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Farley’s Friday: My Doggie Eyes Communicate

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Farley here.

So this week my human is reading The Genius Of Dogs: How Dogs are smarter than you think.

Well I could have told her that. Kristina keeps reading me tidbits that I already know.

This is my best "fedd me" stare. How hungry to I look?
This is my best “feed me” stare. How hungry do I look?

Here’s what I do when I need to tell her something:

  • Tap on floor with my nails during the night if I need out. That seems to wake her up, but not my male human though. He sleeps through everything. If she won’t wake up I breathe in her face. First time I did that she seemed a bit startled. Humans don’t like to be woken up with someone breathing in their face I guess.
  • Whack my water boil against sliding glass door when I need water. Seems to really get her going at 3am.
  • Stare at cupboard, then at Kristina, then at cupboard where my treats are kept. She knows this means she should open the door and hand me a treat.
  • Give her my most intense stare when I’m hungry. I can even do this in a run by stare and she knows it’s my “feed me stare.”
  • Press the top of my head on the sliding glass door when I need outside quickly (if there’s an emergency – I don’t like to throw up inside.). Kristina wants me to bark in this case, but that’s too undignified for me. I’m not a barky kinda guy.
This is my "I'm not getting off the trampoline and you can't make me" roll.
This is my “I’m not getting off the trampoline and you can’t make me” roll.

I can even ask Kristina questions with just a look.

When we’re hiking, if I come to a place on the trail where I have to make a choice on direction, I look back at Kristina and she points, telling me where to go. I’m a big eye contact guy, but I do know words too.

If we come across strangers, I glance at Kristina. If she waves away from the people, I don’t approach them. If she says “okay” I run and greet them.

Kristina says her last dog was more word oriented, and that I do better with hand signals. Whatever . . . I’m still a genius.

How do you communicate with your humans?

Woof Woof.

Keeping Fit While Cruising: Swimming Laps

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

If you’re getting the feeling there are endless ways to keep fit while sailing around the Bahamas, you’re getting the right feeling. This week’s suggestion: Swimming laps.

It’s hard to take a photo of myself swimming laps, so I thought I’d show you the water I swim in.

Water

Things to consider:

The water temperature is around 73 degrees Fahrenheit, which can cool a body down, so I wear wetsuit shorts and a rash guard. I find a full wet suit too restrictive for swimming laps, and the rash guard prevents sunburn.

Since there are sharks in the area, I don’t swim at dawn, dusk or in murky water, and I don’t splash around as if I were a fish in distress.

I don’t wear anything shiny in case a barracuda is sharing my water space.

I either swim with a buddy or have a partner follow me in a kayak to reduce the risk of a dinghy hitting me.

Salt water is hard on the swim goggles, so I bring several pairs to last me the season.

It’s a great way to keep fit if we’re in an area that doesn’t have a beach good for running.

Thanks for reading . . .

Farley’s Friday: Shady Beaches?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Farley Here,

If you’ve been to a lot of beaches like I have, you may have noticed there’s not a lot of shade. I spent the day on a sand spit with my humans while they went windsurfing and kiting, and found it kind of hot. While I life guard most of the time, I do get to relax too.

My human loves me. She used her windsurfing board bag to make a shady spot for me. She uses the gear for sports, I use it for comfort.

Farley with Board Bag

I got to spend the day chasing kiters and windsurfers along the beach, and when I got tired, I retired to my special spot, had a drink and napped. I can’t be life guarding all day.

Woof Woof.

Keeping Fit While Cruising: Kayaking

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

If you’ve been reading you may have noticed I like variety in exercise. There are so many ways to keep fit while sailing, and I intend to try as many way as I can.

Kayaking is one of my favourites. There are many types of kayaks. I chose mine because it was large enough for Farley, my wheaten terrier, to fit in. He sits in the cockpit, sort of half on my lap and half on the kayak floor. He adds an extra 42 pounds to the adventure, but I figure it’ll only make my arms stronger.

Kayaking Ladies

Other than keeping you fit, a kayak provides:

– a second car

– a way to have fun with you dog

– something to do while being social with your friends

– a vehicle to take you exploring

Let me know how you keep fit while living on your sailboat.

Thanks for reading . . .

Location, Location, Location: Details for a Manuscript

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Do you create your location first or do you write a scene first?

For a novel, I decide on the location before I start writing. My first three novels take place in a fictitious ski resort in British Columbia, Canada. The fourth novel takes place in the Bahamas. I chose the location first because I wanted to write about people who live in isolated places.

Some scenes dictate a location, but for others, I might write the scene and then chose a location. I keep track of locations in a spreadsheet. This helps me avoid using one place to often. Believe it or not, in a ski resort not everything happens on the mountain.

