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life from the ground up

Real living in a processed world.

A new addition

By: Gabe2 Comments

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We added another member to the family over the weekend. No, not a child. Another dog. And we thought it was hectic around here before…

Brando came to us from a local shelter, and they think he’s about a year old and a mix of chocolate lab and Australian shepherd, and probably some other stuff too. Sadie needed to reiterate that she’s in charge, which he doesn’t seem to have a problem with, and they spend much of the time wrestling. He’s still enough of a puppy that he even wore her down, and I thought she was just about unstoppable. It’s been a crazy first couple days, and he still has some learning to do, but hopefully everyone will be settled in in a couple weeks and we can get back to some semblance of a routine.

One of the few breaks.

C’s monkey is definitely off-limits.

Dog days

By: Gabecomment

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It’s been dog hot here the last couple of days, and looks like it’ll continue to get hotter up through the weekend, until we finally get some relief early next week. We did get some much-needed rain last night – up to two inches in some areas around here, though we probably got closer to an inch, give or take an inch. I would have preferred that it rain a little more quietly; the thunder and lightning was a nice added touch, but at 2 in the morning? Not really necessary. But with as dry as it’s been, I’m not complaining… Figures that after it rained for just about two months straight, now it pretty much hasn’t rained for about two months straight. Could have seen that coming though, with the way the weather acts around here.

In keeping with the quote, Sadie prefers to spend her time lying somewhere in the yard or on the porch, though she still spends a fair amount of time nosing around in the woods, chasing creatures unseen (she must have a very vivid imagination). I too would prefer to lie around, but of course, don’t have much time for that. C doesn’t seem affected by the heat at all, and is still continuously on the move. Kid can not sit still. Someday, we’ll all be able to chill on the porch, but today is not that day. Nor any day for the remainder of the week, I presume.

How’s the weather in your vicinity? What’s your favorite way to cool down?

Cheerios

By: Gabe2 Comments

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C’s been doing more finger foods lately (okay, mostly Cheerios or something similar). He’s getting better, but still has a tendency to not be very delicate about it. When we put a pile on his tray or the table, he’ll kind of do a quick snatch and grab, and end up with a handful, instead of just one. It’s actually quite impressive, because he’ll do it so quickly, and rarely do any end up on the floor, although having a hand that’s always some degree of sticky will improve those odds.
 
Of course, whether they proceed to end up eaten is another story. His fistful gets shoved into the vicinity of his mouth, and then he opens it and hopes something falls in, which happens more often than not, but with so many in there, some are bound to fall other places. In his defense though, he is getting pretty good at checking out his front when he’s finished, since he’s realizing that he drops a lot, and they usually end up stuck to him.

"What, did I miss one?"

He’s also just started to understand the concept of sharing, which is perfectly fine with Sadie, but not a habit mommy and I want to get into 🙂

Dogs and thunder

By: Gabe1 Comment

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Been pretty busy the last couple days – watching the little guy, cleaning our old house up for the renters that are moving in next weekend, cleaning our new house up because it’s just plain messy (and my grandma came to visit yesterday), working outside in between cloud bursts, and working on some shelves for the mudroom.

Things are still pretty wet outside so it’s hard to do much, but this weather has been great for the new grass. Unfortunately, the dog found a couple slow-draining puddles in the woods, so even though we haven’t had any rain since Wednesday, she still manages to end up totally filthy. Potatoes are all up, chard is starting to peek up, but no beans yet – I’m hoping the next two days (sunny and around 70? could it be?) warm up the soil and get them moving. I’d like to get some squash out there too this weekend, but we’ll be gone all day Saturday, which is going to be the nicest of the bunch, and Sunday they’re calling for scattered thunderstorms. One positive takeaway from all the thunder is that I think Sadie, who’s terrified of thunderstorms, may be becoming a little more acclimated to them. She still hides under furniture, but she hasn’t acted like she’s hyperventilating for the past several storms. Progress.

Get out and enjoy that nice weather, because you don’t know when it’ll end for another weeklong stretch.

The circle of liiiife

By: Gabe1 Comment

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Welcome to the neighborhood! Sadie announced her presence to the local wildlife by killing a groundhog the other day. It’s weird, because I hadn’t seen a single groundhog since we’ve moved in, and seeing as how a forest is not really prime groundhog habitat, I assumed there weren’t really any in the area. So this unlucky fellow must have been on the prowl for some new real estate, but unfortunately, Sadie was not accepting new tenants.

I did feel kind of bad – I don’t really condone the murder of small animals. But, seeing as how this wasn’t the first time, I don’t think I can break Sadie of her doggie instincts – she is, after all, descended from wolves.

After the fact though, it was kind of neat to see nature take care of its own. I would typically bury the poor thing, but I’ve seen a bunch of turkey vultures in the area and I wanted to see if they could find it. So, much to the dismay of S, I left it out in the yard.

For the younger audience, I didn't get too graphic.

Needless to say, by the time I got home from work the next day, there were nine vultures and one groundhog skeleton in the yard. I guess if the vultures weren’t good at what they do, they’d be long extinct. Note: I did take care of the skeleton. It didn’t work out well for the groundhog, but it was a good learning experience. C is a little too young to understand these kinds of things, though he was interested in the big black birds.

Kinda creepy.

Next challenge for Sadie, since she seems to have gotten the small mammal thing down, is one of the many deer that patrol the area.

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