A friend from when I frequently volunteered at the shelter has sent me
an old photo of me at the dog park with many dogs
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3008183...et-72157607679
976492/

I have added photo of our new garden, mostly off topic but Smoky appears
in some of them
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3008183...7624380061994/


--
Bill Clodius
los the lost and net the pet to email

On Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:19:23 -0600, (William
Clodius) wrote:

A friend from when I frequently volunteered at the shelter has sent me
an old photo of me at the dog park with many dogs
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3008183...et-72157607679
976492/

I have added photo of our new garden, mostly off topic but Smoky appears
in some of them
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3008183...7624380061994/

Wow, very nice; beautiful house and grounds.

"William Clodius" wrote in message
...
A friend from when I frequently volunteered at the shelter has sent me
an old photo of me at the dog park with many dogs
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3008183...et-72157607679
976492/

What lovely dogs! Why were treats banned at the park?

I have added photo of our new garden, mostly off topic but Smoky appears
in some of them
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3008183...7624380061994/

Nice garden. That must have taken a lot of planning.
Al

sighthounds & siberians wrote:

On Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:19:23 -0600, (William
Clodius) wrote:

A friend from when I frequently volunteered at the shelter has sent me
an old photo of me at the dog park with many dogs
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3008183...et-72157607679
976492/

I have added photo of our new garden, mostly off topic but Smoky appears
in some of them
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3008183...7624380061994/

Wow, very nice; beautiful house and grounds.

Thanks. We put in a little of my wife's inheritence on the new garden
and so far like what we've go. Still I sometimes look at it and wonder
how a family that does little entertaining wound up with a space that
patio that would work well in an upscale restaurant or art gallery in
Santa Fe. I also realize that my old rock garden also looked great until
I got distracted taking my oldest college hunting two years ago, and the
grass took over. What is now the fancy patio, was more problematic: a
large yard for the dogs with a cherry tree. The cherry tree only had
cherries the first year, and always had small insects. The yard always
had barren patches that my wife attributed to the dogs, and I thought
was due to uneven watering. Then my wife decided the yard had to go and
called in the landscaper, at which time the barren patches turned green.

The house suits us well, although I sometimes consider it a McManshion.
It's certainly larger and fancier than the house where my parents raised
a larger family. But in our community if you want a house near the
forest, you either go for something small from post World War II
construction, or large and new.

As to fancy houses, you should se the house two doors up from us. 7500+
square feet, with marble columns, fancy stonework everywhere, and a yard
smaller than ours. Built by a local landscaper for himself. Which is odd
as the house is so large there is no room for landscaping. The only
plants so far are the aspens he has stuck in back as storage for when he
needs them for his projects. And he seems to be waiting to sell his old
house before he completes his new one, so with all the fancy stonework
it lacks front steps and has sat unchanged for at least six months.

The landscaper's original house has very different priorities. A gem
rather than a palace. I think a little under 3000 square fett, no
columns, but fancy exterior stornework and the most gorgeous landscaping
out front.

Then there's the house around the corner that had the same builder as
ours. (FWIW the builder has a very well trained basset hound, and their
daughter has a golde retriever) He decided to do something different
from the general Southwestern feel (stucco and wood), and built a more
modern design that emphasized glass and metal (in addition to the
covenants stucco) and won a few awards.

--
Bill Clodius
los the lost and net the pet to email

Alison wrote:

"William Clodius" wrote in message
...
A friend from when I frequently volunteered at the shelter has sent me
an old photo of me at the dog park with many dogs
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3008183...et-72157607679
976492/

What lovely dogs! Why were treats banned at the park?

There was a fear that treats would cause resource guarding, which in
turn would cause dog fights. That can happen if the person with the
treats doesn't insist that the dogs calm down before they get them. It
didn't happen with me and was rare with others. While I have seen fights
at the park they have been more often over dominance issues


I have added photo of our new garden, mostly off topic but Smoky appears
in some of them
http://www.flickr.com/photos/3008183...7624380061994/

Nice garden. That must have taken a lot of planning.
Al
Thanks.

Our landscape architect took about a month to prepare his plans, but I
think we weren't the only project he was working on at that time. I
decided that his plan for the patio was too large and had the landscaper
put in the western wall garden. The landscaper decided the east wall
would be too high to show plants if it were the right height for
seating, so its now lower than the south and west sides. Then, of
course, the subcontractors didn't follow the architect's plans for the
outer wall, making the wall lower and the metal fence larger than he
showed = no lavender for the south wall.

