My Killian

So I thought since my last post was talking about Killian's close brush with death, I'd let you all know that she is fine and still around. Saturday began our 4th week together. I haven't seen Killian climb over the baby gate since her little run in with Maggie last week so maybe she's learned her lesson.

No progress on the Maggie front. She nips at her anytime I let her get close enough. She just wants to eat her. I'm not sure how long I should let this go on... and I'm not sure how to improve her reaction. Sigh. Maggie liking cats for themselves might never happen, although I'm not quite ready to admit that yet. Although I'm disappointed that Maggie hasn't made progress, Suzie has been a brilliant success (50% isn't so bad). She and Killian are buddies, they chase each other up and down the stairs, behind doors, behind the toilet, and are generally friendly. Although Killian does hiss to get Suzie to back off when she gets too excited.

I really should take video of the Suzie and Killian game that happens whenever those two are together- it's highly entertaining.

8 lives left

Yesterday was mildly traumatic at the Nichols homestead. I did grocery shopping on my lunch break and just stopped home to drop the milk in the fridge. Of course I let the dogs out in the yard for a moment too. Killian, on seeing me arrive and the dogs exit, surprised me by climbing up and over the baby gate, purring and rubbing up against my ankles. Uh oh. Since I was running right back out, I petted her, set her back in her territory on the other side of the baby gate and walked over to let the dogs in the patio door.

As always, Maggie rushed right in for the baby gate to eat the kitten and as I followed I realized Killian had climbed over the gate while I was letting the BOC in. It all happened very fast, Killian was in Maggie's mouth momentarily, there was screeching, spitting, clawing, by the time I reached them, Killian was back on the floor and I picked her up. She had some dog drool on her leg, but no sustainable injuries. And this time while I saved her life, she had the good sense not to chomp my fingers. I put her back on the safe side of the baby gate and hoped she had learned an important lesson. I sincerely hope she is smart enough to not climb over it while Maggie is on the other side waiting to eat her. My gut tells me this is going to be a problem in the days and weeks to come...

Maggie vs. Killian Week 3

We're now done with counting days and on to weeks with Killian at the Nichols homestead. She's getting big fast and is still a sweetheart, purring up a storm whenever I'm around. She spends her days in the small bathroom and the basement, with the baby gate up in the doorway to protect her. She's litter trained beautifully, without a single accident!! This week I'm going to move her litter box out of the small bathroom and into the basement.

We've been doing regular Suzie and Killian meetings (while Maggie chills - or whines - in the crate)... and although I don't trust them alone together, so far so good. They are getting more comfortable together and I don't fear for Killian's life. Killian gets very brave and bats at Suzie's nose and tail, which is highly entertaining since Suzie doesn't know what to do with that. And there's still a lot of hiding behind the bathroom door and teasing Suzie by sticking her paws out the bottom or peeking at her through the opening. Anyway, I really think those two are close to being friends, so close.

Maggie, on the other hand, still just wants to eat her. Sigh. No progress has been made on that front at all. So we continue to live a separated life in the Nichols homestead. Never a dull moment.

Wascally Wabbits

It's been a while since I discussed rabbits on here (okay, at least a week). A few rabbit facts from the weekend:


1. Saturday morning, while I was chaperoneing a youth conference in Steubenville OH, I got a voicemail from Housemate #1 who had allegedly just cleaned up and buried a dead rabbit Maggie brought into the house. There were a lot of details about how gross it was, that she buried it in the side yard, etc. but no details as to how said dog got said carcass into the house. Not sure i'm going to bring it up again to ask...


2. Sunday morning Housemate #2 apparently also encountered and buried a dead rabbit. However, when Maggie showed up at the door with the dead rabbit, he made her drop it before letting her into the house (sheer brilliance). He gave me the details of where it is buried and left out the drama of how gross it was (although I can imagine).


3. Monday morning I ran out to the vegetable garden to say hello... I mean to check on everything, and there are signs of rabbits eating some lettuce and the pea vines. Tonight I will make some fresh hair packets for those areas to protect the vegetables (since the loose dog hair keeps blowing away).


4. I am a bit nervous to cut the lawn tomorrow, two dead rabbits in one weekend leads me to believe there was a nest in the backyard and I may find more scattered around the yard... I sincerely hope not...

