golden girl day

Another check in day at NEADS, goodness the months fly by. We go down once a month to check in with Dave and make sure everyone is on track. Ginger and Leo love to go, and some of the gals from the puppy house got to see the two puppies and see how much they have grown.









Dave ran us up to the training room, we took the elevator up and he was pleased to see how well the pups are doing with that (thanks to our trips to the hospital) Then he went thru the "check in list" and I am proud to say that both Leo and Ginger are right where they should be. He gave us some homework lessons, and then we all piled into the van and headed to the local grocery store.







We sat and chatted a bit while Dave observed the puppies around the "traffic" going in and out of the store, how the handled the noise of the shopping carts, and all the people that stopped to admire them.









As you can easily see, both of them thought... "this isn't any big deal"......












But, here's the surprise... the Maine puppy chapter has a new puppy raiser and puppy..... the gal is Bernice and the puppy is Loyalty ("T" for short). He is a four month old St. Poodle.. NEADS uses a number of Standards in their program. Bernice is an experienced "poodle person".. so this is going to be a great match. And the nice(er) thing, Bernice lives close to Kathleen and I, so it's going to be easy to do puppy training together.....

Look out goldens!!! There's a new kid on the block (and I think he can give them a run for their money!!!!!)

Some parting words and advise from Dave... and it was time to head for home. Goodness the day here goes by fast!!!!

Ginger was happy to hop in the car and sit with her "kitty"... she was pretty tired at the end of the day. I forget sometimes that she is just (almost) six months old, and still gets tired!!!!

Course, we can't have a trip without our usual stop for "lunch/supper"... they're so good to us here and the puppies are more than welcomed. So, good day, good fun and another month come and gone. Hopefully when we head down next month, some of "that white stuff" will be melted away.

back to work!!!!

Monday was a holiday.. and as it so happened, I was in between dog sessions as well. So, Kas, Sadie and I all planned a day of "shopping"... well, they went shopping, I don't shop.. but I do have a service puppy to work!!! Our original plan was to poke around the city, but plans were all changed around and we ended up heading out to a mall. I haven't been to this particular mall in years, so I really didn't know what would be in store for the
"golden girl" and I, but that is what the public training is all about.




Deb was able to join us as well, she is looking for a "Mother of the Bride" dress for Lauren's wedding next summer. I assured all the shoppers that I was totally happy poking around the mall with Ginger and practicing all sorts of lessons... "under" being one of them. Funny how this service dog thing has changed me.. I actually look to go to malls, ride in elevators, and a few other activities that were never on my list of things to do. Ginger had a good day, and of course, she got lots of attention. It's fun to see how folks behave around her, some just don't "get it", others know that she is a working dog and shouldn't be bothered.. and some just have to stop and ask all the questions.. but again, I don't mind any of it.







We popped into one store that had these big mirrors... Ginger could not believe her eyes... another Golden in the store??? "Mom!! do you see this??? Look at the beautiful dog!!!"











"Wait a minute... that's me!!!!! "















"Oh, I am way prettier than I even thought!!!"










OK, I'll admit it, for the past few weeks I have been fussing at Ed about the pantry. It's on our 'needs to be finished" list, and since it isn't (hasn't) been done, I haven't really moved into yet. The bad part is, it's becoming a catch all for everything, and stuff is piling up. I can't find anything in there, and the more the piles grow the worse it gets. So, I said to my dear Ed, its time to get that project done!!!!






"well", he says "make it so I can get in there and get something done". Which I did (and now everything in there is living on the dining room table)... but there is room to get it done.












And so, true to his word... Ed got the shelves made for the pantry!!!!









The "thing is".. it only took him one (long) afternoon to finish it.. I thought this was a project that would have taken days!!! Had I known it was going to be so quick, I would have been fussing months ago!!! It looks so nice and is exactly what I was hoping for...

but, guess who has the work now??? I need to get the shelves primed and painted before I can move in... so, think I better get done with this blog and get to work!!! I can't wait to move in here!!!!

just around the house

Well, this HAS to be a good sign. I am beginning to see my garden horse once again. We have had some "almost" spring days, and it's amazing how quickly the snow will drop with just a bit of warmth and some sunshine. I know we aren't out of the woods yet with this "winter thing".. but even big storms now don't stay around that long. Another month or so.. we're getting closer.







One thing that has been so great about this house is the sunshine. All afternoon we get the sun shinning in the living room. It makes it warm and cozy and there are plenty of spots to take those cat (dog) naps in. During the evenings, we fire up the "little" stove and we're all nice and snug.









