another one????

It doesn't seem possible that Ginger has been with us just over a year... a bit longer than Chester was here, but it's just the timing that has made this so. Because she has been here "this long", she needed to go to see the vet and get her shots updated.









Certainly much bigger than she was a year ago when she sat on the scale. She weighs in at 68 lbs.. "perfect" size for her breed, and a nice size for a service dog.











We know for a fact that just after the New Year, she will be heading back to NEADS for the next phase of her training. Down Maine Vet Clinic has been her sponsor all year long (outstanding people!!!) and Dr. Nikita has been the vet she has seen the most. (she likes her doctor!!)






So, I just wanted to get some photos of the two of them together before Ginger moves on. I will admit, when it's time for Ginger to go on, I will be very sad... I loved Chester the year that we had him, but our relationship was much different. Ginger and I are very close, she is a real "huggy" dog and has always liked to be very close to me... I'm going to miss that. However, I think Camille will be happy to have her "mommy" all to herself again!!!

And ... take a look at this!!! I had been looking for sleighs all fall, and never found one. Then, on Veteran's Day, we came across - and bought - our "first" sleigh... here's the second!!!!

I don't know if it's the time of year, and people are pulling them out - or what, but it seems like there are "sleighs everywhere" right now. Ed found this one on "e-bay"... placed a bid, and "won".....

This is a sweet little sleigh, it was built around 1820 in Vermont. The man that had it said he had another sleigh, and was approached by a man who thought that sleigh was one that he grandfather had owned. It turned out, he was right.. so he offered to trade another family sleigh for the one that had been his grandfather's, and this gentleman was happy to make the trade. He only used the sleighs as decorations, so it didn't matter to him which one he had.

This one has been restored around the turn of the century.. the floor boards had to be replaced, but the neat thing... the floor boards are boards that came from the farm where this sleigh had been used. The seats are adjustable as well... they have pegs in them, and you just set the pegs in the holes where ever you want the seats to be. The runners and metal work are in excellent condition, and all it needs... a set of shafts... so now Ed has two sets to make. But we thought it would be fun to have both sleighs out at the same time. I think this one will "fit" Tonka better and the other will be for Duke. I'm excited, and wanting a bit of snow after Christmas. I have it in my mind to have a nice Sunday afternoon, invite our friends, and have an afternoon of sleighing , bon fires, and good eats......

We have had some other exciting things going on as well. Abbie has a new friend!!!! This is Hugo, newly arrived from Korea. Our friend and "sort of" neighbor has adopted him. They have been waiting for the past year for Hugo to arrive in the states and he came two day after Thanksgiving.

What a dear little boy he is. And he and Abbie hit it off right away. They had the better part of a morning playing together and getting to know each other. Here Abbie shows off "her" turtle....

And we were pleased at the way they both shared the toys and enjoyed each other's company. Sadly, Abbie doesn't have too many folks her age, so I think she was truly happy

As seemed Hugo. So welcome sweet boy, I know your family is so happy to finally have you home and I am sure you are in for a very loved and happy life!!!!!

And then last (but not least) it was time for our annual Christmas gathering with the friends in my dog club....

We had a good turn out, as you can see, there are quite a few members!!!

The main event of the evening, other than eating tons of great food, is our mystery auction. We bring wrapped gifts with clues and then auction them off. The monies are either spent on "special projects" or used as donations... Abbie was more than happy to help Wayne decide which present would be auctioned next.

She thought it was all pretty exciting and had a great time at the party.....

I find this very hard to believe. This is me and my dear friend Pat.... we met when we both joined the dog club... in........... 1982, that means we have been members (this coming year) for 30 years!!!! I just can't even think that... 30 years a member of one club... plus our friendship of 30 years. We can name all the dogs we have had together, and all the shows we have done together... all great memories!!!! and yes, the time has flown by...... my goodness!!!!

oh my.....

