Sheilajeanne

In case you can't read it, the front of the statue says 'freeze indicator'!

Rub it in, Fred, rub it in! Last night was the coldest night of the years so far - minus 18 C ( 0 F.) And that's nothing compared to temps in the west, where it's been -40 ! Woke to light snow, which has now stopped, and we're actually getting some weak, watery sunlight shining through the gloom.

When I had rural delivery, they wouldn't deliver my mail unless the mailbox was completely dug out so the postie could pull up right next to it. But if you've had rural delivery for any length of time, I'm sure you know this already... And 4 to 6 inches of snow isn't that much for Wyoming and Ontario. Oh wait, you're in Tennessee...everything's probably at a standstill! The snowplow took out my mailbox once. I had to pick my mail up at the post office until I could figure out how to make it snowplow-proof! You could probably do the same until things thaw out a bit.

Very nice! I am getting a new guitar soon, so will have to make a strap. How do you contour it at the shoulder? Do cut a curve into the leather where it rests next to your neck?

For future reference: stay the heck away from Al Stohlman knives, unless they are really really old. The modern ones are made from poor low carbon steel!

If you're a woodworker, you could make one of these for the yarn ball instead: Screen grab from https://www.temu.com/ Very pretty!

A man travels to Spain and goes to a restaurant near the bull arena for a late dinner. He orders the house special and he is brought a plate with potatoes, corn, and two large meaty objects. "What's this?" he asks? "The Matador Special, Senor," the waiter replies. "What meat is it?" the man asks. "Cojones," the waiter explains, "They, are the testicles of the bull who lost at the arena this afternoon." At first the man is disgusted; but being the adventurous type, he decides to try this local delicacy. To his amazement, it is quite delicious. In fact, it is so good that he decides to come back again the next night and order it again. This time, the waiter brings out the plate, but the meaty objects are much smaller. "What's this?" he asks the waiter. "The Matador Special, senor," the waiter replies. "No, no," the man objects, "I had the Matador Special yesterday and it was much bigger than this." "Senor," the waiter explains, "the bull does not always lose." The worst pub I've ever been to was the Fiddle. It was a vile inn...

LOL! Another sewing machine joke:

LOL! My parents slept in separate beds because my dad was such a horribly restless sleeper. Generally, by morning, one or both of his pillows would be on the floor, along with half the blankets! I once walked into the room while he was having a nap, and saw him kick out in his sleep and launch the poor cat two feet in the air! The cat very quickly learned it was safer to sleep on Mom's bed! But despite the separate beds, he definitely knew how to say "Yes, dear!" Their marriage lasted nearly 60 years, until he died at the age of 89.

Another gem from Pearls Before Swine:

Hi, insect expert here - used to teach kids about moths and butterflies, and also raised monarch butterflies at home! If you compare your carving with the pattern, you will see you should have left a little space between the abdomen and the hind wings. Also, I'd make the line between the front wings and the hind wings more obvious. The segments of the abdomen should be slightly curved, to make it look rounder. And the body of the butterfly should have 3 well defined sections: head, thorax and abdomen. The pattern you're using is very good, it's very realistic. If you follow it more closely, your butterfly will look much more realistic! Still very good for your first efforts at carving... Maybe this picture of a monarch butterfly will help, as it shows some of the things I mentioned. One thing to note is the pattern of the veins in the butterfly's wings are never random. They always follow almost exactly the same pattern, and the pattern is different for each species. They are actual veins, and fluid flows along them when the butterfly emerges from the chrysalis, to expand the wings to their full size.

Dogs bred for specific things - this is amazing! (And Sup, I know you're okay with it, but some people think we should just let all the dogs become mutts. Yeah, no more bird dogs, no more police dogs or herding dogs. ) I agree with you about those poor naked cats, and other cats that are bred for unique traits that can actuallly be harmful. Scottish fold cats, the ones with the folded ears, suffer from severe arthritis at an early age, because the defective gene that causes the folded ear also affects the cartilage in their joints. You cannot breed two Scotch Fold cats together - the kittens will die shortly after birth, as the double recessive gene is lethal: All Fold cats are affected by osteochondrodysplasia (OCD), a developmental abnormality that affects cartilage and bone development throughout the body. This condition causes the ear fold in the breed and studies point to all Fold cats being affected by it. Fold cats therefore have malformed bone structures and can develop severe painful degenerative joint diseases at an early age.[2] Due to these health conditions, breeding Fold cats is prohibited in several countries and some major cat registries do not recognize the cat breed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Fold Purebred Persian cats can't groom themselves properly and must be brushed daily to keep the coat from matting. They also have trouble eating due to the squished in faces.

