The weekend arrived, usually a time when me & the Presto Dog pack go out to the "pasture land" (as we refer to our slightly large back yard) and chase balls, birds and generally have a good time outdoors. However, this particular weekend turned out to be on devoted to a semi-large job I needed to accomplish in our den, thereby precluding me from participating in the aforementioned activities.

See, we have this contraption called a water heater that was giving us problems for the past couple of weeks. We experienced days of no hot water at which time we'd have to go down to our unfinished basement, push the red reset button and then pray that the darn thing would, indeed, reset and give us hot water. Other times, I'd take that trip down to the basement and find that the darn water heater was leaking, the temperature & pressure relief valve having gone a little haywire, depositing little puddles of liquid on the floor. So, on Saturday morning I bit the proverbial bullet, got up my courage and purchased the necessary materials to install a brand-spanking new water heater...and an energy-efficient model, to boot!

The first thing I did when I got home was to cut the thing out of the box it came in. This effectively put a temporary halt on the project, as I now had no way to maneuver the bulky item down a flight of stairs into the basement! The Presto Dog First Lady came up with the brilliant idea to load the water heater into the yard wagon we use in the spring/summer to drag things around the pasture land on the back of our small tractor. We did that and then towed, pushed and cajoled the darn thing around the yard through the snow and into our basement. Whew! Now that was a lot more exercize than I wanted.

The installation itself actually wasn't that bad. A lot of planning, about six hours later (that included two separate trips to our local big box store 'cause I found out I really didn't plan all that well) and on-the-job training on how to use a propane torch, flux & solder eventually resulted in one of those completed home projects we take pride in.

Here's a picture of our bad old water heater, inoperable now that it's been severed from the house as it wasn't performing its job any longer:

Old Water Heater

Did you happen to notice that tell-tale brown streak of rust & sediment running down the front of said water heater, a clear portent of things that were to come, a harbinger of doom for the device, a visceral indication of the hours of work that were to come on my behalf in my successful effort at installing a new heater? Hey, you did just go back and take a closer peak at that picture, didn't you?

Now, revel (as we do) in our new water heater: pretty, clean, hooked up and working, sending streams of hot water to all who want to shower, bathe, or just plain luxuriate in one of those simple creature comforts we sometimes take for granted:

New Water Heater

By the way, the whole install was made without putting a single scratch on our new heater!

I recognize the majority of you didn't come here to the Prestodog website to read about a stinkin' old (or new, for that matter!) water heater, so here are a couple of pictures I took the day after I was done instlling the device. We'll start off with Dougie, our three-year old tri-color Collie who's resting on the couch after chowing down his breakfast:

Doug on Couch

When my son leaves the house, our Shelties all run after him, barking (and herding) him as he makes his way to the door. Here's a shot of Lily (top) and Maggie, two of The Chasers,  after they've accomplished their latest mischief toward that end:

The Chasers

Lyric watches all, making sure both humans and dogs are all kept in order:

Lyric Sees All

Later, folks!

We traveled to Allentown, PA where we'd entered Maggie in a dog show. Of course, the trusty ol' camera found its way into my hands, resulting in numerous pictures being captured for all the faithful Prestodog viewers to gaze upon in satisaction.

To start off, notice Peter, the little Sheltie the Prestodog First Lady dog-sat for several weeks ago:

Peter Greets First Lady

He definately remembered my bride, showing his affection as soon as she picked up the little fellow. By the way, later on he greeted me in the same manner.

Our little star, Maggie, was prepped (as always) before she made her entrance into the ring later on that morning:

Maggie Prepped: 1/25/09

Speaking of the ring, here's Maggie (first dog clockwise, head turned toward the left) with several other Shelties waiting to parade befoe the judge:

Maggie & Friends

While in the ring, Maggie tried to entice the Prestodog Firt Lady to part with a tasty treat that was held as "bait" in her hand:

Maggie Wants a Treat

Some of the folks that participated in the show at Allentown compared notes after the Shelties group was finished for the day:

Allentown Crowd

Miss Kay performed well in the ring, making her owner quite proud:

Miss Kay

Cameron (a.k.a. Cammy), Maggie's sister, waits to see if she's caught the eye of the judge:

Cammy

Hope you enjoyed the (picture) show!

Lily's resting now, at home and at peace once again with her pack. That quite a different scene than the one we faced over the past few days when she sick as, well, a dog. If I can recall the grim details, I'll relay 'em here to you, But don't fret, 'cause this story has a real good ending.

Saturday morning, & it's time to feed the dogs. Nothing fancy, that is, no table food, just a high quality canine dry food that's flavored with canned dog food

The date you might see in the lower right-hand corner of these pictures is not correct; at the time, I didn't know how to set it & our dogs aren't as old as that same date indicates. Please browse and enjoy!

I took this picture of the Presto Dog Shetland Sheepdogs Lily, Lyric and Declan in the snow a couple of years ago.

Shelties in the Snow

That same day, Lily was doing her "snow plow" imitation and I snapped this adorable picture of her:

Lily Snow Nose

Dougie, our tri-color Collie, also was caught with a bit of snow on his elongated snout:

Dougie in the Snow

Lyric, the elder statesperson of our pack, has beautiful eyes. Here she is gracing the camera for us:

Lyric in the Snow

By the way, Lyric will be ten years old on 12/29/08! She's a wonderful dog, lending her wisdom and wiles to the pack as needed.

Declan, the alpha dog of the pack, also paused for a minute and I snapped his picture, too:

Declan in the Snow

Hope you loiked our pictures!