Katie, the Home Wrecker - Girl Interrupted

Author's Note:  This post first appeared on my craft blog, The Seaside Rose Cottage, on June 21, 2010.

Katie (short for On Golden Pond's Katherine Hepburn) is our newest Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. An adorable, almost 10 months old Blenheim, Katie is quite the character.  Her facial expressions tell you exactly what's on her mind and she has attitude with a Capital A. Usually she's loving and playful, smart and cuddly, and she's always finding new and interesting ways to get into mischief.  But she does not like having her "fun" interrupted.

For almost a month now, it seems like every time I turn around, I am finding Katie with a nail or a screw in her mouth.  It's been driving me crazy because we are very careful with little things a dog could swallow.  If she did manage to swallow one, it would be a medical nightmare.

Typically I will hear something going "clink clink" on the wood floor and I'll look down to find Katie playing with a big nail or a short rusty screw.  In the past three weeks I've taken away at least 3 screws and almost a dozen nails. I have gone crazy trying to figure out where she is getting them.

At first I thought that someone must have spilled some in the workshop and that she was somehow getting in there and scavenging. That part of the house is generally off limits to the dogs and the workshop door is not left open so that was a stretch to begin with.  And these were not new nails and screws - in fact, they all appeared used.... as in, old....  with painted or rusted or tarnished tops.  But I couldn't come up with another reasonable, alternate explanation so to be sure, I checked the workshop half a dozen times. For the record, there are no nails or screws lying around there at all, nothing on the floor she could have gotten into, even if she could have morphed her way through the door.

This morning, while I was cooking my husband's breakfast, I heard the familiar "clink clink" again on the wood floor right next to me.  Lo and behold, there was Katie playing with another short rusty screw. I took it away from her, again totally puzzled as to where she'd found it. She was clearly unhappy with me and scowled her indignation.  I saw that same expression many times on my teenagers' faces. Yikes. Wait till she starts asking to borrow the car keys and I say "no". I can imagine the look I'm going to get. 

After breakfast, I went out to clear the last of the breakfast dishes off the table on the deck and there was Katie, on her belly, wiggling and twisting with her snout locked in what appeared to be a kiss with the outside wall of the house where the trim boards overlap the exterior clapboards.  It took a minute for my brain to process what I was seeing – at first, I thought she was having a seizure – and then I did a double take when I realized that she was actually pulling a nail from the cement fiber clapboard siding. 

These nails are flush with the siding and the trim boards, so don't ask me how she was getting her little teeth under the lip of them, but there she was, twisting and pulling, twisting and pulling, until she finally eased the nail out.

I quickly snatched it from her and when I told her "No, no, no!" she gave me a baleful look and then took her sweet time coming inside.  I told her she can't play outside alone anymore if she's going to dismantle the house. And dismantling the house she was; she had removed at least one nail from the lower section of each of the trim boards.  

Checking a little more carefully, I discovered where she is getting all the screws.  She had been raiding hardware from around the frames that support the many sets of sliders we have.  I had not been able to figure out why the kitchen slider kept jamming and wouldn't slide open and close easily.  

These are top of the line Pella doors that always slid smoothly in their tracks, but lately they had been sticking and jamming and it had been a struggle to get them to slide back and forth across the track.  The problem, however, was that the frame and track were loose!   In fact, the frames and tracks were loose on all three sets of sliders that opened onto the deck.  She had dutifully removed virtually every screw that was within her reach around the bottoms and sides of each set of doors.  Since we rarely open the doors from the living – dining room, we had not realized where all the screws were coming from until that morning.

 What a character Katie is!  She gives new meaning to the term "home wrecker".  (Cute though, isn't she.) 

Top photograph:  Unhappy when she can't have her way, she scowls.  

Bottom photograph:   The dogs are not allowed to beg at the dining room table and are expected to nap quietly when the family is eating.  Katie found a way not to beg but still remain under foot by curling up under the table and resting her head on the ornate curved bars that span the table legs.)

Water Garden Visitors: The Mallards are Back

Katie (L) and Toughie (R) monitoring the ducks.

Earlier this month I awoke to raucous barking.  Steve had gotten up earlier than me and let the dogs out and now they were clearly unhappy.  I did a double take when I saw the reason why:  a male and female mallard were swimming in the water garden!

Last spring, they swam in our swimming pool, which kept the dogs running laps around it as they followed them from one end to the other.  The swimming pool is still covered, however, so they chose the next best thing.

Katie and Toughie watched the ducks intently, barking when they swam too close to the fish.  They did not understand that the ducks pose no threat to the fish.

