Welcome To My Life, Ed. 3 Vol III

Last night, Huey swiped an ENTIRE piece of pizza off Cowboy H's plate AND snarfed the WHOLE thing before either of us even knew it was gone.

Seriously. Nobody even saw it happen.

It was hilarious. I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe.

The funniest part was, Cowboy H trying to blame me for stealing his pizza because I had no idea what he was talking about.

HEY! Where'd my? Did you? I had four pieces!

For probably the first time ever, Hank was sitting innocently at my feet.

And Huey? He was hiding behind the couch, licking his chops, all evidence properly destroyed by the time we figured out what happened.

Welcome To My Life, Ed. 3 Vol II

The other day, I was woken up by the sound of a dog gagging and heaving, attempting to puke in my bedroom. It was still dark, very dark, and I flung myself out of bed and stumbled and fumbled around the room in a pathetic attempt to get the dog out of the house before the vomit actually came out.

By the time I got my bearings and turned on a light it was too late. Little Hanky-Panky deposited a solid chunk of bone the size of a large marble right on the carpet. Still staggering around, I shuffled him outside since he was still heaving.

First thing I thought: "Thank goodness that came back up, because there was no way it was going to come out the other end."

Second thing I thought (after glancing at my clock; remember its pitch black outside): "Phew, at least I have another hour to sleep before my alarm goes off."

And, before the thought was even completed, the alarm went off.

Stupid dog.

Stupid time change.

Stupid Monday.

Portrait of a Cowboy and His Dog

I snapped this a few weeks ago. I'm pretty sure this one's going on the wall (someday).

And for those of you who haven't witnessed Cowboy H smile and laugh like I have, this one's for you. Notice even Hank is sticking his tongue out at me!

This man loves his dog so much it makes my heart want to burst.

I'm working on so many other photos and posts; I swear I haven't gone anywhere! Enjoy these for now!

Welcome To My Life, Ed. 2, Vol II

The other night, Cowboy H and I were trying to get cozy on the couch, enjoy a fire and watch a movie. I was doing something (can't remember what) and I looked over to see Cowboy H tearing the pillows and covers off the couches, mumbling.

Where the heck is the remote?

So we start looking together. Under couches, under beds, under pillows, under cushions. Cowboy H even lifted the recliner completely off the ground to check under there.

Oh well, it'll turn up eventually.

My brain was turning, however, since I really hate when I can't find what I'm looking for. I will continue looking until I find it. Even if it makes me late to something.

How funny would it be if my dog had dragged it into the backyard. Actually, that wouldn't be that funny. Do you have a flashlight?

Sure enough, there it was, sitting right smack in the middle of the backyard grass.

Welcome to my life. You should visit regularly.

Every. Day.

Happy Friday!!

No Butts About It

This was one fabulous Christmas!

Email me Paint Girl! You get an 8 x 10!

My little brother got a rifle for shooting squirrels, so most of the morning the boys were doing this:

My dad


Cowboy H


My bro

The pups also got their own Christmas presents. Hank took extra special care picking out just which one he wanted.

I think this is the one!


Hurry, Dad. Open it!

Don't worry. We didn't leave Huey out. He got is very own also.

I hope everyone else had a very Merry Christmas (it sure seems that way from the recent postings)!

I'll have a post on why Christmas on the Central Coast of California isn't so bad, even if its not white, coming up!

Christmas Card, 2009

We wish everyone peace, joy, love and lots of time spent with family this holiday season.


Merry Christmas!



Love,

Oz, Hank, Indy, Olivia and Huey

Extra Special

Let me tell you a little story about Hank.

Hank is extra special.

See, Hank was not wearing this harness when both Cowboy H and I left for work that morning. The reason Hank was not wearing his harness is that he chewed through it not long ago, which is evident in the photos.

However, when I got home that evening, Hank was wearing his harness. Yes, he had put his harness on himself. And he did a mighty fine job, I'd say.

Yep, extra special. That's our boy. Actually, Cowboy H's boy. I claim no responsibility.

Winter-Time

I hate wintertime. I don't mind the cold so much, since that means I can have a fire in the house and I love Christmas and all the surrounding holidays, but I hate winter. I hate that it is dark when I leave work these days. In Southern California, winter kinda sneaks up on you. We don't have fall (the changing colors, the chilling cold, the light rain) to break us in. Suddenly, you leave work and it is dark and you realize Thanksgiving was last week and Christmas right around the corner.

This being dark when I leave work means a few things.

I won't be getting much riding in during the week. There is always the possibility for night rides, which make for great fun, but when its dark and chilly I am much more inclined to go straight home, put on my jammies and make a fire.

I also won't be taking many new photos, since its dark when I leave work and I just want to go home, put on my jammies and make a fire.

Which also means I'll be sharing lots of older photos with you (while I sit at home in my jammies by the fire), such as these taken a few months ago near my hometown.

Have I mentioned that Hank hates water?






I really hate this, Dad.


But its okay, I forgive you.

Ahhh, for the dog days of summer.

What's Your Normal?

Last night, Cowboy H and I were lounging around in the living room, watching TV and recovering from a wonderful dinner out. About half the family had joined us and at one point I looked around and was struck by something.

One dog was sleeping on the recliner.

The other dog was sleeping on the couch.

The cat was sleeping on the bone-shaped dog bed.

And Cowboy H and I?

We were on the floor.

What's your normal?

On The Home Improvement Front

Home improvement is starting up again at The Homestead. We've been in the house for almost a year now, and so far we have remodeled a bathroom, fixed up the front yard, put in new windows and had shutters installed.

