Pets Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Debra Sennefelder

Coffee & Chat #19

Happy Wednesday! We just got through a few days of horrible high humidity. Not pleasant at all but we woke up this morning to much lower humidity and it’s absolutely beautiful. So sipping my cup of hot coffee while chatting with you right now is very pleasurable.

Thanks to my writing partner, Susie, I kept on track with the writing of the first draft of SILENCED IN SEQUINS. I began writing the manuscript on June 11th and finished on July 15th. During that period I had 27 writing days and finished with a draft of 61,090 words. WooHoo!!! That’s something I can definitely work with when I dive in for the second draft.

As I was coming the end of the manuscript I decided to take a week off from writing. During this week I’m not working to meet a daily word count goal or working on an editing deadline. Gotta admit, it’s nice not having a looming deadline. It’s time to tackle some projects around the house, enjoy some long walks early in the morning (see above, I love that path) and brainstorm a new project. Next week I’ll be back to work on the third draft of book 3 in the Food Blogger series. I’ve gotten the manuscript back from my critique partner and it’s time to start preparing the manuscript for submission this fall.

Getting out has been so much enjoyable since getting Billy his stroller. He does so well in it and seems to really like it. It gets all the benefits of being outside without any of the work. LOL. That’s okay. In the photo he looks so shaggy, it was just a week before his grooming appointment. I sense Susie is enjoying the walks more too because she can keep her regular pace of speedwalking and not be slowed down because of Billy. It looks like a win-win for all of us.

Last week I managed to squeeze in a visit to my friend Carolyn’s house to visit her dog’s puppies! Here’s Penny with her three week old puppies. They are so freakin’ cute. Holding them was so sweet. They were just starting to teeth so my hand was their chew toy. I didn’t care. They wiggled and squeaked. I just wanted to play with the puppies all day. All day!

I found some time to test a scone recipe. It’s my basic recipe with a little change. Very yummy. I have to bake them them one more time and then I’ll share the recipe. I promise.

If you haven’t had the chance to read THE UNINVITED CORPSE it’s available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble in print, e-book and audio book format. Because of my amazing readers I was able to hit 50 reviews on Amazon. Thank you!

I’m in need of a refill so I’m going to sign-off and get more coffee. Thanks for visiting with me today. I’ve shared my plans for the week with you and I’d love to know what you’re up. Drop a comment and let me know.

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Coffee & Chat, Life, Pets, The Uninvited Corpse

Coffee & Chat #18

The heat is on here in Connecticut. Though, it’s significantly more comfortable than last week. That heat wave was brutal. But when temps hover in the upper 80s with humidity, I’m definitely not a happy camper. Luckily I’m hunkered down at my computer working with coffee and water – need to stay balanced. 🙂

I have ventured out for walks with the pups, usually early in the morning or evening because of the heat. A few times I’ve taken Susie out to the pen we have set up for the pups because the pavement was just too hot. Though, Susie prefers to walk. Walking these days have been challenging because of Billy’s blindness. He’s become more skiddish, more uncertain and seemed stressed when I took him out. While he may be content staying inside, where he feels safer, I think it’s important he gets out for some fresh air, feel the sun and summer breezes on his little body. And I found a solution. A stroller.

He absolutely loves it. He settles right into the stroller and off the three of us go. Susie has had a chance to ride it in but since she’s capable of walking, walk she does. Though, I saw how easily she could get used to riding in the stroller. I think it’s their breed that has resulted in both of them pretty much being easy going about things.

The stroller even has cup holders (yay!) and a little cargo basket beneath the seat. It’s perfect. And I’m so happy we all can walk together again.

Staying on the topic of animals, our turkeys are back! I’ve been seeing three turkeys by our bird feeder over the past few weeks. I think they’re cool and it’s really funny seeing them next to the itty-bitty birds that also visit the feeder. I wonder what those little birds think when they see the BIG turkeys. Also at the feeder I’ve spied mama raccoon with her five babies. Yeah, they’ve been at the feeder and the trash container. Busy, busy. I’ve also seen our wild rabbit make an appearance a few times, more than usual. She was across the stream the other morning, hopping about then I lost sight of her. Depending on the day and the activity outside, having this view from my study can be distraction. 🙂

Luckily, I haven’t had too many distractions. I’m coming close to the end of the first draft of book 2 in the Resale Boutique mystery series. WooHoo!!! I expect to be finished by Friday and then I’ll indulge in a week of no writing. One whole week and I’m looking forward to it. I have a book I want to finish reading and a new one to start. When my little vacay is over, I’ll begin working on the third draft of book 3 in the Food Blogger mystery series. Speaking of which, book 1, THE UNINVITED CORPSE, is available in audio format if that’s how you prefer to read your books. I absolutely love the cover of the CD set the publisher created.

Wednesday’s question: Do you listen to audio books? If so, when do you listen to them? Commuting, exercising, cleaning, etc?

