Another Lifetime to go

28th December 2025

It rained most of the morning, not the most pleasant weather to take a puppy outside, and she know it. She had learned the layout of the garden and now she has to explore all of it.

All we want is for her to do her wees and poos so we can get out of the rain.

Now in the evening it’s our chill out time, we watch a bit of tv and hope that our animals do the same. 

Nope! Winnie moves into hyper mode, toys everywhere, she tries to get Phoebe to play but  that doesn’t happen.

I feel our routine has to change to suit the puppy and not the other way round, which is frustrating.

The only saving grace is the number of times she stops, lays on her bed and goes to sleep.

To us, we finally can relax, but it doesn’t last very long.

The furniture business has taken a bit of a hit, but we finally got the matching pair finished and posted. 

Later in the evening they were sold, that was quick work. As far as finding product to work on things have been very lean, we have another long and heavy dresser to work on next.

I finally cut up the to bottom bed ends that have been getting in the way. It was a shame, but no one wants a bottom end. It is the same with mirrors, we have several in the storage room. These would have come with some dressers that be acquired in the past, it seems that our buyers don’t want to see themselves in the morning, actually, I can vouch for that.

Another thing that I have noticed to light quality. There are many “ green” light bulbs that have been pushed over the years, and basically they are crap. Some give a harsh light that is totally unflattering.

For example at the Curragh pup, the light in the gents is really bad, I look a hundred years old, I rush out of there as quickly as I can. The lighting we have is softer, making look like a normal human being. Now what do I really look like? I’ll go for the normal one please.

27th December 2025

Winnie continues to go crazy in the evening, Kelli tries to settle her, and she stops for about ten seconds then wants to go off exploring.

Her toilet activities are quite good, for which she gets rewarded, but I don’t trust her.

Phoebe still keeps her distance, slightly aloof, she resists any attempts to play, she views this small demon as an out of control mad dog.

This is the second day of her treatment, Kelli did a bit of research and found others dog owners had noted the same high activity in the evenings, so the general advice was to give the medication early in the day.

I haven’t watched much news over Christmas, it hasn’t been the same since I learnt the Santa wasn’t real. Even the podcasts are spewing out the same stuff, there is nothing like the re-runs of Only fools and Horses to cheer myself up.

I did hear that Mike DuPree had passed away on the Twenty first of December, I had known Mike since the nineties, and again when he joined International, scouting out manufacturing opportunities in China, sad to hear that news.

I did a bit of clearing in the garden, the old fire pit was belching out smoke from the old wood bits I was burning.

I always enjoy a good burn up, the garden always looks bad at this time of year, and as Kelli doesn’t want anything cut back because they could be the winter habitat for bugs and crawlies.

There hasn’t been any drama in the road, since the noisy jeep man finally moved out. He is a bit of a loser, he cannot keep a job, he often misses work with “ Brown bottle flu”, not the most reliable person.

26th December 2025

The weather today was bloody awful, it was misty, damp and grey, the kind of weather that didn’t give any incentive to do anything.

Later Kelli had a call from the vet to give her the results of the poop test that she organised a couple of day before.

The news was not good, the test found that Winnie has intestinal parasites that needed to be treated as soon as possible.

An appointment was made for the afternoon, the shelter was contacted to advise them that others in the litter might be affected.

So a trip to the vets resulted in a number of powders and tablets that should sort out, but we are face with cleaning, washing anything that Winnie might come into contact with.

As soon as we were back home the first of the treatments were started. 

It was a difficult evening, Winnie was being a bit crazy, was it the result of the medicine or was she just being high spirited? Whatever it was we didn’t appreciate it.

The training of Winnie will test our own level of endurance.

25th December 2025

There were two things to celebrate today, Christmas, and the one week anniversary of Winnie coming home.

I will say that Christmas is more predictable.

Winnie has her moments, it’s really difficult to keep track of her, she is like a ghost. she has her spot in the kitchen, a bed that is her favourite.

She settles on that. I turn around and she has disappeared. “Where the heck is she now?” I’m worried that she has left a wet spot somewhere.

I can look at my phone for a milliseconds, and its

 done.

I get so paranoid that I take her outside every ten minutes. Phoebe has the look that says “ well I knew this would happen”.

