DonnieBrook's Subtropical Adventures 2

Find out who represents your district in the House and Senate. Then, contact them by email or by letter. They have staff assigned to respond to constituents. You never know! They may at least point you in the right direction to get access to some resources you might not already know about. Good luck, Karen!

Well, here's our latest subtropical adventure: Little did we know, when the puppies adopted us, just how many things would change around here! Before, I had a little garden on either side of my sunroom. This is how the garden on the east side looked, with its big Angel Trumpet and other colorful plants........

Then came the idea to cut out a door into the sunroom from what was to become a fenced play yard/potty training facility for two lovely puppies. Next came some research on whether any plants in the dog play yard might be toxic to constantly chewing puppies. The result of that research showed me that the beautiful Angel Trumpet and all the vincas in the "island garden" in the play yard are fatally toxic to dogs. Sooooooo, out came the vinca, and the plants around the new door area got moved into the island garden. The brug got trimmed in preparation for moving to the back of the yard outside the puppy play yard. Here's a rough ideat of how the paver path to/from the door will be laid out. (What is now the middle window will be the new door.)

The two posts on the left side of the sunroom are where the walk-through gate will be. There will be another larger gate for the yard guys to use to mow inside the fence.

Now here's a view of the fence posts that Hank has put in so far: This was taken today. He's about halfway through putting the posts in.

You can see the "island garden" that is being reworked.........

So, that's it for today's progress!

looks like a lot of work!

btw sorry about the frost damage

Looks like you're making some good progress, Louise. Can't wait to see how it looks when finished. I'm sure the pups will love having all that space outside to run around in and get some of their energy out.

Karen

can't wait to see it done... looks like a great start though!

Looks cool. Have fun! Where's my room?

You two have done a lot of work already. Looks like a nice place for the pups.

Hi Bill - yes, more work than we ever thought about when we turned our lives upside down with these sweet little rascals! LOL

Karen - fun to think that you actually saw the "before" in person! You have the unique distinction of being the only DG'er to ever visit us down here. I sure would like to know what happened to Marilyn and Doug. :( In the next week, we have 4 different visits from friends from up there. Wild!

Allison - did you know that Rosy Dawn has a nice ad on the Classified? The problem is that they won't deliver until March....too late for me! They're offering their plants to DG'ers for $3.75 each, plus shipping.

Victor - oh, you've got a room, Baby!!!! Surprise location! LOL

Thanks, Pat. It will look much better when it is finished. Hank hasn't heard about all of my landscape plans yet.....don't want to overwhelm him.....one step at a time! LOL

We got the fence panels today.....had to switch our game plan and go with the white vinyl with the smaller holes. We were going to do the heavy duty PT wood panels for the same price, but the holes were too big to be safe for the girls. Hank bought gate kits, so we'll see how that goes.

Louise, I'm glad I got the chance to visit you guys and see your place. Too bad Marilyn hasn't contacted you. Are any of the 4 future visitors DGers?

Oh, Victor, Louise didn't mention it, but your room is in the doghouse. Better curl up real small!

Karen

LOL, Karen!! No, the one tomorrow is one of Hank's Adirondacks hiking group, and the others are a young guy Hank worked with who loves golf and then the guy who did our reconstruction on our farmhouse and his wife. That's just in the next week! whew!

The puppy yard fence is now "pretty much done" on 2 of the 3 sides. The final side is the more difficult one with 2 custom gates. It will be Wednesday before we can resume work on it. It's not bad for amateurs! LOL (photo to follow when it is not 86 degrees and humid out there!)

Is that true, Louise?!! Actually, I'll take it this time of year!

You sound pretty desperate, Victor! LOL Actually, we should all do as well as these little girls have it! They eat better than I do! And they have numerous comfy places to nestle in. They walk us 3 times a day and Bailey even looks at me if I don't pick up her poop fast enough on a walk. Did I mention that they had venison for dinner? And you all know how that goes against my love of Bambi. LOL

Here's the shot of the progress today. There's one more panel finished that you can't see.

and here is a shot of some of the colorful foliage plants I picked up today to fill in some gaps to replace the poison plants.

new green beans on the horizon.....I planted 2 more pots after the freeze.

geraniums did ok in the freeze without being covered.....

pretty geraniums!!!

Looking good and you are making up for the lost plants, nice. Oh I wish it was time to do that up here as well. Soon now, its not that far away I hope. I think you two have done a terrific job with the pups play yard. Congrats on how well the project is going.

Thank you, Allison and Pat. I appreciate your nice comments. Hank is "studying" the gate instructions, so hopefully he will be able to dive right in on Wednesday after our 2 days of separate guests have left. We got a nice rain this morning, so I'm hoping the supplemental grass seed is about to germinate before the little terrors get going out there.

Looking great, Louise! The pups will be so happy when they have their new play yard. Your flowers are looking good, too.

We got tons of rain here today. Our power went out for about three hours earlier this evening, then had to get the pump restarted and primed. Our brother had to come and help us. Our cellar got a bit flooded, as the sump pump what not working while the power was out. But the pump that needed priming was the one for our well.

