Winter in Lelystad and catching up

It has been freezing for some days and the trees are white with the frost.
The pampagrass and conifers look great too covered in frost.
Gladdich would like to spend all day outside in the garden, he loves the cold and dry weather. But he likes company too and the other family members prefer to be inside. Chimay has not yet regrown her fur (the old hair is nearly gone, but the new coat is not completely grown back yet), so her fur coat is not as warm as Gladdichs.
Gladdich had some trouble with his right knee. We don't think it is a ruptured ACL (yet), but he was limping earlier this month when the weather was very wet. We try to make his muscles stronger and take him for a leashed long walk every other day. It seems to help because the limping is getting less. We have had enough ACL surgeries for the rest of our life with Nemo and Pandora a few years back!

Life has changed with Frank having a job. Yesterday evening I was thinking how much more he does and can do, a world of difference in comparison with a year ago!
Wednesday evening he went to work the night, had a few hours sleep there and slept 3 hours back home. Then we went to Naaldwijk (nearly two hours dive with a lot of traffic) to see the psychiatrist and from there we went to my parents. And yesterday (Friday) Frank went to Rotterdam by train to visit his father, did some shopping and went to café Haagse Bluf to spend the evening with some friends, took the last train back to Lelystad and was home at 2:00, tired, but not exhausted.
This would not have been possible a year ago, the trip to Naaldwijk and my parents would have been so exhausting, he would need a week to recuperate. It is unbelievable two times a day half a Ritalin makes so much difference...

I am getting used being without Frank two nights a week. It is a tremendous help that I have some people here who I can call if needed. Not that I needed to call someone, but knowing thay are available gives me peace of mind.

puppy time is over

The last pup left Friday, our home is quiet again.
Chimay and Gladdich were a bit down when Demi (Xin-Feng's Draupadi) left, but not for long. They have been playing a lot together the last days.
It is good to sleep in bed again instead of on the couch in the livingroom!

We heard back from all pups, all are doing well.

Demi (Xin-Feng's Demeter) has a great time with all the Shiba Inu's, we get regulair mail and photos, she loves to sleep with Daddy on the couch:

Desna (Xin-Feng's Desdemona) gave her Mom and Dad a hard time the first nights, but is behaving much better now.

No photos yet from Bobbie (Xin-Feng's Don Leo) and Dante (Xin-Feng's Dante).

Dao (Xin-Feng's Dao) lives with his aunt Ginger (Xin-Feng's Charming Ginger), here they are together in the kitchen.

And Demi (Xin-Feng's Draupadi) is with her family, like she was here, a joy to have around.

Gladdich the great

Gladdich is doing great with the pups. But he is a show-off, so when other people are watching he tends to be a bit more rough with the pups, so he is not allowed to play with the pups when we have visitors. But otherwise he is doing really great.

Here a video of Gladdich playing with Demi (Xin-Feng's Draupadi:


Meanwhile four pups have left, two rough girls still here. That is a lot less work as six, both for Chimay and us ;-)
Frank worked his first night and it went well. I survived the night alone very well too.

Gladdich does well with the pups and he does well working for me too. In the past weeks I had two panick attacks, while walking Chimay and Gladdich. Both times Gladdich calmed me down fairly quickly and Chimay did her job: she led me home.

the pups 7 weeks

Today I took the last photos of the pups on Franks lap. Next week the first pups are going to their new homes, the last one goes in two weeks time.

I also made a video of them all:


This litter was very early housebroken: at four weeks!
Two males did their last pee on the paper when they were four weeks and two days and two days later I removed the papers from to puppy-pen because they were useless.

But housebroken means we have to carry six pups from puppy-pen in the livingroom to bigger puppy-pen in the garden (and back), day and night... So we are happy the first ones will be leaving soon.

Frank has a job!

Franks health has greatly improved since he started taking Ritalin. In Rotterdam he used to lay in bed for 12 or even 13 hours a day. Now he sleeps about 9 hours and has more energy in the hours he is awake.
He applied for a job as night-guard at a home for young adults with disabilities in the autistic spectrum.

Today he started in his new job.
No "real" work the first two weeks, but meetings, introduction and instructions. The 17th his first nightshift. It feels a bit weird: after nearly 15 years Frank is working again, it will take some time to get used to it!

