This morning I went out to the fence (where the neighbor gives the dogs their morning treats) to find the dogs because they weren't in the house waiting for me to feed them. (I could see that Cecil was out in the yard, so they were watching in case he decided to give them something extra.) Once I caught Zeke's eye (because he's deaf) he perked up and all of them started moving around the greenhouse and to the back door of the house. Cookie started playing with Zeke - she gives a chew on the leg, a chew on the collar, she nudges him, she gets him stirred up and the old Lab lumbers along happily with the little dog keeping to his pace and skill set. It is wonderful to see; I'm sure that a younger dog engaging in this kind of play is just what he needs. (When Cookie and Pepper go at it they're really rough and will at times draw blood. I have a wound care kit I use on those two.)
Pepper doesn't play with Zeke so much as she keeps an eye on him. She has this loud growl bark she does right in his face to get his attention. And she offers him lots of kisses.
I ran out of corn oil over the weekend and at Aldi I picked it up and OMG it was like $1.50 more than the last time I bought it (I had a spare bottle or two, so it has been a while.) These little reminders that manufacturers and all are seeing scarcity but also some are gouging. I read a Jean Chatzky economics column about changing brands to see if sticking with the original way-more-expensive one is really worthwhile (she compared her old brand of coffee with a less expensive brand and found the new one to be quite good). An expensive bottle of oil does not a recession make (and gas has come down at least that much a gallon between the last time I bought it and what I paid a month earlier.) I stuck with the Aldi corn oil; I'm not interested in rape seed (Canola). It isn't good for you. I buy olive oil that gets used for most things at a Halal grocery in 3-litre bottles. There may be sticker shock the next time, but I do switch brands there (I can't help it, they rarely have the same brands from one trip to the next.) As long as it is from one source and is green EV olive oil I'm set.