Tada

I guess experience does pay off in the long run. A few years ago, my downstairs toilet broke and needed new innards. It took me several hours, some pulling my hair out, and three trips to the hardware store to finish the project. This time, it took just under an hour (not including the few minutes I spent at Aco picking out the parts). Here's how it went:

1. Stop at Aco on the way home from work to pick up new toilet innards

2. Eat dinner, feed critters, talk to Maggie about not eating kittens

3. Change into grubby clothes, pull hair back

4. Read instructions

5. Gather bucket, rags, tools, parts and head to the bathroom

6. Remove disintegrating parts - gross - and broke a few of them on the way out ... and did end up with some gushing of water onto the floor, but all pretty smooth otherwise

7. Read instructions again

8. Install new innards (while reading and re-reading the instructions)

9. Test flushing, test again, make a few adjustments

10. Clean up

11. Tada!! New toilet innards! and a great sense of accomplishment in just under an hour (and the ability to flush the toilet again).

Summarized:
11.99 at Aco for parts

1 hour of my evening

toilet that works... priceless

Foreboding...

I can't help that sense of foreboding when the toilet runs all through my shower. I jiggle the handle, get dressed and come back... still running... I open the back, recognize the flapper has corroded and needs to be replaced, and most of the other innards don't look much better. Sigh. So that's my revised plan for the evening- go get new toilet innards, replace innards, clean up mess. And I've got another load or two of laundry I might remember to put in while I'm doing the toilet work.

In other foreboding, this weekend I'm chaperoneing the Stuebenville youth conference. I volunteered to do it and will have a blast with the kids once I'm there, but I do not relish losing another weekend... especially knowing the next two weekends are packed full with bridal showers and weddings... and then I'm camping the next weekend, will have one weekend at home, then more weddings for the duration of the summer. I wish I could say weekends are overrated... nope, they are pretty great when you've got them. Sigh.

*edit* I do not mean to sound as though I don't enjoy all that stuff - bridal showers, weddings, etc. That is all great fun and I will enjoy it immensely. I just wish it didn't all happen on Saturdays, my one productive day at home.

And last but not least foreboding, Maggie definitely has not given up the idea of eating Killian. She has a hungry and very carnal look in her intent gaze every time she sees the kitten. Killian and Suzie are getting more and more friendly. Last night I crated Maggie and let the other two roam without gates. Suzie enjoyed chasing Killian behind her bathroom door, and then Suze jams her nose into the crack, waiting for her to come back. Killian will come and look her in the eyes and even touched her nose as if to play a game. Suzie licked her, and scared her back behind the door. Nonetheless, I feel we are making progress with those two. Maggie, on the other hand, still looks at the kitten and sees lunch... so the saga continues.

A few pictures

Maggie vs. Killian

The Saga Continues

The roses are blooming...

The spirea are blooming...

The lilies are blooming...

The chives are blooming (and keeping an eye on the garden)...

The garden is growing (and so are the weeds)

Life is good!

The Fans

We just finished a 6-week session of co-rec softball. Although we were much improved by the end of the season, it wasn't our best ever. But we did win the 2 games the second to last week and the last game, which was a nice note to end on.

I enjoy the whole thing- getting out every week, playing ball with my friends, having something to talk about and do together, and of course, seeing all the munchkins who come out to cheer us on, basically, it is a blast!

Anthony L, age 3.5, was there, his own baseball glove in hand, ready to cheer us on. His little sister was wearing her NY Yankees hat (previously his).

Reenie (knowing Anthony's dad is a big yankees fan): Hey buddy, what team is that hat for?Anthony: Um, the New york yankees

Reenie: Are they your favorite team?

Anthony: Um, no

Reenie: What team do you like?

Anthony: Um, well, I jus' like this team!!

Ben, from the stands: "Okay Aunt Reenie, when you catch the ball, you should throw it to my daddy."

Daddy: Hey buddy, did you see me out there?
Anthony: Um Daddy, I said "good job Reenie"
Daddy: Did you? That's great. Did you see me out there?
Anthony: I told Reenie "good job"
Daddy: Oh good, okay, I'm going back out there
Anthony: an' an' an' I said "good job Reenie"
(Can you tell who my biggest fan is? Love that kid.)

Also, it's fun to see the kids bring their gloves, bats, and gear. They play catch during our game, and hope against hope there will be a chance for them to go out on the real field between games. It's pretty cute. Geno insists on pitching from the pitcher's mound (meaning it never reaches the batter) and they love running around the bases together.

