Grandpuppy Influx

My son’s long, and dedicated campaign to convince his other half that life would not be complete without a puppy culminated yesterday with the arrival of Riggins. My son grew up with two golden retrievers and there was no doubt what kind of dog he wanted. He bombarded the ABFA for nearly a year with a daily picture of cute golden retriever puppies. She eventually succumbed to the effects of the effort, with a number of her friends as well as all of my son’s joining my son’s “team”.

Welcome Riggins!!!

Riggins merged into the family yesterday and represents our first “grandpuppy”. We had a Facetime call with the newly enlarged family and I could tell that Riggins had already conquered two hearts. Anybody who’s had a puppy freshly separated from the litter know last night was probably laced with more than a few bouts of whining but Riggins is fortunate to have these two as his new pack. I couldn’t be happier for them; with this out of the way maybe they can start discussing the whole shortage of grandchildren issue.

The Washer/Dryer Moved From Furthest Corner with Buddy Inspecting Breached Defenses

With recovery operations completed and a day off from work due to the Massachusetts holiday for Patriots’ Day I tackled some outdoor chores on a fabulous spring day. New England is one of the few places you have to have both a lawn mower and snow blower prepped for action at the same time. Less than two weeks ago I was clearing a half foot of snow while yesterday I was cutting the lawn for the first time. Although I am loath to admit it I’m starting to feel the years when it comes to chores, getting tired more faster than I will acknowledge, even to myself. Since we’re giving my son and the ABFA our old washer/dryer combo I had to tunnel into the basement storage to extract them. They were, of course, conveniently placed in the deepest part of the storage. I first had to breach the defenses I’d erected to keep Buddy from burrowing in. My wife forbade me from moving the machines myself but since I had a whole floor between us I ignored the prohibition. It’s one thing to admit to myself I’m not as young as I should be, it’s a whole other thing for someone else to address it.

Wife in the Tree Lot

The rest of the day involved a trip to Home Depot where my wife spent an extended time perusing the tree lot. She’s already deep into planning the landscaping plan for the hill behind our new house. She’s finally going to get one of those flowering ornamental trees she’s dreamed of having. I was dispatched to the new house to take pictures and measurements for the deck – see yesterday’s post for the reasoning behind that. She followed her landscaping effort with a complete and exhausting review of the rooms she wants to paint in the new house. My input was noted and not obviously ignored. This new house is starting to sound like a lot of work prior to move in. Finally I planted some grass seed in my wife’s old dahlia garden and Buddy’s chosen relief spots in the backyard of the current house. Now I’ll just have to devise a system to keep the wonder pooch away from those areas for a couple months. I’ve taken to psyching him up about the presence of squirrels/rabbits in the back yard before I open the door. This sets him charging to the other side of the lawn.

Site of Future Deck

While Riggins is undeniably cute (see picture above) I think the champ is still a certain young lady out in California (see pictures below). I promise the video of her laughing tomorrow. I forgot the necessary cord to download the video today.