Spring?

 Look carefully and you will see the pussy willows that are sprouting at my house.    I am almost as lucky as Michelle in Oregon.   ...........Sorry, it was just a way to keep my spirits  up.     It really did remind me of pussy willows.   All it was is the frozen fog we had for several days this week.

To all the wonderful dog people out there that might read this simple blog:    Would it be a bad idea for me to get another male dog?    It would be a Cardi, and it would be neutered as soon as possible.    The other two are also neutered.    Although the loss of Libby eats at my heart, I know that Zippy needs a playmate if I am to retain any semblance of sanity.    Scooter doesn't play with him like Libby did, and even though we went for two long walks today, one through deep snow, he was still going to eat my catalogs after supper.    And that was after he had run  many wind sprints from one end of the house to the other.     He just stands outside now .   Before he was always on the move.

Do you think I need to get one sex or the other?     I would love your input.    Jinnie told me how she feels about it and I value her opinion.    I just wonder what some of the other dog people think.

Frosting on the Dogs

We are having a period of frozen fog.    The dogs couldn't wait until it cleared today, so we went for our walk in the fog.     We all got frosted.    The dogs looked just adorable with their icing on their fur.    Scooter got a whole lot more than Zippy did.    It also frosted their leashes, my gloves, and my hair,too, I think.

Zippy needs much more attention since he doesn't have his Libby to take care of him.    He gets into things he has never even noticed.   I guess I sure didn't realize how much they took care of each other.    Scooter only allows himself to play once a day whether he needs it or not, so he doesn't help much with the babysitting.     We will just have to make this work until we can get a new playmate for Zippy.

Thank  you to everyone for your kind words.    Somehow this loss is the worst animal loss I have suffered in the 40 plus years I have lived with my furry friends.    All the other times, I knew that I would be losing my dog in the near future.    This shock just knocked me for a loop.    Scooter and Zippy probably don't mind he extra lovin' though.

Libby

You certainly never know what life has to offer you on any given day.    We lost our Libby today.   The snow was very high by the far end of the fence.    It was difficult to dig out because of the layer of ice that was about half way down.    I had started to dig a mote so that she could not get up to the fence.    She was outside by herself.   The mailman must have gone by and she jumped the fence and chased after him.   He followed him up our road and to the coutry road where our road ends.    She turned west and got killed just up the road a piece.    Jake found her in the middle of the road and brought her home.    I still can't stop crying.    She had a fenced back yard, and I knew that she hated moving vehicles of any kind.    I can't help but feel responsible because  I didn't bring her in with the other dogs and because I didn't dig a mote around the fence to keep her away from it.     I have never lost a dog in an accident in the 40 years that I have dogs.   I have never even had one hurt on a road.    My poor baby; she seemed to have an obession with moving vehicles. and I didn't work hard enough to help her overcome it.    Other than that she was a sweet dog and a wonderful playmate for Zippy the corgi.    She will be sorely missed.    Jake said that she could not have suffered as her injuries were extensive, and she was dead when he found her.  

Now I fear that no one will ever sell me another dog because I was careless and let this dog escape from her fenced yard.    

Libby................run free whereever you are and remember that we loved you and that you were a beloved member of our family.

Junior Poses for a Picture

Junior has discovered that there are outside cats living on the porch attached to the bedroom.    (also the way the dogs get out to "their" yard.     He sits and watches them when he doesn't have any other pressing things to do.

I guess I will do this one picture at a time.

The new year

The birds are very happy that I filled the feeders this morning.   The picture is taken from the kitchen window and is blurry because of that and the fact that is it snowing.   The Christmas tree is providing some shelter particularly to the cardinals.  I am glad I put it out there yesterday.   Earlier there were seven male cardinals around the feeder.   They are so brilliant in the snow.   This picture only captures Mr. Flicker just above the snowman's hat.  The cardinals fly in and out to the big fir tree in the background.    The road is not visible in the top of the shot because of the snow.   Isn't it nice that all of us in the U.S. can share in this horrible weather.    I am just kidding, but we are sure "united" in our misery.

Second picture is Zippy and Junior resting on the wool roving rug in front of the stairs.    Zippy often rests there.  

Short post since Blogger will not let me add any pictures.    Maybe more later.

Greetings

Happy New Year to everyone!

Life is quiet, just like I like it,  up on the ridge.    It is "big time" winter.     The Christmas storm left a thick layer of ice which has been covered up with a few inches of snow since then.    The day after Christmas we went down to Kenosha.    What a mistake!    It snowed half the way there and all the way back.  But it was great to see Jake's family.    I guess the science of meteorology still needs some improvement.    Libby and Zippy went along with us, and Scooter stayed  home.    He just wouldn't come to us to go and get into the car.    He really doesn't like riding in the car.   The other two were just fine.    Tonight and tomorrow are just quiet days ------ only special because Jake is home.

