My dogs, the picket fence, the cold weather and the flu. That’s what I’m dealing with today.

My picket fence is rotting and needs to be replaced but I don’t have the funds to do that right at this instant. So my dogs tore a hole through some of the pickets and escaped. One of them is still missing and the other one came back.

I don’t know if I have the flu or just a real bad chest cold but my chest is really tight and my throat is very sore and the weather is kind of cold. Meanwhile, I’m running all around town buying pieces of wood and screws – components to repair part of the fence without replacing the whole thing.

The little dog, Skipper. He grabs any trash or anything at all that he can find and drags it out into the backyard through the doggie door. He’s trashed the back yard. He is an affectionate dog and likes to cuddle but otherwise a total nuisance. Now, Skipper and Brandi, our big dog, ran out through the hole of the fence yesterday. Brandi always comes back when she gets out but Skipper is attractive to kids and gets caught by neighbors.

So this time he got out without a collar on. I’m sure he’s in somebody’s house. We’ll miss him but I’m not sure we’re going to actively look for him. If he winds up in the pound then he has a chip and they’ll contact us. But if he doesn’t wind up in the pound all the best for us and whoever finds him! Brandi the big dog will miss him. So really will we.

In the meantime, we have a cold, there’s cold weather and a hole in the fence. I’ll be busy repairing the hole in the fence.

Later – now the fence is repaired. I’m pretty sure it’s animal proof. Skipper is still missing, however.

Later Still – In the end Skipper was found. It was the chip that did him in. We got a phone call from a local animal rescue place. I went to pick him up and there was a very nice mother and 10 year old daughter. The daughter was crying. She was so sad to see Skipper go. I should have given him to them, but that would seem weird, so I didn’t. Now we have the little monster back home.