Here is a little bit of information on the upcoming Memphis workshop.
Here is the link to look at what is up or to join us. Relax shacks
You will see on the web link that I am not yet on the list of people that will be there. To tell you the truth I still don’t know what I will be doing there… but I am looking forward to it none-the-less.
Today is the 8th Birthday of Honey’s five children. So we drove the gang up to Guelph on our annual visit to get her together with them. Here is this year’s photo of Honey and her children. Honey was wigged out excited! She really loves Josh and Danny’s human, Deb and I thought for a few minutes that she might lick Deb’s face right off.
Josh, Tippy, Danny, Imp, Minnie and Honey enjoy some time together.
Josh is up on the back of the love seat. From left to right, the dogs are Tippy, Danny, Imp, Minnie and of course their proud mama Honey.
Happy birthday to all of you sweet dogs who make the life of your humans much happier.
I know they all look nothing alike, except for all being dogs, and all being small, but Honey birthed all those puppies (in a single litter in my house) so I know they are siblings. It always has puzzled me that they were SO NOT similar to each other… The only two who look a little similar are the two black girls, but Tippy is half the size of Imp and their coats are different. Tippy has a brush coat which is nearly as soft as a chinchilla and Imp has a horse coat which is more smooth and silky than it is soft.
While I don’t care a wit about breeding and bloodlines, I have long been curious about what was hiding in this little dog family’s woodpile. So I had DNA testing done for one of the babies. I mean how could a dog who appears to be a long hair chihuahua, could have 5 such totally different pups? There 4 distinctive coat types and 4 distinctive markings and non look like their mom. You won’t believe what the DNA says!
The levels run from 1 to 5 – one being the most related and 4 being the least related.
1, Poodle level 2
2, Chihuahua level 4
3, German Shorthaired Pointer level 4
4, Dalmation level 4
5, French Bulldog, level 4
You know, it still makes no sense, so I sent in Honey’s DNA too and I really look forward to a response. It will come in about 6 weeks!
We are in the throws of a weather phenomenon here in Ontario (and elsewhere) called the polar vortex. It was -22 C (-7.6 F) when I got up this morning, but it felt like -35 C (-31 F) this morning and now the temperature is at a nice balmy -19 C (-2.2 F). I am not at THO and I have to admit this is one of the rare occasions where I am happy that I am not.
For those of you who do not live in a cold climate let me tell you that with this kind of cold it goes right into your bones, it is painful. For the dogs it is torture every time they have to go outside because the cold is so deep that it burns their little feet. Our newest rescue lived his entire 5 years locked up in a cage at a puppy mill and is just being house trained now, but for him this cold is new and dreadful. His little feet are not tough so within 10 -15 seconds his body collapses on the ground because the pain in his feet is so deep. We go out with them and carry their tiny collapsed bodies in and treat their feet again with Blistex.
Thankfully there is a warming trend coming, but not before it reaches -40 C (-40 F) tonight, which is ironically where our thermometers meet.
If I already had my wood stove installed I might have actually driven down to THO to stay for a few days. I would go without the dogs though because I don’t know how easy it will be to make the house warm. Knowing it is coming makes me look forward to next winter already. Finding out how it will work has a lot of fills me with anticipation. That I know my Greyworks Stove is on its way makes me very happy indeed! But… I will not install it until the end of the spring rains because I have some unique plans in mind.
Before I close, I want to introduce you all to Dieter, who has been through a lot.
I am thinking of heading down to Tiny House Ontario for a few days to spend new years there. I plan to leave after our house guest Oliver is picked up. Oliver is a King Charles Cavalier spaniel whose family have gone on a trip this year for the holidays. He is an easy guy to have around because most of his time is spent snoring on the dog bed.
The truth is that I am not looking forward to the drive, but I want to see my niece, sister and brother in law over the holidays. Violet will only be little for a while, and right now, she changes so much week to week. It is hard to keep up from 350 km away and I don’t want to miss knowing her.
It will be pig cold at THO but I will set the propane and then go hang out with Violet. After a couple of hours it will be warm (but propane damp) in the house. Depending on the delivery of my wood stove it may be the last time I am there before we actually have a proper heating connected. What I mean is that it is the last time that I will ever really be roughing it in terms of heat. I can’t say that I am unhappy to leave behind winter glamping. Honestly, for me, there is nothing, and I mean nothing glamourous about being cold!
I really wish I had the wood stove already – I can’t believe it took me so long to settle on the right one. I think if it was there I would have spent the whole of Christmas there. I am even looking forward to getting my chainsaw going and ripping up the firewood for next year.
What do you think? Does a weekend here look appealing, or just shockingly cold?
I will leave for Tiny House Ontario tomorrow morning after rush hour. I am going for a few reasons this time. Firstly, I am picking up Joe the three legged street cat in downtown Toronto and driving him to his Foster Home in Kingston Ontario. Poor old Joe was one of the disposable pets out on the street, due to his injury it was extra hard for him to survive. He was rescued in cooperation with Annex Cat Rescue, Project Pet Rescue, and Kingston Animal Rescue. He has been vetted, neutered and will be up for adoption once he is rehabilitated. You can read more about Joe here, or if you are interested in making a donation to help with Joe’s vet bills or his care please do so with one or all of the agencies listed and linked above. Perhaps you would like to adopt him or another homeless animal?
I am also heading to Kingston because I have a show in Battersea Ontario at the United Church. They have invited local talent to come to show and sell their items. The show will be on November 30 from 9-5. I am excited to do this show because there is a lot of free and close parking so I expect a lot of my friends and family to be there. For a lot of people getting into the downtown for market days is just too difficult and stressful, so it will give me an opportunity to show my work to members of my family, and friends who have not yet seen it live! Art work is so much better in person!
Please do come to the show to see the local talent if you are anywhere nearby. Admission is just $5 and I bet you will be able to find wonderful unique gifts for a reasonable cost there.
My most recent work Grandma’s Gift will be shown for the first time.
I am also of course visiting my house and I am very excited about this! We have snow in Kingston now so I will bring along my snowshoes! My cousin Tracey took this photo this morning and allowed me to share it. I look forward to getting out into the magical forest and seeing the changes that Mother Earth has undergone!
Tiny House Ontario 