Making the Furbaby Comfy and Safe

So as I'll post in a day or so on A Cup of Tea with Friends, my military life blog, the new king bed we got for Christmas was delivered on Thursday. It made the mattress higher than usual (about 2.5-feet to the top of the mattress) and now the puppy's steps are too short for him to get on and off easily. Well, last night, the poor guy was trying to climb down using the steps and lost his footing and completely fell off the bed, nearly hitting his head on the crib we'd set up in there recently. It woke me up (since I haven't been sleeping well anyway) and he just lay there dazed and confused.

I checked him to make sure he was o.k. since it was a complete face plant into the carpet (his short legs have problems catching him). About 15-minutes later he climbed back in bed with the steps and got stuck at the top so I got up to help him up the nearly 12-inch gap. He was just shaking at the top step scared to try to hop. It kind of woke my hubby up and I told him Sgt. Major had fallen and was now too scared to climb in bed by himself. Well, that set the agenda for today.

Despite the (upper) 30 degree weather and freezing rain, hubby and I donned our college sweat shirts and warm(-ish) pants and headed to Lowes to get supplied to make a ramp for the puppy. We spent the morning designing it so that it was sturdy, but wide enough for him to turn and fell comfortable going down on. Supply list in hand we headed to Lowes.

After 4-hours of bitter cold and (much) irritation as to how to go about making it (we have DIFFERENT ways of doing things, I am more planning and design and he likes to "wing it"), we finally got the frame done.



As you can see (below), Sgt. Major liked it so much he was willing to walk up the ramp going nowhere and we couldn't get him off of it, even as we tried to wrap it in carpet ...



We did get it fiished though and it turned out great. (The notch is so it fits over the footbaord and snuggle up again the mattress so there is no gap.)

I think in the (distant) future we'll wrap a piece of plywood in the leather like our headboard or stain it a chocolate brown to match the bed, so it looks better, but for now, the pup can safely snuggle in bed with me when he wants.



Until our next cup of tea ...

Family Portrait and A Reading Nook Project

Greetings all! Its a peacefully rainy day here in the deep south and I am sitting here blogging to keep busy while my husband plays games on the XBox and the puppy snores peacfully at my feet. With this in mind, I wanted to share with you a picture of "my two boys".



George is always complaining that the puppy doesn't love him as much, but Sgt. Major is a momma's boy and as anyone with a clingy kid can tell you, sometimes it gets overwhelming. He is always under foot when I am home. When I do dishes, he sits on my feet! Well, one night last week I came into the livingroom to see why they hadn't come to bed yet and this is what I saw.

Sgt. Major had actually fallen asleep on George and he didn't want to move for fear of waking him up. Too funny!

On another note, I wanted to show you the pillow that I finished for my reading nook. Do you see the puppy's kennel across from me. He likes to lay in it and watch me stitch or read ... see, Momma's Boy!



I used one of my favorite fabrics. I am hoping to make a quilt out of what was left, but I ahve to find complimentary fabrics. You can see at the base of the chair is my craft basket. It holds all of my current working projects. I change them monthly so I don't get bored. I have to stay motivated or a project will never get finished.

Until our next visit...

Our First Christmas ...

Well maybe it wasn't our first Christmas, but it was our first Christmas at home. For the past 7 years we've been together, we've spent our holidays traipsing from one Family event to another. Usually 3 a day. It was so exhausting and left us very cranky and lacking any holiday cheer.

This year we stayed home. Christmas Eve we had a candlelight dinner. George had marinated some steaks and I cooked some veggies and we had a nice bottle of wine before watching a movie. I had to wait for him to fall asleep so that the neighbor could bring over the Craftsman tool chest I'd gotten him. It seemed like it took forver to get it across the street and every noise sounded like a cannon. He was alseep in the livingroom so I was sure he'd hear the garage door. But I got it safety tucked in the garage and then woke him up to go to bed.

Christmas morning we woke up and I made pancakes. Actually first I prepared the ham by marinating it in Bourbon before cooking it in a brown sugar and Bourbon glaze. As you may imagine, Sgt. Major was VERY helpful ... all the way to the fridge ... as seen here ...



Then we opened presents. Puppy first ... we got him this oversized bone and a stuffed animal with squeaker. That damn bone turned him into Cujo and now, two days later we still cannot walk into whatever room he is in without him growling an lunging at us. {sigh} He was such a nice boy before that bone turned him eveil. George and I have decided to take it to the garage. We try this every few months. but those stupid bones turn him into an evil pup. Here he is guarding his treasures ...



What a rotten dog, But I digress.

Next it was our turn to exchange gifts. George got me an 80G Zune and new cell phone, both the same color as my computer. I am so excited that all my electronic toys match! (I know, I'm a total dork, but whatever!) I'll post a pic as soon as I am willing to put them down long enough. He also got me 3 of my top 5 holiday movies ... White Christmas (ultimate favorite, I love Bing Crosby!), Miracle on 34th Street and It's a Wonderful Life. I grew up without a TV and my stepmother never let us help with any decorations, she'd put up the stockings and IF we had a tree while we were all sleeping. So when I grew I kind of reverted to trying to recreate those Christmas memories that most people get when they are children.

George got a BlueRay player, two movies to go with it (something about Star Wars Clones and Tropical Thunder), the Craftsman tool chest, a hat from our college to replace the one he lost and a Texas hitchcover for his new truck (Oh, yeah, I'll have to post a picture of that soon too!)

After than we watched movies and ate luch (ham, green bean casserole and yams) at about 1 p.m. After that we just hung out about the house and played with out new toys while trying to stay out of Cujo's way. For desert we had Port (that is some SWEET tasting stuff) and pumpkin pie. It was an absolutely great day!

Until our next visit ...

Merry Christmas ....

Merry Chistmas from Rose Manor and a very disgruntled Santa!

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween! Hopefully ghosts, goblins and ghouls will be in full form tonight.

For me this is a new thing. Until my husband and I married 5 years ago, I'd never celebrated Halloween.

When my husband learned I'd never dressed up, trick-or-treated or carved a pumpkin he set about to remedy that. My first pumpkin carving was in 2005. I had so much fun. This (pumpkin on left) was my first attempt.



That year we also dressed up Sgt. Major as ... a Handome Devil! Obviouly that first year he wasn't happy, but he got used to it when he realized he got more treats ... no tricks!



This was last year, Halloween 2007. Much better participation!



This year will will hand out candy, but we are spending the day at the hosptial with my FIL (story on other blog), but we did attend the Texas Ren. Festival last weekend and I found a drunk pumpkin and thought my cottage visitors would love to see him! Click on the picture to see his droopy eyes! I loved it!



Until our next visit ...