Saturday, November 30, 2013

gearing up....


Now that Thanksgiving has come, it is really beginning to feel like the holiday season. We have had a couple of light snows that reminds me that winter is really here. To be honest, I wouldn't mind if all "snow" were like this, just enough to give the ground some cover, but certainly not enough to hinder any part of getting around....
Though I have a feeling that "this kind of snow" is not what we will be dealing with this year... I just have a feeling that we are in for big snows.... only time will tell....
We certainly live in a pretty place, and I can't help but pull the jeep over and even take pictures of the things that I like. This old apple tree every year seems to hang onto it's apples for the longest time. And then I have seen the deer and turkey come to it and have a little feast.....
Our wood furnace has been chugging for about a month now. I have to say, its keeps us toasty warm and the heat is so even and nice. Course, I have been stacking wood all fall, but with the wood shed, it's been fairly easy to do... though as you can see, there is yet another pile that needs to get inside....
And we need to get the wagons under cover. Ed bought two of these .. hoping to get the time to restore them... I wonder if that will ever been done, but for now, both are in decent shape and we just have to be sure to keep them that way until he decides what to do with them...
I've been doing a lot of thinking about my Christmas gifts for this year... and have decided that I am going to make as many of my gifts as I can... and the ones that I don't make, I am going to "shop small" as much as possible.  This whole "shop small" thing is a lingo that simple means, try to patron the small stores as much as possible... I like that idea very much.
And a few gifts that I am after are at my friend's farm.... so on this day after Thanksgiving, instead of hitting the mall.. I am driving the back roads to do my shopping. Instead of jammed parking lots and road filled with cars... this is view that I see....
and this is the traffic jam that I have to deal with. Do I need say that country life is just right for me?? and I got some pretty nice gifts, that I can't talk about until after Christmas, because I don't want to ruin any surprises....












Decorations are beginning to find their way out... and the calendar is filling up with events..... like everything else in my life, it's going to come flying in and be gone before I can even think.....

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Thanksgiving day...

Thanksgiving is here again... it would seem. I have been planning for weeks, preparing for the family to come and join us here at the farm... it's turning into a tradition I think. Most everyone can join us this year... which really makes me so happy....
I was the first one up... I had a date... with a bird!!!! I like cooking the bird and since it was one that we raised, it's very special.....
here "he" is.... the rest of the morning was happily spent getting the table set, preparing a few side dishes, and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade on TV. We've had a light snow, and with all of the going on's... it certainly feels like a holiday.....
Kassy, Nate, Reagan with Banjo and Charlie in tow were the first to arrive. I love the little shirt Reagan had on... stating "my first Turkey day!!!"
The rest of the family soon followed and the house was filled with activities and sound. My Mom had bought for Kass a naivety set, and since she wanted to be sure Kass had it for Christmas.. she had he open it ....Reagan was quite interested in all the little boxes and checked them all out....
The turkey was done right on time, and if I do say so... it came out perfectly. I have a feeling that there won't be too many left overs from this fine bird....
And we all sit together... so blessed with each one's company and the joy of simply being together with so many good things in front of us....
I had hoped to hitch Duke and take people for rides like I did last year.. but the wind was really blowing and it just seemed too cold. By the looks of those relaxing on the couch, I think the good meal and warm woodstove after such a great meal... worked their magic....
and for those who could stay awake..a nice time to catch up and visit....

Round two... desserts!!!
Sadie, Jessie and Abbie arrived later in the day. They had other family to visit as well.. so I was just so happy that they were able to get to see us at the end of the day...
Seeing my two little grands together... now that IS Thanksgiving!!!
Abbie is quite thrilled that Reagan is becoming a real "little person"... she loves to see all the things he does now and report to me.... ie.. "Baby, Reagan can hold his own cup now!!!"
So nice that they will grow up together and be close enough to have a real friendship....
Reagan tells Papa that he thinks Thanksgiving was pretty fun....
and I certainly agree... hoping that all of you had as nice a day as we did.... the holiday season has begun....

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Festival of Trees....


