Corgi Coffee

The corgi girls and I went to go get coffee this morning. Well, coffee for me, biscuits for them. They LOVED it. They are both getting along so well-- it warms my heart!

Corgis love water

Maddie loves her kiddie pool. But, we found out (when filling up the kiddie pool) that Roxy LOVES hose water.

And I captured it on video. Watch here: Corgi water video.


Yes, completely ridiculous!

Tree cut-outs!

This is what happens when I get off from work an hour early!

Very exciting stuff. Our lilac trees are now popping up through the new deckboards!

You may notice the old boards on the bottom. That's so no rocks will spill out through the bottom when I fill the tree cutouts with river rock. :)

More to come tomorrow!

Fowl Humor

Good gosh-- I love this. It cracks me up.

Deckboards!

No photos (too dark last night when I finished), but the first 4.5 deckboards are on!!

Ran into a small glitch with the left side of the left lilac tree-- with the trim boards on, there was only one crossbeam for support for two small planks. DRAT. Need to add another support board. Yes, NO ONE will probably ever go back there, but.

Also, right angles and I are not talking. What a pain in the behind.

But, it looks beautiful, if I do say so myself. I was mostly struck by the lilacs. Both Bob and I are REALLY happy that I kept them in. The sight of them coming out the deck is stunning. I also lined their little frames, so that way, we can put river rock in there. That way, when you look down into their cut-outs, you'll see rock, not a pit.

Whew.

Deck progress.

Well, I'm getting there with the deck.

 Even with (or in spite of) all the canine support crew.

The entire deck (in this phase) measures 20' long by 14' deep. I've added support pillars to this section (below) to make this 10'x14' section incredibly sturdy. The other side (next to the part in this photo) still needs additional support. I'm getting really good at ratcheting.

The lilac trees (seen above, poking out) are in full bloom, which makes it pretty sweet-smelling outside and nice. I've completely framed them. I'm going to add some wire mesh which will extend from the wood to the ground. It will completely encircle the trees, that way I can fill those squares up with mulch or river rock. That way, when you look into the small cut-out for the tree, you won't see a pit; you'll see mulch or river rock, which I think will be nice. This area doesn't get a TON of moisture, so I think mulch would work... but I tend to lean on caution and will likely go with river rock.

I realized tonight too that I'll need to add ANOTHER support beam right next to the first and last beams to provide appropriate extra end support for the deckboards. CRUD.

I know this is the hardest section, what with the lilacs, the front door, the two sets of stairs, working around the fence, etc, but sigh. It is a TON of steps to do this sucker right.

Like a bridge over short-legged pups....

Just had to post that tonight? Our new addition, Roxy, walked under our Golden Retriever for the first time. Our other corgi? Does this all the time. Yes, Maddie is a champ at walking under the belly of the much-taller Bailey. But oh, it does wonders for my happy soul to see Roxy now doing it too. Our little new girl is adjusting.

Here's to puppy happiness.

Roxy Girl

This is Roxy. She's a 5-year-old fluffy red-and-white corgi, and she's ours. The golden retriever? Happy happy happy (when is he not?) about this new development. Somehow Maddie, our other corgi, knew this was a permanent interloper addition and she was a tad cool, though that only lasted a couple of hours and now they get along like peaches and cream. Mads just had to let her know who was boss.

She needs to lose about 10 lbs, and she will be getting a teeth-cleaning in the next two weeks (a couple of bad build-up spots that could result in a gum infection if not soon removed). She has slight lower back pain, so we're giving her a small tablet every morning, that way she has no pain and can easily romp around with the other two dogs (and not have it inhibit her weight loss exercise!).

To say she loves being on the bed is an understatement. We've moved our mattress and box springs onto the floor so the corgis can jump up (Mads could already, but we were worried about her someday hurting her back). Mads and Roxy think this is swell. Mads leaves after a few minutes (she likes cold floors), but Roxy turns into a rock and stays for HOURS.

I took the two corgi girls over to a friends house yesterday. LOVE! They had so much fun in the car together and looking out the windows. And yes, they took turns. Roxy got to car surf on the center console on the way back (front paws on the console, back paws on the rear seat), Mads took the side window. They had switched from the set-up they had when driving over! Poor Roxy is a bit plump and when she jumped in the car, she got wedged between the front seat and the back seat and needed a bit of help getting onto the back seat. We're working on that, dear.

Both corgis garble-talk when playing. It's ridiculously cute. And, rather than breaking into a full bark, they both "BUFF!" as a warning half-bark, half-growl. Two buffers! The golden retriever tries to imitate and sounds like a foghorn.

Pretty great. Oh, and here's a video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0w0WBwr0G30&feature=youtu.be

Things are a-happening.

Deck Progress

 

Well, we're getting there. The pathway is so we don't go crazy this next week trying to cross the terrace. The deckboards are our small ones (meant to frame out stairs), but I had to put them on so I could be reminded of the final product. :)

Still need to add more support posts, frame out the trees and stairways, and create a gateway for the gate to the rock stairs before I can add deckboards. 

But, hot damn, I'm getting there....