I put in a lot of time on plant selection. Landscape architects have a
reputation for being more knowledgeable about hardscapes than about
plants, and I considered ours to be no exception. For example most of
the perrenials he reccomended for the rock garden were over one foot
tall, when that is generally considered the upper limit for a classic
rock garden. But the hardscape was only finished by mid-June when it is
too hot for planting most woody plants, so some plants have not yet been
planted, while other plants were installed before work was completed =
crushed plants by careless workers, or plants dead due to improper
irrigation. (The irrigation layout was undergoing frequent changes until
mid-May, so no irrigation until then. Of course we had a dry spring.
Then they retained the timings set up by the old landscaper,, although
they replaced her drip system with a sprinkler system = overwatering
for about a month.)

--
Bill Clodius
los the lost and net the pet to email

"William Clodius" wrote in message
...

As to fancy houses, you should se the house two doors up from us. 7500+
square feet, with marble columns, fancy stonework everywhere, and a yard
smaller than ours. Built by a local landscaper for himself. Which is odd
as the house is so large there is no room for landscaping. The only
plants so far are the aspens he has stuck in back as storage for when he
needs them for his projects. And he seems to be waiting to sell his old
house before he completes his new one, so with all the fancy stonework
it lacks front steps and has sat unchanged for at least six months.

It's a shame that people put so much money into huge houses that are symbols
of conspicuous consumption and monetary status, while they are also not even
harmonious with the local environment. Such extravagence is a monument to
the excesses of an economy and lifestyle built on cheap energy and other
resources, as well as lucky financial speculation. There may always be a few
very wealthy and smart people who can maintain such a lifestyle, but many
have lived far beyond their reasonable means and are now caught in the
inevitable implosion of the real estate market and other previously
lucrative endeavors.


The landscaper's original house has very different priorities. A gem
rather than a palace. I think a little under 3000 square fett, no
columns, but fancy exterior stornework and the most gorgeous landscaping
out front.

One wonders at the motivation to spend so much on a lavish new house, rather
than using the money for more satisfying purposes. I can't imagine someone
would really be happy in a huge dwelling unless he has a large extended
family who will share it with him.


Then there's the house around the corner that had the same builder as
ours. (FWIW the builder has a very well trained basset hound, and their
daughter has a golde retriever) He decided to do something different
from the general Southwestern feel (stucco and wood), and built a more
modern design that emphasized glass and metal (in addition to the
covenants stucco) and won a few awards.

What will become much more important in the next 10-20 years or so will be
environmental impact, energy efficiency, and sustainability in a world of
post-peak-oil economic conditions. In the Southwest, especially, much green
space has been artificially created and maintained by dwindling water
supplies. It may revert to desert when fresh water must be made by
desalination of seawater and expensive pumping through long pipelines.

I am seriously considering building a modest sustainable home on my
property, and it will use many environmentally friendly materials and will
incorporate many techniques designed to minimize adverse effects on the
local and global ecosystem. Here is a website that shows a sample design and
quite a few items that can be used to live happily in harmony with natu
http://www.harvestchapelmission.org/view/sustainable

Look at the "Sustainable Steel Strawbale Housing". It's a 1500 sq ft
dwelling with an additional 1500 sqft of porch and hothouse space, which is
available as a kit for $22,000 and can be built in about a week using an
Amish labor crew for about $50,000. I met Mark Fisher on Sunday and he will
check out my property for suitability and I will inspect his first structure
when it's ready by the end of summer. I think this should meet my needs and
Muttley should be happy. I could afford more but I'd rather spend money on
other things that are more important than a fancy house.

This is not meant to be critical of your choices for your garden project,
however. It looks beautiful and and having a nice outdoor venue to enjoy is
certainly healthier than using up nearly all natural space to put up walls
to isolate oneself from the great outdoors and nature. Even during the nasty
double blizzard in February I was glad to be in a setting where I could
enjoy the challenges and beauty of the deep snow.
http://cygnus.smart.net/~pstech/Mutt...Snow1_0012.jpg
http://cygnus.smart.net/~pstech/Mutt...Snow1_0017.jpg
http://cygnus.smart.net/~pstech/phot...House_0035.jpg
http://cygnus.smart.net/~pstech/phot...Snow2_1040.jpg

Paul and Muttley

On Thu, 01 Jul 2010 12:42:46 -0400, Dogman wrote:



Spoken like a true Marxist!


Live wherever and however you want! But leave others alone, to "pursue
happiness" as they see fit.

Damn, I hate fascists.

Hi Dogman,

I have about the same concerns as you do. Especially when it comes to
Marxists. I lived in that system for half of my life then I moved to a
free country with a totally different system. Now after ~30 years I
figured that over all they very much alike. I say they almost like twins.
In the article in link below you find out what they do with economy all
over the world, USA not excluded but leading. Have a nice reading.

http://michaeljournal.org/myth.htm

--
thedalpal