Blog Design
As many of you noticed yesterday I have a new blog design. The design was done by Julie Melfi from Leg Up Creative Solutions and The Daily Dog Blog. Every single thing you see on this blog is all Julie. She chose the colors, the layout, the header and designed the graphic in the header as well.
Can I tell you how much I love this design?
To infinity and beyond.
Julie I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Daily Walks
Our daily walks have become sporadic. First off it’s dark and I don’t like walking the dogs by myself. What I started doing was taking Sampson for a very short walk and then coming home and grabbing Delilah and taking her for a longer walk. One day last week I was walking on the road and Delilah was up on the grass. We came to a hedge and I can’t tell you how it happened but Delilah was ass over tea kettle rolling on the ground. Once she got up, she was staring intently into the darkness and I thought, I’m out of here. I hurried her home so I could examine her in the light to make sure she wasn’t hurt.
Thankfully I couldn’t find anything that indicated she’d hurt herself.
Then last weekend I came down with Diverticulitis and didn’t feel much like walking. When I did I thought I’d take both dogs for a slow walk up the street, then stop and drop Sampson at the house and continue with Delilah.
Well it snowed Tuesday night into yesterday morning and that Polar Vortex wandered down this way and we couldn’t walk Tuesday night, so last night I thought I’ll walk the dogs. I leashed them both up and headed up the street. We’d gotten about four houses up and Sampson lifted his bad leg.
I thought he probably has snow in his paw, so I wiped it but decided to turn around and head towards home and he limped. I stopped him in his tracks and called Hubby and said, Come get him, he’s limping.
As of the writing of this post, he hasn’t limped but I’m not taking a chance he could slip on the ice and blow that knee out. He’s done with walks until we get the all cleared.
Coyote Ugly
Because of our limited walks I decided to try and give Delilah a wood walk on Sunday and we ran into a walking buddy we haven’t seen in eons!
She told me that her partner saw a HUGE coyote in their back yard that morning.
Photo used with permission from my friend Dawn. This is not the same Coyote that is in my area.
Their. Back. Yard! OMG
Just to give you some perspective I made a crude little map.
So, my house is that first reddish pin prick at the end of the crude green line. (Hey I love you guys and all but I’m not putting my home address up…..you have to call first before you stop over.) 🙂 The big red star is the woods where we walk and the red pentagon is where my friend lives. That red arrow to the left of the pentagon is a rough idea of where she saw the coyote. In a strait line, it’s probably only about 1/4 mile away.
Yikes!
Barks and Bytes
Welcome to our first Thursday Barks And Bytes Blog Hop!
This is what happens when two blog hops collide!
I am thrilled to be co-hosting the Thursday Barks And Bytes Hop with my pal Linda from 2 Brown Dawgs.
To kick off the new hop we are giving away a $25.00 Amazon gift card. To enter the give-away, all you have to do is display our badge in your post and enter the hop. The hop will be open until 11:59 PM on Saturday 1-25-14. We will draw the winner at random and announce it next Thursday.
So grab the badge and join the hop!
Love the new look!!!! Scary story about that coyote????? Be careful! Love your maps too hahahaha!
Coyote Yikes! Love the new look it is wonderful. Have a tremendous Thursday.
Best wishes Molly
Our activity is curtailed due to the weather too. Even healthy dogs can injure themselves on the ice. It is coyote mating season which is why they are probably coming in closer to homes. Plus they may be looking for food. I hate coyotes. Be careful when walking the dogs. 🙂
I love the design that Julie made for you. 🙂
Could it have been a little rock salt that made Sampson limp? My apartment complex uses the hard stuff, and it’s unavoidable. Sometimes, I end up carrying Cupcake home. Once it starts burning her, she gives me the 3-legged walk, even if I clean it off with clean snow.
Love the new look! We want to redesign this year but haven’t decided on the look yet. There are coyotes around here all the time, warning to people not to leave small dogs out alone, etc. We have seen one once, thought it was a mangy husky at first. Thanks for hosting the new hop! Hope it is a huge success!
Your new design is great – clean, fresh – love it. We’re contemplating something too. Coyotes can be scary, but we are used to them as we see them all the time. Just keep your guys on leash and walk the other way when you see them.
Coyotes? Yikes! That blows away my misunderstanding — I always thought they lived only in the Southwest, near the desert. All the more reason to supervise the girls out in the back yard, especially Ducky! Though I must say I’ve never seen one in our area, or even in other parts of the county. You be careful out there!
Hope you’re feeling better after your bout with diverticulitis!!
Gotta watch those coyotes. They like to go after dogs, too scary.
Your new design is GORGEOUS! I love everything about it. What a lovely new look for the new year.
I’m with you – better to be safe than sorry with Sampson. But I have to say, I love seeing coyotes. Of course, I’ve never felt threatened by one. They usually keep a good distance and prance off after inspecting us. I suppose if I felt they were looking at me or one of the dogs as “dinner” I’d feel a little different.
Love the new design! Very easy to read and navigate, and I love the colour scheme. And I like your tagline and logos at the top – very nice!
I see the occassional coyote in our suburbs. Hear them more often than I actually see them, though. Aside from one too-close-for-comfort encounter (full story: http://backalleysoapbox.wordpress.com/2012/06/26/coyote-encounter-a-true-story/), I’m not particularly worried. I do carry an air horn for late-night walks, though. And have used it to deter a curious coyote more than once. Works like a charm (sorry to any neighbours who might’ve been sleeping).
But for the most part, Moses and Alma are too big for a coyote to show much interest. They may perceive them as a threat, but certainly not food. Coyotes aren’t going to go after a dog their size or bigger as a dinner – too risky.
