SWcon't

****before you read this one ..scrolled down to get the first half of the story*****
This is the view we had at dinner!! MaryEllen, Jack and daughter Jenny, Thom and Karen, and Ed and I all went to this little great seafood restaurant. We sat out on the deck and watched the fog as it rolled in. This is a ferry landing, and it was also a scene in a movie!!! For those of you who may not know.. the Stephen King movie "Storm of the Century" was filmed mostly in Southwest Harbor. On top of that,Thom went to college and studied in film and has worked on many, many films as a camera man!!! Storm of the Century being one of those films (and no wonder that he owns and operates the only video shop in town!!!)... if you are looking for a scary movie that has very little in the way of blood and gore... check it out. But, back to the story. I had lobster for supper (first one of the summer) and everyone had a variety of things, but more importantly was the company and catching up with friends. It was pretty late when we got back to the motel. Moxie and Cammie were great guests, you would never know that we had two dogs with us.

Saturday morning we met up with everyone for breakfast, here we all are.. that's me with Thom, Karen, David, Tracey, and son Dillon. We ate at the restaurant that Pam (cole's owner) owns and operates. Got a huge breakfast, and just more in the catching up with old friends.

Then we went back over to the fire station, because Ed had been promised that he could take a little drive in the new firetruck. As I said earlier, this was Thom's baby, he was the planner behind this truck. That's pretty special to any firefighter, Ed has been the master mind behind some of York's pieces and its a great thing to see all your work and planning come "to life". This new SW truck is number 113... in honor of Thom... he was born on the 13th and the number has followed him on many occasions, Thom might be one of the few people that 13 is a lucky number for!!!

Here is MaryEllen and Jack, they had plans for the morning, so didn't have breakfast with us, but caught up with us before we headed out.

After all this visiting and "fire stuff" it was off to get Cole, which was our main reason for the trip. We went back to the restaurant and met up with Pam. I felt so bad, because it was easy to see how she had wrestled with this decision about Cole. But, I too feel she made a brave decision on his behalf. He looks wonderful!!! For a 13 year old dog, he is in great shape, excellent, weight, shiny coat, and certainly well loved. He was a little confused and sad when we loaded him into the truck and headed out of town. It's going to take him a few days to get settled in here again, but I think he knows that he is safe and I think he does remember being here.

So, that is pretty much the story of Southwest Harbor, and I certainly hope it won't be another two years before we get back there again, and spend some time with all our friends.

Southwest Harbor

So, what's the deal with Southwest Harbor, well, next to Williamsburg, VA and Acton, ME... it is our most favorite place to be!!! Ed and I have been going there (off and on) since 1980. It all began when we were much younger and used to attend all the firemen's musters down in Mass. There was a whole "herd" of us youngester that weekend after weekend went to the musters. This is where we met up with Sam Chisholm who lived in Littleton, MA . When Sam joined the coast guard, he was stationed to this wonderful little town, Southwest Harbor. Sam joined the fire company up there, and told them all about the musters that we had here in the southern part of the state. So, the SW fire company thought they would like to try and have their first muster, and once all their plans were made, Sam called all of us and asked if we would come and support their first muster!!! We were thrilled to do so and for many years after that, we would go to SW and then they would come here. We made many good friends, and over the years (as it goes in life) kids that came as Jr. firefighters, grew up, brought girlfriends, that became wives, and babies that grew to be teens.... etc. etc. etc. We also made other trips to SW other than fire musters, and just enjoyed watching our children grow up "together".



It's been a number of years since we've done the fire muster thing, but we still stay in touch and our SW friends are as near and dear to us as they have always been. SO... when Cole was adopted out two years back, (and completely by luck that it was a couple who lived in SW!!!!) it was a good excuse to drive him to SW and get the chance to visit, and now when Cole needed to return to us.... it was again... a good excuse to drive to SW and see everyone though I can't believe TWO years has gone by since we were there last!!!!

