What a Weekend! - bloodhounds, patios, etc

Well, no stitching this weekend yet and now my hands are so sore I don't know if I will be able to do any - BUT I haven't been idle!  I put on my Ms. Handyman outfit first thing Saturday morning and replaced this nasty old thermostat.

 Much better, right?  And this one even seems to work properly.  Of course I still managed to add something else to my list since the old one had mercury in it so I have to find somewhere safe to dispose of it in a suitable manner.  One thing off the to-do list and another added on.... story of my life!

 If you see me on facebook, you may have followed the most recent bloodhound saga.  This is Dexter, the youngest of my daughter's two beautiful bloodhounds.  Dexter recently took it upon himself to eat three rocks, each a little bigger than a golfball.  Two were in his stomach and one in his intestine where it lodged and started his symptoms - vomiting, lethargy, etc.  DD rushed him to the Emergency Vet Clinic in Calgary where they operated, making a substantial dent in her savings for university this fall.  Happily, two weeks later and Dex is back to his normal, energetic self but we were left with the problem of making sure he didn't do it again.  We have a nice size dog run - 20 feet X 30 feet - but it had only a dirt base where he could continue to dig up more inappropriate snacks...

 Here is dd and Dex puckering up for a kiss!  You gotta love them, right?

 Isn't this a face only a mother could love?

 Do your ears hang low?  Do they wobble to and fro?  Can you tie them in a knot? YES!!

 The project started with dd buying six tonnes of sand, wheelbarrowing it over to the dog pen and spreading it out.  She rented a plate tamper and tamped down all the sand next.

 Gary and I went out and brought home 800+ patio stones.  DH and DD  did the laying and I was in charge of bringing the stones over with the wheelbarrow.  Me!  Well, two pallets of patio stones and who knows how many wheelbarrow trips later - it is almost done!  It has to be finished today so Dexter can go outside tomorrow when everyone goes to work.

This is the other project we dragged dh away from so he could  help us with the dog kennel.  A neighbour had a 20 X 30 foot shed they didn't need anymore and were going to tear down.  Well, my husband never meet a shed he didn't like so he spent last weekend dismantling it and dragging it home and now he is reassembling it at our house as a wood shed. 

Obviously, I am happy to say I am feeling better again and have just about kicked the broncitis.  Now I am just tired and sore from a massive work weekend! If I don't fall asleep in front of the tv I will have a new BAS stitch for you in the morning.  Til then!