Congratulations, Chantal Sutherland!

We had tons of fun yesterday! Rosie and Remy came over and visited and played with Finn, and we had a ball climbing onto and leaping off rocks, bouncing around the myriad steps up to the koi pond, and just running like loonies. I made myself some spaghetti and meat sauce and ate like a pig for supper. I looked up Ted's Montana Grill on the internet and was surprised to find that it's a chain that was started by Ted Turner in Atlanta. All I can say is that the food is stupendous. Skippy kept me warm in bed last night. My kits were happy to see me this morning, and both are currently outside. The sun is shining, but we're expecting more clouds and a possible rain or snow shower this evening and tonight. Supposedly, we'll get a large snowfall Monday night through Tuesday - but I won't hold my breath.
The Santa Anita Handicap was extremely interesting yesterday evening... a female jockey was aboard the winner for the first time: Chantal Sutherland brought Game On Dude (at 14 to 1 odds) a nose in front of Setsuko. There was a Steward's inquiry that lasted for 12 minutes before the results were official... Twirling Candy, the favorite, clipped heels with and bumped several other horses on the turn before finishing fifth. Spurrier? My pick? He finished eighth... So I don't always pick the winner... It's horse racing! - And Eibar Coa had a special guest visit his hospital room recently. Eibar was the regular jockey on Mucho Macho Man, who ran in the Risen Star Stakes at Louisiana Downs two days after Eibar's accident. The colt won the Risen Star, and is now being pointed at the Louisiana Derby. The owner of Mucho Macho Man presented Coa with a check in the amount that the winning jockey earned, saying that Eibar had brought the colt along to that point and was still considered a part of that colt's team. (I'll certainly continue to root for Mucho Macho Man in the future!)
Mardi Gras and the Carnivals are getting into full swing this weekend. Fat Tuesday is March 8th, almost 3 weeks later than it occurred last year. A lot of college students are making their way to the Big Easy for their Spring Break. Along with the celebrated merrymaking, flesh-flashing and bead-catching comes the traditional pomp and ceremony of gala balls where debutantes take their bow to society. On Fat Tuesday, the city will be thrown open to the wildly popular Zulu krewe, marching clubs including one led by clarinetist Pete Fountain and the time-honored parade of Rex, King of Carnival. In the bayou country, masked Mardi Gras riders on horseback will saddle up for the traditional rides through Cajun communities. The parades in Mobile, Alabama, draw smaller crowds than New Orleans, but the city's family-friendly Mardi Gras celebration bills itself as the nation's oldest. That's a point of friendly dispute with Louisiana, but it's all in good cheer.

Frozen Dead Guy Days in Nederland

Coffin racing teams

Coffin racing encourages bribery...

You never know who, or what, will appear...

A 2008 Polar Plunge participant

The parade includes a wide variety of hearses -

some even throw flames from their exhausts

Dinner, Nederland, and Critters

Let me sing the praises of Ted's Montana Grill! My nephew Mike loves spicy food, and my sister was trying to steer him toward a couple of Mongolian restaurants, when she found a listing for Ted's. Knowing my preference for plain cooking, my wonderful nephew chose Ted's Montana Grill. Oh, my.... If you like beef, bison, trout, salmon, and organic veggies, Ted's is the place for you to go. Kathy had the cedar plank trout; Mike had prime rib; Annie had bison short ribs; Jim had sirloin; Sarah and Michael had bison burgers; and I had bison pot roast. We all got different side dishes, and were glad we had been given a round table, as we passed all the sides, appetizers, and desserts around the table for everyone to try. I had roasted asparagus, Mike had broccoli in butter, Jim had squash casserole, Annie had green beans, plus there were mashed potatoes and gravy, fries, onion rings, chutney and sweet and sour half-pickles. It was a gourmet experience. Mike said it was the best meal he's had in his entire life (all of 29 years) - and the best prime rib. I must admit that the sage on the prime rib made it special. My bison pot roast was falling in shreds off the fork, and everyone agreed (even Michael, the gourmet cook) that it was a superb meal. Mike got a huge cinnamon oatmeal raisin cookie with a scoop each of homemade chocolate and vanilla ice cream; Kathy chose the Kahlua chocolate fudge brownie sundae; and Jim got the hot apple caramel crisp with vanilla ice cream. Each of the desserts was sent around the table, too. Yum!!!
Besides being Mike's birthday, yesterday also kicked off our local Frozen Dead Guy Days in Nederland. Today there is a parade, the coffin races, the frozen salmon, turkey, and rump roast throws, multiple dances, the Polar Plunge for charity, as well as many other really cool events. If you're in the area, or would just like to know more about Frozen Dead Guy Days, please visit: http://www.nederlandchamber.org/events_fdgd-events.html You can even visit Grandpa Bredo in his Tuff Shed, packed in dry ice, if you really want to be a bit macabre.
Skippy decided that I needed a lot of grooming after I returned from dinner last night - after 2 hours of having my face, ears, neck, arms and hands being washed, I finally told him "No" and put him on the floor. Finn has been a wonderful dear, and I think, will happily trade a toy for the newspaper when David and Susan return. He is a very bright dog, and really wants to please. Lovey and Nedi seem to be happy to be back home - they are currently running in and out the patio door, jumping in my lap for loving, and then hurrying back outside so they won't miss anything. I did have to laugh yesterday - when I checked the local headlines at noon, there were huge warnings everywhere that Boulder was going to get at least 4 inches of snow before 11 p.m. I don't know where it went, but it certainly did not happen in either northern or central Boulder! I hope to download my photos from the past two weeks tomorrow - then I can share Finn, Skippy, Lovey and Nedi with you. They have all been delightful kids!