We arrived mid afternoon on Friday, our first stop was at Thom's video shop. We knew he was working and we could catch him there for sure. We hadn't been there more than a few minutes when Burton arrived (Thom's uncle) and wanted to show off the new SW fire station. Course, Thom wasn't about to miss out on that, so he closed his shop for a few minutes and we all went to see this beautiful new station!!! They have been in dire need of a new building and this one is grand!!! Very modern with lots of room and you can easily see the care and planning that went into it. Just as we were starting our "tour" Sam showed up (he is now the chief of the department - having never left SW) and so did Shirley (Thom's Dad). I told Ed I felt like we were celebraties!!! He are all the guys, talking things over and showing Ed all around!!! The truck they are standing in front of is the newest piece, this is"Thom's baby"... (more on that later!!!)


While the men folk chatted for a bit, I took the "girls" up behind the station for a little run. They certainly enjoyed their freedom after being in the truck for such a long ride. As you might see, the weather was a bit on the grey side, but just being back in SW, I could care less what the weather was like.

The "crowd" to see us continued to grow.. David dropped in, and then came Alberta (Thom's Mom) and after we chatted with them, we went to our motel. Pam (the lady that was sending Cole back) had made (and paid for) reservations for us. I thought this was very nice of her to do this for us... giving Cole up was a very difficult decision for her to make, and to think of us on top of that, just shows the kind of gal she is. After we got checked in, it was off to find MaryEllen (who was still at her work) and we made plans for dinner.

this is Cole

Where do I even begin with this story? Because it's going to cover the past, present and future. Guess it's best to start with the past.

Meet Cole.... he was a foster dog that we had two years ago, in fact, he was the dog we had before Charlie (Kas and Nate's dog) came into our lives. His story went something like this... Cole was turned into cocker rescue when he was two years old, I don't know why, but he was soon adopted by a lady, who lived alone and wanted a dog. For nine years the two of them lived together and from what I know, had a very happy life. Then the lady got married, and bottom line, her new husband did not like Cole for some odd reason. When they moved into their new home and re-did everything, it was decided that Cole was not welcomed into the house, so he lived in the basement and/or on unheated porch. After a bit, the lady couldn't stand having him like that, so she called rescue and said (mind you after nine years) that she needed to return him. Because he wasn't far away from me, rescue asked if we would foster him, and I said yes.

I remember the day I went to pick him up.... the lady was at work, so I "dealt" with the husband, who can I say.... did not strike a good note with me. There were a number of things, but the one that I best remember was when he saw my truck, he said that Cole would be fine riding in the back of it (he meant the bed of the truck!!!) Well, not only is that illegal in the state of Maine, but never would I put any dog... much less a cocker...loose in the back of a truck. I told him.. I would handle it. I noticed too, that he didn't have a collar and asked about that, the guy didn't have much to say, so I quickly popped this wonderful old dog (because at this time he was 11) into a nice warm truck and headed for home.... (it was February!!).

From the moment he came into the house, he was perfect!!! Got along well with everyone... even Trevor!!!and was just this delightful old dog. The one thing he wasn't great about was going outside.. not that he "did" anything in the house, just that he would run out and get back in as fast as possible. I think he really feared being left out in the cold and just wanted to be in a cozy house. I sort of began to think that I might just keep him (can you imagine that???) but, about that same time, rescue called and said they had just the home for him. A couple without children who lived up in Southwest Harbor and wanted an older dog.... (wait til you hear about Southwest Harbor in a future blog!!!) Now, I didn't' need five dogs, so I thought it was probably best to let him go on his way. Ed and I took a drive to Southwest.

Cole's new people were very nice, and I couldn't find one fault with them, except that I really did not want to let him go. I cried the whole way there, and Cole, sitting between Ed and I, kept licking the tears off my cheeks!!!! I came very close to changing my mind, even after we had driven the four hours up there. But, we left him and headed for home. For weeks, I emailed the new owners and after a bit, knew I was just being a pain in their lives, so I finally quit.... then Charlie came into our life and Cole moved to the back of my mind.

