Being Fall

Although I wasn't able to pause in this space on the real Fall Equinox, rest assured we had our pumpkin pie, put out our wreath, and opened all the windows to the rainy cool front that blew threw at the perfect moment. We even detoured to pick out our pumpkins (two of which we're hoping will make it all the way to Halloween and become our Jackem' Lanterns).

Suka is obsessed with the little pumpkins on the windowsills, though I think we've convinced her that they're best left alone... for her sake.

It goes without saying around our place, but being in Fall is our favorite kind of being. Welcome Fall!

Right Now

We got a ton of rain about a week ago, and a reoccurring problem reared it's ugly head- a leak around our formal living room fireplace. It appeared gradually, as long hours of rain fell and fell, and as a result we once again had to deal with ugly creosote-brown stains down the walls, puddles on the floors and mantle, and a new casualty- a screwy TV (mounted to the leaky wall).

This leak has been something we've been trying to DIY-handle for over a year, but this past weekend made it obvious we needed to bite the bullet and get some professionals involved. We thought it would just be a matter of taking down the leaky masonry and redoing the outside of the chimney. Once the stone was taken down, however, it became apparent that this was a much bigger problem than what we'd thought.

So Kyle had to take a day off, call a friend, and have his dad up to spot them so they could climb up onto the roof and cut out all the rotting wood and soggy drywall. Then, in the same day, they were able to do a fast rebuild of the structure of the chimney so the pros coming back to finish the job could stay on schedule. We are now almost at the end of this project, with the new finish coming along nicely... and, I'm happy to say, quite waterproof. Good thing, too, because it appears we're in for another round of rain in the near future...

...but can I just say I am so thankful for the handy-ness of the people in our lives, and the willingness of my partner in this life to tackle the tough stuff with his own bare hands!

Never Too Old for Boxes

My kiddos have become concerned about their water bottles looking too "babyish," they want their outfits to be "more mature," and they can stay on point with anyone talking computer games... but give them a couple good-sized boxes, and they just can't resist grabbing crayons and having at 'em. I find comfort in the fact that- at least at this point- they seem like they'll never be too old for boxes.

Unplugged

On Saturday morning (as in September 8th) we woke up to absolutely no internet whatsoever. It took more than a week for the issue to be traced and repaired (and even now it's just a band-aid fix), and in the meantime I got to watch as time was filled with all the lovely things found away from the pull of the screen. Although it was a bit of an obstacle when, say, bills were due or business needed to be conducted, the time spent unplugged well worth the inconvenience... to me, anyway.

Suka's ER Visit

Warning: this post contains photos a bit more graphic than what I usually post, 

including images of wounds pre- and post-stitches. 

Please skip this one if you get ookie at the sight of blood.

🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺🐺

For quite a while now, we have been struggling with some neighbor dogs who run free across fences and down roads and basically wherever they have the inkling. Unfortunately for us, that has meant on many occasions that they're on our property... and more than likely, they're barking us, chasing us, or most recently, antagonizing our dog.

Our dog, for all her faults, only chases them out of her territory, and has never (to the best of our knowledge) been the initiator. They've engaged each other in the past, and at one point that led to a laceration on Suka's shoulder and a bloody snout for one of the others.

However this past weekend things went to a whole new level, and Suka ended up spending 5 hours in the pet ER. It's not clear exactly what went wrong, because per their usual the neighbor dogs came onto our property, Suka responded by chasing them off, they ran into the brush that constitutes our property boundary, and when she came back home she looked like this:

Of course it was a holiday weekend, no normal vet business hours to be had, so off to the ER she was whisked. After intramuscular sutures, staples, and stitches, she's on the road to being good as new. 

Because this was a second engagement- on our property- we went ahead and had all the reports filed, the bills and photos submitted, and one of the two antagonist dogs captured and taken away (we've already tried talking to the neighbor directly and having animal control talk to them without threat of removing the dogs, all for not). Now, like in some weird pet CSI show, I have to go down to the animal control office and identify the confiscated dog as one of the ones that have been harassing us to be able to get on with the process. After that the neighbors will be called on the carpet for this situation and we'll hopefully be well on our way to a satisfactory resolution.

My brave pup was only out of it the first night, and ever since has been charging around the house like she's good as new, crashing in to everything as needed, cone head be damned.

I can honestly say at this point that I'm looking forward to having her back to her fully-functioning, rambunctious, and completely intact self, cone free, and that's no lie. One week down, one week to go. Poor SukaBoo.

Visiting :: Fredericksburg

I took my guy to the Texas Wine Country on his last weekend this side of 40, and we had a great time. We toured a vineyard, 4 wineries, ate off the beaten path for 99% of our meals, joined a wine club that supports an ancient family-owned winery in Israel, and got to hang out with some dear friends while we were at it.

Also, did I mention the impromptu chocolate tasting? Or the olive oil tasting? Because we did that, too.

So.

Good.

But it was mostly a celebration of him, his newly budding interest in fermentation and brewing, and the amazing food one can find with a little research.

It was a splendid farewell to his 30's, if I may say so myself... and what's weird to think about is after this next turn around the sun, I'll have known him for half his life, and loved him for just about as long.

Time flies when you're having fun.