Round Up the Usual Suspects...

Welcome to the Great Dame site. Somehow this all seemed like a good idea after a glass (or two) of wine.... After reading the blogs of much more talented design-oriented writers, like Casapinka and My Marrakech, and Dachshund wrangler extraodinaire, Miss Doxie, I started thinking that I might try blogging too. Only problem is, I'm not that funny, and my subject matter is likely to be all over the place. So... topics you're likely to hear about include my attempts to renovate and redecorate my 1917 millworker's cottage, rearrange my tiny garden in a way that my dogs are less likely to trample, and generally wrangle my four-legged crew. I'm sure my beloved, the Blacksmith, will make many appearances too. So who the hell am I, anyway? Allow me to introduce what will likely be the cast of Usual Suspects. Great Dame: that's me, with a wee bit more bravado than I usually feel. Not that you could tell from looking at my own garden, but I'm trained as a landscape architect, and I'm a total design geek with an addiction to Art Deco furniture. And Great Danes. The Blacksmith: that would be my longtime boyfriend, and duh, no odd euphemism there, he really is a blacksmith. No, he doesn't shoe horses - that's a farrier - he does hand-forged architectural metalwork, and slightly insane sculptures. More on that later. The Dogs: fervent barkers, diggers, cat-haters and anti-decorators, the dogs both keep me grounded and make me completely crazed with their antics - just depends on the day, really. Lucy, the Redbone Hound, rules the pack, despite being the smallest. We like to say that she 'put the Grrrrr in girl.' Ophelia, the Great Dane is the jock and cheerleader of the group. Sweet and laid-back, she thinks she's a lapdog. Jack. Hmmm... Where to start. Let's say that you have an anxious dog, and your vet recommends an anti-anxiety medication to calm the dog down. You come home from work to find a scene straight out of a bad rockumentary: overturned pill bottle on the floor, broken knife on the floor, and two very mellowed out dogs snoozing in the corner. Yep, the meds that are supposed to calm him down so that he stays out of trouble. Or let's say that your dog seems a little 'off'. You take him to the vet, and discover - after many expensive tests - that he has a blockage in his stomach. Somehow, your anxious dog has managed to turn your $10 gardening glove into a $1400 operation - on the day before Thanksgiving. That, my friends, is Jack.