Morning Assorteds

It's a floundering kind of morning here at the computer.  The Blogfather has said his good byes and has officially entered the realm of full-fledged retiree.  

The Blogfather has always been there since I started this blog 13 years ago, as has the bookmark for Huckleberries Online.  

Just for nostalgia sake and to honor an ongoing and supportive influence in my life, I'll probably leave the HBO bookmark in my list of favorites.  Dave, you're already missed, and I'll bet you slept in this morning. 

On this Friday morning, it's also an "assorted type of day."  As noted yesterday, we took Liam to his first agility class yesterday afternoon. 

I learned many things about agility but I also learned the our teacher Lindsay certainly can multi-task much better than I.  If you'll study her photo below, you'll see an extra mini appendage below her forearm.  

Yes, Lindsay taught our class with her youngest on board.  We never heard a peep, and her other two daughters sat quietly entertaining themselves in a mini shelter next to the fenced in agility course.  

Lindsay also kept tabs on Finn, the family's Golden Retriever.  He happily demonstrates the tasks as we were introduced to each agility station.   When I say "we," I'm referring to Liam and me.  Ben and Dorothy had already attended some agility training, so they were very nice and patient as Liam and I took our maiden runs over jumps "OVER", "UP" onto to a table and "WEAVE (said only once) through some poles. 

The dogs also took turns crossing over an unsteady piece of plywood.  That's in preparation for the teeter totter where they might get just a little apprehensive when movement begins. 

Liam was cautious but agreeable about each task.  Part of his caution may have really dealt with a few distractions outside the course, the chickens which came marching past from time to time and the kitty cat.  

I think there may have been moments when Liam much preferred to go herd the chickens as opposed to jumping up on the table. 

Anyway, it was fun, and we'll be going three more times, each time graduating to higher and more wobbly expectations.  I'm anxious to see Liam on the teeter totter. 

Back to multi-tasking.  I learned right away that trying to take pictures and learning agility strategies do not mix.  So, not much visual documentation this morning. 

All that said, it's pretty easy for me to walk down the road and take pictures.  So, this morning I can say the feeling of fall was in the air as was the mist and the birds in Taylors field across from our place. 

Twas a pretty scene.

In keeping with "assorteds," I can report that our Sandpoint friend in the Vatican is at it again.  Cindy Wooden noted her "What I Did Last Summer" report on Twitter, along with some nice comments about her colleague who took the photo of Pope Francis for a new book she has co-edited.

The book is due out in 2018. 

This will be Cindy's third effort in the book publishing business, including another book focusing on Pope Francis.

Not bad for a Sandpoint girl.  Check out the link below for more information. 

Yay, Cindy.




https://www.litpress.org/Products/4521/A-Pope-Francis-Lexicon

Changing the subject again! The deer were out this morning.  I first saw them crossing the road from Gary Finney's field to the Meserve Preserve.

I had a feeling I'd see them again, and, sure enough, it was breakfast time in the apple orchard.  

When you're a deer, eating an apple, you're about as good at multi-tasking as Marianne. It's imperative to finish the apple before doing a 180 and bounding off to an apple tree somewhere else. 

So, I was able to get pretty close to the muncher. 

In other news, Bill has already left this morning to take the pickup to Les Schwab for some work and then head on into town and Coeur d'Alene for some other errands. 

I'll probably be picking some more plums and just enjoying the lovely weather.

Finally, I've just had my first test of being an orphan blogger.  Just as I was ready to wrap up, the power went off, and, of course, the computer screen went black.

It was instantaneous, but it took a while to get up and running again.  

I'm thinking this was a sign from Dave Oliveria, the Blogfather, reminding us that he won't be around to save us anymore.  So, we're on our own. 

Fortunately, all worked out, and my blog material was still there after the outage.  

Happy Friday.