Until....... this past April, when I got a call from the lady in Southwest Harbor, telling me that shortly after she took Cole, she got divorced. And then re-married, and had (unexpectedly) a new baby!!!! She said that Cole (now 13) wasn't adjusting very well to the baby and she was worried that she might have to give him up. She wanted to know if I would take him back... but mind you, we currently have seven spaniels in the house, and this just seemed impossible. So, I went into my "instructor's mode" and gave her all kinds of ideas of how this might be handled, and told her to call anytime and I would be more than happy to "work" with her. WELL...... three weeks ago, she called rescue and said that Cole has to go, it's not working for him, her or the baby and she wants him to be happy. Who did rescue call???? US!!!! you got, (probably had it from the start) Ed and I are heading to Southwest Harbor to retrieve Cole!!!! and as far as we are concerned right now.... this will be Cole's last home. At 13, I just can't ask him to do this again.

I wonder if he will remember us, guess I will know soon enough, I hope he comes in and does as well as he did the first time, again time will tell..... but one thing will be MORE than certain... that new house in Acton... will certainly be built with "dogs" in mind... because one way or another, I seem to draw them in.......

a happy couple

A few weeks back, I talked about my friend, Julie, who raises German Shorthair Pointers, and whom I often play "puppy mid-wife" for.... but alas, due to a surprise trip to the ER with Hunter, I missed out on the delivery of her last litter..... "interesting" news, but not exactly where I am going with this blog!!!

Julie called a few weeks ago, to tell us that she was being married to her life long friend Gordon... they decided to have just a quiet little ceremony, and then celebrate their marriage with a big cookout for all their friends and family. Today was the cookout!!!! It was a grand time.. though the weather for them was about as "wonderful" has it has been for me with regards to cookouts (more on that later!!!) and I got to see lots of dear friends, and just have a great time talking and eating and seeing Julie and Gordon so happy together. We did manage to have them do a "traditional" cake cutting ceremony!!! and just wish them many, many happy years together.

Now, of course, I couldn't miss out on the puppies again.... Allie had 12 of them, and talk about cute!!! I just love this little pig pile of pointers!!!! They are all doing very well, and Julie has even begun their obedience training.... mainly working on coming when called... which turned out to be a real help this afternoon.... (remember the weather!!!) I am pretty pleased this photo came out, because when it was taken, there was no electricity in the house!! and it was as dark as night!!!!!

And I wished this picture showed more... yes, its a very wet motorcycle.... Ed's motorcycle in fact... the one that we decided to ride up to Julie and Gordon's. OK... so the sky looked a little threatening as we left York, and yes, we did for a moment, think about going back for the truck.... but the sun was out, and we don't get out on the bike much.... so we pushed on.

The closer we got to Julie's, the blacker the sky got. You all know how much I "love" thunderstorms... NOT!!!!.. and I was getting pretty nervous on the back of that bike... just as we turned up Julie's road, a HUGE blot of lightening lit the sky and a rumble of thunder that I could hear over the bike and from under my helmet..... we just pulled into the driveway and I was off that bike in no time... I didn't even stop to knock on the door, and bolted into the house!!!! Ed was right on my heels and I bearly had the helmet off, when the heavens opened and the rain poured!!! and HUGE hail stones fell from the sky!!!! Two more bolts of lightening lit the sky and hit very close to the house... and off went the power!!!!

Julie and Gordon came up from the cellar where they had been getting the dogs in.... 12 puppies plus adults... and had a rather close call with one of the lightening bolts!!! Gordon said he could feel a tingle as he opened up the puppies pen!!!! and Julie was so proud that they all ran right into the house as she was calling for them!!!!Where ever that lightening hit, it was very close to the house, and lucky for Gordon that all he felt was a slight tingle!!!!! but, there wasn't any time to be afraid, because guests were arriving and the party was beginning ! I said to Julie, it will certainly be a day to remember!!!!

Best wishes to the happy couple.... even if it started in a "shocking" manner!!!!!!!!!!

AND, about the bike... well it will spend the night at Julie's... Kassy had to drive up and rescue her parents!!!!!

more summer weekend

On Sunday, the 8th, we had a "belated 4th of July" cookout at the camp, and a "happy graduation party -Sadie". It was a fun time and we had a pretty good gang show up!!! One of our "most favorite people" is our friend Cozy. He is more like a brother/uncle than a friend, and has watched the girls grow and has played a huge part in their lives. Cozy loves the kids, he always spoils them and just enjoys being around them.

