Dog Tired

Tucker loves the new house. He has room to roam - no leashes needed! We have a picket fenced back yard, but then beyond that we attached livestock fencing to the closest edge of the pasture fence and the horse paddock area. We added some fencing between the house and the property lines on each side. Tucker probably has about 1/2 - 1/3 of an acre in which to run - free!

This morning he jumped a bunny and had a great run from one end of his space to another. Couldn't catch that wascally wabbit! Then, two deer went bounding by in the pasture. Tucker took chase along the fence line. Suddenly, he heard bounding hooves behind him... there was a buck running through HIS yard. Tucker had another lovely chase - couldn't catch that guy either, drat!

Ah, but now he is having sweet dreams of chasing critters and being master of the place! Time to recharge the batteries!

Something's Afoot - Comfortable as an Old Shoe

Hay, Doc... are you there?

It's me... Pippin. I can't see you. 

Yeah, I'm here... you idiot...

who did you think would be on the

other side of the partition? 

The great and powerful Wizard of Oz?

ss

Uh, Doc .... I've a feeling that we're 

not in Kansas anymore!

* Sigh *  we never were in Kansas... 

Ok... just sayin'... 

we aren't exactly where we were.

Pssst, Doc... this doesn't look 

like an auction to me.

I don't see any other horses.

Nope... this isn't an auction - 

This is Heaven!

Nom-en-om-en-nom....

Sorry to talk with my mouth full

but.... I just can't help myself!

Mmmm.... know what you mean!

Something's Afoot - The Shoe Drops

Doc,  what's
A - U - C - T - I - O - N ?

I'm not sure... 

Where'd you see that?

It's written on the calendar
on the wall across from my stall.

Hmmm, let me chew on that for a while.
Nom-en-om-en-nom...
Are you sure that's what it says? 

Yup. It says Harley Troyer Auction 
And it begins on Friday.  

They sell horses there, don't they?

Oh, Dear Gus...
You are right.
That's where my Mrs. Owner got us.

My Mrs. Owner has hooked up the 

big white box on wheels.....

I have a not-so-good feeling in the

pit of my cecum...

Nahh.... she wouldn't.
Would she?
You don't suppose????

To be continued.....

Something's Afoot

Hay, Pippin. I think something's afoot.

I don't see anything on my foot.

Wayne was here last week. He took off 

all the extra stuff on my hoof.

No, no - that means that I think
something is going on. 

Well, why didn't you say that?

Have you noticed that our Mrs. Owner
and the man that is always around her
have taken away some of our fence panels?

Thank Gawd... I thought I was gaining

a lot of weight and that's why 

the paddock seemed smaller.

Yeah, and they carried away a bunch
of our hay - how stupid is that?
First, they bring it to the barn on a trailer
and grunt and groan as they pile it up.
Now they take it off the pile and put 
it back on the trailer and drive it away.

Uh, oh. I hope they still plan to feed us -

Maybe  they are gonna let us eat all of 

the grass in the pasture - yummmmmm!

You don't suppose that our Mrs. Owner is

tired of having us around, do you? You haven't

done anything to make her mad, have you?

I've tried to be good...  Well, I did kinda bend the

gate. Oh, and I broke the weld on the hinge

of another gate. Oh, and I pooped in my stall

and walked around in it all night - she did 

one of those heavy kinda sighs about that.

Oh, and I bent the D ring on the hay net... again. 

Oh, and I wouldn't come in from the pasture 

last night without a fuss.  Oh, and I kinda 

shoved her around as I was trying to beat 

you out of the gate...

Oh, Pippin, I'm kinda worried....

To be continued... 

Tucker Talks: Bird Dog

Ya know, I'm an Australian Shepherd. But I've never been to Australian... or whatever that is! I'm supposed to herd things. But the lady who feeds me seems to get annoyed when I try to tell her where to go, and she won't get me a sheeps to herd.


