To the doghouse with you

While my mom was here, one of the projects I wanted to get done was turning a section of the shed into a dog house for Indi and Zama to get out of the weather this winter. Well, I hate to use the flu excuse again but I was half dead and my mom decided to work on it herself(probably to get away from the germs that were floating around the house.)

She built a 4x8 box against the inside wall of the shed with a removable side and top so I can easily take the dogs' beds out and clean their area. Then while my step dad was here, he cut the hole for the dog door which will more than likely consist of a piece of carpet stapled to the wall because I refuse to pay $169.99 for a dog door kit!

Yes, Zama is posing because I asked her to.
As is Indi. You can see how nice and cozy this would be in the winter!
But instead of sleeping in their new dog mansion, my darling canines are sleeping on my patio furniture! There's that guilty dog face again!

Isn't she just a peach?
And when she realized she was having her picture taken she quickly tried to flee only to get herself caught under the table with her tail waving in the air!

Aren't dogs great? *sigh*

Cat and Mouse

Even this mouse isn't safe... :)

At least I can grow carrots!

Hail may have destroyed the better part of my garden back in mid-July but luckily hail doesn't bother carrots! The kids and I have been pulling up a few carrots here and there in the last couple of weeks but this morning I decided to go pull out enough to make a batch of pickled carrots. So off I went in my jammies. Bucket and fork tool in hand to harvest my garden's bounty. Nothing compares to the taste of a home grown carrot. Those things you buy in the grocery store- you may as well be eating cardboard.

My first batch of pickled carrots. I'm so excited to try them! I will let you know how they turn out when I open a jar! I hope they are delicious!

While I was out...

taking my son to the doctor and then the hospital for an X-Ray to find out why he won't stop puking(turns out he's bound up inside and just needed a little help letting things go) my parents:

were at my house toiling away to create this fabulous chicken coop expansion for us(me)!

It will need a proper roof in the spring but for now its roofed with a nice sturdy tarp!

The chickens are going to love their new digs thanks to my parents!! Thank you! xoxo

Dexter's humpy duck

I know the title probably more than speaks for itself but I just thought I should add a few words.

I gave this duck to Dexter when we first got him as a cuddly type toy to have in his kennel to keep him company. Well lets just say that their relationship blossomed into something other than just cuddling. The duck spends its days on the living room floor. Some days it goes untouched and other days you couldn't pry Dexter off with a crow bar. Gross, I know but at least it isn't my leg... or yours.

The Book Nook

At the bottom of my stairs is a big space that is not used for anything. It used to have Indi's dog bed when she slept in the house but that has since been moved outside.

My mom came home with us on our trip back from the island and since then has been puttering around the place cleaning carpets, building dog cubby holes etc. One of the things she wanted to do while she was here was put up a book shelf for the kids' books downstairs as the amount they have has started to spill out of their rooms.

While I was sick with the flu my mom put together a book shelf and made the kids their own little book nook at the bottom of the stairs. There they can sit at the picnic table or in the rocking chair and look at anything from National Geographic to Mercer Meyer's Little Critter books.



Thank you Mom for the Book Nook and all the other things you have done while you have been here!!

Tall Tales

My son and I came down with the stomach flu in the wee hours of yesterday morning. It hit us both pretty hard. I was up every 10 or 15 minutes with him and didn't get any sleep after 1am. I haven't had the flu in a long time and it was most unpleasant. Last night we were on the mend but in need of a good night's sleep. You can imagine my anxiety hearing, "mommy!" early this morning and thinking he was getting sick again. I ran into his room yelling "I'm coming!" He was fine, sitting up in bed.

"There's a spider in my bed!"

"Is there?"

"Yeah it was huge! It drove a truck up onto my bed to bite me!"

I was much obliged to deal with truck driving spiders over the alternative!