Clean floors boost my spirits....

All the floors are washed and shiny.  With seven dogs, that task happens much too often but is well worth the effort.  Many people ask "How can you keep your house clean with so many long haired drooling dogs with muddy paws?"  It is fairly easy with the right tools, meaning a heavy duty shop vac and a Hoover Floormate filled with Pledge Wood Floor cleaner.  Works like a charm!  What is even better is when Ralph vacuums and I wash.  We can do the whole house in about 45 minutes and the house feels like velvet under our bare feet.  Now if I could find someone who liked to do windows and wash off nose prints...lol.

 All the dogs have finished their agility lessons, their beds are all washed and clean, and now they will settle down for the night.

And did I mention my floors are clean???

Take care,
Liz

Life is all about change, isn't it?

I chuckle because I keep having to change my password to get into my own blog since I keep forgetting it. Must be a sign of old age or something, but thankfully, I still manage to muck my way through all the demands needed to blog once again.

After deciding we would just let our dog family dwindle, and just foster once in a while, we jumped in head first and are in the process of adopting two new dogs. This will bring our pack back up to seven, one more than we were planning. Still, it all seems to work somehow and the dogs bring us great joy, love, and compassion. The more the merrier. So a giant welcome to Lucy the Border Collie and Sadie the Sheltie. May you bring us laughter and lots of doggy kisses for years to come!

So we have two new sweet dogs to hold and care for!

Sadie is a lovely little princess who actually prances when she runs. She is almost seven years old. Lucy is a tiny BC, one of the smallest I have ever seen but estimated to be between 2-4 years old. She is a pistol, just full of energy. With our other 5 "regulars", they ought to keep us hopping.

As I have mentioned a few times before, I have an anxiety disorder that rears its ugly head every now and then when I least expect it. Right now I am once again having a pretty tough time of it. Unpredictable panic attacks are no picnic but living panic free just doesn't seem to be in my immediate future. What IS in my future is being able to divert my own thoughts to positive ones by adopting, caring for, and loving these precious animals. No, my panic does not disappear with this approach but it does get me thinking about someone besides myself when the going is tough. I highly recommend that anyone with an anxiety disorder look for ways to help others during some of your most trying times. It makes a difference to who you are helping and helps you to feel better about yourself!

A Gift Has Left Us.

Lucy, our oldest sheltie, passed away last month.  She was 13.  We are still deeply missing her.  She got more cards and emails than I ever expect to generate when it is my turn to leave this earth.  

Lucy was five when one of my ex-choral students rescued her from a dark, dirty cellar where she had spent the first 5 years of her life.  Lucy weighed just 17 pounds when she was brought to us, was just loaded with fleas, had several fiery red hot spots on her body, and was extremely dehydrated.  She was so filthy from years of no bathing that there was no white visible on her coat.  She stunk so badly that we instantly had to bathe her just to see what was wrong with her skin.

Next she was taken to our vet, so he could check her out carefully, and to be sure the patchy spots on her were not some sort of mange.  Since we had other dogs, we had to keep them separated from her until we were sure what skin diseases she had.

Back at home, tar baths became a regular procedure until her skin began to clear a bit.  We put her on Front Line, and Heart Guard once we got the okay from the vet to do so.  She was not spayed and couldn't be for a time because she was too weak and also in heat.

Week by week, she began to gain weight, her coat slowly became healthy, and we were finally able to have her neutered.  There was a sadness about Lucy for several months...a depression of sorts because her life had been so horrid in the cellar.  She was afraid to go outside because she had not been exposed to that much light, so it took some time for her to get used to enjoying the outdoors.  Eventually her depression began to lift and this look of joy came over her face...this special light in her eyes.  She began to enjoy life.

Even with all the negatives that happened for those first five years, Lucy was the gentlest sheltie of all the ones we have had or presently have.  She loved children (unlike many shelties who tend to be skittish around little ones), and was always happiest resting her chin on someone's foot.

We are very thankful for our wonderful gift.  She turned out to be the most expensive free dog we ever rescued but worth a million times what we ever spent on her.  She gave us love, joy, and tons of kisses in her short time with us.  May she rest in quiet peace mixed with tons of security and love.  We miss you, Lucy.

Take care,

gardeningartist

Late summer harvest

My 4 shelties all like fresh veggies.  They get very excited when they see fresh green peppers and thankfully, with all the rain we had this summer, we have plenty of those.  Here are a few shots of our fresh garden peppers and the crazy dogs that eat them:

Spring has sprung!

Thank Goodness that spring is finally springing forth.  It is a bit late this year because of the massive snow cover we had.  It is so uplifting to see all the colorful blooms changing the bleak landscape.

All the dogs are well, full of energy, and having a blast chasing each other on the cooler days.  Since all of our dogs have very long hair, summer is definitely not their favorite season, but spring and fall are ideal times for long haired herding dogs.  

Here are some photos of our spring blooming bushes and trees:

Hope everyone has a great spring in the northern hemisphere.

Bath Time!

Saturday morning was bath time for our dogs, all six of them!  Bathing six long haired dogs is not something we can rush.  Of course, we end up using every towel in the house, and the floors are still sopping wet, but things get all straightened out eventually.  Since we heat with wood and sunshine, the dogs are able to dry out nicely before the dog door is allowed to be accessed.  Winter fur takes longer to dry since it is so full and dense.

Today our dogs smell heavenly....well as heavenly as a pack of wet dogs can smell...lol.  We got around 4 inches of snow, and the dogs went in and out of the house all day, bringing most of the wet stuff right into the house with them.  Our Collies and Shelties love the snow, and get a kick out of burrowing under it to cool down, then heading directly for the dog door, to be inside when they shake.  How nice of them to share with us so many many many times in one day!  

My husband and I spent a wonderful Sunday together with our dogs and birds, and felt totally relaxed and content in our tiny home.  Ralph did some preliminary work on our taxes, and I washed a big load of sopping towels, followed by yet another.  Ralph started up our old tractor and plowed back the new snow that fell in the driveway, and I did the cooking (reheating, really)...baked beans, of course.  Very predictable New England cuisine.  We share our chores well, get things completed, and then snuggle in, play on our laptops and just enjoy the peaceful quiet of our home.  

Hope anyone who reads this is finding some time just to be still, embrace an hour of quiet, and discover that sometimes that is all that is needed to feel satisfied.  

Take care of yourselves!

Gardeningartist