Killian - Day 6

Just wanted to let you all know that my cute kitten is still alive and well! And that Maggie still whines like a moron 90% of the time because she wants access to said alive and well kitten. That part is getting really really old. I'm still not letting them out and about at the same time together, just lots of watching each other through the baby gate, and some sniffings while I'm holding one or the other of them. Slowly, slowly... but she's still alive and well, so I think it's a good plan!

Other great stuff:

-It's friday

-Strawberry picking early this morning with Cora (and watching a big storm blow in)

-My roses are blooming and are absolutely lovely

-Spring softball ended last night with a victory (we didn't have too many of those, so it was a great note to end on)... now on to summer church league.

-Some friends moving back into town this weekend

-Weds night dinner with friends and then a great play with lots of my LT kids- 7 brides for 7 brothers, quite well done and so very entertaining!

- I've got way too much to do this weekend.

Have a terrific day!

Killian Day 3

Killian arrived at the Nichols homestead Saturday lunchtime and it is now Tuesday afternoon- she has exceeded the 36-hours Mommy Mish bet she'd survive. Ha!

Last night Geno and Lucy came for dinner and a haircut (style for Lu) night. They definitely enjoyed Killian. I put Mag downstairs and Suzie was just around, then I had the kids go sit down for dinner and forgot Suzie was out and she definitely went to check out the kitten. Luckily Killian dashed behind the bathroom door hissing and Suzie didn't get to close. She was clearly fascinated. After the kids went home, I had Killian wandering and let Suzie out of the crate with my supervision. Again, she got reasonably close, but kept some distance because of the hissing. I'm thinking one dog at a time is a better way to introduce supervised contact since it keeps the pack instinct out of the equation. Maybe tonight we'll try some supervised Maggie time.

In the meantime, Operation Kitten continues...

Mug shots

Apparently the tomato salmonella outbreak has spread to 17 states... Bummer dude. Yet another reason I'm happy to have a forest of tomato plants growing in the garden (although they aren't close to producing tomatoes just yet). And frankly, the more of these I hear about, the more I want to be one of those crazy self-sufficient farmer types, refusing to purchase anything not grown on your own property. Some days that actually sounds really good, both for the soul and for the body. Regardless, back to the tomato thing...

This struck my funny bone somehow (from the FDA website):

I guess that's what tomato mug shots look like. I think it is the choice of words that amuses me so much: "Round red tomato implicated in outbreak." It makes it sounds so criminal, so sinister.

"At this time, FDA is advising consumers to limit their consumption of tomatoes to the following types of tomatoes. The following types of tomatoes listed below are NOT likely to be the source of this outbreak.
-cherry tomatoes
-grape tomatoes
-tomatoes sold with the vine still attached
-tomatoes grown at home "

I enjoy that they had to tell you that your tomatoes grown at home should still be fine. Nice one.

Operation Kitten

Just in case anyone who reads this blog has any chance of thinking I am a normal, sane person, I'm going to explain my latest hair brained scheme "Operation Kitten".

So... you all know I have two crazy black dogs, Maggie and Suzie. I am also a cat lover, although when I moved to the Nichols homestead 5.5 years ago, I gave up my cats because I have too many family members and friends who are allergic to cats and my neighbors were complaining about my cats scaring their children. Anyway, my last cat went to live at my parents farm then and I've been cat-less ever since. That also means my dogs don't live with cats and do not have cat friendly manners. At my parents house, they typically scare the adult cats into the trees. And last spring, while the BOC were staying there for a long weekend, there was a tragic incident where several tiny kittens passed away (the details were unclear, but my 10 year old brother sobbing and telling me that my dogs killed his kittens was enough to break my heart). Anyway, when there are baby kittens at my parents (which is a lot of the time since they have fertile barn cats) the BOC can't come over because we can't risk another tragedy. Sigh. This sucks all the way around - my dogs love my parents house, I love that they can run around and wear out there, weekends away are easy if I can leave them there, etc. So this cat thing has to be solved...

What better way to train your dogs to be cat-friendly than to get a cat? Right??

Meet Killian (yes, named after the beer). She's the runt of a current litter at the Cousino farm (one of Owen's many kittens). I picked her for her adorable face, sweet and purring disposition, and because I'm usually mush for little fuzzy babies :D Anyway, she arrived at the Nichols homestead via Uncle Garrett on Saturday around lunchtime. I have a cozy haven set up in the downstairs bathroom - litter box, dishes, comfy box with rags, etc. The plan is to introduce the BOC to the kitty with a lot of supervision and a lot of time to get used to the idea to avoid any tragedies here at the Nichols homestead.

