Dog Drama

February 20, 2022

Hello everybody,

Well, our week started off with a bang. Or, to be more precise, our week started off with growls, barks, yelps and the sounds of teeth tearing flesh. Yep, you guessed it, we had another dog fight between our two girls, Ela & Willow. Ela is in heat again and always ends up pretty crabby for a week or two, and Willow has been attacked over and over by her enough already that she is now pre-emptively attacking her back, so that's always a guarantee for a real, good time! I had just come down the hill from work at 3:30 when Erin usually comes back over from the boss's place to see what I'm up to and we were sitting on the couch talking. She had one of the girls on either side of her and was checking their ears one-at-a-time to see if they needed to be cleaned. Willow went first and was really lounging over her lap when she reached over to check Ela's ears. Ela quite promptly let out a huge, pathetic yelp(like our old girl, Luna, used to do), which caused Willow to jump up and stare at her from about six inches away. Then, the signs began: they both began licking their lips and moving their mouths like they had a whole glass of water in them; their lips curled; then some light snarling; ...and then, wham, they were on each other. Erin had already extricated herself from between them as they sprang off the couch. Me, I grabbed Willow in a headlock and stood her up to try and keep her from attacking Ela. Ela, naturally, was on full attack and had Willow's front, right, upper leg firmly in her mouth and wouldn't let go, like she had been given a tasty ham bone to play with. Erin was doing her best to pull Ela back away from the fray, but she's about as fierce as a cornered badger at moments like this. I slowly walked Willow backwards, still in a headlock, until I got to the side door and was able to quickly throw it open while yanking her away suddenly enough to dislodge Ela. So, after a quick headcount(body count), we saw that only Willow was injured, with five or six puncture wounds in her leg and a gash on her chest. Ela looked like nothing even happened and immediately reverted to her cute, 'how much is that doggy in the window' look because she knew that she was in trouble. We quickly dug the dog crate back out of storage and have been using it ever since, making the girls take turns being in jail, until we can get this heat behind us and get everything back to normal. Other than selling everything that we owned right after our former pack leader, Luna, died and moving 2000 miles away from 2700 sq ft to 900 sq ft, I can't imagine that the dogs' environment would have anything to do with any of this...

So, otherwise, not too much to report on. Erin's still getting ready to get the garden going in full gear soon, but, like all of us, has been crushed by the inertia of life that sometimes befalls us and has been dragging her feet. I've been doing the same with my tractor and buggy chores, as the list keeps growing for all the things that I need to do to work on them. Ditto for the landscaping needs that we need to tackle before we're suddenly hitting 70F some day. Already, 50Fs are normal almost every day, and hitting 60F has already happened a few times. But, just as often, it dips down into the teens and we get a hard freeze and snow for a few days, which is entirely unmotivating, so the circle begins anew, with ever more things to cross off on the to-do list. I'm still awaiting my shift to working construction in Santa Fe, but as of yet, it has not happened. Things keep getting pushed back here with the boss's new house, so who knows when I'll finally make the jump. On top of that, I help Valentin move all the huge flagstones that he cuts and shapes into patio pieces and capstones, and there is so much more of that to do, that I'm sure he'll continue to need my help even as the rest of the work on-site slows down to just subcontractors coming in to do their things. I've already been told that no matter when I get sent to Santa Fe, that I'll still need to be out here on the ranch at least one day every week to clean and help with flagstones. I'm getting ever handier with my circular saw and have been doing quite a bit of carpentry, which I'm enjoying. I'm especially relishing all the blockers, framing and supports that I'm doing that will never be seen, because it will all be covered by sheet rock and dry wall soon! Once you graduate to finish work, it's the Big Leagues then, and everyone can see the final product! Erin keeps threatening to put my skills to use on our own place some day, if we ever buy our own piece of land out here. I think that she has it narrowed down to about a dozen different house styles that she'd like to do for the one house that we will manage to build some day...speaking of her, we've finally come up with enough money to start buying from the food co-op that delivers to Las Vegas, NM. We got once from them about a year ago, but haven't been able to maintain the monthly expenditure, but are now tickled pink to be able to again. Just today, Erin brought home three 25# bags of organic wheat berries(both hard & soft) and rolled oats, so that she has a better quality and better priced source for her bread and baked goods, as she now has the capabilities to grind her own flour! Little by little, she has been piecing her pantry back together over the last fifteen months since we moved out here and had to give away a lot of our preserves before we moved and then tapped into them to live off of for a while once we got out here and the money got thin. Now, dare I say it, we're almost back to full capacity, thanks to my little kitchen witch!

Now, how 'bout another batch of pictures for everyone! First up, a shot of the two of us knuckleheads from last week that this time I digitally manipulated a little bit. Then, two shots of our sluggers, Ela & Willow, out in the big field, looking for game, as another magnificent, Southwestern sunset takes hold. Next, three shots of the horses at one of the morning feedings, this time with me changing it up on them and putting the feed in the old corral. Our favorite, Navajo Cowboy, Emerson, is due back soon and I'm trying to get them in the corral a little more so that I can trap Freedom in there without too much drama...I did try to slide the halter back on her the other day, too, and she just snorted, flashed her eyes, snorted again and then stomped away very dramatically! So, he might need to lasso her again! Then, a series of six shots showing how the horses act when they see dogs near them: first, they're drinking at the trough; then, dogs noticed, they run to the fence; next, they line up in one line and assess the threat(two shots); next, Nanette almost touches noses with Ela; but is then finally discouraged from that course of action by Rosie kicking the shit out of the fence, as forcefully and as loudly as she could, so that the dogs could see what she would do to them if the fence wasn't there...tough neighborhood, right? Then, a shot of the sun setting up at the jobsite, where our finish guy has all of his equipment set up for the trim work. Next, a shot of Barillas to the north from one of the many, daily walks with the dogs. Then, a very old and Southwestern-looking birdhouse that is in the boss's backyard. And, finally, the lights of Las Vegas(NM) coming into view as we rolled into town from the north one night last week.

That's it! Be good and see you soon.