lacking focus

 Rain poured from the sky today, decimating our beautiful snow, turning it into sheet ice. I would like winter a heck of a lot more if it stayed below freezing for the whole season so the snow was beautiful and fluffy. I know I raved about the weather yesterday but that was the delusion of winter’s end… Alas, snowshoeing will be done till the next big snow :-(  

This morning I got out of bed with a bit more purpose. I was going to find something new to cook so opened the ‘Italian Cooking’ facebook group and got to scrolling. Lots of nice ragus and other pasta but when the photo of focaccia appeared on my screen I knew I wanted to try making it.

Google is my friend when it comes to recipes - there were so many to choose from - I always read several before selecting a recipe. I settled on a ‘Roasted Garlic & Rosemary focaccia’ which will pair nicely with the soup I’m serving tomorrow… yes, tomorrow as it’s a 2 day recipe. Today I made the biga which is a mixture of warm water, yeast, and a bit of flour. It rests on the counter for a few hours and then goes into the fridge till tomorrow.

The whole process of finishing the focaccia is complicated and long… I’ll update tomorrow!

While the whole cooking thing is a good activity, I have to find something else that I’m passionate about that brings me pleasure and a sense of accomplishment. Since retirement I’ve struggled with this - I feel slightly rudderless and without purpose. 

I do enjoy playing around with the dogs and teaching them new things but I’ve been mega remiss with this for Lupa. I find I compare her to both Spike and Adia. She’s not as quick to learn as Spike and she’s lacking the focus that Adia has… I have to embrace the challenge! If I get discouraged it’s no wonder that Lupa gets distracted. 

Today I got out the clicker and started teaching ‘mat’ to Lupa. Instead of focusing on what she was doing wrong, I tried to notice what she did right. I still have to work on this! I could see her wheels start to turn as she’d perk up when she noticed the mat. Or she’d go to one of the other places she likes to lie down and wait for the click. I think I added distance too quickly.

After 10 minutes of that I got Carm to hold her while I hid the toy a few times. I kept it easyish, not so hard to discourage her - she had fun. 

Then we worked on eye contact when I make a kissing sound… that was fun for both of us. At one point she started throwing other behaviours at me and did a perfect roll-over and some very deliberate downs. She was trying :-) Getting this down pat will help us when we start outings with distractions. If she’s giving me eye contact she can’t be barking at another dog… ha ha I hope!

It was just the other day that I realized that everything on earth is made from elements in the periodic table! Talk about cooking! I often am amazed at what I can make with just flour, water and butter! I feel that I must have missed a day of science class…

Awesome!

“cheesecake bites into the freezer and blueberry compote in the fridge”

“a quick little rollover when she was trying to figure things out”

“not dying”