Smudge 6/1/1997–11/3/2011

Stix n Brix
Clayton, NC

Smudge  1997 - 2011

Smudge has been a huge part of our lives during the past 14 years but we had to say goodbye to her yesterday.  When we picked her out of a liter of 5, little did we know that we had chosen the devil of the bunch.  At that time, Gin was in a wheelchair so we knew we wanted a small dog that could stay in the house to use a pee-pad when nature called.  She enjoyed riding in Gin’s lap as she wheeled around in the house.

When we got our MH in 2006, Smudge adjusted to our little travels very well.  She did not like being left behind.  She had a case of separation anxiety and stuck to me like Velcro.  Oh how I miss that little cling-on! 

One of our best memories of a good day together was a hike in the woods near Brevard, NC in 2008.  We made a wrong turn and never found the waterfall, but Smudge was hopping over limbs and pulling me on her leash.  She had a blast!

During the past two years she aged rapidly.  A few months ago we took her to the vet because she wasn’t acting quite right.  The doctor told us that she was in kidney failure and that it was only a matter of time.  We fed her the kidney formula of Science Diet hoping that would help.  During the past few weeks, we had to hand feed her (spoiled a little) to get her to eat.  She didn’t drink any water on Wednesday and was so weak.  She didn’t sleep much that night and was sick Thursday several times.  She trembled in pain.  We knew it was time to say our goodbyes.

This is my tribute post so I am posting a lot of pictures.  They have captions if you stop the cursor on the pic.  We have had other dogs before her but she lived with us the longest.  She was very ill-tempered but very much loved by us.  We will see her at the Rainbow Bridge.

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cedar Point Tideland Trail and Another Small World

Cedar Point CG (site #37)
Croatan National Forest
Cedar Point, NC

There is a nice hiking trail right beside the cg here that has been cleared out nicely after last month’s Hurricane Irene.  It’s wide enough to enjoy a bike ride to get away from the many mosquitoes.

There are about five bridges to walk over the marshy areas.  I’m not real sure if it’s legal to fish from them, but I doubt that he was catching anything.

 

The trail makes a loop so that you come out at the beginning point and is a little more than a mile long.  I didn’t walk the whole thing because the mosquitoes were horrendous.  I learned from Sherry that it’s ok to follow the same trail back because you see the same things from a different angle.  Here’s an example.  This bird feeding station was recently added to the trail.  See how different it looks.

  

This little fella was glad that the squirrel guard was working.  He wasn’t much bigger than the mosquitoes that threatened to carry me away.

There is also a shallow boat launch right here that will handle kayaks very nicely.  A small jon boat would be ok at high tide.

A little closer look at the sentry on the far post…

We are in site #37 which is the last site in the cg.  It is becoming one of our favorite sites because you have a private patio area and it is close to a water spigot.  I enjoyed relaxing with Smudge after checking out the trail.

 

On Friday after taking Wanda to freshen up at the dump station, the neighbors across the road asked Gin to help them with their vuqube satellite dish receiver.  They had noticed that we had ours on the roof and they were having trouble getting reception on theirs.  While chatting with them, it was discovered that they not only live near Clayton but they actually live in our subdivision!  They live two cul de sacs from us.  They have noticed that Wanda hasn’t been in the driveway as much as usual while walking their dogs.  Bill and Judy have had truck campers in the past but got a nice 5er this year and enjoy it a lot.  Another small world moment in the rving lifestyle.

We will leave here soon to go to Rocky Mount for a few days.  Gin’s mom is having surgery this week so we will help out in whatever way we can.

Thanks for dropping by, and enjoy each day of your life’s journey by finding beauty in the ordinary.

Spring Cleaning

Stix n Brix
Clayton, NC

I got the grass (weeds) cut yesterday.  We had taken the Miata to the mechanic at Clayton Tire to have a minor oil leak fixed and they fixed the lawnmower tire in just a couple of minutes.  I will definitely miss them when we hit the road this Fall.  When I finished with the lawn, the mower would not crank up to put it in storage.  It’s more than just the battery.  Oh well, just one more reason to hit the road.

After that bit of yard work, I got a bucket out and washed the waverunners.  We’ve enjoyed them immensely the past few summers, but it’s time for someone else to enjoy them.  Gin charged one battery but the other one is bad so we replaced it today.  They’ll go on Craigslist soon.

 

While I had the bucket and brush out, the Suki got a bath.  Can you tell that I’m a bit vertically challenged?  The water beads up so good because I put Rejex on it last fall.  The pine pollen is starting to turn everything yellow so it’ll need to be rinsed off again in a few days.

 

Throughout all this labor, I had a special supervisor.  Smudge is getting close to 14 years old and has slowed down a lot in the past year or two.  She’s pretty much deaf and can’t see too good either.

As Gin and I were wrapping things up yesterday, Smudge gave us quite a scare.  She had a seizure.  It’s the first one she’s ever had.  She stood there with her body curled up and trebling.  I gently picked her up and held her until she came out of her daze.  She’s always been an unfriendly dog, but we love her.

Thanks for dropping by, and enjoy each day of your life’s journey by finding beauty in the ordinary.

Smudge’s Day

Huntington Beach State Park site #111
Murrell’s Inlet, SC

We had planned to spend the morning on the bikes but Smudge had other plans.  She has separation anxiety and hasn’t eaten much the last couple of days.  She had an upset stomach so we knew we needed to be with her instead.  We decided to take her to the shore since there is a lot of hard sand there.  A poodle doesn’t do good in the soft sand…gritty.  She barked at a bird and stared at it.

 

But mostly, she barked at me to pick her up.  We should have named her Velcro because she sticks to me and she looks like velcro.

 

She really doesn’t care for the beach like some dogs.  That’s ok because I can’t imagine all that sand and salt water in her fur.  I’m not sure if the tide was coming in or out, but this was a nice tidal pool flowing.

 

After we all had a nice stroll on the beach, we went back to camp to enjoy a lunch of delicious left-overs.  Since Smudge was feeling better, Gin and I took a few minutes to ride the bikes around in the CG.  This place stays pretty full.  Some of the Thanksgiving crowd is already arriving.  We now have neighbors on one side of us.  Gin got a nice campfire going while Smudge curled up in my lap.  We cooked some brats and marshmallows for supper.  Don’t worry.  We had our veggies for lunch.

A few folks asked about the roaster so Gin took some shots to show how we have it set up.  Notice the reflection of the bikes in the freshly waxed MH.

 

We sit one of those disposable aluminum pans in the roaster pan so that clean up is easier.  For storage, we put the lid in the styrofoam packaging that it came in.  We also kept the box and reinforced it with duct tape and cut out a little spot for the handles.  There is enough room in our basement to put our Baby-Q grill on top of it.  We plan to take it with us when we finally hit the road.

 

We’ve enjoyed the wonderful weather here this week.  Maybe it’ll hold up for us so we can enjoy the bikeway.  Thanks for dropping by, and enjoy each day of your life’s journey by finding beauty in the ordinary.