Serenity is a good thing. Since today was so drizzly and cold, we just stayed in. Liesl napped in her big blanket. It was just a perfect indoor day. I did some work on my kitchen. I was rearranging drawers and cabinets that did not really work with the flow of the work area. After almost four months it was time to remedy that situation. I had bought some organizers that really did the trick. I have all of my spices in one drawer in an organizer. It looks so purty when I open that drawer now.
I finally got my paint samples up on the wall. Am I ever glad that my friend convinced me to put samples up first. The color I was originally going to go with ended up looking really bright in a mustard yellow kind of way. This would be really bad and would eventually burn out my retinas, I am sure. So the color that I am going to go with is a soft buttery gold color. I think it will go perfectly with the beautiful valance I am ordering from Overstock. My best friend called me today to tell me that she wanted to make plans for my birthday, but that she also wanted to make plans for her to help me paint. Now, I will tell you that it is really hard for me to ask for help, even when someone offers. I just do not want to impose. But she told me that she is a master painter's taper. And well, I sorta hate taping. I like the painting part. I think we will be a good team, aside from the giggle fits and ice cream breaks.
I worked a little on training with Liesl. Schnauzers are one of the smartest dogs you can find, and are referred to as "the Dog with the Human Brain" because they use a lot of the same reasoning and cognitive skills as humans. In fact, overall they act very human much of the time. They can be easy to train, when they are in the mood. Which usually has to be bought, with high value treats. I had asked the behaviorist for a couple of easy tricks to teach Liesl this weekend, because she seems to really like going through a repertoire. So I thought we would expand it. So she is working on taking a bow. She also learned "touch" which is touching my hand with her nose. It is a focusing technique. She also loves "find it" which consists of taking a treat (I was using Charlie Bears) and tossing it and then telling her to find it. The idea is to expand to the point where I can put her in stay, then hide a treat and tell her to find it. Liesl loves hide and seek in any form so this was the big hit. One issue with training really smart dogs, particularly schnauzers is they do not like too much repetition, as they get bored easily once they "get it." I knew we were done when Liesl took a Charlie Bear then proceeded to spit it out in a very dramatic fashion. She cracks me up.
I really love to read up on the traits of schnauzers. One thing that caught my attention recently is that schnauzers really want the family to be all together in one place. I think it goes back to the herding part of their breeding. It made me laugh though because when the family is all together at my house, and one person gets up to go to the restroom, Liesl will always go off after them, snorting under her breath and wait for them outside the door. When they come back she always looks kind of proud as she trots into the room with them like she is returning them to the herd. I also read that they have to be in the center of any activity. This is also true, because she will sit on the bench ottoman in the center of the room so that she can see everyone and they can see her.
I am really glad that I got to putter today. I feel pretty relaxed and comfy. I am so glad that we got the surprise rain!
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