The pups keep me busy

The pups are over four weeks of age and keep me busy, leaving less time to do things like write my blog. Not only the pups keep me busy, people who come to look at them too.

Gladdich is a great help, the first weeks he helped cleaning, now he tries to teach them some manners.

The whelping box is put away, the pups have their puppy pen in the living room and a large one, with a big bench to hide and sleep, in the back garden.

They all come when I call "puppy, puppy, puppy", makes moving them easy. Now and then Don Leo stays where he is and refuses to move.

I put new photos each week on the website D-litter.

Chimay's litter

The puppies are one week old today.

We had a rough week, the delivery had been harder for Chimay than we thought and on Sunday the pups were fading.
Chimay laid curled up in the whelping box, because of the pain she had, so there were only a few nipples reachable for the pups.

Then we found out Chimay did not clean the litter well. I took the pups one by one on their back in my hands and held them before Gladdichs nose. He understood immediately what to do and cleaned the pups every two hours.
I fed some of the pups, the hungry ones, some goatsmilk.

Sunday afternoon the vet came, he gave Chimay a painkiller and antibiotic. Some hours later Chimay started to bounce back.

The following days Chimay got better and the pups gained some weight.

Today I took the first photos of the pups on Franks lap.

This time we named all pups right after they were born. With our previous litters we left it to their future owners to pick a name, but now we have to send in the form, with the names, within ten days after the pups are born.
The names of the pups and their origin are on the first page of the D-litter.

puppies!

Our d-litter was born yesterday. Six beautiful red puppies.
Chimay is an exellent mom.
Here is the first photo from the litter, all cosy between moms legs.

disability

Sigh, I finally got the papers and they have granted me my disability-payments for the next 5 years.
The re-examination was in May and it was a terrible experience. But I am glad the waiting is over, it have been four long and nerve wrecking months...

Gladdichs first birthday

Yesterday Gladdich had his first birthday. Wow... I nearly can't imagine there was a time he was not with us!
I took some birthday photos:

070913-Gladdich-1-year

Meanwhile Chimays belly is growing. A bit more than a week to go.

Chimay, Gladdich and Stella

Chimay is pregnant and it shows, her belly is growing fast.
As always when I have a pregnant bitch, I have the urge to clean the whole house. Everything has to be done before the pups arrive.

Last week I took some pictures from Gladdich and Stella playing in our garden. Stella is a Dutch shepherd and she and Gladdich love eachother.

070827 Gladdich and Stella

frontgarden
The frongarden is completely finished now.
On July 13th Guido came for the weekend to Lelystad and he helped to put the treebench together.

It is a nice place to sit under the cedar tree, in the shade. In the evening it is a good place too, nearly always a breeze and the musquito's don't like that.

070715-canoe-Chimay-Gladdich

the canoe
Guido and Gladdich had their first trip with the canoe on July 15th.
I can't get the canoe alone to the lake nearby, so I need a helping hand. Chimay goes into the canoe when I tell her to do so, but I needed help with Gladdich too.

Frank likes boats, but thinks the canoe is way to small.

First a little trip with together with Guido and Chimay. Then we went back to get Gladdich. It was not easy to get him in the canoe, but we managed. It will take a few times before he is as confident as Chimay in the canoe.

070725-Chimay+Dazzler

Chimay and Dazzler
In the meantime Chimay got in heat, she was bred to the red rough Dazzler (Cinderella Man of the Royal Club) on July 24th.
The next day we went again, but then she only wanted to play with Dazzler. That day I did NOT forget my camera and took some pictures.

Now we hope Chimay is pregnant, if all goes well we have puppies at the end of September.

frontgarden

Marcel called last Wednesday, asking if we were home the next two days, so he could come to redo our frontgarden.

We asked him some time ago if he would redo our frontgarden. Marcel is a horticulturalist and runs a small company (Alklust). Redoing the frontgarden was to much to do ourselves. We planned to do this in the fall, but a few weeks back we told Marcel that we would not mind if he could do it sooner.

This was how the frontgarden looked, when we bought the house (September 2005):
A lot of work was done on Thursday and Friday:


Now the frontgarden looks like this:
Today I planted a red Japanese Maple and we bought a tree bench so we can sit under the Cedar tree.

found

Ed was found today!

