A bit of progess ...

Janie came over this weekend and helped me put the wallpaper border up in my so-boring bathroom.

Here are some close ups:

And I've really wanted to incorporate little outhouses into the decor.  So ... I did.  I found some pics on the internet and printed them out and stuck them in a frame and this is how it came out.

So it became part of the wall.  I will try finding some more stuff to fill these boring walls.

Enjoy!
Jodi

SWEETGRASS, the movie ...

It's coming to Boise!  May 21st!  Can't wait!

http://sweetgrassthemovie.com/screenings

You comin'?

Country Life

There are days where I wonder if I made the right choice.  Seriously.  I'm out here in the middle of nowhere ... by myself.  I am basically now married to this house.  There is so much work to do here.  I go to put one thing away, and when I get to where I'm putting it away, that area needs something done, so I do that and while cleaning that area, something else needs doing and then I'm off doing that, and forget where I started from.  When I'm done, nothing looks done.  It's frustrating.  And I'm still working on the inside of the house!

The wind is eroding a hole in my head.  It needs to stop blowing.

One thing that has changed in a huge way with me is my cooking/eating habits.  When I lived in town, it was nothing to run down to the store and pick up some sushi for lunch, or go get some fast food or go to the grocery store and pick up a missing ingredient or two.  Now, I made do with what I have, and some of the concoctions I've come up with sound less than appetizing, but have been quite good.  This morning, for instance, normally I would have run to the store to get some bacon to go with the toast, cheese and eggs I have.  I substituted tomatoes instead.  So I had a sandwich with a homegrown duck egg, toast made from homemade bread, store bought cheese and tomato.  It was yummy!  Pretty soon, though, there will be bacon in the freezer!  Can't wait!

But the dishes ... there's always dishes in my sink!  Rrrgh.

I emptied out the boxes that stored all of the sheets I've kept over the last 30 years.  Not one set is queen-sized (the size of my current bed), yet I have washed and meticulously folded all of the sheets.  I need to drop them off at the youth ranch.  I will keep a few to use for the puppy pen, and once they are done there, they are going in the trash.  I just don't have the room here.

The puppies are doing great!! They actually look like puppies now and are trying to run, tackling eachother, etc.  They do more falling over than anything else though.  So cute.  And they found their voices.  I'll be feeding them their first real meal today (ground turkey and goats milk, if I can find it).  I hear the mess to clean when the pups are fed raw is much easier and *better smelling* than if they were on kibble.  So ... raw it is.

Anyway, I need to run to Janie's to pick up the trailer, load it up with sheep and deliver sheep to people who bought them.  We sold quite a few sheep, which is great.  We certainly didn't need as many as we had.

More later,
Jodi

Interesting day...

Did some instinct testing today.  (I guess I'll leave off the location where I did the instinct testing, as Animal Control might show up and try causing problems.  Nice, eh?)  There were about 5 or 6 dogs that came out.  The first one was a six month old blue merle gorgeous Aussie.  He was very cute and fun to work with.  He needs some maturing, and I'm sure he'll be back.

The second was a Mini Aussie.  By the way, there is no such thing.  Once you miniaturize it, it's a crossbred miniature mutt dog.  Period.  And usually pretty darned useless on stock.  This little thing yapped from the time it got there till the time it left, and didn't have a lick of instinct in her.  Sad, really. 

Another one of the new dogs that came today is a gorgeous red tri Aussie named Dune.  OMG, I loved this dog from the moment I saw him.  His eyes are so soulful.  His breeder apparently does not have a very good reputation at all, and now I can see why.  This dog ended up in rescue, and the breeder was contacted, and "couldn't" take the dog back due to an injury or some other lame excuse.  When asked for the papers on the NEUTERED dog, they were told they would have to cough over $375 for a useless piece of paper on a neutered dog that the breeder produced and refused to take responsibility for, yet wanted MORE money for the papers on the dog she originally sold in the first place.  What. A. Joke.  Yes, couldn't take the dog back, yet has more puppies on the ground.  Imagine that.

Anyway, a lovely dog.  And his owner isn't half bad either.  ;-)  Too bad, though.  She wouldn't give "Dude" to me.

