Fences

They say fences make good neighbors.

We have GREAT neighbors already.

But our dogs didn't get that memo.

Our neighbors, Rick and Chris

are cat people.

And then Rick retired.

And then Chris retired.

And she was bored.

And she "rescued" a dog.

A pretty little female.

They started going to training to learn

to be a therapy dog.

But Dixie was pretty shy.

So they switched to agility training.

And she was GOOD at it!

So they started going to shows.

And then Rick decided to join in.

So he bought a male dog of the same breed.

And Apollo is the exact opposite

of Dixie.

They are both beautiful.

And Shadow hates them both.

(Actually they were good friends until

we got Bandit and Shadow decided to be

her Mom and went all Mama Bear on Dixie.)

So now whenever Dixie or Apollo are out

(Chris only takes them out one at a time

and on a leash) Shadow sticks her head through

the wire fence and tries to eat them.

There is always lots of barking and

jumping and it's not fun for either side.

We built a "dog yard" and keep our

dogs out there all day.

They have lots of room to run and play

and Rod and Kyle built them a raised

patio with a metal roof so they have a place

to get out of the sun or the rain.

But mostly they dug UNDER the patio

and have a nice cool cave.

But it still sometimes gets crazy.

Friday, Chris opened the back door to

let her cat out (or something) and Apollo escaped.

I was outside feeding the animals, so my dogs

were all loose running around the yard.

Apollo saw them and came running.

He can EASILY clear the 4' fence if he wants.

Chris was terrified he was going to do that.

So she was screaming.

Shadow had her head through the holes and

was barking and trying to bite him.

So I was yelling at my girls to get back 

in the garage.

It wasn't pretty.

So after all the dogs were contained,

I asked Kyle to take a day off work.

And this is what we did.

This is "before".

Looking out our side yard into their side yard.

This is after putting up a couple of panels.

We bought 14.

I miscounted.

We had to go back and get 3 more.

And some lunch.

Cuz we were HUNGRY!

And this is our new fence.

The dogs can't see each other.

Chris can let her dogs out without a leash

and not worry about them.

I don't have to worry about my dogs

eating her dogs.

(Apollo is a space cadet, but he keeps winning

Best In Show

for his breed and if she bit him it would

be devastating.

And expensive...)

Chris is over the moon happy.

And they offered to pay for half.

And you can still see over the fence

so although it looks like we are all

fenced in (we are) it's not claustrophobic

or anything.

Unless you look over there, you don't

even really notice it.

I actually REALLY like it.

We might paint it the same color as the house.

But that's later.

I learned to use the screw gun.

(I already knew, but I was TERRIBLE

at it, Kyle helped me with some

tips and tricks and I'm still terrible,

but with little letters.)

I also got to use the big table / miter saw

and cut a board.

I always wanted to do that!

Good thing I learned all that stuff 

cuz I still need to finish

securing the fence. 

Kyle is out of days off.

We only put in the

screws in the middle - we need to install

more 2 x 4 supports on the back.

But it's up.

And it's pretty.

And it works.

And I was EXHAUSTED.

LOL

I've Been Lazy

NOOOOO!

LOL

Ok, Yes.

I realize today is the LAST day

of the month.

Usually you start the

"next new thing"

on the FIRST day of a month.

But I woke up today

and knew 

TODAY was the day.

So after getting all the animals

fed and delivering my eggs

next door (thank you Kyle),

a good breakfast of chocolate cake

(Yup, chocolate cake, YUM)

and a kefir smoothie,

doing all the banking,

bill paying,

organizing for next month,

emailing my students,

and a nice Thursday phone call

from Soni....

I changed into my workout clothes

and took my new laptop

out to the patio

(where it's nice and cool and I 

don't feel like I'm going to catch

my hands in the ceiling fan)

and dialed up my T-Tapp

Digital Workout page.

32 minutes and a 

Basic Super Slow

later,

I feel GREAT!

I can feel it, especially in my neck.

My neck has gotten really stiff,

so I did some good stretches.

(And then I took some turmeric and

rubbed some magnesium and aloe into it.)

It feels GOOD to make your body work.

And now I'm going to go clean my kitchen

and look for something yummy to cook

my family for dinner tonight.

Last night we had 

"Zippy Zucchini Bake".

It was delicious!

(Except the rice was a little crunchy...)

I might try

Hubby Lovin' Chicken

tonight.

