Thursday, April 25, 2013

really Dave????


It's check in time again.... and for me and Rye a temporary "goodbye". Actually, I misunderstood and thought that Rylie was being called in for "good".. so I took her around to say goodbye to all the folks who have been so important in her life and in her raising...
One person for sure.. Dr. T... who donates all her services to the puppies... She took care of Ginger and Norton... and Rylie... so we had to be sure to say goodbye. Only after our visit, did I find out that Rylie isn't being turned in, but is doing a puppy swap with her sister!!!! Hope (her sister) has been a prison puppy and Dave wanted to give her a break.. so he decided to swap Hope out and bring Rylie in to see how it works....
So, even though this isn't the final goodbye.. it is "goodbye for a month".. and as we headed out to NEADS this morning, Abbie rushed from her bed to hug Rylie good bye. She understands that it's just a swap, but she is going to miss her little pal for sure....
I told her Rylie will be back, but that didn't lessen any hugs or last minute kisses.....
And so, on this beautiful spring day.. we are off... here is Marv, Moxie and Rylie... this is the last photo of these three together... Marv is being turned in (for sure).. and Rylie is on her swap.. and Moxie, well.... she has been dropped from the program and will be adopted by Rick and Kelli.... which is wonderful news for them, though sad for the puppy raising side of things......
At our usual check in time, Rylie gives me this look... not sure if she was bored or sensing that I was feeling sad... but either way.....
Before we headed into the city, Dave brought Hope out to meet Rylie. They seemed to remember each other right away and both were so happy. They look very much alike - though Hope is a bit bigger than Rye... and I just hope while she is with me, I'll remember to use the correct name!!!!!
As we were getting ready to go, a group had come to tour the NEADS campus. Needless to say, they were very interested in talking with us about puppy raising and meeting the dogs.....
I was ready to head out to the van, when Dave - all of a sudden - said, "let's head up to the training room, I have an idea"... so, up to the training room we go. He then assigns everyone to a "piece of equipment" and asks us to work with the dogs. Didn't seem like a big deal, we chose wheelchairs and a couple of walkers and began to "play" around the room.
Dave wanted us to work with the door buttons, and get the dogs and chairs threw... OK... easy enough.....
But, next... go outside and work with your pup and equipment. Well.. getting out of the building and not cheating (ie:  standing up and walking).. was a bit more challenging... especially using the elevator and managing the doors... but, OK.. we did it.....
However, what came next??? Yup, Dave loaded all the chairs into the van... drove us into the city and now, we had to work on the street!!!!! REALLY DAVE???? At first, I have to admit, this was all pretty funny... thankfully, none of us really know how to use a wheelchair.. and to handle that and a young dog on the street..... holy cow!!!!!
You certainly get a new appreciation.... just crossing the street while the cars have to sit and wait for you...... let's just say, it's nerve wracking.....

















How about ordering lunch, and then getting you... the chair, the dog and the food all over to the table without spilling anything. Actually the lunch folks offered to put everything into a bag, and we found it was much easier to handle it that way.. but who would have thought???









I have to say, just getting from the van to the hospital, getting lunch and settling in was exhausting. Even Rylie thinks that this is a lot of work... but all of us thought, that it was an amazing training experience. And we can only begin to appreciate what the clients of the NEADS go threw for their training......

Course, we still had work to do after lunch... elevators.. which you all know are my favorite (NOT)... I hate feeling so closed in, but when you have four wheelchairs crowded in to boot..... even more so... the dogs didn't seem to mind... but I couldn't wait to get off!!! It was a fun and eye opening day... but there was still much more to come .....
We got back to NEADS and it was time for the swapping and goodbyes to begin. Linda takes a few quiet moments to wish her buddy goodbye... They have had an amazing (almost) year together.....










You can see how much Marv loved Linda... this is the hazard of puppy raising... giving up bits and pieces of your heart..... for both humane and canine!!!!
One more hug.........
And then, it's off to the kennel.... (Rylie had gone in just before Marv)....with prayers, training and a bit of luck.. Linda will see him again at a graduation......











And with only a few moments to cry and catch her breath... she is off again . This is baby Rayvan, a 13 week old baby who is heading home to begin her adventures with Linda and the chapter. I came back with my "new" girl Hope and the month begins..... such is the life of raisers... (and people with some very sore legs, after pushing wheelchairs threw the city!!!)

