Earlier, I showed a snippet of the beginnings of a painting. It was a commission for someone’s birthday gift, so I wanted to wait to show the rest after the birthday girl opened her gift.
Funny, my life has been all dogs, all the time lately. Then I get a job, and it is to paint a dog!
Seem fitting.
The Butterball batch of pups is transitioning to staying out in the breezeway on nice days.
Family was here for a BBQ to enjoy the pretty day and help the babies adjust to leaving their cozy indoor nest.
With so many pups to socialize, I can use all the help I can get. These babies need an abundance of cuddles to grow into extra loving pets.
And we have just the crew to get it done!
Rich and I take turns, two at a time, holding them while watching our favorite tv shows at night. Sugarwings is with us for the next week or so, and I am sure she will take on more than her share.
And this might be a step too far, but I have ordered a hands free baby sling to wear so I always have a puppy with me.
I have 16 babies who all need equal time, and not that many hours in the day without drastic measures!
My husband took a little trip this week, and I had pretty laid time. My watercolors are spread out in the dining room, so I can paint and be near the puppies.
They have kept me company while Rich was away.
Here is a snippet of the painting. I always start with the eyes. I’ll show the finished piece once the recipient gets to see it.
Besides painting, going for walks, playing with puppies, and battling an epic ant invasion, I’ve slowly started to work on getting the babies to intermingle.
It starts with a few play dates, then moves on to mixed cuddle puddles.
Although the play dates aren’t much more than naps yet, anyway.
The Sugarbabies have moved into the main part of our home along with the Butterballs. Sugar is much more possessive of hers than Honey is, so we are taking this slow, with supervised visitations. If I am not with them, Shuggie and the little ones go back to the bathroom nest.
Eventually, they will all be too big (and stinky, and I have to admit, they are edging up on that stinky part pretty fast) to be kept in here.
I have a nursery set up in the garage where they will be at night, then they will have the breezeway to hang out in on nice days with access to the yard.
I have almost finished the first litter’s baby books. The finishing touches will be a photo on the front, and notes about the puppy on the inside.
As well as a 30 day free trial of insurance tucked into the back pocket of the book.
Now that the pups are older, I am telling them apart easier. But that first week? My head was spinning just trying to see who was who to get their weight charts started.
So, I had sketches and notes for each one. Someone suggested that they would make good gifts for the new owners, and I agreed. Since I needed to keep track of info about each pup, I decided to make the paintings into books.
I’ll have the weights and worming/shots schedule in there too. 
The paper features honey bees for the puppies’ mom, Honey.
I bought supplies to make them for The Sugarbabies too. Hers has black and white hearts.
The books can be displayed with the painting showing like this. And there is space for the new family to add photos too.
Before the Guncles came to visit, I switched up my mantel for a fall look.
I am glad I did, because I certainly would not have had time to do it now.
Because of this.
And this.
The mantel is about all that looks good in my house right now. We have gone to the dogs.
There is some remote learning going on too. Which takes up most of the downstairs.
And I’ve got my watercolors spread out to work on in here instead of out in the studio so I can be near the babies.
Which is where we all want to be.
During lockdown, it was important to me to keep my house serene and organized. That helped me cope with some of the stress of the situation.
But I think 16 puppies, a homeschooler and a messy house is a pretty lively, fun way to handle a pandemic too. There is some stress for sure (checking on crying newborns throughout the night to make sure they are not cold or smothered, mama dogs needing go out to potty every couple of hours= no sleep, and that homeschooler likes to try to watch TikTok during class), but I can’t complain.
Lively and Fun are two things I need right now.
Honey has babies!
It was a wild ride getting them here. The night before they were born, she started nesting, and decided she did not like the whelping box. Every time we let her out of our sight, she started to dig, including through a wall.
That girl wanted to build a den.
Once we got her settled, she went right to work, and calmly had 8 pups in under 3 hours.
I sat up with her a few more hours, then went to bed.
(There were lots of ups and downs all night, letting her out, feeding her, making sure pups were warm.)