We are so releaved, sigh

missing

You read about it, or see it on the television: sombody is missing. For a moment you think "too bad for those left behind" and you go on with your doings.

But now it is different, a friend of ours is missing. The first days I hoped it was just a bad dream, but now the harsh truth is sipping through: our friend Ed Butler is missing since last Friday.

We know eachother for allmost ten years, I met his wife Henny on a Dutch mailinglist about dogs and after some time we met. Back then Ed and Henny lived in Vught and we lived in Rotterdam. At some point Frank went with me and the four of us went along very well.
Ed and Henny moved to Lelystad in 2003 and we stayed a few times at their place. We started to like Lelystad and two years later we moved to Lelystad too. They live close by.

On Friday morning Ed took the dogs for their morning walk, but never arrived on his work. He took his bike and has not been seen since.

Hundred questions, hundred possible explanations run through our heads. What has happend?
The police is searching, but has no clues either.

Ed was always busy, with work, with the dogs and their flock of sheep. Always ready to help out, when I was too sick to take out the Chows, he would come over and walk them for me. Both Chimay and especially Gladdich love their "Uncle" Ed...

Thoughts keep popping up.

Oh please Ed, I am hoping and praying that you will return soon, we miss you.

a sign of life

Back in the land of the living... I barely survived the past month.

On May 8th I had to be re-examined for my disabillity, it was terrible, no humanity, no compassion, just the law requires this examination, no matter in what state you are.
Gladdich did his job, tried to make me focus on him, but in no time I scratched my arm until it was bleeding and I dissociated too.

I did not want Frank to come with me, it is so hard to see your partner going through something like this, but I fainted right away, so they went to get him (he was waiting in the car, together with Chimay).

I survived the weeks after by working in the garden, pulling out weed, trimming the shrubs and trees, that is better as self-mutulation :-(
Luckely there is a lot to do in the garden, I filled 4 big containers the last two weeks.

Last week I got a letter from the examination, only stating all limitations in work, now it is waiting on the work-expert, who will make the final descision.

books

Before we moved from Rotterdam to Lelystad we sold a substancial part of our book collection. We don't have the space for them here.
All books are in a database in my computer, but I still did not remove the books that were sold. Frank and I started in september, I printed out writer and title and marked the books in the shelves. This month we finally did the last shelves and I updated the database: in Rotterdam we had 3450 books, now there are 1818 left.

My collection of (mostly awarded) childrens books went from 1266 to 613, all picture books and informative books (and some others) were sold. But I am happy, no regrets about the sold books and glad with all that is left.

Yesterday I red the comments on movie premières, one was "Bridge to Terabithia". I have this book (it was awarded a Silver Pencil Award in 1983 here in the Netherlands and got a Newberry Medal award in 1978) and the comment made me read the book, first book I red in months and I finished it the same afternoon.
Jess Aarons had to be the fastest runner at Lark Creek Elementary School, the best, but when he was challenged by Leslie Burke, a girl, that was just the beginning of a new season in Jess's life. Leslie and her parents were new comers to the rural community where Jess lived, and were thought to be a bit odd, for they didn't even own a TV, though their house was filled with books. Some-what to Jess's surprise, he and Leslie became friends, and the worlds of imagination and learning that she opened to him changed him for ever. It was Leslie's idea to create Terabithia, their secret Kingdom in the woods where they reigned supreme. There no enemy - not their teacher Monster Mouth Meyers, their schoolmates Gary Fulcher and Janice Avery, Jess's Four sisters, or even Jess's own fears and Leslie's imaginary foes - could defeat them. The Legacy that Leslie finally brought to Jess enabled him to cope with the unexpected tragedy that touched them all. (from www.terabithia.com, Katharina Patersons website)

busy times... well for me it is

I had not much time/energy to write lately.

On March 22nd Gladdich was neutered, a bit early, but we expect Chimay coming in heat this month and did not want to take any chances on an "accidental breeding" between them. Gladdichs blind eye is an inhereted problem (microphthalmia), so he is not allowed to breed. He was also very male aggressive, so we hoped the neutering would make him a bit more mellow towards other male dogs. And indeed, he does not jump instandly onto other males anymore. But if there is growling towards Gladdich he still stands his ground, but this behavior is much easier to handle.