Welcome back, ducks!  But I hope they don't spend a lot of time on our property.  Unfortunately, ducks defecating in the water have been known to be a source of high concentrations of e.coli that has shut down swimming areas in local ponds.  We don't want any bacterial issues in our pond or pool.

The ducks swim contentedly, ignoring the dogs.

I got too close with the camera and they took off.... 

... gracefully flying away.

We don't know for certain that these are the same ducks that visited last year but they are not at all shy around the dogs, barking or not.  They've been back twice to briefly swim laps in the pond.  Mostly we see them flying over the meadow and we can hear them honking.  We think they built their nest and reared their brood in the meadow last year, and suspect they are doing the same this spring as well.

Extreme Weather: Neither Rain nor Hail....

December, 2011

Spring arrived early after a mild winter and while I don't want to appear ungrateful for this marvelously mild and pleasant weather, the impact of this climatological aberrance is not insignificant.

We picked fresh herbs all winter - unheard of in New England, where our herbs (even perennials like mint) are usually dormant and buried under snow from November through February and often well into March and beyond.

In December, the lavender was still green and roses still had buds. This same week the previous year, we had a three day snowstorm that dumped over two feet of new snow on already over-sized snowbanks.

Ordinarily, March brings snow melt that nurtures the spring gardens and fills the ponds, rivers and streams.  But minimal snow and a cumulative rainfall that is a full 8 inches shy of the average amount we would ordinarily have received since January 1 is definitely a cause for concern. For the first time in recent memory, we had public advisories for an elevated fire risk of brush fires in March!

February 4, 2011

The average annual snowfall in our area is about 3.5 feet.

Last year we were snowed in under a total of nearly 9 feet while this year our total accumulation was a fraction of that at under a foot.

It's hard to believe that a year ago, we were digging out from mountains of snow that were higher than our car. 

This year, during that same week in February, the Peggy Martin rose was sprouting leaves and sending forth fresh green shoots and Sweet Autumn clematis wound its way among her canes.

We were harvesting fresh herbs, and rock cress was spreading along the fence near the woodland garden.

When does that happen in Massachusetts in February?

The lack of snow melt and precipitation has been of particular concern.  For weeks there have been warnings of an increased risk of brush fires.  We've watched the water levels of local rivers and creeks drop to unusually low levels.

But in a world where you need to be careful what you wish for, we were stunned when a prediction of rain showers turned into a major hail storm!  Barely an hour after the lettuce, pansies, and ranunculus were firmly tucked into the raised beds on the deck, the heavens opened up and hail pelted down.  The icy covering melted the same day, small comfort to the lettuce that curled up under the barrage.  This hail storm happened on April 12, 2012.

April 12, 2012:  The sky was overcast and showers were predicted.  Suddenly, hail was pelting the driveway, pavement, and flower beds.

We had just finished cleaning out the raised beds on the deck and setting in the ranunculus, pansies, and lettuce.

Before the hailstorm subsided, we had a half inch to an inch of ice covering everything.  Fortunately, it melted within a few hours. But most of the lettuce was a total loss and we had to purchase fresh flats and replant.

The camera captured the force of the ice pellets as they bounced on the deck.

As we are known to say in New England, "If you don't like the weather, wait ten minutes."   Finally, after a wait of nearly two months, our most substantial precipitation yet this winter - just over 4.5 inches of rain - fell over the course of the last two days.  

Two days of rain raised the level of the pond considerably.

The rain was most welcome, but I would have preferred to have had it spread out over a week or two. That much rain all at once brings its own set of concerns.   Torrential rains raised the water level in the koi pond to a problematic high... problematic because it opened up the possibility that our koi could actually jump out of the pond, something that happened once before on the heels of torrential rains.

But with the water over the lowest edging rocks, the koi were able to swim up onto the rocks on the south side of the pond especially, and I was very concerned they would either land on the patio if they jumped, or injure themselves on the rough surface of stones.

Katie (L) and Emily (R) watch the koi.

I need not have worried.  Two of our erstwhile Cavalier King Charles Spaniels appointed themselves Guardians of the Fish and stood watch along the edge of the pond, barking when the koi seemed too close to the edge or jumped up and broke the surface of the water as they explored the new landscape.

Watching them over the course of an hour as I set up the sump to drain away a couple of inches and lower the water to a safer level for the koi, I couldn't help but chuckle at Emily, our 8 year old ruby Cavalier.  She would bravely walk to the edge and lean over to bark at the fish as they swam around.