What I love doing best is chasing birds! Maybe I'm not a shepherd... maybe I'm a bird dog. I bet I could learn to point if I had some lessons! Do you think not having a tail would be a problem in learning how to point? Whatever, I know I could be the bestest bird dog. When the lady that feeds me opens the door I run out as fast as I can to try to catch the silly flying things before they get out of reach. And I'm pretty darn good at it, too. Last year I got two Robins. Ok, so maybe the one that flew into the window and was stunned shouldn't really count. This year I've nabbed two pigeons - right out of the air! Ha! Try that!! They were in our new barn and were trying to fly out the door. The lady that feeds me made me drop them and they flew away. Well, the feathers are kinda hard to handle anyway! They stick to the roof of my mouth.

This morning ... 

There it goes... it's a bird... a very tiny bird.
Did you see it?

It's up there...
by the window!

Now it's over there... 

Got it!

Crunch!

What do you mean ... 
it wasn't a bird?
It flies...

The Project: Week 24 - Almost There

So, it's Sunday evening and I'm trying to figure out just what we did on the project house this week! It's really hard to remember!!

This week we:

• watched the siding guys strip off the old siding and install the new siding. They still have about a week's worth of work to finish.
• began to paint the doors. Oh, my... the deep red we chose looks so much better than what was there before!
• started to caulk the seams in the siding... then the painter showed up... we don't know who is responsible for caulking! We have to wait to talk to Mr. Siding Guy. (Oh, I am so hoping it is their job... I HATE the caulk they provided. It is very, very sticky and I find it very hard to work with.)
• installed more "Tucker" fencing and a gate. We are almost finished securing a 1/4-1/2 acre space for our pup. We can't wait to 'forget' to close the picket fence gate, and watch Tucker explore his yard - letting him think he has escaped!
• moved a few pieces of furniture that are just clutter at the existing house.
• put in a new toilet! How empowering for me to play the role of 'plumber' and get a toilet in all by myself! Woohoo - I feel like quite the woman!!
• did all kinds of odds and ends: touching up ceiling paint in the master bath, used spacers to move switches out from the tile backsplash in the kitchen, replaced the trim on a few ceiling lights, finished putting in all of the screws in the cement board in the entrance hall, replaced vents for the heating/AC unit, worked in the garden - sprayed for thistle and planted some annuals. 

We have been telling friends that we will move to our new place in 'about two weeks' for almost two months - like I said last week, we are finishing Egypt with the textbook! A few days ago we finally looked at each other and talked about just when we would move. Next weekend we have a few fun things to do that just happen to be near our new home. I commented that it would be great fun to go to those events, and not have to drive ALL the way from, or back to, our existing home. It also happens to be near my Birthday. Soooooo.... we are planning to be in the new house within 5 days!!!!! (We will have some furniture and some clothes and all the assorted odds 'n ends one needs to stay in a place... but most of our stuff will still be at the old house.)

Next week, if I do a post about our project house.... I hope to be able to say that, "This week...  we began sleeping at the new house!"

 Woohoo! I can hardly wait!

Why I Love My Haflingers - Reason #23

It's their feet. Yeah, I love their clunky, chunky size 2's. Feet that can easily bend the hinges of all gates so our gates are never ever level any more!

Who me? Step on the gate to get your attention?

Never!

Not no way... not no how!

We had a visit from our farrier yesterday. We haven't seen him since November!!! (That's one benefit of sandy soil!) He commented that the boys' feet are looking pretty good. In fact, he couldn't find much to take off! 

Pippin, will you move your nose so I can get a picture of your feet?

No, Pippin. The camera is not something good to eat!

Ah, finally. A picture - without a nose in it!

Pippin had serious foot issues when I got him two years ago. He had foundered and his feet were in terrible shape. This is his hoof today. (Oh, how I wish I had taken a 'before' shot!) When I got him he had a hole in the front of his hoof where the wall had blown out. Now, he has a crack up the center caused by the rotation of the coffin bone. Wayne carved a groove perpendicular to the crack on both front hooves to suggest that the crack not move further up the hoof. Since the foundered hoof tends to curve out like elf shoes, he did take a bit the toe off and flattened the front. That was the sum total of the work on Pippin.

Doc has wonderfully strong feet. He had a little bit of a bump on the inside of his front toes that made his foot less round. The farrier used his rasp for a few minutes to round out the front hoof.

We were done. $15.00 please. See you in a few months!

Now, that is nice!!