Chimay decided on March 21st it was time to start to play with Gladdich. Gladdich wanted to play when he arrived, but for some reason she did not play with a puppy. I a not sure why she changed her mind, maybe it was the start of spring, or the fact Gladdich had grown and finally was a bit taller as Chimay.

April 6th, 2007: Chimay and Gladdich playing in the garden

Anyhow, since that day they play almost every day in the garden. Chimay teaches Gladdich all kinds of play, I see playing-techniqes that Nemo used, passed on to Gladdich by Chimay.
On April 6th I took some photos from Chimay and Gladdich playing: photoalbum playing in the garden

Tuesday March 27th we went to my psychiatrist, this time an appointment for Frank too. Frank did some research on internet and found experimental use of Ritalin for CFS in the USA. My psychiatrist was willing to prescribe Ritalin to try. Ritalin is mailnly known to benifit children with ADHD, but is used too for those suffering from narcolepsy. Because Frank has a history of heart arhitmia and Ritalin has known side effects on the heart, he is taking very small doses of Ritalin. Now, after ten days he seems to have a bit more energy, but has headaches (Ritalin works for 4 to 5 hours, headaches after this time are also a side effect).
I tried to stop the Remeron, but that did not work well, I got all instable again with only Efexor, so I am back to Efexor in the morning and Remeron before bedtime...

Then there came a letter with questionaire for re-examening for my disability, if you get disability payment you have to be re-examined every five years.
I filled out the questionaire and mentioned I would take one of my dogs if I had to come to them, like I did 5 years ago.
Last week I got a response, only one sentence "in deliberation with the attending doctor we decided that you are not allowed to bring a dog", no motiavation, nothing and no sceduled appointment... I called about it and am waiting for the call back they promised.

On wednesday April 4th we went to Noordwijk, a place at the Nordsea coast. In spring mr and ms Choudhuri from Berlin (Germany) go there for a short holiday. They take their Chow Chows with them. They have a Chow from our first litter, Angel (Xin-Feng's Angel) a red rough male.

April 4th, 2007: Angel, Georgy, Chimay and Gladdich

Angel was very happy to see us again, last time we saw him was two years ago.
More photos from our visit: photo album April 4th, 2007.

Seroxat

A lot has happend the last weeks, but I was not in the mood to write about it.

I heard a rumor recently, that a woman in our neighborhood had comitted suïcide... I knew her, not very well, but I knew she was suffering from depression too and taking Seroxat. We sometimes met, while walking the dogs and talked a bit.
Today I met her partner, he was walking the dogs and he confirmed that she took her life on February the 9th... Some news travels slow. I did miss her, but for a month I did not know what happend.
I know she had tried to get off the Seroxat, but it was too hard on her, so she continued to use it. Then I found a comment from Bob, from the UK, in my blog, he writes in his blog about alarming side effects... If you are interested SEROXAT SUFFERERS - STAND UP AND BE COUNTED.

It makes me wonder, did Seroxat kill her?
Or are we so used to blame "someone" and in desperate NEED to blame?

internet

Well, we are back after a week without internet. Our previous internetprovider (HetNet) tried again to get us back, without our knowledge or consent.
After months of trouble and incompetent handling of our internet problems (twice a month without connection) last year, we went to an other internetprovider (XS4ALL) in July 2006. They do well, but HetNet has tried yet twice to "hop" us back to them, leaving us without connection.
Hope all trouble is over now .

bittersweet memories

Spend the last week scanning photos. I was working on Pandora's photo album, but there were too few digital photos on my computer. And my father gave me his old scanner on my birthday, it may be an old one in his eyes, it is much better as my own scanner.

Rewrote Pandora's page, so now there is a virtual monument for Pandora too on the website. She was a red smooth Chow Chow, Chimay's great-granddam.
Bittersweet memories...

Saw my psychiatrist yesterday, we should have been there last thursday, but the weather was so bad, we decided not to travel that day.
The Remeron does a good job, I am less depressed, but still very easy out of balance. So now Effexor is added, it will take a while to find the right mix that makes me less depressed AND more balanced...

another year added to my age

Last Saturday was my birthday, now I am 44. I did not think I would ever reach that age. In my mind life after 40 has always been a kind of twilight, unreal, maybe even undesired.

I passed that milestone in 2003.

