The pond dig has begun!

[tbendl]

On a good note, my house is incredibly clean during the winter.

 

[sissy]

I like early spring and early fall when it is warm enough to open all the windows and sliding glass doors and let the wind blow through the house and blow all the dust bunnies back out where they can live happily .

 

[CometKeith]

CE, I think your pond and fish look really great. I haven't seen any pictures in a while and I can't believe how big your koi got. I'm not looking forward to daylight savings time. It's not really fun when it's dark out before you eat dinner and we eat dinner before 6:00!

 

[CountryEscape]

Thanks, Keith, it's nice to hear my fish seem to be growing because I think they are stalled, which is perfectly fine with me! Guess they are actually getting a little bigger, but I have no desire to have 2-3' long koi ever! I would have to get rid of all but one if that was the case. LOL
Tbendl, in the winter, my house is not any cleaner, because I cross stitch. I have a great lamp, got it last winter, and man, it's like the sun is shining on my projects. It's wonderful for these 57 year old eyes.

 

[tbendl]

I'd really like to learn to knit this winter. Something to keep busy when it's chilly out there.

 

[sissy]

I crochet and knit but I prefer crochet as it is easier .Plus i can take it with me and it takes up less room than 2 big needles and is so much easier to learn to do

 

[CountryEscape]

Yep, I crochet, too. Can get an afghan done in a couple of weeks, but counted cross stitching takes wayyyyy longer! I worked for 4 years (I only do this in the winter, when the weather is bad) to complete my daughter's Christmas tree skirt, and 3 to do my son's. Working on Christmas stocking now, one of two my daughter bought for me to do 2 years ago, so this is actually my second winter working on it. Hoping to get it done this winter, then work on the next one. They have a baby now, too, so there will be a 3rd for them. It goes on and on, but I do love doing them, and so very glad she appreciates them enough to WANT me to do them!

 

[tbendl]

Hmmm I thought crochet was only used for those pot holder thingies... Lol I guess I need to do some research.

 

[CountryEscape]

Nope, you can crochet anything ... sweaters, afghans, pot holder thingies, rugs, etc. The difference between crochet and knitting (IMO, that is) is the texture of the stitches. Knitting is often much softer stitches, whereas crochet is bulkier. Crochet, therefore (again, IMO) is better for heavy items like afghans and so forth, and knitting for softer items, like hats, sweaters, etc. I have crocheted place mats, but they were mainly for pretty, as I used "string" instead of yarn. Doilies they are called. Like in the olden days. Even made a whole queen sized bedspread out of doilies! Man, that took a very long time!!! It's gorgeous over a dark colored bedspread, though. Gave it to my oldest sister for her second wedding present.

 

[tbendl]

Thanks CE, I'm kinda looking forward to some chilly wet weather to figure it out.

 

[CountryEscape]

I have puppies again! Finally, after breeding her for 3 heat cycles (she comes into heat every 4 months for some reason, and is hard to get bred ....), she had a litter of puppies yesterday, November 14. This pic was taken on Friday, day before she had her puppies.

There are 5 puppies, 4 females (woohoo!!!!!) and 1 male. She actually had a 6th puppy, the 5th born, but it was born dead, and was also a female. This is her largest litter yet and very happy with the results. This litter has more females than all of her other litters (3) combined before.
I was gone to help my brother sell his BMW and Yamaha motorcycles (been stored 15+ years ...) and Fiat cars yesterday. Did a mini auction of sorts. He sold the rental house, so it was either get rid of the stuff in the garage (and believe me, my hoarder brother had LOTS of "stuff" in that garage, literally piled to the ceiling on top of the cars ...), or let it go to the buyer on closing in December. So, the money made yesterday was pretty much "free" to him. I did all the work placing ads, typing up paperwork, and will get the titles to what we can, and the rest was sold as without title. Anyhow, had neighbor girl stop by to check on Denali during the day, and at 3 she still had no puppies. I got home around 7 to 4 female already born!

After Denali begging to go outside several times, I realized there may be more puppies, and there WERE! She had the 5th puppy, born dead, followed immediately by the 6th puppy, her only male! She had them on the floor in the utility room, instead of in the whelping box, but promptly carried it, by the head LOL, into the whelping box. Here she is cleaning off her only boy.

I'm thrilled with more females than males for once. Denali is doing great, very relaxed and happy this morning. Best part, they will be 1 day shy of 6 weeks on Christmas Day!!!!! So, yes, some people think puppies need to stay with the mom for 8 weeks. However, if a mother dog weans her puppies by 5 weeks, I see no reason to keep them together. My females have always been allowed to come and go, never have kept them confined or made them stay with the puppies. To me that is cruel. All dogs I have raised in the past were handled the same way - German Shepherds, Rat Terriers, Boxers, Golden Retrievers, and now Boston Terriers. Denali will stay with the puppies the first few days up to a week 24/7, but after that she will roam away from them more and more. By 5 weeks, she will maybe let them nurse once or twice a day, or sometimes she is totally done with them by then. So, yes, I will let the puppies go for Christmas, or keep them longer, depending on the buyers.

 

[CountryEscape]

Look what I spotted next to the koi pond yesterday, November 15!!! I was lucky to get this pic, as it moved immediately after I took it.

 

[callingcolleen1]

I had a fly in the house last night. Strange to see fly in middle of November here.

 

[sissy]

We have flies, stink bugs ,bees and lady bugs yet .The bees well not let you alone outside .I was trying to work outside and had to keep swatting them off .

 

[CountryEscape]

Had one of those huge flies in my house last night! It's going to be beautiful weather for Thanksgiving here. 50's and 40's for lows. I'll take that!!!
Puppies are 8 days old in this picture, and they line up like this all the time. When they are sleeping, it's often head to tail, too. Notice how chubby they are. I'm certain Denali could easily nurse 7 or 8 puppies. She has plenty of milk left over at this point anyhow.