Bella

 Bella is a 47-pound maniac, and a bundle of love. She seems born to run and beg for belly rubs. I attribute the running to being 53% Siberian Huxley and the joy of belly rubs to the remaining mutt mix. I did a DNA test to find out. 

I first saw her in that small photo at the Alcona Humane Society in Lincoln, MI. I went with my friend John for a meet and greet. I sat on the floor, John sat on a chair. At first she barked at us, we tempted her wth snacks. She particularly seemed to like doggie cheeze-its. Then she promptly went to John and sat on his feet. 

I visited with Kaylee 3 or 4 more times. They walked together fine, then I put Kaylee back in the car and I walked Bella. She pulled like crazy. She was very strong for a 47 pound pup. She definitely enjoyed herself. 

I would have loved to take her home but the shelter wouldn't allow it till she was spayed. However, they did move that up so I could take her home on April 1st instead of the 10th. 

She was already house trained, too.

When we first started walking with Kaylee I used a leash, then opted for a fifteen foot drag rope with a knot I could stand on. Oft times that was annoying because she'd dash off trail and get wrapped around bushes, Trees, etc, usually in a wet area.

About the third walk without even the drag rope, she disappeared for 2 hours. So back on the drag rope she went until the Tractive GPS tracker I ordered arrived. That thing is terrific! I can find her wherever she goes, and fortunately, that seems to be still on our land, just where I can't see her. No more panicking.

Unless she's sleeping, she's, always on the move, in the fenced yard, in the woods walking on our trails, or in my face when I'm sitting down. A worse attention hound than any dog I've ever had. 

I'm still trying to break her of jumping on people, she seems to get so excited, she just can't contain herself. And if we aren't home she likes to chew on things like socks, shoes, dog beds, throw rugs, etc., not the bones, chewy toys, etc. So in the crate she goes, also when we go to bed. Because she gets frustrated if I'm not out there when she wakes up. She even shreds the old sheets I give her for bedding. Nothing is safe.

But she sure is adorable.

Photos to follow.

Last December: the loss of the ZIgman and the Arrival of Bella

 I started writing this in July, obviously I never finished. So, let's see how far I get this rime.

My first post this year. I haven't been feeling like writing much, obviously, I'm having trouble being motivated. But I will plow on through on the warm, hazy July evening. (Now a damp September morning.)

Christmas was fun, as usual, maybe a little less hectic, we toned down the cookie baking although the void seemed to be filled in with pies and cakes. The usual trio arrived from Massachusetts for 3 weeks. Ember and Kaylee had a blast playing constantly. Ziggy just laid about and ate goodies and stuck close to me on our walks. 

Jan 5, 2025, 2 days before I lost him

I lost Ziggy in January, on the 7th. On the 4th we discovered he had a mass on his spleen, and it was bleeding internally as he had become anemic. Three days later it had to have burst, he couldn't even stand up on his own, so I had to take him to the vet the day my sister left for home. I miss that little guy, it was a really tough loss, but I couldn't let him suffer and being practically 14, (I celebrated his birthday on the 8th) surgery would have been iffy, though I still find myself regretting not trying more.

Kaylee became depressed with me. I took her with me to the vet so she could sniff his body afterward. They were best buddies. Because the ground was frozen, I had him cremated. His ashes are sitting ijust outside my bedroom.

In happier times last year, I'm sure a lot of other stuff happened, it's just whether I can remember. I know in December while my sister and M were here with Ember, M and Hal retrieved the old semi-trailer refrigerator truck from the farm, a mile down the road and towed it with the farm tractor and dropped in off behind the pole barn. Hal is planning to use it as storage for things like the excess steel siding pieces from the house build and other crap from the garage so he can finally use it for his truck.

Hal was ill most of December through April. He had all kinds of tests, saw all kinds of specialists. He was lethargic, coping with muscle pain, had a cough that still hasn't gone away completely. In the end he finally was given 3 weeks of antibiotics after we suggested Lyme disease. He also tested positive for Mono. We're still not sure what he had but he's definitely better.

After 2 months without Ziggy, I finally looked online a little for another dog. The first couple of times I gave up, my heart wasn't in it, but eventually a couple dogs caught my eye. I meant to visit a few at some more distant shelters but then I saw a small photo at the shelter in Lincoln. It wasn't a good photo but she was only 10 miles away along with Siberian Husky that had been in and out there for 5 years. Hal wanted my next dog to be smaller like Ziggy was, (Zig was half beagle, hence his smaller size), so I wasn't even considering looking for a labrador, no matter how much I love the breed.

