DO YOU GARDEN? I am researching a book called "My Very First Garden" (about edible gardening... fruits, vegetables, herbs, etc.) and need your true stories! Do you have a good (or even bad!) memory about the first garden you ever did? Was it inside in pots, outside when you were a kid, or in a community garden? Did you harvest anything or did the rabbits get it all? Please submit your short but true story to vikkibooks at yahoo dot com by April 27 2010. Your submission implies your consent to use your story and the possibility of (minor) editing. Thanks!
Showing posts with label dogs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label dogs. Show all posts

It Rained ... Finally!

The Denver, Colorado area finally not only got a good bit of rain, but hail and flash-flooding. We had just finished doing about 3 hours worth of work in our container garden, planting all but 3 blueberry bushes, 2 raspberry bushes, and 2 blackberry bushes. The tomatoes, etc. were finished. We put away our tools, covered the left-over potting soil, and came inside to take our showers (hot hot hot = sweat sweat sweat). By within minutes of the last of us showering, the rain started. Barely a drizzle for less than 5 minutes, followed by 45 minutes of pounding hail, followed by another day and a half of light to medium rain.

Luckily, the spot we chose for our container garden was the south side of the house, well protected from the hail but not from the rain. Everything got drenched, and it looks like everything survived. Yippee!

Kinda a good thing that the dogs don't live here anymore. The massive amounts of mud, the intense work to our house, both inside and out... we're better off.

Dogs Leaving

We just can't take care of the animals any more. Besides the cost and having to get ready to sell the house and try to get a business off the ground and home-schoolwork and Hubby not being here during the week, they have to go. Hubby is taking them to a no-kill shelter in a few moments.


Updated May 20 at 9:20 a.m.: The chihuahua had a heat stroke yesterday before Hubby even got here to take the dogs. We rushed her to the vet where he filled her will subcutaneous fluid (via I.V.), and she was up and walking again this morning. Hubby has now taken them. This is very difficult for us.

It's hot hot hot hot hot!

Pic to right: Hubby and Tween in 2007 at a pool.

I hate being hot. Always have. Sisters would lay out in the sun, one would turn blonder and red, and the other would turn into a "little brown bear" which is what we called her. Me? I would lay out but hated it. Got little reddish spots all over me, then burn and peel.

Even when I lived in Tampa, Florida and then Houston, Texas, I hated being hot. So when I had the change to move to Colorado where it at least gets a little cold for 6 months of the year, I jumped at the chance.

Now that I'm here, the weather isn't cooperating. This past Winter (2008/09) we barely had any cold days, barely any snow, and I'm frustrated as hell. Now it's supposedly Spring, and yesterday our high was in the 90's. Today it's supposed to break records by being in the 90's again.

Hello? Mother Earth? Excuse me but ... it's NOT SUMMER YET!!

I got out the swamp cooler, filled it up, turned it on and yes, while it's providing a bit of coolness, it's leaking. Oh great.

Pic to right: Sparky the horse-puppy getting cool in front of the leaking swamp cooler.

Up in the bedrooms, the temp last night at 10 p.m. was 87. That's WITH a swamp cooler going on up there for an hour.

Can't wait until we get the house cleared out to stage to sell so that we can move the office down the basement. It's a little bit cooler than the rest of house. Heck, I might sleep down there during the week (while Hubby is gone).

Someone pass me a pool, please?

Puppy Catches Ball!

Couldn't resist ... we catch our puppy's FIRST attempt at catching a ball on video .. how lucky was that!?

Video - Click Here

Fun With The Dogs!

Can resist downloading this video for your enjoyment! We were getting the backyard ready for Spring planting. You'll see the raised beds and containers in the background (had lots of peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, okra, etc. last year!). The two swimming pools, one with a tire, were planted with cold crops (broccoli, etc.) and lettuce, carrots and radishes. The tires in the background grew the pumpkin and watermelon vines. Yummy.

Anyway.. we were just funning around and thought we'd place the 4 year old Chihuahua in the wheelbarrow. The 3 month old puppy looks like he's confused but having fun. (3 months old and weighs 30 pounds! What a horse for a dalmation-rottweiler-alaskan malamute!) Note both tails are wagging. The red-arm is our 12 yr old boy. I did the filming. Enjoy!

