Friday, September 30, 2022

Naughty Ike rides alone (Mostly)!

It has been a heck of a month here in the Burg!  We went from blazing sun early in the summer - 90 degrees every day - almost a drought even- to pouring rain nearly every day for 47+ days in a row!  It was about to make everyone in the Valley crazy from the rain - including the dogs!

Brix is allowed on the couch - he is old and has been allowed all along - Ike is not - he chews the plants and the pillows and makes a general mess as well as kicking Brix off the couch and not making room for people!
Brix and Ike are great companions and they get along great - as long as they can get outside and get some exercise daily - especially Ike!  If he don't run - he don't sleep and he is extra naughty when we have to go to work during the day.  Ike is the epitome of "I can do bad all by myself!"  They are a full on comedy team together though!

And then there is this.....what is left of a 15 year old Poinsetta and an 8 year old Greek Myrtle!

Hubby thinks he was only trying to bury a chew bone - so Brix couldn't steal it and since he couldn't be outside! I think he just wanted to dig in drier soil and play with some sticks that weren't water logged!

Almost got them cleaned up and put back together!  They seem to be recovering all right - we shall see as the time goes.

And..... I had round two of Covid at the end of August as well!  This round was worse for me than the first go round and I was pretty laid up for about a week!
Ike is not a fan of reading quietly!  

He does like to snuggle while we sleep though!
I finally put on the "Dog Show" movie - not kidding - it was like when I put on Barney (Rye) or Bob the Builder (Reed) when the boys were little and I was sick and no one could watch them.  TV babysitter!  Ike loves dog movies!  He watched the whole thing and then took a nap!  Thank Goodness!  Dog Show is his favorite so far.  Yes - I am a terrible dog mom!


This is a hole - one of many - that he dug in the yard!  Then he and Brix would take turns laying in them in the heat - presumably to cool off in the soil?

When I hollered at him for digging yet another hole, he pretended he couldn't understand what I was saying - "Huh?"  "Who Me?"
And then.... trying to make up for it by literally sitting on my lap and "helping" me weed!

"Mom!!!! Brix won't let me lay with him on the Nest!!!"  The "Nest" is a floor couch made of a futon mattress and some couch cushions that we made up when Reed shattered his elbow and couldnt "roll out" of a bed.  The kids and dogs all use it - and sometimes I do too depending on how much a wrench my back doing yard work!  Brix sometimes loses patience with Ike - Ike has no idea of his own size and when he is snuggling with people or other pets - he is so heavy that it hurts and you can't get him off of you!  Hubby had to help me the other day when he climbed up on the couch with me and I couldn't get him off of me!

Sometimes he kicks in his sleep too - and his paws hitting you are like getting punched in the face by Muhammed Ali!  No butterfly and I'd rather have a bee! 

Then he gives you a little kiss to make up for it!

And tries to "help" with whatever you are doing!  Look at the size of his head!  He is 8 months old now and weighs about 110 pounds we estimate - because we cant lift him to weigh him properly!

This is how he helps with the dirt from digging potatoes!  He's holding down the tarp that covers my winter soil storage area!  Goooood helper!!  He did help dig the potatoes, and we got about a 5 gallon bucket from our five "hills" of potatoes - I did have to chase him down because he would dig them and run off with them if I didn't get them first!

One hill of "Gold Rush" potatoes - minus the ones with Ike bites in them!

Pepper harvest and part of the potato harvest.

Helping again!

Helping harvest apples now!  We had a good apple harvest here on the farm!  Stay tuned for that post next week!

Brix knows how best to help - lay in the sun and stay out of the way of Ike and any wheeled item or shovel and flying debris!  Keeping in mind that he was a bit naughty when he was younger, and actually ate half an apple tree that I was trying to plant!  Read about it here.  He is much more mellow now and he does try to guide Ike in the ways of the dog, but Ike pretty much give him the "middle finger tongue" also!

Sometimes they are naughty together and wander (or run hells bells) to the neighbors to see what they are doing- luckily the neighbors are mostly nice people who like dogs, and it has even let us meet one of our neighbors who we have a lot in common with so it turned out to be a good thing- just like having the boys is!  

May the sun shine on you more than a bit and your dogs be more joy than naughty!

Blessed Be!