I've heard good things about it from others...

We'll see.

Happy Thursday all!

Welcome to the Farm

Tis the Season.

And you can tell,

because I have put up the annual

gate decorations.

Our cowboy and cowgirl are all 

spiffed up for the season.

(alter egos?)

We usually have a solar light

stuck in each end of the gate.

But they recently died.

And Rod wasn't happy with them.

They aren't still lit when he leaves

for work at 5:30 in the morning.

So this year I am trying something

different and wrapped a strand

of clear lights all around the top bar.

We will leave them up all year.

(I bought a couple extra boxes

in case they only last a few months.)

I like the look!

And it's NICE to come home

at night to a welcoming light.

(Now I just have to remember to

pick up a timer - cuz it's NOT nice

to have to walk out there every morning

and evening and turn them on/off.)

Merry Christmas!

Change in Plans

I went to WalMart this morning

and bought the new garland

and red bows for the front gate.

I was going to put them up 

after eating some lunch and

then take pictures for my blog.

But while I was eating lunch,

the skies opened up

and it POURED.

(0% chance of rain today.)

(Yeah, right.)

So scrap THAT idea.

But when I went outside earlier

(before the rain)

this is what I saw...

She does this every day.

Hops up to the roof of the coop.

See?

She wanders around up there for a little while.

And then she flies down into the yard.

And she's free.

Little stinker!!!!!

Luckily she generally heads straight

into the hay room in the barn

and lays her egg.

And then it's out to the pastures

to look for bugs

for her afternoon snack.

(She has 3 or 4 sisters who do

the same thing... monkey see,

monkey do.)

New Friends

This morning early, Kyle and his

friend, Jessica, went for a kayak run.

They found a friend.

He got a little closer than he should have.

He actually touched it on the

back with his paddle!!!!

Yikes!

(Yup, he is nuts.)

Their other new friend was a much

better size / species.

The weather was perfect.

Sunny, not too hot or too chilly.

Thankfully, they left both of their

new friends at Turkey Creek where they found them.

Good choice.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Yesterday was a nice, quiet Thanksgiving.

I FINALLY messed up dinner.

Not that I'm a great cook or anything,

but it has always managed to turn out.

I got started on the turkey at 10:00,

planning to cook for 3 hours and

serve around 2:00.

However, I did the time planning

with a turkey bag in mind.

I forgot that I quit using them.

And they cut the cooking time WAY back.

So it was going to take 4 hours

in the oven instead of just 3.

But that's ok.

I got it all ready and put it in the

turkey roasting pan,

tented it with heavy foil

and set the timer for an hour.

Turned off the timer,

pulled the foil off,

and put it back in the oven.

Came back in an hour to check

on it and discovered that I didn't

turn the timer off.

I turned the OVEN off!!!!!

Sigh.

So now it's going to be FIVE hours.

I kept texting Jim.

It's going to be 3:00.

Nope, 4:00.

Nope, 5:00.

We finally were ready at 6.

LOL

But it was moist and delicious.

And the sides were good too.

Especially Rod's mashed potatoes.

I ended up not calling Mom for gravy

instructions, since the turkey came with 

a turkey pack in it - all I needed to do was

add drippings and simmer for a bit.

It was a little salty, but pretty good.

*************************************

This morning dawned cold and overcast.

I went out, dragged the trash cans

to the street,

fed all the animals,

took the turkey carcass out to the chickens

to clean off,

came in and made myself a turkey

sandwich on Rhodes dough rolls

with a side of Pop's fruit salad

and a pecan tart for desert.

It's my birthday.

I can have that for brunch if I want.

And then, since it was a yucky looking

day outside, and Black Friday to boot

(NOT leaving my house for love or money)

I curled up on the couch with my afghan

and a good book.

It was a great,

quiet,

relaxing,

refreshing,

wonderful

birthday.

(And then I hopped in my car

and headed south to teach school.)

When I got to my hotel,

I climbed into bed with my

Chick Fil A sandwich,

turned on the TV 

and found.....

YEA!

A great end to a nice birthday.

If I have to be away from my family
on my birthday...
this will do.

And Then There Were 2!

Linda went out this morning

to check on her cows.

And was greeted with another new

little bull calf!

Calf #2 is another beautiful little black angus.

She only wants to keep heifers, 

so Kyle is probably going to buy

both of them from her.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!