Puppies, Zack’s house, weekend work

We had to leave church as quickly as possible last night so Mama and Victoria could be at the house when a group was arriving to pick up one of the puppies. The lady heading the excursion from somewhere in Dallas has a pup from the last litter. She calls him, Boone. He must be a pretty impressive dog because her friends have bought two of Kira’s pups based on the temperament of Boone. I hope the family that came last night loves this pup, Angel, as much as this woman loves Boone. At least they will have her to guide them I training the pup. An additional outcome of the meeting last night was that Victoria agreed to let Kobe be bred by Boone. That would put the pups back up to ¾ Akita. Based on the personality and temperament of the two dogs, they would probably be very good pups. That breeding may take place this month since Kobe is starting her cycle now and should be in standing heat in a week. It will require some travel to get the dogs together but I know Mama is excited about it. I am ambivalent since we now have the place for the birthing and rearing to take place – outside of the house. I do know that this is some good income for Victoria – short-term anyway.

Yesterday at lunch, Zack and I talked a bit about the remodel on the house. He is taking up flooring where needed to replace bad joists and level the floors. He has hit a snag in one area and wanted me to come by to look at what he had uncovered so I could tell him exactly what he was looking at. He was not sure what was supporting what in that corner and did not want to disturb the structure until he was sure he knew what to do with it. I will be meeting him this evening to see if I can help him figure it out. I have wanted to see the house and the progress he has made so far, so this will be a chance to see what he has accomplished in the short time he has owned the property as well as an opportunity to hear his vision for the project as well. He has really thrown himself into the work. Being younger has its definite advantages, but seeing this as his future home is the driving force behind urgency. It is good to see our past project being taken over by someone with the energy and finances – mostly the energy – to get it done.

While I am there, I also needed to look around to see if I could gather some of the old flooring and wall material to use on the raised beds I am building for Mama. The one inch yellow pine will last for many years even in semi-wet service as the support for the base of the raised beds. I have an idea how I want to build them now and hope to get started on the project Saturday. We have enough money set aside for the materials, it is only a matter of setting aside the time. If I can get enough of the old yellow pine to use as supports it will save us at least that amount of material cost – if I can find pieces long enough to use. The challenge then is to fill the beds with soil. That is something I have not figures out yet.

Also included in the weekend plans is loading up our wild cow and her calf so we can get them to the sale barn. The actual sale is not until Monday but we can drop off the cow and calf Saturday and they will be cared for until they are sold. It makes it convenient for us since we do not want to do the drop off on Sunday and neither of us can be free on Monday. It will be glad to be rid of her even though she is not ne that gives us the most problems in normal circumstances. That comes from our “pet” cows since they think they deserve special privileges and are willing to destroy the fences to get the smallest scrap of feed.  Our wild one is, however, very difficult to manage when we need to move the herd from one area to another or doctor them in the Spring and Fall.

It will help me manage the feed better to have two less to feed.