Floridians love their AC more than their spouses!

So, this has been one of those years.  You might know the type.  Its the kind where every single good thing that happens is balanced by a bad one?  I'm talking about the kind of things that totally upend your world for a while.  Its the type of year where you have to keep on counting those blessings to stop yourself from having your head explode!  Things like oh, your house gets chosen to be used in a movie...then you get a tornado!  Your daughter gets engaged and the wedding is at your house...where you had that tornado 14 days before the wedding day!  A year with things like that happening!  How many more months are left in 2013?  Just sayin'!  Anyway......

It was David's weekend off so there were plans to get a lot of work done.  My sister was in town and we were having her and her kids and Mom for lunch.  Saturday morning started out really well; David and I got a few things done directly after morning coffee and then split off to do the individual thing...he went outside to finish up the Pump House (or Well House as I'm apt to call it!) while I vacuumed up dog and cat hair and dusted and all those other housewifely things you do when company is coming.

It's summertime so a lunch get together has to have potato salad.  So about 1 p.m. I got those taters peeled and boiling.  And had a hot flash.  Or so I thought.  I went to the AC thermostat and turned it down a degree...went back to the kitchen to start the next dish....still having that hot flash.  Went back to the thermostat and turned on the Fan...went back to the kitchen and back to work preparing for lunch.  About an hour later, my family walks in the kitchen...someone said something about the temperature of my kitchen.  Back to the thermostat I go....to see that it reads way hotter than the setting and that that fan I turned on wasn't on!

To make a long story short; we call our AC company to come see what is up with our 3 year old system.  

Its the Fan.  

A GE product.  

And GE and the AC company KNEW it was going to go out.  

Because they are all - one by one by one - going out on all the systems that contain that product.   

Did we get a recall notice like you do for your vehicle?  Nope.  They just wait for your system to fail to tell you that they are going to replace it for "free" right before they tell you how many hundreds of dollars it will cost to get that "free" fan!

Have they known for years that this fan was defective? Yep. 

Did ours go out on one of the hottest days of the summer here in Florida? You betcha.  Along with two others that our neighbors (well, they share our county) had put it in within the last few years!  (Our AC guy thought it would be helpful to let us that we were his THIRD call this weekend for the EXACT same issue with new systems they'd put in!)

Could they fix it there and then? Oh, no way!  They have to order the part and wait for it to be shipped to them and then we have to wait for them to come out and pull out the defective fan and put in the new one.....In Four Days.  Maybe.  But they sure needed that several hundred dollar check right then and there didn't they?

Lucky my head didn't explode!

Anyway, we did what any Floridian without AC does in the dog days of summer.  We headed for water!  And did some Angus training to boot!

Like I said....counting my blessings!  And waiting for the AC guy to call and tell me he'll be here with the fan this afternoon........

Photography...

My Christmas gift this year was a new camera!  Since moving to Mac, I'd been videoing and photographing non-stop.  What I'd wanted to be able to do when the children were small  - film, edit and then actually watch the results,  I was able to do.  I'd video and then race to the laptop with the SD card and get it all into iMovie and go to town editing and adding music and photographs.  Camping trips and cruises and family get togethers were all making their way onto our T.V.!

There was one issue though. My old camera didn't do HD videoing; in fact, it didn't video very well at all. Normal movement of subjects - even in Sport mode - left a "vapor" trail.  Moving the camera during filming had to be done very slowly or you received the same result.

So, David bought me a new camera!  In addition to HD filming, it takes really beautiful stills as well.  I'm still learning how to use all of its functions to their best capability.  Dallas was home last week and he sat and played with it and helped me to move forward in that regard....the best thing he showed me?  That there is a "continuous shutter" function.

Trying to get a good photograph of a Black Lab is difficult.  Without the correct lighting, whatever photo is taken shows a completely black spot where their eyes and other facial features should be.  Profile shots are not too difficult to get, but a full frontal shot?  Nearly impossible without a really good camera and the best lighting.  In the past, we'd hired a photographer to get photos of our Black boys so that we'd have some good shots of them.

