Sweet dreams, my little sweet potato. You were so loved, and I will miss you so very much. I was so lucky to have you in my life and will always love you and cherish your memory. Till we meet again… Beulah, Brewster, and I say, “rest in peace, our beloved gentle princess.”
Something had to be done to stop the noise and destruction. While Brewster was working out his jaws on my custom interior and exterior painted woodwork, Beulah was busy ripping out the neighbor’s fence hoping for some face to face social exchange with the two dogs next door. Every time I or my neighbor blocked up a hole, Beulah would start afresh somewhere else along the fence. In the above photo you might notice the chewed up wood. After four large holes, many starter holes, and an entire length of fencing covered with jaw marks, I turned to my contractor Bert Watford to help me implement a plan for repairing the fence, creating three windows, and covering the lower third of the entire length with hardware cloth. The hardware cloth and windows were my idea, but I needed help working out the details. Thanks to Bert, in one long day the entire job was done. Now the dogs can see each other, and the noisy violence has subsided.
These two joined our family at the first of January. Since losing Bubba, I had tried twice to adopt a frenchie, but was turned down both times. Why? I don’t know. I was encouraged to keep trying, but Bertha and I weren’t getting any younger. Filling out reams of paperwork for each dog and waiting up to two months for the rejection is not a positive experience. Besides, I am no masochist. So I looked up Bertha’s breeder, and lo and behold she had two litters ready to find families. Bingo!
Sweet dreams my little boy. Letting you go was the only way I could make you feel better. Bertha and I will miss you terribly.
The handmade clay brick paver work is complete, and I would now like to bore you with the technical design details of brick laying. It all started with a series of books written and illustrated by Peter Joel Harrison, who was the first to research and illustrate the historic details of fences, gates, gazebos, trellises, brick pavement, and garden walls. I won’t tell you why and how he came to do this, because you can easily find this out by visiting his website.
Bertha, the fraidy cat. She’s the smart one peeping out. Bubba is not bright enough to consider the spring board action of the temporary ramp as dangerous. It looks like I will have to bring Bertha around to the backyard the long way for one last visit tonight before we call it a night. I don’t want either of them to go out on that ramp at night, so I’ll be sliding down the temporary door to keep them in.
Please excuse the wonky-wall syndrome in this photo. I had better shots, but this is the only one showing Bertha’s cute mug looking out.
The framing is finished, and the concrete will be poured tomorrow morning. Even though it’s a small job, the complexity required four men to work ten hours with an additional three men for the last three hours.
Bubba and Bertha miss their old smelly deck, which was ripped out this morning and carted off. After anticipating a nasty surprise, what had been hidden all these years turned out to be nothing. No rat skeletons, no nests, no toys, no holes in the foundation, nothing. My contractor came by and coated the newly exposed wood siding with some sticky blue gunk, let it dry, and then applied the water proofing material that you see in the above photo. Earlier the demo crew made a temporary ramp for my dogs. Of course Bertha knew instantly how to use it, but that wasn’t the case with Bubba who required coaxing — placing treats at the top near their door. Tomorrow the concrete crew will be building the forms for the new back steps and the entrance to the garage. At least that’s what we have been told to expect, but I’m not going to hold my breath.
Snuggling or spooning? Bertha, the red head, and Bubba, the one wearing the devil’s collar, sleep in separate beds when the temperature is higher than 80 degrees outside and higher than 72 degrees inside. That’s their choice, not mine. Gauging by their overnight change in sleeping habit, they have determined that fall has officially arrived. And none too soon! Especially after yesterday’s ninety degree high. So it’s official.