Homelife in Autumn

Fall is a beautiful time of year in New England. The air is clear, the nutty smell of the dried leaves heavenly. Temperatures in the 50's F are t-shirt days for stoics like us, but sweatshirts are kept handy for when the sun sets. All my tender crops are history for the growing season, but a few hardier roses and violets are still going strong. All our dogs romp joyously in the colorful back yard, so glad to leave the hot summer days behind. Since they all have very heavy coats, the crisp cold air is a wonderful relief for them. This creates a season I term "Happy Feet Season". My dogs just love to run, tumble, wrestle, and play without facing the malady of becoming over-heated.

If my husband and I had more money, we would most likely spend it on adopting more rescued dogs. Being simple New Englanders, we have all the materialistic things we need, and can't think of anything that gives us more happiness than keeping our six dogs groomed, fed, hugged, and exercised. Except fot their regular vet visits, we do all the bathing, brushing, and nail clipping ourselves here at home.

We recently purchased a new used doggie van, since our old one bit the dust. Now the dogs are hard at work "hairing up" the inside of the new van. They have to get it looking as lovely (by their specific standards) as the older van!

Our son joked one time that he would like to have signed us up for Extreme Home Makeover, so we could have more space for rescued dogs, but he knew that since we had built our own little home ourselves, stick by stick, we could never relish the thought of seeing it bulldozed to the ground. Our home is tiny, square, easy to heat with wood, and passive solar construction. Built into a hill, we have a direct window filled southern exposure. The shell of our little home is thickly insulated, and the windows coated to keep reflecting the heat back into the interior. We burn three to four cords of wood a winter, and are always toasty warm. Our older dogs like to lie in the sunbeams in our living room and let the heat warm their muscles. It is so relaxing for them.

I will close with a photo of our "children".

Take care,
Beth