Crack

The dogs love squeeze cheese in a can. They gulp it up like babies sucking a bottle! Bravo especially likes the cheese on his tongue. I think he has discovered a new crack habit besides java.

It was especially sunny today, so all the puppies stretched out on the deck.

We visited Spirit Lake early this AM to pick up groceries - we ran out of dog food.

Isabelle & Bravo dug quite a few trenches in the front yard due to bad little gophers. They loved kicking all that dirt around - but Angus was too dumb to get out of the way. She got buried in brown soil.

Walks for all the canines; afterwards I cleaned up the basement & put away all the Christmas decorations.

Whoops Birthday

Whoops. I totally spaced hubby's birthday. So if he has nothing going on tonight, we will go out for dinner to celebrate. He didn't even get a card from anybody! Poor baby.

I did get up and sing happy birthday to him, but forgot our cupcake. Instead, I put the candle into his breakfast burrito!

The dogs howled with me as I sang.

44 Pounds

Angus weighed 27.8 pounds the first time we took her into the vet on 27 March. Exactly one month later she now weighs 44.4 pounds! She's a big dog.

Waiting for her shots, she adorably licked Doctor Mike many times on his face. He was quite enchanted with her.

The puppy is now 14.5 weeks old. She only has one more series of shots to go next month. Then we can apply for her county license. At six months, she will be fixed. I just wish they could do it earlier than that because I don't want to endure the mess when she comes "of age".

Her potty training is advancing by leaps & bounds. Official obedience training begins on 5 May!

One thing to note. Saints are notorious for their slobbering (anything worse than Izzy's, I can't imagine!) but we have noticed that Angus keeps her mouth shut & does not slober. Hope she doesn't start.

Lonely

Bravo forlornly sits on the couch, waiting for Grandpa to come home. Or waiting for his Mommy to return.

It snowed early this morning.

He watched the snow fall outside for quite a while.


Totally forgot Angus' vet appointment on Friday. I really think I have alzheimer's.

Harry was quite boisterous & outgoing today.

Angus ran into the office today while I was on the computer. She threw her head against my thigh. Obviously she was telling me she wanted to go out! What a great little dog.

Isabelle slept quite a lot today as she was limping again. She strained her left leg while running in the woods with Bravo the other day.

Fireplace Glass

The fireplace glass finally arrived the other day and we raced into town on Friday to pick it up. However, when hubby examined it today. . . it was 1/4 inch too wide. So he will have to go down to the shop for a while and modify the insert. Thank goodness he has the tools to do this, or it would have had to go back to the glass store & be cut.

We got up late this morning. Gosh. Slept in until 9AM. The dogs were all too tired to get up, too! I had gotten up briefly with Angus to let her out at 6AM, but she is still having an accident early in the morning before we wake. She probably just has too little of a bladder to make it through the night.

After having waffles & bacon for breakfast (of which we only had little bites - then were stuffed) we fed the remaining portions to the puppies. Dog-grog is what hubby calls it.

A wonderful woodsy walk through the property brought us to the attention of the neighbors behind us who have horses. They are very nice. We talked quite a bit. Then walked again through the woods to return home. The pups had a wonderful time romping & playing.

Hubby made his concoction of all the left-overs for his breakfast burritos. He has gotten stuck in a rut with his burritos for quite a few months now. So instead of his breakfast sandwich in the morning, he just has me warm up a burrito for him.

The auction yesterday was a bust. The trucks went too high. There were no concessions at the auction, and the guys got hungry&thirsty. Chachi did not dress warmly for the inclement weather - he complained a bit.

After resting on the couch for most of Saturday - which is highly unusual for the hubster, he is busily working today. There is a list of about 6 honey-dos he has to complete. But with the clouds & rain still present today, I doubt whether he can get to all the items.

While he occupies himself with those things, I have worked on the house a bit; vacuumed & dusted. Cleaned some windows & mirrors; and tidied up all his mess in the kitchen; done laundry & dishes. Whew. Time for a rest.

Wake Up!

