Sep 26, 2010

Pup Update - 4 Weeks old

There has been so much change in the pups since the last update. Its amazing at how fast these guys are growing and developing. At 4 weeks old they have a full set of milk teeth, are fully weaned eating four meals per day and they love to play and chew.  They had their last feed from Coco-Bean 5 days ago and judging by this photo I think she is quite glad of that.


The pups are now eating semi-solid food and drinking plenty of water from the fountain.



Playtime is fun!




And after all the activity of feeding and playing its time for another nap.




Five of the pups have 'forever homes' to go to at the end of October, leaving just three of the boys to find homes now. Miss Yellow and Miss Rose are going to together to live in the beautiful countryside of Co Mayo and we finally made the decision this week to keep not 1, not 2, but 3 of the pups here with us!!!  I know, I must be crazy I hear you say and Yes, you would be right. I am crazy and I love it.  If we had the facilities to keep them all I would gladly.  Our kennel is big enough to comfortably house 5 fully grown Labradors and we have more than ample land for them to roam and exercise and not forgetting that one of the most beautiful beaches in Ireland is just over a mile away from our house. So then the decision, Who do we keep ??

First choice was obvious for us all:

Mr Bruno
After all we have been through with him it was never an option to let him go. He continues to grow stronger and stronger and has almost caught up with two of his brothers in size and weight tipping the scales at 3lb 4 ounces.

Next up is Miss Pink now known as:

Miss Mia Pinkerton

Still very much the tiniest of the litter she is a special wee darling. Born weighing only 10 ounces she is now weighing in at a staggering . . . .  2lb 10 ounces!  She eats well and makes up for her small size with a full-size personality!  She also has a cute strip of white fur down her chest.

And finally, our No. 3 is Mr Red/Yellow now known as:

Mr Jackson
Jackson was and still is the largest of the litter weighing in at a hefty 5lb 1 ounce.  He looks so much like Max did as a puppy but with the darker coat colouring of his mum Coco-Bean.  You will always find him at the bottom of the pup-pile at nap time. Im sure the others enjoy snuggling up to him.

So, until the next update
Hugs
Dee
xx

Sep 25, 2010

Well Hello . . . . .

Its been a while. My poor neglected blog :(   Life has been 'busy' to say the least and I have so much to blog about.  If I were to catch up with everything in this post Im sure it would go down on record as the longest blog post EVER!    

To start with I have a pup update to blog (very exciting update too :)  ), then the arrival of the chickens to blog about as they have been totally over shadowed by the pups and to top things off there are two 'other' additions to blog about.  Oh the suspense!

Thanks to an unknown virus that decided to pay us a visit this week I have been feeling totally wiped out. It did give me the excuse I needed though to stay in bed and watch back to back episodes of True Blood on DVD which was kindly lent to me by a sweet friend on UKScrappers. So Im back with a vengeance and raring to go . . . .   I'll start with the pup update tomorrow!

Hugs
Dee
xx

Sep 15, 2010

Pup Update - 3 weeks old

Everyone is doing great and doing what pup's should be doing - eating, sleeping, playing a little, eating more, sleeping more.   Some of them have their milk teeth coming through which would probably explain why  Coco-Bean is a little reluctant to feed them at times.  In preparation for weaning at the end of the week we have started to offer the puppies a dish of milk replacement for them to practice lapping. Things got quite messy with all 8 puppies wanting to take a drink at the same time and at one point Miss Pink decided she was going for a swim.  This is a pic of two of them just as they were learning to lap the milk from the dish:


Playtime is becoming more frequent now and its fun to watch as they wobble around and nibble on each others ears. This photo is of Miss Yellow and Miss Rose having a little play time. The arm in the background belongs to my daughter who spends quite a bit of time sitting in the kennel these days :)


And here is little Miss Pink, still the smallest of the bunch weighing in at just under 2lbs. She may well be the smallest but she has a big voice. I took this photo of her as she was 'singing' away during a session of playtime.


And on top of the puppy pile during a friendly scrap handsome Mr Red poses nicely for the camera! 


