Pool Puppies and Scallops and a Leak???

Okay, I have not posted a lot of stuff about the doggers lately.  So here is a video clip to get your fill of my two silly pups!

Now, if you are not into playing YouTubes, or are low on bandwidth, here are a few photos below.  But you REALLY need to watch the video to get the gist of it.  

Neither one was too thrilled about 

being put in the pool, 

to say the least! 

When I took them out, they immediately went and laid down in the DIRT!!!  So I had to rinse them off again and put them on tie out ropes on the clean cement of the driveway instead.  Geesh!

The rain finally ended this morning, and I think we got almost 3 inches here around Chilton.  Some areas south of us got even more. When the sun poked out this afternoon, I set up my sawhorses and put out some of the scalloped edging pavers to get a couple coats of solid colored acrylic stain on them.  Using a small roller, it went quite fast! 

So I stuck an extension handle on the roller and did up the ones waiting in the garage.  Why handle them twice? Each one weighs over 10 pounds. I did them right on the garage floor, and flipped them up to to do the top edges. 

By the time Steveio got home from work, they were dry enough to set into place! Wheeeee

We do have to trim one block by 1/3 to get it all to fit, 

I kinda did a quick measurement and guesstimate before buying them.

 I think it will look great when it's all done! 

Tomorrow I will fill in around the plants with the bags of black mulch that I have waiting in the garage.  Now that the soft maple helicopter mess is just about over, and done falling to the ground, so we can have a clean slate to work on now.  Otherwise it didn't pay to put down the black mulch if it was going to get buried in dried out tan/brown helicopter pods.

We do have to keep the 3 rain gutter downspouts there

or else we get a lot of water in the basement.

Speaking of "water in the basement" .... we have noticed a minor leak coming down the drain pipe from the upstairs bathroom.  It has been running down the pipe mostly when draining the tub or using the shower.  Fortunately it has not damaged any walls, floors or ceilings.  Just a trickle coming down the old cast pipe from the second floor, directly down inside the wall in the laundry room and runs onto the floor in the basement.

Soooooo tonight Steveio started to knock out the wall in the laundryroom to see where the leak was.  The pipe runs up a space alongside the chimney, all boxed in by plaster and lathe, and a surface layer of some milkhouse board in the laundryroom (it used to be a panty/kitchen until we converted it).

He pulled off the glued-on milkhouse board and then chipped away at the plaster until he exposed the lathes.

Just look how thick our plaster is?  it's like thick cement, not lime type plaster.  No wonder our 100 year old house doesn't have any cracks in the plaster like most old houses do.

He cut away all the lathes and held his breath as he took a look.... hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.  YAY!!! The leak was right at eye level in the section of pipes that join in an accessible region!  (he had been worried he would have to pull up the floor in the bathroom upstairs) 

Now that it should be an easy fix to cut that portion out and put in new PVC drain pipe, he might also cut out the hot and cold supply pipes and swap them over to PEX tubing at the same time.  

So here goes the weekend at 

Our Old House! 

After the snow.... and some dog stuff

We were supposed to get a huge storm, but lucky us, it blew to the north and missed most of us!   We only got about 4-5 inches I think, and some blowing and drifting.  But nothing that was treacherous or awful.  Today we are just getting minor snow flurries, here and there.

Here is Winter in Wisconsin... now that all of the holiday festivities are over, it is going to be dreary months of snow snow and more snow:

(this goose ain't cooked, he's more like frozen?)            our view out the front windows

Not sure if this rig is gonna be able to roll south this winter???

We will see if Steve is able to take the time off or not.

But---- the house is warm, the dogs are happy, I am feeling better, and Steveio was able to make it through the snow to work each day.... so what more can we ask for?  

I have been doing some quilting, and got 20 blocks done of this pattern....  now I just have to find some coordinating fabric for the sashings (like picture frames around each to sew them all together)  and find some good backing.  I am going to a quilting class with friend Paula Stuplich at the end of the month over to Wausau.  Wish me good travelling weather?

A while back I ordered this great new sweatshirt from The Animal Rescue Site   All of their items are either made in America or from fair trade countries, and purchasing through them helps feed animals.  Each item you select to buy, it tells you how many bowls of food are available from your purchase!

 I funded 28 bowls of food from my purchase of this sweatshirt

and the doggies both approved of it.

On to puppy news.... things are going great!   There is a stuffed puppy that lives up in our grandtot's bedroom in our home, and Finney recently met him.  He was very skeptical at first, and would growl, pounce, and run away each time he peeked in the room.   Soon the curiosity overcame him and they are now buddies.  Can you tell which is which?