Then Janie and I went through all of the sheep and marked those we're selling and those we're keeping.  An arduous process, but it's done now, and we can start selling off what we don't want.  I am only going to keep a few to work, and a few to raise to eat.  All told, between the two of us, we'll probably only keep about 25 or 30 sheep.  If we need more for an event, we'll rent them.

On the work front, the furlough days are starting to kick my ass.  The missing money out of my paycheck really hurts.  If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't mind having three-day weekends every other weekend.

I need to get back to working on this place.  I've been really kind of schluffing off lately.  I've done little things, like gotten most of the kitchen boxes unpacked and stuff put away.  I did a bit of organizing and unpacking the crap in the outbuilding.  That's starting to shape up out there.  Still have a ton more to do.  I think this week I am going to start hanging pictures.  If I screw up the walls in the process, I'll just have to fix them, that's all.

I also need to get my electrician out to replace all of the outlets to three-prong thingies and get them all fastened and covered up.  I'm not messing with the electricity.

My face feels like it got a little sunburn today.  What a gorgeous day out.

Another thing on my list of stuff to do this week is to make a more elaborate puppy pen.  The puppies actually look like puppies now, and they are starting to get pretty active.  They'll need more room very soon.

Anyway, I'm a bit burned out and need to get some sleep before I start my nutty 4-day week.  (Sounds like a part-time job, doesn't it?)

Jodi
 

... And I still struggle ...

This is going to be one of those really personal posts.  Sorry.

I can't believe it's been 3 years since I've seen my ex.  Thinking back to my last encounter with him, and how deliberately hurtful we were to eachother, just breaks my heart.  I started thinking about how much I loved him for so many years, and how I'll never find that again.

Then I thought to myself ... find what? 

What did I really have?

Can an alcoholic love another person when they can't even love themselves? 

And now here I am ... years later ... afraid to try to have a relationship with someone.  I hide behind the "I don't want to" excuse, but is that really true?  I think it has much more to do with that ... I don't know how to.  I knew exactly what my role was in the alcoholic relationship.  Over the years, I became a damn good enabler.  I knew what I faced every day.  He had no opinions unless what was happening at the moment was hampering his drinking.  He had no concept of hurting someone else's feelings, so I either fought to make him understand, or didn't bother and just let it be.  He wouldn't tell me how much I meant to him, but wouldn't hesitate to tell me how he felt about something I didn't do.  I was the one that made sure the bills were paid.  After we split up the first time, he called me asking me how to write a check.  That year, as he was filling out his taxes on the last day (for the first time in his life), he called me ... repeatedly ... at all hours ... in all conditions of drunkeness ... to get me to give him my social security number because he "needed" it to file his taxes ... with the IRS ... as if they don't have mine or something.  His kids were treated like they walked on water when they came around.  My son ... was treated like shit and held to a different standard.  And this is something I will forever harbor guilt for.  We couldn't go anywhere unless he had beer with him.  If we went for a ride in the mountains, the small cooler full of beer was between the seats, and there was always an open beer between his legs while he was driving.  If the ride took more than like 3 hours, he was drunk by the time we got there.  He would insist on driving, and if I resisted, there was always a scene.  After we got home, he would not bother cleaning out the truck, so the next morning when I went to work, the truck would smell like stale yeast.  I don't know if I could explain the smell to any of you, but I remember it like it was yesterday.  He smoked like a chimney (and so did I for many years), and he smoked pot from the time he woke up till the time he went to bed.  Every morning when he woke up, he would very obnoxiously cough and cough and cough until, finally, he would puke.  He would then make a cup of coffee or two, drink those down, and crack open a beer.  Didn't matter if it was 9:00 a.m. or noon.  That was the routine.  And he was high on pot by the time he did it.  Every day.  Yes, every day.  His entire day consisted of drinking.  Didn't matter if he had to work.  If he bothered to show up, he'd show up with beer in his little cooler, pour it into his coffee cup, and drink all day.  Often times, he was drunk by the time he got home from work, but yet he'd go to the bar, and I wouldn't know when he was coming home, or what mood he'd be in when he got there.  He would either then spend the night watching t.v. and drinking and go to bed hammered, or we'd fight, he'd drink more and go to bed hammered.