When one of the koi got too close, Em jumped away and yelped.

But if one swam too close to her rock or - heaven forbid -  jumped up and out of the water in front of her, she'd jump back in fright!

Eventually, Katie, our 2 year old Blenheim, came to her assistance and both dogs spent over two hours patrolling the pond.

Emily is usually able to run around the pond, chasing after the koi as they swim back and forth.  But with the water over the top of some of the rocks, she almost ended up going in for a swim herself.

The koi seemed intrigued by their ability to get within a hair's breadth of the dogs.

Katie, at her sentry post.

Can you see them?  They're right there?

Where are  you....

There you are!

Pearly (L) and Streak (R) were jumping up and flopping back into the water and swimming as close to the rocks in front of the dogs as possible.

One of the butterfly koi, Sherbert, teasing the dogs....

Comet and Goldie, hovering in front of them.... ignoring the barking.  Goldie managed to escape the pond last summer after a similar downpour dramatically raised the water level, scaring Katie half to death.   In fact, it was Katie's barking and howling that alerted me to the situation and I was able to get Goldie safely back in the pond without injury.

  

The way the fish seemed to congregate and show off in front of the dogs, it almost seemed as if they were deliberately teasing them.  Are koi that intelligent, I wonder?

Sour Grapes

 

Mommy, I feel sick.

For the past month, two-year-old Katie, one of our Cavalier King Charles Spaniels,  has had sporadic bouts of unexplained vomiting.  

Although her activity level and appetite and even her bowel pattern remained completely normal, in between eating and playing, Katie has had several episodes where she brought up large amounts of basically nothing… clear liquid and little flecks of nothing recognizable, but nothing that looked suspicious or problematic either. 

Typically, she will come in from playing outside, be very quiet for a while, and then without any warning, vomit once or several times.  

We hadn’t been able to identify a cause or a pattern, and once she vomits, she is generally back to her normal self, appetite and all.   In fact, more than once, she raced right back outside to play, rolling around in the grass or playing "chase" with the other dogs.

She was scheduled for her annual routine physical examination with our family veterinarian three weeks ago.

Although she had not vomited in the two days preceding the appointment, I mentioned it to the vet as it had happened often enough to be concerning.

He checked her over pretty carefully and found her to be in excellent health with no sign of a problem.  He was as mystified as we were and told me to call if she had any further problems, but he found nothing at all abnormal or unusual in her examination or lab work.

 

The answer came unexpectedly when I was out photographing the briar patch last week.   The golden raspberries are ripening and I wanted to get some photographs.   The dogs went out with me and were running and playing under foot, all except for Katie, that is.

When I noticed she wasn’t with the others, I went to check and found her under the grape arbor, standing on tippy toes, snagging clusters of grapes off the vines.   Suddenly, everything made sense.

I scooted her out of the arbor and into the house.  Just inside the door, she vomited up clear fluid and essentially whole grapes.   That was followed by another round of vomiting a half hour later,  with nothing showing in her gastric contents at that point. Clearly, I had my answer.

Grapes and raisins have long been known to be poisonous to dogs.   The earliest sign of a toxic effect from eating grapes is vomiting, and if the dog continues to eat grapes or ingests a large number of grapes, symptoms can progress rapidly and dramatically as kidney failure develops.

The toxicity caused by grapes and raisins can be serious - even lethal.  While one grape is probably not going to be an issue for any dog,  you certainly don't want your dog to develop a fondness for them.   And if they do have a penchant for them, it's one habit you want to nip in the bud.

Katie is a gulper and I think the fact that she didn't really chew them much if at all was her saving grace.   The miracle is that her tummy rejected the grapes almost as soon as she would eat them.   She was probably vomiting the grapes outside before she ever made it indoors, since we never saw any grapes or grape fragments at all in what she brought up before that instance.

It's  exceedingly fortunate that given the number of grapes she was eating, she never developed any other acute gastrointestinal symptoms or signs of kidney involvement.

Steve and I clipped all of the grapes that were within her reach and carefully raked up and picked up the stragglers that had been knocked to the ground by birds and squirrels.   

Prior to this year, none of our dogs ever gave the grape arbor much thought.   They love other fruits and will nibble on strawberries and blueberries and figs, but none of them have ever shown any interest at all in the grapes or any of the other wild berries that the birds like to eat.

Until recently, the grapes that have been produced have been high enough on the lattice to be completely out of their reach.   This year, we added some new vines that produced some low growing sweet green grapes. 

