AHHHH, October!

It's October and I've decided to end my Celebrate the Small Things posts.  I'm returning to posting when 1) I have something to say/share, 2) I have cute puppy photos [shout-out to Cooper & Murphy], 3) we travel, 4) we do anything of interest and/or 4) it's been too long since my last post.

I've fallen into the habit of sharing things on Facebook and Instagram and forgetting to share them here. As of this month, I am backing way off posting on both of those. Not stopping, just trying to not visit/post as often.

So first off, I'm going to tell you about my last week. As you may or may not know, Stu is in Maryland attending several Firefighter functions and visiting family. I'm at home with Cooper - and now Murphy.

I will say it - I've been spoiled. Stu gets up early with Cooper and lets me sleep. No more, for the last twelve days, I've had to get up early - first with Cooper and now with him and Murphy. I already posted about Murphy's first night/morning. Oops!

But since then, we haven't had ONE accident - not one! Now the chewing is something else...he has such needle-teeth and he chews on everything. I divert as much as I can and use a lot of Apple Bitter spray. The two of them now sleep together in the newly purchased XL crate (the old was a M).

Old Crate - which Cooper was quickly outgrowing.

New crate, plenty of room for the two of them.

We have a routine. We get up, I go out with them for their morning duties. While I'm out, I gather up the toys that were carted outside the day before and pick up the poop I find. Back in and they eat - well Murphy does. Cooper isn't a big morning food person whereas Murphy is a gobbler. He eats in the utility room (door shut or baby gate up) and Cooper eats in the kitchen/dining area as usual. Murphy is eating off a large cookie sheet to spread the food around to slow him down. I also toss in a couple of ice cubes that slide around.

Fed, they may play for 20-30 minute, then they nap for an hour or so. Back outside, if the weather is nice, I close the gate at the top of the deck for an hour or so. That lets me get some things done - like vacuuming, sweeping, showering, etc. Lunch is usually between 12-1 with more outside play afterward, then dinner around 5pm. More play and by 8-8:30, they crash until 10-11pm for their last out before bedtime.

They love playing tug-of-war and Cooper's toys are showing the wear. We also have two nice young neighbor boys that like to come over in the afternoon for 20-30 minutes of play with the pups. We head to bed between 11pm and midnight and get ready for the next day. Here's the results from the last week of play. One grunting hedgehog with a split seam. One flat fox with a hole (and two other flatties not in the photo, the same) - favorite tug toy. One crab with stuffing coming out. One ball, deflated.

Has it all been fun? No, Cooper is almost 37# now and Murphy is 18#. Cooper is tall, Murphy is short. While most of the time Murphy can stand up for himself, sometimes Cooper has to go into a time-out till the excitement settles down.

They do travel well in the back of the pickup, fortunately. Murphy did well at his first vet visit. The big surprise was finding out his weight under Cooper's by less than 2# (Murphy was 12 weeks and Cooper was 16 weeks). Yup, we're going to have TWO BIG DOGS.

The other excitement was the neighbor coming over to tell me BOTH DOGS WERE OUT OF THE BACK YARD! Yikes! We were sure Stu had fixed the spot where Cooper had escaped and looking at it, he had. While we were trying to corral them, they scooted under the shed and back into the backyard. Ey-yi-yi!

Long story short, I suspect Murphy scooted under the shed to get away from Cooper for a bit but Cooper discovered he could fit and out they went. Thank goodness for wonderful neighbors who put up more fence wire around the shed to keep them in the backyard. Not thirty minutes later I look out and Cooper is standing on storage box - which means he could easily get over the fence if he tried. So I run out, scold him and do this. LOL!

So now it's day two and no escapes. Phew!

Yesterday they went to doggy daycare, played and had baths. Kept them a little quieter last night. It let me get a much-needed haircut and pick up groceries at Walmart. I still need to get fuel in the pickup, that's on the agenda tomorrow along with a dump run (yes, we take our trash to the local transfer station).

Stu should be home around October 19-20th (I hope, I hope, I hope). We have RVing friends coming to look at the property we have for sale. We'd love to sell it soon! Not much else new. I did luck into finding a great guy to mow the yard for us. He did a nice job and will be back in another 7-10 days to do it again. Oh, and we now have TWO calves in the pasture. At least Cooper has stopped barking at them. LOL!

I admit it's nice to FINALLY have book three of my Klondike mysteries done, now working on the paperback. Sales have been pretty slow, but I just hope those who do buy it, enjoy it. I think the series will end here. I do plan on writing the third in my Lei Crime Kindle World series, as time permits. I'm not sure I will write any more books...if I do, it will be shorter books (novella length) in the Lia Rules series I had planned to do. But nothing is final....

Click to Buy

Ciao for now!

A few more photos....

Stu has been busy with chores and while I was supposed to be busy writing, I ended up getting sick for 4-5 days. Sigh...not going to make my deadline of May first for Paradise Dead. Will work on it again when I feel better.

Anyway, here are some photos I've taken since my last post. I hope you enjoy!

View from our kitchen window...


Our pond, overfull from the recent rains...


Nellie Moser Clematis by our front door...


Pink and red roses at the front of the house...


Stu putting up new motion sensor outdoor lights on both the front porch and the garage...


Rainy day project, new blinds in the office to help block the afternoon sun...


Changing the oil in one of several vehicles that needed done...


Taking a well deserved nap...


While I watch silly SyFy disaster movies (photo courtesy of our security system camera)...


We've shown our original property once and have several others interested, time will tell. Any other showings will have to wait until we get back in July. Friday we head north to Maryland for 6-8 weeks. Never a dull moment!

Ciao for now!

Rambling, rumbling, grumbling

We've had a busy couple of weeks since we arrived in TN. Stu has been busy enjoying his lawn tractor, even using it to move things around back to the shed. He's also done some trimming of the bushes by the back deck and clearing out of wild blackberries (thorns) in favor of the cultivated ones (no thorns).







We also made an agreement with a neighbor for him to pasture his two young steers for the season in exchange for keeping our lawn mowed while we are in Maryland. They also did all the prep work making sure the pasture was secure and mounting the one missing gate. The cows are happy and so are we!







Spring is definitely here. We've had the windows open on several days, only recently resorting to open early then everything closed down to retain the coolness. I hope to not run the A/C until we return in June. Loving our $45 power bills. LOL!





We've gone shopping - Stu likes this giant crab we saw at Sam's Club. Me? I'm thrilled with my new, very spring looking, Tervis tumbler.





We had our first guests at the house - actually, our first guests ever. LOL! My son and his wife came down for the weekend. We enjoyed ourselves, spent an afternoon at Calfkiller Brewing and had a ton of laughs (as you can see in this video). Priceless!



We have sold most of our motorcycle camping gear, only left with the queen airbed & 12v pump, some camping pillows (which I will probably keep), a trailer hitch setup for specific year Tri-Glides, and the trailer itself. We know we won't be doing any long motorcycle trips and it makes no sense to keep hanging on to this stuff.

We have also listed our property for sale by owner. If we don't sell it by mid-July, we will list it with our realtor.

So, chores are getting done. Both our pickup and the trike are now registered and insured here in TN. The Freightliner and fifth wheel will be done when we return in July. The bug guy was out yesterday to work on getting rid of the carpenter bees (deck sprayed), mice, and various insects. That will be an April/October regular visit. In July we will get the termite boost done. Ahhh, the joys of home ownership. But we are enjoying it...for many reasons.

I'm still writing - desperately trying to finish the second novella in my Lei Crime Kindle World series. My deadline is May 1st and that includes edits. Gulp! We will be traveling April 28-30, so no writing then. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Ciao for now!