Here's To September!

I told Homer I thought the wall was tall enough to keep the dogs in. Millie hopped up and landed on the ledge like a graceful cat. Guess I was wrong. He went up another 3 rows. 

September 1....

Zucchini pasta... I do believe I could eat this everyday.

Shredded the rest of the zucchini for bread this winter.

Froze about 20 bags.

More fill... two summers is enough. Wishing we were done already!

I literally gag on green beans from the can, but fresh... delicious. I'm going to try and grow more next summer.

September 2....
You guessed it... more zucchini.

Daisy followed me up to the front yard. When I clean out the beds it's the one time of year she gets to roam about the yard.

Pretty spunky for six years old.

She loves petunias.

The boys unloaded the more railroad ties for the retaining wall.

September 4....
This has been a busy month. I'm finding days that I haven't taken a photo. Catching up will be good. I'll be more conscious about getting out the camera.

Off to school.....

It's So Hard To Say Good-Bye

I'm getting it done one bed at a time. I pull all the plants/weeds, turn the dirt with a shovel, bust up all the roots and rake smooth. I am going to take out some of the dirt and replace with compost. I'm hoping to have all the beds ready for planting now so next Spring it isn't so much work.

Every day it is a little closer to being done. Thank goodness for the Indian Summer. It's coming to an end so I'm trying to pick up the pace.

Saying good-bye to the pond. Homer set the pump up tonight and it is draining for me (and hopefully the boys) to clean.

Today I built a compost bin which really was just screwing a couple pallets together, but I was still proud of myself. I put this up in the power line on the other side of the yard. It is for all the poisonous plants from the flower gardens that can't go in the pen with Daisy since she eats everything!

Ahhh, one bed done and many more to go! It is really hard to get myself to pull out flowers that are still blooming, but I know when the temperatures are going to get down to 25* at night the beauty won't last much longer. Olivia and Lucas picked the last of the Asters to make a bouquet for the house.

I'm already looking forward to next growing season! :)

Not sure why this is so washed out. Maybe it is all the bright yellow and hint of snow in the air.

Lucas and Olivia's flowers. :)

I emptied the upper pond and pressure washed it as well as the small pool in the waterfall. Most of my stuff is stored away so I've just got to look for the random toy, ball or shovel in the weeds. As soon as the pond is empty I'll pressure wash it and we'll haul the leaves out. Hopefully, we get a couple more days of sun so it will be possible to walk down in there to clean. Last year we waited a couple days too long and had to do it in the Spring.

Brought the puppies in tonight. Roxie and Rusty have been sleeping outside with Millie to keep her company. I have hesitated to bring her in because I really dislike pee or poo at 5:30am and I'm mentally not ready to train, but I have to. The dachshunds are freezing at night....27*last night was just too cold for a dog with no hair. Everyone is very happy to be inside! I put Millie in a kennel, but she howled and howled. We have to sleep so I put her in the pen with the other two and she laid right down and passed out. Cross your fingers I get to her in the morning before she has an accident.

I Cannot Stomach This!

If you know anything about me, you know I have an aversion to poo. Honestly, with each passing day I become less and less tolerant. Just the other day my husband was discussing the sewer issue that we have and I threw up. Right there on the spot. I just can't deal with it. With that said, at 4am I was cleaning up after sick little puppies. At 5:30a my husband was cleaning up after them. I am now in the process of bathing five dog-poo covered dogs. It is KILLING me. Seriously. I can't just attack the job and get it over with. I have to calm myself, build up to it and then rush through. I have two down and three to go. I'm not sure I can stomach the entire job. I just want all of you out there in blog land to know this SUCKS! Can dogs get the flu? I had the flu Tuesday. I'm sure they didn't get my flu, but is there a dog flu? I cannot explain why they all got sick...not one thing in their diet was changed yesterday. I hope there is not a repeat tonight.

Wordless Wednesday: Hold Still, Please!

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More Puppy Photos

For Lori and Lucy who wanted to see more....


Roxie's first litter was born December 27, 2008 (the day after I flew to Arizona so I missed it all!) We were supposed to sell the puppies...three little girls...and ended up keeping them all. I am so horrible at this!


This is my little Ruby. She is very gentle, and normally comes when called although yesterday she had a mind of her own!

This is Emily's Molly. She is the runt of the litter and still the smallest. She is a licker. I mean to say, she kisses you obsessively. And she jumps. Like straight up...little jumping bean. It's very amusing to watch her spring.

This is Olivia's Sally. She was the largest in the litter and is a bit of a bully to her sisters. She was the fastest to develop skills, but currently cannot go up and down the stairs. You see, our dear little Lukie threw her down them and now she is afraid. Can you blame her? (I think she is probably the smartest of the three).

Here are the girls with their mother, Budler's Shivering Roxie. We just call her Roxie. She's a pure bred piebald doxie. I got her in Denver while on a hockey trip with Elijah. She is a bit on the neurotic side. She shivers (hence the name) and is a little skittish. Probably why she didn't sell with her litter mates and they still had her at six months old. None-the-less I liked her when I met her. (Molly has her shivers on occasion).

This is Rusty, the father. He would not cooperate with the camera. He was too busy doing his sniffing to look at me. He is a long-haired red doxie, but not registered. I bought him in North Pole. This is Elijah's dog. For the record, I hate male dogs. Especially male dogs living in a house with a female dog. They mark everything. I hate it. I'm not so sure I even like him anymore (I do, but he's disgusting as far as I'm concerned!). He has the cutest face you'll ever see, but like I said, he wouldn't look at me. (He's in trouble a lot as he runs away given half a second of freedom so when I called his name he probably thought he was in trouble.).

Litter #2 was born July 6, 2008. I realized that was two litters pretty close together. Litter #2 really wasn't supposed to happen, but sometimes these things do. Roxie is an unbelievable mother. She is freaky in all other senses, but is the most amazing mother.

This is Boy #1. The fattest of the four.

Boy #2, the second largest.
Boy #3, a little smaller yet.

This is the only girl and by far the smallest of the litter.

Here we all are...see fatty on the right and then the smallest, the dark one next to him? Boys will be harder to sell, but we can be assured I won't be talked into keeping them. I will not have another male dog if I can help it.

This gives you an idea of their size.