Keeping up with Duchess....

And her name is................

Naming this puppy was by far harder than naming our children.....go figure. Todd was named while Larry & I were still dating. Ty was named in the hospital the day after he was born. Serina was named before we got her (good thing - could we have ever come up with a girl's name????). Trent was named while in the hospital by the second day. Jacob named himself when he was six days old - long story, maybe you've heard it??? Anyway, back to the pup, we tried out lots of names including: Peaches, Patches, Princess, LT for Little Trouble, Arizona (AZ for short), Hoover or Kirby because she sucks up her food like a vacuum cleaner, and others I can't remember. None of them seemed to work for both Larry & I. Then came her name - no input from Larry as I ended up being the one taking 99.9% care of her even though it was Larry's idea to get a puppy. No wonder - he knew his share of the deal was only .01% of the care. So I decided I should have 99.9% input on her name! Anyway, I was visualizing what she would look like as an adult dog and the name that really seemed to fit was ....... Duchess! Now don't you think that goes well with Lady? Thanks for all the suggestions we received! Here are some new pictures of Duchess and Lady:

Duchess has found out how to get on the bed so Lady has no where to hide now. She has her calm moments more now than ever before! Duchess is almost three months old and weighs about 15 lbs. She should be about 40 lbs when fully grown. The way she would like to eat would put her at twice that weight!

Duchess posing to her left

Duchess posing to her right!

December in the desert....

Dale, Carol, and their younger son Austin came to visit for a few days. We took them to Sahuaro Ranch in Glendale to see the palm, fig, & citrus trees as well as the rose garden. It was a beautiful day - 78 degrees and blue skies. We spent an hour or so here enjoying the trees, plants, and birds.

Austin taking some great shots with his camera. He has a great eye for detail and can produce the most wonderful pictures! What talent!

Figs.

There are hundreds of rose varieties at the Sahuaro Ranch! These are some of my favorites. Roses are absolutely my favorite flower!

I was quite impressed with this rooster. He was quite friendly (unlike Zach in Wisconsin) and came fairly close to where I was sitting. Guess they are used to a lot of people in the park and at the library next door where they hang out occasionally. It's especially fun to see the hens and their chicks whenever going to or from the library!

Here's a picture of the pup (notice I didn't say her name - still doesn't have an official name - this week we're considering Patches but because of her two spots on her back I am thinking of calling her Deucey). She loves her Care Bears - all four of them. This one talks when you press its arm and so the pup kept pulling and the Care Bear kept talking. It was fun to watch!

We put up our Christmas decorations the other day. Not as many as some in our area but it is always fun to come home at night and see the lights welcoming us!

No name yet but getting closer....

The morning after we got the pup we went to garage sales and didn't want to leave her home until we were confident she would be okay. Sooooooo she went with us and slept (as puppies do) most of the time we were out and about.

We are still working on names and hope to come up with just the right one soon. Thanks for your input. We'll let you know when she officially has a name.

She is really trying to get on Lady's good side - but Lady is still not sure what to do with this little spitfire. She has been very patient with her. Snickers, on the other hand, has very little tolerance and has used her vocals hissing to let the pup know. I think she is actually warming up though.

The pup has chew toys and while she loves them she has also discovered rocks. See all the rocks? She thinks they are for the mouth!

Here's her mouth. I was trying to take a really cute picture of her but she is like a whirlwind - moving faster than the camera can capture! She yawned just as I snapped this picture.



I decided that the best way to keep rocks out of her mouth would be to take her out in the backyard with her collar and leash. I didn't expect this result.....

She wanted to pull on the leash with her teeth which kept her busy and away from the rocks so this method really did work - just not the way I thought it would!

Lady & the pup posing with me. It only took four or five shots to get one of the pup cooperating enough to see her without the blur!

Time for bed. She is very comfortable in her crate. She pretty much sleeps through the night which is a real blessing anytime a new puppy comes into the home!

Good night!

New addition to our family

This precious little English Springer Spaniel joined our family today! She will be 10 weeks old on Saturday - born September 13th. She is so lovable and softer than I could have ever imagined. Larry has been looking for a puppy for several weeks and we took a 2 hour drive out to Globe, AZ and picked up this little girl. She is still looking for a name so if you want to give a suggestion just leave a comment at the bottom of this post. The breeder said she is a lemon and white - not the more typical liver and white or black and white. Some names we are contemplating are Peaches and Cream and call her Peaches, and.... okay, none of the rest are even in the running as far as I am concerned but Larry disagrees - Sugar & Spice, Snow Globe, White Rose, Rose White, Lemon Drop, Lemon Meringue, Sugar Baby, Sugar Bear, White Satin, Sugar Pie Honey Bunch...See what I mean? We really would appreciate any suggestions you might come up with and be willing to share!

So any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Oh, by the way, Lady went with us to pick out the pup and she is very non-committal about the relationship! She is warming up a little bit. Snickers, on the other hand, is staying her distance. The pup didn't seem to mind Snickers because she was raised with a cat.

More pictures to come.....

Cranberries anyone??????

Somehow I let Larry talk me into getting a picture we didn't have room for and didn't match my color scheme. Silly me. Turns out I loved the picture and made room for it on the wall between our kitchen and family room. That was just the beginning.....well, maybe not the beginning...

It began at a garage sale when he vetoed me and purchased the picture for $5. Okay, no big deal. We could get that out of it - or more - if we couldn't use it. At another garage sale we found the table for another $5 (which I didn't think we needed) but moved another one out of this spot and gave this guy a new home. Well, one thing led to another....meaning I hung the picture and then found hurricane lamps - I mean huge hurricane lamps new in the box at a garage sale for $7 (yeah for all three). Next thing I know I find large candles to fit the hurricane lamps in gold and cranberry for $1 each. What next? Well, who could resist the lamp with a cranberry color lampshade? Not me for $2. Then to tie in the other side of the room with this side I found cranberrry curtains for $1. So I think this room is finished ----- at least for now.

Election Day 2008

The first thing we did this morning was go to our local polling place and cast our votes. See my sticker?













Next we ran errands and ended up buying Lady this Rudolph outfit. She was really not very happy to try it on for size.

Can't you just see the pleasure in her eyes?

Okay, maybe not.

She is telling me she has had enough!

We completed our day with popcorn balls I made ala Dennis. He could make the best popcorn balls and would graciously share them with me (and many others - including our daughter and her family) since I was such a big fan of his wonderful creations!!! Must have been Halloween and the fact that Larry & I each had a not-so-good popcorn ball that triggered my craving for Dennis' popcorn balls. Seems it was about this time of year I would get his gift of five or six that I would joyfully devour!!!! Thanks Dennis!