I love this picture I got of him with Naomi..... course, when I saw it, my first thought was....."who has more hair?" Naomi was quite taken with him... so I have a feeling, Coz has just added another niece to his already long list!!!!

Ed is pretty much in charge of the grill at our cookouts. Course, he likes to work with "fire".... sometimes a little too much (wonder where that comes from!!!) and I am "always" fussing at him....."don't over cook it!!" But, he really does a nice job......

Just a picture showing off some of our guests.... nothing beats a cookout with a lot of friends and family.... especially at camp.... its just the best!!!!!

Now, I can be "in charge" of the food, and make sure that everything is in its place, etc. etc... but one thing I have no control over.... the weather!!!! I guess I should have known what was coming, the way that the loons were talking..... so, even though the cookout was great fun, and lots of great food and company... there wasn't any swimming!!! and I was pretty happy to have our "tent" that fits almost perfectly over the deck. The "cooker" (as I call it) looks kind of sad without a fire in it.... course, no fire.. no s'mores..... but, I guess that means we'll just have to have another cookout at camp before the summer ends!!!! got have those s'mores you know...........

And, for the record, Joe got all the hay off the field before the rain came.... just in time, because one thing you can't bale... is wet hay!!!!

summer weekend

Friday afternoon, I packed the truck with an assortment of items.... food, duffel bag..... SIX cocker spaniels, and headed north to camp. Ed and I were pretty excited to find the hayman, Joe, and crew, on the field!!! It's funny what I get excited about, and haying this field is certainly one of those things!!! Mainly because it hasn't been hayed in at least 25 years, so it means a lot to me to have it brought back and doing what it was meant to do..... provide hay. Joe says the yield on it is "fair"..... fine for cattle, but not the best for horse hay, so he'll give us some insight on what we can do to make it better over the next few years, however its come a long way in the time that we have had it. The first summer, Ed was mowing down trees and it has taken us these past five year just to "reclaim it" as a field. That's a sad tale these days, hay fields are either being gobbled up by brush and trees... or houses... and I'm not to sure which one is worse!!!!!


Moxie is the funniest of dogs. Somehow at camp, all rules just seem to disappear, guess that's why the dogs love it so much there. I couldn't "find" her at bedtime on Friday, so went looking (its not like the camp is that big) and found her sound asleep in our duffel bag!!!! She had "smooched" the clothes into a perfect little cocker bed and was quite comfy!!! I suppose too, she figured that if we were going anywhere.... she was all packed!!!!!


and what is it about camp anyways??? sleeping is a good pass time for sure!!! Camille and Trevor take full advantage of a lap whenever possible!!!
Watching the loons is another favorite pass time. This year we have two pair on the lake, which, I am told, is a bit unusual. The four of them must have found some good fishing and spent the longest time just off our dock, diving and swimming and singing!!! I love the sound of the loons..... course if I had known what they were talking about, I might have known that rain would be coming the next day, but more about that later...............

did it..... again!!!!

Probably, most of you know, that I do not have the sense of smell. I guess I was born without it, and I do know that my grandfather (on my mother's side) didn't have a sense of smell either.

As a child, I never thought to "tell anyone" about it, I guess because I never knew it was missing. I can remember thinking "what are they talking about" when someone would comment on how something smelled, but other than that... didn't give it much thought. I do remember the day it was discovered.... boy, do I.

There was a stray cat in our neighborhood that kept breaking into the trash and peeing in my parent's carport, so my Dad, in trying to discourage the cat from coming around, filled a squirt gun with water and ammonia, and then he would "shoot" the cat whenever it showed up. One day, he left the squirt gun sitting on the kitchen table (which was unusual, because he usually kept it on a high shelf where we kids couldn't get it!!)... walking into the kitchen and seeing the squirt gun, I picked it up, saw it had "water" in it, and squirted it into my mouth!!!! Right away, my tongue and cheeks began to burn and my Mom, who showed up just about the same time... "yelled" ...didn't you smell the ammonia??? which of course, I didn't. Since she knew that her Dad didn't have sense of smell, it didn't take her too long to figure it out.