When I rolled out of bed this morning, this was the site I was greeted with. Bravo relaxed on his back with his legs extended into the air, Harriet on her side pushing me out of bed with her feet. . .

And remember, we only have a queen size bed with all of us jammed into it. Very cozy!

Out of sight, beside hubby's side of the bed, is Isabelle lying on the floor.

Downstairs, Angus was wiggling her tail & anxious to go outside to potty; she has come a long way in her kennel training. She only averages about 1 accident a day now.

I have started walking each dog seperately down to the shop & back. Eventually, I want to get them to walk with me down to the main intersection road & back which is about one mile each day. Each dog. That would make four miles for me each day. They all need the exercise. And it will be a bit of bonding time for each of us.

Love the individual personalities of each dog. Bravo is a typical boy; doing nasty stuff; with an attitude. Harriet is shy but coming out of her shell to exhibit the characteristics of a typical Boxer; jumping, barking. Isabelle is the older, experienced motherly dog who enjoys nothing better than a good nap! Angus is growing into her own persona. She enjoys attention, is loving & klutzy. She oftentimes sneaks up on Bravo like a cat to attack him! It is so comic to watch.

Well, hubby & Chachi went to an auction at the Idaho Dept of Lands this afternoon - hubby thinks he can pick up a couple trucks on the cheap. We will see.

Tomorrow we can do the rest of the honey-dos on our list. It is supposed to be another cold & dreary day. Pooh.

Cold & Snowy

For the past couple of days, it has been cold & snowy. Along with the dark skies present, it almost seems like winter again. We have had no accumulation, just sprinkles of snow mixed with cold rain.

Bravo was resting in the "dog donut" while the sun was shining for a very short while the other day.

I am desperately wanting the nicer weather to stick around for a while so the dogs can get out and play. It would also be nice to start riding bikes on a consistent basis.

Hubby grilled hamburgs on the outdoor cooker yesterday in-between the snow; he also put a meatloaf in to bake, but he had it in for too long and it got a little blackened. Which is all OK, the dogs will have a nice little dog-grog after we combine some rice & chicken with it!

Angus is still in her kennel; a little progress has been made on the potty-training. But she still has issues with not understanding she has to go out.

Happy Birthday Isabelle!

Isabelle is 5. Today.
Or she is 35.

7 dog years x 5 = 35.

Whatever.

She had a great day. Starting with a fresh round of naps, she had several walks with mommy around the property.

Then daddy came home and with Bravo, we went down to the park to go for our First bike ride of the year. There were many downed trees on the path which caused us to slow down & walk around. But both dogs were winded by the time we were done. They are out of shape. Mommy & Daddy are out of shape.

Isabelle was too tired to stand after she got home, so got a pic of her on the floor with her birthday hat.

Here is a pic of her cake, also. They spelled her name incorrectly on the cake.

I beat down the last of the snow mound in front of the garage. There is still some snow around the property. Lots better than before. It is actually looking good around here. A high of 76F degrees, but it felt more like 80F.

Before hubby went down to the shop tonight, he helped me give bathes to all the dogs. ALL the dogs. Out on the deck. With water. & Shampoo. They are all lickety-clean now.

Everything Hurts

Saturday was a very nice spring day. I took all the puppies for several walks around the property. The snow has almost vanished, but in some places there is still a little to walk around. There are a couple 2 foot snow drifts from plowing in the driveway.

Isabelle is trustworthy to stay off the leash, but I put leads on Bravo, Angus & Harriet. We walked down to see Greg several times at the shop. The final walk found us at the end of the drive just in time to see our friends Joanie & Chachi. They had come back from rock-hounding over in Washington state. Got some very pretty rocks (stored in the floor of their back seat). Instead of taking their truck, they took their car- a Rav4- to conserve on gas; so Joanie will have to clean out the car before work on Monday. The rocks were all covered with a fine white powder which had settled all over their car. Oh, well. We have dog hair all over our truck!