The next morning, we discovered a bonus puppy who came sometime after midnight and I didn’t even notice.
5 girls, 4 boys.
The adventure reminded me of her first litter, when she actually did dig a den to give birth in. Ryan and I had to hunt for cold, wet, pups in the dark with a flashlight.
You can see the story HERE.
When the two dogs went into heat, I wasn’t sure if we should breed them this year. But the thought of fluffy puppies to snuggle was too hard to resist. After losing Ryan, I thought that would be just what I needed to start healing my heart.
In the past, Honey has had a false pregnancy, so I doubled down and had both dogs bred- just in case.
Now, I had two very pregnant dogs, and was ready for all that healing to start as soon as I saw the first baby.
But hearts don’t recovery that simply, do they?
And with Honey’s determination to dig her own nest, it all brought back memories of my son, by my side in the rain, hunting for little puppies. I felt his loss even more, if that is possible. 
Over the next couple of months, I’ll miss him by me as they are fed from a spoon (he laughed at how spoiled they were) and I’ll miss him when I watch our favorite shows with a lap full of pups, knowing he always loved holding the little ones with me in front of the TV and should’ve been there with an armload himself.
But as I tell Sugarwings when she is sad about her uncle, losing a loved one means you need to love the ones around you even more.
Death teaches us how quickly we can lose someone, and we should learn from that, and treasure our time with family.
I know how quickly these next couple of months will go by. In a flash, the puppies will leave to go be loved by others. But for now, I am drying my tears and treasuring these moments with them.
My heart will never heal.
But there is always room in its pieces for love and for puppies.
Well, guess what? Not only did we take Honey to Free State Pedigrees to be bred by Felix, we dropped off Sugar there for a date with her previous beau, Wally.
Oh my.
Am I of a right mind? Two litters at once? And later in the year? I always said I would never have winter puppies, because we have a perfect set up for summer pups. And I believe the babies need fresh air and a place to run (as well as for housebreaking themselves).
But November, when they are old enough to run and wrestle and play outside, can be mild in KS. And I have worked out a plan for keeping them in our garage, with a dog door to get in and out if needed, when it is chilly and at night. Then in the daytime, they will have access to the fenced yard with a bed in the breezeway for their nap times.
And with the two week age difference, I will be able to provide the needed attention at the appropriate growth stages. But I sure will be busy doing it!
Which is just what I need. It has been two months now since my son died. Two months of missing his hugs and the kisses on top of my head. Two months of missing our walks and our laughs together.
An armload of furry sweetness won’t replace Ryan’s hugs. But it will be a very welcome distraction from heartache. Plus, even though both of our dogs were taken to meet their boyfriends, it is never guaranteed that they will have successful dates. It would shatter my hopes if we’d decided against taking Sugar in to see Wally and Honey ended up not having pups after all.
I decided I would rather double my odds. I need some puppies in my world right now. 
This is Wally, the father of the Sugarbabies.
And I think I am not the only one suffering. With the state of the virus spreading now, I am sure there are many people who would love to have a doodle to cheer them up.
We will be offering a discount on pups to families who have been directly affected by Corona.
If you are interested, please check back here for updates. Sugar’s babes will be ready possibly the week of Thanksgiving and will be small to medium F1b goldendoodles. Honey’s will be ready approximately the week of November 15 and will be medium F1 goldendoodles.
Remember the “squishies” I was making in animal shapes from memory foam? Sugarwings got into cutting them up too. But she would take a 10” piece of foam to make a 1” critter. She was really into the snipping part of the craft.
So, I saved all of her trimmings, and thought I would make a dog pillow with it. There weren’t quite enough, but I had another pillow that seen better days that I took apart too. This is about half memory foam, and all of the dogs love it, and want to claim it for their own.
And the dog’s floor pillow matches the other pillows in the room now, it is much prettier than the other dog beds. I might just make some slipcover type pillow cases to dress up the rest of the dog beds.