I don't know if there is anything that can be "done" about this, but I probably wouldn't bother with it if there was. For the most part, it hasn't been a problem, my family knows about this, so they are always quick to tell me if I need to know..... like, a doggie poop somewhere in the house, or something is burning on the stove, etc. And, its been pretty "helpful" because I don't know what dead skunks in the road smell like, nor do doggie "farts" in the car bother me... along with all sorts of other bad smells, that most of you can think about as you read this.

But, of course, there are major drawbacks as well.... for example, yesterday morning, I set two bags of rice on the stove to cook for the dogs.... THEN, I got busy.... blogging on the computer.... and totally forgot, until the living room began to fill with smoke (I usually set the timer to remind myself, but forgot that one too!!!) I have also come close with fires... once I set my stove on fire, and was pretty happy that my neighbor was home (Ed wasn't) because he ran to help... and another time, I set the dryer on fire and that time needed the fire department to come!!!! and when the girls were little, I always had that worry if they had a "messy diaper"........

So, its just one of those "quirky" things that one learns to live with,,,, but I must be more careful and NOT forget the timer, or leave when things are cooking.... just hope I haven't ruined yet another nice cooking pan........

Happy hay day.....

it is my opinion (such that it is) there are just some things one must do to be considered a "real horse person"... now, don't take me wrong here, if a person is taking lessons and doing whatever they can to be around horses, and working on their skills, there is a lot to be said about that... I did it for years before I bought my first horse, Silver. But once you own a horse and get the full measure of what it is all about, only then do you appreciate what this "love" is all about.

So, just what are these "things" that makes you a horseman... well, I think mucking stalls and chipping ice of out buckets on a day in January when it's about 10 degrees qualifies as one, changing your whole day's schedule so you can be there when the vet arrives, is probably another one... AND... bringing in hay on the 4th of July is definitely another one!!!!! Such was the case yesterday!!!!


Ed had all good plans to finish up the front yard, but then I broke the news that a load of hay was coming in, and he (happily) said that would be more important. So, we headed over to Teresa's and then to the hay barn to pick up a load and get it into the barn. It was fun work, the four of us work well together (Teresa, David, Ed and I) and we made short work of it!!!! Still have a few more loads to do, but this was certainly a good start.

The hay this year is real nice. The hay man (another David) said its the nicest he has seen in almost 10 years. He also said, though, if we are going to luck out on a second crop, we need some rain.... badly!!! But for this cut, its been perfect weather. I know the horses were certainly excited to get a taste of it last night.

After we finished with the hay, and had a wonderful lunch prepared by Teresa, I took advantage of some "extra hands" and got Tonka into his harness. He was a bit jumpy at first, so I asked Teresa to "get onto his head" and be my guide for awhile. He finally settled into it and we did some pretty good ground driving. I really need to do more harness work with him, but I find that I need the extra hands around and probably will for a while yet. There's more to this than meets the eye, and I have a real appreciation for quiet carriage horses. One day, Tonka and I will be in that place, but for now, it's slow and steady work.
After a day full of farm work and horses, we headed over to the Flagg's for an evening cookout. Good food all around, however, a steady rain showed up about that time, so plans for the fireworks were cancelled. All in all, it was a great 4th of July and I hope all of you can say the same.......

wilson lake

Now, that it's officially summer, it was time for a "real" camp weekend. Last year, when Ed went to the NASCAR race, I put together a "girls day at camp" and invited just my girlfriends to come!!! So, this year, I thought it would be fun to do the same thing, and I think from here on out, the NASCAR weekend will become the girl's weekend as well.


It actually turned out to be quite a busy and fun weekend at camp.
On Friday evening, when Ed arrived, he brought with him, our new
"gator".. if you remember in past posts, our old gator was stolen last winter, fortunately it was insured, so when the check came, we went gator shopping. It took Ed and I a little time to agree on "what" gator we wanted. I wanted one just like my old one... six wheels and not too fancy. Sadly, they don't make the six wheeled gators and those of you who know Ed... know he likes the "fancys".... so we met somewhere in the middle. The true test though, lies with Moxie... I needed to be sure we got one that she liked.... and as you may see from this picture, she hopped right in the front seat and was pretty happy to stay there!!!!


