New Family Memeber

Well we went from not getting anymore dogs after Shiloh died to having two, yes I said two, five month old Saint Bernard puppies. Ivan came to live with us about 2 months ago. He has been fun to have around. I have had to get used to the drool issue that he has on occasion but not to bad and I have to remember that at 55 lbs right now he is still just a puppy. We have been working on our manners and have a problem with being VERY into our food. We are working on learning some patience when it comes to meal time. Well last week one of Ivan's brothers stayed with us for a couple of days till his new owner came to pick him up. Ivan and he had a blast and it gave Barron some much needed peace. Ivan loves to try to get Barron to play but at 13 he will not have any of that nonsense. So at that point we knew that Ivan needed a buddy to play with.

We began talking about getting his last brother. They could not find a home for this one. They finally talked us into give him a home. He has been with us for 2 days now and they are have a blast. The new puppy does not have a name yet so it has been a little hard to bond with him when you don't know what to call him. He is a bit timid right now. When we disciple Ivan he is the one to run and hide. I hope that he will over come this with some time as Ivan can take his food with out blinking an eye, so for now I will have to separate them at meal time to give him a chance to eat everything in his bowl. He does not wolf down his food like Ivan. He is the runt of the family so that might have something to do with it. Anyway he now a part of the family so keep checking back to see how they grow!!

Evening sky

What can be better than sitting on your front porch and enjoying the cool evening? Not much in my opinion. I sit out here looking over the night sky. The breeze is cool on my face. I sit here listening to my Ipod and have a refreshing beverage. The lights of the neighboring houses twinkle in the night sky. What more can you ask on a summer evening. It has been awhile since I have had the time to just sit outside and just enjoy. My son tells me there will be a meteor shower this evening. I will just take his word for it. I just sit here and be, waiting for my husband to come home and join me. We will talk about what still needs to be done at the cabin and wonder how we will get it all done. The summer season is starting to come to a close. Next week The youngest one will go back to school, he will be a senior this year. Then we start up with football games to be at which leads to Thanksgiving and then Christmas just around the corner from that. Where did the time go? It seems like summer just started and now I am thinking about Christmas. I think I will just go back to listening to my music for awhile, head to bed and then start all over in the morning. Here's to all of you enjoying a cool summer evening.

It's A Small World After All

Hey Everyone,


Got home the other day from the cabin. The septic tank is in and most of the dirt work and gravel is done. Even got some of the tile work done, not as much as we would like but that is the way it goes. Anyway I was trying to get caught up on Face book and with the blogs that I follow when I came across someone in my neighborhood. That's right I found a neighbor. I was finishing up reading a blog and started looking at the blogs that she follows when I saw something that caught my eye. So I clicked on the link and began reading this new blog. After reading a couple of her posts, which I love, I came across one that was titled the Westcliffe Wave. Well that caught my interest real quick because I just came home from Westcliffe. I continued reading the next couple of posts and looking at the pictures. I know these pictures!! I drive by the same alpacas, the same ranch, the same geese, the same everything!! I find out she works part time just down the road from our cabin at the local dude ranch. I discover that they have a place they go to on the weekends and such in the valley. Need to catch up on if they plan to live there full time or not but anyway welcome to the neighborhood Rhymes with Vanilla. If you have a chance go and check them out. Till next time.

Lightening

So here is another entry in the never ending saga of the family cabin. My husband went up this weekend to do some more work on the cabin and found this.

Lightening had struck this tree at some point. We have no idea when it happened and it is one of our favorite trees. I had seen the wood laying around on Saturday but thought nothing of it. We also had some issues with the satellite and the phone in the cabin. Now we know what happened. Just glad it did not hit the cabin. Hoping the tree doesn't die.

Unmetionables

You are probably wondering about the title of this post. Well lets just say I am going to talk about something people don't like to talk about. Septic tanks. Now most of you will have never had to deal with one as you live in a city or close to one and the city deals with that little problem for you. Not us, we live out in the county where we deal with it on our own. Now the septic tank at our home is not the problem, it is the one that is at our family cabin (disclaimer inserted here- not really ours but belonging to my in-laws). We have know since about day one that it needed to be replaced but it is an expensive undertaking, so it has been put off till now. We are getting a new one this next week. YEAH!! Now I know that it sounds a little weird to be happy about that but until you have lived though it you just can not understand so just go with me here.

