Aww, they look sweet, Laura.

Laura, they are so cute!!

Theo, I might gentley let it slip that if you can't take care of her ( as in she is not co-operating) that there is another option out there. It might cause more crying, but it will be easier on your mom, your aunt and you. Nurses are not involved in the same way you are -- so they can deal with the tears better.

Thanks, all. They have the usual share of age related health issues, but they still do stuff together and adore each other's company. I hope all our golden years are as pleasant.

Mona does not care for our dog training studies.

[link]

Mona is a cutiehead!

Good luck with your dog-training, Allyson. My girl and I are working on Paying Attention, which task is aided by the liberal application of cooked beef liver. Ew. But she definitely cares more about paying attention when it's icky liver instead of clean little kibbles.

I like prunes, actually.

Me, too, Jesse.

Hi,all!! This week was our show, so I have not had time for the internets. I hope all are doing well.

Oh, Theo, how awful. You're a very good caretaker; your mom is just resisting all caretaking right now.

This is so true, times a billion.

Laura, your parental units made me smile. So did Allyson's Mona.

Well, I am exhausted. It was as bad, but not worse than, I had anticipated. Just what you'd expect from a three hour litany of everything that you can find wrong with a 78 year old house which hasn't had a live-in owner in 14+ years. Needs a new roof, flashings etc asap. Need to get a plumber in because bathroom sink drains really slow and has a leak in the drain (it would explain water damage on LR ceiling) and the sink is not well anchored to the wall and the draining is worrisome. You know, old pipes .The oven wouldn't light (presumably not hooked up right, since it is new, but who knows.) One funky outlet. Another that needs to be kitchen-code grounded. One set of lights that do not turn off(!) . Pipe to outside faucet needs to be replaced, but it's not in the wall or anything. The deck, of course, the deck. Needs GONE.

Some of the piddly: all the doors need to be planed to shut and latch properly, it became a running joke. All exterior doors probably should be replaced. Porch posts need shimming and some of the base moulding replaced. Ceilings need painting due to water stains from the bad roof . The leaks haven't caused any structural issues (there's attic slither space where he could check.) Venting on the water heater needs adjustment and a service call made on it and the furnace because they haven't seen one in a while.

So....daunting. Very when downloaded in 3 hours. But doable (roofs can run $1.2 K to 5K depending.) The bathroom plumbing is a big concern of mine.

Was able to meet the neighbors F2F. Woman to the right IS SO EXCITED. She's really nice, maybe my age or a little older. She works for a well-known non-profit charity. She told me where to find the neighborhood group online, promised to send me the name of the folks who did her roof (before she bought, but her sellers passed all that info on to her) and deck, told me how much it cost to do her deck and put in central air. Her bath is new, but with the old green tub. She also warned me the western exposure can make the back rooms warm, but she and her dad put in an extendible awning that she loves. Met the guy on the other side and his adorable daughter. He's doing most of the work on his place himself. He has a housemate and they're converting the basement into an apt. The guy seemed really nice too. They also offered to pass along the name of their roofer and told me to look up the neighbor group site.

Both told me there was only one sketch house on the street.

OK, on to pictures and video: [link]

Fall down now.

YAY for doable!