Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Puppy Piper and a cupola and weathervane for the shed

 My first kiss. 
Piper joined our family almost a week ago, and she is a pure delight! 
She is a golden retriever puppy with a sweet and playful temperament.
 She is 8 weeks old and seems to be pretty smart, in addition to being delightful.  She is doing great on her housebreaking, and sleeping through the night after the first two nights.  No whining or whimpering in her crate either, and I have to say it is because she found it comforting to join Colby.  As soon as we took her out of the car, she seemed a bit flat in spirit....maybe it was the three hour drive.  But as soon as we brought out Colby to meet her, her little tail started wagging, and it hasn't stopped.
 We put in a fence last year so we could let Colby out to do his business in a secure setting.  When we trained Colby for bathroom breaks, we used the x-pen that you see Piper sitting in.  It is the place we plop her down and tell her to do her business.  She is getting an A on her report card so far! After she does her biz, she gets to get outside the pen and play with Colby.
 This view shows the small contained yard we created for the dogs. 
 There is another gate that leads to the back yard and the courtyard.
 Last night both dogs enjoyed being on the other side of the dog yard as I grilled some burgers.
Colby is always hooked up to a long lead when he is in the courtyard side. 
 Piper got to run around and check things out.  So far we can keep up with her....
 In the meantime, it was remarkable and lucky that I located a
 golden retriever weathervane at HomeGoods. 
On the clearance aisle!! 
 Then I shopped my Facebook Yardsale groups for a cupola, and voila! 
 I found a new wooden cupola that seems
 it will look just right up on top of the garden shed.
 This is my next outdoor project, and I think it will look really cute up there.
Remember this image of my shed in Matthew Mead's UPSTYLED HOME Outdoors issue? 
Currently on the shelves, it is packed with ideas.  And I am always adding more things to my outdoor spaces, and trying to improve on the spaces we have established.  The cupola is something I wanted to do FOREVER.  I remember when I was first married to my kids dad, and we had a tiny garage.  I asked him to build me a cupola...he did.  He was busy building it in our basement. One day he came up to have me take a look at how it was coming out.  I went downstairs to see the biggest most enormous cupola I had ever seen!!! OMG.  Our garage was not much bigger than a shed. LOL.  So it never worked out, the scale was all wrong, but like I said, I have been wanting a cupola for a long time.
 Leading to the shed was this old arbor I found on craigslist.  The climbing rose planted last year is doing really well, and it has just started to bloom!  I am training the canes to the arbor and I have no idea if this is how to do it, but I think you just "persuade" the branches to go towards the arbor with garden twine/wire stuff.
 Piper is just so sweet....
I loved trying to catch her in a pose, and she granted my wish.
 She is a little soft furry dollfaced puppy!  
You will be seeing alot more of Piper in the blog.  She is already growing like a weed.
 She stands up in her pen, as if to say, hey I did my business, now let me outta here!
And she holds her own in a gentle tug of war game with Colby.  
Its all dogs around here for much of my day, and it will be that way for awhile.  
I will be lucky to get that cupola installed....but I will give it my best shot.
P.S.  Piper has her own instagram account: 
@pipers_parade if you want to see more of Piper and her progression.

 photo signature_zpsxi5q1w6r.png

9 comments:

  1. That cupola is going to be wonderful with the retriever weathervane! Piper is adorable.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Well hello little Piper! As an owner (or shall I say owned by Goldens) Colby and your family will have endless entertainment and love!
    I too am always searching HomeGoods for Golden items....you hit the jackpot!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Piper sure is a cutie.
    Linda C in Seattle

    ReplyDelete
  4. Piper is perfect! What an adorable face. She and Colby are lucky to have found you to take care of. ;) I have to say, your French style courtyard is one of the prettiest outdoor spaces I've seen, and I look forward to seeing the addition of the cupolas and weather vane installed on the shed.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Well, hello Piper! I hope you share with us the story of why you decided to add to your doggie family and how you found her. All the deets please!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I have to say Amy, I am usually glued to your décor plans. Piper kept me to occupied and throw Colby in the mix, it's over. They seem to love one another very quickly.

    Cindy

    ReplyDelete
  7. The cupola is fabulous, but pretty Piper steals the show! She's absolutely adorable!
    Cindy
    Edith & Evelyn

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh what a sweet post of your sweet Piper and Colby too!....I cannot believe that you found that weathervane at HomeGoods!...Now that was truly meant to be yours! Cupolas...now I wanted one on our house above the garage, but it did not work out...but definitely on the next house!...I love them too and I cannot wait to see yours! May you have many, many wonderful years with your fur babies!!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love her. say the word, and this puppy sitter can sit. your cupola and weather vane finds? incredible, amy. omg. that is going to look incredible. I need a shed in my life. maybe. or a brand new construction modern farmhouse. I'm hopeless really. peace and puppy breath to you, friend.

    ReplyDelete

 
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...