With our new little Black boy, even with my new camera, getting good photos was not easy.  But yesterday, I sat outside on our drain field as Angus explored the yard and played with Callie.  Using the continuous shutter trick, I was able to get quite a few good shots of him....here's my favorite...

Using the continuous shutter trick, I just kept shooting.  Right before this shot, he'd been sitting quietly staring at Callie.  Suddenly, he began to run to attack her!  This would never have been caught if I'd been simply taking a regular photograph....!  And yes, this is the same sweet boy in the photograph above!  : ) 

The process of mourning...

From August 2009 until just recently, I rarely posted here.  The passing of my mother in law took the joy out of writing in this on-line journal.  There was a lot of (extended) family tension as her estate was settled over the course of a year and a half.  I wrote, as I've done since I was a child, but not here, not where others could read about the sad state of affairs.

In 2011, we began the year having gotten through the probate process and I thought I'd begin to write here again; but in March of that year, within three weeks of each other, we lost our two Black Labs, Murphy and Indie, and again, any joy I found in writing here was overshadowed by their loss.  I found that most of what I wrote was filled with the grief of their loss.  

Grieving is a process.  2012 was a slow year of emotional recovery.  

It was also the year I retired my ten year old Dell and switched to Mac.  Along with my new MacBook Pro, I got iMovie and iPhoto....and all that those programs would allow me to do.  I realized that I could finally get all the old family movies on unwatchable VHS tapes onto DVD's.  (The last of our VCR's had given up its life a few years ago.)

I went through all those VCR tapes and transferred them one by one onto my laptop and into iMovie; I scanned all the old photographs into iPhoto and my Genealogy software (Reunion). And I spent months editing those bits and pieces of footage into "movies".  Then I put them all onto DVD's and shared them with family.  

There was footage from my niece's 6th birthday party held in October 2004; a party where we all dressed as fantasy characters mostly from Disney Movies; there was limbo and apple bobbing and after the sun went down, family karaoke for hours!  What fun it was to relive that day and finally get the video not only to my niece but to all the family members that were there that wonderful day.

There was footage from a 1993 trip to Universal Studios with David's brother's family.  There was footage from a 2000 trip to Hawaii Nikki took with that same family.  There was footage of Dallas' year as Drum Major of his high school marching band; too many band and chorus concerts to count, soccer games for Hunter with Nikki as the referee and David as Coach of his team and footage of my performing days!  

There was a lot of footage of our Shanna, Murphy and Indie; that was the most difficult video to edit in the beginning, but as I worked on those old videos and put them into a "movie" I was able to let those beloved pets go and remember them with joy instead of sorrow.  The process allowed me to think about getting another puppy and to move toward the day when I was ready....

Meet our new baby....introducing our 13 week old Black Lab, Angus Demetrius!

6 weeks old - We first saw Angus on May 2nd - two days before the Tornado hit us.  This was taken on May 29th when we returned to pick him out of the three black males in his litter!

The day he came to home - 8 weeks old June 20th!

9 weeks old - Gazebo Time.  We try to spend the last hour of his day in the Gazebo training him in "quiet time".  Eventually we'll be able to actually get back in the hot tub and relax while he is out there with us...right now with all the new puppy energy?  Well, let's just say that we are in training!

An almost silent house...

I've spent the majority of the last four years of my life with three labs and a tripod; a rabbit, two to three cats and an ever-growing flock of chickens. The pets have helped me deal with the process of becoming an empty nester; all that maternal stuff that needs to have an outlet went to the animals and the noise of cackling hens, crowing roosters, purring cats, and panting or snoring or tussling dogs can replace the sounds of multiple teenage voices on the phone, tv's or radios blaring from various rooms in the house.

Funny how you get so used to noise that silence is louder to your ears then the noise is. Today, that silence is pretty loud. No Murphy panting. No Indie playing with Callie. And only the occasional chicken or rooster in the background because we thinned the flock last week (giving all our game hens to a friend leaving only Little Roo and his five reds).