Hubby worked late in the shop as he had lots to do. He has accumulated quite a hunk of cash in order to a/buy another truck (or trade for it) and b/get a new tubing bender. There are people coming out of the woodwork with projects for him to do. $$$

Sunday was our clean-up-the-yard day. There was quite a mess from snow plowing - so we had to pick up rocks, throw away broken Christmas decorations, take down Christmas lights, put away extension cords (over 100 cords), pick up dog poop, pick up garbage on the highway in front of the property, put out our benches & picnic table & fire-pit chairs.

However, we ran out of time and were unable to put up the security camera for the shop or the new automated gates for the entrance.

I had a chance to vacuum a little, clean up the dog beds, & do a little spring-cleaning laundry.

We also dropped off his white truck at Earl's Mobile Service to have it updated for the 5th wheel towing. Earl said that he would have it done by Monday.

After hubby rests for a bit, he will install my new vintage claw-foot tub faucet with sprayer. Since we have so many dogs - I need the sprayer for bathing them!

I made raisin/oatmeal cookies for the pups & hubby.

Just Down

Been feeling so very tired lately. Out of sorts. Can't seem to get any energy to do anything. I was feeling pretty good before I got the flu in February. Everything has seemed to go downhill from there.

My interest has waned on most things. It's not that I'm bored. Or depressed. It just that I have this black cloud of weight hanging on me. Wish I could just wake up feeling refreshed tomorrow morning. But that morning never comes.

It's difficult. Hope something changes soon.

The puppies make me happy, hubby makes me happy, but it is like I'm out of step. Trying to get back in the groove that is forever out of reach.

Another Bright Idea

Angus just doesn't understand the potty training situation. Today, she is confined to her kennel. She will be staying there until she is completely educated. Usually I don't like doing this, but it is a last stop on the potty problem train.

We have come up with an idea. Since Bravo was unable to join his parents in the UK, we will ship him over piece by piece. Then they can re-assemble him there! Maybe an ear, then a foot, then the tail. Hmmm. Not such a good idea? Yeah. Probably not. There is not an instruction manual for re-assembly and they might get it wrong.

Isabelle has been enjoying the warmer weather in the afternoons by resting on the deck. She loves the sun on her fur!

Hubby went over last night to drop off his parts at Alan's in Spoky-Jo. I chose to stay home as he took the diesel truck & the exhaust smell makes me physically sick.

Gotten several bids back for the new building. Finally got the last one today and it was the best pricing of all. Hopefully, this can be wrapped up by next week.

In between training, sit - stay - heel; the dogs have been playing together. They love tug-of-war.

Dog Vomit

Yep. That there is dog puke. Bravo was just showing us how cool he is; that he can swallow just about anything!.

Gross.

I think the dog suffers from Pica.

• Pica is a medical disorder characterized by an appetite for substances largely non-nutritive or an abnormal appetite for some things that may be considered foods, such as food ingredients.

This has only been posted here so that B's mommy can see. She should share in the joy of his creations too, huh?

There are strings, dirt, & plants in this puke. Wasn't it nice of him to make us such a sweet present?
In further disgusting news, I actually watched Snakes On A Plane. Hissssssssss. I detest snakes. Slimy creatures. Grew up near a field with garter snakes & I couldn't stand them.

It snowed today. Then rained. And the sun came out later. It got warm. Then the clouds presented themselves. And it got cold. But then later it heated up again. Weather around here is crazy. CRAZY.

Sharing a pic of what it looked like when we woke up this morning. Insane. The middle of April. Well past the beginning of Spring and it is still SNOWING.

Ihatesnow. I need to move. Somewhere warm.

Cutie Patootie

Look at these cute pics! Angus is adorable.

Bravo has never been more than 6 feet from my side for the past few days. I don't think he's insecure. He just wants people attention.

He went after a bird today-he's bird addicted. Thank goodness he didn't go out into the road!

It snowed today. Just flurries, but it still snowed. That counts. If it keeps this up until June, I swear that I will move. Ihatesnow.

Happy Ether!

Nothing much happened on Saturday. I took all the puppies for several walks in between the raindrops. Isabelle flatly refused to go outside to potty if it was raining.

