bookmarks and puppies

This whole blog thing is getting confusing for me. I've been spending wayyy too much time trying to figure out how to get y'all email updates when there is a new post. What I know for sure works is that the blog site gives an option called "live bookmarks" that links the blog to your bookmarks, and makes it easy to check -- there is a button on the Firefox toolbar that is a pulldown menu bookmark to the blog, and you can see from the button whether there's a new post (no email involved). I found that on my toolbar there were two ways to see the blog; one is that I went to "bookmarks" (after I bookmarked it following the instructions from the little envelope picture at the end of the blog page), then to "bookmarks toolbar folder", and there it was, showing the names of the posts. Or, I also had it on Mozilla Firefox in the bookmarks dropdown.

I started that Google group because I learned from the "help" section that one had to do that in order to have people choose their own settings to get updates about new postings. But I think that is a bust. I don't know. I guess for now, go through the procedure from clicking the envelope at the end of the blog page, and just check your dropdown bookmark window, and you can see titles of posts, therefore seeing a new title if I posted. Anyone out there have information about this? As I said in the beginning, I'm not so computer savvy...

So, anyway, about the puppies.... (were we talking about the puppies?)
They are getting big already! Well, about the size of a big guinea pig, actually. We named a few of them already. The white one with the brown & black splotches all over is called "moo". The other white one with one black splotch over his eye is called "spot". The 4 tan ones with masks over their eyes like a wild west movie are called "bandit 1,2,3 &4". We think a few bandits may actually be banditta, but still too early to tell. And the one black one that looks exactly like Emma is called "junior".

Sabrina & I spent much of yesterday evening until 9:30 or so building them a safe haven. Soon those guys will be running and jumping about, and the garden has too many crevices to try to seal off. Emma can't get her adult body out of them, but the littl'uns could. And we all know that there will be that one Sarah puppy that will try anywhere possible to get out, no matter what the aftermath. So, we built a very large space taking up one side of our outdoor shed. The shed has 2 doors; a low one & a high one (2 level shed). We took the low level & moved bikes & tires and whatnot to the high door side. Then boarded off the side that ostensibly goes through to the big side. Big side locked with new wall, little side opened. The puppy apartment has wood paneling. Newspaper carpeting, unwanted old tablecloth soft bedding, a baby gate closing off half the doorway, the other half a medium board; high enough for Emma to jump, too high for puppies to jump. Emma still can use "the facilities" in the garden, and her food/water is right outside the apartment. We had to check if Emma could jump it by me getting in there (you think *that* was easy?) with one of her puppies, which, of course, she'd chase after. She came flying over like a beautiful race horse. Voila! Doggie apartment for 7 puppies & mommy! And, out of the sun. Robert was not *so* pleased with our solution, but when he saw what a good job we'd done, and that everything is still completely secured, he was OK with it. Anyway, with Emma there and her puppies to protect, there isn't a chance that a stranger could get close without a lot of barking and hulabaloo. Anyone who wants to come visit these adorable creatures, please stop by!

This whole project is so good for me, and also for the kids. Especially Dov & Ya'akov. They are so in love with her and the pups. Dov takes a picture of them to school with him to show off, like it's his own kids. And Emma seems to know which kids to horse around with and who to be gentle with. When Azriel goes out there tentatively, Emma doesn't go running up to her and nuzzling like she does with us. She approaches Azriel with a normal gait, and stops before she infringes on his body space. Then she waits. He approaches her delicately, extends a hand, and she lowers her head so he can pet her. I am constantly amazed with how sensitive dogs can be. I have never been a dog owner. I think I am especially close with her because of the way she came to us; as a pregnant female. I relate to that. :-) After having witnessed her whole birth experience from up close, I feel such a bond, and I am so proud of what a good mommy she is. And she adjusts to change better than I do. I think we could all learn something from the animal kingdom, couldn't we.
But, being human is so much more colorful. "B'tzelem Elokim" (created in Gd's image). That's our challenge to live up to. And it's an entire lifetime challenge.