What is my point of this?  I don't know.  What do I have to offer another person in the way of a relationship?  Yeah, not much.  I have become pretty callous to a lot of things over the years.  I am very uncomfortable telling someone else how I feel, and when someone compliments me or anything even close, it makes me squirm.  What would I do with a guy who didn't need fixing, or didn't need someone to pick up the pieces around him on a daily basis?  What would it actually be like to make love to someone stone cold sober because you actually love the person?  I wouldn't have a clue.

I went out with my very good friends last night.  They have been married for many years.  As I was "singing" karaoke with the host (yeah ... shut up), I looked at them sitting on the couch.  They were so relaxed, their bodies fit together very comfortably, but what struck me was their hands.  Their fingers were entwined in a gorgeous, natual "knot" and I know they were probably not even aware they were doing it.  I knew the minute I saw it that it symbolized something I never knew, a love I've never experienced, the type of love a girl dreams about. 

K&J, I wish you many more years of that.  You guys deserve it.

Posting ... before I delete it.

Whiskey ... the forgotten child ...

When I was at work today, we were talking, of course, about Echo and her puppies. One of the attorneys asked me for some recent photos of Whiskey, so surely I had some and got busy finding them for her. Or thought I would. I didn't. I haven't taken any pics of her since the Dianne clinic a few months ago. After a good ribbing, I told them I would take some pictures of the "forgotten child" ... so without further adieu ... here is the office pup, Whiskey.

And I never thought I could take a terrible photo of a majestic dog such as Jag, but I think I just did it.  He looks 150 years old, poor guy.

And I would be remiss to omit the blue one.  Here's Zip.

And curiosity kills the ca-... Echo.

Ok ... so now I've fulfilled my duties.  Can someone PLEASE do me a favor????  Can you PLEASE tell me what the hell this bug is????  They really like the outside of my house and I'd like for them to go like the outside of someone else's house.

K.  Thanks.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Mom,

I miss you and I love you more than words could ever express. If I could ever be 1/2 the woman you were (and still are to me), I'd be doing good. It's times like this when I wished I believed in an afterlife so I could say that I can't wait to see you again. You're forever in my heart and always on my mind. And that ... will never change.

Me

A Dog's Dinner

Stan & Rory Rock!

From THE BARN

"What a lovely place!"

I've been told this over and over again ... and I agree. I am very lucky to have found this house. It's gorgeous out today, and the sounds of the birds on the lake from my front deck, with a slight breeze blowing, and the sun on my back ... there seems to be nothing better. No neighbors to speak of ... peace and quiet.

Yet with all of this, I am missing a huge piece.

Someone to share it with.

It makes for a very lonely existence.

Pink Chicken

Well, I threw some frozen chicken breasts into the crock pot this morning. Added an onion, some cream of mushroom soup, some chicken stock, salt, pepper, and garlic. The recipe calls for wine. So while I was at Walmart (yes, I shop at Walmart ... isn't that what you do when you're missing a bunch of teeth and live in the country?), I browsed the wine section, and as a Corona drinker, none of it meant a whole lot to me. So I went with price and picked up a $3.50 bottle of wine. Took it home, opened it, and poured some in the crockpot.

I now have pink chicken. This should be interesting.

Another Rant

Went down to the All Valley Animal Care Center in Meridian. What a bunch of baffoons work there! They don't have a clue! Anyway, I had to have my dogs vaccinated for rabies so I could get their Canyon County licenses, and myself a kennel license. What a day. Let me tell you.

At the animal care center, they are trying to tell me that because I don't have paperwork showing current rabies vaccinations (they are in boxes somewhere around here), that my dogs need to get a one year rabies shot, and then they can give them the 3 year next year. Ummm ... sounds like a vet is looking for some easy cash, eh? So I said, no, they get a 3 year except for the puppy. They said, "No, it's a law." We said, "Yeah? Where? Show it to us." They respond with, "We don't have it. You can look it up." Um no. That law doesn't exist.

The kicker? The actual vaccine is THE SAME VACCINE.

