Oh this little face!!!! I miss her so much and still to this day, in a mean sort of way... wish she had failed as a service dog!!! Because she would have been mine...... but Debbie is destined for bigger things than me... and today is her graduation.
I had huge mixed emotions at the thought of seeing her again and meeting her new Mom.... I could hardly wait to get to see her, and then was already embarrassed knowing full well that I would have a hard time keep it all in check. And when we saw each other once again....
Well, I think the look on her face says it all.....
I was pleased with myself, that I remembered "good service dog manners" and asked Samantha for permission to pet her dog.....
I think Samantha was nervous too at meeting me ... no doubt she knew from the people at NEADS how much I loved this dog. And I always did know that Debbie wouldn't fail... and being a hearing dog for this wonderful young woman is going to give her an amazing life....
Debbie and Samantha will be heading to college in the fall.... Debbie will love living on the campus and I can already see the love and bond she has for her new Mom. No one ever said being a puppy raiser was "easy"... but it certainly is rewarding....
Debbie got to meet Bella....
And Joey... and seems as though she was giving advise to them both.....
Three of "my" puppies.......
And here's the graduating class........
It wasn't long ago, when I told Debbie that one day it will be her turn on the stage.... and look at this... she's an old pro already......
I don't remember "who" this dog is.. but what a ham he was up on the stage... he laid like this for nearly the whole program.....
There were four hearing dogs at this graduation, but I didn't realize that this class had all trained together. And these four young women had made very close friendships. Each one of them spoke of it in their speech and how already their dogs had brought new and exciting things to them....
Debbie never took her eye of Samantha.... (she used to do that with me....) but that's "my" girl... she always did her job 1000%.... and she will continue to do that....
Joey found it all very boring.... though one day with love and luck.. he will have his turn on the stage......
It was a nice graduation ceremony... though I have to say, this one was rather long.. and between Abi and Joey, it was hard to keep the youngsters patient.....
The new client house is being named after Kathy... this is really nice thing and she had no idea.... so an already emotional day just had fuel added to the fire....
Even during his center time on stage... this boy knows how to play the crowd... good things he's going to be a ministry dog.. with this sense of humor....
When they show "this" photo at the end.. this is my "closing marker"... the work is done... for me and for Deb.. and now they step out into the world together....
But there are other puppies to train... other adventures to take.... and with my buds.. we're going to take them on and have a good time.....
And of course, my number one puppy raiser partner!!!!!
(Abi and Joey.......)
We headed up to Portland..... a night in the big city.... a birthday gift!!!! Back in January, I had bought tickets for Ed's birthday... tickets to a concert that we have been hoping to see for a very long time. It's nice when you can give a present to someone, that you're going to enjoy just as much. But, from the time that I gave them to now... it has seemed like a long time.....
Here's the bus!!! We are really here and they are too... outside, it looks quiet, but once we entered the building, the place was packed... guess we were hardly the only fans....
And this is who we have come to see... Celtic Thunder.. touring the US from Ireland..... For years, Ed and I have love Irish music and we have "followed" a few different groups. But these young men are really really good. We have seen them a few times on TV, and one day always said, "we're getting tickets" well.. when I found out they were going to be right here... I got those tickets.
We had really good seats, and I took pictures, but my little camera just couldn't get the shots. (so truthfully, I stole these photos off their website)... but the performance was really wonderful. They had an excellent mix of songs we knew and ones we didn't.....
I'm usually not a crowd/concert type of person, but this was a grand evening, and we have already decided that when they come back again.....
We will be there!!!!!
Oh goody... I awoke to a few more inches of new snow!!! Well.. at least a "snow" doesn't seem to mean "feet" now... this is where we New Englanders begin to look for better places to visit, and in fact, the kennel is booking up, because people are looking to get out town.....
I got a funny phone call from Kass... she found a place that has some silkie chicks for sale, and she called to ask if I might be interested in splitting some of the flock with her. Our Kassy... she has come to like chickens.. of all things and has at her house, a little coop with a few birds. I have always like the little silkies, even though they make better pets than laying birds.. but I told her yes, and today we planned on going to get our birds...
What's even "stranger" is I know the gal who has the birds for sale. She is a boarding client of mine and we have taken dog classes together. She only lives a short distance from our farm... so Kassy came today, and we went over to Larrissa's to pick out our birds....
Larrissa raises all kinds of birds... these are some of her turkeys. I'm thinking that I might get some turkey chicks from her this year and try raising these instead of the standard white turkeys. She says their meat is better,and that they are a bit smaller than the traditional white meat birds, but I may give them a try and see how it goes...
They seem like a hardy lot... these guys were out in the snow.. showing off for the ladies.. she says this is her breeding birds and she has had some of them for quite a while....
While the birds were fun to look at... the kids (Reagan and Abi) were, by far, more interested in all the baby goats. Larrissa also raises milking goats, and it's kidding season. She invited us into the barn to see all the babies.. some of them were just days old...
The "kids" loved the kids... Abi thought they were the best and couldn't wait to get in there and play with them....
I thought Reagan might be a tad overwhelmed, but I guess living with big dogs has made him pretty used to being bumped into and climbed on. He even knew how to tell them "no" and to back off a bit....
Some many children are afraid of animals..
I'm glad that's not the case with ours!!!!
Let's play.... follow the leader!!!!!
and when it was time to go... I think the babies were almost sad to see everyone leave..... Kass thinks our farm could use a few goats... right now (with the winter weather still outside).. I think... not!!!!
But then, it was time to get what we had really come for... our little silkie birds. Larrissa had the kids "pick out the ones they liked" .. though they basically all the look the same right now.
But, Abi seem to know which ones were going to be "hers"...
We boxed them up, and headed for the farm. Because they are still so little and have to be kept warm... we decided they would all stay here on the farm and I can raise them up a little and then send some down to Kass.
Abi is just thrilled to have some more chickens....
And Reagan found a couple that he seems to like as well....
We got them all settled in under a heat lamp in the tack room in the barn. I told the grands they can come and play with them whenever they like....
Warm and cozy...
and time to grow...
and on a snowy spring day... getting birds that will grow to look like this... seems kind of fitting!!!!
