new bed

a couple of weeks ago, baron von dachshund was taken ill. the sole symptom of his illness was vomit, left in little piles all over the house as delightful surprises for his parents to discover. in some cases, the scene read thusly: it seemed that he had been sleeping, then awoke, then harnessed enough energy only to move his head slightly to the side to throw up. in the bed he was sleeping in. (one of the consequences of his one symptom? a bath.)

he did this - turn his head slightly and throw up in bed - twice, in two different beds. (this may concern you, reader, you may be thinking, 'oh no! the dogs' beds! where will they sleep?' but realize this: the baron and the husband, keepers of four dogs, own 8 dog beds. a little excessive, no?) one of the beds was a reduced-for-quick-sale after christmas bargain from two years ago; it was a small, red doughnut bed with a candy cane and a holly on it. the second besmirched bed was much more expensive and of much nicer quality. the first, the baron and the husband deemed disposable; the second, the baron rinsed in the laundry sink (to get the chunks off), then sent through the wash twice - once as it was, then once inside out, just to be safe.

the red doughnut bed had fit perfectly into a spot in the dining room (because EVERYONE has a dog bed in the DINING ROOM, don't they? it goes side board, dining room table, dog bed, right?), between a credenza and the closet, a spot that gets very, very warm in the winter (because one of the furnaces main pipes runs through that part of the wall, parallel with the closet). conversely, because the dining room receives no direct sunlight during the day, it tends to be among the coolest rooms in the house. in short, from the dogs' perspective, it's the perfect room for sleeping or chewing the random sock. and the spot near the closet is perfectly sized for either of the two black dogs.

because of this, the baron felt compelled to make a new dog bed.

conveniently, she had recently replaced the mattress pad for her bed (it was not deep enough for the mattress).

so.

the baron folded the mattress pad up into a square that fit snugly between the closet and the credenza, the sewed it closed. then, she used heavy duty canvas to make the cover. she's quite pleased with her project: the dogs' have a new bed, she didn't have to discard the old mattress pad, and she was able to use fabric she already owned. everyone wins!

below, see baron on the new bed.