Puppy Gain!

Just took the puppy (and the chihuahua) to the vet where he weighed in at 25.2 pounds - a gain of a little over 4 pounds in two weeks! He's learning so fast - getting kinda ok with sit, come, when to go out, and to sit patiently and wait for water after coming back in.

He's still a major handful - sometimes just plops down on the chihuahua when he's tired and if she's not quick enough, she gets squished.

Sparky's getting to where he doesn't want a mid-day meal so we're going to go to twice a day puppy chow feedings. He loves his training treats tho!

Night times have definitely gotten quieter. We still have to put him in his crate because we need to make sure he holds his bladder, but we've put the chihuahua's crate right next to his, so we think they whisper all night. No more whining or barking at night. They go in, gnaw on their bones until they go to sleep, and are ready to go when they hear Hubby in the shower at 4:44 A.M. THEN they want me downstairs to let them outside.

Yup, he's working out just fine.

A New Member to our Family


Above is a picture of our newest member, Sparky. This was taken the day we brought him home, February 16 2009, when he was 10 weeks old and weighed (per the Vet the next day) 21.2 pounds. He's part Malamute, part Rottweiler and part Dalmatian. He's gonna be huge!

Above is our little family ... our boy holding Sparky, and Hubby holding Spirit the Chihuahua. Look how much bigger the puppy is already! Thank goodness they are starting to get along already.


These are their pillows in our living room. The little pink one for Spirit and the big blue one for Sparky. Half the time they just flop down where they want to.
What cuties!

Puppies

We got a 10 week old puppy yesterday. Part Dalmation, part Rottweiler, part Alaskan Malamute. Already past 20 pounds - twice the size of our Chihuahua. No shots or vet examination. Had never had on a collar or leash. Had never been away from his littermates or his home or had met many people, so he whined and barked all night, except for the 2-3 hours we played after we got home.

We're trying to get him a vet appointment for this afternoon.

Sparky, as he's now called, is to be raised to be our 12 year old's best friend, playmate and protector. This will be interesting.

Burglar or the Wind?

The wind picked up around lunch time today. Weather.com says the wind is gusting from 16 to 29 mph. Whistling through cracks in the house. Blowing trash cans down the street. Creaking our house and rustling trees.

I needed to let the dog out the back yard - she hadn't been out since 5 a.m., so about an hour ago, I walked down to the family room, and unlocked and opened the sliding glass door. As I waited on the porch for her to do her business, I happened to look to the right. Our backyard, where we grew tomatoes and blackberry bushes last Summer, had been violated.

See, we don't have a cover on our window-well to the basement, so we had placed quite a few things in the way to block access. Lattice. Garden box frames. Bags of rock. And two kiddie pools we plan to use for next year's garden, weighted down by more garden box frames.

Someone tried to access our basement by that window-well. It wasn't the wind - too neat. The culprit(s) moved the pools away and laid them against our back fence. The garden boxes were stacked neatly, but someone had gone through our blackberry brambles and ripped part out (is it horrible to hope they got a thorn?). It's obvious someone climbed into our window-well, and once there, realized we have too much stored in that room to get the window open, not to mention make a path through the room to the door.

I guess they gave up.

This had to have happened this afternoon. I worked in the yard a little this morning, and the pools hadn't been moved yet. We have a new neighbor across the street who bought the foreclosed house and has had a work crew there for at least a week. Perhaps they came over? They have been taking water from our faucet (though we can't prove this).

Not going to call the police. They care more about parking and code enforcement than being nice and helpful to homeowners.

We re-stacked everything against the window-well, and further fortified not only that basement window, but all of our other windows. Unbelievable. We never thought someone would try to steal from an obviously poor family, especially since my car stays parked out front, and there are nicer homes, landscaping, and lawn ornaments across and down the street.

Family is more important than possessions. So, be it known, that if an intruder successfully enters our house without our permission, he/she will pay dearly. We are prepared.

Can't be to careful.

Unbelievable.

Bitter Cold in Colorado

We've had major ups and downs recently here in Colorado. Days ranging from 8 degrees F to 59 degrees F. There was a night when it was negative 15 degrees F. It's hard to make a Chihuahua go outside to do her business when her breath freezes before it gets out of her mouth, and her little paws get stuck to the ice on the porch.