Blogger won't let me add any pictures or change the side color, so I guess that's it for now.

White Christmas

We are having a blizzard.     It is expected to last through Saturday.   One time today the wind speed was at 40.0  m.p.h. when I looked at it.    The cows are in their lean with fresh straw and three round bales of hay.     The sheep got fed in their sheds tonight.All the outside cats are in various protected places either in the heated milk house or on one of two porches.   Todd is enduring the second blizzard already this season.......not happily, though.   Jake will probably have to work on Christmas.   Even the dogs don't go out to play tonight.......it is tooooooo windy and snowy.  

(Garrett thinks this if fun?)     At least we don't HAVE to go anywhere tomorrow although Todd has to go to LaX for a doctor's appointment. 

We are all warm and safe.    Merry Christmas to everyone and stay safe if you are involved with this storm.


P.S.  Thanks to anyone who sent birthday wishes to me in November.    I can't write to my FB account.   I don't have any idea what is wrong.     Any ideas?

The Upper Crust

Or.............Why We Live in a Gated Community.
                                 

We have found that our culture forces us to live in a gated community.   We just couldn't exist if we were forced to live in a home where all the "riff raff" mingled in one messy group.    The  pictures should explain our predicament.    Here Libby is locked in the living room.   This is unusual for her since she is usually locked out because of her barking at the big window

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Then we have the bedroom.   Sometimes no dogs are allowed to be in the bedroom either.   Usually Zippy is on the other side of this gate in the dining room.     The restrictions from these two rooms is usually because of wet feet.

 

Then there is the gate into the kitchen where the dogs get locked now and then.   They also get separated twice a day when they get fed because Scooter is a FINICKY eater, and everyone finishes before he does.

In the kitchen is the stairway.   It has two gates mostly to keep Zippy from climbing the stairs since the collies don't do stairs which is OK with me.    The cat "stuff" is  upstairs as is my quilting machine, so I really don't need dogs  up there.  The gate in the front swings over to separate the dining room and the kitchen.

 

Lastly, there are the two extra gates which help with any other riff raff that may show up.   One needs fixing, and I think that will be tomorrow's project.

 

Here is some of the Thanksgiving riff raff that showed up with my son Dave.    Zippy really had a ball with the dog on the right, Rover.    We really had the long and the short of it because one of Rover's parents is a Bernese Mountain dog.    They were fun to watch and provided comic relief all weekend.

What next?

This is a picture of the excitement that exists on a Saturday night on the ridge.   A few seconds earlier the cat and dog were touching as they slept.      BUT..............would  you believe that is the same dog that locked his family out of the car with the keys in the ignition at the gas station this morning?    Well, it happened.     Love those automatic locks.     He just stepped on the lock button as I was finishing the gas fill, and Jake was getting some soda in the store.     LUCKILY........Jake had his wallet on him with the OnStar card in it.     One call to them and the fact that there was a dog in the car produced an  unlocked car as soon as they were sure who I was.    Thank heaven for OnStar, and I will never leave the keys in the car when the dog is alone in the car.    That could have happened any time that I was filling the car and had the dog along with me.    Then I might not have my cell phone, and I certainly would not have my purse since I  use a credit card to get gas.          Oh well...............learned a new lesson today thanks to Mr. Zippy.   

As a reward we took him to his favorite store, TSC  (Tractor Supply Company) so that he could comb the dog food aisle for treats besides getting treats from his favorite store employee.    He really loves that store.

For Michelle

Here are some pictures of the bullies.    I can't get good pictures since they come running to the fence when they see me.    I will have to think about how to produce better pictures of them.   The first one is Sammy as he is approaching.   The second one is Sammy being naughty.

 Here are two bullie faces trying to figure out what the heck I am doing.

 

Last but not least are the three dogs in my backyard looking at the house that Jake has spent a week of vacation trying to save.    His vacation is over Monday, and the house is a wreck.  It is an old one room school house that was moved to this property.    The former owner was not a carpenter, and the house is sinking into the ground.   Jake is madly jacking parts up and replacing beams under the house where there is a hole.    Water flowed under the whole thing and caused a lot of rot.    Luckily Todd doesn't HAVE to come home  until Wednesday.    By then, I think, Jake will be able to get the house closed up so that it is "livable" again.

Through the Spinning Wheel

Well, I don't have a picture of this, but I will do my best to describe it in words.    It was just a few brief moments while I was spinning last night.    I was sitting on the couch with my wheel in front of me.    Spinning is new to Zippy.  All of a sudden I looked up from my drafting, and there was a little Cardi head going round and round on the other side of the wheel.    He did it long enough that Jake was able to see it.
You know how a dog will follow motion with his head?   Well, this one was going like around in time with my wheel.    It sure made for a real funny "Cardi moment".  

