cute babies

I slept on the sofa-bed in the living room last night so I wouldn't have to listen to the water and the sump pump all night. It's really comfortable, and I like to sleep on it once or twice a year so I know what it's like, just in case I have a guest.

At any rate, Taenzer was kind of confused by the arrangements--she's my high-strung one and changing things upsets her. She's usually athletic and sure-footed, but she found it difficult to jump up onto the sofa-bed and move to her snooze-spot on the futon. But she spent the night in the living room with me, and a couple of times wedged herself onto the sofa-bed (which is a single) with me.

Timber, on the other hand, treated the newness with total glee and bounced on the sofa-bed like it was a trampoline. He's such a little boy! If I wanted to do the evening routine out in the living room, that was okay with him, no problem. Except he slept back in the bedroom all by himself. *sigh*

I took them for a walk yesterday before I went to work and, considering how little practice they get, they were very good. Neither my knees nor my back hurts this morning! They sat at corners when asked, and Taenzer barked at a little dog on a tie-out but stopped when asked. They didn't pull much, and didn't tangle me or themselves up in the leashes. And once again they literally stopped traffic--someone stopped her car in the middle of the street and rolled down her window to ask about them. I'm hoping to make a habit of walking them--it would be good for all of us.

I started new socks --it's an easy pattern and looks neat; I think I'll like them. Glad I found the pattern!

The water is still coming in, and the sump pump is still doing its thing, bless its heart. The sun is out, but it's gotten cold (62 degrees yesterday; at the moment it's 25, and going down to 12 tonight), so now I'm worried that the water will freeze in the sump pump hose--which is on top of the ground, not buried. It's not supposed to warm up again until Friday, and they're forecasting showers for Sunday. I hope that by then the fountains will have dried up enough that I can plug the holes with hydraulic cement.

I have good news and I have bad news

The good news is that I finished my gift socks last night. I love them--they make me happy. I hope they make my sister-in-law feel a little cheerier.

The bad news is that it's been raining--hard--since Saturday night, and my basement has sprung leaks.

If you click on that 2nd picture you'll find it looks like 3 faucets have been installed in the wall. This is the room where the sump pump is and it's pumping its little heart out. There are two other similar leaks in another room that doesn't connect to the room with the pump and the water is already a couple of inches deep in there. I called a nice guy who came out and looked at it, and said there's nothing he can do--the water pressure is too hard for quickset leak-plugging cement to work--so it looks like I'll have a flooded basement, and will have to have a plumber come pump it out.

I think I need to try to get out from under this house--not the best time for that, I realize--and try to find a rental that will take dogs. I just do not make enough money to pay for all the work this house needs, and it's just going to keep getting worse and worse until it either falls on my head or the foundation collapses. I figure if I ask for twice what I owe on it, I might wind up with enough to pay off the mortgage.

I'd better get another sock project started quick--I'm going to need it to soothe my nerves.