The next project was supposed to be the garage and painting the interior of the house during Christmas break. In the garage, we're going to rebuild the shelving (which you can see in the above photo), put an industrial sink in near the washer/dryer and possibly put peg-board on all the walls. A month or so ago, I decided that I wanted to paint inside the house because right now none of our walls are the same color white. Cowboy H suggested adding some colored accent walls in as well.

Well, of course, as always, plans are a-changin'. Instead of the garage we are going to give our bathroom a minor make-over. Apparently we have mold growing in our shower. I would have never noticed this because I am blind when I shower (no glasses/contacts) but once Cowboy H pointed it out to me, it was quite obvious. So, a new shower liner is now in order and we might as well replace the cracked and separating linoleum while we're at it.

Secondly, the painting project is being replaced with the Fixing Up The Backyard To Accommodate The Dogs project. Right now the dog kennel is smack in the middle of the lawn. We would like to move it into a corner, up against the brick wall, but have to move some plants and level the ground first. So now y'all know what I'll be doing on my 12 day break off work.

Lastly, Cowboy H has started on the exterior trim for the new windows! The windows that face out front have thick dark brown trim around them. Cowboy H is going to add trim to all the backyard windows and the two windows by the front entry to match the existing trim.

We're going to make this:

look like this:

Lastly, I have an update on the doggies for you guys. Thanks for sharing your trouble-pups also! I know for a fact if we had more time for these guys they wouldn't be so bad, but hey, we have to work!

So, they actually seem to like their little kennel. For one, they don't see it as punishment, which is good. Secondly, they get treats (stuffed Kong toys) every time they get put in it. So far, there has been no whining, howling or barking AT ALL. While the first night they dug a little at the gate, they haven't done any more digging. They are still tearing up their bed, but thats ok. Beds can be easily and fairly cheaply replaced; sprinkler heads and wiring cannot. As much as we didn't want to do this, it seems to be working out for the better. Another plus about having a dog run, is that when we have non-doggy people (some of Cowboy H's co-workers) over for dinner and such, we have a place to put the pups where they can't bother the guests, but aren't locked in the crates or a bedroom.

Don't forget, Mama H's Big Quiz #2 starts tomorrow morning!!! Be there or be square!!!

Didn't Want To

We most definitely didn't want to, but we had to.

See, we've kinda got bad dogs. I mean, they're puppies, so a certain amount of rambunctiousness is expected, but these two cross the line.

It began with tearing out one plant, then digging a few holes here and there. Next came raiding the wood pile, and scattering their loot across the whole backyard (in the same fashion as the yard sale), after they figured out how to remove the tarp with their teeth. Then, they discovered the wiring for the sprinklers, and we now have so little slack left that if anymore is chewed, we will have to tear out the concrete to replace the wiring. And, if that wasn't enough, once we finally got an effective cover for the wiring and they could no longer get to it, they started in on the sprinkler heads themselves.

Lastly, as if to put a cherry on top of their destructiveness, they did this two nights ago:

Notice even the cover of the book is gone.

Now, this was totally my fault; I left the door to the office open, forgot about it, and then kicked the dogs out when I started cooking dinner later that evening. But, seriously dogs?

Honestly, we are not lazy dog owners, which some people are, and they end up with destructive (i.e. bored) dogs. We take these guys on nightly walks (sometimes twice nightly!), they go out to the ranch with the horses, when we're home they're usually in the house with us, they're learning obedience, and goodness knows they have toys coming out of their ears. But the fact remains that we have a smallish backyard, and an ADD heeler.

*sigh*

After much deliberation, we purchased this:

Yesterday, Cowboy H spent an hour or so setting it up.

Of course, Hank had to help. He really is a good little dog. He just needs a lot of supervision.

We put the sucker to the test last night when we headed over to another couple's house for dinner. The dogs were surprising good; no barking or howling or even whining when we first put them in there. All was even quiet when we returned home; not a peep from the backyard. However, we discovered what kept them so quiet:

At least the disaster zone is contained.

Cowboy H is going to throw together a little doggie house today and before he heads to work he'll dispense a few of the new toys, which Hank discovered last night.

Hopefully, they'll shred the toys and not their bed anymore.

So, how about you guys? Do any of you have "dog areas" in your backyards? Do any of you have dog runs like we now have? Neither Cowboy H nor I have ever had to confine our dogs (while growing up, etc.) to one area of the backyard, so this is completely new to us. I'd love to hear any and all solutions/suggestions for problem children!

Post-Op

Sooo, little Huey went under the knife on Nov. 7th, and had a little extra weight removed. You know those two little orbs that dangle between the male canine's legs? Yep, they're gone now.

Surgery went well and he came out with four little bitty purple sutures.

Now, those four little sutures are supposed to be removed this coming Saturday, as in two days from now. Sutures need to stay in for 12-14 days to make sure the incision line is completely healed and there is no risk of the skin opening back up.

See, I know this not because the vet told me, but because I also work for the vet. On the weekends and some holidays, I work part-time for a day clinic (the place you take your dog for vaccines and that dang ear infection) and also an emergency clinic (the place you take your dog when it gets hit by a car in the middle of the night, or on Sunday). So, I know all the rules about post-op care for your little doggie.

Only, I didn't follow them very well.

Last night I picked my Huey-duey up to check on his sutures, and there were only two.

Hey, Cowboy H, help me a sec. How many sutures do you see?

Two. Wait. Nope, only two.

A few hours later, I checked him again.

This time, there was only one hanging in there.

Oops.

I guess I don't need to take him in on Saturday afterall.