Labs are known to their owners as "Velcro Dogs". They have to be as near to you as possible and in a group of several will push and prod and wiggle to achieve that position. This meant that whatever chair I sat in was not always stationary. Today, instead of my wheeled desk chair slowly being pushed to one side or the other because there are four dogs lying at my feet, jockeying for that place where they are actually touching me, there is only Callie lying there (King is upstairs somewhere). When I gathered eggs this morning and watered my veggies, only two dogs went out the door with me and trailed along behind me. This will take some getting used to.

There is a poem for parents about how they should cherish crayon markings on the wall and fingerprints on refrigerators because those who leave behind such evidence quickly grow up and out of your house. I wonder if there is one for pet owners who suddenly find their world filled with less of all that comes with those pets? Things like dog hair and water spills and frequent requests to go outside and the stampedes that sometimes took place while going out the door........

I pretty much gave up on dog hair free floors over the last four years - I learned to live with evidence that remained behind when one or more of the dogs tanked up on water from one of the dishes strategically placed throughout the downstairs. I learned to let the dogs go out the back door before me to avoid getting trampled. I used to get aggravated sometimes at night when one by one the dogs would come and ask to be let out instead of being able to stick to the outing schedule that they all followed when they were young and healthy. Last night, I kept waiting for Murphy or Indie to ask to go out one last time before bed....instead of aggravation there was sadness.

Today, the fact that I haven't vacuumed for two days isn't as obvious as it would have been three weeks ago. I haven't stepped in three puddles of water before I've had my second cup of coffee. I was able to half heartedly go back to the old rule of "I go out the door before you dogs" when I went to gather eggs.

I'll get used to it. Callie and King will stop moping around and I'll hear the sounds of them playing somewhere in the house. I'll get used to floors that won't have water spills all day long every day - that vacuuming twice a week or maybe even once a week will be sufficient. I'll stop bracing myself for the stampede that was always a part of going outside with the dogs. And also to the fact that my wheeled desk chair stays in front of the keyboard instead of slowly but surely being pushed to the left or the right..........

From three labs and a tripod to one lab and a tripod - in less than one month

RIP Black Indie Boy - October 2001 - April 2011. We didn't get to spend your first three years with you and we spent a year undoing all the damage that was the result - but for the last seven years, you've slept where you wanted, had all the toys you could ever wish for, chewed through dozens of soccer balls and been one of the loves of our life. We will miss you.

Indie came to us the weekend of Hurricane Jeane in 2004. His previous owners were retiring to a place where pets were not allowed. They'd lost his "brother" to cancer a year or so before and wanted to place Indie in a good home. That home was not supposed to be this old farmhouse........

Our daughter was 21 years old and moving out for the first time. She and her friend Brandi were renting an old house in town and David and I felt she needed a dog for protection...and so Indie came to stay in the farmhouse for the three weeks we were painting and helping the landlord put in new flooring in that rental house.

There was only Murphy here then. He'd been with us since the previous January coming to live with us just two weeks before we moved here, but was already known as the Dog in a Million. We'd seen his intelligence in so many different ways - and as lifetime dog owners, knew that he was exceptional. We'd watched him reassure our Shanna when he came to live with us and watched him wait while she slowly let him take over her chores. But we were a bit nervous introducing him to Indie - we didn't need to be though..........

Indie was very very frightened the day Nikki and I brought him home. He refused to get out of the back of the truck - sitting there with a ball in his mouth and drooling terribly...for about 2 hours. Adding to the problem was the rain that was starting to come through ahead of the hurricane. Nikki sat in the truck with him and finally lifted him forcibly out and into the yard. David and I had Murphy in the front yard waiting for the introductions.