My uncle, a dairy farmer, had an ancient green Ford, with the long metal shift on the floor. The darn thing just wouldn't quit - I forget how many years he had it for! Okay, he was a licensed equipment mechanic before he decided to farm full time, so he knew how to keep it running! Here's what the puppy mills do when they have a defective pup: Of course, she gave birth to several pups with the same defect, but hey, the normal ones (that still may carry the recessive gene for this) got sold to unsuspecting buyers! (The picture was taken by Humane Society staff who raided the mill, and put it out of business.)

Very interesting video of how parchment used to be made out of animal skins for books! https://www.facebook.com/reel/1084237859620585

Things need to change, Chuck. If no one complains, nothing will get done. They are ruining the breed I love. (I guessed those were American bullies. I've seen quite a few - people do schutzhund with them.)

Chuck, the problem with that is there's this thing called the 'breed standard' that the breeders are supposed to follow, and if they don't follow it, the breed can get messed up pretty fast: The dog must not be timid, shrinking behind its master or handler; it should not be nervous, looking about or upward with anxious expression or showing nervous reactions, such as tucking of tail, to strange sounds or sights. Lack of confidence under any surroundings is not typical of good character. Any of the above deficiencies in character which indicate shyness must be penalized as very serious faults and any dog exhibiting pronounced indications of these must be excused from the ring At one American German shepherd show a few years ago, breeders asked the people running the show to stop making announcements over the P.A. system, as it was causing their dogs to spook. Did you know the border collie people fought very hard AGAINST being recognized by the AKC, as their breed is above all else a WORKING breed? Other collie herding breeds (rough collie Shetland sheepdog) have been destroyed by the conformation show ring, and are no longer capable of working. The rough collie now carries so much coat that if it tried to herd in an area with lots of scrub, it would get caught up in the bushes, and likely get stuck!

What NOT to wear to a dog show: As for working titles, I was definitely planning to put at least and IGP1 on Eska, but age and health got in the way... Anyway, she got her BH, the basic Schutzhund obedience title 5 days after being hit by a car, when she dashed out into the street, instead of waiting for me to open the car door... Ah well, she's a great companion, and watching her and the cat have their morning sparring match is very entertaining! Chuck, what breed are the dogs in your photo?

[sigh!] Ohhh, Klara, have you ever opened a can of worms. As I think you are aware, the main sport for proving a GSD is worthy of breeding is Schutzhund. The AKC banned Schutzhund back in 1990. For a long time prior to that, GSDs shown in the American ring very rarely had any working titles of any sort, not even obedience. Same thing with Canada. One year, I attended the obedience trials at the Canadian Nationals (biggest show of the year for the GSD). None of the dogs competing were conformation dogs, and there were even quite a few dogs of other breeds. The problem is, if you don't prove your dogs have working ability, within a few generations you will lose that ability! Very few ASL German shepherds do anything other than trot around the ring looking pretty! In Canada, some breeders got together, and were determined to fix this. The founder of our breed, von Stephanitz said "Make sure my shepherd dog remains a working dog, for I have struggled all my life long for that aim. The breeding of shepherd dogs is the breeding of working dogs; and this must always be the aim, or we shall cease to produce shepherd dogs. Efficiency for work must count for more with the shepherd dog breeder than the honors of the Show Ring." So, this group of breeders finally got the kennel club to agree that before a Canadian GSD could go 'Select' in conformation, it must pass a temperament test and have at least one working title. There was CONSIDERABLE opposition to this from breeders who knew their dogs would never pass the temperament test, which involved things like walking along a road with traffic going past, gunshots being fired from a starter pistol, and an umbrella being opened in front of the dog. The AKC club has never introduced similar rules. What about the German dogs? Well, in the early 70's a split began to form between the working GSDs and the show GSDs. The show dogs were bred to have lovely black and red coats, and like the ASL dogs, a far-reaching side gait. It was also decided that a curved back was stronger than a straight back, so backs became arched like a bridge. Due to breeding for a longer upper thigh the front end and the back were now out of balance, and as you can see from this photo, the trot was no longer a 2 beat gait. The courage test done at the Sieger show, the show of the year, was watered down. Dogs that came off the sleeve during the bitework still were getting ratings of 'pronounced'. There is currently pretty much a total split between the working and show lines. The show lines have their Sieger show, while the working lines have the BSP (Bundsieger Prufung) and the WUSV championship, which only tests their working ability in the 3 Schutzhund disciplines (tracking, obedience and protection.) Here's what a typical working line (BSP winner!) looks like: https://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=122775-ernst-vom-weinbergblick?_v=20121019223949 And here is a female German show line, who placed second in the 2017 Sieger show, which is what the VA2 rating means.

