New Addition

So a little over a week ago, the Crosshatch got a new addition. Her name is Abigal Barley Patton (we just call her Abby), and she is an eight week old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.  We had not planned on getting a dog as yet, as we wanted to wait until we had a few more house and yard projects done. We figured on getting a dog in a couple of years, however I do occassionally look at what available options are for puppies online.

I originally wanted a cocker spaniel, since my ex and I had a wonderful little Cocker named Neaky for six or seven years, and I wanted to get another dog like her. Mitsy had been looking at different breeds and read about the Cavaliers, who are a little smaller than a cocker and are supposed to be easier to train and have better dispositions.

So one Thursday afternoon, I am perusing some available puppy pictures and come across this insane amount of adorable packed into one photo:

I sent the link to Mitsy and instant messaged her "What do you think of this one?" The site had a couple more pictures as well as the video, which showed the puppy playing in the grass with a toddler. This really doesn't seem like a fair marketing tactic to me, as I mean really, how do you actually say no to that? So we decided to call the breeder and see if she was still available. We ended up being the first person to call, and she was available for adoption that coming Saturday.

Saturday morning we made the 2 hour 15 minute drive to Stevens, PA to be introduced. Of course after meeting Abby, it was decided that she would be coming home with us, and we would just be a little tight on money for the next month or so.

Its now been a week and a half and Abby has settled in famously. The first night we tried putting her in a box with a blanket next to our bed, but she woke up every couple of hours crying. So after I took her out at 2:30am for a potty break, I just brought her back in and put her in bed with us. She promptly went to sleep and slept until 8am the next morning and has slept in our bed every night since.

Having a puppy is almost like having a toddler, since we need to potty break her quite often, have to pull all things out of her mouth that she shouldn't be chewing on (she loves rocks, sticks and even pulling weeds in the garden) and of course regular training. So far she has learned to sit, and has started to learn a little bit of fetch, bring back her squishy (one of her chew toys) after it is thrown for her.

Waldo, our big cat is slowly getting used to her. During the first weekend she got to close and he swatted her on the nose quick. She has kept her distance since then, but really wants to play. She will run up behind Waldo when he is back is turned, but as soon as he turns around and gives her a look, she will immediately lay down, then they will both just lay on the floor and look at each other. But this past weekend, Waldo actually nuzzled Abby with his head twice when I was holding her, so there is hope that they will be getting along soon. Shebie, our little cat is a bit neurotic to begin with, and has stayed hidden in our bedroom closet the majority of the time since Abby arrived. But I think that will change too, since in the last day she has had a little bit more close contact in passing the puppy in the hall during meal times.

So while it is a lot of work, we are excited to have Abby be part of our family, gardens, etc. We plan on having many fun times for years to come. Especially once she is house trained.

First Thoughts

This blog was originally set up to document my adventures in home-brewing, however after only 3 posts, I never really kept up with it. I also felt that limiting this to solely home-brew did not fully encompass the myriad of projects in which I find myself constantly immersed. 

Having purchased a house from my father, my fiance and I spent the next several months painting, redoing hardwood floors, ripping up carpet and gutting a moldy basement. We were finally able to move in, but have lots of additional projects planned, including building the basement back out, building a deck, planting gardens, etc.

I often peruse Pinterest and come up with all sort of grand ideas of water features, garden walkways, a cottage style greenhouse and cedar decking. However, my bank account after all the initial work is pointing me in the direction of a garden hose and sprinkler, dirt paths, and a few shrubs. Additionally, I should probably first concentrate on putting up a fence to prevent our neighbors black lab from bullying us out of our yard. He has a tendency to charge us everytime he is allowed out, flying across the yard at top speed growling and baring teeth. I have no idea who this canine thinks he is, but he will not be ruling MY yard much longer.

But I digress. This blog will serve to share all of my gardening tips and woes, home-brewing successes and failures, house projects, recipes, crafts, and whatever else I get myself into. Hopefully I will be able to share some good tips on something you are interested in, or at the very least, provide you with an entertaining story from time to time.

So why the name Crosshatch? For those of you who are not familiar with drawing or quilting, Cross-hatching is the practice of overlapping parallel sets of lines in drawing to indicate lights and darks, or shading. (Hatching is one set of parallel lines, cross-hatching is one set going in one direction, with another overlapped set going in a different, often perpendicular, direction.) These parallel lines basically form grids. Anyway, to me, brewing, gardening, music, etc., are all the parallel lines that cross and recross to form the gridwork of who I am and/or what I do. A great patchwork of hobbies, interests and knowledge that help to form the framework of the soul.

....or more likely, I'm just a middle-age guy with a touch of A.D.D. who likes to have about 15 different things going on to keep my attention....Hey look! A squirrel!