Night Owl or Morning Lark?

There's a whole world out there at 7:30 in the morning!

Yesterday, I finally had a new section of fence installed in the back yard.  The new fence is mainly to stop Charlie from his car-chasing obsession, which is entirely out-of-control.  Bad dog mama, I agree!  But the behavior is so ingrained, there's no stopping him, it is making us into the bad neighbors (in my mind, anyway).  So, I spent money on a new length of fence.   Of course, now I have several different kinds of fence around the property and nothing exactly matches.

Existing fence and gate in front of the tiny house, at sunset on the pond.

The fence also affords me the opportunity to have people stay at my "tiny house" without having to worry about the dogs bugging them, or getting out of an open gate.  The tiny house is a small dwelling in the back yard that has its own plumbing and electricity.  It was the original owner of my property's first home.  He and his family lived in the tiny house for many years, and then he built the larger house in the late 1950s.  The larger house is The Pink House, and it's where I do my blogging, so, now you can picture me there when you read this!

"Mom writes in the Pink House".
"I don't care, gimme that ball!"

So, what about 7:30 a.m.?  Since I have to let the cement harden for two or three days, I've had to take the dogs outside on-leash.  Yesterday morning, the fence was installed and the guys showed up at 7:30 so I had to get out of bed and talk to them.  I am usually awake early, but I like to lie in bed with the dogs and cuddle until around 9-ish.  Thankfully, I'm self-employed, and I work at home in the mornings, and go to my office at noon.  I am certainly not a normal person!

The Hobester, in my office, back in the day.

I've always worked "second shift" (noon - 8 pm or 1 pm - 9 pm).  As a result, I missed many popular TV series over the years, but also I don't get up early.  I usually let the dogs out, and then we go back to bed and "snooze".  We have a thing called "snooze time" which I've written about before.  I consider myself a definite night owl.  I used to stay up until 2 am, but I've toned that down recently, and generally go to bed around midnight.

Hector and me in my office at Passports educational travel. I used to take the dogs to work often.

This morning, I had to bring the dogs outside to relieve themselves, on-leash.  Normally, I just open the door and let them out.  But, I was given specific instructions not to let them bump up against the new fence for two or three days.

The tiny house, in winter.

Hobie in front of the tiny house, including one of the many different fence materials!

However, widowhood and the stress of this major life change has escalated my insomnia, so I often wake up at 3:00 and can't get back to sleep for two or more hours.  "Worrying".  A topic for a book, if you wanna know the truth!

So, this week, I'm going outside and facing the world at 7:30 with the dogs on-leash so they can relieve themselves.  What a world it is!

There's a lot of interesting things happening in the morning.  Neighbors!  I got to see and talk to neighbors!  Who knew?  The neighborhood children are meeting the bus at the end of the road, and other folks are walking their dogs.  So, THIS is what the dogs are always barking at in the morning.

I noticed that Charlie is getting much better at walking on-leash.  Not perfect, but certainly better.  He's growing up.  He's almost 5 now, and he has been my biggest dog challenge of all the dogs I've loved.  Charlie is finally getting "snuggly" and loving.  It took him all this time to trust me.  Of course, he still won't let me bathe him, clip his nails, or remove a tick!  We're working on it!  The walk this morning and yesterday was quite good, and it's getting both of us out there, seeing the world outside of the Pink House.

Hobie on his "perch" -- the top step at the Pink House.  Charlie has taken over Perch Duty.  Or is it Porch Duty?!

Maybe I'll keep getting up and taking Charlie on leash walks (like I used to do many years ago when Hobie was younger and we had no fence).

What about you, are you a morning lark, or a night owl?