Now, it also turned out to be the weekend that Dale and Val decided to stay. Dale "won" the weekend at camp at our dog club auction last December, and since they were coming for "girl's day" thought they would just use the weekend stay. But, there is something that these two are not capable of...... sitting still!!!! So, when Ed began to mow around the camps and do some yard work, they both grabbed rakes and got right to work!!! (nice that we had the gator to help out) in no time at all, everything was mowed, raked, picked up ... weeded... and the place looks awesome!!!!


They at least took a little swim time afterwards..... Dale wanted to do some swimming lessons with Tucker and Sampson. Tucker wasn't too sure about the water, but Sampson (being the cocker that he is) did pretty well at his first swim attempts. I bet by the end of the summer, he will easily be keeping up with Moxie... and maybe even with Trevor!!!!

Here's Val and Sampson, enjoying some down time on the dock... in the sun....

On Sunday, the girls arrived... there was Dale, Val, Kim, Karen, Jeannie, Kassy and her friend Mary. I wished the day had been a bit warmer, it was windy and too cold for swimming, but we had wonderful food and just the best time, sitting and talking. Sadly, I don't do enough of this sort of things with my gals... everyone is so hard at work and have so many things to do, its a real blessing to take time out and .... chill!!!!!

Besides the girls, were also the puppy dogs... we had.... Moxie, Camille, Hunter, Trevor, Tazzy, Tatter, Charlie, Tucker, Sampson and Sedona...... they all got along beautifully... course, the funny thing is, the dogs knew each other, even though the owners didn't (at first) because most of them have met at my house (where else??)

Trevor is very happy here with his ball!!!!

The 4th is on a Wednesday this year, so with the holiday in the middle of the week, we plan to do a "4th cookout" on Sunday, I am in hopes that the gals will all be back again, and this time, "we" will "allow" the families to come... plus a whole lot of other friends as well.... and not only is July a real summer month.... its also another month that Nate is closer to home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

off to Iraq......

look at all these wonderful items!!! all these things were given by my friends in my dog club. At our last meeting, Shirley made a motion to "adopt Nate's unit" and bring items to our June meeting. The night of the meeting, people just kept arriving with bags and bags of things, and I was just completely overwhelmed with all the lovely things. On top of that, several members donated cash..... saying that if anything else was needed, to use that as well (we have it tucked away for a future box or two!!!!)

When I got home, Kas and I sorted thru everything, and there was such a nice "even" amount of lots of different things.

We spent the better part of the evening, boxing it up and getting it ready to ship out to the marines!!! Kass reminded me that we would need to do a customs slip, so we carefully kept track of what was in each box.


Ed donated some good sturdy boxes (actually I think he wanted "wood bros." to go to Iraq!!!!) and it took three boxes, jammed to the top, to get everything in!!!

Now, if this story isn't neat enough... here's what happened when I went to the post office!!!
There was a lady standing in line behind me, with three boxes to ship. When I was done, she stepped up to the counter and said "I need to ship these to Iraq".... well, of course my ears popped open, and I waited for her to finish.

Long story short... her grandson-in-law is with a marine unit in Iraq... she couldn't remember exactly where, but she knew that he was somewhere on the Syrian boarder (so is Nate)... and she said he shipped out in April (so did Nate) and is due home in November (so is Nate!!!!) and that he left from California ... (not Nate!!!) but either way. I know there are thousands of marines in Iraq right now, so the chances of Nate knowing this other marine, is probably slim... but just in case, we'll ask him the next time he calls......

So, kind of nice thing to happen on a hot summer day, you just never know who you'll meet up with.

big to little???

Thought it would be fun....

to show you ......

the big

And the little!!!!!!!!!


and the answer to the question...... YES... Mocha could walk under Tonka if she wanted to........

declaring summer!!!!