And finally, Eugene and Bruno having a bonding moment. Bruno has come on leaps and bounds and is now weighing in at 2lbs 2 oz!  He and Miss Pink still have some catching up to do but they are gaining weight steadily each day and hopefully they will make up some lost ground once we start weaning. 


So, until the next update,
Hugs
Dee
xx

Sep 12, 2010

Days 9 & 10 Learn Something New Everyday




Im nearly done with the back-log on this class. I know there is no set deadline but I really want to try to complete the class by doing a day or two at a time as I know if I leave it I probably wont get around to finishing the class at all.

Here are my next 2 days.

Day 9.  The importance of Brand and Colour when it comes to buying football boots


I realised today that when you are 12 there are some very important factors to consider when buying a new pair of football boots. Are they the right brand ?  Are they the current 'in fashion' colour ? A perfectly good pair of black football boots in the sale for £15 or the fashion statement must  have boot that every boy in school has to the tune of £30 ?  Oh decisions, decisions. Yes, buckled under to peer pressure and came home with £30 less in my purse and the right football boots much to the delight of my youngest son.

Day 10. Things are never actually as bad as they first seem


Have you ever been worried about a certain situation to the point that you keep putting something off. Today I faced things head on and realised that things are never actually as bad as they first seem.

Thanks for looking,
Hugs
Dee
xx

Days 4 - 8 . . . Learn Something New Everyday


WARNING: HUGE POST!!

Well, slowly but surely my pages for this class are getting done. While I'm generally happy with the way my book is turning out, I will definitely be doing things differently next year. Preparation before the class starts is a top priority!  

So, that said, here are my next 4 days:

Day 4.   It's OK to delegate


Not something I am comfortable doing usually so this really was a lesson for me. I like to do things myself and be in control so to delegate my duties of looking after CoCo-Bean and her babies to Richard was a hard task. I had spent pretty much the last 3 weeks by CoCo-Beans side and was reluctant to leave for her for long periods. Having a family Baptism to attend meant I was going to be gone all day so Richard offered to step in. When I got home and found that CoCo-Bean and babies were all absolutely fine I realised my lesson for the day was that it's OK to delegate!

Day 5.  To bake in bulk and freeze


I love to bake. Now the kids have gone back to school and we are once again filling lunch boxes it was necessary for me the bake the usual weekly batch of buns. I dont like to freeze things - I dont know why I just never have. Any leftovers go straight into the bin or the dogs! Im the same with microwave ovens - just dont like them :(  

Recently I have been watching Rachel Allen on TV, I love her show. She freezes everything! So I thought I would take one of her tips and bake in bulk. So I spent the day baking various types of cakes and buns and filled the freezer so now I wont have to bake weekly leaving me more time to do something else :) 

Day 6. The spare keys are missing


We lost our car keys this morning. After spending the best part of half an hour looking for them we decided to use the spares and look for the main set  later. Went into the jar where the spare keys are kept and THEY'RE NOT THERE!!  The spare keys are missing too.  Eventually we did find the main set of keys but the Lord only knows where the spares are.

Day 7. I have no will-power when it comes to TKMaxx


I do love a good bargain and even better when it's a craft stash bargain. In town today while doing grocery shopping I went past TKMaxx. Now I know I dont have the budget to be spending on crafty stash this week so do drive on by ? No. I tell myself I will just have a look to see what they have in but I wont buy anything. Do I buy something ? Yes. Could not resist. Had to buy just one thing so I got a four pack of Thickers for £5.99. Bargain. 

Day 8. The difference between Mitosis and Meiosis


My eldest son gets home from school after having a great biology lesson. The first thing he says as he comes through the door - 'Do you know the difference between Mitosis and Meiosis ?'  I reply 'No' So he proceeds to tell me the difference between the two. My lesson for today. 

And just in case any of  you are wondering, Mitosis is how the cells of our body make more cells for growth, development and repair while Meiosis is how our body makes sex cell, or gametes (eggs or sperm). Interesting!

Thanks for bearing with me on the huge post. It feels good to be almost up to date with this.

