Budget! How much of what I want to do can I do before the townhouse is sold? My sons swear that I have a DNA strand (that I passed on) which forces me to make over a house — any house. So, the new house is now squarely in my sights. The fencing must be completed before we move in, and the drywall re-do and flooring must be accomplished before we move in. I’m replacing the sliding glass door to the patio with a French door (that’s a lark — not necessary, but I love the look). All the window coverings must go. They are original and in really bad shape. I don’t know what I’ll replace them with and probably won’t decide until the drywall and flooring are done. I need to get back down there and take room by room photos before any construction/make-over begins.
The back 2/3 of the acre must be scraped — it’s just weeds and discarded “stuff”. There is one decent tree near the house that will stay, but everything else goes into a dump truck and away. (This must occur before the fencing is completed so we don’t damage the fencing). New Mexico is famous for its sand storms, so I can’t leave the land bare. I turned to my search engine (I use Dogpile) and found native wildflower and grass seed. In October, I’ll have a tractor come through and till the back-40, then blanket it with about $600 worth of seeds. The dogs and I will then demonstrate the Welsh version of a rain dance so the seeds take hold. Hopefully, from next spring into the late fall — and forever after, the back part of the property will be blanketed with native wildflowers and grasses.
Once the townhouse closes, I will build a 2+ car garage. It will be extra long so that in the back 12′ I can have a walk way and four small 6′ x 6′ indoor homes for the dogs, each extending into a 6′ x 10′ covered outdoor run. I’m going to use the rock base, gravel layer, sand layer, paver top method. Although the baddogs are house dogs, there are times (like last week when I was moving the office) that having runs in which they could spend a day would have saved us all a great deal of grief and money. The garage/runs will be on the side of the house next to the vacant acre. I’m going to take an option on that acre. Perhaps I can prevent anyone from ever living on that side. Behind the house is ranchland — so no one will be living there, and on the north side, the neighbor has placed his home nearer the main road than my property (that gives me shivers — “my property”). We should not be annoying or disturbing anyone when the plan comes together.
The other project I’m hoping to fit into the budget is to cover the back patio and surround the patio and some of the yard with a privacy fence. That will have landscaping, a fountain, and be the place to spend evenings watching spectacular New Mexico sunsets. I’m hoping some of you will come enjoy them with me from time to time.
I have always used a Dremel to trim nails. Unfortunately, the darned batteries get “over-charged” and then won’t hold a charge that lasts for more than one dog (and it better be a dog that holds still). So, I started looking for an option. The Pet-i-cure and Dremel’s pet nail grinder don’t rotate at a high enough speed. What I found is the Dremel Stylus. It has a Lithium Ion battery, fully charges in two to three hours, stops charging when it is at maximum, and holds the charge for two years (I wouldn’t know that yet because I’ve only had it for a month). The rpm is variable from 5,000 to 25,000, and the on/off control is at the front.
In its charger
Next to the charger
It’s very light weight and can be held like a pencil — or you can use the pistol grip. Since it arrived, we’ve been making short work of nails — and the dogs don’t complain nearly as much as they did with the old one. Amazon had the best price I found (about $70 with no shipping cost).
. . . I wish I had stock . . .
I received these photos from Amanda this morning. The “tube” beads I sent her simply were not large enough to slip onto the kangaroo braid. Of course, she had some very acceptable alternatives. I cannot wait to pluck this from my mailbox and clip it onto a show collar 
This lead is laid on a standard sized paper plate — to give an idea of scale.
The turquoise is natural brown matrix turquoise, with silver beading on kangaroo braid — three strands of black with a single strand of whiskey worked in. Definitely designed for a Southwestern Cardi.
It’s raining in Albuquerque and is predicted to continue raining for most of the week. There is nothing like the smell of wet dogs! This is Holmes’ favorite way to spend a rainy evening. First, helping his Dad explore his mom — precocious little guy!
Then, just enjoying that Kong.
It makes no difference that Inca dumped a cushion on top of him.
G’night, Chase, g’night, Inca, g’night, Phoebe — and, all together — g’night, Holmes.
