This weekend, we had the pleasure of dog sitting my son’s precious little dachshund, Hughie. (Can you guess how much I adore that dog?)

For once, his visit wasn’t tied to a traumatic vet appointment, just pure, tail-wagging joy.

Every time he visits, we have to meet him outside first because he gets so excited he pees everywhere. (Apparently, that’s a thing with dachshunds.)

Normally, it’s not a problem, except when they arrive late at night and I have to drag myself out of bed (because, you know, I now go to bed at 6 p.m. … just kidding, 7).

There’s an ongoing debate in our house about Hughie’s favorites ranking.

Of course, number one is his dad (my son, Stephen), but I like to think I’m in a close race for number two with Stephen’s girlfriend, Addison.

(Between us, I’m pretty sure I edge her out.)

Then comes my other son William, who insists he ranks higher than Steve.

And last, but certainly not least, is Kathryn, who’s not thrilled about her spot at the bottom of the list.

We all secretly think Hughie just assumes Kathryn is his sister, he follows her around, steals her socks, and looks personally offended when she leaves the room.

Of course, when Stephen and Addie aren’t around, everything changes. Suddenly, I’m top dog.

Early every morning, Hughie and I have our little ritual: I take him outside to do his business, and then he bolts straight back inside .. right into Steve’s bed.

He burrows under the blanket, and the two of them snooze for another hour or so.

Honestly, that might be the highlight of Steve’s day.

Farm Happenings

Remember all those peonies I moved to the back perennial field?

Well, guess where the thirty new peonies are going once they arrive? Yep, the exact same place I dug the old ones out of.

It sounds like I did a lot of work for nothing, but really, it was necessary.

The original spacing was off, and we had to rearrange some perennials in that front bed anyway.

So, in the grand scheme of things, it worked out (and my lower back has forgiven me, mostly).

Here’s something new I learned: you don’t have to watch your peony foliage turn brown and tragic once they finish blooming.

That’s actually fungus!

If you treat them with an organic fungicide — carefully, so you don’t harm the beneficial insects — you’ll be rewarded with gorgeous bronze leaves in fall.

Since the peonies are planted right next to the roses, and both have a flair for developing fungus issues, I figured I might as well treat them as one happy, high-maintenance family.

I’ve tried everything to keep brown spots off my roses, so they’re officially joining the peonies in my new (very limited) organic fungicide routine.

This will be the only area on the farm that gets sprayed, and even then, just enough to keep the peace.

Sometimes, you just don’t have another choice, but at least it’ll be a beautiful one.