A sunny sunday with doggie baths and BARE FEET????

Ohhh Boy!!!  Our Wisconsin temps reached up to 41 degrees today!  This is the first time in 42 days in a row that we have ever eeeeked up above freezing!~   We cracked open the patio doors (after turning off the furnace)  and let in some fresh air and sunshine.   I could even hear the birds calling.  It was sooo wonderful! Steve SWEARS he saw a mosquito.  I don't know about that, but he said he swatted it???

I even walked out on the deck to fill the birdfeeders, get this, in my BARE FEET !   

Yes... I know I am just getting over pneumonia, but you just gotta understand.  After all this snow and ice and cold, just seeing bare wood warmed by the sun, it's almost a rite of passage to go out there in my bare feet.  Even if it's just for a few seconds.   I just HAD to!   I do it every year.  Last night there has been a couple inches of new snow on this deck, but the strong rays of the sun melted it all off by 11 am.

The house was so sunshiny and light and bright. It was like a veil of doom and gloom of winter has left, even for a short time.   Steveio hauled out his vacuum cleaner and went to task on the livingroom carpeting.

  (that plant is hanging down from the bedroom loft overhead and needs to get trimmed back, huh?)

I snapped a few pics around the house...  this is my Family Wall with pics of all the kids, grandkids and at the bottom is a quilt rack with a very special blanket.  I wove that blanket out of dog fur, saved from many brushings over the years.  It was my beloved dog, Akasha.  I saved all her sheddings in a big big bag.... and later, when she passed the Rainbow Bridge, I used my spinning wheel and spun it up into yarn.  It was part of my mourning process.  I plied it with some mohair and wove it into a blanket.   (And yes, the blanket sheds as much as the dog did!)

This wall is at the bottom of the steps coming down from the master bedroom that is in the overhead loft.  See the two steps up from the right and two more down to the left?   THAT is why our house will not be good for us when we are Old Folks.  We have to go up and across and down again just to the get from the livingroom on the right to the bathroom to the left.  Or for that matter, just getting down the steps from the bedroom to get to the bathroom in a hurry.  Even now at 50+ years old,  it's becoming a challenge at times for me.   Another good reason to sell this house and hit the road, right?  At least in the motorhome, our bathroom is four steps beyond the end of the bed!  LOL 

We have taken down my beautiful framed Robert Duncan print that I talked about a couple blogs back.  It is off to be re-framed into a shorter size. It used to grace the wall over the fireplace for the last 14 years.   Now it will go into the motorhome over the bed.   Now this spot on the wall can start getting exposure to the UV rays like the rest of pine walls that have darkened over the years.   See the lighter area?  It needs to darken up before we put the house on the market next year, for sure. 

Many years ago, I got some coleus plants from my dear friend Connie.  I have kept the same strain of the plants all these years, snipping and rerooting and replanting.  Every fall I bring them in the house and keep them growing all winter long.   Each spring, I slowly bring them back outside, day by day, guarding them till the danger of frost has passed until I can plant them alongside the garage again for the summer.   I share new plants in pots with my friends and family each spring to keep the tradition going.   The pretty pink, fuchsia and green adds to my ever increasing Spring Fever!  

I have some in the bathroom and some in the kitchen too.

Such a nice contrast to the cold white snow and ice outside. 

Since it was such a nice day, it was time to get these doggers into the tub.  With the warm weather, we don't have to worry about freezing the pooches to the core if they do have to go out for potty breaks.  Of course they are inside doggers, but do need the occasional access to the outdoors to do their thing.  Much better on their bodies if they are damp at 41 degrees than at 10 below zero.

So they get the Dogger Spa Treatment.  Nothing is too good for these doggers, huh?

Dukie Palookie loves floating in the tub.  We fill it up halfway and let him *soak* for a while.  He almost falls asleep in there, and if we had a prop to keep his head above water, I think he would!   Honestly, if the water is deep enough, he floats!   I left him to enjoy his bath for about 15-20 minutes before scrubbing him up.

They both needed a good bath to smell "purdy" again, and tomorrow when they are fully dry, they will get a good brushing, toenail clipping and trimming around the feet to clean them up a bit.  

Duchess (aka Dumb Ducky) on the other hand, DETESTS her bath!    She loves swimming in the lakes and rivers, but just HATES the tub.  Can't you tell?   Duke is having so much fun, he gets to stay in double long while Ducky gets scrubbed and rinsed.  Even after he gets out, he looks back at the tub longingly. 

And THIS is what they look like all clean and dry and PURDY! 

As so it goes on a sunny day in our world...   we are looking forward to a mild week, and then one more weekend will pass before we can head on out to parts south and west!


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