The first time we use a particular kitchen appliance is always a shock for the pups. And we use so many! They’ve endured the blender, the small food processor, the hand blender as well as the sound of Rob grabbing ice from the freezer which actually sends them running TO the kitchen. Ice cubes are totally fascinating and are just another thing to fight over.
One of the noisiest times of the day is after dinner, when we may try to watch something on the TV. We typically need to use the closed captioning because there’s so much yipping, growling, barking, snarling with pups playing we can’t hear a word of it.
Pups differentiating themselves. Woody is the more likely to have a malady or some other incident. Yesterday I discovered his left leg was swollen to about twice the size of his other leg, for example. We suspect more fire ants. Seems better today.
About a week ago he showed up at the door covered head to toe in MUD which required another impromptu bathtime. No fun for any of us!
Another difference is eating. Woody still eats his food the same way: as if he is still racing with his littermates. Stony (who eats from a separate bowl), will eat a little, step away, maybe eat some more…and maybe just walk away without totally finishing!
Recalling phrases I used to use with Nimbus such as “in or out?!”. I guess it’s all dogs….they request to go out and then stand at the threshold forever. Go IN or OUT PLEASE!
Basically housetrained. One accident recently by the door. Haven’t really gotten going on regular training with commands.
I’ve started trying to make sourdough starter. Going OK so far. I’m also currently drying shiso leaves in order to make shiso tea. Just since there’s a lot of purple shiso growing in the flowerbed.
Pandemic has changed our style of shopping and cooking. Shop less often and just buy veggies that look good and a couple of meats, tofu, and Quorn. Our dinners are typically just created out of our heads based on the stuff we found at grocery. This is working very, very well. So here you can get freshly made tortillas, so we often start out dinner #1 with fish tacos featuring a jalapeño-cilantro sauce! We also often buy poblano peppers, which we stuff with bulgar wheat and whatever veg/herbs we have and Rob flavors it with an adobo sauce. We recently had some barbeque take-out and saved a pair of sausages which we used in a pasta with kale and sun-dried tomatoes. I like to make pickled okra too, which is the ONLY way I will eat okra! They don’t have that icky gooey-ness this way. And my Mom sent us preserved lemons which I use in lots of stuff, including tuna salad. Rosemary pesto with spinach on pasta (we have rosemary growing in bushes in flowerbeds). All yum!
We may consult with someone on how to plan our backyard space. Things we want to consider are: pups, chickens, tortoise, fruit trees, raised beds, lounge area/pergola, low maintenance plants. As far as tortoise goes, the tortoise rescue group won’t let you adopt without meeting certain criteria for your tortoise shelter. For the large sulcata tortoises, you must provide 6,000 square feet. Which is a lot. And they may dig out so you have to have like concrete or something all underneath the space! So we are considering a red-footed tortoise which are smaller and only require 800 square feet. Can’t adopt until we’ve got a space all set up and they happen to get another red-footed tortoise.
Pups and chickens keep wary eyes on each other. Pups sometimes start to run toward them but stop. So that’s pretty good. Chickens are laying fewer eggs these days- like typically 3 instead of when we first moved in it was more like 6. Part of it of course may be that we lost one chicken. But also, wondering if some chickens are getting too old to lay eggs. Tua, for example, is looking kind of frazzled these days. Her comb is sagging and not bright.
Even Matt Patricia’s comb looks a bit tired. We are realizing they don’t have the longest lifespans. For now, we are OK with fewer eggs (we still can’t eat them all even though we eat a frittata for dinner once a week and eggs often for lunch). But sometime we may want to add to the flock which will be a whole big deal as you have to quarantine for a while and carefully introduce them…sounds like a hassle.
Meanwhile, Texas exploding with COVID. Doesn’t change our lifestyle as we only go out for required errands (using a mask duh).
A few more pics here at the end.
