In This Edition:

— Latest Events at Kamp K9
— Photo of the Month
— Links

WHAT'S HAPPENING

A NEW RECORD

Well, folks, the Thanksgiving week/weekend was once again a busy time for us here at Kamp K9. We ended up with, come Friday morning, a total of 27 dogs, 4 cats, a rabbit, and a hamster (this includes our own 3 dogs and 2 cats).  That’s a new record!  I hope it continues!  With the bridge construction over and the intersection of Spring & County wrapping up for the winter, travel around here has eased up, so if you’ve been holding back because of those things, fear no more, and come on over!

HOHOHO…get your Christmas reservations in SOON!

The phone is ringing and at this point we’re already at about half capacity for Christmas boarding, so if you’re going to be traveling and you haven’t made arrangements yet for your furry loved ones, it’s time to get cracking!

CHRISTMAS HOURS

Speaking of Christmas, here are the hours for the days surrounding Christmas:

The weekend before will be normal; Saturday appointments for drop-offs and pick-ups are available from 9:00-5:00, and on Sunday, you can drop off or pick up at either 9:00am or 5:00pm.

On Monday, Christmas Eve, we’ll be closing at 4:00pm, and

we will be closed Christmas day.

Normal business hours resume on the 26th.

WINTER/MAINTENANCE STUFF

After the learning curve associated with last winter, I’ve decided to implement a parking plan (Can you believe it? An actual plan!).  There are 2 parking spaces in front of the office entrance.  Please use those spaces (no matter what the season) for dropping off and picking up your pets.  You can then use the space a little further down the fence line that I will keep clear for backing up so you can then drive out easily.  (That space for backing up can also serve as additional parking for those rare moments when there are more than 2 cars here.)  This should make getting in & out easier for you all…and spare a bigger portion of my lawn in the process.

Here’s a rough diagram of what I’m talking about:

From the Crotchety Old Man Files:

Speaking of driveway matters, I have a big favor to ask of my customers. At the risk of sounding like a crotchety old man (which I doubtlessly will become one day), I, as nicely as I possibly can, beg of you, as you’re pulling out of my driveway, to wait until you’re sure that your tires are on tar before you really hit the gas.  Some day I’ll be able to afford to put tar down on the driveway, and this won’t be an issue, but until then, I have to maintain what I’ve got, and the edge of the driveway gets shredded by lost drivers using my home as a turnaround (as many as 6 a day sometimes) and by customers in a hurry to hit the road.  This means you’re confronted with a very bumpy entrance/exit here. Any thought you could give to this when you’re leaving here would be really appreciated. Thanks so much!

OTHER GOINGS-ON

This fall has been a very busy one for property maintenance around here. The biggest project, started in October and just finished a few days ago, was the repair of the chain link fence surrounding the back yard.  The grounds here are very wet, and whoever installed the fence originally used posts that were too short, and set them in concrete (two big no-no’s for ground this wet).  Over time the ground pushed a lot of the posts out of the ground, concrete and all, and the Patriot’s Day storm in April did a lot of damage on its own.  On the South side of the fence, its problems were compounded by bushes, vines, and trees growing into and through the fence, which acted to pull the fence outward.

The fence was always safe of course, and there was never any risk of dogs escaping through it, but it looked terrible, and it had to get fixed SOME time.

About half of the posts (the ones that had been pushed out) were pulled by hand out of the ground, and the cement was knocked off them (by hammer & chisel), one at a time, and they were re-set and the fence re-attached to them.  There is also a gate at the far end of the yard, which was never fully functional…until now!

To give you an idea, here are some before & after photos:
BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

(Taken just this morning...December 3rd)

 

PHOTO OF THE MONTH:

If this first snow storm of the year brings you down, and you already yearn for summer and warm weather, then I give you this image, “The Lifeguard,” to warm your heart.

(Photo courtesy of fellow BNI chapter member Kim Dunlap (Dunlap Cabling kdunlap@dunlapcabling.com)…”Catbird Seat” by Norm LeBlanc of Lyman Builders…makes a great gift!  ( lymanbuilder@sacoriver.net)