Busy Summer!

It has been a hectic summer for us. When we arrived in northern Indiana we had an apartment to re-hab and it took a while to do that. I had been bitten by the influenza bug and it was taking a toll on me. I couldn't work for long on any one day, so I worked what I could when I could. We had decided to sell the duplex and so we didn't want to rent it. That was so a new tenant didn't have to change landlords right after moving in. I don't think that would be fair.

We had planned to spend a month in Wisconsin, but we had a buyer for the duplex (who said he actually wanted to buy multiple units) who strung us along for way too long. I finally got tired of it and went to the next buyer on the list, but it was too late for us to go to Wisconsin.  We had multiple people interested in buying the duplexes, so the prospects were good we would sell. And we did. Two days after we sent the first buyer on his way, the next one made an offer. We are happy with them, because they own a duplex they bought from Terry's Dad and it is next door to the one we sold. In fact, the buyer has often done service work for us when we are gone in the winter and is familiar with all the buildings and knows how they were built, etc. Since the August sale, they have purchased the second duplex we had for sale. The deals are all sealed, signed, and delivered and we are very happy with that.

We have left northern Indiana now and headed south. We are in central Indiana where we have seen the dogs' vet and went for bloodwork and haircuts today. Tomorrow Terry sees his new cardiologist in Indy and tomorrow night we will visit some friends in Muncie. The girls will get to play in Baxter's yard. Baxter is a Scottie as well. Thursday we see our family physician and then Friday we roll. We plan to stop by and visit with our Alaska travelmates, Tab and Deanna, in Ohio before heading to Virginia, Florida and finally Texas!

Till next time. . .

Dale

Great Weekend!

Last Friday we loaded up MinnieMee and grabbed the dogs and headed for my sister Nita's woods south of Warsaw. We were part of an elaborate event and our part was what I called "support." We spent the weekend visiting with Mom and Dad and taking care of Nita's four dogs and three cats.

Nita and Jim left Friday evening for Chicago, so they could catch a plane on Saturday morning for New York. Their daughter Kellie was already in New York, Long Island, to be exact. She was out there supposedly for an air show, but her boyfriend had planned an elaborate "engagement" for her. Since Tommy is a pilot, he took her up in a plane and had a friend of his fly another pulling a banner which read, "Kellie, I love you. Will you marry me?" She said "YES!" He pulled the whole thing off perfectly. When they landed, she was shocked to see her Mom and Dad and many of Tommy's family and friends there to help celebrate their engagement. Such a happy time! In the picture, Kellie and Tommy are in the plane in the upper right corner. The right is a closer look at the banner.
 


We just relaxed at the woods. On Saturday night, we had storms and since Nita has one dog afraid of storms, I spent the night at their house. The other nights they did fine by themselves, but I didn't want Phineas to be stressed, so I took him to the downstairs bedroom and he slept next to my bed on the floor. He is a sweet dog.

Our television reception was not too good. . . we got plenty of stations, but if the wind was blowing, and it did all weekend, the trees were interfering with our signal. So we did watch some movies and played on our computers since we had wifi.

On Saturday, Michelle and Staci and their families came down to see Mom and Dad. We visited with them and had a great visit. I had to leave to go tend to the dogs when the storm got bad, but it was great visiting with them.

We are back in Elkhart at the campground and today we cleaned up MinnieMee and have her ready to put back in storage tomorrow. We are getting things around and finishing up some last minute stuff as we are leaving Sunday and headed south. We start with doctor appointments next week, then we are headed for Virginia.

Till next time. . .

Dale

How do they know?

Yesterday my sweet, sweet girl, Duchess, our black Scottie, tore a toenail on her front paw on the threshold coming in the back door at the house. Poor thing. I heard commotion at the back door, but knew Terry was there. When Duchess got into the kitchen she was bleeding profusely and before long the kitchen looked like a crime scene from NCIS. I ran for the door at the far end of the room and got it shut before she could get onto the carpet in the living room. Fortunately the bleeding stopped quickly and I got her paw cleaned up. I called the vet and got an appointment for later in the day.

As the day wore on, I figured I jumped the gun on the vet, but I sure didn't want the paw to get infected, so we did take her in for the appointment. Good thing. They had thought they might have to remove the nail which did not sound like a fun process; but as it was, it didn't need it as long as it doesn't tear further or start to swell. The nail is cracked and it tore the quick underneath which was the source of the blood. The doctor put her on pain meds and antibiotics for 10 days. She did say it was hurting her, but said she is a very brave dog. She was very good for the vet and she

came in and just talked to us and petted her afterward.

She woke up crying once during the night but settled back down quickly. Now this morning, they have been out for their morning walk and it's clear her paw is bothering her. So where is Butterscotch? Laying right beside her on the same cushion. We could certainly learn a bit from our pets. Without words or any obviously communication, Butterscotch is comforting Duchess in her own way. They are the sweetest dogs. We love them so much.


Till next time. . .

Dale

Family Fun!

Last weekend we loaded up MinnieMee and headed for Nita's down in Claypool. They live in a 15 acre woods and it's a great place to camp. We have to take MinnieMee though because we cannot get Phaeton Place in there.

Saturday night Nita hosted the "Schrock" cousins. . . Bob Wall and wife Kathy and Becky Wall Waltz, Nita, and me. Four of us. Becky's husband Jim stayed home to nurse a sick doggie. We missed him, but certainly understand the need to take care of a family member. Mom and Dad were also there. Dad is the last of his immediate family. We had a pitch in dinner and had a great time talking and laughing and looking at some old pictures. Great family time!

 

LtR: Mom, Jim (Nita's husband), Dad, Nita, Terry and I (center), Becky, Kathy and Bob

On Sunday afternoon, Nita and I drove Kellie to Indianapolis to the airport where she was going to fly to Reno to meet up with her boyfriend, Tommy. As it was, she flew to Denver, then Boise, then San Francisco where she finally met up with Tommy and they went to Lake Tahoe to spend some time with friends. Then I think they will be going on to Reno to the airshow.

Nita and I had a nice dinner out before we came home from Indy. Monday, Terry and I broke camp and headed back to Goshen where we dropped off MinnieMee and then to Phaeton Place where we are now. It's good to be back home!

Till next time. . .

Dale