After all the yard work on Saturday...... Sunday was "get the docks in at camp"..... Ed and I planned to head to camp after church.... only, we didn't quite make it to church. Teresa and her David went off for the weekend, so we had barn duty, well, Saturday night after dinner, we went out to check on the horses, to find that Silver and Tonka had taken down the fence and were on the "wrong side of the barn". Since it was dark, and we had no idea how much of the fence was down, we locked them in for the night and went to deal with it in the morning. They did a "pretty good job" and it took us a little bit to get the fence all put back and up and running. Somehow the fence had been turned off, and it doesn't take Tonka too long to figure it out, and pretty much do whatever he likes!!!!


By the time we did make it to camp, Dave and Sean were already waiting for us.... it makes the whole job so much easier when there is extra help, so we REALLY appreciated them being there!!! but, then, we had an extra surprise, when Dale and Val showed up just in time to help out as well!!!

Val is an athlete and does all sorts of marathons and "iron man" meets, so, when she was looking for a spot to practice her swimming, I was more than happy to offer "wilson lake". When the girls arrived to swim (Dale swims too as Val's spotter) they jumped right in (literally) to help with the docks........ it didn't' seem like anytime at all, when everyone had the docks in place..... its just so wonderful to have such great friends that will come to your rescue!!!! And Moxie was the first "official swimmer " of the cocker crew this year... she usually is, other than Trevor, she is the dog that likes the water the most......

We had a nice cookout after the dock party and sent everyone home, full of good food.

Then Ed and I went down to the "farm" and check out the hay. It looks good, and the hay man will be getting there any day now. I think this is going to be a good hay season, and many of the fields are getting knocked down quickly. It's been a dry season, which is bad for wood fires (had a bad on in York over the weekend)... but it awesome for cutting and drying hay. Last spring was so wet, the hay men were scurrying to get it all in. I dare say, there will even be a second crop this year!!!! "Our" hay man (I need to get his real name... Ed knows it) said he will give us a call when he heads to our field, so I am hoping to get some good blog pictures and have a full report on the hay yield and quality to tell all of you.

And, just for the record......... we have declared that summer has begun..............................

peepers in the kitchen

On Friday, Ed and I went to the local grain store to pick up our turkey chicks. Last year, we raised 6 turkeys that we "named" the "Dinner Family"... we had "Thanksgiving (dinner), Christmas (dinner), New Years (dinner), Turkey (dinner) Easter (dinner) and Whatever (dinner). It was a fun project, and aside from shipping them off to the butcher, I can say it was a "fun" project as well. The turkeys were very good, and I felt that we had given them a fine life until the end.This year, we are raising the "Holiday Family".. and I know it seems hard to think that these cute little chicks are going to end up on the table... fortunately (God is very good) they don't grow up as cute as they are little!!! so, that makes it a little easier when it comes time for shipping them out!!!!
Because they are so little right now, and don't have all their feathering, they are living in a dog crate in the kitchen....... peeping away!!!!! Actually, they peep so loud, it is sometimes hard to hear the TV!!!!!
Then it was back to "project #436".... remember when we pulled those big shrubs out a few weeks ago, well, we're back to it again (course the sunroom is also awaiting its final touches!!! but there are only so many hours in a weekend!!) Anyways, we decided that we would like to cover up the cement walkway with a nice brick walkway. So, I went with Ed to the brick store, and picked out some pavers for the new walk.

The "new owners" of the house (ie: Kassy) said that she would give us a hand!!! and helped her Daddy unload the bricks from the back of the truck!!! I am glad that she approves of her new walkway!!! Though she keeps telling us to "leave a few projects for her and Nate to do!!!"


As with a lot of these types of projects, its the "prep work" that takes us most of the time... here, Ed has the stone dust done and all level, and if you look a little to the right, you will see a nice load of loam (brought to us by Coz) waiting for the walkway to be done. Ed is going to level out the whole front yard, and re-seed. It will look nice to have that all done, because from the old shrubs and just over time, the front lawn is full of dips and pots, that make mowing it....interesting.......


Now, I must confess that I wasn't much help with this project. Missing my mini, Mocha, found me spending the afternoon at the Flagg's, taking a nice hike out thru the woods with Deb and Alison.

But when I arrived home... here is the beautiful job all done and waiting for me!!!! Needless to say, Ed was pretty tired after all that work...so, I did get the lawn mowed!!!.. We still have the rest of the yard to level out, and I promise I will be more of a help on that part of the project!!!!