Another storm is expected today. Great, isn't it? We have to leave in a couple of hours for Mother-In-Law's birthday dessert, and it's going to be frigid and possibly snowing/icing by the time we leave there tonight.

However, we're a prepared family. So, just in case we get stuck, we'll take a special bag with blankets, water, snack bars, toilet paper, candles and matches, etc. There's kitty litter in the back for weight and traction, and we're taking the Chihuahua so we'll include a little dog food and a bowl for her to drink/eat out of.

Happy Birthday, Mom-in-Law

We love you.


Family Fun Time at a Winterfest

We had a spur-of-the-moment deviation from our plans today. We had turned on the TV this morning to check the news (big cold front coming in) and saw where a near-by town was having their WinterFest today and tomorrow. Since the cold front will be here this afternoon/tonight, we packed up us and the dog, and headed to the Festival.

The Chihuahua wore her new red shirt that says "Speak to the Paw". I wore bell earrings. Son wore a green shirt and red socks. We were quite the festive bunch.

Son wanted to try the ice skating first. He'd never been on skates and was very nervous. He brushed it aside, and for $2, rented a pair of skates. Hubby helped him hit the ice. Or plastic. Whatever. It wasn't an actual ice rink but made out of some kind of plastic that no one knew anything about. Believe me, Hubby tried to find out.

We were so proud of Son. After about 5 minutes of barely moving and falling down several times, he finally got the hang of "walking". He made a new friend. Got up more quickly after falling down. And really enjoyed himself. He'd had enough after about 20 minutes but definitely wants to do it again. We'll see if we can find a nearby rink and somehow find the money for lessons. Maybe.

Then, after walking around for a bit, we froze. The winds came. We grabbed a bit to eat, and by the time we were done, all four of us were cold. Hubby and Son went back to the car for our coats while Chihuahua and I shivered at the picnic table. We walked around a little more, admired the decorated Christmas trees, saw "elves" hard at work painting toys, and enjoyed the warmth of a fire circle.

Quite the day. Glad we went. Glad to be back home.

Maybe we'll push game time to tomorrow, along with maybe decorating our mail box and wrapping up presents. And recipe experimenting (pizza crust from potatoes and one from rice - interesting, huh?). Meanwhile, I'm bushed, with the beginning of a migraine. Gonna take a nap with the already-asleep Chihuahua.


Snow in Denver, and Spirit the Chihuahua

We awoke yesterday morning to a couple inches of snow on the ground. Our dog, Spirit, must never have encountered the white stuff before because when I let her out of the back door, she looked puzzled. You could almost hear her thinking: "Where is all the grass and porch, and what is this white stuff?". I encouraged her to walk out (ok, her butt got a little push with my food - just a little nudge). She walked into the 2-inches of snow and a look of complete shock held her face. "This is COLD!" It took me walking around, making a path for her before she would pee.

Then this morning, it was actually still snowing when we went outside. Spirit was hesitant at first because I'm sure she was remembering yesterday morning. But I went out first, then she followed. She started to turn back but I closed the door. It didn't take as much encouragement today because some of yesterday's snow had melted, revealing dead grass.

What a quandry! What will she do when we've gotten a foot or two of snow, which is completely likely, given where we live? Guess we'll have to make sure most of her walks are in the backyard, or get a litter box or something. After all, she's only 10 pounds. And very stubborn.


Dog Fun and Fabric

My mother-in-law (MIL) came over yesterday, and brought her 7 year old Boston Terrier dog, Buster. He and our Chihuahua, Spirit, growled and barked at each other until they got re-acquainted. Then they playfully fought over the rug-rope and chased balls while Hubby and Boy watched, and MIL and I went to Denver Fabrics. We were looking for material to cover the dining room chairs. We came home with swatches, and found the dogs tuckered out.

We still have the flu here, but life must continue.

More on Spirit, the Chihuahua dog

The pic to the right is of Spirit tucked into her pink towels on her living room pillow:

Spirit has got to be the weirdest dog Doug and I have ever seen. This little 9 pound creature doesn't look up when she hears sounds. She pees by lifting her leg like a boy dog. And she loves to burrow. After the first night when Doug found her by his feet, under the covers, we did something about that.