It all started with the remodel of the bathroom which led to my in-laws bedroom to the kitchen to the entryway. You know how remodels go. Lets just say the it was held together with duct tape and baling wire. We found so many things wrong that it is wonder that it is still standing. All of the plumbing except the toilet was piped out and away from the house and on to the ground but now we have it all going in to the new septic tank. We found water lines that were plugged with spark plugs. Yep that's right I said spark plugs. We found carpeting under the kitchen cabinets that was soaked with water and tiles glued down with liquid nails. It has been an adventure unearthing all of the issues that we are dealing with but when it is done it will be a great place to relax. Till then keep the faith.

Renewable Energy

So I feel like bragging a bit today. I just paid my electric bill this morning. Now to most people that is not something to brag about, it is more like something to complain about, but my bill this last month was just under 80 dollars. Now I grant you the air conditioner was not running a full capacity yet but for me this was a big deal. You see we invested in solar panels on our roof last October and I did not see much of a change. That was till the days started getting longer in the summer. To see that our investment is starting to pay off makes me feel a little better. It will be a few years till we see the positive in this but it still makes me feel good. We still have a ways to go in our efforts to save energy but this is a step in the right direction. I would love to put in geo-thermal heat and air but the cost is too much right now with no incentives to help you out with the cost like with solar. I hope that changes in the near future. We have been trying different ways to help out the planet such trying to grow some of our own food or trying to buy local. Last year that was a better success than this year. We have planted a total of 12 fruit trees and several grape vines. We are also looking at more insulation in our roof and better windows. It just takes time and money. I would love to hear what you are doing to make our planet a better place.

The Adventures Of Ivan the Saint Bernard

I thought I would give everyone an update on Ivan. He is four months old and 55 lbs fight now. But first a little history since I have not been posting in awhile. To begin we go back a couple of years. On July 3rd 2008 we lost our beloved dog Shiloh. She had been with us for 12 years and was one of those dogs you can never replace. After her passing we had decide not to get another dog. We still had Barron, age 11 at the time, and when he left this world we would be dogless. I did not want to have to worry about who will take care of them and such as the kids are getting older and moving away from home etc. I had my mind made up! This thinking went on for about a year then things began to change. The hubby and the daughter started thinking about getting a new puppy or young dog. I was not going to have any of it. They would casually mention it from time to time. Then it happened. I looked on the Internet at puppies! Big mistake!! I was starting to miss that companionship. I missed my dog! So we started talking about what we might like to get. Would it be a puppy, a purebred, or save a life from the pound. I like the idea of getting one from the pound because we would be saving a life of an unwanted dog. And you can find purebreds at the pound or at a rescue group, if that was to be the route we would go.

Then we got the news. Rosalyn, the dog belonging to my brother-in-law, was having a litter. Having know Roz since she was a puppy we knew that chances were good that they would be like her. She loves people and just a big teddy bear. Now she is not the smartest dog in the world but love can overcome a lot. So of course my daughter decided that having a 200 lb dog at maturity would be just great. She began her campaign to win us over to the idea. And I must say she did a good job. I began to research the breed and found that I like what I read. I was turning to the dark side. The next one to be convinced was dad and she worked hard on him but he held out. It was to big of a dog for him. Of course that was until we saw them. We had to go down to their house for a graduation party and there they were. They still had five of them at that point and who can resist a cute bundle of fur. We won him over and Ivan came home with us. Ivan has been with us for about 2 months now and is fitting in our family nicely.Although Barron, our three legged 13 year old miniature Schnauzer, is not to happy about having to deal with a hyperactive puppy in his life. We still have a ways to go with manners and obedience but it is a work in progress. We will get there. So stay tuned for more adventures of Ivan and Barron too.