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Sunday, September 28, 2014

Tank Update and a Belated Thank You

Most of you know my week was devoted to getting my Mother's water tank replaced.  The project is finally done!  We just need to do some minor clean up and rebuild the back deck.  Our wonderful neighbor put up a temporary deck for my Mom - we were all worried she'd step out the back door and fall.
We salvaged the railing from the old porch.  Right now it is forming a barrier around the exposed tank just in case the horses get loose.  We  don't want them stepping on the new tank and caving it in.

Now that the tank project is done, I can move on to catching up on some of these belated thank you's I need to send out.  The first one goes to our dear friend Goose over at the Gospel of Goose.  Waaaaaay back when (July!!!!), Goose had a contest where we all had a chance to win our very own asses.  He had a whole collection of them, and was hoping to rehome them.  We were lucky enough to win our very own Kiss Ass! 

She's been patiently waiting in her box for me.  Goose had warned me that the asses were not intended for canine play - our pups thought otherwise...
Box?  Must be ours!
There was a wonderful note with it:
Thank you!
They dove in just as I was trying to take a picture of it... 
Hey!
After some wrestling and reminding them what "drop it" and "leave it" means, Harlow decided she could sit for a picture with it.  Monty disappeared, not doubt to make more of my socks disappear.
It'll die soon as your back is turned, Momma...
Thank you so much for our Kiss Ass, Goose!  We will make sure to put her in a doggy-proof place!

Monday, September 22, 2014

It's not always about the dogs...

I actually had plans for a Monday morning post.  You see, I'm supposed to be at the Grand Canyon teaching a class on our facility maintenance program.  I was going to write a post up with some very belated thank yous.

It doesn't always go as planned.

Saturday morning I headed out to my Mom's to feed the horses.  As I was walking around I kept hearing the sound of running water, but couldn't figure out why.  That's when I discovered this:
Insert bad words here.
This was bad.  Mom's house water comes from a well.  Her holding tank had caved in, probably due to age and the recent flooding we've had.  After a quick panicky moment I called a very wonderful neighbor and explained the situation.  Aaron and I do not have the equipment to deal with what had happened - we needed help.  The neighbor came over, took a look, and summed it up.  "It's gotta come out."  Easier said then done - this tank is under a wooden deck, as well as any access by equipment was hindered by a 40 year old pine that died over the summer.
My heroes and neighbors - Shawn, Roger, Wally and Tristan
Seriously, if you don't know your neighbors - go out and introduce yourselves.  This would have been a total nightmare if they hadn't stepped in.

The first step was getting rid of the tree.
I held my breath here.
 Next was the porch.  The guys had the idea of cutting it away in one piece and hopefully reinstalling it when the new tank was dropped in.  The porch needed replacing anyway - I wasn't sorry to see it go.
Heave!
We got our first clear glimpse of the hole.  With all the activity it had caved in a little more.
I also found out this weekend I have a phobia to water filled holes in the ground.
After capping the water and pulling the electrics off the tank, we started to dig into the tank.
This had to happen - when you are dealing with this much water, a gusher has to occur.
We stopped after exposing the tank.  The dirt kept caving in and there were some concerns that the A/C unit would drop into the hole.  That board is keeping the unit from falling in.
In which we discover the root of the problem, or at least part of the cause.
This was a natural stopping point on Saturday.  We dropped a pump into the tank and started to suck the remaining water out.

Sunday morning was beautiful...
Our goal today was to get the old tank out and dig the hole down.  We couldn't do anything to purchase a new tank till today (Monday).
The tank in the horse corral.
Those are my Friesian girls in the back ground.  They didn't care what was happening.  Take the tree down?  Not interesting.  Drop what was left of a 2500 gallon steel tank in the pen?  Boring...

Today I'm tank shopping - not as cool as it sounds.  We are estimating it will take us a couple of days to get this completed.  I saw very little of my pups this weekend, but spent a lot of time with my Mom's chihuahua...
It's a dog blog - here's a dog...

Wish us luck!

Saturday, September 20, 2014

One year

It's been one year since we lost our Sam.  It hurts as much today as it did then.  Here is a link to the tribute I wrote for him, if you would like to read it.
Oh, Sammy

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Throwback Thursday - Sam Edition

I'm not competitive, but I love spending a day with my dogs.  Sam enjoyed agility so much.  He was always happiest when he was making me happy - we were the perfect team!

Harlow and I will be starting agility at the end of September - we can't wait!  


Sunday, September 14, 2014

September Chewy.com review

It's time for our September chewy.com review.  This month we were excited to try a product we had heard good things about - Primal Freeze Dried Turkey Liver Munchies.  This product claims to be grain free, gluten free, no added salt and no added sugar.  It's only ingredient?  Turkey Liver!
Open it, Momma!
 Somebody just woke up from a 100 year power nap and was a little late to the box opening...
What's dis, Momma?
Having very picky pups, it is always interesting how they react to new treats.  They were so excited about these that they nearly knocked me over when I opened the bag.  So they had to sit and pose for the camera first.
Focus on my snooter...
Next time I need to remember to wipe Harlow's mouth...
Is that mud on her lips?

One nice thing about these treats is how easy they are to break into little pieces.  There were several large chunks in there, but I was able to snap them into treat-sized chunks.
INCOMING!
Such a lady!
 I could easily see buying these treats again.  With Harlow's agility coming up I'm thinking of stocking up on a few bags - it will be nice to give her something smelly that doesn't get my hands greasy or slimy!  Definitely a winner in our house.
Yup!

Sunday, September 7, 2014

Sketching Sunday


Whatcha doing, Momma?
Oh, you iz doodling again...
It's not me!
So can't wait for summer to be over...  Nothing exciting happens here...  Zzzzz....
We really can't wait for a little cooler weather to come this way!  Puzzles, doodles, and lots of Netflix going on here.  :)