I’m going to wrap up this post. It’s been great catching up with you!

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Pets, Shih-Tzu Saturday

Shih-Tzu Saturday #10

Happy Saturday! December is finally here and that means Christmas is just weeks away. Is it starting to feel like Christmas where you are? It’s finally getting a little chilly here in Connecticut and we have a snow shower (nothing big) coming Monday morning. Yep, it’s starting to feel like Christmas here. Besides the cold and the snow, you know what else gets me into the Christmas spirit? Christmas cards!

For the past few years I’ve been sending out photo Christmas cards featuring the pups. One of the funnest (is that a word? Not sure) parts of making the Christmas card is the photo shoot and the silly outtakes that won’t be used for the card. Wrangling two pups with short attention spans is hilarious.

This year the pups have donned matching scarves (their Christmas gift last year from my sister-in-law). I love the shot of Billy sticking his tongue out. They move so fast, one minute their looking right at me and it’s the perfect photo and the next moment they’re distracted by something and they’re perched to jump off of the sofa.

Last year I found the most adorable faux fur shrug at TJ Maxx for Susie (I know, but I couldn’t resist) and I knew she had to wear it for her Christmas photo. Luckily the day of her grooming appointment Teresa put the most beautiful bow in Susie’s hair and it was perfect with the shrug. She did look like a Shih-Tzu princess.

Wow! What a big mouth the little guy has. He definitely lived up to his nickname of Silly Billy. What an adorable goof ball.

My Christmas cards are on their way and should be here within a couple of days. What kind of cards to you send? Photo cards? Traditional cards? Handmade cards?

Happy Saturday!

Pets, Shih-Tzu Saturday

Shih-Tzu Saturday #8

Happy Saturday! How hot is it where you are? My critique partner, Ellie Ashe, who lives in northern California is baking as I write this. Over 100 degrees. Ugh. Here in Connecticut the temps are climbing today to the mid-80s with low humidity. So it’s tolerable. I’m really not a summer gal. I prefer cooler weather (without the snow preferably). But today’s post isn’t about the weather, it’s about a Shih-Tzu named Billy, aka Cone Dog.

Billy experienced something we humans dread. You go to the doctor for one thing and you end up leaving worse than you did when you arrived for the appointment. Last Sunday I took him for his annual exam. Simple, right? No so much. He had a skin irritation, something to do with allergies. Then the big whopper and the reason why he’s been wearing a cone since the appointment. He has an ulcer in his eye. We left the appointment with five medications for both conditions and then I picked up the cone for him. Aside from his medications (three times a day), the most important thing I had to do was protect his right eye so that the ulcer does not worsen. On his re-check mid-week the ulcer was healing nicely and tomorrow he has another appointment scheduled. If all goes well, he’ll be out of the cone tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

The little guy has been a good sport considering the wearing of the cone and the three medications I’m putting in his eyes three times a day. I know that’s not pleasant. But he’s still wagging his tail. I’ll have to keep this week in mind the next time I come across a difficult situation. I’ll just remind myself to keep wagging my tail. 🙂

Have a great Saturday!

D

Knitting, Pets, Writing

Happy June!

It’s June 1st. Wow! It’s hard to believe we’re half way through 2016. I had a feeling that 2016 was going to be a good year and so far, it is pretty good. At the end of March I signed with an agent to represent my cozy mystery series! Very, very excited about that. I’m currently working on the second book in the series. In fact, over the three day weekend I wrote 10,017 words. That was pretty awesome.

But it hasn’t been all work. I’ve gotten some play in. And I have pictures!

Today was a perfect late spring day to get the dogs outside so I took them to their pen. Susie ran around and rolled several times. Boy, she just body slams the grass. LOL. Meanwhile, Billy stood close to me. I had him on a lead and walked him around several times so he could sniff and get some fresh air. He’s pretty much completely blind so letting him loose in the pen wasn’t a good idea. I think he would have been too disoriented.

Just as I snapped the photo, she turned her head. So typically Susie. 🙂

When she was ready for her photo to be taken she posed.

Here’s Billy.

Billy was ready for his close-up. 🙂

While I was at a writer’s conference in April I visited a knitting shop with my roommate, fellow author Megan Ryder, and I fell in love with a sample baby blanket and knew it would perfect for a certain little guy. So I bought yarn and a circular knitting needle. And I’ve finally had the time to start the project. Here’s my work in progress.

In the above picture you can see a glimpse of my new knitting tote. Before we hit the knitting shop we stopped in Michael’s (we needed to get a few things for Megan’s basket for the raffle) and we came across the prettiest totes. I couldn’t resist. Then I found the yarn and then it all came together. My yarn needed a bag!

I hope you have a great start to June. This month I want to finish the blanket and I have to continue writing the first draft of the second book in my mystery series. What are you up to this month?