Snackling and crackling

Linda's

Locating the dogs

After seeing Mallory standing on her back legs, I grabbed the video. Whenever I'm at home, my primary job is to know where each of them is located at any given moment, so I captured it on film.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colostomy

A colostomy is a surgical procedure that involves connecting a part of the colon onto theanterior abdominal wall, leaving the patient with an opening on the abdomen called a stoma. In a colostomy, the stoma is formed from the end of the large intestine, which is drawn out through the incision and sutured to the skin. After a colostomy, feces leave the patient's body through the abdomen.

Lunch with Aunt Phyllis and Grandpa

For whatever reason, I never called Phyllis "Aunt Phyllis"...it's always been just Phyllis, but for the title of the post, I thought it was appropriate. Phyllis is my Dad's sister; they are very close in age and as far as the stories I've heard, they had a lot of fun growing up together. My dad married mom and we grew up living nextdoor to my grandparents as well as Phyllis. Grandma died a few years back, and Phyllis is dedicated to taking care of Grandpa. We decided to meet for lunch at Mexican Inn, one of the few places that Phyllis can still take Grandpa, because they are aware of his particular needs.
I snapped this picture as we were leaving, and I forgot to get a picture of Grandpa. I guess we will just have to meet for lunch again! Thank you Phyllis!

Tug of War

Mallory and Fenway learned how to play nicely with each other. When they were younger, they were too aggressive. Now, they play different games of chase, and they gently mouth each other. In this video, they pull each other around the room with a stuffed dog in their mouths. When they bite a certain part of the toy, it barks and growls.

Poor dead squirrel

Yep, this squirrel formerly belonged to Gollum. It was indeed Gollum's favorite toy. Then Mallory came along; and Gollum lost his motivation to play with toys. He would allow himself to be upset by this goofy monster that joined our family. The squirrel became Mallory's favorite toy, but somehow didn't live up to her expectations. She thought the squirrel was invincible. Oh well...I found a new squirrel that resembles this one. So we might have a new baby for both Gollum AND Mallory for Valentine's Day.

The Siberian tundra

It appears that Fort Worth, Texas is the new frozen tundra. Whoever heard of such cold temperatures here and for such a long period of time...

I still have to take the dogs on a walk, because just throwing them in the backyard doesn't work for them. For one thing, Mallory is still a puppy and cannot entertain herself in the backyard especially when the rest of her family is indoors. Second, if I left her alone back there, she would end up digging or eating all the new sodden grass, then turning her attention to dismantling the house.

Tom and I have witnessed this disgraceful behavior when we simply ignore her while sitting on our patio. She needs interaction and exercise several times a day.

Since we have a soccer field, pond, and park at the end of our street, I find no reason NOT to take them on a walk even at the frigid temperatures we have endured. I wrap Artimus and Gollum up in their jackets, and we run down to the park, before Gollum can assess the atmosphere and turn tail to sprint home.

Once we are down there, Mallory and Artimus have an awesome time exploring the smells, the bird/duck/possum/raccoon poop, and Gollum sticks to me like glue. I rarely see him actually enjoy himself. He merely tolerates our insanity. I can distract him every now and then, but generally he bides his time until he has had enough. At this point, unless I have treats, he is gone. Even if I DO have treats, sometimes Gollum gets struck by the vicious winds of the prairie, and the little lightning bolt is gone. He will be sitting on our front porch with disdain in his beady little eyes. Too bad he's not a real dog. Mallory and Artimus have formed a club of their own, and Gollum definitely does not belong. I've seen Artimus flush some birds out of the cattails just to see what Mallory will do. It's super cool. Gollum does not care about wildlife. He might eat the bread that people throw to the ducks, but the ducks themselves hold no interest.

The first winter here at our new home has presented new challenges, but they have been entertaining. Gollum misses the puppy pads. Who needs the outdoors anyway?!

Who's on the treadmill?

I think Mallory needed her dad around so she could show off her new skillz.

She picked it up within three training sessions.

Mallory needed a break

I'm holding Mallory, because Fenway exhausted her. She was hiding behind my barstool, because she needed a break. I kept her in my lap for a little while, then she was ready to go again!