We’ve resolved the problem for the time being, but we will be alert to this in the future.   We are planning on putting a short fence around the arbor in the spring.  At the very least, we will be sure the vines are tied up and that grapes are out of reach,  but a short fence is an inexpensive extra pound of prevention.

When we were shopping earlier in the season, we saw some pretty metal fence sections that have stakes that push into the ground.  That would be an effective, decorative solution.  These dogs are very short and  even a 12-18 inch fence is an adequate barrier.  It's something we can easily step over, but it will keep them safely away from any grapes that might fall on the ground.

Determined not to miss out on her current favorite treat, she snuck over to the arbor and headed straight for where she hoped to find some grapes.   We had been watching where she headed and gave her a stern warning to stay away.

We've had to monitor her carefully, but after three days of being sent up to the deck or brought into the house every time she went near the arbor, she finally has decided that it is probably a good idea to stay away from that corner of the yard.   We don't dare let our guard down though; grape toxicity is nothing to fool with in dogs.

My mom is such a meanie!

She’s not happy that we’ve come between her and the mother-lode of sweet, and her facial expression says it all.

There is no question that the phytonutrients in brightly colored fruits and vegetables are beneficial antioxidants that serve a protective function in both humans and dogs.  But like chocolate, grapes and raisins are definitely off the menu for our furkids, much to Miss Katie’s dismay.

This experience brought us up short.  We are generally pretty  careful pet parents but she was so stealthy, she escaped detection for quite a while.  

But that reminded me that not everything in the garden is either appetizing or safe to eat.   While the birds might be enjoying the berries of the bittersweet, that is another berry that would not be healthy for Katie to snack on.   Before she even got the idea to sample the colorful berries, I went  around the yard, pulling up the bittersweet and relegating it to the compost pile. The birds who enjoy the fruit can get it there, but I don't want Katie to decide to try that as well!

If I were only just a little bit taller.... I can dream, can't I?

But Mom, I was only looking at them. I wasn't going to try to eat any more, honest! It's not fair to make me sit on the deck!

The Best (Outdoor) Room in the House!

We've been enjoying our deck with it's sun-filtering canopy and wind softening side curtains, bubbling fountain, and raised beds and pots.

When we added a few pots and raised beds last year, it was the beginning of a transformation that converted a rarely used, unattractive deck into a warm and welcoming haven that has become one of our favorite "rooms".

Prior to last year,  we primarily used our deck for cooking on the barbecue grill.  The color of the floor boards and style of the railings were uninspiring.

Although we had comfortable furniture, the deck was a vision in gray and tan, totally lacking in aesthetic appeal.  It was not a place we enjoyed spending time.  The umbrella over the table provided little relief from the broiling sun that bakes the deck for most of the day and the settee, although comfortable, wasn't at all inviting when temperature and humidity soared into the 90's.  As far as we were concerned, it was wasted space.

We tried to dress it up with some potted annuals - mostly petunias and fuchsias - but we spent more time tending them than we did relaxing on the deck.  I also grew the climbing rose, "New Dawn" in a pot, hoping it would grow along the rails and posts on the upper section of the deck immediately off the kitchen (the area in the above photograph).

I was hoping for the same lush growth we have on the fence behind the herb garden.  That was not the best idea - it's a very thorny rose and that made it very unpleasant if you were seated next to it and it was hard to move to a more protected area for the winter.

Growing a rose this size in a pot did not yield the same results that we see with the New Dawns we have growing in the garden.  The canes barely extended to reach along one six foot section.  Since it's growth was definitely restricted by the pot, we didn't get the effect  we were hoping for.

Late last summer I transplanted it into the garden where it is much happier and this spring, I planted some hollyhocks along the rails.  We have not given up on potted roses on the deck, but I am finding that miniatures make a much better option for containers and work well with the lavender we have growing there as well.

Frustrated because the rabbits and dogs had eaten most of our tomatoes the previous two summers and impressed with the success some friends of ours had growing them on their patio in large buckets, I decided to give container gardening a serious try.

We found huge, inexpensive, decorative planters on sale at K-mart and there were window boxes to match.  I grabbed a couple of the long window boxes, thinking I would set them along the railing with some herbs.

Then I spotted some inexpensive kits for raised beds made from a composite material.  There were only two left and since the boxes were damaged, they were heavily discounted.  An idea was born and in the space of a morning, a deck garden had begun to take shape.

Two raised bed kits gave us a bed that was 4 feet wide by 12 feet long for vegetables.

We planted sun worshipers like basil and colorful petunias in window boxes along the railing behind the table.

Even the dogs began to spend more time on the deck, especially when the early evening shade gave a respite from the sun.