The Christmas dinner itself was attended by all the family, an unusual event in itself. It was not the dinner that I’m used to in the UK this was a buffet style where everyone contributes by bringing something, however Greer and Cameron didn’t bring what they should of, which didn’t go down very well with me. That’s all they had to do, and they couldn’t do that.

However the food was ample, and I probably ate too much again. 

And that was that, a quick game of passing presents that you don’t really want verses some that you want, and it was all over.

We rushed back to see if Winnie had filled her cage with smelly stuff, but we were pleased, and somewhat surprised that there was none, a result. For the rest of the evening were were on piss and poo patrol again, but we have survived a week, will we make it to two?

24th December 2025

I’m shattered, having a puppy in the house is exhausting. At the moment Winnie sleeps in between us at night, mainly because we don’t trust her not to mess her bed.

However this means that when she wakes up, someone has to get up and carry her outside. The someone is me, so I usually get woken up at about 2.30am, put on a house coat and somehow find my way into the sunroom and out through the patio doors. I’m not fully awake and often my slippers are on the wrong feet.

It’s not so bad now the snow has gone, but before it was bloody freezing.

I stand around,under the glare of our outside lights, trying to see if Winnie had done something.  Fortunately it is successful most of the time, then it’s getting back to bed, and settling the puppy down, hoping she will sleep again.

If I’m lucky, she will wake again at 6.00am so it’s a repeat of earlier.

We have established a routine that after she eats, sleeps or looks suspicious she gets taken out. She goes out before we eat, and after a walk, it a crazy pattern, but she is getting better, and our powers of observation has vastly improved.

Kelli did a lot of baking, bread rolls and a loaf, I love these Eincorn products, I could eat them straight out of the oven.

23rd December 2025

I think it’s only right that I tell my side of the story as I am the newest member of the family.

I am Winnie, I am a black Labrador mixed with an Australian skunk. The difference between an Australian skunk and a normal one is there is a white stripe down the back whereas mine’s down under. That was a joke that I told my brothers and sisters as we waited in death row at a shelter in Texas. 

Fortunately we were rescued by an animal shelter in Fennville, who then tried to get people to adopt us.

It was a cold and miserable Thursday when these two humans turned up, my brother and I were carried out, and placed in a make shift arena. Along with the two humans came a rather aloof hound, who took no notice of me, she just walked away.

I thought the only way out of this place was to go into my super adorable mode. So then the lady human came over to us, I turned on the dopey eyes and looked super cute, and walked over to her.

This worked a charm, she fell for it, in no time I was being driven back to start a new life. Phoebe, the stuffed up bitch sat in the back seat ignoring me.

Once we had arrived they threw we into tub and doused me with warm water, they muttered something like “ smelt like a tramp” or words to that effect. I must admit it felt good, I just hope they don’t make a habit of it.

Then they let me run around, they had set out a cage in the spare bedroom, but there was no way I was going to sleep in that.

I decided I needed to mark my territory by having a wee, that was not popular, but I gave my cute look, and I think I got away with it.

I was given food and as much water to drink as I liked, this was useful as I had just emptied my bladder.

They tried to take me for a walk, they tied this strap to my new collar, I was not used to this, and I made it know by sitting down and refusing to walk. Therefore I finished up being carried most of the way back.

So it’s been a few days now, and I think I’m getting the hang of fitting in to the routine, I have got used to being carried outside every half an hour where the old human shouts “piss” or “poo”

I don’t have a clue what he’s saying.

Luckily I know where the door is, I just bypass him and wait to be let in.

I have taken over ownership of all the toys, they are a bit ragged, but as I only want to rip them to pieces I don’t mind.

There were two baskets that I have taken over, one was in the sunroom where Phoebe used to sit in front of the heater, the other was the old girls bed.

The only places that I cannot occupy are the bed and the sofa, but it won’t be long before I conquer them.

In the evening the lady human wants me to cuddle up to her, and that’s fine, it when she yells into my ear about being so tiny, I really have to grit my teeth.

Phoebe has started to be more friendly, maybe she has realised that you keep your friends close but your rivals closer.

22nd December 2025

Hello this is Phoebe, I’ve taken over today from the old git. I wanted to give my take on how things have changed for me since this little intruder came into my home.

For the past eight years I was dominated by Dharma, who was a bossy bitch, she ruled the roost, never letting me have any fun.

