Back to Normal

It took a few days, but things got back to normal around here. Saturday was getting ready and recovering from the clinic. Sunday and Monday were unpacking, laundry, dishes, and cleaning up.

It's anti-climatic being at home with just the three of us after being packed into a house of twenty! Shane was still going a hundred miles an hour in a 25 mph zone!

We did have one bit of excitement Monday night: Carrie ordered a cat tree.

Really, she ordered it days ago, but it arrived Monday.

Happy has been sinking her claws into the couch. We talked about getting a scratching post until Carrie said, "Give me a budget."

She found a great deal or I was more generous than I thought. Carrie and Shane picked out a fancy thing! Shane helped some with the build before he wandered off (chanting "Electronics.....electronics...").

Happy was the first cat Carrie plopped on to it. 

Shane ran over when Carrie told him.

Of course, Loki followed.

Carrie added some hay twine to further bling the tree and cycled cats.

"Why are you looking at us, humanz?"

"They are looking at us, right?"

Bucket doesn't like to co-exist with the others, but Max and Happy tolerated being on the tree together.

They like the tree! Normally only one cat hops on at a time. Bucket stays away, because it's in too high traffic of an area.

Loki prefers when the cats are lower down and more....accessible.

The garden started to produce some produce while we were out. Grandma came by to visit and drop off more plants.

Carrie kept Shane and I up on the porch. We were under "re-quarantine regulations" after having been around so many people.

Not that anyone knew how to social distance once we were in the house. I laid on the couch and had a dog and boy drop on top of me!

That's always been the normal here! I'm happy to be back home and resting. I wish I could recharge and then hop in the car again for another trip, but we're going to take it slow.

Grandparent visit!

Grandpa and Grandma dropped by for a social call. Grandma went straight to the garden. Shane would've happily jumped down to join her, but that would've gotten him in trouble on this side of the family!

I'm so glad he got a haircut!

He was able to make it down the conventional way. He enjoys helping out with the watering.

And Grandma eventually came up on the porch to check out the new awning!

Carrie relaxed the "no one in the house" rule, but we ended up staying outside the whole visit.

Shane wanted to make a whirlpool out of a 2 liter bottle but ended up making a "water bomb" instead!

He soaked the yard with multiple explosions.

Grandma couldn't keep her hands off the garden for too long and was back at it before they left!

I just hope it survives!

House Updates

We haven't been in the house for a year and it's already gone through multiple transformations.

Grandma invested a ton on the landscape.

The majority of what she had put in last year succumbed to weather and weeds. Spring planting weekends whipped things back into shape.

Not that everything has survived. The weather has done so many turnabouts some couldn't cope. We had a freeze, heat waves, predicted rain that missed, and then an absolute drenching.

We're still trying, though. I've sent Shane out to water a few times.

He didn't realize he was supposed to water on both sides of the porch for some reason.

It looks like I figured that out in time! They seem to be doing okay!

I've watered the front a couple of times myself. Switching the hose and making it stretch that far are beyond him.

I hope that the rain keeps up, so that we don't have to do it too often. The gator and buckets of water are the only way to drench what's by the road.

We hired Jason again to install some gates. He put in all the posts on his own. Manually.

At this point, he probably feels like he can list on his resume as an employer. He's worked in the barn, the house, and the yard!

Day 2 saw the fenceline extended and the gate post installed.

Jason used concrete and rebar to really anchor it down since the gate will hinge off of it.

90+ degree weather helped it set quickly.

Day 3 of the project Jason had a helper come out to hang the gates.

Looks good and already showed how it can help when Pippin got loose!

The goal will be to make it automatic. That's on the list for the garage door, too, but some of the parts we ordered went AWOL at Lowe's and they cancelled the order.

The barn gate will be hand-powered only. I would have liked to have stuck with the temporary gate, but after Sam ripped it off the barn we knew we needed something more.

We'll need to install some insulators and extend the polywire to the posts, so that no pony decides to check how skinny they really are!

I'm not in a huge hurry to string the wire. There are a pair of potential ponies inbound, but the end of June would be the first time both would be on property (if they pan out).

COVID 19 - The Coronavirus: The Loki Update

Loki has been a great addition to the family. I had dogs growing up, but he's been a dog of a different sort.

For one, he's allowed on furniture. That was a no-no in Nana's house. Loki likes to pop up on the couch.

But he'll take it a step further. He likes to look out the window, so he will hop up and lay in the window!

I swear the dog thinks he's part cat.

He doesn't care if I'm sitting in front of the window either. He will hop up and perch his butt on my shoulder like an oversize parrot. If he wants a better vantage point he may use my chest to climb up into his spot.

I'm usually not sure whether to be annoyed or amused....and thus the behavior has continued.

Loki likes to stay close by. He's happy to sleep on anything I'm writing on.

He'll sprawl out under the table or follow me into the bathroom to make sure I'm okay (Quick smell-check the urine?).

Loki will follow Carrie around, too. He'll sit under her chair in the kitchen and he will especially hang out underfoot if she's cooking!

Carrie had an oops with a bag of shredded cheese...

...and Loki was right there to help clean up! I was picking dried out cheese from his fur that night!

Loki's relationship with Shane is a little different. Neither one of them seem able to walk by the other without doing something to cause noise. 

Shane makes noises, stares, and tackles Loki which revs him up and then Loki starts to bark and chase Shane around.

I'm pretty sure they both like it.

I wish they got more of their energy out outside. 

Loki's relationship with Bucket and Max is estranged, but he and Happy are buddies.

Happy will watch from a window whenever Loki goes outside. She'd happily tag along if we'd let her (Which Carrie replied, "Remember what happened when she got away?" when I mentioned it - which I can't find the post of....That's a story).

Loki is getting more comfortable around the horses.

He's still wary (That's good), but he comes into the barn without hesitation (even when horses are in cross-ties).

Part of the reason is he's discovered he likes their food. If anyone's a messy eater, Loki is happy to slip under the gate and help.....as long as they don't notice!

There have been a few scares, but Loki is good about hanging around when we're doing horse chores. He'll come out, run about, frolic, and shows up when called. It's not something we would do in the city, but we have enough land and he likes to stay close enough he doesn't seem to wander off. 

Grandma is worried about him running through the garden, though. He normally doesn't seem to know it exists, but if you kneel down to plant something Loki is happy to lay on whatever you're planting. Just so long as you look deep into his eyes and give him all the attention in the world!

We've got to work on that. We didn't plant everything just for him to trod it into the ground whenever we try to care for it.

At least he hasn't shown much interest in eating the plants when our backs our turned.

Loki's actually a finicky eater. Or at least, he's willing to hold out for a better deal. We used to put his food out and he would ignore it for hours. We started to lock him in his cage to eat and he'd flop down and sleep instead.

Part of it was he decided he was done with the brand we bought. We had a big bag left, so he didn't have much choice.

Loki's stalling and my 'thriftiness' led to an odd development: Loki eats at night. 

Whenever Loki wouldn't eat his food, we'd either sweeten the deal by adding something like beef stock.......or I'd just leave it in the bowl. Then I'd lock Loki up at night and the food would disappear by morning!

We use a different brand of food now, but the night feeding has stuck. Loki will sometimes skip eating in hopes the deal is sweetened, but he eats at least half the time time now.

You know who really likes his new brand of food? Happy. She will reach in through the cage, drag the bowl over, and sample his meals!

It's a dog's life. I started off annoyed Carrie sprung a dog on me with everything going on, but he's become a welcome addition to the family. It's a good example for God to teach me that my way isn't always the best way.

PS - Loki has a 'special' attachment to pillows.