After just a few weeks, Angus has outpaced Bravo in the height department. She is almost the size of Harriet.

Harriet is now actively playing with Angus one-on-one. It is hilarious to see their antics. They are "pretending" to chomp on each other with their mouths open! Running together is also great fun for them.

I finally successfully contacted the North Idaho School of Dog Obedience & Training Center. A very nice woman returned my call and advised that they have openings for their classes starting May 5. Angus will have to wait until then because she needs all her puppy shots in order to attend class. We will attempt to take Harriet to class also, though she might need private lessons depending upon her skittishness.

Easter Sunday dawned rainy & dark. Hubby didn't hide any eggs for me :( But after finally properly waking up by 10AM, he did take me to the store & bought me an easter egg cake. Which was nice. We also washed Bravo & Angus. Harriet & Isabelle will have to wait until we go into town. They are just too big to fit into the tub adequately.

Last night we delightedly watched The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston, the perennial Easter television fare. The acting was so dramatically over-the-top!

Vintage

On eBay, I bid on some vintage, antique quilts. I was sure that I would never win them with such low bids, but sure enough. . .I got two!

One quilt that I had bid upon went well for over $450 and I lost that item. I was totally shocked that a quilt would even sell for that much on eBay with this economy. Just tells you that there are still people out there willing to spend $.

I was trying to replace the antique quilt that hubby's grandmother had given "her boys" when they were young. We had used it when we first moved to Idaho and as it was so old, it just fell apart when used. The first quilt that I won on eBay came the other day and I gave it to hubby as a surprise gift. He was very touched & pleased.

Hubby goes back to work on Monday! Yippee. Well, actually not yippee. He still has lots to do at home, which he will not have time to finish. All his home projects will have to be squeezed into after work hours now. But it is still nice to know that he is going back to an actual paycheck every week and the chance to bid into a different position. Cross your fingers!

So to celebrate his last few days off, we drove up to Sandpoint to visit Wally-World which they were remodeling (we didn't know) and to ride bikes in Dover. It was overcast and was not as pleasant as the past few days have been. It was worth it tho- to walk the dogs, take pics of geese, bike around the area, see the mountains still covered in snow. Hubby also stopped at a couple lumber yards in Sandpoint to drop off his project list for the new building for bids.

We left Harriet home this trip as she has been acting up while in the truck. I don't know if she has developed an aversion to traveling with the other dogs, or gets car sick. She whines constantly. Won't go potty if she is not at home which makes it difficult to travel with her. It almost broke my heart to leave her home. I am calling the dog training school again today. Maybe somebody will answer.

Gave Angus & Bravo the knuckle bones on Tuesday that I had stored in the freezer. They went nuclear! Growling & salivating. Bravo growled menacingly if you even looked at him. He later buried his outside someplace. . . Angus' bone disappeared completely somewhere in this house. Scary. It gave me a couple hours of peace & quiet while they munched away happily.

They took a marathon nap together afterwards.

The Ear Wave

Paper-Lost in Translation by Joanne Brisebois;

Sweetest Wordart by Katie Pertiet - Defining Words;

Backward Brad by Micheline Martin;

Bling Overlay & Butterfly by Nicole Young;

Frame - Midnight Blue by Choubinette Design

No Bozos

MONDAY
Taking only Bravo & Angus in the truck with us, Harriet & Isabelle angrily pawed at the screen door we left open for them. They were quite upset.

Went to get my nails done in Post Falls, mailed Kelsey's Hollister & AF boxes. It looks like it might be getting warmer in UK, so she might need her summer clothes.

Both of us were slightly hungry after getting done there, so I suggested the $50 in gift certificates for Red Lobster. RL has been running their Lobster Fest ads on TV, so we drove over there, walked the dogs before lunch and then had an enjoyable lunch. I ordered the Coastal Soup (Creamy Potato Bacon) & Grilled Shrimp salad. Hubby requested the Lobster Lovers Dream which is rock lobster tail and sweet split Maine lobster tail, roasted and served with shrimp, lobster and langostino linguini. We shared. Also had enough left over to bring home to the puppies. The waitress kept bringing more garlic biscuits to us even though we only had eaten one. The rest were wrapped up in a bag for the dogs.