She knows I'm agitated, and I asked her for the law showing what she's talking about, that I can research it where I work (and mentioned specifically where I work) and she said she didn't have it. Seeing that I was aggravated, she said, "I could have my boss take a look at this and see if they can issue you the 3 year rabies certificate." I said, "How can they do that? They would be breaking a quote unquote law."

Such bullshit.

So there's my first goal.

Then I look at the paperwork, and the idiot spelled my name "Jody" ... and I told her my name was spelled wrong on the rabies certificate. She held up the paperwork I filled out and said, "No, see?" I looked. I blinked. Words did not form. I just didn't know how to tell her she's a fucking moron without telling her she's a fucking moron. I didn't misspell my own name, I assure you.

I walked out. Janie handled the rest of it.

So I take my paperwork for the three dogs (I didn't take Echo because she's nursing) over to the Canyon County Animal Shelter. I hand her the three rabies certificates, and she fills out whatever she needs and gives me the other little blue tags. I then asked for a kennel license. She pulls out this cutesy little 1/2 sheet of cardstock with "Kennel License" written across the top of it. She fills out my name. Spells it "Jody" ... I told her she spelled it wrong. She holds up the corrected rabies certificate and is about to correct me when she realizes she's a moron. She tosses that one and starts again.

She gets down to the line that asks for how many dogs. If you look at my previous post, a kennel license covers up to 15 dogs (anything over 5 and you need a Conditional Use Permit from Planning and Zoning). Well, apparently dingbat at the desk doesn't know this. When she was going to fill out the line for how many dogs I had, I said, "5." She said, "No, you only have 3." I said, "Um ... I own 5." She said, "Well, if you don't have them registered, then I can't include them on the kennel license." I said, "So, if I only have 3 dogs, I don't need a kennel license, so why are you filling one out and taking my money for it?" She said, "Anything over two dogs and you need one. Don't you live in Nampa?" I said, "Yes, but I do not live within the city limits, so I am allowed three dogs without a kennel license." She quickly reaches for the little pamphlet thing to prove me wrong, and I said, "You have my address. Don't you have a map of the Nampa City Limits?" She said, "I'm not going to argue with you." I said, "That's good, considering I've researched this and apparently you haven't." I asked her, "Who is to stop me from coming in here and buying a kennel license even if I have no dogs? Is there a law against it or something?" She said, "Ma'am, I'm not going to argue with you." I said, "Riddle me this, Batwoman... If I have a kennel license for 4 dogs, and then I buy another dog, do I need to come down and buy another kennel license?" She stared blankly at me. I said, "If I have a kennel license for 5 dogs, and Animal Control comes by and sees I only have 4 dogs, am I in violation of my own kennel license?" She stared blankly at me. I said, "Pain in the ass, isn't it?"

I grabbed my three registrations and rabies certificates and walked out.

I now have a call into Officer Loretta _____ to get my questions answered. I'll be researching the rabies vaccination issue later also.

This has been nothing short of a fucking joke.

Jody ... I mean, er, um ... Jodi

I think.

"I'm not here to preach to you."

I was cleaning out my truck, unloading the 50 lb. bags of pellets, when a car pulled in y driveway, with two pretty official looking gentlemen in the front and a smartly dressed older woman in the back. I stop and wait to see who they are and what they want.

The woman exits the back seat and approaches, and says, "I'm glad we caught you at home. My name is (I forgot) and I'm not here to preach to you or change your religion or anything. I just wanted to share a few things with you." And she proceeds to start to preach to me.

Ok ... are you KIDDING me??? You're not here to preach to me, really? Then WHY ARE YOU HERE????

I live in the middle of just about nowhere. It's not like they just happened to be walking by and stopped to chat. They drove out to my house, all the way up my driveway, and up to my front entrance area to preach to me about shit I don't believe in. Now, do you see me going to her house and telling them god doesn't exist? Do you see me hunting them down to tell them that they should be a good person without the threat of going to hell? Do you see me handing out literature saying, "Sorry to burst your bubble, but when you die, you're dead. Syanara (or however the hell you spell that!). The end. Katupo. Finit. That'll do." When I told her how I felt, she thought it was the most ridiculous thing, and said, "Well, I don't want to disrespect your feelings, or insult you in any way. So let me just read you some scripture." I said, "Written by who?" And she went on to tell me something about god and Adam and Eve. I said, "Oh Eve ... the one whose family history consists of Adam's rib? That one?" She smiled, and said, "Yes."

