Giant Schnauzers

Our New Front Door

Well, it isn't a new front door but a new edging on the front door.  My husband is incredibly talented and it shows most every day.  We had gotten steel security doors and in the process of putting it in, he had to remove the framing and stucco  that was there since the security door wouldn't fit. The old stucco  wasn't a favorite of ours at all, so Tom decided to take this old cedar barnwood we had gotten off Craigslist from another Marine and cut it to use for the new framing of the door. 

This is the way the front of the house looked before we bought it and moved in.  Tom is at the front door.

This is the way the front of the house looks now after Tom  put up the security door and the cedar barnwood around the door.  We are thinking of doing this to all the windows in the front and then we want to put up some sort of shaded front porch.  Something Western to add more to the Western flavor the house is beginning to have.

And now the door a few days later getting ready for Christmas!  I just love the new look it has.

Giant Schnauzer Behaviors

This afternoon Fiona was standing in the front door looking outside.  Roger and Hank heard the garbage truck coming up the road.  Hank walked to the door and with his head, moved Fiona out of the way.  She moved back and said nothing.  You need to know that our giant schnauzers are nothing if not verbal most of the time.  They talk and grumble and complain like teenagers.

Roger the pepper salt giant schnauzer moved in and moved  Hank to the side and Fiona further back, again with no sounds from anyone. 

Roger stood briefly with Hank and then by himself  like it was his doorway.  This seemed obvious from the back as well as the front I am sure.  Roger just watched the garbage truck outside without a sound until the truck moved on.

That is Schultz in the bottom of the top picture  just watching the process.  Tom says that is what  a Sergeant does... they stand back and observe the underlings at work.  I am not really certain which dog is the underling. 

It was just interesting to watch the body movements of the dogs as they moved in and out of position and never made a sound.

Thank You Veterans!

As this Veteran's Day draws to a close, I just want to thank all of the veterans who make this country so incredibly great!  This evening we were going to go to the Golden Corral Restaurant for a free dinner for hubby as they were offering free meals for vets this evening.  When I called, they said the line was more than a block long so we opted instead for our own meal with contributions from friends who have spent time with us recently.  It was a wonderful meal!

This last week my daughter and granddaughter collected things that a local group is putting together and shipping to the soldiers in Iraq to make their lives a little bit easier.  We contributed a large grocery bag of items as our way of saying thank you.  If you are interested, here is a website where you can find your state and places where you can help support the troops.  http://www.americasupportsyou.mil/americasupportsyou/states.aspx

No matter how you feel about the politics in Washington, these men and women are over there putting their lives on the line 24/7 so that we have our freedoms here.  It is what soldiers have done since this country was founded.

A Craigs' List Stalker

I am not certain when we first discovered Craig's List, but we are avid fans of it.  We have gotten barnwood which really wasn't free.  We had to rent a 24 foot flatbed truck to cart all the "free" barnwood home and hire someone to help load and unload the truck.  There is one 18 foot beam there.

We got the leather Laz-Y-Boy recliner on the list.  We got a five piece set of pine tables and TV cabinet.  We also sold another pine TV cabinet on the list.  This evening while perusing Craig's list, someone posted a big tool chest.  Now my hubby has a bigger one and one identical to this one, BUT while straightening up the garage, he found he has even more tools than he thought.  So he needed another tool chest.  I was the first one to email, so the tool chest is ours.  We purchased a huge evap cooler that now cools our garage/workshop for a fifth of what I bought a smaller one for my old house. 

Off Freecycle we have gotten enormous desert plants to help us landscape our new house.  All we had to do was dig them up and move them.  After we got the first two from this gal, she was so happy the plants were going to a good home, that she called and offered us two more from her mother's yard.  What could we say??  Since we have a large yard, two more were gratefully accepted. 

The above picture is two of the hesperaloe or red yucca that we dug up and moved.

We needed more railroad ties to use in the front for the driveway, and someone needed loads of railroad ties removed.  Now how many people are going to load up and move railroad ties when it is 115 degrees outside.  Did you say they are free?  We will do it.  Well, not me, but dear hubby will.  We did have to hire  some help and rent a stronger trailer than ours, but they ties were free.

We do have a few extra but will fine a place for those.  We found a nursery going out of business and at less than $4 for a five gallon pot, bought many of the landscaping plants we needed.  We found heavy duty metal shelving for the garage, a newer fridge when our fridge went out after being in the new house less than six weeks,  a huge TV only three years old, food grade 55 gallon drums that we built a compost bin from and will use the rest for water storage, and the list goes on.  I have fleeting but passing feelings of guilt, but they are overcome with feelings that I earned these treasures!  I searched and found them.  What can I say?  I love recycling and giving castoffs a good home.  Our attitude has become if it costs too much, wait and we can find it for cheaper or free on Craigslist or Freecycle.