Saturday after Killian's arrival, Maggie wandered around whining a lot... actually, it's now Sunday night and she's still wandering around whining a lot. She doesn't like being kept out of anything and definitely doesn't appreciate that there is a new inhabitant that she has no control over. Suzie is dying to play with this new fuzzy baby, but I still don't trust her to know the difference between squirrel and kitten. Saturday I spent a lot of the afternoon working outside, so Killian slept in her cozy box in the bathroom, behind a closed door and gate, and the BOC napped on their patchwork pillows, with occasional whining bouts every time I peeked in on the kitten. Killian purrs every time she sees me, rubs along my ankles, and is generally winning my heart (which is tough, I know).

Saturday night I arrived home from a graduation party and figured we'd try a meeting between the two. I sat on the couch, kitten on my shoulder, dogs trying to get across me to the kitten. There was a lot of hissing from my shoulder and a lot of lunging and sniffing coming at me. After a few minutes, the hissing was subsiding, I kept the dogs a few inches away from the kitten, and I thought we were doing okay... until Killian jumped from my shoulder to the couch... and both dogs lunged forward for the cat... so, thinking fast, I grabbed the kitten, who sunk her sharp teeth into my finger several times, while scratching madly at my other hand. Awesome. I know she was just panicked because of the large scary drooling monsters coming at her... still it doesn't seem quite fair. Killian went back to her haven in the bathroom, the BOC settled down again, and I cleaned out my scrapes and bites.

Today for the couple hours I was home, Killian hung out in the bathroom with the door open but gate up so the dogs could observe. And other than a lot of whining from Maggie, so far so good. We're gonna take this nice and slow. Stay tuned...

VICTORY!!

My big goal for the summer (pathetic as this may be) was mastering the art of the two dog bike ride. and last night, for the first time, WE DID IT! And more exciting still, WE SURVIVED IT!


And now the boring story...
When I taught Maggie to run with the bike, I used her leash around my wrist up on the handlebars and she likes to run as fast as possible ahead of the bike. I taught her to run with the bike the first spring I had her, when she was a spastic, highly untrained, and very energetic pup. We suffered some pretty good falls, wrapping around poles, etc. But we improved slowly but surely, Maggie learned the sound of my brakes (they squeak and I refuse to fix it), and eventually we got pretty good together.


With Suzie, I waited a little longer because I had such fond memories of teaching Maggie and didn't want to repeat those injuries. Last summer I got the K-9 Cruiser attachment for my bike and Suzie mastered the bike on that with no major falls or injuries! Yay! Maggie doesn't do as well on the k-9 cruiser because it keeps her behind the back wheel and she wants to be in front of the bike... so she likes to just pull as hard as possible to get in front of the bike... not entirely comfortable for the rider, who feels the back of the bike trying to get in front of the front of the bike... yeah, we've still got some kinks to work out.



The problem with only being able to take one dog is that the other is a wreck being left behind (can we say "co-dependent") and it either means I have to come home and switch dogs half way through, or if I'm crunched for time, only one dog gets to go and the other is a wreck for the rest of the day / evening. Thus my goal for the summer.


The K-9 cruiser is built to be able to attach multiple dogs, supposedly. Although I'm guessing typically people who do attach more than one dog do not attach two large dogs- just a guess. Anyway, my only complaint with the K-9 cruiser is that there are no springs between you and the dog. And if your large 60 lb. dog is trying to get in front of the bike, you can feel the pulling - it didn't pull me over, but does send panic signals to the rider :) So I decided springs were in order, somewhere on the contraption between me and the dogs. I went to the local hardware store and found two springs, one more rigid than the other. I figured I'd try one of each and see which worked better. I also bought two double clips, for attaching to the spring and to the dog's collar loop. Below is the more rigid of the springs, it didn't have much give when you tried to pull it apart, but ended up being the best of the two for this particluar use.



The ride...
I decided Maggie (my main pull-er) should be tired before we try this. She's not as grouchy about Suzie touching her when she's tired and she wouldn't be pulling if she was already tired out. So I hooked up Maggie with the new and most rigid spring and we set off. There was some pulling still, but the spring did take some of the pull and me braking regularly solved the rest of it. Mag and I biked maybe a mile and a half before stopping home to get Suzie. I should also note that I haven't biked hardly at all with Maggie this year, so her tolerance is pretty low (meaning she wears down pretty fast).