Hugs
Dee
xx

Sep 9, 2010

Pup Update - 2 weeks old

Time is flying by and the pups are growing at a staggering rate. They are now 2 weeks old and have opened their eyes over the past couple of days and they look even more adorable.   Here are just a few of the pics I took this morning -










In this last photo is the largest pup from the litter - Mr. Yellow/Red and the smallest pup Miss Pink. Would you believe that there is almost a 1lb in weight between them.


till the next update
Hugs
Dee
xxx

Sep 8, 2010

Day 1 - 3 of Learn Something New Everyday . . . .


Well I took the plunge at the last minute and signed-up for this class with Shimelle on wednesday. As if my september is not busy enough already. So I am now frantically playing catch-up as I had nothing planned or organised. I didn't even know exactly what format I was going to do my book. Anyhow, I've been working away at it today and I have managed to finish putting my book together and do my first three pages. I decided to use three paper bag mini albums that I had laying around. I stuck them together and then covered them with an outer cover to hold everything together.

This is how the book looks now:


And a side view:


I still don't have a set format although I did make some date stamps to keep it a bit uniform:


As for my pages, well they are coming together quite randomly, using up some old stash that I have had for a while and my new august ScrapaGoGo kit. I have been keeping notes each day since the 1st September so I have something to follow when I get round to doing my pages, but hopefully I will be up-to-date by this weekend and then I can do a page a day without stress!!

Here are the first 3 days:

Day 1.    I shouldn't leave things until the last minute it only causes me unnecessary stress!



Day 2.   It is a mistake to buy Secondary School Uniform 4 months in advance expecting the kids to grow over the summer!

I am doing my journalling on cards which I have inserted in the pockets of the paperbag album so I can record in more detail the story behind each 'lesson' I learn.



Day 3.  When I have no Internet access my life grinds to a halt
Sad but true! O2 cut-off our broadband signal all weekend and I didn't know what to do with myself
 . . .  lol  


tfl,
Hugs
Dee
xxx

Sep 7, 2010

Pup Update - 11 Days old

I am very pleased to be able to update that No.8 is doing great. He is now officially known as Bruno (as in Frank Bruno) because is he definitely a little fighter. After 8 days of bottle feeding he gain weight and strength so we decided to try to get him to feed from CoCo-Bean as her milk would be so much better for him than the replacement milk. She excepted him back immediately with no fuss apart from a major cleaning session and it was lovely to see him feeding with her and his litter mates. Throughout the day we monitored his feeding to make sure he could compete with the other pups at feed times. He had no problems getting his fair share and it was amazing to think just a few days before he was so sick and weak.
We left him snuggled up in the pup-pile that night and Eugene went out to the kennel at around 3am to check on things and then I got up at 6am. Things are working out much better now and we are both getting some decent sleep again.

All the pups are doing great. Almost all of them have doubled their birth weights with just 2 of them an ounce or two off. Bruno being one of them, which is understandable, and a little girl who was No. 6 born.

In order for me to keep track of them all I have put embroidery thread collars on them in different colours as they all look so alike. They look so cute don't you think ? Bruno is the tiny one on the right with the blue collar. Pup No.6 is also quite tiny compared to her litter mates, she is laying across the top of Bruno's head wearing a Pink collar. The rest are pretty much even with regards to weight with the exception of the big guy who is first on the right.


Bruno snuggled up in the pup-pile

Miss Pink - up close

Coco-Bean and her brood - she is such a good mum. Notice the scratch marks on the kennel wall ? During her contractions CoCo-Bean used the wall as her way of dealing the pain.

Until the next update,
Hugs
Dee
xxx



My Circle Journal has left the building . . . .

Didnt September 1st come around quick. Way back at the beginning of the summer I signed up for my first Circle Journal on UKS. After much umm-ing and ahh-ing to choosing a theme I settle for Heaven & Earth.

Here is my front cover:



My Theme:


My Rules:


My Sign-In Pages:
Complete with my own tag to set the ball rolling.



And the first 2 pages are my own layouts for Heaven:

I would have loved to have met Elvis x

And Earth: 
Who wouldnt want to spend the night in with Wentworth Miller ??


Im looking forward to receiving a new CJ every month and will take photo's as I go to share at the end of the 10 month cycle. There are some great theme in my group so this is going to be fun!

tfl
Hugs
Dee
xxx