Monday, February 29, 2016

Sunday, February 28, 2016

Thursday, February 25, 2016

Thursday, February 18, 2016

happy birthday Calvin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The day after Valentine's we got another load of snow. Funny how we had nothing the first half of the winter and now it seems to be making up for lost time.... I called Kass and she said no signs of Calvin just yet, so I was content to settle in and enjoy this storm. 
I'm keeping the car full of gas and have all my dog classes on stand by .. just in case Kass calls and says it's time. I get to be there for the birth.. which really makes me happy because this will mean that I have the privilege of seeing each one of my grand babies being born!!!



On Wednesday Kass had a doctor's appointment and I had to teach dog class... so I loaded up Logan and went down to watch Reagan while Kass went to the doctor and then I was going to class afterwards. Well... Kass called from the doctors and said that she's being admitted... they want baby Calvin to come now, not that there's any real trouble, but they're thinking it's time for him to be here before "troubles" begin.

Oh oh.. Logan!!! Fortunately Kathleen was working at the library.. so I took Logan over to her.. and then I canceled dog classes.. and now we wait. 

I spent the evening with Kass, Nate and Diana... it's quite certain that Calvin will be here within the next 48 hours. Around 9:00 pm the nurses checked on Kass and predicted that Calvin would more than likely be born on Thursday.  Since she still had the whole night to go, I decided I would go home.. get some sleep and just come back in the morning... Kass agreed, so i drove back to the farm.

I got a late supper, and climbed into bed... and was just falling asleep when the phone rang. It was Kass... seems things were suddenly progressing much quicker than thought, and Calvin wasn't going to wait much longer. I jumped up.. got dressed and rushed back.....

And within a few hours of getting back to the hospital... little Calvin made his grand entrance.... the birth went very well



Calvin Edward Flagg.... 15 minutes old....

Tired, happy Mom and Dad... Kass's doctor and Diana.... a great birthing crew!!!


After the big event, I went back home again... got some sleep.. took care of the critters and headed back. Family was arriving to check out our newest member... here Auntie Sadie sees little Calvin for the first time...


Abi is quite taken with her newest cousin. She was there when Reagan was just born, but I'm not sure she really remembers him being this small... She kept telling her Mom.. "he's so little"


And she was pretty thrilled when she got to hold him.....


another visitor of the day was Amanda and Bradon... actually Bradon and Calvin were due pretty much on the same day.. but Bradon couldn't wait and he came three weeks early!!!! so, they're about the same age just that Bradon has got a jump on Calvin with his early arrival...

The new mommies!!!

And now... life really gets busy and we are so thrilled to have our little Calvin here safe and sound... welcome welcome sweet boy!!!!!

Sunday, February 14, 2016

valentines

Happy Valentine day!!!! and it's a cold one!!!! The bird feeders stay busy all day long and I have to be sure I stay on top of it all and keep those feeders full. We get all kinds of birds and it's a real treat to watch them!!!
The high for the day... minus 2... even if we wanted to go.. there would be no sledding this weekend like there was last weekend!!! This is an indoor/quilting type of day for sure...

The house is plenty of warm and I really don't need to have the small stove going, but I like the way it looks and feels and on a Sunday afternoon, it's cozy.... Tazz certainly is enjoying it...

Hunter dog and Henry share the doggie bed...

though it's Henry that takes up the most space!!! Poor Hunter dog...

Got a little sheep hat all finished up for baby Calvin... he'll be here any day now and we're  all pretty excited.......

Tuesday, February 09, 2016

sledding on Holdsworth Hill....

Got a call from Kass this morning, and since the day is so pretty... with fairly mild temps.. they thought it would be fun to come up and try sledding on Holdsworth hills... this is a farm not too far from us, and actually its the fields that we buy our hay off of. But in the winter, the hills are perfect for sledding and most any weekend, there are a number of folks doing just that. 
Since Kass is due almost any day with baby Calvin... it was Nate that took Reagan down the hill...

Reagan rode a few times with Dad, but they had a couple of tip overs... which Reagan wasn't exactly happy about...

So he convinced Kass to take him for a few rides... hey, maybe we can say it is Calvin's first sledding ride too!!!!



And after a bit of sledding, Reagan even tired a couple of the smaller hills on his own...




We stayed a few hours, and then everyone was ready to head to the farm to warm up with some cocoa and rest after trekking up and down the hills...

All warmed up and rested... we headed out again and Nate got the little John Deere snow machine out and running....

Banjo and Charlie love chasing the machine...

One thing for sure, these two doggies will go home tired... Kass is happy to get the energy out of them...


It was such a fun day together..... won't be long now before little Calvin will come and life will be really busy....

And before they all left for home, Reagan wanted to help with the evening chores... getting the horses fed and tucked in for the night. I always love "help".. so we ran to the barn, got everything done and the day ended on a happy note...

Friday, February 05, 2016

spring to winter... in a few hours...

So, on Groundhog's Day... it was warm(ish) March like.. the little chubby fellow predicted an early spring.. and then........................
Winter came roaring back again. I knew it was coming by listening to the weather reports, but truthfully... when the little birds began tanking up at the feeders, that was all the info I really needed. 
I have just enjoyed the feeders so much. Some days I have a ton of birds and then some a bird hardly makes a visit. I noticed that when the days are good and the land is "open" they don't come around very much, but with the slightest sign of weather coming in.. so do they. I get a number of different birds which is always nice, and all are welcomed....


This was a "good" storm, with the snow coming day a quick rate. Ed stayed home from work, and it was nice to have a real ol fashion winter day. The kind where you don't have to go anywhere and just allow time to come and go. Course I was excited to quilt and do some knitting and some baking... all that good stuff....


The wind really howled and at times, it was near white out conditions..... 
Sending the critters out to do "their thing" was a bit of feat in itself... but every so often I just had to kick everyone out..... (except for Henry who - for the time - has the use of a box....)
The doggies didn't mind so much. But having the deck and this nice patio area out into the dog yard has worked out so well this year. There has never been more than just a few inches of snow all year, and with Hunter and Trev really slowing down in the senior years... this has been so good for them....


The birdies came back and forth all day... even with the feeders really rocking in the winds. I guess they're used to it all....
And then, about an hour before sunset, it stopped. Just as though someone had turned off the switch....

and out came the sun as it began to set... and it was just beautiful (sight wise)... still really cold and windy... but a wonder to be seen.....


maybe that old groundhog doesn't know much about the weather.... it's just February after all....



but................ before spring arrives.... so does baby Calvin, and in just a few weeks he'll be joining the family... so the countdown has really begun.....