The new pills (Remeron) make me less depressed, but make me nervous (or don't push the nerves away like the Paxil did). The phobia acts up, taking the Chows out for a walk feels as worse as examen anxiety. Frank accompanies me as much as possible at our walks.

Back to my birthday, Franks father was feeling better. His last visit was in november and he was looking so fragile! I was releaved to see him back as healty and strong as you can expect from a 79 year old.

My parents, well that was a total different story. The last years passed in apparent peace. Not due to their learning, but I didn't allow them to get to me. But with phobia acting up, turmoil in my mind, my defence is failing. And that leaves a big mess, called my family.

a better Monday

Today there seems to be some light at the end of the tunnel, I managed to get things done in and around the house. Houskeeping has been hard. In Rotterdam I could not manage to do everything properly, so all dust was moved to Lelystad too. A year later there is still some dust from Rotterdam, but some of it is gone now....

Spended the evening with editing and uploading the photo's I took last Thursday.

20070125 Chimay, Gladdich and Frank

Two happy Chow Chows are sleeping on the floor, waiting for Frank. On Mondays he plays bridge. He started again last May, to have at least one evening for his own pleasure.

Progress...?

There seems to be a bit of progress in my mood today.
Even Chimay, she is the mirror of my mood, seems to be content.
Last night I was restless for a short while when I went to bed, but this morning I woke up easier as the past days.

The weather is a bit better too, cold and sunny, much better as the ongoing rain and overcast we had for some time. Real Chow-weather, Chimay and Gladdich spend most of their day outside in the garden.

Took the bike in the afternoon and went with Chimay, she was very content to be running next to the bike again. And of course it is a treat these days to go with me alone, without Gladdich.

















in red our route; view the Google Map of our area

borderline

Today the first day with the new med, Remeron. Took the first one before going to bed yesterday and slept like a baby. Frank had to wake me up, because Gladdichs whining did not wake me. And it took a long, long time before I felt awake, in all honesty I still feel a bit like I am sleeping.
Very positive: I can drink my coffee again in the morning. Could not cope with it the last weeks because of the nausea.
Taken the Chows for a walk and backc home I surfed the internet, from Remeron to noradrenalin, serotonin, endorfin, sef-injury to borderline personality disorder.

Yes borderline, that was the diagnose long time ago.
Last month I was back in it, the full blown rollercoaster called BPD and now I am tired, so tired.

Gladdichs fist steps as PSD

Today Gladdich performed his first task as PSD (Psychiatric Service Dog), and he is only 4 months now!

I had a major breakdown/panick attack, was very upset and only could cry. Gladdich jumped on my lap, started licking me, pushed his whole body against me and calmed me down!

We are so proud of our boy.

tired

Today the day after a busy day, it was fun with all the Chows and Selma, but the day after I am so tired again :-(

All trouble from weaning off the meds are back: nausea, dizziness, overly sensitive to noise and images (can't even look at the TV), those tiny little electric feelings through the whole body (like the electric you feel when you bump your ellbow in a certain way) and tired, but not able to sleep.

I hope tomorrow is going to be a better day!

Gladdich

Gladdich the Grey celebrated his four months yesterday.
Time flies, where is that little puppy gone?
He grows like weed...
Yesterday the weather wasn't good enough to take pictures. But it was good enough to go to the Zuigerplas-wood and have a good walk. Chimay and Gladdich had a good time.
Today it looks more like it, some sun, although there is still a lot of wind blowing. But it is better, we had all week clouds, wind and rain. Even Gladdich got enough of it and is today a lot happier.
On our morning walk Gladdich even went into the pond, just wading and jumping through the water.
He thought it was a lot of fun. Chimay looked fairly annoyed by his puppy antics...
View all photos from our morning walk

The afternoon we spend in the garden, again taking pictures.
Gladdich likes that, but Chimay does not... But I managed to get them together on a picture. Gladdich is nearly as big as Chimay!
View the afternoon pictures

Then we got unexpected visitors. Selma came with Whoopi and Misty, they are smooth Chow Chows too. Whoopi is black and 4 days older as Chimay; Misty is blue and a month younger as Gladdich. They had fun together in the garden. And everybody was happy when we went for a walk again!
View all photos from our afternoon walk with Whoopi and Misty

too many people

On Saturday I had an overdose of people.