So here is that photo of Bella at the shelter. I'll post better photos in a later post.

As I've said before, I hope to make more posts sooner than later.

Some Assembly Required

 I needed a couple of pieces of furniture so had a shot at building stuff from kits. I wasn't sure of the quality so I could only go by photos and reviews. So far, I've built 3 items. The first one is a laundry hamper, that cost the most, about $150 but it works really well and makes the little bedroom hallway much neater than plastic laundry baskets stacked on plastic cabinets. I can't remember how long it took to build, a couple hours at least.

The backside has a couple of anchors to the wall, so it's well secured and doesn't tip over when the bins are open.

I intend to get this wall cabinet to mount above the hamper sometime this winter. The whites may not match but I figure it will be close enough.

The second piece I built was a sofa table, this was very inexpensive about $60, it was a sale. First photo shows the cam lock system. 

closeup of the side

The finished table. Inside the little center box is an outlet for lamps that I also bought of which I apparently do not yet have a photo.

I also bought a small linen cabinet for the small bedroom hallway. It was by the same company, Vasagle as the sofa table, and all the pieces were there, unfortunately one of the doors was scratched but I decided to live with it and put it on the bottom half where it's harder to see. It was cheap, and though annoying, I really don't notice it.

These units have lots of pieces.

Half built and upside down.

The scratches, which had to happen before being packed as there was nothing inside the box that could have done it.

The finished cabinet. It's 12 inches deep by around 40 inches tall and less than 26 inches wide as the wall I put it on was barely 26 inches wide itself.

Got another furniture piece coming next week. Stay tuned.

An Interior Trim Photo Montage!

 Well, since I haven't been very good at posting all year, I figure I'll just throw up a few photos that I finally downloaded from my phone tonight.

In no particular order:

The broom closet door, pre trim that is the mirror image of the pantry door I posted a couple months ago. 

Hal after installing the trim around MY bedroom closet. ALL MINE. I gave him the walk-in. Yes, it needs doors, but that will be next year. 

A piece of stained threshold. Hal shaped it from an oak board then I stained and varnished.

And how it looks in the doorway. This happens to be the front door. The back door got the same treatment.

I know I've posted the next photo before, but this is the front door with the trim. Since this photo was taken all the baseboard in the living room/dining room/hall and foyer is installed.

And I am certain I've posted the pantry door before as well. Nevertheless, here it is again. The only problem with having a door now, however, is every time I open it, the dogs think they're getting a treat. Silly dogs. 

I don't remember whether this is the door to our bedroom or to the TV room, but they both were taken down as working on them in the garage, horizontally was much easier. I had painted all the interior doors while hanging. While that was a little awkward, they didn't require 3 coats of polyurethane on both sides either.

This is the door to our bedroom and bath.

The baseboards in the living room, dining room and hallway are all done, as well. Because there is so much furniture in front of it, this shot of the foyer shows best what it looks like everywhere.

And of course, Kaylee photo bombed. 

Raised Gardens

 I decided this year not to deal with gardening in the ground but instead in pots and planters. It will cut way down on the weeding and be easier on my back, plus the added benefit of having everything nearer the house for watering and harvesting veggies. 

I had already bought 7 round pots like I have in front of the house for behind the garage and then I got a 2 for 1 deal on a couple smaller ones I decided to put by the back door with cherry tomato plants. I also bought some metal planters that I had to screw together and then fill with soil, mostly for flowers.

I first bought 2 in peacock blue which turned out to be a sort of blue-green color, 4' long x 2' wide by 1' tall. I put these behind the house next to our patio. They have mostly flowers but a pepper or 2 and herbs, rosemary, curly leaf parsley and Greek oregano. My basil I grew from seed isn't doing very well so I planted more seed directly, we'll see if it grows. (The basil and oregano plants I bought form Home Depot died in their store containers within a couple days of purchase.)

8' Planter for Front Yard

Backyard Planters

Front yard Early in Summer

I've Been Negligent in Posting!

 I wasn't even planning on making a post today, but I came back looking for information from last summer, and couldn't find it, ah, well. But since I'm here, a few highlights. I'll even throw in a few pics.