Phoebe is in season and Chase is ever so aware. Even little Holmes knows his mother smells special. The two boys follow behind her wherever she goes. So far, Phebes has shown admirable restraint with the two buffoons. Notice in this photo that Chase just happens to be on the chair (looking away) while Phebes perches on the back. The humans involved with this relationship are thinking “GIRLS”!!!
Chase and Holmes are still the best playmates. Tonight I stopped at PetSmart and found loofa toys on sale. One had to come home. So the boys wrestled over the bright blue toy for most of the night. Here Holmes demands its prompt return.
It’s long. They could each work on an end, but that is not satisfactory. They both need the same end.
My older son and his wife frequently give me a gift that allows me to “express” my creativity. This year’s Christmas gift will be a kangaroo lead for little Holmes (I’ll bet his dad uses it as well). Amanda at Muddy Feet Aussies makes custom kangaroo leads. Since I’m the one with the access to natural turquoise, I’ve put together the brown matrix turquoise rondelles, silver puff beads, and pewter tube beads. I’m sending her the beads Monday and she’ll put them on a black/whiskey kangaroo lead.
Here are the bead clusters as I’ve laid them out. Amanda may come up with something more attractive.
Main Cluster
Accent Cluster
Holmes loves the little square bed that was in the puppy prison. So, it is now in the crate in my room in which he spends the night. The bed is too small when he stretches out, but if I remove it and leave just the crate pad, he is annoyed and can’t seem to get comfortable. Since having him sleep for seven hours straight is a really high priority, he can just keep the little bed.
All tucked in for the night
The camera bothers me — go away
In keeping with yesterday’s post, I set a doable number of tasks for myself for today (in addition to visiting Sam’s Club — not as cool as Trader Joe’s, but sometimes more practical). I am going to do toenails, change the lightbulb on the back porch, hang the jell-o mold up above the refrigerator, and I am going to vacuum up Phoebe. Phebes should be in season any day — this I know because Chase tells me so. Apparently, she cannot come into season if she has any hair on her body. She is now close to nekked. The hair had to go somewhere. So, I’ve started vacuuming upstairs. I only have two bedrooms and two baths upstairs, but have emptied the filter canister twice so far.
The stairs are a b***h! My vacuum is pretty wide, the better to cut a decent swath through the hairfield, so the head does not fit comfortably on the stairs. I end up balancing the vacuum to suck up as much hair as I’m able, and then going back over each stair with a smaller, but not as mighty, vacuum. The stairs are also the preferred lounging spot for the red empress. Inca sprawls on the step that gives her the best views. She can look over the stair rail into the living room, up to the bedrooms, or down to the front door. So, when I get to her spot, I add an awesome amount of Inca red hair to the Phoebe black hair. I don’t expect Chase and Holmes to begin shedding until I have completely vacuumed the entire house.
Surely, this is one of my more illuminating posts — forgive me, I just needed the break!
Seems that there aren’t as many awwww moments as when da boyz were little babies, but Homeboy Holmes does keep me laughing — and stopping him from having any fun at all.
His dog bed is upside down, there are shavings everywhere, he’s pawing unmercifuly at the x-pen — it’s just another part of Holmes’ attention-getting day
This has been voted toy of the year. $5 at Lowes and designed to keep the cold night air from creeping under the doors — or it’s a relatively inexpensive 3-foot long dog toy.
I can kill it! I’ll save us all!
The little bit of white icing on Holmes’ neck is gone. Plainly marked puppy — sigh! We plan to keep him around for a while nonetheless.