The funny moment may have been to make up for his trick in the morning.   As I was sitting at the computer he went over to the wheel and jumped up on the couch and took the whole ball of roving I was spinning from and treated it like one of his toys.    Luckily I caught him before he had torn up the whole thing.    It took some time last night to pull the ball apart so that I could salvage the parts that had touched the Cardi lips.    Very little was lost, and the act last evening more than made up for the mess in the morning.

Sunny, frost, and calm up on the ridge this morning.   Looking forward to some mild temperatures today.
Time to go for our walk.

I just went and did it anyway!

Hi, Everybody...................Zippy here!

Just me hanging out on my new playground equipment.

My UN mom knew better, but she put up a bell for me anyway.    She tried to teach me to ring the bells when I wanted to go outside.    Yahoo!!!!   This is great!!!!    I learned just like she wanted me to, and I ring those bells whenever I want to go out...............whether it is to play or to do my "business".    She had been told not to, but I am glad that she did not pay any attention to what other people said.

As you can see from the picture, I have a good time when I go outside.   Libby is the greatest playmate.   I can almost keep up with her now, and we have fun chasing in our yard.

Now, Mr. Scooter just doesn't always know what we are up to.    He  usually just stands and watches us run all over the place.    Sometimes he even joins in.    That is real  fun.

I thought you would like to see my second favorite playmate.   It is a cat, but I pretend it isn't.   We just play like two dogs.    BUT.......I have to be careful when he swats at me because his nails are sharp.

UN mom says she has a surprise for me one of these days.   I have no idea what she is talking about because she keeps talking about something called "snow".    Oh, well............I will just let her have her fun.

And the Dogs

The dogs are enjoying the fall except when it rains, and we can't go for a wal

Libby looks kind of put out with me.    She really was having a good time.

And Zippy got a new toy to play with.   My sister-in-law told me about these toys for dogs, and we finally found one.   So far he jumps up into it, and today he has used is as a place to get drinking water since a few puddles form where he is standing.

And I am learning about this new form of Blogger, so I am sorry about the poor organization.

Sheep and ........nothing else right now.

The sheep come running when they see me or hear me.    I know it is only because they expect food, but it is fun anyway.

Looking for cookies.

That is all for now since Blogspot won't let me download any more pictures.

Fall Update

Well, Jake has been installing our new corn stove/furnace. We sold the wood boiler and bought this new one that burns corn or wood pellets. In the picture you can see how it looks now with the grain bin set up alongside. The second picture is just getting it set up. The third is self explanatory and depressing for October.

The day it snowed like this left no evidence after it was over.

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.

Fur Farm

This is the time of year for tractor shows. Jake can't drag me to them unless they have a flea/antique market. We went to Baraboo on Saturday. The man in the booth with the sign thought I was nuts. Not a reaction that surprised me. When I saw the sign, I just started laughing. I had to have it. It could have something to do with the fact that our two collies are just in the final stages of a massive "coat drop". It felt like a fur farm around here for several weeks. Things are getting better now, but they lost a massive amount of fur.





Zippy has chosen this spot on hot days. It must be cool along side of the water tank, i.e. rain barrel, and lying on the green plants.











Last night, Libby decided to lie down by Zippy when they were up on the bed. It was a "Kodak" moment. It doesn't happen very often.










Innocent is not a word that I would ever use to describe either one of them.

A study in brown and more

Don't I look good in brown?

A walk around the farm with my husband, two sons, daughter-in-law, and seven dogs.


Dave and Holly's dogs are not purebreds, but they sure are big!

Not a flattering shot of Holly, but it shows the path where I walk with the dogs.

Dave and five of the dogs.

Time to go up the hill back towards the barn.


Coming around the last corner, I finally got into the picture.

Zippy Update

Hey, Zippy here!

These are just some pictures that UN mom took after I got my bath. I just wanted Down South mom to see how I am growing into a real little handsome dude. They aren't prize photos, but you can see how I have grown into my ears, which are standing up now, thank you very much!

You can see all of me here but my head. I heard my cousins over at their house and just had to take a look. I have nice white feet, but they are hidden in the beautiful green grass that I play in. It is nice and cool where it grows behind the water tank. I like to relax there when we are outside playing.

In our House

Yes, there is a cute Cardi in the picture, but look IN the toy box. Sammy decided that sitting on top of the toy box was a safe place to chew on some rawhide. Whatever!


Cute Cardi was tired out from our walk this morning. In fact all three dogs are sleeping peacefully. Zippy deserves the rest more since he had to take so many more steps than the collies did.