We added hanging pots of annuals for bright color.  I wanted to create the feeling of a conservatory and so over the course of the summer we watched for sales and markdowns and soon a hydrangea tree and some lilac shrubs took up residence on the deck.

This spring, we added both a lemon tree and a fig tree and we'll be enjoying our favorite recipes this fall as both trees are weighted down with ripening fruit.

Our first year with raised beds was successful beyond our expectations but it was also a learning experience.  I learned that four foot wide raised beds might be great in the garden, but against the side of the deck, they were impossible to maintain.  Reaching the plants in the back meant I had to step into them, and very quickly the dogs decided they wanted to play in them too.

The first beds we planted weren't deep enough and it was difficult to keep them from drying out. Add to that a 2 month drought and it was a daily struggle to sustain our vegetables and herbs.  And they took up so much space it was difficult to arrange the furniture in a way that maximized our ability to entertain and enjoy the space.


This year we rebuilt all of the raised beds to make them narrower but deeper and easier to tend, and to make better use of the living space on the deck.

By making the raised beds only half as wide but twice as long (which required the addition of several boards from additional kits), we were able to extend them along the entire length of both the upper and lower levels of the deck, replacing the window boxes which had provided precious little actual gardening space.

We kept roughly the same amount of total planting area but with the beds and open space laid out in a more user friendly arrangement, the deck is much better suited to gardening and entertaining.

And instead of just flowers on the upper deck and vegetables in the raised beds, this year we planted a true kitchen garden that includes an eclectic mix of annuals, perennials, herbs, vegetables, and even some house plants in all of the pots and beds.

I love the fact that salad greens, vegetables, and the herbs that I cook with the most are a few steps from my cutting board.

Perhaps the most dramatic and important change we made last year was the addition of a canopy.

Near the end of the season, we found a simple to erect "pop-up" canopy that we added over the upper section to shade the table.

 It took one brief thunderstorm to realize that bolting it to the deck was critical.  The canopy top is held on with Velcro and when high winds or rain are expected, we simply lift the corners and undo the Velcro and let the cover sag between the struts to prevent damage from wind and a heavy collection of water.

We also found some heavily discounted cushions in an attractive blue and green print that matched the color of the house. The new cushions completely changed the color palette to one that was more to our liking.

This spring, on a whim, I added swagged scarves to the canopy and the effect was amazing.

I used 22 foot  nylon window scarves that I draped loosely and secured with plastic cable ties. They are easy to install in spring and come down with a snip of the tie in fall.

Casual dining has a luxurious feel under the draped canopy and a paper and bamboo lantern fitted with an electric bulb attachment adds just enough light for dining after dark.

A lantern is suspended from the center of the canopy. The white cord is secured to the struts with white cable ties and is relatively unnoticeable.  The on/off switch is tucked in the draped curtains that cascade along theh poles for easy access.

The area lends itself to both fancy teas with china and casual cook-outs with paper plates.

The beds provide zinnias and cosmos for cutting, herbs such as basil and rosemary, and an assortment of vegetables that changes with the seasons. Hollyhocks are planted along the back and are just beginning to mature and set buds.

The Meyer lemon is full of buds and small lemons.

 

Squash, cucumbers, peppers, and lettuce share the space with  marigolds and petunias, geraniums, and some house plants. Earlier in the season we had sugar snap peas.

The hydrangea, Meyer lemon, and a lilac create a verdant corner.

The wider beds have a much greater visual impact than the narrow window boxes and we were able to plant more herbs and vegetables for a true kitchen garden.

We've added annuals to most of the large pots for extra color as well.

These lilacs bloomed later than the shrubs in the garden and added dramatic color to the deck in June.

The hollyhocks in the background have had a major growth spurt over the past couple of weeks and are now towering over the zinnias. I hope they will bloom this year and next year as well. The goal was to have them form a tall, thick border in front of the railing.

Our first year with a fig tree promises to be a tasty one!

We've added hanging pots in every nook and cranny. Here, they form a lovely backdrop for the cherub fountain.

Early in the season we had an enthusiastic crop of sugar snap peas that climbed over and through the deck railing.

The narrower raised beds allow the furniture to be placed in an arrangement that promotes socializing and conversation, with ample room to walk by. And yes, that is a second grill. The grill on the upper level is used for most meals and foods that everyone in the family can enjoy. This grill is used for fish and mushrooms so a family member with severe allergies to both can avoid contamination of her food with things that cause life threatening reactions.

Our Katie enjoys an afternoon nap on the settee.