I attached Suzie to the other lead with the less rigid spring and we set off. One big tired dog, one small energetic dog, and the rider. I kept it fairly slow and we specifically avoided the exciting dog houses in the neighborhood. We did some circles in the school lot as practice, pulled over to stop when approaching other people on the sidewalk, and things were going swimminly. We were a block from home when a guy went by walking his dog. Suzie gave a pull and her spring sprang off and flying across the street and Suzie went to meet said new dog. Awesome. It is a little tricky holding a bike with one dog while trying to retrieve the dog that got free, hmmm. Luckily Suzie is very friendly and pretty obedient, so she came when I called her (the third time), I reattached her without the missing spring which is lost forever, and we made it home all in one piece, although missing one $2 spring.

I can't say we have "mastered" the two-dog-bike-ride, but we did it once and it was successful, no injuries to anyone involved. Hallelujiah! We will be doing it more often and mastering the art in the coming weeks. (Donal and Kara both swear they want to catch it on film, so there may be pictures at some point).


And I will be getting a second rigid spring that doesn't bend and spring off at the sight of a new dog.


In the meantime, I'm celebrating the victory!

The garden update

I admit to a few mistakes when planting the vegetable garden and we suffered a few casulaties:
-I didn't harden off the plants - leaving them outside for a few days to get used to the sun / wind / living outside. I knew I should have, but was concerned that it would frost while I was out of town and they'd all die anyway, so I didn't.
-Thanks to not hardening them off and to the two nights of frost, I lost a few tomato plants, they withered and died. I did cover them during the frost, but they didn't survive anyway.
-the cucumbers I started early didn't like the transplant process (and rarely do) so several of those didn't survive either.

Last night Emmet, wonderful brother that he is, got me a small pick up load of compost! Yay! Half went to the vegetable garden and I managed to get that spread over the garden before it got dark. The other half goes to the backyard gardens, and most of it is still in the driveway. Maybe tonight I can cart it back there and put it in the appropriate places. I sure do love the look and smell of good, black, nutrient rich soil... sigh of contentment... I also bought some jalapeno pepper plants, which I hadn't started from seed although I intended to, so those went in the ground last night after the compost was in place.

Over the weekend, I made some progress as well. I tilled up the sod along my fenceline and planted some small lilac bushes and flowers to create some privacy for the patio (in a couple years, not yet). It felt like progress anyway, even if it isn't instant gratification. And since it is so close to the chainlink fence, I added one of those little garden fences around the new plants and so far the dogs haven't attempted to jump in (although they could if they really wanted to). I left Maggie's bush out of this little fenced area, so I think they'll leave it alone.

Maggie's bush? you ask. Well, there is a spirea bush in the corner of the backyard, with chainlink fence on two sides of it. Somehow Maggie fell in love with this bush because she can go around and around it and it scratches her back. The bush now looks rather ridiculous since it's shaped like a mushroom (thanks to Maggie's diligent back scratching), but I call it Maggie's bush because she loves that bush so much. She goes around and around and around, grinning from ear to ear, and you can almost hear her contented "ahhhh"...

I also tilled along the other fenceline where I've decided to plant pumpkins. The last couple years I did pumpkins in my vegetable garden, but they simply take over and vine everywhere!! So this year I figured I'd put them somewhere different, we'll see how they like that spot. It might not be sunny enough and might be too piney since it's near the big pine trees... but it's worth a try. If I can keep the dogs off it for a couple weeks for the seedlings to establish, they won't want even be tempted after that since pumpkin vines are kind of pokey and very big.

More hunting

As we speak, the BOC are on the hunt for flies. My dad installed my new sliding glass patio door last fall, but we opted to leave the screen off since Suzie was in the habit of throwing herself at the door to alert me to the fact that she was ready to come inside. During fall and winter, I taped two mousetraps to the outside of the door, and after a couple loud scary snaps, Suzie decided there are other ways to ask to come inside. So sometime in the next few weeks, I need to ask my dad to help me install the screen, with grate, to which I will attach mousetraps so as to protect the new screen door. In the meantime, I tend to leave the patio door open most of the time when I'm around and the flies all come inside. Maggie will eat one or two that land on the glass door, and then gives it up. Suzie will chase them through the house for hours, leaping high into the air after them, and usually catching and eating most of them. She's quite the little hunter.