fell in love with him so win win for everyone.
Been busy setting up our haunted yard for Halloween, I think it might be better than last year’s with the new additions we bought. Arachnophobes are going to hate our yard with all the spiders and spider webs and spider cocoons we’re putting out. Tomorrow I’m hitting Goodwill to find some Halloween costumes for me and my Scary Sister twins. And some where in there got to find time to do some cleaning, some grocery shopping and some clearing out/organizing/ packing. Almost forget to mention (I think, brain’s slow this morning) that I’m moving down the street to a new rental in a couple weeks. New house is a lot nicer and has a hot tub AND a built in outdoor kitchen (grill, refrigerator and kegerator). Party at AJ’s house!!
Lily has such spectacular ‘tocks! And welcome, Yoofi, you have hit the adoption jackpot. You will be a much loved and probably much spoiled young lady. 💕
Lilytocks! One of my friends recently got two kittens and one of them is white with the striped tail just like Lily. I love that look…like they ran out of white tails at the cat factory and just went with whatever was on hand. Her sheepsheet nest looks so cozy and I wish I was still in mine (well, mine doesn’t have sheep and is like t-shirt fabric so it certainly wouldn’t stand up to kneady claws…but it is blue).
Oil change this afternoon, then maybe the grocery store; I need milk and there is nothing good on the cafeteria menu for next week so I’ll need to make some lunches. When I was at Wegman’s earlier this week they were in the process of installing self-checkouts…I have mixed feelings about this. I hope it won’t lead to fewer regular lanes open like it seems to at Target. Self checkouts are only good for small orders and can be a pain if you have produce (though they have the scales in the produce department that will print out a barcode sticker; might have to be better about doing that). I talked myself out of pizza yesterday (partly because parking there to pick it up would have been a nightmare after work on a Friday) but I haven’t ruled it out for tonight.
Also, I need to change the furnace filter and might break down and turn on the heat. It’s 65 degrees in my house (at 10:30am). Also need to pay my water bill, again, because apparently my check got lost in the mail. I called them yesterday and I’m gonna try to see if I can get my bank’s bill pay set up for them (they have my township’s water company listed but it wouldn’t accept my account number so the woman I talked to told me to try putting it in without the suffix that’s listed on my bill, so hopefully that will work). On the up side, I now know how to check on their website to see if it was paid. I also asked what happens if I pay it and then they get the original check and she said it would be returned to me. I suspect I’ll never see it again but I don’t know if it’s worth the 30 bucks to have the bank cancel it. This is the second time I’ve had a payment for something go AWOL in the mail (the last one was a couple years ago but it triggered two late fees by the time I found out it never got there).
And now, storytime. Everyone should read with their kits.
Sooooo….I got my pizza. And I had to park across the street and walk down to the light, down to the restaurant around the back (pickup window is in the back and I didn’t want to walk through the bar and dining room to get there), then back around, down to the light, back to my car, then a sort of roundabout way home because the side street was closed. Because there’s a Halloween thing going on in front of the Hall of Records. And the parking lot I was in is directly across from the restaurant but I wasn’t going to try to cross in the middle of the street. Shoulda done it last night, after all. At least it’s nice out.
Christmas at AJ’s! Bring comfy jammies and fur babies.
Sounds like everyone is in a relatively positive mood. I’m there, too. No big reason, I just am.
Little Duckie is moulting and Big Duckie is losing hair. Both were expected.
I made eight felt pictures to sell at our church fall fair, but two are already bought by my sister’s kids and hubby claimed a third. Now what?
Weight loss continues to be slow and steady. My chiropractor made the odd suggestion that, since I don’t eat breakfast, I should try almond milk instead of the meal replacement shakes. Lower in calories, and it’s less expensive. He also wants me to add protein powder. Any suggestions?
Election on Monday. I laugh when I read the election news updates on the bottom of the news channel: they seem more frantic everyday. So many “promises” being made.
Jan, I’m sure Lilytocks is a valid word somewhere. As usual, she is gorgeous.
Laura, I’m so glad your heart has embraced another fur baby. I’m sure Yoofi needs you as much as you need her.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Sounds like a plan Duckie for Christmas at my place and I have lots of room. Plus SoCal weather usually cooperates with being warmish. And congrats on the weight loss. Almond milk is great for smoothies but I use powdered egg whites instead of protein powder. Doesn’t add any taste and has less crap in it. I looked at most protein powders and the chemicals and allergy inducing ingredients in them would make your hair curl. I found mine at a local health food store. The egg whites has 80 calories per 1/4 cup and 16 grams of protein.