Abbie has been into all sorts of new games. This one being "ghost" I guess. She found one of Sadie's scarfs and draped it over her head and ran all about. She would run up to you, grab your leg and when we sounded "scared", she laughed and laughed and ran to the next person.









She is just so much fun at the this age, and everyday that she is here with us I count as one of the greatest blessings in my life. She is also doing so many different things with "walking"... she walks backwards, on her tip toes, walks with her arms behind her back.. all sorts of ways.. it is so funny to watch her!!!!






And if Abbie isn't entertaining enough.. there's always Ginger. She tears through this house like a whirlwind and is always picking up something. Which, for a service dog, is a good trait. But she has a real thing about Abbie's slinky.... and anytime she can find that, she is one happy girl. I have been doing work with her back pack, and she hardly knows it's there when she can play with the slinky. I think I'm going to have to get Abbie a new slinky and let Ginger keep this one!!!!

I have a project going right now... a little baby quilt. A friend of mine is having her baby at the end of the week - a little boy - so I wanted to get a quilt done for her. (actually as this blog is written, the quilt is complete and ready to be taken to my friend). I'm pretty pleased with the way it came out, I think she will like it.

Ah.. bacon!!! a favorite of mine!!!! We have it almost every Sunday, from the pig that my sister raised. I can't even begin to tell you how yummy this is, our bacon is getting low and I am going to be so sad when we run out of it!!!

And fresh eggs... the "girls" are laying again and we are getting 4 to 7 eggs a day. So far we can keep up with them, but I am sure that I will be looking for "homes" for those fresh eggs.... so if anyone would like a dozen or so, just let me know!!!!!

Oh.. and my steamer!!! you know "they" always tell the menfolk never to give appliance type things to their wives for Christmas. Well, Ed and I have never followed that rule and I have received many appliance type gifts and have loved them all. But this year, Ed gave me a steamer (I told him I thought one would be nice)... just with all our hardwood and tile floors I thougth this would be a good idea. Well, let me tell you.. I love this silly thing. I even enjoy steaming the floors. And it's great for keeping up with puppy prints, spilled juice from Abbie's cup or whatever. The floors stay looking great and it's so easy to use. So, if you've thought of steamer, I say get one!!!

weekend visitors.,..

Another weekend has come and gone. They just seem to fly by, especially thinking that we are soon looking at the end of the month. I did my usual Saturday morning working at the post office... then, I ran to meet up with a client and pick up another guest doggie (we currently have 8 guest doggies with us!!!) A quick bite of lunch, and then Kathleen and Leo arrived to use the dog tub and have a little visit. Ginger just loves it when her brother comes and they can just play. We like to let them out in the pen together, but right now, it's just too icy, so.... we allowed them to race around the house. Though, two "big" goldens racing about.. well... they won't be able to do that too many more times!!!!

On Sunday, Kas and Diana made a trek up to the farm. Nate was home doing homework and Kas, wanting to get out of the house for a bit, called Dian and said "let's go". Di is always up for adventure. It's been almost a year since she was here last, we weren't even living in the house then.. so she got to see alot of changes. One thing she really wanted to do, was to go out to the barn and see the horses. She fell in love with Tonka.

He always likes the company, but when he found a little grain on the floor... he attention was divided.

Still... a hug is always a good thing.

Another one of our guests was Rachel and her two little guys. Rachel is the daughter of our friend Glenn. She moved here last October and we have been trying to get together for months. Sadie thought it would be fun to introduce the boys to Abbie and hopefully she and Rachel can get the kids together a little more often. At first Abbie wasn't too sure what these boys were up to, especially when it came to her toys...

But, when Tom popped in on the scene.. she seemed to get the idea that sharing wasn't so bad. The kids had a great time together, and the adults had a chance to sit and chat. Sadie made supper for everyone and it was very good.

Course, I must also mention that it was the day of the Dayton 500... so Ed really didn't do much visiting as he has waited all winter for the first NASCAR race. But the kids didn't mind, they played happily and we just enjoyed everyone's company.

OOOWIE!!!!!

Remember that I told you last week that my dear Ed fell on the ice?? and that he had been pretty much "laid up" all of last week.. and that he had a "prize winning bruise" on the back of his leg (and in other spots too)??? well, a number of you have asked how is he and how bad is (was) the bruise... so..... not to be too gruesome.. he allowed me to get a couple of shots of the this "bruise"... forgive us if this is too graphic... but, you have to admit... it's a beauty to be sure!!!!