Stopped at CDA Builders, Ziggys (Ziegler Lumber), & Stock Components to obtain bids for the new shop. They were all going to fax the info to us.

After dropping off our comforters at the dry cleaners, we returned home to share the leftovers with Harriet & Isabelle. I believe they forgave us for abandoning them when they smelled the succulent fish we carried!

This is the time of year that I detest the most. Spring is not a refreshing time of year around here. Instead it is fraught with mud & melting floody areas. Dirt & dust overwhelms the house within. The sunshine reveals all the dust bunnies & mess on the floor along with the filthy windows. It will be at least another solid month before the snow is gone; wherein I will be able to call the window cleaners, carpet cleaners, & do spring cleaning. I am champing at the bit to tidy up NOW. But it will all be wasted until I can do it later.

TUESDAY
Last night we watched HOUSE and I was quite disappointed that they took advantage of the audience by airing such a distressing plot line. The suicide of Kutner truly upset me as he was a little comic relief in such a serious show. I liked the fleshing out of his character and looked forward to what he might bring to the show.

Bravo went on walkabout this morning & while we were loading the dogs into the truck, Angus bolted after him. They made it all the way to the neighbors before hubby caught up with them. I am going to call on training classes for Angus today!

Angus is growing in leaps & bounds. She is 1 inch shorter than Harriet now. The poor little dog bites at her legs with the growing pains. It must be very excruciating to develop that quickly.

After we returned from getting drinks, there were multiple faxes waiting for us at home showing us the bids returned from the lumber yards. I can't wait for construction to begin!

Hubby's supervisor called. He will be returning to work on Monday next. 13 April 2009. Thank goodness. I am going to highly encourage him to apply for a different position that lasts all year long. He has been resistant to applying for something different as he relished the position that he has now. But if he is going to be unemployed for 1/2 of the year, that is cutting into our savings too much. If all things hold up well, he wants to put in another 5-6 years. Then retire.

Exhausted B

SUNDAY
After a busy day, we have never seen Bravo so tired. Poor little dog.

We got lattes in the morning before going to the dump. Then we returned to pack up the bikes. Totally forgot our helmets. Duh moment!

Got down to Hayden (saw a couple hawks on telephone poles along the way) then unpacked all the dogs. Quite a lot of foot & bike traffic on the path. We lost Harriet a couple times when she actually pulled out of her harness. Bad dog. More like little scared dog. Really need to get her into a training class to expose her to other things. She still panics way too much.

It was a high of 60F degrees outside. Very nice. Once we returned the dogs to the truck, we unpacked bikes & rode about 2 miles ourselves. Greg was screaming in agony for the first few yards, but then got used to it. I wished we could have gone farther. Maybe another day.

When we got home, it was late in the afternoon and the puppies started playing. They ran in&out of the house all day. We left all the doors open so they could come & go as they pleased. Bravo got rolled in the melting snow with Harriet, then went on walkabout with Angus. When they all came in, Angus still wanted to play and kept barking at everybody to get up. Poor little Bravo had to actually hide in his kennel to get away from her.

While I sewed on my quilt, Greg watched television & made hot dogs on the grill for the puppies. The smell of grilling food made it seem that much closer to a real spring! The dogs got up when they smelled burning meat, and it was playtime again.

Bravo conked out early tonight-about 9:30. He didn't want to get up for anything. We decided as he had been thoroughly soaked today with snow & spit, that he needed a bath. So into the tub he went. He was barely awake and stood so very nicely while we bathed him. I gave him a very invigorating scrub with my nails and you could actually see his eyes roll up in his head because he enjoyed it so much.

After running around post-bathtime with Angus again, he curled up on the couch, fast asleep by 10pm.

Crazy Quilt

SATURDAY
Once I got my new sewing machine tuned-in to the actual thread tension instead of trusting the computer on the dumb appliance, it was a joy to sew! I actually spent most of yesterday stitching on my quilt blocks. A Christmas quilt. It might be finished by then! lol.

