Last night was unusually warm and we were unusually tired. And sore????!
So I finally let Faulkner and Sadie do what they had been trying to do for the last few weeks they've been in the temp pen while we reconstruct their Dog World-- sleep outside. In the snug brick shed with the upholstered king-of-the-mountain chair and cushy nest. (And the several days' worth of uneaten kibble.)
Because I had seen Sadie actually nose that shed door open yesterday, to let herself into it. It's a new skill for her-- til now F has had to manage all doors they use, and he isn't always happy to let her into a space he is claiming. But every night we have come home late this week, they have put themselves to bed in there and been sleepily reluctant to be brought inside for the night.
Those nights, it was way too cold to leave them, but last night was oddly warm. I had sleeping drugs to take (to catch up from the really insane October it's been), plus early-AM home office tasks to do on deadline, in the upstairs office.
SO! I woke up at 10AM to fresh-brewed coffee, tasks laid out and ready to do, and a working BRAIN. I got in TWO HOURS of quality time with my home work, and came down ready to resume my part of the fencing job and clergy-spouse jobs piling up.
One of the now-two, local chainlink mentors is stopping by later today with some VERY nicely-priced, quality parts to finish up (better quality/price saving me a long drive to Home Depot).
One or two good volunteers will be here tomorrow (rain today, sun tomorrow) to set posts in concrete. I have a few local hardware parts to fetch, at a nearby store I LOVE, and then housecleaning I am actually looking forward to doing because tomorrow night we are hosting our best friends' birthday dinner, who will also be the first guests to enjoy Dog World with us (with their dog).
It's actually turning into a agility/dog park for semi-disabled pet owners. I always wanted to find one, but there is no such thing in these parts. (I just figured out what the king-of-the-mountain platform and the agility ladder will be made out of. We probably have other agility-training equipt I have not even spotted yet.)
The BEST-- and now I will know if people actually READ these posts-- is that I discovered an old stone slab that used to be a stepstone for the house's addition where MudDorm had been. The addition's old front door was permanently closed off at least 15 years ago and it's been hiding behind an overgrown lilac. It's portable, too! It will become an accessible step to the back porch, replacing cinder blocks that wobble (and that can now be used elsewhere).
Whenever we move, we can TAKE MY STEPSTONE as a solid reminder of this place, these people, and this time in our lives. (Musicians will understand that reference.)