Now each time Finney goes up the stairs, he has to stop and visit his buddy that lives in the Grandtot Bedroom!  LOL


Duke enjoys playing with the pup, but it wears him out quickly.  We only let Duke do 4 or 5 fetches with the soft toys indoors, then make him lay down and watch the pup do the rest of the retrieving....  I bought a couple of these these soft cloth balls that don't hurt anything when thrown indoors.  By having two balls, it's teaching Finney how to bring one ball back at the same time when Duke brings one to me.  Good indoor fun when it's too cold to go outside.

Of course, next is rest time where they have to lay close to each other. 

In the livingroom, we have a doubled up sheepskin that they lay on together.  At bedtime, both were huddling up on the mat we bought from Stockbridge Critter Sitters Daycare for Finney's crate when we first got him.   They both crowd up on the one small mat to sleep together, and many times by morning, Duke is mostly off the mat.  He doesn't even want to go lay on the blue rug folded up that was his before.

I decided Duke should have his own padded soft mat even if he never liked sleeping on one before.   The other day when running errands, we stopped by Critter Sitters and bought a mat for Duke too.  While there, we dropped off some Purina weight circles with Lisa Martin, because she can turn them in to help with neutering/spay bills ---- so if you have Purina pet foods in your house, please cut off the weight circles and send them to me?  Last year Purina helped with almost $2,000 of vet neuter/spay bills at the Appenasha Clinic for the Wisconsin Sheltie Rescue Group.

Here is the mat we bought for Duke... 

as soon as we brought it in the house,

 and plopped it on the floor, 

he laid right down on it and claimed it as his own! 

Well, that is about all I can think of to write about for now.... maybe the next blog I will do some more "Before" and "After" shots of projects around the house.  Hard to believe we have had it for a whole year already???   

Gypsy departs, Copperfest and Grandtots

Saturday morning we got up early and enjoyed some coffee and muffins with Gypsy (aka Marty) from http://gypsy97.blogspot.com   We sure had a nice morning while it was still cool and pleasant.

We took the doggers all back down by the river, hoping Gypsy's elegant shepherd dog Lady would take a dip in again so we could snap some pics this time. We took our cameras along as we ambled through the woods.  It's been so dry around Wisconsin that even the mosquitoes were not even out.

As the dogs went down to the water, we held our breaths to see if Lady would go in again.  Sure nuff, she went right in and enjoyed wading around, up to her belly.  Lapping water and cooling off.  She even swam a little ways!   The current is very gentle, so no worries about her being carried away.   Duchess came in too for a dip, just to prove she can be a water-collie dog too.

What a great morning for a little dip in the river, and 

Marty was so happy to see her Lady having such a good time! 

I got into the river too... and it was refreshing and cool on the legs. 

Then all three doggies had to have a good romp around on the grass by the shore!

Duchess and Duke sure enjoyed the company of Lady, and both had to take a time out for a good "Lassie pose" for my camera while I was still standing knee deep in the river.

With a smile on her doggy face, and a faraway look in her eye, Lady was remembering some times playing in a stream in her puppyhood.  I am glad she was able to relive her doggy memories in our river!

We walked back up through our cool green woods towards the house up on the ridge.  Whenever I see the house from down here in the woods, I think of that John Denver song "Cool and Green and Shady"   The air was heavy with dampness and humidity, and a scorcher of a day was on the rise.

Lady dried off on the deck for a while, but soon it was time to get loaded up in the SUV to head west, back to California.  We made our promises to meet again on one of our journeys.

Marty has been having a hard time getting Lady into the SUV back seat due to her aging back legs.  We had a plastic step stool that might work, so here is Steve and Marty getting Lady accustomed to the stool and helping her into the SUV.  I think with a few more practices, it might work out well for her.

Once she got in on her mattress, she was all set to ride, and stretched out in her space while we all said our goodbyes with Marty.  Lady did manage to sit up, turn around and let me kiss her on the nose for our own little "Good Bye"  awwwww

   

We waved as Marty and Lady headed on out down the road, going west to find more adventures.  Travel safe, dear Gypsy!

Once Marty was on the road, we met up with our daughters, Erin and Heather, along with three of the grandtots, Jameson, Chelsea and Clayton to watch the Copperfest Parade in town.  The kids made a HAUL of the candy being thrown from the floats, along with some frisbees, beach balls, water bottles, mardi gras beads and even a Beanie Baby TY stuffed turkey toy!     Clayton didn't care so much, but he did march his feet up and down in his stroller to the passing school band as they played music.

After the parade, it was getting hotter and hotter. Instead of making the rounds of the Copperfest kiddie rides and vendors, we headed out to our house with the kids and grandkids to cool off and make some lunch.  Watermelon and hot dogs were the order for the day.