Think I will sign up for a class down at the new quilt shop in town. Might be fun. I have never been in there.

It is official: Angus is now taller than Bravo. In just one week she has gone from being shorter than him to towering over him! She is almost as tall as Harriet-the Boxer.

Scanning the old photos that I received from my father when we went to visit is at a stand-still. It is SO boring. I really need to get on top of that. Now that it is getting to feel (and look) like spring, I want to get downstairs & organize everything. Just tossed everything in the back room from winter/Xmas. Several of our Xmas decorations are still outside as we can't get to them in the snow. A lot of the things are damaged beyond help due to the severe winter & snow. Will just have to see if we can salvage them or toss them. It's very depressing coming home in April to find December decorations still in the yard!

Yesterday was a balmy 55F degrees and inside it got up to 69F degrees with our massive front windows. I had the doors open for fresh air all day!

Another Breakthrough: While I was in the bathroom, Harriet actually walked all the way in and let me pet her head. She had not really wanted to come in; she is probably claustrophobic.

If I can get the hubby off the couch today, we will take garbage to the dump; stop to get morning lattes; pack up the bikes & go riding in Hayden; stop to get mid-afternoon lattes; take the dogs for a walk; then pick up mid-evening lattes!

Frickin' Turkeys!

It snowed again this morning- actually snow flurries. Not real snow. So it doesn't count. Really. It doesn't count!

Drove the truck with all the dogs & hubby into town as he had to return his work truck to the service yard. The supervisor got hot under the collar for having the vehicle off-site and wanted it returned. So hubby had to unpack all his personal things out of the vehicle again. . .

We picked up nice warm lattes from Starbucks (yummy). Then went to Fred Meyers grocery for some organic bananas (and other food stuffs).

By 9AM we returned home again. After unpacking groceries & putting them away, I cleaned up the house a bit. It was such a nice day after the snowy beginning that the puppies & I kept the screen door open much of the afternoon. Warmth poured into our house like a regular spring day.

A brief walk with Isabelle, Bravo & Angus down to see the guys working later and to pick up the mail rounded out our wonderful day. I decided to take a nice soak while the puppies had their nap in the late-mid-afternoon. Turning the lights low and sinking into the hot tub with my iPod relaxed all the stress away.

When going to the laundry room after bathtime to put my towels into the washer, I spied FRICKIN' wild turkeys walking through our yard. How neat. Haven't seen or heard these in quite a long time.

Hubby came home later & I shared the pics with him. Went to bed early as I was exhausted.

Man's Best Friend

Hubby turned into a couch potato-e last night. Angus wriggled over and went to sleep on his feet.

While they were playing before bed, Harriet decided to join in the tug-of-war that was going on between Angus&Bravo. Harry got in the middle of the sock, growling & pulling with the others.

This morning we got up early, but started moving pretty slowly. Hubby rested on the couch for a while as he didn't feel up to par. I think he didn't get enough sleep last night. We finally went to get lattes by 10AM, lazy butts that we are!

I got to clean the house, watch the dogs, do loads of laundry & dishes. At mid afternoon hubby called to say he & Chachi were going over to Montana to a couple auto yards, then to pick up a Min-Mastiff puppy that his friends didn't want anymore. I was apprehensive about another dog, but thought he knew what he was doing. Around 1PM, I went to get the mail. Hubby was still here! I went into the shop to talk to him, and he yelled "April Fools!" So we weren't getting another dog. Darn.

When I walked out to get the mail, I told him we got a letter from the IRS and were being audited. April Fools!

Walked the dogs tonight in the mini blizzard that we are getting. It's snowing again. Probably 3-6 inches before tomorrow morning.

As I am VERY tired, will go to bed early. My Bliss Softening Socks that I ordered came the other day. Along with their Softening Salve, my feet have never been softer. Like a baby's behind! Today the Glamour Gloves arrived by UPS and I am going to lather myself in Salve, then sleep. Nite. Nite.