Puppy Tale Friday: More of the Same

Puppy is getting used to the construction, but both dogs are still unsettled by what they perceive as the invasion of their turf. I mean, the squirrels are running free in their yard! 

How can we allow this to happen?! Squirrels! Really!

And as many times as I try to explain that the door to the backyard now leads to nowhere, Puppy still begs to be let out there - "Just this one time, Mom,"  to chase the invading squirrels and rabbits - oh and that orange tabby cutting through the yard right this minute. (The nerve of some cats! Open the door! Open the door!)

 The cement was poured for the basement walls at the end of last week, tar, backfill, feet for the garage, and now new forms are set up to hold up the garage slab. So kind of more of the same, but in a different spot. And a few of the sand piles are gone now from the front yard. (You'll notice that the piles are missing on the right side of this next photo. Rest assured, they are still there on the left...)

 I don't think they will be pouring cement today as the sky is pouring rain and the wind is near hurricane force this morning. Hoping it calms down for the long weekend....

If you are on Cape or coming to the Cape for Memorial Day weekend, check out the interview I did in this week's CAPE COD CHRONICLE. And be sure to stop by Where the Sidewalk Ends bookstore on Main Street in Chatham on SUNDAY MAY 26 FROM 2P.M. TO 4 P.M. for my Book Launch Party! Cupcakes and books and more. I just received my first shipment of books too - they weer on my doorstep last night when I got home from my daughter's track meet. What a nice surprise! So shiny!

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Puppy Tale Friday: Sunrise Over Different Sands

This is the reason Puppy is so happy lately. Seven sunrises a week at her favorite sandy spot. With the construction going on, I have no option to be lazy about it. Just do it.

In construction news, the forms for the foundation are all in place, so I assume we're expecting a visit from the cement truck in the near future. Maybe today.

 Puppy checks out the forms being assembled in the sandpit...

 The "concrete forms" will hold the cement in place as it dries and forms the walls for the new basement.

So, Vicki asked last week for me to explain what's actually being built. The large window on the left edge of the remaining house is to the existing (tiny) (miniscule) kitchen. We're expanding the kitchen (and will break through that wall once the new structure is in place.) We're adding a mudroom entrance to the kitchen area, and family room behind the new garage. The new garage will be a little closer to the street to allow room for the room behind it. There are no new bedrooms being added, but we will get a new guest bathroom off the family room and new French doors out into the backyard to replace the slider that never worked properly (ever.) And best of all, there will be room for my washing machine and dryer to live inside the house from now on, instead of in the garage. Which means I'll never have to worry about the water lines freezing in the winter, or getting up at 3 a.m. to run laundry in the middle of the night when the temperatures dip below zero. (I won't miss that at all!)

Puppy doesn't care about any of this. She can't read the plans and has no idea what's to come. She just knows she gets to enjoy the sunrise every morning now.

And she's happy.


P.S. In book news, I'm continuing on my Splash Into Summer blog tour. Today I'm talking about mermaids through history over at Kary Rader's blog 

There is also going to be a post soon on Manga Maniac Cafe blog  (well, she told me it would be today, but I don't see it over there yet.)

Don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway - click on the tour badge up in the left-hand corner to go to a page with the Giveaway and enter to win!

Puppy Tale Friday: Life in the Sandpit

Construction continues at our house, and the dogs are busy watching the progress. They must be wondering what on earth is going on... and why we don't let them play or dig in the new sandpit that is our yard.

The first cement was poured this week. Not much else has happened, as we wait for the next phase to begin.

The back yard is just as sand-pitty, as they placed much of the excavated material behind the house to form a new yard. Which makes up for the space we lost because of this project. The dogs haven't been allowed back there yet, as there is literally nothing but a sandy mess all around the pool fence. No dirt. Just sand.

The dogs are still enjoying their (very) early morning romps on the beach as well as their mid-day romps and sunset romps. The mid-day walks will have to be changed to street-only very soon as Summer Beach Rules go into effect next week. But we'll still be up there at 5 a.m.