Indie came hesitantly along with the leash held in Nikki's hands. Murphy immediately sat down without being told. Indie, shaking, kept barking and growling. Murphy simply sat still. Then, he stood up, turned around, and sat with his back towards Indie. Indie slowed down the shaking and the barking and took a few tentative steps towards the sitting black lab that towered over him when standing. Murphy then laid down. And Indie came closer. Then Murphy rolled over onto his back exposing his throat to Indie. And Indie sat down. And the two of them entered the house.

Over the next few weeks, we learned that the hints we'd gotten that first day of his timidity were actually who Indie was. He refused to put the ball down unless he was eating or drinking. He wanted to be in his crate all of the time. After a few days, we had to resort to withholding attention unless Indie put that ball down. We learned that by nature, Indie was always timid. The ball and the crate were his security objects. He never went into a room by himself. It would take months for him to feel free enough to do so and almost a year before he'd put the ball down (to trust that we'd pay attention to him without him first having to bring us a ball). Our vet explained that this was all the result of excessive crate training.

The last day before Nikki's move, we took Indie over to the house to introduce him to it while we finished up the last touches before moving in the furniture. He was glued to my hip - shaking. We'd taken Murphy with us and he was all over the place - trying to encourage Indie to explore the house and the yard. Indie wanted nothing to do with any of it.

When it came time to load up and head home, I said "Let's go, Indie" and he raced from the bathroom just off the kitchen and out the front door, across the front porch and jumped over the bushes - hit the ground once and bounded up into the truck. Nikki and I just looked at each other...both knowing that Indie was not moving into that house with her. And so, the farmhouse became his home. He got to stay in the place that David called Doggy Disney World.

Over the next year, we worked very hard to help Indie get over his timid nature. Realizing that Indie's dependence on the crate was unhealthy mentally, we folded it up and put it away, but still he slept downstairs alone each night. It was time to teach him how to use those stairs---we got him up pretty easily but going down was a different story. I sat at the top of the stairs with him while Nikki stood at the bottom calling him. We reversed positions. We left him up there. Nothing would get him back down those stairs. And that is where Murphy comes in again....

Finally I called Murphy upstairs - he bounded up them. Then I said "go back down Murphy" and he bounded down them - Indie watching wide eyed, that ball in his mouth and drool dripping. Murphy turned around at the bottom and barked. Indie barked back. Murphy bounded up - then down...and barked. And Indie barked. Repeat six or seven times. Finally, Indie stood up and made his slow but steady way down those stairs - and up them at bedtime and down again for breakfast. He never ever would bound up them like Murphy or move down them with any speed at all but he learned.

Indie would never be a normal dog - much less a normal Lab. But, he was who he was and we all loved him for it. Although he learned that he didn't need a ball to get attention, he had other ways of getting it - especially after King and then Callie came to live with us. Whenever we came in the door from outside, he was always the last to enter...and then he'd lay right down in front of the door and your feet. You'd have to give him a hug and a stroke or two before he'd move the rest of the way into the house. When he felt he hadn't gotten enough attention for too long - he'd come over and sit on your feet. He was special - a mentally deficient Lab with lovable quirks - always silly but obviously very happy with his lot in life.

We've lost both Murphy and Indie in less than one month. Murphy to seizures that took his personality away and Indie to the effects of poor breeding and old age. Indie's hips went first about 18 months ago, then his elbows (both of which are genetic but with proper breeding of dogs that don't have the issues can be avoided). About a year ago, he developed a fatty tumor that we had to choose to ignore due to his age and the risks of surgery. And lately, his sight had begun to go. But Indie's personality? That was always there.

He could barely move - he slipped while going out and down the stoop steps - he hadn't slept upstairs in about 6 months or so (the steps that he never really got good at maneuvering were beyond his reach) - but at night as he and I sat in the living room watching TV, he roll onto his back and grin that doggy grin tail wildly wagging. Callie learned to bring him the ball and lay down to play with him or the rope to play a gentle game of tug of war. Every now and then, she'd race around the yard or the house to let off the steam that she used to let off with Indie running with her but then back she'd come to lay down and play with him some more.

