We're getting Dove set up in what used to be a sauna that came with the house.  It's got electricity and a wood stove.  I even have apartment sized washer and dryer out there.  I put a dog door and a kennel run on it. and am getting it all fixed up for Dove to use for a whelping room.

She's getting accustomed to it and seems to enjoy the freedom of having her own "pad."  I think it's a little lonely being separated from the pack, but that'll change as soon as we have pups.  I've got to get water out there via a garden hose.  It worked really well when we had to use the washer when ours broke, but now I want more than one thing hooked up.

I'm going to run some copper plumbing.  Nothing fancy, just a hook-up inside for the washer, a hose to clean up the kennel and to fill the mop bucket, and a connection for an automatic waterer.  Dove keeps knocking over her bucket no matter how hard I try to fix it so she can't.

So you know me, I don't like to over pay for anything, and I'm too poor to be cheap.  I can't afford to buy garbage that needs to be replaced all the time.  So I look all over the internet, and eBay and I can't find anything I really like.  So before I order the plastic one for $34 delivered, I check Dover Saddlery. 

I've really come to love and hate this place.  I mean, Amanda spends a king's ransom every time we walk in the door AND it's one of those "estrogen" stores.  You know, where women instinctively feel at home and men feel a sense of panic.  The exact opposite of the tool department at Sears.

But, they do tend to have high quality items and you can find a good deal on them.  And the bargain basement or whatever they call it, don't get me started.  It's quite a treat to find good stuff there.  Nicky has an ugly orange fly sheet purchased for about half the money that it would have cost if it was any other color.  He is yet to wear it, but until it's worn out, there will be no new fly sheet.

So what do I find?  A metal horse waterer for $32 delivered.  All metal, powder coated, exactly what I was looking for.  It's right in the ballpark of what I'd hoped to pay.  I spend a lot of time whining about stores here, but more often than not, Dover has been good to us.