Ollie Ollie Oxen Free II

Les I drove 3.3 miles North of a town called Bad Axe, MI today to visit the Sunrise Vizsla Nursery today to meet the puppies and pick out Ollie.  The litter had (3) boys and (3) girls, all of which are super cute. 

One of the boys was pretty outgoing and immediately made Les his jungle gym . . . an then a few others joined in

Then there were three.

Dog pile!

It was a hard decision, but we did pick one and we're excited to get to bring him home in two weeks!

Oliver Key

Rosco says Hi

Thought I'd throw a couple pics up for entertainment.  Wanted to let everyone know what was going on in the now not so frigid North.

Neighbor said he saw a groundhog making the rounds at the house recently.  Well....with a garden in the works the last thing we need is help digging and consuming.  So, we borrowed his live trap and set it up,  go to town.   Come home, and the excitement is brewing, the door is down and we caught the thing, only to be surprised by one of the stupid squirrels.

If you ever wanted to use live animals as a projectile, all you have to do is cage a squirrel, aim the cage, and open the door.  Recently freed squirrels can move nearly the speed of light.


With the puppy on the way, it's been high gear for getting the dog's furniture completed.  More to come soon but here is tonights progress.Rabbited the back of the top tonight, so I can put the beadboard in.  Add the shelves and pins, add trim then it's turned over to the finishing department for completion.  (aka Amanda).

More to come on Sunday.

There she Grows!

Well with gardening season upon us, more progress has been made the the growing department. Being the "tree-huggers" we are we decided to try our hand at composting.  We recycle all we can since the ability is readily available to us so we have already minimized the amount of trash we generate to less than a bag a week. But...with the amount of cooking we like to do and the amount of vegetables we like to eat, they in themselves tend to generate waste that can be used to nourish future veggies. So... off to researching compost bins.

there is always the utilitarian approach...

But of course with a small lot we have to consider the amount of space, the neighbors, and the aesthetics of this approach.

Then of course there are the pre-manufactured versions

But again, although clever and functional,  these get to be expensive and the idea of a big black plastic device, just isn't quite right with the appeal of the house.  Just lacks cohesiveness. 

So we need classy, cutesy, clever, and creative. The 4 C's,  at least I think that is what the jeweler was referring to. Back to scouring the endless trails of useless information, aka, the internet.

And of course if you search long enough your bound to find something interesting.  Perhaps a compost bin that looks a lot like a beehive.  GREAT, it meets the 4 c requirement.  Now, price... only 150 British pounds  ~ $300 American.  Well that is out of my price range. So the clever and crafty kick in, and again, a little more web wonders, some manipulating free bee-hive plans. and Whala! (voila if your proper)

5/8" x 6" x 6' cedar fence slats, $2.50 at lowes.  4 slats = 3 lifts.  The rest was scrap wood laying around, as well as the black paint left behind at the school, now put to good use.

So...for what could have been $300 and perhaps a little different.  has a home for less than $25 hardware included.

The lift on the right was an extra from the decision process of how tall to make it. Perhaps it will need a twin eventually. But for now our composter is set in place and has begun it's duties in making us natural organic fertilizer.  As for the stereo-typed "smell" web research says that if you start getting an odor it is out of balance; there should be a balance of organics and greens I believe is what it said. Or at least something like that.  So for now....   

More images to come once the mulch is spread.

Ollie, Ollie, Wood dust everywhere

So the weather is warming up and the projects are moving along.  Not much to post on this one but thought I'd share a little interum progress on the dog locker.  Still have pieces to make and lots of taking apart working and putting back together to do but its starting to take shape.

It's still in it's rough stages but we should have to more progress in the next week or so,  it's nice to see things coming to light.  Hope this finds everyone safe and blessed.