I considered titling this post "Happy Father's Day, Duncan!" - but decided it was a little late for that. But, late or not, Duncan will hopefully be the proud father of a lovely litter of puppies! (And if he's not, it sure won't be his fault...) This is Duncan and Cleone's first litter, and I am really excited to see how the puppies turn out. I think they will be great!
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The dog run has been on the "Projects to Build" list ever since we moved here, about 4 1/2 years ago, but somehow it has just never been built. Well, now that we have puppies on the way, I was determined to get it done and headed out there, posthole diggers in hand. Since I was working with a limited budget, and we had some old horse fencing laying around, I decided to piece it together and build the walls with that. I like using horse fence because it is woven wire, so we won't have to replace it every couple years (dogs figure out pretty quickly that they can break out of welded wire), the squares are small, so it will contain puppies, and it's tall enough that I can bury several inches in the ground without lowering the height to a level that is too easy to jump. My dogs could jump out without too much trouble (especially Cleone) but they don't know that and are respectful of fences. The pen is a square, built around three sides of the existing dog kennel/ house/ pen, and tying into the garden fence at the back. The only problem was that a big, old oak stump was exactly in the way. My brothers, William and Justice (12 and 11) helped me try to cut it out of the ground, dig it out, pull it out with the mower, and winch it out with the come-along. None of these plans worked, so finally we decided to burn it out. I had to work in the smoke and keep the fire going all day while I dug trenches to bury the wire and set the other sides of the fence, but eventually the stump was gone! Anna Frances helped me quite a bit. Even at four years old, children can be surprisingly helpful! She handed me stuff, held the measuring tape, and fetched tools for me. Duncan kept Cleone company through the fence. She was in heat and had to be locked up. Some rascally roosters that have been turning the garden upside-down were locked in the same pen, but they co-existed very well. She didn't bother them at all. Now I just need to make or buy a gate and put boards up along the top edge. Since the fencing was pre-used and bent, it is still not perfectly straight, but it is good and sturdy and I hope will be a safe, secure pen for many puppies!
(And the only cost was a box of fencing staples!) I have a brother who dreams of flying. Sometimes we call him the mad scientist, but, mad or not, I'm sure he will be a pilot, and a very good one. He recently bought a paraglider and has been trying to fly it ever since. The only trouble is, he has no way to get it in the air. He needs to fall off some handy cliff, or tumble out of the top of a convenient pine tree, or find some little drop of a hundred feet or so to get into the air with the thing, and then hopefully he will be able to fly it. But, for the time being, he is confined to "kiting" it in the neighbor's watermelon field whenever there is enough wind to fill it out. (He actually kites it on the border of the field, so he doesn't go tramping through all the young melon vines.)
Well, a great step was attempted in the way of getting him into the air last week, but unfortunately the wind changed and the experiment - which was towing him behind the truck to get up enough speed to lift off - was abandoned for the time being. So, although we did not get to witness a successful first flight, I did get some neat pictures of Cleone with the background of a brewing thunderstorm. Enjoy the pictures! |
AuthorMy name is Alayna Feldman. I have been greatly blessed and am thankful, first and foremost, to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who has saved me. I am also deeply thankful to my parents, who have raised me in a stable, safe, loving home and taught me about what is most important in life. Archives
February 2022
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