Rice goop and baths

Ellie has had it!  This morning, being Saturday, she wanted to go for a walk with Geoff and then have a bone.  Routine--she absolutely demanded it!  The puppies were making a racket, and I discovered that indeed, Mr. UPS man had delivered the puppy supplement food yesterday.  Yea!  So I whisked some up with warm water, scrubbed the new puppy pan stickers off, and put them in the pen.  Kirby sat and lapped it up like a big dog (well, he is).  Cloe and Lambie Pie waded in and slurped.  Jasper was befuddled and the rest of the puppies started licking anyone who'd fallen in.  Still, they got covered in sticky rice soup.

Marie, of Linderlabradoodles, who's been my constant advisor (thank heavens), said Ellie would probably clean them up.  But she didn't.  McKenzie and I spent 45 min with washcloths....  She did feed them though.  

Gosh, I can't wait for lunch and dinner!  Think I'll drop my CU course.  I've been looking for an excuse!

Wild Thing and Izzy have been sitting on my lap as I write.  Now Wild Thing has her chin on my typing arm.  She says hi.  She's such a doll.  Should name her Dolly.  She's gone under my neck to snuggle, and is now twitching asleep on my lap.  So sweet.

Did you know that the Honda Element was named Dogcar of the year?  Was going to turn in my other car early and get one yesterday, but stupid Planet Honda put me through the 3 hour haggle, and I had to think about it over a couple of glasses of Chardonnay with Geoff.  Decided to get the Mini Cooper Clubman instead.  I truly love that drive!  So gotta decide on colors--what fun!!! Only it takes months to get one.  So, good thing I started early.

New horses are doing fine, except the well went dry because the sprinkler was on all night.  Hayley took the lemonade pitcher out there to fill up Mondo's automatic waterer.  New horsey, unnamed, took the pitcher and put a hole in it.  That's ok.  It was a dollar special.  No laundry today!  Have to get the well to refill.  

Yep, think I'll just have to drop that course.  

P.S.  Uncle Eddie got ferocious when Geoff called Toby into the puppy pen.  Eddie would have started a brawl if Hayley hadn't stopped him!  He is the true blue protector.  Toby got out of the pen and "woo-wooed" at Eddie, like, "They're not YOUR puppies!" 

 

Babies everywhere!

Hayley and Tanya brought home a horse from Clinton, Oklahoma, yesterday.  Tanya had to drive 18 hours, then still went to Conifer afterwards to pick up a buddy for him (her young arabian).  Both are babies, and Hayley's going to teach them things under Tanya's tutelage.  

Back inside, the puppies are making a racket.  Ellie and the boys had catfish on the grill this morning.  There were some heavy footsteps making rocks slide outside my window last night at 3:30 am.  Could be the bear or a raccoon looking for fish.  I rolled the windows shut, then decided it was probably time for Ellie to feed the babies anyway.  So she did.  Then had a couple of bowls of whole milk and some lamb roll.  When I was little, I had a lamb as a pet, and, like Mary had a little lamb, it did follow me everywhere.  So I don't buy lamb to eat, but Geoff does occasionally.

With every order from JB wholesale pet supply, you get to pick a free gift.  I like the cleaning mitt, but Eddie was happy to get the pink jingle bell ball.  He's crazy about Hayley being home, and keeps dropping the ball down the stairs.  Can't stand it that she goes out to check on the horses without him.  But he's got no horse sense at all.  Stands on his hind legs to meet their muzzles, and soon they'll go out into the pasture.  Then he really has to stay away.  All the doodles have been chased by horses, so they know to stay clear.

Anyway, Kim, here are your photos.  If anyone else has photo requests just let me know thru e-mail:  sunnybanksoul@yahoo.com.

 

Out of the box, into the pen

Out of the whelping box, and into the dining area!  That was the big move yesterday.  

At first Ellie was distressed with it all.  How could she possibly keep track of them?  But after a few hours, she decided that more room meant lots of space to spread out.  She didn't have to worry about rolling on top of somebody while they were nursing.  So, with a cardboard box to jump over, it's easy for her to get in and out whenever she likes.

By evening, Woody kept dropping his yellow rubber ball in the pen, so he'd have an excuse to jump in and investigate this new dining room addition.  Toby is being the perfect gentleman and staying out.  But Uncle Eddie takes his guardianship position quite seriously.  He spends much of the day perched on the cardboard box entry spot, standing sentry duty.  When he does hop in for a look around, the puppies recognize him.  "Old Uncle Eddie, yawn."  But just wait till they get older.  He's the king of toys.  But actually he doesn't like to share them...so we'll see!  But he and Toby and Woods just can't wait till they can play.

 

We've got names

Ta Da!  The puppies are crowned:

• curly choco boy with chest blaze:  Harry Potter
  
• curly choco girl with chest blaze (no white feet):  Nellie
  
• smallest choco girl:  Tinkerbell
  
• choco girl with white necklace on chest, white chin and back white toes:  Josephine
  
• lighter choco girl, very big, and narrow chest blaze and back white feet:  Wild Thing
  
• total choco girl with back white tips on toes:  Scooter
  
• choco girl with big white star blaze and white feet, white chin:  Izzy
  
• 
  
• white girl, leggy and athletic, with smoother coat:  Chloe
  
• white boy, chubby and curly, quiet and content:  Lambie Pie
  
• 
  
• apricot boy, little giant, super chubs, with curly coat:  Kirby
  
• apricot boy, a little less curls, very big, quiet and content:  Jasper
  

More Food!!!

