What's this thing?

What is this THING Mom and Cousin Dave left sitting in my yard? It's too ugly for yard art.  

I don't think I like it.

Mom says Cousin Dave is going to climb up in it and go way high in the air to cut the tops off of a bunch of trees. They agree the trees are too tall and too close to the den...er...house to be safe. 

I guess we do want to be safe when the wind blows. Mom says that eventually it'll all make firewood and that keeps us warm in the winter.

I guess it's okay the hoomans are doing this, but I don't think I want to watch. I'll just stay inside and snooze on the bed. 

Deuce's Day, Greenbrier Smokey Deuce, black Labrador Retriever, country lifestyle rural living, tree trimming, firewood, good dogs

What's a bomb?

There have been some big goings-on around here lately. Mom and Dad are busy all the time and I'm feeling a bit neglected. Dad's been working in the shed at his bench, mowing grass, fixing stuff, and target shooting. Mom's been cleaning her garden, canning food (I don't like pears!), writing in her office, and killing a copperhead. Yeah, I don't like that snake part, but she did it. 

But the biggest thing that's been going on was the tree trimmer came back and cut down Mom's favorite poplar tree. That was sort of scary. Dad and I were in the house and when that tree hit the ground, Dad said it was like a bomb went off! 

Okay. What's a bomb? Have I ever had a bomb to play with? I'm Deuce and I'm pretty smart, but I don't know anything about bombs. Why haven't the parents taught me about them? What does Mom mean it's above my pay grade? They don't pay me! Maybe snackies are my pay.... Hmmm...

Anyway...

The poplar tree was huge! Dad used the Brush Crusher 4200 to move them around so he and Mom could clean up the yard. I stood beside one of them and it was taller than me! And Mom spent one whole day doing nothing but burning brush from that tree. I helped her for a little while, but it got boring so I went and took a nap on the patio. 

Now we have to do a thing called splitting firewood. I've been told I can't really help with that and I'll probably have to stay in the house. I don't like it when they do that to me, but Mom says it's so I stay safe. If I have to stay inside, I'm going to nap on the bed.

Mom says firewood will keep us warm this winter. I know how lucky that makes me. A lot of dogs don't have parents who care about them and they won't be warm. 

Yep. There's been a lot going on and I've been soooooo busy keeping up with everything. Mom and Dad look out for me and keep the snackies coming. It's a pretty good life for a boy like me. 

Deuce's Day, Greenbrier Smokey Deuce, black Lab, a writer's life, Labrador Retriever, country living, rural lifestyle, firewood, poplar tree, tree trimming, fall garden

I missed all the excitement

Sometimes it's good to be the dog, and sometimes it's not. Yesterday was a "not" day. There were big goings-on in my front yard and the parents trapped me in the house. I didn't get to keep an eye on them. They heard me barking, though, you can bet on that. What happened is this -

There are a lot of trees in my yard and Mom and Dad monitor them. When branches break, the parents drag them to a brush pile and when it rains, they burn the pile. This is fine because I get to assist. We all sit in the pickup with coffee and snackies and watch the fire. Yesterday was different.

Apparently, some trees can get so big they could fall over and crush the den...er...house. Mom and Dad don't want that to happen. They called a guy called a tree trimmer to come and cut down two big maple trees that were no longer healthy.

How can trees not be healthy? I don't get it. I didn't do it, either! I don't think I ever peed on either of those trees! 

Anyway, the guy came and cut down the trees. I could hear the chainsaw and I barked. And when the big limbs hit the ground, I barked louder! And when the trunks hit the group, I bitched a fit!!!!! What were they doing out there????

FINALLY Mom let me outside so I could check it out and then I did pee on the trees. On the very top leaves, too! 

Mom calls all the mess in the front yard "carnage." I call it a good thing. It's going to take a lot of brush burning to clean it up and that means a lot of snackies for me and a few naps in my pickup. 

I'm Deuce and I know when I just hit the jackpot! 

Deuce's Day, Greenbrier Smokey Deuce, Black Labrador Retriever, black Lab, country dogs, tree trimming, spoiled dogs, a writer's life, good dogs, rural lifestyle, smart dogs, dog with a blog

There were sticks everywhere!

Yesterday, Mom, Dad, and a bunch of people cut down a tree. I got to meet cousin John. He's pretty cool. I like his red polka dot hat. 

The tree that needed cut was a big oak. Like, really big. Mom rented a big lift and put Uncle Mike on it. Uncle Mike is fearless. He went up so high - all the way up as far as the lift would go. They didn't ask me if I wanted to ride along and I'm glad they didn't. I would have been scared. At least I didn't have to run away and let them all know that. It would have been embarrassing. 

Most of the time I had to watch from in the house. Mom and Dad worried a log might fall on me and they may have been correct. Things falling from the sky isn't something I know to watch for. I got to go out and greet everyone, and then watch while they got the equipment positioned. Then I got to go back outside when Uncle Mike was finished cutting. Best of all, I got to eat lunch with everyone! Mom fixed me two plain hamburgers! I did do a lot of running yesterday. It's hard work keeping an eye on Dad when he's on the John Deere but I'm in really good shape and can run beside him. 

I found a bunch of really good sticks while everyone worked. Mom and Aunt Donna played fetch with me. The guys - not so much. They were focused on getting the job done, but Mom knows it's important to make me feel like one of the pack. 

Today me, Mom, and Dad are going to burn a brush pile. There's a lot to burn, too. I'd say it's a waste of perfectly big sticks but I know I can find more. 

I just hope Mom fixes something good for breakfast. I burned a lot of calories yesterday!