I'm sliding by briefly to update you on my lack of blogging.   Color that excuses if you wish; it's pretty much the truth.

Anyhow, I have been spending far too much time playing games on Facebook and not writing when I have the laptop open; and I haven't been spending that much time at those activities.  what I have been doing, when I've been doing anything besides playing with silly 10-month-old puppies, is still digging in my yard.  I confess to being sick of it most of the time and only digging in a couple of times per week for several hours.  That's enough for anyone, I'd think.  But I still have to move the dirt I've already removed into the semblance of a flower bed against the bank, edge it with rocks in a semblance of a rock wall, and dig up the rest of the dirt in the yard and replace it with gravel.  Once I get that done, then there's the remainder of the pavering.  But I can live with it in gravel until next summer if I must.  Because next summer I have to get more gravel delivered and dig up the driveway side of the ho use to install drainage tile, so I'll do the other digging projects then...to include the rest of the stuff from this year.

What you can't do this year, postpone until the next year.  Works for me!  That, and my favorite motto: "Pay the man the money."  As in, have a pro do the work properly instead of me screwing up, as it'll be cheaper and far less frustrating in the long run!  (I wish I could have done that this year, actually; but I have been enjoying the labor in the yard, for the most part.  It's just getting a bit old, is all!)

On the puppy front, Luger and Chance are 10 months old now.  They are bouncy boys and full of naughtiness.  Luger is full of nervous energy and we have to practically force feed him to keep weight on him, and Chance, with his bad heart, is a bit sluggish and a bit (just a tiny bit) overweight even on less food than his brother.  As I see signs that his heart condition is segueing into the beginning stages of congestive heart failure (trembling, fatigue, hard pulse, tires easily and hard breathing) we are scheduled to see the doggie cardiologist in Portland (a 4 hour drive each way) in early September.  He'll likely end up on diuretics and who knows what-all else, but the scan will inform the doc as to what's going on.  The murmur is much improved, but the extra work the defect creates is nearly always going to eventually lead to congestive heart failure.  So, my boy will likely have a reduced life span, but that doesn't mean he won't live a long and fully functional life with some minor caretaking my his faithful human servants.  (I'm also giving him l-caratine and taurine, which work to promote healthy cardiac function and don't hurt, either.  And probiotics and papaya enzyme for both of them, as better digestion means better use of the extremely expensive kibble they eat.)

Luger has food sensitivities, and I'm still trying to find a kibble that works best for him.  I'm hoping the red meat EVO will do it.  Chicken, wheat, corn, gluten and soy are all out of his diet at the moment but he's got a worsening problem with the yeasty ears, so I haven't found the cause yet, I believe. 

Also, I came up with a really yummy wheat/corn/soy/gluten-free dog cookie recipe.  Even humans can like it.  See below. 

Sorta Hypoallergenic peanut butter molasses dog biscuits

2 Cups old fashioned/rolled oats milled to flour in your food processor
2 Cups buckwheat flour
2 Cups potato flakes (aka instant potatoes)
2 Cups peanut butter
1Cup molasses (or more, to taste)
5-6 eggs

Mix together all ingredients except for 2 of the eggs.  Mix thoroughly.  You should have a slightly sticky dough that you can roll into balls without having it so sticky it sticks to everything like contact cement.  If too wet, add more oats or buckwheat; if too dry, add remaining eggs, one at a time.  If still too dry, add more molasses or a bit of water.  Heat oven to 325.  Roll dough into small balls, about 3/4" across.  Press them into about 3/8" thick discs on the cookie sheet.  Bake at 325 for 8-9 minutes.  NOTE: These will not spread, so you can place them relatively close together. 

This recipe will make at least 8 dozen cookies.  Freeze excess.