Three on a Couch

For once, a photo op, did not disappear when I finally got the camera out. I was cleaning in the dining room, and Zippy and Scooter were on the love seat together. That was a first, also. Zippy had let out a couple of real high barks at the vacuum that got Libby into the room. The next time I looked, the three of them were together on the "dog couch". They won't fit much longer if Zippy has anything to say about it. His worst trick is to pull the blanket and cushions onto the floor and to shred the foam rubber of the cushion. The corners are beginning to disappear. As you can see the dogs have worked on other parts of the couch, too, but they can still sleep on it. If Zippy does in the cushions, we will have to make some adjustments.


Those three are 3/7 of the Brockhaus Fur Farm although they contribute much more than 3/7. The other four contributors are just cats.

For Peti Jr.

This post if for a young man in Hungary a way across the ocean. Peti, Zippy would love to play with you.


It is too hot here for the dogs to even stand up and play. Soooooooo, they lay down and play mouth games. Most of the noise comes from Scooter. Zippy is pretty quiet when he plays with his collies.







Although there are a lot of teeth showing, it is all in fun. Even with that ferocious looking set of teeth, they were only playing. Scooter seldom gets really upset with Zippy. Libby is more likely to react when she gets too much of the little razor teeth in Zippy's mouth.

Sleeping Beauty

This is the same Libby, but it is exactly how we both feel about the weather we have been having lately. It makes us just want to take a nap. It is the first time that I have seen her sleeping on her back. What a hoot!

This Quilter's Friend

Every quilter needs a friend. Mine is furry. She is soooooo helpful when a wall quilt needs to be changed behind the bed. She is helpful when the bed needs to be made. She is helpful for anything that involves the bed.

She just looked so cute when I threw the fall quilt off the wall, and it covered most of her since she was lying on the bed.

She is my helper girl even if it means being on a leash tied off in the barn while I do chores. She waits so patiently......and quietly. That is fantastic since my cocker spaniel would have barked her head off and lunged to get free to roam in the barn. Libby and Scooter would like to be free to roam in the barn, too, but they both wait patiently for me to do chores. Maybe they wait because we go for a walk when I am done, but do they really know that? Oh,.......if I only knew what they were thinking.

Famous dog (not really)

If I had known, I would have made Libby sit with me on the couch and watch her relative, Sax, compete at Westminster. Sax's parents were Libby's grandparents on her father's sid. Thanks to Wisconsin Collie Puppies for showing me how to find Sax's pedigree. There was even one dog on Libby's mother's side that the two dogs had in common.

I do not think I will mention this to Libby because I do not want her to feel tooooo special for fear she will take it out on me and make me take her outside in the bad weather for some "exercise".

The Big Ugly

The dogs thought that it was windy out this morning. On the dog note, Sax, a blue merle collie won best of breed at Westminster yesterday and then went on to take third in best of group in the evening. Why do I mention it, you ask? Sax was bred by a vet at the animal hospital where Libby's Florida mom, Suzy, practices. The dogs could even be distant relatives since they have the same prefixes on their names. But, not being a dog person, I don't really know what that means. AND.....maybe, Libby's dad is one of Cindi's dogs. Close enough for me to feel some affinity for that beautiful furry collie dog.


As you can see in the picture, this time of year is "U... G... L... Y.....You ain't got no alibi." (Sorry an old cheer from years of watching high school football, snuck into my mind.) It is true, however. This kind of weather is ugly. I happened to catch the weather station device that we have up here this morning when the wind speed registered 56.3 MPH. Now that is a real gust. While I was feeding the sheep, I had to hang on the fence wire because there was wet ice underfoot. Oh, yes, the temperature is 42 degrees. I think I enjoy the weather station that I bought for my DH more than he does. He is the one with the weather obsession because he is a mechanic for the LaCrosse highway department.

A calf on Saturday could be named Valerie for Valentine's Day. No, there is no calf yet. It could be that Holly is just enjoying that big pen and no competition for food that she has now. Maybe she isn't prego.

It's Now or Never..........

The "old fool" has learned something. We are able to go out walking if we are careful where we walk. Today I could see how deep the drifts were. Today was the day to go out because tomorrow will be an indoor day. The sun is out today, as you can see from the pictures, and the wind isn't tooooooo bad. Tomorrow is predicted to be "a day to remember". AND......not because it will be so pleasant. The dogs seem to love the snow, but they do hesitate when it gets real deep, especially Scooter. Libby is more adventurous. It must be her youth although Scooter is only six months older than she is. At least they got some exercise and so did I.


This is how deep the snow was especially in our enchanted forest.



Dogs in the enchanted forest


The snow dogs and the four boy sheep.




The big boy sheep


Two snowy doggies

No fool like an old fool.......

This is the best picture so far of the litter of little bullies in Florida. I like the one with the belly showing. Even though you can only see five of them, the pile was precious.