If I have a scene written and haven’t chosen a location, I do this by looking at the mood of the scene. Is is romantic, frightening, funny, awkward?  I think about where in my created world the scene will have the greatest impact. Then I add the details.

When reviewing a manuscript, I check for the empty stage syndrome. Did I get carried away with action or dialogue and not describe the location? If I did, I work on describing the location. Sometimes at this stage I drop a clue or a red herring based on location.

Do you decide on location first or write a scene first?

Thanks for reading . . .

Farley’s Friday: Dog Friends

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

Farley here.

Is it possible for a dog to have too many friends? No way.

I run free with Labs, Springer Spaniels, Jack Russels, mixed breeds, Poodles, Retrievers, and Australian Doodles. My best girlfriend is a mix of Pit Bull, German Sheppard and Coon Hound. Her name is Holly, and I go gaga every time I see her, but don’t tell Cali (Jack Russell), because she thinks she’s my girlfriend.

This is my best bud, Jasper. He’s crazy and always gets me into trouble. We were playing on the beach and look what happened to him.

Jasper

I’m the smart one, and I know I have to go for a swim before getting in the dinghy, especially if I look like Jasper does.

He makes a run for the dinghy.

“No, stop!” I bark.

“Are you kidding? They’ll make me get all wet if I stop,” he barks back.

“My alpha human is going to get mad. Don’t jump,” I bark.

Too late. He’s off and leaping. Sand is spraying everywhere. Kristina and Jasper’s human are laughing. Matt is trying to head him off, but alas, Matt missed him.

Into the air he flies, his toes touch the pontoon, and he lands in the bottom of the dinghy.

He turns and looks back at me. He’s laughing. “Matt’s not looking at you. Go for it,” he barks.

I whip around Matt’s leg, bound from the beach, and I’m in too.

Now if only we knew are to start the dinghy . . .

Woof Woof.

 

Keeping Fit While Cruising: Lobster Hunting

~ Kristina Stanley ~ Leave a comment

So many ways to keep fit while cruising – so little time 🙂

If you want to keep fit while sailing either you must sail in crazy weather or you must find other things to do. Me I choose to sail in favourable conditions where I don’t have to exert myself in dangerous situations, so that means I must find other ways to stay in shape.

Hanging out with active friends, all who have different interests, is the best way to find things to do. There’s always someone around to push the gang to get moving.

So this week, the activity to keep fit: Spear fishing for lobster.

Lobster

I’ll just say outright, I really suck at this. In fact I’ve never caught a lobster. My spear likes to head for the sand and rest on the bottom.  My husband and friends all seem to have the skill required.

It doesn’t matter. I can still swim and search. Swimming with fins is great for the calves and quads. Diving until you think you’re lungs will explode is great for the cardio.  The adrenaline rush when you think you see a shark . . . enough said about that.

The salt water bleaches your hair, the mask strap breaks it and the wind tangles it, but hey, you can’t have everything.

Oh, except to eat the delicious lobster.

Thanks for reading . . .

 

Kickstart Your Writing Session

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 4 Comments

Writer’s block? I don’t’ believe it.

Sometimes it’s very difficult to put words on page, and there are too many reasons for this to mention them all.

Here’s one quick trick I use when my brain is stuck.

First I remind myself that if I was at work, there is no excuse for not getting your job done. You can’t exactly say to your boss, “The numbers for the spreadsheet you wanted by three just didn’t appear, so I didn’t create the spreadsheet,” now can you?

So why make excuses for writing?

Having decided that giving myself the easy way out is not an option, what do I do?

I spend 10 minutes working on a crossword puzzle. It makes my brain think of words. They may not be words I would write with, but more often than not, a word triggers an idea, and then before I know if, I’m off and typing.

Doesn’t work every time, but when it does, it’s a good feeling.

Any tricks you want to share?

Thanks for reading . . .

Writing Targets

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 7 Comments

I’ve read some authors write to achieve a specific word count per writing session.  This doesn’t work for me. During the time I allocate for writing, I might write, edit, proof read, research, or read. Setting a word count adds to much stress to the joy of writing. I can write to a deadline, I can write for the fun of it, I can write for creativity, but if I set a word count for a session, I obsess about the number of words and not about the quality of the writing.

While I’m doing other things with my writing time, all related to writing, an idea will often pop into my head. When that happens, I make a note of it. I’ve learned that if I don’t capture an idea, I won’t remember it later. I get right back to whatever activity I’ve been doing.

For me the writing life doesn’t mean writing all the time, but it does mean I shouldn’t get distracted from the task at hand. I believe all these things (editing, proof reading, researching, reading) make me a better writer.

Any thought?

Thanks for reading . . .