Okay, I need to know - do websites in the U.K. use biscuits instead of cookies?

Totally agree! Today's German shepherds couldn't do this: My current shepherd is working line, and they look more like the dogs of years gone by, and most can still work. Her father was a police canine: https://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=2224084-eska-von-den-roten-vorbergen?_v=20171103225743

Klara, long ago I discovered a link to a book that showed dog breeds in the very early 1900's. Many of the dogs looked very, very different from what their breed looks like now, and a surprising number of the breeds no longer exist. So, breeds do fall out of favor (or fashion) and become extinct. I'd post the link, but it's on my old computer, and I don't have time to look it up. But here's how one breed has changed since then! The St. Bernard has become so unsuited for the job it used to do (Alpine rescue) that alpine rescue units no longer use it. Edit: found a link to the book!! It was originally published in 1867. An updated issue followed in 1915. https://archive.org/details/dogsofallnations00masorich

What? No, I never said she 'fed her dog cookies'. That was the Linda Shaw quote - her GERMAN SHEPHERD dropped dead at her feet due to an inherited heart arrhythmia! Let's take this by the steps: this e-friend of mine bought a beagle pup. It developed severe, life-threatening allergies. Several years down the road, she found out that the sire also had severe allergies, and the owner was continuing to breed it, despite knowing about the problem. Like the man who owned the GSD with the pacemaker, the sire of the dog that dropped dead, no doubt he would deny the allergies could be inherited if confronted by someone with an offspring that had developed the same problem. This is NOT a rare thing in the dog breeding world. I have seen it over and over again. I could tell you dozens of stories from the GSD world of the same sort of thing happening. Those stud fees look pretty good, and that's how breeders make their money - that and selling puppies. Of course, some of the pups would have been unaffected, and that would give them an excuse to keep on cranking out pups. Dysplasia is also a problem with GSD's, but it has been dramatically reduced by the OFA x-ray program. Anyone buying a GSD these days will be checking the pup's pedigree to make sure their ancestor's hips (and more recently, elbows) passed the OFA screening program. And yes, maybe the bulldog SHOULD go extinct unless the breeders do something about fixing the problems it has! The function the dog once served (baiting bulls) is now illegal just about everywhere, so why keep a dog that's such a genetic disaster around? It's cruel what breeders have done - the females have pelvises so narrow they can't even give birth normally, and have to have C-sections! You think it's ethical to breed dogs like that??

Chuck, there's a very good reason the English bulldog is about the LAST breed of dog I'd ever want to own! They also suffer from severe breathing problems due to the short snout, and can overheat and die very quickly in hot weather. Dogs like that should not be bred. Vets often comment on how dogs recovering from anesthesia will fight the tracheal tube when they begin to regain consciousness. The short snouted breeds often don't, because it's one of the very few times in their lives they've been able to breathe freely. It's a cruel thing breeders have done creating breeds like this. The owner of the beagle in question has had many beagles (she LOVES hounds) knows the breed inside and out, knows many other beagle breeders (it's not a very large community where she lives) and knows for sure the breeder was aware of the problem, but preferred getting stud fees and points in the show ring to breeding sound, healthy dogs. It's not a problem that shows up right away in the offspring, so it was easy for him to get away with it, and claim he had no idea the pups might have inherited it. And don't get me started on the problems with the German shepherd. Here's what the breed standard (AKC) says about temperament: And here's what Linda Shaw noticed: Over a period of a decade I watched almost every Grand Victor at the GSDCC National display obvious nervous instability. I lost count of the dogs that crouched, shied, cowered and trembled before judges who apparently didn’t care. Some of the Canadian breeders who DID care fought very hard to introduce a temperament test for the breed. They eventually won out, but against CONSIDERABLE resistance. German shepherds in Canada now must pass the test in order to get a Select conformation rating. The American club (GSDCA) still does not require a test.

Chuck, oh the breeder knew the male had problems! There is no doubt about it! It is not at all uncommon for AKC show breeders to continue to breed dogs with health and/or temperament problems, as long as they perform well in the show ring. Beagles aren't my breed, but I could cite numerous examples that have been proven from multiple sources in German shepherds. Here's one of the worst. Linda Shaw wrote this. She also wrote the book on the Illustrated Standard of the German Shepherd Dog.