you never can tell

We're expecting a "wintery mix" today and tomorrow. This is a term that means it could rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow or not. There could be a real mess outside, ice everywhere...or just a cold rainy day. We've learned that in, say, Buffalo, NY, this would mean an inch of ice. In the South, it might mean no ice at all. It depends on the meterologist and the neighborhood! The professor and I planned to make use of the morning to take care of things before the temperatures dropped. It's his first day of official university winter vacation (although he works all the time anyway!) so he volunteered to walk the dogs while I do errands before the ice hits.

Out the door they go... but Harry gets away from the professor, and takes off down the street after a loose dog. I run into the street after them. Harry is caught in short order and the loose dog? Poor girl... An older, white and black spotted short haired, 50 lb mutt with clear signs of neglect/mistreatment. She looked as though she was nursing puppies, she'd lost hair on her tail, she was cold and wet. Worse still, her only collar was an overly tight pinch collar. This is ok for walks or training--but horrible for a dog to wear all the time.

First I tried to help this dog find her puppies, but she was truly lost. When she came up to one door, I knocked and a sleepy looking young man told me she was a stray and maybe her puppies were "around the corner." After a bit, I brought her home and called animal control for help. We set up a crate on the front porch with a blanket and tarp over it, tried to feed her (she wasn't hungry), and took off the pronged collar and went for a regular collar and leash. The professor took our dogs on their regular walk.

The animal control lady is named Roxy. She's very nice and knows me by now. I catch a lot of dogs! Roxy was able to tell that this sweet older dog probably wasn't too ill and probably didn't have young puppies, but had probably had many litters...that accounted for the distended teats and tumor like growths. Our gentle but neglected "older lady" went off to the animal shelter. They will help her if they can. We have a good and humane local shelter.

Anyhow, this post was meant to be about some yummy apple walnut bread pudding I made. (Leftover homemade challah, cream, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, brown sugar, apples, walnuts, butter...) I also meant to mention this: My nephew Nate turned 3. Aunt Joanne and the professor gave him a Curious George raincoat and rainboots...and our little guy wears them constantly! All day long, inside at nursery school, and even had trouble taking them off for naps. It's too bad that they don't make Curious George raingear in all sizes, I'm telling you! The professor could use some size 14 EEEE wellies to match his nephew's!

The point of this ended up being different, I think...you never can tell what will come up. It's good to keep learning, (my, you showed me how intellectually active you are in those comments!) just so you can hop to it when dogs in need drop by, or when it starts being icy, or when, say, you've got a yearning for some bread pudding. I'm off to settle in. We're baking bread here. We've got some wood on the backporch in case the power goes out. No telling when you might need warm whole wheat bread or a fire on a damp cold day!