You must know that "saying"... "the most comfortable spot in the house is where the dog is!!" Well, it certainly is true here... and in the winter, when the sun is lower in the sky, the light floods into the back of our house (which works nicely for heating purposes too)... but even more so...
a guaranteed warm sunny spot to spend a few hours..... and Debbie dog taking full advantage of that!!!!
This past weekend was the "Festival of Trees"... a local garden club hosts this event every other year... this was "one" of the years!!! It's a beautiful event and various clubs set up trees and other decorations and compete for prizes in all sorts of categories. It was a cold night, but I like to go after dark, so that you can see all the lights better....
Abbie was able to come with us, and she had the best time checking everything out. She's pretty excited about Christmas coming!!!!
I brought Deb with us as well..  knowing this was going to be crowded, I thought it would be a good place for her to practice. She and Abbie had great fun together, checking out all the different things to do.
What's a Christmas display without some Charlie Brown.....
Abbie wanted her and Deb to have a picture taken with Snoopy......
The nice thing about this is there are both outdoor and indoor displays. And they way they have you walk along, is by going in and out of small buildings... so it would seem just as you are getting really cold, you get to pop inside and see what's there... and then you are back outside again....
People come up with the most interesting ideas for "trees".. I loved this one with all the small glass dogs.. I have several little dogs like this and thought that maybe I could make a little dog tree like this one.....
One of the buildings you walk threw is a 1800's cape, and this was all decked out. I thought this feather tree was just beautiful..... I wouldn't mind having one like this some day......

And you just know that you could have cozy Christmas dreams in a bed room like this!!!!!
Our dog club set up a display, people seems to really like seeing the "doggie's tree"....
Abbie said that it was her's and Deb's favorite one!!!!!
We enjoyed watching the train... this was an outdoor display.....
Lights in the trees, a cold night, music and so many things to see... great way to begin thinking about Christmas........
But, just to top it all off... as we were driving back to the farm. it began to snow... a pretty good snow at that, we came home to a couple of inches on the ground. Course, Abbie had to play outside just for a bit....
And it is Debbie's official snow fall... I had a hard time getting photos of her, she was zooming around in it so quickly......
She'll be a snow dog for sure.....














And even though this is first of many, and by March I'll be sick of it... there is something very special about the first snow fall..... and so, I smile and tonite consider it a treasure....











Sunday, November 17, 2013

a teary day......


Today we attend another wonderful, amazing NEADS graduation.... as I thought, it was a great emotional day... and I will never get threw a graduation without crying my eyes out!!! I still say, when I am asked "how do you give up your puppies after a year of work.."  this is "how"!!!!
Right away, Deb seemed to sense the importance of this day.. she was as good as gold, but spent much of the ceremony sitting like this, with her eye glued to me. She seems quite concerned that I was "upset" though I told her a million times, everything was just fine. Even though this is the fall graduation and Rylie was matched a month ago, her graduation will be next spring.. so I could "enjoy" this one without any personal attachments (ha, ha!!!)
There were 26 teams today... with dogs from each group.. though this time, the dogs for children seem to out weigh the number of dogs in the other groups. The testimonies of the parents of these children is so great and so hard to listen too... and some of the children even had the courage to stand up and talk about their dogs...
Story upon story about how the children had improved since getting dogs.. everything from behavior to school work.. to making friends.. and how families can now do "normal" things... like one family who said they now can go out for dinner... because with their child's dog resting quietly under the table... their child felt secure and wanted to "act as nicely as the dog".... it just goes on and on as what these dogs do for these very special children....
Here are a few of the service dogs... but one in particular is the dog on the right. This team is from Maine!!! and not only that.. but the dog, Radar... is the dog that was sponsored by the gold star Mother that we met last December in Arlington National Cemetery... AND Radar was trained in prison, but his weekend puppy raiser is the same gal that had Rylie on the weekends while she was doing her prison training... the longer I am with NEADS, the smaller the program gets!!!!
Deb finally decided that I was really OK, and got comfortable and spent the second half of graduation like this!!!!
and here's a dog that you all "know"... this is Hope!! and if you don't remember, she came and lived here at the farm for a month when she and Rylie traded spots. Hope and Rylie are sisters, and Hope isn't far from having a match...Here she demos some of the tasks that she can do... like turning on the lights...
And opening the frig!!! There was also one other litter mate to Rylie and Hope.. that was Norton. I got to see him as well, and turns out, he's being trained as a hearing dog and didn't have much more to go before his match would be coming up. So that was a big success for NEADS.. Rylie as a social dog, Hope as a service dog and Norton a hearing dog!!! all off into the world to work their magic...
There was a good crowd of folks that came to the graduation. I knew many of them, and they were excited to meet Debbie and hear all about "where she is with her training".. Actually, it's hard to think that we have just passed the half way mark... time goes quickly.....









And as I have told all my puppies... "it's all about the RED vest"!!!! and next graduation will be all about Rylie!!!!