• We finally got someone to come turn on our HVAC unit! It's not been officially commissioned, but it's running and keeping our home at a nice even 73 degrees. At some point the guy is supposed to return and install something between it and the water heater. No clue if and when that will happen. But at least it's progress! Hal installed a check valve between it and the pressure tank and that is working well, too.
• I went on a cruise to Alaska in August, the inside passage with Hal's sister, youngest brother and his family. It was great, good weather, got to see Glacier Bay, Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan. Took a couple of excursions, mushing on wheeled carts with sled dogs and a train ride up into the mountains. Whale watching, too, though we didn't see much other than a few tails.
• Hal and I got a lot of trim work done on the interior of the house. We still have more to go but the dining room and guest bedroom have all the baseboard. The guest room and our bedroom even have the closet jambs and trim finished. No doors yet, but it is more progress.
• I'm still playing guitar and am finding it easier to play my acoustic, finally, the strings are a lot thicker and stiffer than my electrics, so it took some getting used to.
• Yesterday we started setting up the TV/Music room properly by moving the wall units and speakers from the living room. Hal set up a sound bar he got from his sister in the living room. It will suffice until I buy better speakers for it.

  

  TV Room with Shelf Units

  
  

  

  New Pantry Door and Trim

  
  

  

  Me at Glacier Bay, Alaska

  
  

  

  Living Room without the Shelf Units

  
  

  

  Hallway with Finished Trim

  
  

  

  Foyer with Finished Trim

  
  

Happy Birthday, Kaylee!

 Kaylee turned 6 years old today. She got some beef brisket and french fries when we got back from the Mountain with John tonight. Ziggy got some, too.

Expanding the Fence

 When we're not working on the interior of the house (one pantry door is almost complete) we have been working on the fencing around the house. The last few days, when it hasn't been too hot, we've been installing new T-posts to enlarge the yard for the dogs. 

Yesterday we were able to connect the new fence to an older section behind the house as well as remove the fence on the north side (side yard) that the dogs never really spend any time in. 

 northwest corner

The new part extends in front of the house and much further to the north (essentially surrounding the septic drain field) and will give Kaylee and her pals plenty of running room. Ziggy doesn't do a lot of running anymore but he's holding his own. Note, it has corner bracing this time at each corner which should help with stability.

Hal also built an 8-foot gate on the north side for mowing access. He will soon be building a 3-foot gate on the garage side for people access.

looking toward n/w corner

Fancy Birthday Cake!

 Had a friend trying to start her own baking business bake me a cake for my birthday. I told her I liked purple flowers, guitars and labrador retrievers. Asked for strawberry filling. I think this was wonderful and tasted great, too.

A Working Front Door!

 Well, it's been working for about a week. We've lived here just over 2 years now but the door has been nailed shut because the first year there was no porch and last year though there was a porch the door wasn't square and it wasn't a priority. But today Hal finished all the trim which I stained and varnished in the last couple of weeks while he was working on shimming and squaring. Here it is.

All that is left is a threshold which we will have to make to hide that half inch white riser, so we don't trip on it in the future. I think it looks pretty good.

Another Very Late Quick Update and Finished Windows

Well, we've been busy! In a nutshell: My sister and M hung out till mid-January, in late February Hal tapped 16 trees but the weather didn't cooperate much, and we only got 2 gallons of syrup. We had to quit early because we took a road trip at the end of March all the way to Texas. We left on a Wednesday afternoon because we wanted to stop in Fort Wayne, Indiana to visit the Sweetwater music store and look at some guitars. (I had a list.) And yes, we each bought ourselves a guitar. I got an acoustic and Hal got an electric bass. We spent the night there and left just after noon on Thursday to continue the trip to Texas. 

I will, hopefully, I'm so busy I may or may not get to writing more, but I'll try to go into more detail later.

We returned home a day early as our SIL had to rush off to see her middle daughter who had a baby a week early up in Fort Worth and got home 2 days later. We thought about stopping at Sweetwater again but figured we'd spent enough money for now.

I also picked up the dogs from our friend John's house because the dogs didn't go to Texas with us, they seemed to do okay while we were gone but I didn't get the "happy to see you" reaction I was expecting, maybe because they like John and his dogs.

We took a week off to do "stuff": unpack, wash clothes, decompress, organize Hal's walk-in closet by buying some short shelves he placed under the hanging rod. And we bought a pellet smoker. And we went back on the keto diet as the low fat one we were trying before the trip wasn't getting great results and we gained all the weight we had lost while on vacation.

Second week back we started on the house. I began staining and varnishing window trim and Hal installed it. The 3 windows we had left (not counting the 2 in the garage, those are not a priority) are now finished, 2 in the TV room and the one in my room.

