My new toy and a new treatment for Bear

I. bought me my first digital camera a year or so ago and I loved it. It is a Cannon Elf. I've been trying to take pictures more frequently and so started using it regularly and came to find that without a tripod, it was very difficult to get a good quality picture because of the motion of the camera. So last weekend, I bought myself a Sony Cybershot with Super SteadyShot. LOVE it. The SteadyShot makes a huge difference, as do the 12.1 mega pixels. Plus, I'm finding that the Sony picture software is superior to Cannon's although I use Picasa almost exclusively. Today, I bought a Memory Stick Reader so that I can plug the camera's memory disk into it and take it anywhere.

Weird weather this weekend. Yesterday started out sunny and later, it snowed. Today started sunny again, then a brief but fierce snow squall followed by more sun. It was warm enough so we were able to get the snow off the driveway and sidewalk but by the time we did, it was so wet as to be incredibly heavy. I. and I are now exhausted from it and I imagine I will have very sore arms tomorrow. A good reason for some lovely hot chocolate with nonpareils.

I thought I would also take space in blog posts to bring you up to speed on Pogo and his friends. We'll start with Bear. Bear is an apricot miniature poodle who I've had for over 9 years now. Before I knew better (or at least knew how horrible the conditions can be in puppy mills) I bought him from a pet store in Leominster. He was four months old when we brought him home which was very old for a puppy in a pet store. His birthday is June 10th and this year, he'll turn 10. Not that you would know it to look at him or watch him run around.

We have been very fortunate that all of our dogs, especially Bear, are in excellent health. Bear's only health issue is colitis which flares up from time to time. He had taken metronidazole int the past which had did great things for his colitis but which also, we believe, caused him to have jaw tremors. He was having colitis issues again so we took him to the vet last Monday and Dr. O'Neil gave him sulfasalazine which is an alternative medication for dogs that can't tolerate metronidazole. So far, it seems to be working well for him. Just something to consider if your dog suffers from colitis.

The wind has kicked up and it's rattling the windows. I actually like the sound they make when they rattle but certain members of the friends, particularly Jack, do not find it pleasing at all. I hope that it will not be a long night marked by barking and more barking. Wish us luck and peace.