You might remember that Chase received a tennis ball dressed like a sheep at the Los Lunas supported show. You might also remember that because he squeaked it all the way home, I rolled it under the couch to maintain my sanity. Today I vacuumed the living room and dining room — so I moved the couch. Chase snatched up his sheep-like tennis ball, then laid next to the puppy prison squeaking the toy. Phoebe has enjoyed playing with Holmes the past few days, so I let the little guy out of jail for some play time with his mom and dad. The puppy grabbed the sheep-ball and the race was on. It cried out for video — so here it is:
If you look at the puppycam, you’ll see that Holmes is now in a three-sided puppy pen. It keeps him from leaping over a side of the pen and being unable to get back to his shavings. The drawbacks — if the puppycam had sound, you would hear Chase and Holmes “talking” incessantly VERY loudly. If Holmes had his way he would be free to follow his dad around 24/7. Though Chase seems to think that would be terrific, I suspect he’d get pretty tired of the little beast biting his feet and tail.
I’m so glad they love each other — at least until Holmes starts lifting his leg. There will be many more videos to come.
Chase sleeps nearby, resting his head on an end table — I wonder if he’d like one of the wooden blocks used in some Asian and Latin American countries?
Here are the rules: Once you log on, PLEASE DO NOT minimize. That keeps the connection open and continues to use Broadband width; too much use and Qwest will take away my DSL. So, log in, watch the babies for a little while and then log off PLEASE. That means close the connection completely. Please do not post the Puppycam information on any Chat Lists. If the puppies are being very bad, feel free to email me using the link on the right sidebar at the end of “about me”. I haven’t much control over the little devils, but it’s nice to know they are following in their father’s footsteps.
Log in: puppycam
Username: elyan
Password: puppies
I hope they contribute a smile to your day.
p.s. About error messages: Some services do not provide sufficient broadband width for you to view the puppy cam. The feed uses JAVA which might also be a problem for some users. If so, I am truly sorry because they are very cute. I’ll continue to post photos though.
Toys are a problem around here. There’s no shortage (heaven knows!), but things happen to toys. The big dogs de-stuff them and carry the carcasses for months. The puppies dump them in the water bowl. I rescue them and they dry on the back of the sink.
These should be back in commission by tomorrow afternoon
This afternoon everyone got out in front with the puppies. While I was trying to put big dogs back and catch Holmes and Watson, Watson made a break back into the house and grabbed one of the carcasses. I wonder for how long he had been plotting that move.
Mine, mine, mine!
I’ve put a crate in the puppy pen and when the boyz are all tuckered out (like they are now), they crawl in and take it for a test snooze. This is good practice for little show dogs. For now, the door is open and they can come and go, but their natural denning instinct will make this a safe haven for life.
This puppy thing has forced me to read the directions to my little Olympus camera. The darned instructions are in tiny print so the manufacturer can fit them into one booklet in six languages. I knew the camera was video capable, and the boyz are so darned cute. I got back that hour that was stolen in April and felt up to figuring it out. So, I added YouTube to my Google gaggle. Then I sat on the floor next to the litter box and took video of the boyz. It’s pretty primitive, but I’m learning. It really doesn’t matter how incapable I am because the puppies are just cute!
And then there’s Holmes with his Wubba:
I brought the new box home yesterday. It’s a prototype so there are some adjustments to be made. If I decide to have another litter, we’d add the “pig rails”. The sides as built are 14″ which is too tall for the mom to jump in and out — of course that means Holmes and Watson will not be breaking out anytime soon. So, what we’re going to do is to add a drop-in panel on one side. When the panel is removed, that side that is only 11″ high. When mom is done and the issue is merely containment, the panel goes back in. I think perhaps a slightly higher lip between sleeping compartment and shavings compartment would be good. The transfer of shavings, however, is primarily on the puppies’ coats though. The biggest change has to do with a misreading of my dimensions. John made the main box 30″ x 40″ and it really needs to be 40″ x 40″ so mom can stretch out for whelping and for feeding. I think that I would probably whelp in the pool again, and use the box when it’s time to potty train (and contain) puppies.
The boyz knew immediately that they should toddle to the far end of the shavings area for bathroom activities. There was not a single instance of poop in the play/sleeping area last night. Smart babies. We must work on puppy peeing places, however. . . . and Phoebe — she’s ready to be done with them. Now she must be re-integrated into the adult dog life.
Two little poops at the back of the shavings — good puppies!
There’s more room to wrestle in here
Tuckered out
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