I went to the thrift store and found a bunch of pink towels. Some went in her crate (for when we leave the house), some on her special pillow in the living room, and some in our bedroom when she cuddles with us.

Sometimes she just wanted to be completed covered and tucked in. But usually, when she wants to plop down, she tuck her nose under a towel (or blanket) and burrow, twisting and turning until the towel is firmly swirled around her little body. Then she doesn't come out unless she hears car keys or some other reason known only to her.

Odd dog, isn't she?

Vikki

11/03: A Visiting Stray Dog

Weslee and I had big plans for today. The 3rd or 4th of each month is my big shopping day: dollar store, thrift store, Wal-Mart, health food store, and Sam's.

We left about on time - 9:15, but as I left our street and turned onto the adjacent, we saw a stray dog. I stopped the car, motor running, and walked back to our street where the dog had turned. I recognized her as living 2 streets over (the owner and I pass each other from time to time as we walk our dogs in the mornings). I called to the dog and she came right up to me. I got her in the car and drove to the neighbor's house but she wasn't there, so we turned towards our home.

As Weslee walked down a note to tape to the owner's door, I fed and watered the dog (tied up to our front porch, of course). Spirit (our Chihuahua in Weslee's arms) and the stray (a welsh terrier mix) got along ok. Did what dogs do.

The owner got my note and called around 12:45, and picked her up by 1:00. She was very thankful - brought us a bag of candy!

Hopefully I'll get to errands by Wednesday. Meanwhile, we did what we hope anyone else would do for our dog: if Spirit gets loose, we hope someone would try to return her.

Vikki
http://www.newviewgroupllc.com/

11/2: Walking Spirit, the Chihuahua dog


It's my job to give our dog her first walk of the day. On weekdays, I get up with Doug at 4:45, get me and the dog dressed, and quietly let ourselves out of the front door. I breathe a moment of fresh crisp morning air, and listen to the stillness. We begin to cross the street, heading for a "block-walk" before other people stir. It's so quiet. Leaves rustle in the breeze. One house has an alarm faintly ringing on and on. A dog in a fenced back yard barks at us. Sometimes the newspaper person interrupts the silence with the slamming of papers to concrete drives. And most mornings lately, no clouds in the sky, allowing a beautiful picture of bright stars against the dark of space.

We enter our doorway 15 minutes later, envigorated to face our day.

Vikki
http://www.newviewgroupllc.com/

= = = = = = = =

Here's Spirit getting her first bath. Very well behaved. Afterwards we did one paw with Pedi-Paws (the sound frightens her so we wonder a great deal about her past).

10/29: Spirit, the Chihuahua

We love our little chihuahua that we got from the humane society on Oct 3 2008. She quickly has become a big part of our family.

Above: Spirit for her close-up!

Above: Here is Spirit playing "tug-rope" with Doug, and Weslee is giggling as he watches. We get it away from her and throw it up the stairs. She chases after it, positions it in her mouth just-so (she's quite particular) and brings it back. Usually to whoever threw it. She only likes to play this once every day or two days.



Above: Here's Spirit, waiting anxiously for Doug to prepare her dinner. She gets so excited, ears up, tail wagging, eyes fixed firmly on Doug (or sometimes me) mixing a bit of wet food with her dry. We've tried desparately to get her up on her hind legs as the bowl is placed on the floor, but the camera is too slow and she's too fast. Doug and I take turns preparing her meal because the food-bearer becomes her favorite person for the rest of the day.

Vikki
http://www.newviewgroupllc.com/

10/25: Weslee's Ingrown Toenail (ugh)

Kid Whispers:
As you may have read in an earlier post, Weslee had his ingrown toenail surgery on Thursday. The phys assist injected him with a numbing agent 3 times but because the toe was so infected, the shots didn't really take. The p.a. had to work on the toe anyway, so she took off part of his toenail and part of the infected part, wrapped him up and put him in a post-op shoe. My brave boy.

Weslee is recuperating nicely, although he won't stop walking around. I'm about to tie him down to the bed.

In between soaking the toe in warm water 15-20 minutes, 4 times a day, we're trying to keep him occupied with newly-purchased magazines, and we just watched a Netflix: "Nim's Island" (also pretty good). Scheduled for tomorrow are: "Journey to the Center of the Earth" and "Spiderwick Chronicles" plus "Greatest Presidents of the United States" (history lesson).