Karen--thanks for taking these pictures! I love how you got Mallory to do the little head tilt in the first photo. Super cute!

I wish my shirt was a little longer in the back to cover the exposed back fat, but I can live with it, I presume. Mallory steals the show.

I took a picture of Karen holding Fenway, but somehow managed to get it all out of focus. Fenway looks pretty pooped too! When the girls get together, it's nonstop action. They play much better now at 6 months old than they did when we first brought them home. I'm not sure why, but there's much less aggression and humping and much more rolling around and tug of war.

Mallory is 53lbs now at 6 months old; now Tom and I should make a bet on how much she'll weigh in at one year old! (Especially since I won the first bet, ha!)

Can you find Gollum? Part Two

Ok, so this one might not be as difficult as the last, but maybe the question that would stump me is "Why?" does Gollum have his head resting on the window sill.

As you may have guessed, the rest of his family is outdoors, and he has given up trying to join us.

Gollum has decided the most energy he can muster is to relax his wittle head and stare at the crazy family who actually enjoys hanging outdoors in the freezing temperatures.

I'm glad he loves us enough to tolerate our embarrassing behavior.

Obviously, he wouldn't by lying on the cold tile floor to watch us. He has two dog beds and a towel beneath him. I am surprised he didn't ask us to come inside and cover him up with a blankie so he would be more comfortable.

Actually I'm surprised he came to the window at all. There's definitely a song that comes to mind here...

Anyway, he gave up on us and went to bed after a little while, but I'm glad I got the photos before he bolted to the comforts of his electric blanket on his Tempur-pedic mattress. Ha!

One of many beautiful greenhouses

Tom works very hard to make greenhouse projects like this turn into a reality for our customers.

Our customers depend on his knowledge and skills to make their very large purchases end up being a beautiful greenhouse like this recent construction on the Switchback ranch property.

This is an example of the American Classic greenhouse model.

The steel subframe makes it strong enough to be sold to nearly anyone in the entire world. It's strong enough to stand up to hurricanes, blizzards, earthquakes to exceed the specifications required by each state or country. It's quite an engineering marvel to be very well respected among any number of competing greenhouse manufacturers out there. This greenhouse has an aluminum outer frame which can be powder coated (painted) in any color. In this case, the Switchback Ranch greenhouse is painted white, which really stands out.

This ranch is located in Montana, and the installers were able to assemble it and take photos for us. These photos make all the hard work very gratifying for Tom and me.

The customers generally love to show off their greenhouses and are happy for us to display their photographs.

I love the details that this customer opted to purchase. The ridge cresting which are the finials on top of the greenhouse give it a finished-out look. The straight-eave design looks like an old fashioned conservatory. Some of these greenhouses actually serve as butterfly houses or reptile sanctuaries. The customers use our greenhouses for all sorts of fun purposes.

Another option that this customer purchased is the vestibule jutting out the side of this greenhouse. To me, it looks like a cute little mini greenhouse attached to the main house. It also looks like a fancy entryway into the greenhouse. Sometimes customers use the vestibules to connect the greenhouse to another existing building. Schools and other government institutions sometimes utilize our greenhouses in this manner. The little side arches that run horizontally along the length of the greenhouse give it extra character. I like the curved eave greenhouses too. They look similar to this except they have curved glass that eliminates the extra aluminum pieces along the ridges and give it a more "open" feel when you are standing on the inside of the greenhouse.

Tom loves to tell me about the customers who ask him if a dog door or cat door can be put in their greenhouses. The answer is "yes," but what's interesting is that so many of our customers love animals. Lots of them live on acreage where they have plenty of room for their pets. Sometimes if they have outdoor-only animals like cats, they want them to be able to go inside the greenhouse to warm up during the winter. To my amusement, sometimes they call in with hilarious stories of other creatures that found their way into the greenhouse as well.