Love the new blog design! It’s perfect! We have coyotes around here:( Very scary.
OMD! Another coyote?! Thank goodness you aren’t going for long walks at the moment or you may run into one…which would not be good. Oh, do you think my dear Delilah rolled in some coyote poo? That would be stinky. Ick!
Happy Thursday!
Oz
Hello. Thanks for the new blog hop! We hear coyotes, but it has been awhile since I’ve seen one strolling across our property.
Thanks for co-hosting a new blog hop. It is cold today here also-a balmy 9 degrees. Potty trips outside will be short and snappy I think!
Nice to meet you, Jodi! We came here after joining the hop through our Brown Dawg friends. That’s a scary story about the coyote – we had reports of a coyote in our town too, but we haven’t seen it yet. However, this summer there was a rabid raccoon chasing people and dogs into their homes and clawing at their glass doors, trying to get in. Nature can be scary when it’s out of its element or sick.
I hope your pup’s leg heals before anything more happens. We just went through a torn ACL and meniscus with our little Havachon, and it’s a tough ordeal. Sounds like you’re taking good precautions to let the injury heal before it has a chance to worsen. 🙂
Absolutely LOVE your new look! Just beautiful! Interesting new hop 🙂 I’ll miss FUF. Last Friday I had a post ready to go, but when I read it I sounded like a lunatic on a soapbox, so trashed it. Had no idea that would be my last shot at linking up with FUF. If you don’t feel like being armed and dangerous, try walking with one of those sports air horns. I keep mine handy and it scares the you-know-what out of coyotes!
I love everything about your new blog design!
That coyote is big!! That’s exactly why I don’t walk after dark, I’m way paranoid of any kind of wildlife out there, coyotes, bears, whatever, I don’t want to meet one!
We haven’t walked much lately either. We got in a few during our warm spell, but before that it was too cold, then rainy, then icy, and after a good spell it’s too cold again. I keep losing all my snowshoe trails I worked so hard to make too!
Great new hop, I’ll be joining in later….busy day today, and my schedule is crazy with a puppy in the house! 🙂
Well your blog is fab and I am happy to be a part of this new blog hop. TY to Slim Doggy for the heads up on this.
Yikers, I hate listening to coyotes scream at night freaks me out. Congrats on the new blog hop, it is great! Have a wonderful day.
The new site does look amazing! The dog in your logo even looks like Sampson! If I hadn’t just done a re-design myself I would definitely be considering talking Julie into helping me out. Congratulations!
That coyote is much bigger than the ones we have around here. He looks almost 70 pounds. Gosh, that is more than a little daunting, eh? Be careful out there.
I hope Sampson heals up soon!
The new blog design is pawsome! Very nice color scheme. 🙂
We have a lot of coyotes by us too. We live by an urban park. I worry that Mr. N will try to chase or play with the coyote(s) and then they will try to eat him.
I LOVE the new design!!!! Tried leaving a comment this morning, but was using my phone, blah blah blah. And that coyote! We have a huge population here. People lose cats and small dogs to them. A little further out of the city and you can hear them howl at night most nights. Pretty darn cool.
Wow, I do LOVE the new look of your page!! The header is wonderful!!
So scary about the coyote, he looks so big to!
I watched a show a few months ago about how coyotes are getting more brave and starting to come into cities and things like that, scary!!
((Husky hugz frum da pack))
“Love is being owned by a husky”
I already told you this, but I’m going to say it again, I love the new look! 🙂
I’m sorry your walks are becoming a bit difficult, but you’re awesome to keep trying. That coyote though, yikes! That’s close!
Thanks for hosting this new hop! 🙂
Yikes indeed about the coyote. We used to get those a lot in our old neighborhood, which was close to the canyon system. We are still close to a canyon in our new house, but luckily it’s a lone, small canyon, not connected to the whole canyon system, so we haven’t seen anything come up out of there yet.
Congrats on the new hop! Hope it will be a big success! Juli did a great job on the site makeover!
Your site looks really good – nice and crisp and easy to navigate. I would be scared of running into the coyote as well, especially since I like to have my dog running off leash.
Hoping the weather warms up for you soon and I hope you and Sampson are both feeling better.
Well, after much consternation and frustration yesterday, I finally got my post up and linked to the hop. Now it’s time to go see what the little demon dog is up to. Have a great weekend!
Hey Jodi…I haven’t been online much, but I’m so glad I chose today to visit yours. I love love LOVE the look of the new site, and I think your new bloghop with Linda is such a great idea. 🙂
I’m sorry Sampson was limping, and it’s freezing, and you weren’t feeling well either. All good reasons to slow down on the walks a bit until things return to normal. I hope everyone heals up soon, and I hope this frigid weather is on its way out.
The blog design looks really good! Thanks for hosting this new hop, I’m very excited about it! TNT and FUF were two of my favorites so having them combine into one was so exciting!
WE LOVE the new look… Coyotes… not so much… THEY scare us… That is why we are only allowed to potty in our Safe Pen at night…
Hi Jodi!
Oh my goodness! We have coyotes in our “neck of the woods” of VA, but not yet in our yard…yet. Sheesh! I am always on the lookout for danger in my yard and bark when I hear ANYTHING fishy. I hope that you will be able to get back to your walks soon.
Mommy (Jenny) & I LOVE the new look. We met you at BlogPaws 2013, right? You look soooo familiar. I hope you’ll come by and visit my blog sometime. 🙂
Your friend, Pixel
http://www.pixelblueeyes.com/2014/01/TwistFatePixelWordlessWednesday.html