And she didn't want to insult ME??? Hahahahahahahahahahahaahhaha! Ha. And ha.

Reason #2 to put a gate at the end of my driveway.

Egad.
Jodi

Pups and stuff...

If you haven't seen it already, Echo had her puppies. The puppy blog is updated with photos.

As you can imagine, I am getting nothing done today.

My brother's cancer surgery is today. Right now, in fact. I'm having a hard time getting focused. More accurately, I'm frozen in my tracks. So glad I'm not at work today. Please keep him in your thoughts. We could really use it.

Vickie, I hope your sister's surgery is going well.

What a weird day.

Jodi

Local Dog Laws ... Clarified

This post is going to contain quite a bit of information. 

Here's how the laws work in Canyon County.

THREE OR MORE DOGS:

Section03-05-09(2) of the Canyon County Ordinance states:

"Kennel License; Application:  It is unlawful to keep, maintain or possess upon the premises of any one household more than three (3) canines three (3) months of age or older in an unincorporated area of the county unless the owner or person in charge thereof shall have obtained a kennel license.  Such kennel license shall only be permitted an issued in accordance with the terms and provisions of the county zoning ordinance; provided, however, that notice of any pulic hearing required on any application for a kennel license shall be mailed to all abutting property owners within the boundary line of an area determined by the intersection lines drawn six hundred feet (600') at right angles out from and parallel to all sides of teh tract whereupon such kennel is to be erected or maintained.  Where dedicated street rights of way are encountered, they shall be included in establishing the six hundred foot (600') boundary line around the tract.


A.  License Fee:  A kennel license shall be issued when the applicant pays the annual kennel license fee as established by the board plus the annual tage fee for each canine three (3) months of age or older to be kept in the kennel, provided the requirements established in this section have been fulfilled.


B.  Location:  No kennel shall be established within one hundred fifty feet (150') of any dwelling house other than that of the kennel owner; provided, however, that a kennel license may be issued to establish a kennel within one hundred fifty feet (150') of a dwelling house other than that of the kennel owner upon consent of all property owners within three hundred feet (300') of the kennel.


C.  Condition; Noise:  Said canine kennel shall be kept at all times in a clean and sanitary condition, and the canines shall be reasonably restrained from annoying the neighborhood or the general public by loud, frequent, or habitual barking, yelping or howling."


As stated in section03-05-11(B):

"1.  License Fee:  In addition to the tag fee for each canine three (3) months of age or older, an annual kennel license feel of thirty dollars ($30.00), per block of fifteen (15) canines must be paid.


2.  Amendment of Fee:  The fees or fee schedules authorized by this article may be amended by resolution of teh board of county commissioners in accordance with Idaho Code section 31-870(1), as amended, and Idaho Code section 63-1311A, as amended."

So far so good, right?  Doesn't sound too bad, eh?  As you can see, your dogs need to be licensed with the County as well.  Here are the per-dog County licensing fees:

Male / Female Intact:  $35 (one-year) or $90 (three-year).
Male / Female Speutered:  $7.50 (one-year) or $20 (three-year).

We're still okay, right? 

In order to obtain a canine license in Canyon County, you must have an up-to-date rabies shot on each one of your dogs.

Here are some places to get low-cost rabies vaccinations:

First Saturday of the month:  All Valley Animal Clinic in Merdian right off the freeway.  $17.50 per dog.

Second Saturday of the month:  Zamzow's in Nampa.  $25.00 per dog.

Third Saturday of the month:  Petco in Nampa.  $16.00 per dog.

If you have an elderly dog that you are not willing to vaccinate, you can try convincing your vet to write a letter stating the dog is not medically fit to handle a vaccination of this nature, or whatever.  Most vets are not willing to do this because of the liability factor.