(No pictures of this today.) Since Libby has been kind of naughty, I knew that she needed exercise. Soooooooo I decided that after church, I would take both dogs out for a walk in the snow. I figured I could break through the ice crust with my weight, and they could find a place to run. Not true!!! In some places it was fine. In some places I had to crawl to stay on top of the crust because the drift was so deep. In some places the snow had been blown off of the ice, and I didn't wear my ice boots. There was no "just right". Even Scooter did not appreciate the real icy places. Libby was just off on her own. Scooter stayed right by me. They both were nearly on top of my when I was crawling. Everyone can use a little good help, and two good helpers were more than enough.

I won't be going out to try and walk again. I will stick to knitting, spinning and running the quilting machine. I might even clean the house. Much safer!

BTW........Yesterday, Butthead got removed from his three black girls. It was necessary to insure that what was left of the shed and fence could still be used as a shelter and a fence. Ami and her two daughters are either PG or not. They only had two weeks exposure to the ram. I guess I will have to look to the other two rams to do their duty.

A Christmas gift

SCOOTER


AND








LIBBY













Say "Thanks!" to G.W.Bush for the "Get out of jail free card" he gave them yesterday.

P.S. Jake reminded me that Fuzz Nutless got his name from his former life when he was just plain Fuzz Nuts. Jake is good with names. Who knows what he calls me when I am not around.

(Peter, if you didn't understand, it is a U.S. joke. By the way.....We would gladly send you some of our snow.)

Libby's Surprise!

Well, Libby, my Florida dog, got a real surprise when she went out into the back yard this morning. Normally, she flys around the corner of the house when I let her out, but today, she got to the end of the stones where the grass starts, and she stopped. She looked down at her feet, and then checked out that white stuff with her nose several times. After that, she decided it wasn't going to hurt her, and she joined Scooter in their yard. It means nothing to her now. I sure wish I felt the same.

What's that white stuff?

Libby, my Florida dog, was very surprised to see that "white stuff" on the grass this morning. What can I say? I tried to tell her that it was a "Wisconsin thing", but she just didn't understand. Wait until the "real" white stuff happens. She is in for a total surprise.

The pictures are fall happening here. It looks different than it did this summer, and I love it. Jake started the outside wood stove yesterday evening. It is good to have heat and not have to think about paying for the propane. It is early, and he said we only had the wood stove off for four months. I guess that is just the way things are in this part of Wisconsin. Still, I hope for a much easier winter than we had last year. I really cannot believe that we are close to the start of another winter. Most of this year has been a very unpleasant blur for me. So far the only pleasant thing I can aremember about 2008 is the beautiful Shetland twins that Lucy gave me. They are still a joy to behold.

When I wasn't looking----

Then I was looking, and there were two dogs looking like misplaced bookends on the small couch. It was afternoon nap time. It really is "a dog's life".






Dave and Holly and their dogs came up for the weekend. Holly and I went to Cranfest. That is quite a "fest". We got there early and left early. I don't know how anyone would be able to see it all. I couldn't even remember what we had seen so I could tell if we needed to proceed in a certain direction. Much too much for me to take in. The best part of it was finding two of my cousins in their booth. That made my day.

Todd will leave the rehab place next Monday and go home. He will get home services, I hope, until he can get out to continue his rehabilitation. He sounds good and is VERY ready to be home and especially away from hosiptal food. ---Next step in a long journey.

Two dog night, again

Today we lost our Suni. She was ill and had fluid in one lung and a mass in the other one. We decided to not let her suffer any longer. I hope it was not too late. She was going to be 14 years old on the first day of summer. Having suffered many medical problems, I guess she really did pretty well. She was deaf now, but up to about a week ago, she was still operating pretty well. Libby was supposed to make her life easier by keeping Scooter from harrassing her. He only got to do that for three days. He seemed to be very bonded to her and insisted on sleeping nearly on top of her ever since we got him. Will he miss her? It depends on your point of view, but I think so. I know we will miss her and laugh about all the naughty and funny things she did, but she was still a lovable, affable, beautiful cocker spaniel. She was, by far, the best cocker of the three that I have had even though physically she was a wreck by comparison. The heart and temperment of this last one was excellent.

Suni, we miss you.

Love, Mom

Three Dog Night

Well, tonight will be a Three Dog Night up here on the ridge. Libby has arrived without too much trouble. I had to go to Black River Falls to get her since her ride was using a GPS, and they didn't know that they would be going onto I94 when they hit Tomah. It all worked out, and she is home with us. She acts (so far) like she has known us all these nine months. She is beautiful and pleasant to be around. I think this will all work out for us. She and Scooter have been chasing in the backyard and in the house just like I dreamed. So far she does not bother Suni and takes the cats in stride insdie and out.

Todd has surgery again tomorrow. I hope this will be the last time. That is my wish and my prayer. He would be happy to be back where he was in December. Now isn't that a strange turn around?

Sheep babies just growin and growin. They have found an adorable place to rest on top of a stump. I hope I can get a picture of them together up there.