The Banjo, originally uploaded by Aiko, Thomas & Juliette.

n it’s new home
figured cherry and brazilian rosewood.
It’s gone now. I kind of hate to see it go

happy thanksgiving day!, originally uploaded by Aiko, Thomas & Juliette.

from a somewhat windy and chilly front porch

now, who’s the wind up toy in this picture!, originally uploaded by Aiko, Thomas & Juliette.

I made a video of Juliette and Thomas playing together. If you like, you can click on the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fs9ERRQfWeg

and enjoy, originally uploaded by Aiko, Thomas & Juliette.

afterwards, juliette had her dinner and is now out cold.
vast asleep at my feet while i’m sorting pics

ball of cotton, originally uploaded by Aiko and Thomas.

So far it’s been an experience this week.
Juliette is a real trooper considering all the new things she has to cope with.
15.4 pounds at the vet this week. A visit both of them enjoyed a lot despite the needles and sprays. She’s now 22 inches head to tail. (This for future reference)
Run over by Thomas and me a few times, eating bad stuff and puking. Dealing with Sissy, who only hisses at her. Then she wouldn’t eat so I made fluffy pancakes with a little honey for her. (thomas liked that too)
Today she was startled so much by Thomas coming in the house, that she jumped hard and twisted her front paw. But after a few minutes limping, she jumped again and ran of, like nothing happened.

changes, originally uploaded by Aiko and Thomas.

He actually let me nowadays brush him without complaint. No leash or words needed. Do you think he starts apreciating the treatment?
One more change in Thomas’ behaviour: Since Mag is gone he started to come inside in the early morning and crawl in bed with me.

so long Isaac, originally uploaded by Aiko ,Thomas and Isaac.

It was a good try but it’s not going to work. The Pyrenees rescue of Indianapolis has one too many requirements for me to abide by and not willing to negotiate.
Thomas and I are back to the two of us, at least for a while.
I hope he finds a loving home.

Meet the new boy in town, originally uploaded by Aiko and Thomas.

He’s a rescue dog and part Golden and part Pyrenees.
His name is going to be Isaac after the famous writer Isaac Asimov.
now 7 weeks old.
He’s going to join us on august 29 -2009

I feel the muscles in my hands aching, originally uploaded by Aiko and Thomas.

but i’m very happy to be able to restore a house back to how it was designed.
The notched of roof lines are very difficult to do But they are instrumental for the design of the house.
The architect -some 80 years ago - knew what he was doing. The size and shape of the roof construction was meant to carry this slate. 27.5 feet at the bottom, 17 feet from gutter to ridge, the notch is 6 x 5 feet on the diagonal.
It has a 12/12 pitch (which means a 45 degree angle)
17 feet up with an exposure of 8.5 inches means 26 rows up. He - the architect- probably wanted to square out the pattern and above all: facilitate the slaters, so they wouldn’t get into problems.
Sometimes I had the feeling that my new nails were sinking in an original nail hole, put there by the first slaters.

independence day, originally uploaded by Aiko and Thomas.

Tomorrow I’ll celebrate my first true Independence day. Sorry Beatrix (queen of Holland), you lost one.
My new flag is called Stars and Stripes. I wasn’t so much in love with kingdoms anyway.
My Friesian flag is proudly hanging underneath as a display of my heritage.
(Thomas is unmoved by all this, he’s more interested if there are any more biscuits in this photo session.)