Cooper & Spicy's Kingdom : Back on track...almost

Happy Sunday everyone! A cloudy day for us but warmer than the past few days. We had some coolish days last week although it was sunny. We woke up to -1 Celsius yesterday morning....I'm still wearing my shorts to take the doggies out in the morning. Not ready to give them up yet! Except for tomorrow, this coming week is looking quite nice, with warm weather and sunshine, so my shorts will be totally in fashion.

This past week was good. We are almost back on track as far as our routine goes. There were a few days where we didn't do much other than walk Cooper & Spicy. Russell went back to the gym last Friday, good for him. As for me, I am planning to go back on Wednesday...I'm on the waitlist at the moment for the 9:30 am class but I'm positive that I will get in. I was on the waitlist for Thursday as well and just got notification that I've been added to the class. I'm looking forward to going back and seeing my gym buddies. Having said this, I'm still having quite a bit of pain in my left rotator cuff. Last Thursday, I saw a new physiotherapist (the one that treated Russell's knee) and actually received a slightly different diagnosis. It seems that I'm dealing with a bicep tendinosis (not to be confused with tendinitis). I'm told it could take 3 months to heal. I'm now rethinking my workouts and how best to deal with this issue while still working out and not hurting myself. Not a big deal really, some people have bigger health issues to deal with. It's just annoying.

Last Tuesday, the Coop and I resumed our Advanced Fun Obedience training. It was nice to see our instructor Wanda again. As with the past three years, this class only has eight dogs in attendance, three of them Havanese... the usual culprits, Macey, Blu-Belle and Cooper. We are now learning the Dumbbell Retrieve using the Hold command. Not easy. Although Cooper (and Spicy) knows the retrieve game very well, learning to "hold" the dumbbell or toy until being told to release it is a different story. I must admit that I thought it would be a walk in the park...not so much. But we're practicing and I am confident that we will get there, one day.

Miss Spicy is doing well. Before our trip, she was a bit fussy with her breakfast and wouldn't eat right away, most likely a side effect of her heart meds. So we changed her meal time in order to accommodate the timing of her medication. Ever since we've been back, she's been wanting to eat breakfast first thing in the morning, with gusto, no fuss no muss. Go figure, so we have changed the timing of her meds accordingly...must be taken one hour before meal or two hours after, every 12 hours or so. Quite the process but we aim to please our little princess.

The leaves are changing and it really feels and looks like Fall. We have some yard work to do in the coming weeks. We also need to get our garage ready for Winter so that I can park my car. Lots of time still for all of this. With the warm weather in the forecast this week, we plan on taking advantage of it and sit on the deck with the patio heater on. Not too many deck days left, best take advantage of them.

Tomorrow, Spicy and I will visit the seniors at The Wellesley. We haven't been for a while, it will be nice to see everyone again.

That's my blog for this week. I leave you with more photos of our trip, those taken by Russell, and a few of our pooches. I wish you all a great week. Thanksgiving weekend coming up!

Russell and I on a blustery day near the Cliffs of Moher.

The Cliffs of Moher are stunning and even more so
in the mist.

The pasture lands of the Wicklow Hills, a quilt
of shades of green.

Sheep grazing hillside in Wicklow just beside the road.

A lonely winding road in the Wicklow Hills.

Howth in the distance as seen from SandyCove a quaint
little seaside town.

EPIC museum (Every Person Is Connected), a truly
wonderful museum on the emigration of the
Irish people all around the world.

The Samuel Beckett Bridge (shaped like a harp) and the replica
of the Jeanie Johnston which was originally built in 1847
in Quebec. She sailed with passengers from Ireland to
Quebec in 1848 with passengers fleeing the Famine.