Somehow an organised walk went along a part of our daily walking route. Unable to change my routine, we had to share the path for 50 meters or so. Because Gladdich likes people a little too much (he runs towards strangers, even jumps up to get attention), I had put him on leash to prevent these things from happening. But the walking gang almost walked over Gladdich and walked me from the pathway... depressing...

It was even worse than I thought at first, I was walking with Frank and the Chows that afternoon and two boys ahead, next to the path made me panick and change the route.

I must say verything is worse at the moment. In December I started to change my medication, after years of using Seroxat (named Paxil in other parts of the world), it did not do much good anymore. It never worked well against my phobias, but it did keep the depresssion away. But I became more and more inactive, not able to break the journey downhill.
Especially with a pup in the house the inertia became painfully clear.

Slowly stopping with the Seroxat and after that started with Lexapro. Chimay had a clear opinion about the new medication: NO GOOD at all (I really should rely more on my Chow Chows and their opinion!), she did not trust the Lexapro. But I was thinking these are just adjustment problems, just go on a bit longer and it will go away!
So the December month became a psychic rollercoaster, changing moods within the minute, opposite feelings at the same time, no hunger, eating like mad, extremely phobic and getting depressed. Cosulted my psychatrist, try a higher dose, but that was no help either.
After visiting my psychatrist earlier this month, we decided to slowly stop with the Lexapro. The mood changes are getting less frequent, not within the minute but in within 5 minutes now and again lethargic, extreme sensible, phobic and depressed.

Going to try the next medication somewhere at the end of this month.

chair or couch

Finding a comfortable place to sleep is important!
Chimay was our first Chow who dared to use Franks chair. The Chows before her only came there when Frank was there too, for a comfortable rest on his lap.
But Chimay decided one day it would make a nice place to rest.
She does not complain when we send her away, so we agreed.

The chair was also a good hiding place to keep away from Gladdich. Unfortunately pups grow, grow fast, so the day came that Gladdich could climb up there too.

Gladdich came up and conquered...
I am not sure they ever imagined this use at Montis, when they started to produce Gerard van den Bergs design...

His grey fur does match on the red!


Chimays color is a better match with the couch, an other favourite spot.





Her greatgrandmother, Pandora, used to lay there too.






Gladdich is learning to sit quietly on Franks lap, although he starts with washing his head...




...and ears.







when that is done it is time to lay down.

Chowworld

found something neat today:

a rainy, but enjoyable day

I, Chimay aka myself, am feeling better today, finally the heat is over and I am able to take care of my mom again. As long as these hormones rage through my body I am not much of a psychatric service dog...

What's that a PSD you ask?
Good question, but not easy to answer.
It is a long tradition here at home, but my mom never knew there were more dogs in the world doing the same job. She found some others through the internet and realised we do the same.
Well, myself does the same and Gladdich is still learning.

Like the Chows (and others) before myself, we try to warn mom if she gets too stressed, or gets near a panick attack. If she faints, because she was stressed for too long, we sit next to her, watching over her, maybe lick her face until she comes back.
We accompany her when she wants to go out, amongst other mental issues, she has servere agoraphobia and without us she would not leave the house.

But back to today, we had a nice walk this morning, Myself could walk off leash again and Gladdich was happy romping around. He is a nuisance at times (those nasty sharp puppy theeth!), but I think he will grow up to be a helper for mom too.
And in the afternoon we walked with the whole pack, dad included! I love it when he goes with us, he takes care of mom and we can freely sniff and run around.

Now we are back home, I crashed on the couch and Gladdich on the dogbed, two happy Chow Chows.

don't forget me!

and I am Gladdich!

10 more nights to sleep and I will be 4 months old!

Life is so exiting, so much to see, so much to smell, so much to learn and way to few hours in a day.

my official name is Bruichladdich Blu of the Royal Club and I was born at September 13th, 2006

Together with Chimay I am going to write some on some days.
Well this is way enough for today, see you!

a new year

well a new year has started, time to do new things too.
Chimay and Gladdich have their own Blog now...

...uhhh who did you say?

Chimay (female red smooth Chow Chow) aka Myself

full bio
name: Xin-Feng's Chimayra
born: October 30th, 2004
living in Lelystad, the Netherlands

together with her humans Frank and Anita and Gladdich a blue smooth Chow Chow, who will indroduce himself in the next post