With five dogs in the house, we have beds strewn from one end of the house to the other. And most are hideous.
Although, sewing isn’t my strong suit- here is my first attempt at making a face mask.
Of course, I am too stubborn to use a pattern, I thought I could just wing it.
uhm, no
After trying it on, and seeing how bad the fit was, I cut it down a bit.
A lot.
It seemed okay.
But it was not.
I couldn’t breathe through it, and felt light headed after a quick trip to the store. So, I ordered some professionally made ones and decided that I would go back to using my sewing machine only for straight lines like making crepe paper ruffles for projects, or easy peasy pillow cases for dogs.
The masks I ordered have arrived and they aren’t even in the same species as the ones I tried to make.
These are silk, and light as a feather on my face. But not tickle-y like a feather would be.
I got five silk masks from Johnny Was for $25, free shipping. For each set they sell, they donate another five to healthcare workers. You don’t get to choose the fabric, and some of the five are prettier than others, but all fit and feel wonderful. The ones I don’t care for are not ugly, just not my style, more Asian than rosy. But still pretty.
And I got a lot of compliments on it at the doctor’s office and even at Costco. Those places are big highlights in my social life now, and I actually put on make up to go to them, it feels like such a special occasion to be out and about!
Makeup isn’t something that gets much use around here, and I don’t mind at all. Will lipstick become a thing of the past now that masks are where it is at? Will we have every day masks and special occasion ones? If so, maybe I should save my silky ones for dress up and wear paper for daily activities?
Funny to admit, but I did feel a little dressed up in my fancy mask. After giving myself a home haircut, It does seem silly to care, huh? But a stylin type mask was kinda nice.
My friend, Mary, who has Sugar’s BIG, and by that, I mean GIANT, brother, Pip, said she’d like to celebrate the doggies’ birthdays.
She and her daughter brought over bones and birthday treats, plus another brother, Wolfie.
The brothers are best friends, who get to have play dates together. They seemed pretty happy to be visiting, and loved exploring the creek.
There was so much excitement that it was hard to get a photo of the whole group.
They all seemed happy to see each other and Honey got a sorta hug from her boy.
He is a lovable guy.
And doesn’t he have the best lashes? 
I always enjoy a dog party of any kind. But during this time of isolation, it was even more fun to see a friend (from a few feet away) and visit with my curly babies out in the sunshine.
It was just what I needed. A day does not go by without me counting my blessings. One thing that I am extra grateful for is that Springtime in Kansas gives me the opportunity to get outside and enjoy these guys, go for walks, work in the yard, and just plain old, breathe in some fresh air.
I hope you are finding joy where you can too.
On our long, long drive to Florida, we made a side trip to Helen, GA. We had family to visit, and were excited to see them, not even knowing what a gorgeous, little tourist town they lived in.
We had unpleasant weather, not the best to be pulling a camper along twisty, mountain curves. But the scenery was still spectacular, if spooky.
Being in a truck with three freshly bathed dogs on a long trip, started out as an adventure.
The rain soon turned it into a wet, muddy mess.
Luckily, our family was made up of understanding, dog people. It all worked out.My SIL, Sharon keeps a mop handy for their big dogs too.
She and I got out to explore the town a shop a little.
The town is on a river in the mountains, and I hope to return in nicer weather for some hiking and floating.
On this visit, we stuck to indoor activities, and I found these fantastic, vintage beaded pieces at the local antique mall.
Most of the trip was spent catching up and chatting in their new, hillside cottage. I was touched to see a plethora of things I’d made over the years.
Like this kitchen island.
Way back when I had a furniture business, I was always building pieces out of scraps of this and that.
I used to paint a lot of trays too.
So many trays, boards, signs, cabinets, whatever had a blank space, got all flowered up.
Well, not always flowers. This cabinet was damaged so I added a mouse hole.
She had an old watercolor of mine too.
It was sweet of her to keep these around.
At the moment, I am recovering from knee surgery. If you tried to get ahold of me to sign up for Bluebirds Song, I will be getting back to you soon.