Good lord.  Time to thaw out the Tilapia.  I stopped at Walmart Thursday evening and picked up a big tub of vanilla yogurt, an economy sized bag of chicken leg quarters, 2 large tubs of chicken liver, and a roll of ground beef, plus some whole frozen fish.  Ellie's devoured everything, including a loaf of bread and half of one of those huge tubs of ice cream.  It's only Saturday morning!

The puppies latch on like little piranhas.  I clipped their front nails, which were getting like cat claws.  They are such eager beavers at nursing!  Ellie's awfully patient, but she only goes in to feed them for awhile, then it's back out to lie on the porch, or the cool tile.  She does enjoy her walks!  And a car ride is deliriously wonderful.  

Makes me remember when McKenzie was born, and I never got out of the house.  Had to ask Geoff to go out to lunch at Coal Mine Dragon.  Remember, I felt so relieved to get out, but overwhelmed with taking the baby along.  I think Ellie's fast forwarded to the 3-4 month old period, when you've finally gotten the hang of things.

Skunkles

Ok, we've got to finish naming the chocolate girls.  McKenzie and I named one Josephine because she has a white necklace that's so fancy.  But then we put her down and couldn't figure out which she was--had to give up because Ellie got in the box and started a feeding frenzy.  Any suggestions?

Toby & Woody (with their skunky odor) are scuncles (instead of uncles).

Izzy opens an eye, and a skunk strikes

Izzy (the chocolate girl with the big white star on her chest) opened an eye last night!  Hayley picked her up and held her in front of her face.  Izzy's blue eye looked shocked!  This morning, she's still the only one brave or advanced enough to peek.  All the others are wandering around happily ignorant of what we look like.  A lovely way to be.  

I thought I'd hit a skunk this morning, on my way home from the bus stop.  It reeked of that fullsome scent--a horrid, thick gas.  When I got out of the car, Hayley said the dogs had gotten skunked too.  Geoff was walking them on the path in the woods, and he was afraid they'd actually encountered one, but nobody yelped or anything.  Luckily, it's just an au de cologne air about them, not enough to dose them with tomato juice.  That must have been some skunk party, to spread the scent so far!

Wild turkeys today

Wild turkeys flew up in the woods as we walked this morning.  They must have gotten wind of Ellie's appetite.  She finished off a few chicken quarters this morning, with toast, so she didn't do the Thanksgiving hunt yet.  They did go "gobble gobble" though!

The puppies had their first visitors outside the family today.  Natalie and her mom, Corey, came over.  Ellie didn't really mind, but all the boys (Toby, Woody & Eddie) crowded around the whelping box, so it was hard to get the people in.  Corey is not only writing a columns for the local paper, she also started a novel 2 weeks ago and has several chapters done.  Plus she works and has five children (2 at home still).  Now that's inspiration.  She has also illustrated some children's books.  Good grief!  And I thought I was doing well to learn the computer.

Rainbow Trout on the Grill for Breakfast this Morning

This morning I made fresh rainbow trout on the grill!  Only in Colorado can you find it at the local Safeway.  The valley stretched below, cool and crisp in the early morning.  

Ellie and the boys helped load up the week's garbage in the truck and take it to the dumpster.  Hope the garbage truck gets to it before the bear does!  That darn bear went after a Doritos bag during the week--I thought I'd only put out wastebasket garbage, but McKenzie had some goodies in hers....  So we had stuff strewn around the dumpster.  The good thing was, he also took out a pair of shorts and a shirt that had fallen into Geoff's wastebasket in the closet by mistake.  That's the second time the bear has helped out.  Last summer, Andy threw away a plate that he'd chipped, and the bear licked it clean and left it for me to find.  Now it's the "bear plate", and back on the shelf.

So Ellie's breakfast consisted of a couple of trout, 2 slices buttered wheat bread, and (yea!) she finally ate a little dry puppy food.  Last night she polished off two steaks and bread.  The night before last she woke me at 1 in the morning and led me to the fridge for 2 bowls of vanilla ice cream, bread and butter, and a home baked granola cookie.   But she was so content after breakfast this morning.  She got right back into the whelping box and lay her head on Kirby, the big apricot, as they all nursed.

Ok, Toby, we took the pig rail out!

Ok, with one little chocolate girl almost climbing out of the box, we've taken out the pig rail.  Good advice, Tobes.  Now we just have to make the sides higher!  

At least Ellie's lunch is ready.  She had a pan full of chicken liver, toast with butter, and chicken jerky for breakfast, followed by a stroll to the stable for a drink of water out of the bucket.  I decided to roast two chickens today, since she eats 3/4 of one in a meal!  Poor Eddie, Toby, and Woody (who's favorite thing in the whole world is chicken) have only been getting leftovers.  But as this IS Sunday....enough for all!

Uncle Toby gets pushy

Toby, the big (90 lb) labradoodle, shares guardianship of the puppies with Eddie, the little white Westie.  Each herds the other one away from the whelping box, like "I'm in charge here!"  

Now Ellie has to put up not only with 11 hungry puppies, but also two swaggering, doting uncles.  I'm sure she wishes they'd just go and pull on a stuffed cigar, but no, they have to rush in the door and beat each other to see how the puppies are doing.  Toby just hates it when one gets under the pig rail.  But the puppies love to lie under it.  Just like they'll like to lie under tables and desks later, I suppose.

Still, Uncle Toby is getting way too close to picking a puppy up.  We bump and drag him away from the whelping box, but he sheepishly comes back to dangle his big head over the babies in wonder.

Ellie's digging a gigantic hole under the kitchen window.  I can understand her frustration!