I'd been putting off making the appointment for Indie. For some reason, it was harder than the call for Murphy. Murphy's personality was slowly disappearing with each seizure - we had had a long goodbye with Murphy - but Indie's personality was still there in full force. - every single silly, happy bit of it. I'd watch him struggle through the day and think "I'll call tomorrow", but then at night I'd see that grin and watch that tail and the next day would pass without me picking up the phone.

But last Thursday, as I watched Indie playing with Callie and watched him slip on his way out the door, I had a revelation. Indie was never going to lose that personality - in his mind, he'd aged as far as he would ever age. Excessive crate training, a lack of personal attention and not enough freedom to roam and learn about the world during his first three years of life had retarded his mental capacity. There would never be a day when he'd look at me, like our 15 year old Shanna did, and let me know he was ready. And to let him keep on suffering was unfair. I was doing it for me and for David and the kids.....and not for him.

And so, I finally made that call. I brushed him one last time. I told him how glad I was that he'd come to live at Doggy Disney World and that I would love and miss him always. And I will.

Goodbye Easter Bunny~~

At 7:15 p.m., we discovered that our beloved Easter Bunny has joined our departed Shanna at the Rainbow Bridge. Aged 5 this year, Easter enjoyed the last weeks of his life by running free around the back yard in company with three labs, 1 tripod, 2 cats and 11 chickens. He passed peacefully in his sleep surrounded by his newest companions.

A Bunny Tale~~

Easter was a gift to Hunter from his grandparents. We thought about providing him a friend for companionship but the thought of breeding bunnies or the cost of spaying or neutering to avoid that breeding were huge deterrents (costs more than to perform on a dog or cat). So, Easter made do with us and the labs for companionship.

Our old yellow, Shanna, was the perfect mother; it didn't matter what species the baby was, Shanna mothered it. Easter used to lay on her back and snuggle up in the middle of her forearms. When Shanna passed, our Murphy took over that position......a bit disdainfully, but allowing that it was just another of the jobs that he took over from our departed girl...like newspaper pick up.

Easter had a hutch outside and he spent his time divided between that and visits inside to socialize.....in five years, his feet never touched the ground - we carried him between our house and that hutch. Occasionally, we discussed building him a run on the ground, but fears that he would dig a hole and disappear outweighed our desire to provide him with a larger playground....so he hopped around our mudroom or the boy's bedrooms for exercise....

And then came the chickens; while surfing the net to learn all I could about Coops and Play yards, I noticed that someone had posted a question on one of the forums...."Can rabbits and chickens share a coop and yard?" I was elated when I saw that the answer was an unequivocal yes....................

So Easter went out with the chickens ~ and soon made it perfectly clear that coming inside the house was now not necessary. He spent the night out there about a week before the chicks were banished from the mudroom.

Then came the time to begin allowing the chicks to free-range....what about Easter? We needed to leave the coop open during free range so the chicks could run back to safety.....did we bring Easter inside the house during that time or leave him to free range as well? He's an old man now and totally dependant on us for his feeding ~ would he try to escape or would he be content to wander?

So we decided to experiment......setting up our lawn chairs with iced tea or sodas, we opened up that gate and let the critters out.....Easter followed the chickens and immediately went on expedition. He didn't dig, he sunbathed. He still doesn't dig and he still sunbathes....

Five weeks later, Easter has found his special spots in the yard.....he likes to lay behind the hot tub first thing in the morning......then he moves to the sand that surrounds the fire pit....then he goes back to the hot tub and shades under the steps....and during a horrific thunderstorm on Saturday, he took refuge in the old mule stall in the barn....coming back out with the sunshine when it finally came back out.......

Although at first, we had to catch him to get him back in at night, over the last few days, just like the chickens, he's begun to head back to the coop about 6 p.m. for dinner......

If I'm honest, Easter has been a source of guilt for me the last five years.....the sight of him in a smallish hutch - all alone - has niggled at me....those trips inside the house to socialize were attempts to make up for his alone-ness.....I am relieved to see that his last days as part of our family are much happier for him and less guilt ridden for me......

