Two Dachshunds and Six Inches of Snow

One of the best things about having two Dachshunds (besides twice the snuggles and twice the shredded treasures) is seeing how different they are.

Oscar is my third one and Cooper is the fourth but I’ve never had two at the same time before now. You know we do tend to lose our sense of reason as we get older! 🙂

One of the funniest differences is that my first three dogs loved sleeping all wrapped up in a sheet. You have probably read here before that the second one was Speck. Vince did not want a dog but I think at some point, he got so tired of hearing me beg for a Dachshund that he finally found one online and surprised the heck out of me when he came home and said “Let’s go! I’ve found you a Dachshund!” We wanted Speck to sleep in a crate so every night, I would put a sheet in the dryer, get it warm, toss it in his crate, he would happily run into the crate and sleep til about daylight.

Oscar loves sleeping under a sheet at night and under a quilt when sitting on my lap. Cooper gets under the sheet at night but he’s in and out. Cooper has a much thicker coat than Oscar and I’m wondering if he gets hot easily. When they’re on my lap, Oscar is always under the quilt and Cooper is on top of it . . usually on top of Oscar!

According to our Ryan Hall Ya’ll-o-Meter, we have right at 6″ of snow. Oscar walks out the door, sees all the snow and he stops and looks at me like “No, thanks!” Vince goes out, as needed, and shovels a spot for them. I pick Oscar up and carry him to that spot and after much coaxing, he will do what he has to do. Cooper walks out and it’s like we’ve arrived at Disneyworld! He cannot get out there fast enough. Today, the snow was right at the top of his back but that didn’t slow him down. He loved it and it’s so fun to watch.

I have a love/hate relationship with these trees. I think they’re some kind of spruce but I could be way off. Jeremy and Angie built this house. Angie is from the northwest and she wanted these trees. They’re big. They provide a lot of shade (a LOT of shade). They take up a huge amount of the back yard, which means they take up a lot of space I could use for gardening. Aside from the space they take up, they provide a ton of shade. That’s good for keeping the house cool in the summer but not good for the garden. I would never cut a good tree and I’m happy they’re here, happy and healthy. Some day I will no longer garden and these trees will still be providing good shade.

They are gorgeous when covered in snow.

Jeremy and Angie had planted one in front of the dining room but it got too tall so they had to remove it and they planted another one. We knew it was also going to get too tall and we weren’t crazy about having such a big tree that close to the house so we (as in Vince!) dug it up and moved it to the back. It’s done great back there and seems to be happy. Some day it is going to shade those two raised beds back there but we will cross that bridge when we get to it.

There’s garlic in these beds. I think they are loving the cold. You can see the tarps over the moving blankets that are covering the cabbage and brussels sprouts. I’ll be surprised if these survived.

I don’t think the solar panels are producing much power this week! That’s ok. Snow is good too. We could go out with our long brush and brush them off but we probably won’t . . at least not until the snow has stopped.

I can’t remember the last time we used these stairs to go up on the deck so I doubt Vince cleans them off. I know I’m not.

The clean, white snow is so pretty but after a few days, it’s a mess and I’m ready for it to be gone. Then the ground is soggy and muddy for a few more days . . dirty dog feet going in and out. This winter, so far, has been pretty snowy. This is the most we’ve had with the others being just a dusting or an inch or two. The snow probably wouldn’t be nearly as much fun if I had to get out in it often but for now, I’ll enjoy it. In a month or so, I’ll be ready for the snow to stop and spring to appear. Just wish I could have spring without having to have summer!