Fitting in

Listen kid, if you want to be a part of this family, you'll listen to my advice.

First things first - you can't be afraid of Mad Teeth (tm). No hiding.


Face your fears


And give 'em as good as you get 'em.


Ha ha! That's my boy. He's learning the ropes around here pretty good already!

And so am I. I have resigned myself to the fact that muddy feet are just a part of living in the stix, and that I'll just have to become a little friendlier with the mop. And thanks for all your wonderful landscaping suggestions - over time I will definitely implement some of them to make our little space in the country more user friendly!

The dogs are loving it for sure. While we miss our our old haunts, there are some new ones to explore. Yesterday was beautiful, so we went and relaxed at the local dog park for the first time.



We made lots of new friends. Except for Wootie, who made no friends. He has taken on the roll of Dexter Protector, and he beats up anyone who tries to play too rough with "his" puppy.

And if I don't feel like loading everyone up in the car, we just play on our own property, which backs onto the dikes.

In the Jungle


The Mighty Jungle


The Puppy Creeps Tonight


Somebody comes from real sheepdog stock.


Now that he is getting kind of coordinated, like a real dog, he is all crouchy, creepy and stalky. It's very amusing to watch.

And he is getting braver too. He now tumbles merrily down the hills without fear. This is because he wants to follow his big brother and sister into the grass pit. The grass pit is this huge basin flanked by four hills, about the 2/3rds the size of a football field, and full of grasses that are about 5 feet tall. I can amuse myself for eons by lobbing a ball in there from the top of the hill and watching the dogs hunt for it.

Are you sure it's in here, Food Lady?


Tweed always finds it though.


Hours can pass without me seeing more of Wootie than this:


He's usually hunting wildlife. And there's lots of it too!

There are, of course, lots of ducks


Blue herons (this one was standing on my lawn and took off as we approached the house)


Yesterday I saw 4 snow geese circling the farm way up in the air. And two nights ago I could hear an owl "who who-who whoing" in the trees, so I went outside with a flashlight and saw him sitting at the top of a pine right outside my front door. How cool is that?

Yup, we are really liking it out here so far, kind of a surprise to The Food Lady, who likes her city comforts.

I always knew this would be awesome. I'm smart.


Are you just going to let him tell lies like that, Food Lady?


Come on, kid. Let me give you some more advice. Follow me, and you won't go wrong.


Should I be listening to this guy??