Another pet sit mixed with taking care of “their” home has begun. For the next couple of weeks I’ll be leading a pack of two Irish Setters and four chickens while their “mom and dad” take a trip to Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. While I may be the leader of the pack, the dogs, Cooper and Sidney run the house.
I’ve been friends with Bill and Debbie (the home owners) for quite some time so the trauma of a new person coming into the house wasn’t there. But as with any family member (pets included) the initial shock of the “parents” not coming home will come and be dealt with lovingly.
The day started early, real early as a matter of fact, getting up around 0430 AM to make the drive to the airport. The skies were clear, thermometer low, and roads traffic free for the 45 minute ride. As with most of my trips to the airport (when I’m not the one traveling) this would be a simple stop and go as my passengers jumped out of the car, grabbed their bags, and made their way to the departure gate. At times like these, oh how I miss those gates.
So passengers dropped off, car checked to make sure nothing was left behind, and the interior of my Jeep warm again, I headed home. As I was driving, like a pregnant woman, I had a craving. I-Hop was closed so I pulled into a small breakfast joint to fulfill my craving, for pancakes and eggs.
After getting home it was time for morning chores, feed the dogs, cat, and chickens. One of the dogs, Cooper has an ear infection so it has to be cleaned and medicated twice a day and since he doesn’t like it, he doesn’t cooperate.
The rest of the morning was spent mostly with playing with the dogs, checking and returning emails, and just sitting around which last well into the afternoon. As the temps warmed up I made my way outside to check out a couple of kayaks that Bill and Debbie have and found both were open water fishing kayaks. Eureka, now all I’ve got to do is get my fishing license renewed and hit the water in a few days. Since the house is close to where I normally fish, I brought my gear; now I don’t have to wad to fish and I can cover more water.
A couple hours later, it was time for evening chores which is just a repeat of the morning. After taking care of the animals, I made myself some dinner, answered an email concerning an article I’d written, and watched some TV. Finally putting an end to a long day and going to bed.
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| As soon as I get the dogs off |
DAY 2 – 24 January
It was another cold morning in Florida as the sun rose and we had a little breeze to accompany the low temps. Mind you it was nothing like the sub-freezing temperatures the northern US is having, but for Florida, it’s cold.
After the morning chores I went to the county tax collectors office to renew my fishing license. Like I mentioned yesterday I’ve got a kayak at my disposal and without a license to fish all I would be doing in the kayak is ride; not for me. I was amazed that the entire process took less than 30 minutes; that was from the time I walked in, to the time I left. That was the first time I’ve ever gone into a government office and completed my business that fast. Amazing!
Even though the weather was still chilly when I got home, I loaded up the dogs and we headed to the beach for a walk. Yep, the wind was blowing so the sweatshirt was worn and we stayed on the pavement versus walking in the sand close to the water. Since the dogs love the water I knew if we got close, they would get wet.
After our walk I prepared the kayak and my fishing gear for tomorrow’s potential fishing trip. I say potential because before Bill left he told me Cooper has an ear infection and if it doesn’t get better I may have to take him to the vet. He doesn’t like his twice daily ear drops, but not being an aggressive dog, we’re not having any challenges. Cooper didn’t eat much in the morning so I called the family vet (Sunset Point Animal Hospital; same vet for my dogs) to let them know what was going on and that Cooper may have to come in. They told me if there were no appointments available, all I had to do was drop him off between 0800 and 0900 AM and they would call when he was ready to be picked up.
What Cooper didn’t eat in this morning he made up for in this evening meal, so we’ll have to see what the morning brings.
While cooking dinner, my great Jimmy G called to discuss our plans for a spring break trip for myself and his family. We’ve decided on a house within walking distance to the FL Gulf Coast (Gulf of Mexico). We figured a house with a pool would be better than a condo because the condo association probably won’t allow bottles by the pool (non-alcoholic of course; my ass). And we decided on the need for a pool so the kids would have something to do while we drank from those open bottles. With at least three adults in our group, we’ll have a designated parent (or grandparent) so ya’ll can rest, the kids will be well taken care of. We’re not Politian’s so our “legacy” is to make things better for our children and that starts with being a responsible parent.
Ok, finished talking to Jimmy G, did my evening chores, finished fixing and eating dinner, watched some TV, played with the dogs and hit the bed.
DAY 3 – 25 January
Good morning world, it’s time to start another day; morning chores are done.
Thank goodness Cooper’s ear seems to be getting better and he has resumed his normal eating habits.
Today was my first day fishing from a kayak on open water. Like I mentioned yesterday I have been in kayaks but never fishing from one. At first I was a little concerned about the balance with all the moving involved with getting a fish off the line.
About 1030 I made the short drive to Causeway Blvd in Dunedin, got some shrimp for bait, and launched the kayak into the Gulf of Mexico. Today the water was amazingly calm, the sun was warm, but damn the water was cold. I don’t mean freezing cold, but when the water in the Gulf of Mexico around FL is below 70 degrees, it’s cold. Good thing I only had to walk in it for a few feet before jumping in the kayak.
I fished for a couple of hours catching a few small fish and one that was big enough to keep. But, needing more than one to make a meal I returned it to its watery home.
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| Fishing from a kayak in the Gulf of Mexico |
While I was fishing, there was a group of our local cable/telephone workers hanging out on the causeway with their company trucks. I’m not sure if they were supposed to be working or not, but they sure hung around their trucks a lot. Anyway, since the fish weren’t biting much I wasn’t casting and retrieving line when I heard one guy yell “I’ve got some bait”. I ignored him and continued my enjoyment. Within a few minutes I had a fish on the line and while reeling it in, the guys started clapping for my success. When I was finished fishing and paddling back to shore, I considered going over to the guys to ask them how their day was going. But after very little thought I decided against it because I know the old cliché, “even a bad day fishing is better than a good day at work”; I smiled, calling it a day, and keeping my revenge to myself. Back at the house I cleaned the boating equipment and my fishing gear.
The day finished and off to bed.
DAY 4 – 26 January
It looks like it’s going to be a great weekend, but when you’re retired every day is the weekend. Chores done, coffee consumed, now it’s time to head outside and enjoy some sunshine.
When I came back in the house I heard water running and tracked it down to a toilet. The water running into the tank is flowing right back out so it’s maintenance time. The good thing is the water is not running onto the floor.
Repair made to toilet, home owners notified, all is good.
While I was out in the yard earlier, I noticed only two of the chickens were moving about and reflected on my house sit in Costa Rica where one Guiney fowl took off. I HAD to find the two missing chickens. I looked around the yard where they normally are in the morning; no chickens. Normally when they come out of the pen area they don’t go back until mid afternoon but that was my next place to look. Initially when I went in I saw one in the coop and kept looking for the forth. As I was heading out of the coop I looked back and there was the forth chicken, UNDER the third one. Maybe that answers the question, what came first the chicken or the egg; I say the chicken, because I think these chickens were making eggs (LOL). Anyway, all chickens are accounted for
Just a side note on the Guiney Fowl in Costa Rica, she was in the farmers’ field next door raising her new babies. Nobody even knew she was nesting, but she had 10 chicks.
So with the mystery of what came first, the chicken or the egg solved what was I going to do for the rest of the day. I ended up just playing with the dogs a while before feeding the animals and myself. After that it was cocktail time.
DAY 5 – 27 January
The day started out like most other days and it didn’t progress into much else. I did make a trip to my house to drop off some eggs to my sister, check my mail, and chat with the neighbors.
About the only other thing I did was get some lettuce for the chickens. It was a real lazy Sunday.
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