He's a Keeper

Mia & Vinnie co-existing

Last night went great. Vinnie slept on the floor next to the bed & Mia slept on the bed. He lets me know when he needs to go out & while I was working in the garden he was always close by. He met Brutus (the neighbor's dog ) this morning & acted like he owned the place.  Brutus accepted it & they took turns sniffing each other.
I am going to research how much food Vinnie should be getting a day & start him on a gradual weight loss diet. I also made an appointment for a teeth cleaning & grooming next week. I brushed him a little today & got a bagful of hair. He will be so much happier (esp. with the heat that is coming) with a good grooming. He should work out fine.
Angie asked how old he is...the vet thinks around eight.

This morning I took the Subie in for a brake job & after that, back out in the garden to harvest more garlic. So much more to do. The rest of the garden is looking neglected. I have been picking blueberries & raspberries, chocolate & orange mint, basil, thyme, oregano, a few cherry tomatoes, peppers, cilantro, spinach, chard, Nanking cherries and a few strawberries that are slow to ripen. I think I might be winning the war on potato bugs, too. I have never seen so many as I've had this year. Many of the plants were stripped by the time we got home from vacation. Have you every been squirted in the face with potato bug goo? Yuck!
The other night Steve & I were sitting outside watching the sun set & decided to let Bubbles (the biggest rooster) outside with us. He was very timid. He pecked at the small weeds in the driveway for a while & then he jumped into my lap! So funny! He sat there for a while & then (I knew it would happen sooner or later) he pooped on me.
I'll leave you with a laugh...time for bed.

Vinnie: A New Member of the Family

Hi. My name is Vinnie. My owner couldn't keep me anymore because it was too hot in the trailer we lived in and there wasn't enough room for me to get enough exercise. Barb's neighbor came over this morning & told her about me, so she drove to De Soto to see me. I looked as handsome as I could when she got there and she took me home with her to see how I would do. So unless I really mess up overnight, I have a new home! So much room to run & play and good food to eat, too. She took me to the vet today & I have an ear infection. They cleaned them & gave me medicine to take home so I will get better. I also weight about 15-20 pounds too much (Barb thought it was all fur), so she will put me on a diet so I live a long life. My toenails were really long too, so they cut them while we were there. I will be a good watch dog. I bark when buggies come up the driveway & when I hear other dogs bark.

I think this will be my favorite spot.

Now that Vinnie is done talking...
I'm sure you are wondering about Shep. He is still around but refuses to stay here. He won't budge on a leash and is very nervous inside. We talked about it & decided that we couldn't take him. I will try to help them find a new home for him, but I bet they keep him. Lizzie really likes him.
The chickens are growing bigger every day. Still no home for the two roosters though. We did add on to the chicken condo inside this weekend. We also worked on the outside coop. It is insulated now & the fascia boards are up.

An addition to the condo

Garlic field with coop in background

I am harvesting a lot of garlic right now. Ever since we got home from vacation I've been non-stop. The weeds are high in the rest of the garden, but I have weeded around most of the plants so we can find them :-). I have over 1300 heads of garlic to dig and clean, all together. Close to 600 are done. Long way to go. I will have them all done by the end of next week. They are looking great, though. Large and medium heads for the most part. With 30 different kinds, I decided to make a spreadsheet to keep track of how many I harvest, any bad ones (ones I cut with the shovel), and how many are small, medium or large. I am enjoying the work, but can't say I won't be glad to be done. I feel muscles I've haven't felt for a while. We decided to hang them in the attic to dry. Here is a pic from the other day...

We stapled coated clothesline along the rafters. The windows will stay open as long as no rain is forecast & we have two fans circulating the air. So far, so good.

Daughter Kristin is doing great pregnancy-wise and Jaelyn is getting to be such a big girl. I look forward to spending some time with them in a couple weeks.

Excited by the horses at the race track on vacation.

 Before I go to bed, I want to wish our daughter Amy a quick recovery. She spent a couple days in the hospital, but is doing better now.
I better get to bed. Who knows how the animals will get along during the night and then there is the 5am wake up from the roosters ...