Just Everyday Things...

Clouds are starting to come in from the west this morning - our forecast includes rain, sleet, and/or snow, with a high of 41 degrees. It was 59 yesterday, but the westerly wind made it feel cooler. The kits are back at the apartment, Finn is happy to have the run of the house again, but Skippy keeps looking for Nedi... I think he enjoyed being worshipped. Mike has decided that he wants to eat at Ted's Montana Grill for his birthday, so I'll be headed downtown to the corner of 17th and Pearl Streets about 7 tonight. Between yesterday's wind and a migraine that roosted just behind my left eye, I didn't get out to walk Rosie and Remy. I'm headed that way once I finish my blog; then I'll walk Tessa and visit with the Thore kits, and then visit my kits at home. I should be able to get that done before stuff starts falling from the sky....

I did have to giggle last night at a contestant's response on Jeopardy! - it was a category that the question was to begin with a body part. For the Daily Double, it was a video clue; and it was a still shot of a chinchilla. The man could not come up with the answer and he started apologizing as he giggled and asked "A titmouse?" - And I was surprised that I knew the answer to Final Jeopardy, while all three contestants missed it: The subject was Biographies; the answer was Oscar Wilde... There were several other answers I thought were extremely easy, but were never questioned. Oh, well....

The red-tailed hawk just left his perch in the cottonwood tree and flew back toward the open space to the west. I received an e-mail message from Finn and Skippy's family that said, "Tigers today; Ganges tomorrow." So I think they are enjoying their trip to India, since the business end of things has been taken care of. The vacuum cleaner is back, and has had a tune-up, as well as the electric cord replacement. Finn pulled the legs and half of WallyGator's nose off last night. We had to switch the newspaper for one of his stuffies, but it worked well this morning. I put poor Wally's remains in the trash, as well as a lot of his cotton stuffing. *Sigh.* Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Critters, Horses, and Smell

All of the dogs and cats are absolutely fabulous today - the sky is a bright blue and the sun is out. Finn was super about handing over the newspaper, and accepting WallyGator in it's stead. The local pack of coyotes set off the little terrier next door about 11:30 last night; that set Finn off. But he was a wonderful man during the night, otherwise. I'm taking the kits back home today so they can become reacquainted with our small home, and enjoy getting outside again. Tomorrow is my nephew's 29th birthday, and we're all going out for supper to celebrate.

Saturday is "the Big 'Cap" - the Santa Anita Handicap. A field of 11 horses has been entered, with Jenny Craig's Twirling Candy the favorite and high-weight (at 122). Candy will break from post position 5; I'm leaning towards Spurrier, who carries 115 pounds, and will break from the # 2 spot. ... Last Sunday's Canadian Turf Stakes at Gulfstream was won by Little Mike; Nicanor was fifth and Twilight Meteor was seventh. ... The Epsom Derby will be run on June 4 this year, and currently has 125 horses nominated to run. The early favorite is a colt named after one of the US' top trainers - Frankel. ... And jockey Eibar Coa had a second surgery on his wrist, following his horrible spill that broke his C4 vertebrae. Eibar has feeling and movement in all of his extremities, and his family and he are very optimistic regarding his recovery.

And I finally found out the medical term for the loss of the sense of smell - it's anosmia. I am an anosmic. The sense of smell can be lost in several ways - mine comes from brain damage from a few too many concussions, as well as chronic sinus infections.... At least I can now name the correct term. (And if you have difficulty in finding wide-sized shoes to fit your feet, I recommend visiting http://www.shoebuy.com - they have given me superb service! And my feet are shaped like a duck's!)

The Incomparable Kirk Douglas

Kirk Douglas at 94...

Cats and Dogs

After I walked Rosie and Remy yesterday morning, Nancy brought them over to the house to meet and play with Finn in the afternoon. The dogs had a blast - mostly Finn and Rosie racing around, but Remy had his moments, too. Nancy and I really enjoyed watching them play. Lovey is still unsure about Skippy, but Nedi and he play together and get along just fine. And Lovey was upset because Skippy joined us in bed last night - she didn't think that he belonged, so she hissed and spent the night under the bed. We haven't quite reached the freezing mark yet this morning, but the sun is shining and the sky is mostly clear. We've had temperatures in the upper 50s and very low 60s for the past few days, and it's expected to continue until tomorrow evening. Then a cold front will come in and we'll have rain and/or snow on Friday, with highs in the 40s and 50s over the weekend. I've been very happy with Finn's work and training with the newspaper; he now will stop inside the gate, give me the paper in exchange for WallyGator, and then run off on his merry way. No running away with the paper in a game of chase me, and no chewing of the paper. I had not been able to figure out how Finn had acquired Saturday's paper without me; he totally shredded that day's edition - but I found out from a neighbor that the neighbor had kicked the paper under the gate to give it to Finn. I explained Finn's current newspaper problem, and the neighbor said he'd stop "giving" the paper to Finn without supervision. That was nice. - And I need to remember to pick up the vacuum cleaner from SewVac today; they had to replace the electrical cord. At least that way Soledad can have the house clean on Friday. The family is due back Monday morning, and Soledad will clean again on Tuesday, but I will do my own clean-up on Sunday... I think I'll take the kits home Thursday evening; they can readjust to being home over the weekend and I'll move back in with them Monday. This house is grand. Skippy and Finn are super. But, as usual, there's no place like home.....