Let's use an example.  Say you have 5 intact dogs.  This is what your annual ritual will be (give or take):

1.  Rabies vaccination:  $17.50 per dog = $87.50
2.  License fees:  $35 per dog = $175.00
3.  Annual kennel license fee = $30

Grand total is $292.00 PER YEAR for the right to keep five intact dogs on your property that is not even within city limits.

... AND HERE'S WHERE IT ALL GETS STICKY!!  READY?

SIX OR MORE DOGS:


From the Canyon County Zoning Ordinance section 08-026 dated December 19, 2008:

Under Definitions (I highlighted in red the parts they left in to make it a bit easier to read):

KENNEL (COMMERCIAL): Any portion of land, or any building, structure, enclosure or premises on the same or adjacent parcels, on which more than five (5) canines three (3) months of age or older, are housed, groomed, bred, trained, sold, or cared for, in which canines are housed, groomed, bred, boarded, trained, or sold, in which a total of six (6) or more dogs, three (3) months of age or over are kept or maintained in conformance with Canyon County Code of Ordinances, Section 03-05-09 of this code.


KENNEL (PERSONAL): Any portion of land on which three (3) to five (5) canines more than three (3) months of age or older, up to a maximum of ten (10), are housed, groomed, bred, trained, shown, sold, or cared for, as in conformance with Canyon County Code of Ordinances, Section 03-05-09 of this code.

If you have six or more dogs, you are required to obtain a "Conditional Use Permit" from the Development Services Department.  Information about the "Conditional Use Permit" and the hoops you need to jump through can be found at the link I previously provided.  (Hoops include public hearings, notifying a bunch of people of all kinds of stuff, holding a community meeting, etc.)

FEES:

---> Application for a Conditional Use Permit:  $2,008.00 <----

Yup.  You read that correctly.  That's just for the application process.  If they deny you, you are SOL!  If they grant your Conditional Use Permit, then you need to license your dogs with the county, and still purchase the $30 kennel license and maintain it annually.  Oh, I am not sure if there's an annual fee to maintain your Conditional Use Permit.  I didn't get that far into this, and won't, as it will not apply to me.

With fees like that, you can see why the Commissioners are pressuring Animal Control to start enforcing this stuff. 

Now that I know what the laws are, and what I am responsible for, I will bring my place to full compliance this week and start working on getting a hearing before the commissioners to see what we can do about working towards a happy medium with the working dogs (herding and LGDs) being designated as livestock, and thereby, foregoing all these pet laws.

Please let me know if you have any questions.
Jodi

Local Dog Owners ... Pay Attention

As most of you know, I am looking into the pet laws around here because of recent events.

I have just received information from a very reliable source that the animal control officers in this county (you know which county I live in) are under pressure from the county commissioners to enforce the dog kennel and licensing laws.  One way they are doing this is targeting people through their websites.  A gentleman with a hunting dog kennel in Notus has been targeted and his feet held to the fire, so he is paying the $2K+ for the process of obtaining a kennel license. 

So there you have it.  How many dogs do you need to have before you're required to have a kennel license?  Well, that's not exactly clear at this point.  One ordinance says more than 3, and you need to contact zoning and planning to arrange to get the special use permit (there's your $2K fee) for your kennel license.  However, zoning and planning says 6 or more.  So what happens when you have 4 to 6 dogs?  I don't know.  You call the sheriff's office, and they refer you to the same "ordinance" dude ... and you leave messages for him over and over and he never gets back to you.

I don't know how much of a dent I can put in this alone.  However, if I have homeowners / kennel owners / residents backing me that this law affects, I'm happy to be the frontperson in all of it.

Interested?  Contact me ASAP.

Jodi

How Ironic ....

I am on my lunch hour.  I ate my lunch, and then went down to my truck to let Echo out for a minute.  On my way back, I see my reflection in the windows of the stores I am passing, deciding that I am fat beyond words and really need to diet.  I walked the block and a half back to work, and by the time I got there, I was thinking about who I could hit up that might have chocolate.  See how long the diet thought lasted?  So I get back to my desk, and lo and behold, there are two boxes of "Thin Mints" on my desk that I bought from one of my boss' kids a month ago.  So as I sit here happily munching away ... I ponder the irony of calling them "thin" mints.  There's nothing thin about them, or me, when I am done with them.

But oh man are they good.