Dog Coats, Christmas Tree Redo, Coyotes, and Neighbors

We got out for a long walk today after two days of not being able to.  Saturday it rained all day and yesterday we had company.   It was a bit nippy this morning but the sun was shining and we all felt better being outside.  From the looks of the avian population we saw we weren't the only ones!  The egrets and herons were hunting for breakfast! We didn't see them catch anything, but they were so intent on watching for fish that Maggie didn't even phase them as she passed by.  She really doesn't seem to take

 any interest in doing anything but sniffing where they have been.  She will pretend to chase the ducks for a split second as they waddle away from us but that's about all she does.

Dog Coats - After the journal entry the other day about Maggie and her new coat, I received an email from an anonymous reader that was intriguing and informative. Intriguing because I didn't know you could send anonymous emails and interesting because this person kindly sent a link to an article about whether dogs really need coats.  Thank you, Reader, for taking the time to share the information.  The article confirmed what I had been thinking might be the case - dog coats (for most dogs) make the owners feel warmer!!  The picture in the article is of a Doxie and does look an awfully lot like Maggie.  Here's the link if anyone is interested:  Do Dogs Need Coats?   It was 32 degrees when Roger took Maggie out this morning at 7am - with her coat on!!!

Christmas Tree Redo - Last week when we bought our little fake tree, lights and ornaments Roger picked up a package of teeny tiny white lights and handed them to me.  I immediately put them back and grabbed a set of multi colored ones as I am not a real fan of one color of lights on a tree.  We got home, I put them on the tree and they twinkled!!!  I am even less a fan of twinkling lights.  They drive me crazy because they are distracting.  So, our next trip out to a different store I picked up a string of small, frosted LED lights.  I decorated the tree.  The lights were really too big and too bright.  In the evening with the room darker you couldn't see the ornaments - just the lights. Today we were back at the first store, I returned the twinkly ones and bought the original ones Roger had picked up!!  This afternoon I took off the larger lights and re-decorated the whole tree.  Should have listened to Roger in the first place (not something I normally do)!!  He's the creative one in the family and usually knows best what looks good.  The little tree with teeny white lights and small ornaments now looks good.

Coyotes - They were out in force last night!  At 4:30am it sounded like a whole pack had found some prey and were howling their thanks to the coyote gods.  It also sounded as if they were in our site but I'm sure they were further away. Roger heard them again around 6am but not as many nor were they as loud.  The guy across the way said that he had raccoons under his coach last night and thinks maybe that the coyotes were after them.  Needless to say, taking Maggie out for her evening wee after dark is a bit scary.

The Shoe People
live in this RV

Neighbors -  Roger and I have always had the habit of giving people we see, and don't know, nicknames that match some characteristic of that person or persons. Examples:  one guy the first couple of years we were here got his morning walk as he shaved with an electric razor.   He was dubbed "Razor Man."  We haven't seen him yet this year.  Then there was the guy who rode his bike every day with zinc oxide on his nose, thus earning the  "Zinc Man" moniker.  Or, last year's favorite - a guy who wore a white hat like Pinky Lee.  "Pinky's" not here this year either.   We do have some neighbors down the way, though, who leave what looks like all of their shoes outside.  Lots of shoes.  As you probably have guessed - "Shoe People." Wouldn't it be interesting to know what other people call us - NOT!!

My response to comments posted on the last journal entry:  I guess I can never deny that little Kinsey belongs to me if she loves shoes and snowmen!  She's her grandma's girl for sure!!!  I can't wait to see her in April.  

Speaking of grandchildren, we had a great visit from our other granddaughter, Stephanie, and her boyfriend, Pierce, yesterday. It had been a long while since we had seen them and we really enjoyed the visit!  Thanks, kids, for making the long drive to see us!!!!  Hope to see you two again soon. 

Tomorrow the agenda is the post office and laundry.  I'm sure it will make for an exciting day!