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

"love"

Poor old Silver didn't "winter" as well as I had hoped... despite all our "mashes" and high quality hay, he dropped quite a bit of weight. As far as I can figure, he's around 32-34 years old and for a horse, that is "pretty good" to say the least. I have decided to see how he does over the summer, once the green grass comes in and he can go on pasture, and what mild temps and warm sunshine will do... but I have great worries about if and how, he'll do next winter.
I guess it will be "the bridge we cross when we get to it"...in the meantime, he seems pretty happy and just goes about his business... Abbie just loves him, and I so appreciate the lessons he is teaching her.... as one can see from any of these pictures, she has no fear of large animals.
She loves to walk him around the yard and allow him to look for those little bits of green that are starting to appear.... he is so gentle and good with her as well....




Two friends, and a time that is simply... priceless.....

Sunday, April 21, 2013

spring Sunday = busy!!!!


just about as figured... we go from snow to spring in a matter of days... even hours... and that means we are slammed dunked into mud season (again and again)... I have been putting the big boys out in our round pen, just to get them out of the mud in the small winter pasture. I can't wait to open the fields up again to them, but we need some solid ground before that happens, or those big feet will just chew up the pasture... they can't wait... I can't wait!!!!
I let the guinea hens out of the coop a few weeks ago, and they are on tic patrol once again (ya!!!) the scout all over the farm finding all sort of great "treats". I love seeing them out and about and hope to add even more to my flock this year. Free ranging has it's risks for sure, but I am glad they can do the job that they are meant to do... we had so few tics last year that I know they "work" for sure.
I've been getting some extra hours at the post.. and on a few quiet afternoons Rylie has joined me there. She is so good and quiet, no one ever knows she is even there. One thing, if she becomes a service dog and has to "do" an office setting, she will be excellent there.
BEES!!!! I can't wait for my "little girls" to arrive... and I find my self over at the bee store quite a bit. This actually needs to go on the list of "don't go there often" (along with fabric shops, quilting shops and the like) because I can get into "big trouble" at shops like these. This is an observation hive that they have in the shop and I love to stand there and watch the bees at work. I won't have a view like this with my own hive, so it's fun to watch and see how the bees all do it. Some time the end of May, my hive will arrive... so there will be more stories to come for sure!!!!



Ed borrowed a manure spreader from Dave and brought it home over the weekend. We have a pile of manure that has been aging all winter and Ed wanted to get it out on the pasture before we let the boys loose...

Oh.. I "hate" that look... it means.. "come and help me with this project"... boys and machines... they scare me.. I can't tell you the number of times that Ed has said.. "oh just come hold this"  or "jump up and get that" ..or "hang in there, I'm almost done".... I often remind him that I am a "girl" and I don't have that man strength that he often takes me for!!!! uggg.....
But, we managed to get the spreader off the trailer, and he had it loaded and ready to go in no time... here goes the first of the pile... We have a lot of "it" so I was sure that we could get the whole field done....
Off and running.....














I would suggest not standing too close behind this!!!! as you can see, "it" was on the fly!!! and it didn't take long at all to clean up that manure pile and turns out, we didn't have enough for the entire field!!!! So, Ed did what we could and we are starting another pile to age over the summer and will do another spread in the fall. One thing for sure, the boys will keep up the supply without too much trouble!!!  So, the work of spring has begun (finally) and I have all sorts of plans!!!!!



Monday, April 15, 2013

dedication...


Today is Reagan's dedication at church. A very special event and a day filled with wonderful things. We arrived at Kass and Nate's church to find many old/life long friends....
One being "uncle" Don Williams. I have known this wonderful man my whole life and it was such a joy to see him and show off our precious new grandbaby. "Uncle" Don, and his dear wife Betty, told us that they are going to be great-great grandparents in September...such a wonderful Christian man with a beautiful family of his own.....
Kass, Nate and Reagan and two  other young families made their way up in front of the church. A dedication is the promise of the parents that they will raise their children to know the Lord. And once a child/adult makes the decision for themselves, they will then be baptized. So, for us, this is a very special event/day/commitment......
The Pastor offering his words of encouragement and blessings to all the families....
And the joy of this beautiful little boy and the newest member  of our family......
After church, we all went back to Kass and Nate's for a cookout and the chance to be together.... one of our families favorite things to do!!!!!! Eat and be together!!!!! Their little house was filled with friends!!!!
This is Ed, another long time friend of the family.. he has know Kass and Sadie since they were little kids... and now, he loves to see Abbie and Reagan as well..... (and one guy who doesn't get nervous holding babies!!!!)
Mary and Ed take a little time to chat with Kass.... ( and these are the folks who Kass and Nate got Banjo from.....)
Course, me and the camera... have to get all these great shots when I can... and here are all our "kiddos" together!!!!!
 




Our family takes up a lot of space these days!!!! Ever growing, and bigger still because come July... Sadie and Jesse will be married!!!!!! (lots of plans in the works for that)...












Looks like little Reagan has had about enough fun for one day......he's growing too fast.....