Ed keeps saying that this is good practice for all the stuff that we will do with the new house. Actually, its quite fun, because it does help me get ideas of what we will be doing up in Acton, and I also have the chance to get back into the "house stuff" stores and see what there is out there. We haven't done that since we bought this house and did all the work..... 25 years ago.... and lots have changed since then.

The next couple of weekends will be spent at camp... so, things will just need to wait a bit around here, again.

are we there yet???

after a very fun and busy Saturday... Sunday was just the same!!! Bright and early.. Deb, Dave, Kassy, Sadie, Ed and I headed to Casco to pick up the new babies!!! For the most part, the ride was uneventful... except for Hunter. Poor dog, he had something "going" with his tummy and had me up a few times in the night. I thought it would be best to bring him along, just in case he needed to "get out"... which did happen several times along the way!!!!

We arrived "home" safe and sound and the horses unloaded, took a good look around, and seemed to know that "we were there". Dave's new boy looks pretty happy in his new place. His name is Bobby, but I am thinking that Dave might be changing that to "Buddy", his puppy dog attitude is amazing!!

And here we are, the Moms, with our new babies!! Deb's little mare is Alice (Allie) and I have decided to call ours Mocha... her original name of Summer, just doesn't seem to suit her... I think she looks a little more like a Mocha!!!

Look at her here with her "new" Daddy!!! Ed really enjoys being with the horses, I can't wait to see him up on the farm where the horses will be a part of everyday life!!!

You can really get the idea of just how tiny she is standing here beside Ed!!! She measures 31.4 inches at the shoulder, and is registered with the American Miniature Horse Association. I will re-register her in our names, and Deb will be able to register her little mare soon. In order to make the registration, they can not be bigger than 34 inches.

I have already been scouting out tack for Mocha. She has done pony rides and drives, so I am certain we will be doing those sort of things with her. I can't believe how "cheap" mini tack is compared to what it has cost for Tonka Boy!!! AND... Deb and I have already made some plans to take Allie and Mocha to the parade on the 4th of July and walk them in it.... so, the busy part of summer has begun.... looks like its going to be full of fun!!!!!

celebrations!!!!

As promised by her Daddy.... Sadie got to drive our 1966 Thunderbird to her graduation!!! This is a very special car, as it was originally bought by Ed's Mom, brand new, back in 1966!! A number of years ago, Kay gave the car to Ed and he has carefully cared for it, keeping it in storage and bringing it out only on the sunniest of days and/or special occasions, graduation being one. Sadie did a fine job of driving and we had a fine ride over!!!

But, graduation was only the start of a very busy, very fun weekend!!

We also had the celebration of Naomi's first birthday!! Here is a great shot of the cousins all together!!! With such busy schedules, this is a rare treat, so I wanted to get the shot while I could!!!

Naomi was so good with all the attention .. it was a big party! Tons of good foods... LOTS of gifts for a very special little girl, and a enjoyable time shared with friends and family!!!

class of 2007

I can so remember signing Sadie up for school and hearing the words " she'll be the class of 2007"...........
2007?...
that's so far away, that's in the next century!!!
I will be in my forty's... late forty's!!!! .... it seemed like forever.

But, here it is, and it hasn't been forever, its been a moment!!! the years have flown by and when I look at this baby picture ( taken at my friend, Lory's house, with a litter of cocker babies....) I simply can not believe where the time has gone!!!

Not much has changed around here, in a lot of ways. Sadie used this picture of her and Tatter in the senior video (and the one above as the comparison), and yet, so many things have changed, as they would, over the years. And I know too, that the next few years will work exactly the same way. She heads to college in the fall, and I have no doubt those college years will zoom by just as the school years did. And it just reminds me of how special each day needs to be, because though some may seem long and difficult, stepping back and seeing the whole picture, makes you realize that is not the case.










So, "class of 2007"--- Sadie --- may your future be bright and full of blessings, and may you, too, realize that time plays the game, and its up to us, not to let it win......but to grab onto it and master all that we can..... we love you!!!!!