HOUNDED BY THE WIFE

 

Our two hounds, doing what hounds do best, Rose (left) and Gracie (right). 

I have occasionally mentioned the canine wing of Meanderer House, the establishment of which has recently expanded from one to two, Gracie being the junior and new addition (just passing her sixth month). Both are rescues, so neither has any definitive lineage or pedigree.  Both fall into the broad category of "Coonhound"--we worked with "Northeast Coonhound Rescue" for both. We are almost certain that, given her size, Rose is of English foxhound stock. Gracie, who promises to outgrow her elder sister, we are inclined to believe is probably mostly American foxhound (the larger of the two adjacent breeds).  "Coonhound,"  is a rather vague categorical that includes many branches.

Our previous "Coonhound" (Roxy, above) was in fact a Plott Hound. You will note the similarity to Rose and Gracie (please read that ironically).  At the end of the day, labels wot not. We're not concerned with breed standards or pedigrees. We call them what works for us, (and we like to be able to say something other than "mutt" when asked what breed our dogs are). Getting back to the foxhounds. You may be wondering what this has to do with toy soldiers? 

When my Joust for the Fun of It project was nearing completion, and the completed figures were populating their display case (above), I noticed that a toy dog had appeared (also a Schleich). The wife (bless her) had run across it somewhere and slipped it in among the other figs...

...recognizing the little fellow as a member of the family, I took the logical next step.  I based it and made it an official part of the collection (although I've yet to give it... her?... a name). 

You will note the little guy to the left (viewer's right) of the heralds in the above picture. I use it as a marker to keep track of which side issues the challenge in the current joust (left or right of the heralds=players on the left/right of the table). 

In other news, this has been a particularly busy stretch, with lots of things going on (nothing bad; just the adult stuff that happens outside of toy soldiers).  These have have squeezed out time and attention available for the hobby, and so I've been in something of a "time out."  We're coming to the end of this busy period in about a week (fingers crossed). I'm looking forward to making the rounds again and catching up with the circle of "usual suspects" in the blogosphere in the near future.

Excelsior!