To get his mind off of the boredom, early this afternoon we took him to see "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" at the theater. This was the first time we've been to a movie in a theater in ages. The theater was newly opened, called Cinebarr. Movie tickets were cheap but the food was waitressed, and very expensive. The movie was good, though. Hilarious!

Thankfully Weslee is very healthy, with a great immune system. I attribute it mostly to his diet (lots of fruits and veggies, nuts and seeds, and tons of water). Thus, he should heal quickly. He hopes to be able to trick-or-treat for Halloween.

Weslee says: "Thanks to all for the good healing thoughts."

Vikki
http://www.newviewgroupllc.com/

10/23: Weslee's Ingrown Toenail, Mexican X-Top

Health:
Warning: Gross-ness follows.

Weslee's ingrown toenail - the one we've been fighting since mid-Summer - had gotten worse. It was purple and swollen. Definitely infected. So... I made an appointment for Weslee in the Kaiser trauma center for this morning. I didn't give Weslee all of the info as to what would happen, because he tends to obssess about things.

Considering he had three injections in his toe, and none of them took, he was quite brave. Squeezed my hands while she cut off half of his toenail and the infected part.

We're home now. He's trying to take a nap while hugging Spirit, our Chihuahua. (What a comfort). He will stay upstairs for a few days while the worse of it heals, but won't be fully recovered for a few weeks.

Please send good healing thoughts to Weslee, my almost-12 year old baby boy.

Backyard Grocery:
As you may know, we grew several Mexican X-Top winter squashes this Summer. Just before our frost last week, we brought in all of them, ripe or not (I mean, we're not sure how to tell if they are ripe anyway!). We stored them in the basement where our laundry is. I went down to do a load of clothes the other day and glanced at the squashes. The littlest one looked like it started to rot. We were upset, but it provided an opportunity to cut into one.

I should have taken a picture. Maybe the next one. The flesh is creme-colored, with seeds dispursed. We tasted the squash raw and it's kinda bland which might kinda work considering only Doug actually likes squash. Weslee accepted the taste ok, and so did I, so we'll have to cook some up for Doug to see if he likes it.

Vikki www.newviewgroupllc.com

10/19: Bits and Pieces

High Def TV:
HDTV is a joke. We bought the converter boxes and installed one of them. More than half the time we want to watch something, the signal is bad. Distorted. Or doesn't come in at all.

We hope that when February 19 2009 comes around, the TV stations have fixed the problems with their signals. That's the middle of Winter, and if we get snowbound and want to watch a fav show, we'll be ticked if there's a bad signal!

Flea Market:
It was time for our first outing as a family: Doug, me (Vikki), Weslee and the chi, Spirit. On our way to the flea market, we stopped at Wal-Mart to buy a big enough tote to hold the dog (none of my purses were big enough). Found a beach tote marked down to $2.00! It took a little for Spirit to get used to being hauled around in the bag, but by the time we were sitting on a bench to rest our feet, she was an old pro.

Found a big box of invention encyclopedias for $15 and a solar system workbook for 50 cents. We also stopped at a couple of booths with fresh produce: bought pears, bananas and avocados which we can't grow here at home. Plus we got a little exercise. Good day at the flea market.

Backyard Grocery:
On our way out the door to the flea market, we picked a couple of black cherry tomatoes from the front porch and popped them into our mouths! Yum!

I didn't feel much like dinner tonight but Doug and Weslee had a salad among other things. Doug picked some yellow pear tomatoes from our inside front window and grabbed a few radishes I harvested the other day.

It's a good feeling to KNOW that I can help provide for my family.

Our next home: we will have enough room to plant LOTS of fruit trees: apples, pears, apricot and whatever else we can get to grow at our elevation and climate. And nut trees: walnuts and almonds. Wonder if we can get pinion pines; I just love pine nuts?!? And hopefully we'll have a sunroom where we can successfully grow bananas and avocadoes - I could eat one of each daily!

Vikki http://www.newviewgroupllc.com/
Copyright (c) 2008-2010 VP Lawrence-Williams and Doug Williams - Please respect our art, words and images. You must gain permission to use any images, words or photos on this site. Contact us first. We will determine a usage fee if appropriate. Thank you.