I love talking to the customers, because they are all passionate about their hobbies. Gardening is the number one hobby in American and probably across the world. People get tired of lugging their plants inside during the winter and taking them outside the remainder of the year. Orchid growers are especially interesting. Orchids are expensive for a very good reason. They are spoiled little plants! Orchids need the perfect humidity, temperature, exposure to the sun, etc. Greenhouses can provide the perfect atmosphere for orchid lovers to allow their plants to thrive.

These photos show the construction and finished product, but when the customers get settled in and take their own photos, it can be amazingly beautiful. Once all their plants and flowers have been moved into the greenhouse, and the landscaping is complete, it's a gorgeous sight.

texasgreenhouse.com is the web site for the company. I am so proud that Tom has continued to instill confidence in our customers that we can deliver a product that they will love for many, many years.

a conditioned response

When I got Mallory's food bowl out, she ran to the garage door. Is she smarter than Artimus and Gollum already? Mallory knows that she doesn't get fed until Tom comes home from work, and that's exactly why she ran to the door. The food was literally sitting out on the countertop, and she was in the other room. Pretty cool.

In classical conditioning, the conditioned response is the learned response to the previously neutral stimulus.

treadmill

Artimus and Gollum walk on the treadmill for exercise; since we lived in the apartment, it was a necessary evil. I guess it was a necessary blessing. Either way, they learned to love it and would ASK to walk on the treadmill knowing they would get a treat when they were finished. Over the summer and during our move, it wasn't something that we've reinforced. Dogs forget how to do stuff if they aren't reminded. So, for the first time, I had to use the leashes to retrain them to walk on the treadmill. This was a great introduction for Mallory. She doesn't trust the treadmill yet, and she doesn't understand it.

Mallory and the snow drift

My favorite of Tom's recent cinematography:

Michelle, Laramie, and Ryan visit

Michelle brought her daughter, Laramie and her son, Ryan over to see the house for the first time, and of course the dogs.

The kids played hide-n-seek, then climbed on the retaining wall, then were getting a little bored, so I thought about making a fort with the super big blanket.They rolled around on the floor with it for a while. I think they were making a caterpillar or horse or something. Michelle said they were "sneaking up on me."
Laramie is 9 years old and super cute.
Ryan really loved the Mountain Dew!
He is younger than his sister, but I can't remember by how much.
Here is their Christmas card that Michelle always remembers to send me.
Thank you Michelle for bringing the kids over to visit. I know Mallory, Artimus and Gollum loved your kids. I really enjoyed your making the effort to come visit. Thank you!

Why I don't make the bed...

What's the point of making the bed when the dogs turn it into this? Tom and I generally have to "make" the bed before we get into it at night. This is to insure that we both get at least one pillow and a proper portion of the sheet AND blanket. What a concept. We have to kick at least one or two dogs off the bed in order to get anything accomplished and play "keep away" before they wiggle their way back onto it. Tom, maybe we really do need to elevate the bed? I dunno, would that make anything easier? Actually, Mallory would probably just break her neck trying to jump on, or break a leg jumping off.This is my 51lb dog wondering why she isn't in a cage in the car.
I took the cage out in order to clean it, and it just hasn't gone back into the car yet.
This is Mallory testing the weather out in front of the house.

Tom's video

Mallory likes to eat the snow:

Tom's super short video clip

What a great picture of our home during the Christmas Eve blizzard of 2009!

walking with Linda

Watching her load the kids back into the car is fun. Lola is about a hundred pounds on the right; Vino is her first lab ... and Molly, of course, is the baby.When she goes to the restroom, all three labs want to go with her.
Molly is singled out sometimes, but I have a feeling she's turning into a diva...not playing nice with the new "coupler" leashing system. She works very hard to keep up with everyone, and somehow she DOES!

I took these pictures after our walk while Linda was getting the dogs back into the car. Molly was so tired, she just plopped down on the edge.
Lola can jump up into the car, but she prefers a little boost from Linda.

Vino, Lola, and Molly are sooooo cute. When we walked at the Keller trails today, I brought Artimus and Gollum and Debra brought Toby, so we had seven dogs between the three of us.

Quite a fun crowd. Artimus and Gollum can be off leash, but everybody else needs to be leashed and it can be a tangled, hysterical mess!