And if I'm totally honest....I'm very glad that he doesn't come inside anymore - rabbits shed worse than cats and dogs together...and rabbit hair floats....and sticks.....and they chew telephone cords.....and table legs.......

Our Murphy

Murphy is our pack leader... a huge black lab, of the field variety - which means he's tall and lean and all muscle, and he is one of the loves of my life. He's my protector, bowing up to an unrecognizable size two weeks into our life here when the farmer walked across the back yard with a wrench in his hand. Putting himself between me and anything or anyone he thinks may present a danger to me. But oh so gentle is my Murphy.

Long and lean...and tall for a Lab.

And smart. He's probably the smartest dog we've ever had the joy of living with. And he's wise; as each new pet addition has come into our lives, Murphy has been there to guide them in our ways. Always, they fear him when first they meet...he towers over all of them, looking like a Shetland pony rather than a black lab. But, he knows just what to do to put them at their ease. He turns his back, sits down elegantly, and shows them he means them no harm. If this doesn't work, he lays on his back, all four feet in the air, presenting them throat and belly to show his trust of them. And soon, they trust him in return, following his lead, alert when he's alert and relaxed when he's relaxed.


Murphy towers over our Callie who's on the small side for a bench lab.

I was proud of him today. As David and I mucked out the chicken's play yard and cleared the coop of damp pine shavings (in the pouring rain, I might add), Murphy stood guard just outside the pen. As always he was watching my back...there is no leaving him in the house if I'm outside - he knows his job and he'll bark incessantly until he's let out to do it. But that's not what impressed me this morning - I expect him to guard me diligently through rains and winds and whatever life may throw at us....I was proud for another reason.....I was proud because he gently herded one of the escapees....

Guarding my back as usual - there were about 50 people wandering
around our yard that day and Murphy was never far from me.

Our Aggie, always the bravest of the chicks, escaped. I had neglected to lock the pen gate behind me as I entered and after their first adventure in free ranging, those chicks want out now...badly. There's a whole big world of bugs and worms and flowers and green stuff just begging for their attention don't you know....Aggie waited for me to get involved with David's mucking efforts and snuck her way out that gate. Shortly thereafter, the other four decided to try their luck at scooting out that gate as well, but there was a big black nose that blocked their way and a big black gentle body that moved this way and that way to keep Aggie near that gate on the outside.

Being curious with the other canine.

We haven't allowed the dogs into the pen and during our first free range event they were locked inside the house (Murphy barking his fool head off at the outrage, mind you) because we were not sure if they would consider the chicks prey or chase them to death. We plan on having one dog out on a leash at a time for awhile to control their introduction to chickens frolicking in what has to date been an exclusive large play pen. But, Murphy will now get to escape that leashing exercise...he proved today that those chicks are already just a part of his ever growing pack - another group that he will protect with his own life.

Barking his head off because I'm outside the gate and he's not!

There is some sadness as I type this post - our Murphy is ill. We're not exactly sure what's wrong with him. It could be epilepsy or lymphoma. He's had several seizures and is on meds for that, but he has visible tumors on his long lean body. Blood work has come back okay, an aspiration of one lymph gland came back negative, but we decided that was the extent of the testing we would do. Much as we love him, as much as he means to us, in the end, he is a dog and extreme measures are not something we will take with him. We're hoping for epilepsy and there are signs that this is what it is...labs get tumors...not all of them are malignant. We've been told that he's on the "cusp" for both diseases....age 6 is the time for epilepsy to develop and age 7 increases the risk of lymphoma..... Murphy's 7.

Riding in a golf cart with me and Nikki

Whatever illness our Murph is experiencing, we're not taking him and his special personality for granted....already spoiled, he's being spoiled more than ever....if he asks to go with us on an errand...he gets to go. If he comes up for a cuddle, he gets that cuddle even if it means stopping what we were doing for a moment.... I was proud of our Murphy today.....and he got an extra special hug and a bone of his own to chew on....