A TV room window

My window

Now that these are done, we've started on the front door. As of yesterday, it is squarer in the frame and has a deadbolt so now we can finally go through it. After the lever handle goes in Hal will start on the jamb extensions which I will then stain, etc. I already finished the trim for it. Not sure which door we will do next, possibly the one into the main bedroom, that door still needs to be stained. A big job.

End of 2023!

Three months since I posted here. I'll write a few things that happened in those months.

I'm still playing/practicing guitar. I'm a bit better than I was 3 months ago. I hope to be even better 3 months from now.

My younger sister, her BF and Ember have been visiting just over 2 weeks now. We went to Rosa's tonight for dinner to celebrate our friend John's birthday. Our other friend Tom joined us. We had a very good time and good food.

I traded in my 2017 Chevy Equinox for a loaded 2021 Chevy Equinox Premier. It has a better Sirius XM radio with navigation capability, too. Mainly I wanted AWD (all-wheel drive) after skidding down Nicholson Hill Road toward US-23 after a bare inch of snow. I wasn't going fast but the car nearly didn't stop. Now I have fog lights again, too. It was an unexpected purchase, they cold called me, and it just seemed the right time. It's silver instead of dark red. Leather interior is nice, too.

We haven't done anything much on the house. Still waiting to get some HVAC guy to fire up the system. Of course, hunting season and Thanksgiving and Christmas and New Year has kept that from happening. I'm sure there will be more excuses next year. Got to still love this gas cast iron stove and the 2 bathroom space heaters.

We had the usual crowd for Thanksgiving, John, Tom and Hal's older brother who was up from Texas. Christmas of course, we exchanged the brother for my sister and her BF.

Christmas was fun. I had bought an Alexa Pop on Black Friday and Hal got 2 more for Christmas and we got one for my sister. The boys, especially Hal has been having a blast getting it to turn on things, tell bad jokes, etc. They came with smart bulbs and then Hal bought 4 smart plugs. It is kind of fun. (But who is listening in? BWAHAHAHA.)

At the beginning of November Hal, Ziggy and I went to Massachusetts. Hal and M went hunting for deer in Maine while I visited with my 2 sisters. I hadn't seen my older sister or my best friend in 7 years, the time we've taken to build the house. With all of Hal's hunting clothes, etc. there was no room for Kaylee even with getting a cargo carrier for the roof. So, Kaylee stayed with John, Oakley and Seamus. A good time was had by all. Hal did not get a deer. M did.

There might be more, and there needs to be photos uploaded at some point, but that's for another day.

Happy New Year.

End of Summer Update

 I haven't really worked on the house this summer as Hal has been under the floor in the crawl space installing ductwork. He declined my assistance other than to pick up parts at the store. He finished last week and started plumbing the geothermal unit in this week. 

So other things: had this growth on my lower lip for all of June and July that bled like crazy and I couldn't get into see a dermatologist till August. Of course, before the appointment I was able to twist the thing off. She cut out the remains and had it tested, it turned out to be a wart. And she didn't get it all, I can see and feel a hard little gray knot. I hope it doesn't get any bigger. 

I bought a second guitar. I wasn't planning to; it was used, and I just fell in love with it. It's a Paul Reed Smith, a PRS Soapbox II. Apparently, it was tuned for double drop D. When I tuned it back to regular tuning (EADGBE) the 5th and 6th strings buzz. I haven't looked into setting it up myself yet. 

But even so it sounds incredibly better when compared to my Squier Bullet! The photo doesn't do the cherry red color justice.

I've been practicing guitar regularly, learned the F barre chord though I am not proficient in chord changes to and from it. I've got to get batter at though if I want to play the House of the Rising Sun well.

Over the last couple weeks, now and then, I've been adding wood filler and sanding down three 1 x 4s for the trim of my sewing room window. I stained 2 today, decided the 3rd still needed more filler and sanding. I hope to finish the poly-urethaning Sunday, that was they will be ready whenever Hal is done with the furnace.

Okay, that's enough update for now, hopefully the next one won't wait so long.

Two Windows Finished

 We finished the guest bedroom window and the kitchen window since my last post. Hal cut the jambs and trim and I stained and varnished, and he installed. They look good.

guest room window, temporary curtains

Other than that, there isn't a lot to report otherwise. Hal is working on laying the ductwork in the crawlspace. Currently he's building the main trunk for the return air. It's annoying having to do it without help, but no one wants to work, and the guy who started with us last September disappeared and doesn't answer calls. Hal isn't a spring chicken and with a bad back it's tough crawling around on his backside, but hopefully he'll be able to get the HVAC installed before winter.

piece of return air duct