Do you remember that nice sturdy tree we got... that HEAVY tree we got.

well.... heavy trees should probably be tied to things (like big beams in a timber framed home)... because if not..................











You may find yourself with several broken things.

Fortunately, the dogs were outside when this happened and Abbie wasn't home. I was baking cookies and watched it go over (kind of like in slow motion)






It was easily re-stood, Ed got some nice tuff bailing twine and we tied it in place. The lights were re-arranged and the ornaments that survived were put back. But sadly, some were badly damaged.. and even sadder.. some were ornaments that Abbie had received as gifts. Oh well.. all replaceable.... but next time..

tree will be tied....

afternoon parade...

The "trouble" with this time of year... too many good things to enjoy. And since I do love the Christmas season, you will find me.. cramming in everything possible....

And so, we find ourselves at another parade. This time it is to be a "part of" instead of "watching"... my local dog club has participated in this parade for more years that I can remember....

We met up with friends (this is Kelli with Otis and Edgar)..and brought along our farm hay wagon and a tractor....

We unloaded at the end of the parade route, and then rode down to the start of it... Ginger, Camille, Hunter and Trevor thought they were pretty special having a front row seat. (I think they would have ridden back as well..but we were there to walk)....

Some of our member couldn't walk such a long route (and that included Abbie).. so that is why the tractor and wagon came along. I would have loved to use the horses instead of the tractor..but we still have much training to do before we try something like parade.. though I will say.. there were a lot of horses there. Abbie had a grand time riding in the wagon and munching on snacks....she was so good and enjoyed waving to everyone.

and here's our group. We had a good turnout and the folks along the parade route seemed to really enjoy seeing all the dogs...

I wished I had taken more pictures than this. But between helping Ed with the "vehicles"... keeping an eye on an active two year old, and holding four dogs... I was quite busy in "other places". Still it was a grand afternoon, the weather was cold but bright, and just one of those wonderful events that makes Christmas so special.....

Abbie probably won't remember this day exactly, but I do want her to always think that her grandparents are up for having fun and finding neat things to do.... (and yes, she is eating again!!!!)

Christmastime cookout

I would like to tell you that I knew this was always there, that I had seen it several times before, but the truth is... I had no idea it was there...

can you see it... in the beam???

Yes, it's a heart. It's on the beam that is just in front of the woodstove hearth. Our friend Rick noticed it the other evening when he was here for a visit (leave it to a logger to notice something like that). The saying that the "hearth is the heart of the house" must be true, given where this one is placed. So, I can say.. this house has a heart....

The Christmas decorations are all finding their place. Since this is only our second Christmas here in the house, I still don't kn0w where "everything belongs".. but things are finding their place... this is my collection of Breyer's Christmas horses.. Ed got me the first one in 2000, and has made a point of getting one each year... so far I have ten... trusting that number ten is coming this year!!!!!

Now, since Ed's procedure, and now that he is feeling so much better. His next goal is to get some weight off, and hopefully with that, get off some of the meds that he has to take. We have (in the family) a licensed dietitian... Miss Lauren, (Nates' sister). So, I asked Lauren if she would come and give us a lesson in better food choices. She came this afternoon and spent a couple of hours with us, setting up a "starter" game plan and helping us understand the labels on foods and such.

After our food planning time, Lauren stayed, and since neither she or new husband John had been to the farm, I invited them to dinner, along with John's parents, Dave and Deb and Rick and Kelli, and of course the "kids".

I asked the girls if they would get the tree decorated while I got things ready for our cookout... they had a fun time doing that.....and I enjoyed watching the "kids" decorating the tree once again...

Abbie really got "into it". We told her that she couldn't handle the "glass ones" and she would look into the ornament bucket and ask "is that glass??" It really didn't take her too long to figure out what "glass" was and she was good about choosing the proper ones to hang. Though she did tell me that the "tree bit her"....

We had a grand full moon, and as I said earlier, the meal was a real summer time cookout. In another week or so, we'll be having the traditional holiday foods, so I thought something different might be great fun.....