Photograph by John Binkley

Exploring New Worlds~~

Yesterday morning, the new coop area reached the point where the chicks could safely roam while we continued to work on the exterior of the penned area. It was the perfect time to introduce them to the big wonderful world of outdoors because we were there to watch and protect.



It took a few minutes to get them to leave the crates (Captain Feather Eater was still in his own crate) but eventually, one got brave enough to venture out and the others soon followed.



Callie was as usual completely fascinated by the creatures. She spent most of the first hour staring through the bars.....



watching them as they huddled in one corner of what must have been to them a huge and frightening amount of space.



The black lads took turns staring through the fence with Callie, whining and wondering just why it was that we would not let them in to play.....



Then, it was Easter's turn to go outside...this was the first time he has ever actually been on the ground....



the past five years of his life have been spent either in the outdoor hutch (now converted into the chicken house).....



But just a little lower to the ground.....



Easter spent the next several hours learning about his new environment....







While we continued to work on the project....





It was a good day...as David and I drove in to pick H up from school and make a run to the Depot for some more hardware cloth, we wondered why it took us so long to get to this part of the dream.....and decided it might have been the electrical, plumbing, laundry room, bathrooms or any other of the other seemingly unending projects that living in a 100 year old farmhouse brings.....it's nice to know that we've reached the point where we can concentrate of the farm part of this old house....a good day!

There's still a lot more work to do so the chicks and the bunny will only be outside during the day for now...we have some additional application of the hardware cloth that needs doing (we found squirrels in there this moring) and some decorating....floor covering (aka wood shavings), some furniture (roosts), bedrooms (nesting boxes) and wall painting.....and then there are the photos and flowers and such.....

Don't fence me in~~re-thunk....

We left 6 foot privacy fences behind when we left behind sub-division living....and we didn't think we'd put up any fences here except maybe to house pigs and chickens. But then King the Valiant became a tri-pod...after a run in with a tractor. Our black labs were boundary trained, they didn't leave the yard....but King, a greyhound mix, quickly showed us that he'd inherited the "chase" gene....Even after months of re-hab where we tried to save his leg; even after losing his leg and becoming a tri-pod, the young lad couldn't resist the chase....and we realized that it wasn't safe for him or for the yellow lab puppy who couldn't resist chasing him as he chased a stork, a tractor, or a squirrel...or whatever the choice of the moment was, so we began to plan a 4 ft fence.


King the Valiant - our tripod~~

Putting the final touches on the back yard fence

Last year was phase one; we enclosed the back portion of the yard. We quickly realized that it wasn't enough land for the dogs to roam and for the people to have any kind of ground covering~ and we almost immediately added phase two to the plan..and this year we're right in the middle of the execution of it all while at the same time, we're building that chicken coop that was part of the original plan.

Fence posts up and one jasmine transplanted...3 more sides
to go and one more jasmine....and a bunch of bulbs...and a bunch of fern....

One of the benefits of fencing in the yard is the definition it gives to the flower gardens; I picture an English country garden when all the fencing and transplanting is finally complete. Over the last two days, we've painted who knows how many fence posts white and run the wire between the posts on one side of the yard; transplanted a Confederate Jasmine away from the vegetable gardens and along the new fence line, separated and re-set about 100 bulbs (gave some away and still have hundreds more to go), and transplanted ferns to fill the ditches on the outside of the fences (to eliminate so much weed whacking).

Within a week or two, the fence will be completed to safely corral the dogs and the chicken coop will be finished to safely house the chicks.....and speaking of those chicks...aren't they just the cutest things?

Two weeks and a couple of days old

Still fuzzy at that age and tiny.....

Getting their feathers now and beginning to look like individuals...

We'll soon begin to think of names for them as they show their personalities
as well as distinguishing markings....

So darned cute~~but then so is this....


and this....

how about this....

or this...

unbridled joy

and a game of chase....

okay, I'll stop with the photos now.....

But as you can see, there were a number of reasons why we re-thunk that fencing issue~~