I made 2 trips to the beach in Plymouth yesterday to collect rocks for the garden. Many are in the driveway from the last storm. Bet there's more there now. Will have to check in the morning.

Karen

What a great read this thread has been. Love living through someone else's experiences this way.

Louise - the fur babies are adorable. I love them so much! They seem to be bringing you and Hank such happiness.

You GO GIRL DonnieB! And Hank too! It's looking great!

Hi folks---we came home on 2/2 to cold & snow! Sorry we couldn't get to Ft. Myers, Louise----Doug is barely walking on a walker. He had a very bad trip down---he was wearing a knee brace in the wheelchair in the airport---it set off bells in the scanner----the checkers made him stand which he could barely do, took off his belt, chemically swabbed his hands----I was in tears. He pretty much stayed in the house, or next door at our friends' house---I did get him into the golf cart for a few trips around the Villages, but then he got a UTI, was very sick---waited 2 hours at the clinic to be treated---he's still on the meds. Coming home, the shuttle driver sat him on a COLD concrete bench & called SW Air for a wheelchair---thank God he left us the number, because I called twice more---he was sitting on that bench for 45 min. with a UTI ----more tears from me. The weather was less than stellar----sleet on the roofs one morning. I did walk everyday, & bird---logged in 50 species, 2 life listers for me. The plants were in sad shape in the Villages, but a few folks planted pansies which were cheery. I missed the dogs terribly---grandkids, too, but I would have liked to stay through Feb. & experienced better temps. I'm really sorry we couldn't come, but I know this was Doug's last trip, & he needed to be with his college friends.

Robin, sorry to hear Doug had such a hard time. I can't believe they made him stand up at the airport and then left him sitting outside that long, unreal!!!

Were you able to take pics of the birds?

((HUGS)) Robin
So sorry you both had to go through that humiliaton and inconvenience.

Oh, so sorry to hear, Robin.

yes - very sorry to hear, hope he is feeling better

That is such a shame you both had to go through all that. Glad you did get some good from your vacation by watching the birds. Not easy to travels these days and if you are not well it is compounded misery. Hope he feels a bit better soon.

They're so worried about being accused of profiling that they've abandoned all common sense.

Glad that you & doug are back safely & sorry TSA & drivers messed him up. Less time spent on messing up sick people & more on sensible tracking of terrorists would be more protecting of flyers & less handicap difficulties.

Oh, Marilyn, I'm so sorry to hear this. That is just terrible and I so wish you both had not been put through all of that in addition to the cold weather. I do hope Doug is feeling better now and that you have recovered from the trips. We did miss you, but we will see you in the summer somewhere up in New England.

We are housebound at present with two pretty hurtin' little puppies after their spaying yesterday. They are so quiet and uncomfortable. Hopefully they will feel better soon. We had to take their hard cones off and replace them with soft inflatable collars instead. They wouldn't walk with them outside....every time they went to sniff, the things would bang the ground and they'd just freeze and shake. Hard to get them to do their business. I think it is the pain meds making them so quiet and so out of character. I want to hold them and cuddle them, but it hurts.

On a gardening note, I did go out and buy some plants for the new fenced area, knowing that I probably wouldn't be leaving them alone for a few days. Now I just have to get out there and get some of the things in the ground. Photos to follow once things turn around a bit here.

Thanks everyone. Doug is feeling better, & I am, too. So sorry about the pups----spaying is major surgery. Hope they'll be back to their mischevious ways soon!

Thanks, Marilyn. I hope they give us a few calm days once they are on the mend! LOL So glad to hear that you and Doug are doing better. Did your dogs give you the cold shoulder when you returned? I'm sure the grandkids are happy to have you back too!!! Our vet just stopped by and she gave them the thumbs up, which relieved me. They were so excited to see her.

just goes to show caesar milan is right - dogs live in the moment - i would not be happy to see that doc!

Oh my goodness they bounce back so fast after that surgery. Doc had told me to keep my dog from jumping I was like "yeah right"

This was Häagen Dazs, couldn't keep her still when she was a puppy

LOL, Bill!!

Jen - What a cutie!!! Yeah, we are not looking forward to when they are wanting to get back to their puppy antics. They are up and about a lot more today, so I know it's coming!!! This too shall pass, and quickly, I'm sure! All is well as of the moment.

Oh, a real cutie, Jen! Louise, the dogs were ecstatic to see us---Suey has not left my side, she gets traumatized when I leave to go the store! She was abandoned at 7-8 months----she hasn't forgotten, no matter what Caesar says! And I do like his show! Hope the weather is improving for you, Louise---I do miss FL & would have loved to stay, but family calls!

Marilyn - I agree with you....they don't forget, but sometimes with time they can work things through. Most of our dogs have been rescued, and each had some type of issue that was overcome in time. Our Molly that many of you knew, had been terrorized by children when we adopted her. In the beginning she would hide under furniture whenever children were around, but as soon as we had grandkids, I placed them as infants on the rug and invited Molly over. She was not afraid of them and seemed to like being near them. Then as the boys grew older, she kept her bond with them and never showed any fear, even when they were toddlers. They miss her and are looking forward to playing with Bailey and Carli, who WILL give them a run for their money!

Hi Louise!