Needless to say.. it's going to be MONTHS, before this all goes away.....

valentines..

Happy Valentine's Day... kind of a fun little "holiday" in the middle of winter. I like seeing all the "color" that goes with this holiday.. lots of spring colors..pinks, red, greens.... gives the continued hope that spring is on the way!!! I don't know if "they" make as much about Valentines as they seemed to do when I was a child. We always had a big party at school, came home with the "class list" so that you could make out your cards for everyone in the class.. and then the boxes!!! My Mom made the most amazing Valentine boxes with (for) us. She would use an old shoe box and would decorate it to the hilt!!! I can remember many evenings when our kitchen became a craft room, and the table was covered with all sort of bits and pieces to decorate the boxes. Then we proudly took them to school, set the box on your desk and your classmates filled them with little cards. Seems sort of sad now, when I think of all the time and effort that Mom put into those beautiful boxes, and we probably played with them for a bit and then... into the trash they went. But, you can't take the memories away, and I certainly do remember making them with her!!!!!

We celebrated Valentine's a day early.. it was "friend day" at church so Abbie invited Auntie Kas and Uncle Nate as her friends for church. They came up, went to church and then came back to the farm for a Valentine brunch... home raised bacon... blueberry pancakes... hot coffee... some Valentine gifts and a fun time to be together.....

Blueberries that were picked last summer... they made the most wonderful pancakes!!!! Abbie ate two!!!!

The "real" Valentine Day was a Monday this year, so it was back to business... we had to run a couple of errands in the morning, and while we were out and about.. Ed took me to the little jewelry store in town and had me pick out a couple of beads for my Pandora bracelet... it's a little hard to see them.. but I chose a sleigh and a horse!!!! Very cute.....

Monday was dog school night, but as it turned out, this was also graduation night. My friend Scott is "studying" to be an instructor and has been working with me all session. He would teach part of the classes, and he'll be a good instructor one day.. I am sure. Here he is with his dog... Louie... Louie is a "service dog to be" like Ginger... Scott and his wife Mary, volunteer for CCI( canine companions for independence)... this is the fourth dog that they have raised.

One of our students and his puppy doing the "relax" exercise....

Now, since I am busy teaching the classes, it is so helpful for me to have my friends handle Ginger so she can still be a part of the classes. On Monday's, Kathleen takes over as Ginger's handler (Rick works her on Tuesdays).... this is so good for the service puppies to get used to working for different people......

And of course, at the end of the class...it's all about the caps and diplomas!! and the group photos. So, happy graduation puppies.. and Happy Valentine's Day to you all.....

Maine chapter, puppy night

Last night, members of the Maine Chapter of NEADS met to do some training and get the puppies together. Linda, our leader, is working on building the chapter up again, and we thought that a monthly meeting/training would help to do that. Along with puppies in training, we invited all working NEADS dogs, plus some of my friends who have certified therapy dogs...





This is Deb with Rusty... if you remember dear reader, Chester, Camille and I attended a fund raiser that Deb was doing to get her service dog... and then we went to Deb's graduation when she had received Rusty. It was great to see them again, and all in all things are going well for the two of them.







Suzan and Logan joined us as well. I love having Suzan around, she has so many great tips to share with us, since Logan is her working dog. There are so many things that I don't think about, that Suzan reminds us of. Like, working the puppies from a sitting position... I am usually on my feet, but what if Ginger is placed with someone in a wheel chair???? It would be good for her to see a "human in charge" that is just about at her level.... (can't get over how big Ginger is... almost the size of Logan)

Here is Mindy - Rick's dog - who is a TDI dog working her sit stays with Leo next to her!!!

And Rusty.. Deb's hearing dog....

Ginger doing a down stay.. which by the way, it about the only time that she sits still!!!!! We didn't have as many as we thought for our first night together, but hopefully in the month's to come, there will be more that will join us.. including some new puppies and raisers. We also talked about some training ideas and just having the chance to get together.


I also want to add to my "record" here.. about my Ed... last Monday he took a hard fall on the ice. This has pretty much laid him up all week, and the bruise that he has on his upper leg (and other places) is impressive to say the least. (I thought it might be cool to take a photo, but we decided against that)... he is really sore and hasn't been able to go too far.. though he is hobbling less and less each day... it's been a long week for me, it really take s two of us to run everything around here and I miss his help. Fortunately we haven't had any snow storms that require snow removal, because I'm not so sure what we would have done about that. Needless to say, I have been super careful walking on the ice, and we're just happy that his bruises are the worst of it...