Heather needed new brakes and a muffler on her Saturn.  This car has served us well for a long, long time.  We owned it first, then son-in-law Mark bought it from us and ran it for a few years.  Then we bought it back from him for Heather a few years ago and it's still going strong!   LOVE those Saturns!    She is also going to "inherit" our newer Saturn once we hit the road full-time.  Both have over 200,000 miles on them, but work well and only seem to need routine maintenance.   When I came to snap this pic, Heather grabbed a big screwdriver to make it seem like she is "helping"  hahahaha

Brake pads $15, muffler $38, Thank You hugs from Heather to Steve = PRICELESS!!!

Chelsea and Jameson donned their little swimmy suits, and pranced and splashed around in the kiddie pool I set up on the shady part of the deck.  They had 2 big purple drink containers that were given away in the parade.  They proceeded to empty the kiddie pool, one container at a time, across the deck and over the edge to the patio below!  Delightful splat sounds as the water hit the cement below, fits of giggles, and squeaky clean kids... ahhh summertime!

This is probably the last time they will playing on our deck, and having a family gathering around the house.  We are starting to pack and load up things in both of the girl's cars to take back to their houses.  All our treasures are going to be dispersed now on a weekly basis till the house is cleared out.  We are putting all our "good stuff" in the motorhome and getting rid of the second choice items.

Soon all of our events here at the house will be "the last time...."  but we are excited about moving on to the future too.   Here are the girls and grandtots, on the last deck picnic under the canopy!

RV readers, I promise you the next blog will be about RV modification stuff! 

.

VACATION - St. Louis to Joplin, Missouri

Thursday Feb 24, 20100

We got up at 4am and dressed to head into the house.  Donna needs to leave by 5:15 for work ... so she invited us in for coffee and donuts.... and to keep Sam outta trouble for the morning!   LOL

She showed us some of Riggen's tricks..  he sure is a CLOWN!   Even at 5am he is raring to go!

We let the doggers come into the back yard, and Riggs thought that Ducky was one classy gal,  but little Dukie kinda hung close to me, as the big dogs were playing and he was just getting in the way. Little Sadie Mae just wansn't happy with all these new dogs in the house, so she went and hid out in a bedroom.

After having our HUGE donuts and coffee, said our goodbyes to Donna..  Sam and I did some computering....  he showed us a better way to get where we wanted to go, on some new roads.

Then the two guys proceeded to solve all the world's problems with another cup of coffee.   I noticed that my throat was getting sore, and I was suddenly losing my voice.  Turns out my darling beedle bug Chelsea has shared her head cold with me!   Erin said they took her to the doc today, and she had ear infections in both ears, pink eye in both eyes and a viral cold.   So I am thinking this is the shape of things to come with me?   I went out the rig, dozed up good with my vitamins, and extra C and some Airborne and a Claritin D ... and hauled out the throat spray and cough drops.

About 10 am it was time to head out on the road.  As much as we hated to say goodbye, we decided it was time to get a moveon. We were parked right in their driveway near their big fifthwheel.

Because we pulled in forwards, now we had to back out....  and you can not back up a toad (towed vehicle) as it will ruin the expensive tow bars.  So it was best to just back out the rig first, and then hook up the Tracker after we got the rig out. I drove the Tracker out the extra driveway while Sam expertly guided Steve backwards down the driveway.  He then walked right out in the road, held up his arm in perfect police-chief style (Sam IS a retired police officer!)  and got Steve a cleared out spot in the traffic to get out.   I scooted along ahead of Steve to the church parking lot down the road.  Then we pulled in there to hook up the Tracker  and we were back on the road again!   (see me scooting along ahead of him?)

THANK YOU TO DONNA AND SAM FOR THE KINDNESS AND HOSPITALITY!  

 (and the good donuts too!) 

We headed on down Interstate 44 through pouring rains, some thunder and a bit of wind.  The winds were switching around and we had some tail winds too!   But it was boring and rainy and I kept coughing and not feeling so well.

We were getting weary of the rain, and decided to pack it in early and hit a comfy spot to stop for the night.   We were thinking of staying in the Fly J where we stopped for fuel,  but we had also seen a Sam's Club nearby so after our fill-up we headed there.

4:45 fuel stop flying j in joplin mo
57 gal @3.48 198.29

I whipped up some supper while Steve walked the dogs outside.  We are parked in a nice quiet lot, and have a horse trailer and 2 semis alongside us.  All is quiet and the store is closed....   I took a nap while Steveio walked the dogs.  The rain let up and now it's calm, no winds, and no more rain.  But the temps are dropping!   We are down to about 35 now and gonna get to about 28 tonight.  We watched some local news and weather.  Tomorrow looks like a better day.

I just hope this head cold goes away!

271 miles travelled today
829 miles total