a perfect winter Sunday...

Today, after church... I was just itching to get the sleigh out again. That wonderful snow we had a few days back was calling... and beside that.. the temps today were so mild, you just had to be outside. So, down to the barn we went, pulled the sleigh out and began to hitch.







Abbie could hardly wait to go. She jumped right in the sleigh and kept yelling "come on Baby, let's go!!!"













Mocha and Kringle were enjoying the mild temps too....












My sister Rachel had made a comment that she would like to know about our next outing. So, I gave her a call this am.. and she and Naomi came up to join us. Abbie was so thrilled to have her cousin come for a ride with her.








Duke was such a good boy. He trucked right along and gave us several rides around the field.















The snow was pretty soft, so it was a hard pull. Good thing he's a big boy........











Can you tell that we're having a good time......













These are the kind of afternoons that you remember forever.......











Our rooster.... "Charles Henry Cackleberry the second".... showing off with one of his gals.....













Sadie and Mona.......













After an afternoon of sleigh rides, and horse play.. it was time for a good visit, playing together and hot cocoa......











and what game do you play..... horses of course!!!!

puppy nite at the mall

It's been too long since the puppy chapter has had the opportunity to get together, but tonite we changed all that. We decided to meet at the local mall and have a night of fun and training. Some of us have new puppies and others are getting ready to say goodbye to their puppies, and we need to do these sorts of things when we can.

It was a great time for photo opts... meeting and greeting folks... and making memories....
























I am really enjoying working with Norton... this dog certainly has a sense of humor.












There's a cute little carousal in mall, so you just have to know that Abbie had to take a ride (she's her grandmother's granddaughter!!) She had such fun... look at that smile....



























Norton found the carousal interesting too. He sat and watched it for the longest time.









Abbie loves being with the puppies. She knows all their names... and Norton.. is called "No-ton"... (at least she doesn't call him "baby's new Ginger " anymore) and she told several of the puppy raisers that "Ginger is gone, she went to school".....









Is this called "making eyes" or what... hard to say who is cuter......











The new babies of the group... Checkers (the yellow Lab - Lynn's project) and Monty (the chocolate - Kathleens' project)......
















Caleb and Rangley have made great strides.. won't be long before they take their certification test.....










Rick has some quiet time with Otis, mall walking. Otis will be looking at his turn in date before too long.........











and by the look on Norton's face... he had a pretty fun night... and I would have to agree....

the equine center...

A few days ago, my friend Mae called and asked if I could trailer her horse to the equine center for a dental procedure. I am always happy to truck horses, and I have never seen the equine center, so I was happy to go. I told Mae it was so fun to go to the center as a guest and not a client, because even though we are so fortunate to have such a great facility close by... no one who owns a horse really wants to be there!!!!

It's an amazing place, probably the best in New England, and I don't think there is anything that they can't do.












It's modern, bright, certainly geared to horses and there are equine specialist of all kinds. As we were going threw the hospital, I saw this beautiful horse in one of the exam rooms.









This is the "hospital barn". Very impressive!!!













There weren't too many horses in on this day... but this one caught my eye. Looking at his ears, I assumed that he was there for some kind of injury that had happened.










But I was surprised to see that there wasn't just one horse with "funny ears"... but two. So, I had to asked why they were there and "what had happened to them". I was even more surprised to learn that nothing has happened to them... they are actually boarding there for a time.. and the ears... well, that's a trait of the breed.








They are called "Marwari's" a rare breed of horse from India. According to the staff there are only nine of these horses in the United States. What a treat to see such an unusual horse and learn a little bit about them. They are "small and slight" sort of like an Arab... but seemed very sweet.






The staff was very nice, and happy to answer all sorts of questions and let us look around. Again, it was so nice to see this under good conditions, and it's such a comfort to know that they are there if we ever need them. And for Miss Molly and her mom, the dental procedure went very well.. and even though it's such a nice place... they were happy to be heading home.

workin' in the cellar

When the winter winds are blowing and it's a little too cold to play outside, there are always inside projects to be done. Our main focus over the past month has been the cellar. We have a really nice cellar, that walks out to the back yard. The "kennel" area is there, and it's bright and sunny and very pleasant to be in. The stairs have been a huge deal, for the longest time they have been "open" with no sides. This always made me nervous when the dogs were scrambling up and down.. pushing and shoving to see who could be first, I lived in fear of someone going off the side. But Ed has them all closed in now, with proper railings and I feel much better.

We got the one back wall all insulated as well. Suddenly it's so quiet, and the wall isn't cold when you walk by it. We now need to get the sheetrock done - which will be fun, because there are some really neat things that we can hang up.

Along with this great project has been the radiant heating for the first floor, which as you see, is in the ceiling of the cellar. This has been an interesting project, getting all that tubing going to it's proper place... but we did (and let me tell you, it's warm on the first floor!!!!)

It amazes me how well this radiant heat works. We have it in the cellar floor as well (and the doggies are always toasty warm).. but it's neat to walk across the floor in your bare or stocking feet and feel how warm they are.

We still need to finish this insulating as well. All the tubes have to be covered so the heat can work efficiently... but it will make a nice clean ceiling for the cellar when all the insulation is up

And last but not least, real lights. Up until now, we have been working off a sting of construction lights, which I had to plug in everytime I needed lighting in the cellar. Now I can just flick a switch and it's magic!!! I also have plugs, so I can run my dryers to dry the doggie's after bath time. It's really nice. So, bit by bit,it's coming together. We still need to get our back deck built (hopefully before the weather gets too hot or buggy) and there are a few small things to do.. but the house is really getting close to "done"

March roars in....

so, with the winter being so mild (and really - quite wonderful). I took down my winter decorations, and put up "spring". The mornings have been relativity warm, the birds are coming back early and singing once again, we are ready!!!!

The bit of snow we got last week was quickly fading. I am sad that we didn't get to use the sleighs as much.. but there's always next winter.....












And just as we're getting all excited.. Ol' Man Winter shows up again. I guess just to prove that we aren't out of the woods yet!!!!











March roared in like a mighty lion!!! Not so unusual for this time of year, in fact.. March can be quite snowy. Ed put the plow on the truck, and we enjoyed a nice inside snowy day.












The rockers on the porch wait patiently, but looks like we can get that sleigh out again afterall.....

Happy LEAP Day... happy BIRTHDAY

It's been four long years!!!! But birthday number 6 finally arrived for Sadie, at this rate, Abbie is going to have more birthdays than her Mom.... but it's all a part of it when you are a "Leapling!!!" (aka born on Leap Day!!!)

Sadie has a good time with being a "leapling", but what's been even more fun is finding others that share her birthday. When she was working at the little general store in town - ID-ing folks when they bought beer or cigeretts, she actually got to meet a few other leaplings!!!









For the most part, the day was quiet, she opened a few presents in the morning --- with lots of help from Abbie....












And in the evening, we took her out for dinner. Actually we all went to "steak night", so she celebrated with all our friends there. Abbie was delighted that Tee-Tee brought balloons for Mom and promptly claimed them for herself.









Norton got to come and celebrate as well. ... actually he 'worked" under the table. Abbie is so funny, she thinks it's normal for us to have a dog under the table... and took a little time to go and check on him.














Happy #6/24" birthday.....











and there's no better gift than a big birthday hug....