Henry Makes A Car

A few weeks ago, Betsy and her family were here to spend a few days with us. Henry had previously said that he wanted to build something in my shop when he came--maybe a car. I told him that would be fun and that he should start by drawing a plan for the car he wanted to build. Here is the plan he created. His drawings are the ones on the right. The two on the left are ones I drew to discuss with him how the pieces were to be assembled. Note the several locations in his drawings where he shows a drill is to be used to create the holes for the axles for the wheels. I was impressed with this detailed work.

We started by making some wheels using a hole cutter on my drill press. There is a little movie below that shows Henry at work. Betsy admired her skillful son's work.

Clara just thought it was too noisy.

Here is my grandson making the wheels. I thought it was a little funny that he liked to really crank down on the drill, making some smoke in the process. I should have taught him to pull the hole cutter through the wood a little more slowly, but that can be a lesson for another day, I guess. We failed to get a picture of the finished product. Suffice it to say that Henry made a very nice little car and that he did most of the work himself. I look forward to building other things with him in the future.

A message from Kathie: On October 2nd, I received an email with tragic news about the breeder of my puppy, Tighe. The DesMoines Register carried the headline, "Rural Ogden woman found dead in well; likely tried to save puppy. Click here to read the article.

Marcia touched my life and as the days went by, I wanted to write our story.

MARCIA GAVE ME A GIFT

It was March 2010 when I filled out the Puppy Questionnaire for Marcia King-Brink and Windmill Farm. Now I was driving to Ogden, Iowa to meet Marcia, her dog Keeva, and the four-week-old pups. Keeva was a bit protective of her first litter and wary of me as a stranger. I sat quietly on a bale of hay until she had inspected me and been reassured by Marcia that I was no threat to her young puppies. The “Fabulous Five” were just waking up as Marcia called, “puppy, puppy, puppy…”

Twelve years ago when our Golden Retriever, Murphy, was dying of cancer, I knew I wanted to introduce a puppy to our household before the big dog was gone. I had had a Border Collie mix when I was younger and missed the smartness and working attitude of the herding breed. Murphy was lovable and had a great heart, but intelligence was not his strong suit. I don’t remember how I discovered the English Shepherd breed, but I was lucky enough to find a female ES puppy from a breeder in Florida.

Josey became our “nearly perfect” dog, friendly, fearless, biddable and beautiful. She survived a skunk spray, killed young raccoons, and waited patiently as I pulled Porcupine quills from her muzzle. Last fall, when she was 12 years old, a neighbor’s Husky viciously attacked her. Marcia heard the story of how I bathed her wounds, removed dead hide and bandaged her with baby diapers. The recovery was slow as the winter months crawled by. She was making good progress, when she tore her ACL chasing deer in the February snow. I realized then that her time with us would be limited, and I knew I wasn’t ready to be without an English Shepherd in my life.

Marcia put me on the definite list, and I watched the on-line postings of the pups as they opened their eyes, explored life close to Keeva’s side and were named for comic book super heroes. Because Josey was sable and white, I was partial to the two sable pups, but Marcia had been teaching me about “right fit” for our household. One of the pups would be selected for SAR training (search and rescue), so we had to wait until they had matured enough for that pup to be chosen.

We shared our stories as women commonly do. Both of us were in our fifties and married to older men. Her husband (DH Kenny) farmed, and mine grew up on a farm. I learned that DH sometimes stood for darling husband, and we laughed about the other meanings. I had taken early retirement at age 55, and Marcia said she was thinking of starting phased retirement in January 2012.

In July, Marcia called to ask me if I would like Redstone, the big shaded sable boy in the litter. Of course, my answer was yes. He would become my second English Shadow, registered Tighe Redstone of Windmill Farm.

Marcia continued to counsel me about puppy training and neutering and asked for progress reports and photos. His littermates, Sage, Maya, Topaz and Aurora (Rori) would carry Marcia’s love and training too.

Now, when it is time for Tighe to come to me, “puppy, puppy, puppy” is still his favorite call, and I hear Marcia’s voice as I watch the love and joy in his face as he runs to me.

Sarah & Josh's Big Day

Both Sandy and Betsy have already posted pictures from Sarah and Josh's wedding day. Check out their blogs too. Here are mine, in no special order. I wish I had taken more pictures. For example, here is my newest Swedish great nephew, Oliver William, with his lovely mom. Unfortunately, I didn't get a single picture of Felix.

Clara was resting a bit before the wedding. Later, she danced the night away.

Here is my good looking spouse and my oldest grandson, Henry, the author of books about dinosaurs.

Henry and Clara were willing to pose for me for a change. Sarah and Josh used roses and baby's breath for most of their decorations.

Jessica and Mike came from Nashville. I've never seen a bad picture of the two of them. Great smiles! And in another three plus months, they will be blessing us with another grandchild! Yay!

Cousins from Iowa City and California were also there.

Anders liked the baby's breath. He also danced the night away.

The person who introduced Sarah and Josh to each other gave the opening toast. Sorry, but I don't remember her name.

Here's their first dance as a married couple. They looked terrific. Sarah was so pretty and Josh so handsome, and they really had some moves on the dance floor.

I took this shot from a distance. Neither Anders nor Will probably knows that I took it. I have no idea what they were discussing.

Eleanor and her Pop watched the dancing, but they danced together also.