Duckie, I’m not sure what kind of dietary restrictions you have, but–if you can afford it–you might look into the products made by this company:
https://store.draxe.com/
Full disclosure–I don’t work for them and have no real stake in the matter, I’ve just used their stuff myself and been satisfied with it, and I have pretty high standards in regard to quality and no junk ingredients, etc. Their site can be a bit tricky to navigate unless you know exactly what you’re looking for, but check the “proteins” category for all the various powders they make; they offer a big selection of different flavors and types. The bone broth powders do have a “meaty,” chicken-y under-flavor to them, since they’re made from real bone broth, which probably sounds (and is) a little strange when combined with things like chocolate or vanilla. Once my taste buds got over the initial “well, that’s odd” reaction, though, I found it wasn’t all that bothersome, though of course your personal mileage on that point will likely vary somewhat.
They also have a pure collagen powder which is (mostly) odorless and tasteless, although if you want to do collagen–and it has a TON of health benefits, so definitely another option worth considering–I actually prefer the products made by Great Lakes Gelatin, especially their collagen hydrolysate (which dissolves in liquids a whole lot easier than the true gelatin). Their site is here:
https://greatlakesgelatin.com/
Again, no relationship other than just being a satisfied customer; I found out as an adult that I have a genetic mutation which causes my body to “waste” the amino acid glycine. (That is, what I take in through my diet doesn’t get utilized to the same extent it would in someone who has a “normal” version of the gene in question.) So I have to make sure I consume enough extra to make up the deficit, and the best food-based source of glycine is collagen. I’m lucky enough to have a business very near my house which sells excellent house-made bone broth from locally sourced, pasture-raised chickens and cows, so I tend to rely on that during cold weather for my daily dose. But during the summer when a mug of hot broth isn’t very appealing, the Great Lakes stuff is awesome; I can mix it into juice or some kind of tart-flavored iced tea (it does have enough of a taste to be obvious in plain water, alas) or even make my own popsicles for those really hot days. So I would think it would be fine in something like almond milk, as well, and the price is at least a bit lower than most other brands I’ve seen without sacrificing quality.
Hope that helps!
Best wishes, Laura, on your new furbaby, Yoofi!
Built-in grills are terrific, AJ! We had one at our house in New Orleans. It was so nice — just walk out the door and click! the grill was on. We rarely use ours here now, even though Florida is supposed to be a prime grilling location. It’s too much hassle. Where in SoCal are you, AJ? I did the Lalaland grind for a few years, stuck around just long enough to enjoy (ha!) the Northridge quake. Yeah, not what you call fun! So at least we don’t get earthquakes here in Florida. Storms that throw off tornadoes and waterspouts that cause the stupid emergency channel to break in and TELL YOU VERY LOUDLY THAT TORNADOES ARE EXPECTED IN X PART OF Y COUNTY, and it drives me CRAZY. We got the full rain effect from Nestor all night and this morning, so it was WET. Still is, actually! But at least it’s stopped raining. Fingers crossed!
Thanks for all the kind comments about Yoofi. She’s a very happy girl indeed. She’s figured out that this is a GOOD house to be a dog in, and that she really got lucky. Apparently at the track the trainers are so busy the dogs have to compete for a minute or two of attention, which sounds awful for a bunch of sweet pups. They’re not abused, exactly, but they’re not treated all that well, unfortunately. At least at the track Yoofi came off of. And Melody was GREATLY loved by the folks from her original kennel so she came to us in far better mental shape than most greyhounds. They just need time to get used to having humans available nearly all the time. It’s their idea of heaven, obviously!
And she figured out the food routine in record time — she just followed Sebastian around and had it down pat by Wednesday. She’s clearly a very smart girl. She’s also MUCH more food-motivated than Melody was; she’s more like a regular dog in that regard.
Anyway, sorry, I can yammer on at length about Yoofi. I’m glad things are going well for everyone. Dogs in the proper homes, kitties having nice sheets to make nests in — life is good for our critters!
I was at the bookstore once the day before some holiday (Father’s Day maybe) and they had a greyhound rescue group doing gift wrapping. They had three dogs with them and they were all former racers. One of them stood next to me and leaned into my legs wanting to petted (of course I obliged). One of the handlers said that they wouldn’t sit, because they would get a shock if they sat in the stall before a race. 🙁 They were all so sweet and calm. That was several years ago, and I’ve seen the group there since then around the holidays but they are no longer allowed to bring animals because a customer complained about them. Double 🙁
Wow, I didn’t realize they’d get a shock if they sat! That’s not in ANY of the material we got from either greyhound group. Of course, they also aren’t well suited to sitting physiologically; Melody never raced — she was too claustrophobic to enter the starting box so she never had a chance to get that shock — and she sat, I think, exactly two times. Very, very rare. So she just never sat because she was too bony and too muscular, all at once.