It was a cold night too, but Ed didn't seem to mind having the grill duties. That steak and chicken sure looked good cooking there.....

And as I have said several times before, I love having people in the house. I love the sound of it, and seeing folks enjoying themselves. It's a great house to entertain in, and I try to do it as much as I can.

Summer foods and winter decorations... why not....

Abbie thought the meal was great. She pretty much kept her mouth food of wonderful things.....

But was happy to give "baby" a big smile her front of "her" Christmas tree... how do you like the Lion King??? Her new favorite....

And she'll tell you... "this one not glass".... kids and Christmas.. does it get any better than that????

THE tree

The time has come, it's Christmas tree finding time, and Ed and I headed out to find this year's perfect tree. We have a few Christmas tree farms very close by, so it's just a matter of picking which one to go to. We decided to go back to the farm that we went to last year, we found a beautiful tree last year and knew would we again this year. We were trying to find a time that Sadie and Abbie could go with us, but between all our schedules, that wasn't working... so we went ourselves.

I thought this was interesting sign and a neat bit of trivia.....

It's a beautiful place and you can tell that they put a "ton" of work into it. Lots of trees to choose from, I feared this could take hours!!!! (just ask any of my family how fussy I am when it comes to finding that perfect tree!!!) Fortunately, the day was grand weather wise, and we didn't have a time schedule, so if it took hours.. so be it....

However, we weren't even there 15 minutes and there was "my" tree, just standing there --- waiting for me. A beautiful blue spruce. Now, many people (including my family) don't like the blue spruces because they are so prickly and hard to decorate (when the needles are pricking you) but I especially like them. I love the blue color.. and I love how heavy and sturdy they are, because I have a lot of heavy ornaments that other trees sometimes can't hold up.... AND, I have never had one cat climb a blue spruce.. so, if I can find one.. that's my choice!!!

This was quite a mature tree, so it has (has) a thick trunk and is very heavy. I like the way this farm will send the tractor down to pick up your tree.. besides we had had some rain, and it was muddy on the pathways, our tree would have been a real mess if we had to drag it back to the truck.

We got it home, and in the house. It's so pretty on it's own that I wondered if we needed to add ornaments and lights... but of course we will.

And so, here it is.. our 2011 Christmas tree.. or as Abbie says... "MY Chrisssmass Tree, Baby!!!"

getting ready...

In the hussle and bussle with Ed's surgery, Thanksgiving and the like.. I sort of forgot about the Fair Quilt. Each year, if you remember, they hand out a little patch of material and a theme... with that, you go home, come up with a quilt block of the "theme" and use the piece of material that was given to you. Well, here's the piece of material and the theme... "remembering the 60's". Now, I was born in the 60's but I don't remember them... so part of not doing my block sooner was a lack of an idea. The deadline for having your block in was Nov. 30th....




I mailed mine on December 2nd.. with hopes that it won't be considered "too late". Here's my block... I tried to go with the "peace, love, hope" idea... making the piece of material into "VW beetles" as I do know they were popular vehicles during that time frame. I hope people will "get it".. but I won't know that until the fair next August.......keep you posted on that one.....






I just had to post this photo... This is how we begin each day... a sweet little gal, with all her favorite things (the horse is new)... cuddled in Papa's chair.. watching the Lion King. Even after her "horrid" trip to the Rain Forest Cafe... she still loves her Lion King... I can almost say it word for word!!!!






Our old home town had it's annual Christmas parade. Ed has been feeling so good.. we packed up and headed down to see it. They line up on our old street......(and the parade is usually bigger than the parade route!!!) That's small town New England for ya!!!!








The family... (or part of it) waiting for the parade to begin....













Ginger and Camille came along... so did Charlie, Banjo, Hallie and Ollie...

After the parade, we went back to Kassy and Nate's for supper and goodies... and can officially say..

Christmas season has begun......