Eleanor liked the chocolate fountain and made herself some chocolate strawberries.

Cousins! I have so many great pictures of these two darling girls through the years. Here is one more.

Tighe Update

Tighe is now presumably half grown. We like his masked face and his curled tail. He is becoming more mature in his behavior but still has a long way to go.

Sometimes, he is very hungry.

There Is Always More Fun to Be Had at the Lake

Good friends, Dick and Rina, were here for most of last week. Of course there was fishing. Dick just couldn't get enough of it. He prefers to fool fish with plastic rather than try to entice them with meat, as he puts it. (Worms, minnows, leeches.) For him, bass striking a lure, even when they miss, seems to make any outing worthwhile.

Both Rina and Kathie caught nice bass on one trip up the river. (They used meat.)

I love this shot of Dick, who looks the very essence of a north woods fisherman here.

Rina enjoyed herself too. What's not to like about the scenery and the fresh outdoors?

Kathie took this picture of me. I guess I need to shave more often.

There was hot tubbing, with margaritas served by the cabana boy.

There were walks in the woods with Daisy, Josey, and Tighe. Tighe couldn't leave Daisy alone, and she was so tolerant of his constant nipping even though it made her neck sore. Too much puppy still!

There were more nice sunsets while we were out fishing.

Here are Dick and Rina just before they headed for home. Kathie and I enjoyed their visit very much. Hope they can come again next year.

Tighe Is Growing Up

Maybe some of you wonder how Tighe is coming along. On the one hand, he is not very well behaved. He has trouble leaving other dogs alone, although Josey seems usually to succeed in putting him in his place. Stealing things from other dogs is evidently completely justifiable to him. He isn't very obedient, and has a definite mind of his own, although he is learning sit and a few other commands. Everything in the world is available to him for chewing, or so he would believe. Repetition and training may eventually bring him around. He is still a puppy, after all, and at least he seems to be well house broken. His weight is now about 24 pounds, roughly twice what he was when we brought him home. Kathie believes this may have him topping out at about 50 pounds. There is no doubt he is cute.

Kathie succeeded in getting the two dogs to play tug-of-war with each other.

Both dogs like being at the lake. Here they are suggesting that coming back inside would be welcome.

Luna, a neighbor dog, comes to see Josey occasionally. Tighe likes chasing chipmunks and exploring, but he stays close to home for the most part. He accidentally went for a swim in the lake one day, and he seems to like paddling around, but the jury is still out as to how much of a water dog he will be.

Anders' Birthday

On our way back to the lake to spend the month of September, we stopped to see Anders and his parents. Anders has a second birthday coming up, and since we are not going to be able to join the big birthday bash, we thought it would be fun to bring his gifts and celebrate a little early. I made him an easel and a footstool, both of which you can see in use here. He was fond of saying that the footstool let him do pictures "way up high."

I think he is quite the artist.

He appeared to enjoy the gifts.

Will had a dinner to attend the evening we arrived, but while he was away, the rest of us enjoyed some yummy pasta that Sandy whipped up.

The next day, Kathie and I took care of Anders all day, while his preschool was in recess. We had a wonderful time having waffles at the local coffee shop, playing at the playground, playing in the sandbox, and taking wagon and bicycle rides. I forgot to take my camera along when we left the house and missed lots of opportunities for great pictures. I should be ashamed of myself! Later, we spent the evening with Anders so that his folks could go out on a date.

Cubs Lose (So What's New?)

We spent a wonderful few days at the end of last week as the guests of Peter and Mary, our daughter Betsy's parents-in-law. The visit started out with the grandfathers, Peter and myself, building a new sandbox for Henry and Clara. Betsy posted some pictures of that work which you can see by clicking here. All of us also enjoyed some time at Northbrook Days, especially the time spent watching the grandkids enjoy the carnival rides. Betsy also has some pictures about that here.

However, for a baseball fan like me, the time we spent on Friday at the Cubs vs. Cincinnati baseball game was extra good. Peter and Mary had four tickets and invited Kathie and me to join them for the game. Here we are in front of the Harry Carey statue prior to the game.

After downing some beer and brats, the first round anyway, we bothered someone sitting behind us to take this picture.

Here are the friendly confines.

And that unique Wrigley scoreboard, showing Derrek Lee at bat.

And, by golly, here is the man himself.

The Cubs lost 2 to 0, even though they did get men into scoring position several times. Ah, the Cubs... What can you say?

After the all the fun and before we returned home, we all went out for breakfast at a restaurant called Kevin's Place in Deerfield. Clara posed reluctantly with her dear old dad.

Then she admired Kevin, who is quite the entertaining host. Clara was fascinated with his stories and the special attention he gave her (a Minnie Mouse chocolate chip pancake!).

Meanwhile, Henry drew an elaborate picture of three robots for me. (I asked him if I could have it. He said yes.)

And The Name Is...

So after trying out many, many, many, many names, the winner is (drum roll) Tighe, pronounced with a long i and a silent h. It's kind of an English name, I guess, and it seems to fit him. I still think of him as "little buddy", and Kathie says I can call him that also if I want.

I have to admit that I haven't been enthusiastic about getting another dog or going through all the puppy training issues, especially the chewing on everything and the indoor "accidents." But I have to admit that so far, pretty good. Besides, something that can put this kind of smile on your spouse's face has to be a good thing, right?