Yoofi half-sits when she’s bathing herself, so I’m hopeful that she’ll do it more so I can praise her for it. There was one dog from our first rescue group that would sit, and everyone else was quite envious. So it would be nice to have the dog everyone else envies! 😀
I’d love to do a gift-wrapping event again. I did one at a bookstore in New Orleans on Christmas Eve for the golden retriever where we’d gotten our dogs, and we brought in over $400 in under 5 hours. People get desperate on Christmas Eve, and donate generously!
My husband got the therapy pet group into the federal charity program, CDC — it’s like the United Way for federal employees. And he’s getting REALLY busy with that because, although we don’t yet know how much $$ the group can make from it, we suspect it will be an impressive amount. So next week on Wednesday my husband is going to Orlando, and Friday he’s driving — from Tampa — to Homestead, which is south of Miami! It’s a looong drive for one day. I suspect they’ll end up staying overnight somewhere. He’s just taking Sebastian, of course, so I think they’ll have a great time. An event in Key West has BEGGED for someone to come down there, but the cheapest hotel my husband could find was over $400/night and required a two-night stay! That kind of defeats the whole point of going. But this program is keeping him REALLY busy in his retirement, which is great, since I’m still working! And I’ll have Yoofi to keep me company while the boys are gone. Just us girls. It will be lovely
That makes me so sad to learn that those dogs would get shocked if they sat before a race. I don’t even know what to say to that. 😢😢😢
Hubby and I talked about that, and we’re coming to the opinion that it’s either an urban legend or an old custom long abandoned. I’ll do some research and see if I can find out how things are going now. I honestly don’t think they’d be allowed to do that any more; animal welfare laws for something involving gambling are probably pretty strict.
I hope that’s true. This was probably about 10 years ago that I was told this.
I just spent about 15 minutes searching for ANY reference to dogs getting shocked if they sit before a race, and came up with absolutely NOTHING. I did find numerous references to the fact that greyhounds usually don’t like to sit because the way their hind quarters are shaped. When they sit, they can’t rest their ‘tocks on the ground, so it’s uncomfortable for them. Yoofi does kind of half-sit occasionally, but it’s only for a moment, and she’s got most of her weight on her front legs because her back end is up in the air.
I am starting to believe that that’s an old custom that was abolished a long time ago, and simply isn’t done any longer. The dogs don’t like to sit because it’s not comfortable for them, and so people take that fact and distort it. Or they’re talking about an old custom that was stopped many years ago.
I don’t think Yoofi would be so happy if she was regularly shocked. That’s a practice that deservedly belongs in the dustbin of history! And dog racing in Florida will come to an end at the end of the year, I believe, so it wouldn’t be happening much longer in any case.
But there are going to be a LOT of lovely dogs available to adopt (hint hint!)!
I’m down San Diego way. AND I’ve lived in FL AND the Northeast so I’ve experienced pretty much every type of natural disaster, usually in a minor way. Let me count the disasters – blizzards, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, nor’easters, earthquakes, fire season, hail storms, ice storms, and the always lovely Santa Ana winds which are coming in this week. I think that’s most everything.
My fridge is really clean and tidy after tossing out all the perishables that spoiled during our most recent power outage. Made a run to the town dump to toss the spoiled food and then a run to the grocery store to get a few essentials such as half and half for my tea. At least the freezer contents stayed frozen solid so I didn’t have to toss and replace everything in the freezer too.
Emergency supplies back in place for the next power outage. Had 2 friends that I called and they were kind enough to check the power companies website to see how widespread the power outages were in my area (no smart phone here). Had kind offers to let me come hang out at their homes to get warm, take a shower, get a hot meal, sleep over if needed. Nice.
The winds were still strong yesterday morning, so I took advantage of the assisting winds to help clear some of the leaves that have come down.
Almost back to normal but boy I’m tired. Afternoon nap sounds wonderful.
Must watch with sound…
I’ve never seen a kitteh hiss thoughtfully, as sort of part of a conversation.
Well, we got to the source of our spider bites. We would find them on our legs in the morning
when we woke. Itchy sonsofguns! Yesterday a wee, 3/8ths of an inch orangey spidey marched
across the sheets and met his/her doom pretty quickly, I can tell you. I have ordered a couple
of bug catchers – one for upstairs, one for down – that catches critters without harming them.
I did feel guilt for swatting the little varmint, although the swat was an automatic reaction.
If another shows up in the bedroom, s/he’s taken care of. I like to leave spiders alone because they do help keep the more harmful bugs at bay. The spider is my totem, we have so many.