LLEWIS

Llewis is our funny dog. He is silly. He has all these little quirks that the others do not, not even Nigel his littermate brother.

Llewis talks. And once he starts he won't shut up. Walk into a room where he is and you just left and there is a frenzied storm of greeting, always at the top of his lungs, along with rushing to you and nudging you towards the kitchen treat box.

He likes to walk with you, with his head between your legs, which of course makes walking with Llewis a bit tricky.

Physically, he is the smallest and lightest of the dogs but that's good, because of his bum leg and hip we don't want him to weigh much. He works twice as hard to do half as much but never complains and never ---ok, almost never--- loses his cool. But he can. He an Nigel have had some scraps but generally he is the most peace-ful of the four. He doesn't seem to have any hidden agendas and is happy just to be here and get some attention.

It's easy to identify him in the Basset scrum in the backyard: he is always the one with his nose in the air, ahrooing.
He plays very hard, very rough and tumble. This is probably not a good thing but nobody has ever told him he is crippled. As a puppy we took him to a very fine re-hab facility and did all kinds of stuff-- chiropractic, acupuncture--we had a very expensive and high-tech brace made for his back leg, hoping to mold it into the correct position. He took all of this in good spirits and was always glad to see everyone even if they were sticking needles in him. Then the orthopedic surgeon who was also involved said "Take that brace off--the muscles he needs will atrophy. Take him home and let him be a puppy!" and it was the best advice we could have gotten. Now you can barely tell he has a rogue leg unless you are watching carefully.

Here he is with Nigel on the far side, running. You can clearly see the back leg on Llewis is not bent the way it should be, but it doesn't slow him down much.

He has developed some annoying habits over the years. One is not coming in with the other dogs, but waiting until you close the door and then wanting in. He will simply stand there, staring morosely at you as you hold the door and say "Llewis come on. Llewis come on, get a treat. Want a treat? Come in the house." and he doesn't. The second the door is closing, he wants in. Drives me crazy in the winter. I can't really get mad at him. He doesn't bark to come in but simply stands at the door until someone remembers he is out and lets him in. I am ashamed to admit he has spent some long moments outside because of that.

Llewis likes to "help" Cooper eat his treats. Cooper is kind of prissy sometimes. He chews his treats. Consequently, the others, who inhale theirs, are finished while Cooper still has large chunks on the floor. Llewis always makes a beeline for this and for some reason, Cooper never even growls, altho he would take the face off any of the other dogs.

Llewis is not crated at night. In the first place, he cannot stand up to counter cruise or grab things off the table. In the second place, we think his leg begins to hurt when he is stuck in a crate for too long.
Now, when I tell the dogs to get in their crates (for eating, for example) Llewis stands and stares vacantly at me until I finally yell IN YOUR CRATE!!

Oh, is THAT what you wanted? Well, you only told me four times. Besides, you have my dish in your hand: what if I go in my crate and you don't give it to me? Hunh? What about that? (I have never, ever done that.)

                       Llewis getting acquainted with Puppy Conley.

MORNING WITH CONLEY

John's bedroom has always been off-limits to the Bassets. It was Cooper's favorite place, away from the short-legs (there is a gate) and a huge, comfy bed to lounge on.Almost every morning I would go in and have a cuddle-and-scratch session, just with Cooper.

But then he lost that front leg to cancer, and we worried that in jumping off the very high bed, he might do something to the other leg.  So Cooper lost his spot on the bed. I made him a nice place in my room, and almost every morning he comes and gets into my bed for our daily cuddle, while the short-legs are still crated.

Ever mindful of opportunities to upgrade his own social status, this has not gone un-noticed by Conley.
He cannot get over the gate.
But he can whine.

So every morning now, when the dogs realise that John is awake, Conley parks right at the gate and starts to cry. He is very persistent, and he is also very annoying. Sooner or later, he knows, we will cave. And he whips right into the bedroom and waits to be lifted onto the bed, where he cuddles with John for a little bit and then demands MY presence as well.

And so I go into the bedroom for a few minutes of intense belly rubs, ear rubbing, and general lovin'. Then he hops down (he usually jumps before we can grab him, and it's a LONG way down) and gets a treat. (For what I am not sure. But he gets one anyway.)

Who said we were hard to train?

                                       Ok, Treat Time, Now!

This is my adorable son-in-law.
He is having surgery today and so we will be at the peoplespital waiting...and waiting..

I hate this stuff (probably not as much as he), but have lost 4 pounds since all this started.

It means leaving the hounds locked up all day, but that is just the way it goes sometimes. Sorry boys.

THINGS I TRY TO REMEMBER

No matter how bad you think things are, they can always get worse.

Even if your life is falling apart that's no excuse for eating and eating and eating and eating except it makes you feel better somehow.

If you leave your Bassets uncrated while you run two hours worth of errands you better be prepared for what awaits when you walk in the door.

The nice thing about the internet is that someone will always send you something that makes you laugh.

Ulcers are seasonal. And they make you puke without warning.

The Atkins Diet does not include one item of food I have stuffed in my mouth tonight.

No matter how bad things seem, a Basset can always find time to nap.

Conley is the best dog in the world to sleep with. Even Cooper cannot match his cuddlyness. (Cooper stretches out, kicking you off the bed.)

Some horses are almost like dogs. They will do whatever you ask.

But not as cute.

GLASSWORKS GOES HOME

The exhibit is over. There are still some glass pieces at the Gallery but the big stuff left. It was great fun, some work, some frustrations and certainly successful. I loved being part of it, and I loved feeling that I was involved in something that not only benefitted the Gallery, but the Marble City Glassworks and even brought people to town who had not been here before.
I learned a lot about using frozen Hors d'oeuvres in a place with no oven. (Never re-heat them in the microwave: they turn to greasy mush. Mmmm yum.)

The treasure hunt was kind of a bust--only 5 people-- but someone did win it and then stayed to chat and buy and that was nice.

Chris (in the red shirt) and Matt (the other guy) discuss hanging the  bar to hold the pendulum lights.

Matt hooks wires to pipes above the false ceiling to hold the light bar. You couldn't get me up there on that ladder for any amount of money. Well, ok maybe for a very large amount... but you get the idea. This is what the Gallery looked like at the beginning of set-up.

And here is that section with the light bar up and the ornaments and one of Matt's "Bursts" in the foreground. Meanwhile, over in the windows, Chris was setting up his birds:

And finally it was all together, and it was 4pm and time to open the doors, and it was lovely.

Now the company has gone back to Knoxville and we take up our usual lives again. If it warms up just a little I can get the front garden cleaned out and the ornamental grass cut down: maybe I can find the energy to clean out the garden garden and repair or even replace the fencing with something more attractive and dog-proof than what I have. The garden is so pretty when it really comes in...my lilies are up in front and on the south side. I am so pleased that I planted them last year: it is a huge improvement over the junk that had taken over that spot.

Anyway happy spring. And if you need any glass, check out
http://www.marblecityglassworks.com/

They do custom orders, too.

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WHOOPS

I was doing a blog about the glass exhibit but there will be a delay while Google gets it's act together and my photos show up on the page, too.