When she “went away” I thought, Great! I can now do what I want and be the top dog of the household.

Well that lasted all but a week before this strange little thing was carried inside, I thought, “what the heck is going on here?”

I kept my distance, the humans were still giving me attention and treats when I had a piss and poo. I still had all my meals and the leftovers from their evening meals.

Up to now my favourite place was laying on the big bed or sitting by the lady human. That was wonderful until she would reach over and lift me up and kiss me on the head, and talk very loud in my ear, that was my signal to jump off and go over to the old human sitting on the sofa. He would alway make room for me, even though Dharma was on the other side, snoring.

Now I was excited as I could lay anywhere on the sofa without getting growled at.

My other favourite place was the sun room where I had a bed directly in front of the heater, lovely. 

Since this little invader has got her four feet under the table, she uses my bed, she messes with my toys and dominates the time in the evening with the lady human.

I need to exert my dominance, maybe by cunning.

I’ve secretly urged her to wee on the floor, and even take a dump in her bed, I then watch when the humans get excited, and take the little demon outside.

I feel a stranger in my own home, I also realise that I’m knocking on a bit, this invader is a lot quicker on her feet, but I will get my place back as the cute one, these little things are adorable when they’re young, but she will soon get big and ugly, whilst I will remain beautiful.

21st December 2025

We took Winnie to the beach, not that she wanted to go, but I ended up carrying her back to the truck. It was cold, although the sunset was as impressive as ever.

We had two accidents, which was an improvement over yesterday, so hopefully we are on the right track.

It is interesting watching the little one and Phoebe interact with each other, it very casual and playful with the occasional yip.

I managed to prime two matching dressers getting them ready for painting. Things have definitely slow this month, so these need to be done.

20th December 2925

Our entire routine has been disrupted, I have never opened the patio door so often since Winnie arrived, I may have to replace the door track if this goes on any longer.

A lot of the snow has gone and revealed all the dog poo that had been buried, I had great fun collecting it.

We had some errands to do, like getting puppy food from the pet store and picking up toys that Kelli had requested from a local buy nothing web site. We made three stops, the first one had gifted us a duck that was almost new, I thought it was great, and wanted to keep it for myself.

I did a bit of work in the garage, sanding another dresser ready for refinishing.

I was supposed to have a recording session with  Chris, I messaged him to find out when he was coming, he replied with a long diatribe of  woe.

He is having a difficult time in his relationship, I spoke to him later reassuring him that there will be other times when he will not be so stressed.

As a musician, he should take full advantage of his dark time, some of the best music has been written when people have been depressed, so look forward to his forthcoming double album.

19th December 2025

Nobody said it was going to be easy, and it isn’t. Having a new member made you question your sanity. I was out in the falling snow at 4.00am trying to get Winnie to have a piss.

I think we only got about five hours of sleep, which is never ideal for Kelli, but it can only get better once the little critters get into our routine.

I am amazed how much poo comes out of such a small thing, there is masses of it, some we catch and some we don’t.

I am learning the signs to look for now, when it’s little arse looks like a rocket booster that the time to head for the patio door, miss it at your peril.

I had my beer meeting with Lloyd, just the place for a cold drink as the new snow was falling.

It was annoying because there was a thaw happening over the last two days, now it starts all over again.

After that I had to collect another cage from Zeeland, I thought it was Holland, so with the truck driving on fumes, I found the place. It looked like a flower growing nursery. I found the cage outside one of the greenhouses frozen to the ground. I managed to lift it along with a clump of frozen leaves. By now nature, the beer and the cold was calling, so I searched around for a spot to have a slash. Usually everywhere is overlooked, and not convivial to a call of nature.

I did find a convenient spot behind a trailer, so that was done.

Now it was back to Holland to collect a fabric sling that Kelli hoped to carry Winnie around in.

Of course it was dark, and trying to read the house numbers was almost impossible.

I ended up parking the truck and walking up and down the street trying to find this house.

Freezing cold, I did find the place, and the sling stuffed inside a mail box.

By now I was driving on fumes on fumes, so I got to a petrol station just in time. Prices are at their lowest for quite a while at $2.56 a gallon, it will go up again tomorrow, I’m sure.

I believe it is because Trump had the oil from that Venezuelan tanker siphoned out, I suppose that’s one way to do it.