The Fixer Upper House and Garden

Almost Impossible Weather

Given that we've experienced every possible extreme weather condition since we moved to the  Midwest exactly 2 years ago, it's with great pleasure and some suspicion that I report the following: Summer has been glorious. I can't recall ever experiencing so many consecutive days of breezy, sun-filled, 80-degree weather anywhere or at any time in my life. Not a single June day was sweltering-hot or windbreaker-cold. We've had rain for sure; strong thunderous storms that wake your dreams and rock the trees (it's storming as I write this). But the spells pass quickly, and we do have that new moat of a storm drain to protect the basement. We also have a new bluestone patio that's perfect for a sun-dappled morning cup of coffee and a bowl of Quaker Granola. With the sun warming my pj's, I hardly notice the stones don't match:

Into Every Life Some Tinkle Must Fall

We've been back in the house for a month and almost everyone loves the new digs. The girls love the bedrooms with their bay windows and built-in niches. I love the kitchen with its beadboard ceiling, costa esmerelda counters and the gorgeous cabinets made in an Amish barn. Husband loves the bedroom's vaulted ceiling, the bathroom's six-foot tub and the fact that all five of us can stand in the wide and sunny 2nd floor hallway without feeling like we're on a train. Allie loves the mudroom.

Milo, meanwhile, is having issues. He follows me everywhere, including the shower. When I'm in the yard, he watches me from window to window to window (as shown in the photo at left). He resists going in his crate at night--whereas he once happily crawled in whenever we said "Kennel Milo," now he drags his feet to the gate, plops down like a sphinx and let's out a loud sigh; we have to lift or nudge him in. Since he jumped over the mudroom's Dutch door, my dog-trainer Jenn (www.jennandthedogs.blog.com) suggested that I put his crate in the mudroom: He pees in it. I had Sebastian, our carpenter, screw plexiglass onto the Dutch door's front and a wooden cap on its top so Milo can't pull himself over the door, but he's working hard to scale it: there are deep scratch marks on the cap already.