Waking Up From Hibernation

Today was one of those days when the sun generously spreads its rays across the world. And I could use that heat to warm up after a not-so-cold winter. Seeing the sun is so good and it chases many depressive thoughts out of your head. Something I could also use. Here and there I still thought about how Lana and Myla would have enjoyed this day. Lana running around with her ball, and Myla enjoying the warm rays of sunshine. Unfortunately, that will never be the case again. But as always, life goes on, and today we were able to enjoy this beautiful day with Skipper. In the garden you see young, fresh greenery emerging everywhere, the tulips are in full bloom and the blossoms on the fruit trees give us the promise of renewal. It's spring, and I feel myself slowly waking up from a gloomy state of hibernation.

New Life

The first warm days of the year are always good to dedicate a blog to. These first rays of sunshine are good to feel yourself coming back to life and while I enjoyed these rays of sunshine I admired the blossoms that adorn the trees. The new life, a new promise, and the world look a bit happier again.

A Job I Dread

Today was one of those days when nature showed all its beauty in full glory. But it wasn't all enjoyment. There was also work to be done. A job that I dread every year because it is so much work. Removing the weeds that have grown between the stones of the driveway during the long, wet, gloomy winter months. A task that I should keep up with during the winter, but which I usually postpone. Today I couldn't ignore it any longer and had to deal with it. The beginning must be made and the driveway must be free of weeds again. This is a job that I cannot complete in one day, it is simply too much work, especially since I have to work every joint with the scraper to remove the smallest blades. But I also know that once I start, it will be done in a few days, until I have to repeat the same trick in a month at most. Not the most fun work, but necessary.

Enjoying Skipper

As I sat on the stones scraping out everything between the joints I enjoyed Skipper talking to me from the other side of our gate. He didn't agree with the fact that he had to stay on that side and I was on the other side. My partner was also at the front, he was mowing the grass, so Skipper was alone behind the gate. If you ever want to hear a German Shepherd loudly express his disagreement, you should be around as we repeat this trick. After working for an hour, I thought it was time to have a coffee. And of course, our talking German Shepherd also needed some attention. After all, a Sunday is not just for work, but also for a weekend. When I went inside to make coffee for us, I suddenly thought of the dog frisbees we bought for Lana a few years ago. She didn't like Frisbees and preferred balls. But who knows, Skipper might like them. It was worth a try. So I quickly grabbed the frisbees and when I showed them to Skipper I was curious to see how he would react.

Autistic

You should know, that our Skipper seems to be quite autistic in some things. He can get really upset if the flower waterer has been moved, for example. Then he is shocked. A flower pot suddenly placed in a cupboard can also be enough to make him shy away. And when he comes in there is suddenly a book on a table that was not there ten minutes earlier, he also looks extraordinary. The vacuum cleaner he sees every day is still a scary monster after all this time, and he still checks every day to see if that frightening monster won't suddenly attack him. So well, I didn't know what to expect. Would he like it, or would he find it terrifying? When I came outside, I first let him sniff it carefully, and when that went well and he didn't seem to mind, we rolled the Frisbees for him a few times. He liked that and went after it enthusiastically. So when we felt confident about that, we took a cautious throw. And it was heartwarming to see his eyes light up with excitement. We didn't expect it, but our autistic German Shepherd loved it! He enthusiastically jumped into the air to try to catch the flying prey, and when he managed to grab it, he came proudly like a peacock with the Frisbee in his beak, trotting towards us to neatly let it go so that we could throw the next Frisbee.

Trees In Containers

After our play session, Skipper could rest while I continued removing the greenery between the stones of the driveway. Together with my partner e then also moved all the containers with trees in our garden. Because our backyard is a yard and must remain paved, placing trees in containers is a practical solution to have greenery around us in an environment that would otherwise consist of only boring, depressing stones. Moving the containers gave the garden a new look. We have now arranged all the containers with trees in a semicircle and in the middle is a table with chairs. We can now sit outside among the greenery, and it certainly looks better than just boring stones to look at.

It is certainly not a perfect solution, but for us, it is the best solution we could think of within the constraints of our budget and our environment.

Looking Forward To Next Weekend

In this way, the day was a beautiful sunny day full of contrasts, a day of work and enjoyment, of work and play. Unfortunately, this weekend day has come to an end. I'm already looking forward to next weekend!

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