july...

It's the 4th of July weekend once again. And I am happily looking forward to having the time with family, friends, and GRANDS!!! It's time to be at the lake, to slow down from a very busy June and take the time to simply enjoy the life and the gifts that I have been blessed with. 

We have made it so the "big" camp is open once again for the use of the family. Kass, Nate and grands have moved into the camp for the long weekend... Abi is here, and Sadie and Jessie will be joining later on. Cookout is planned, and the kids have the chance to run free and enjoy being outside and together. 

Of course, swimming is the main source of "entertainment" and this year little Calvin joins the group. Abi is a great little swimmer and Reagan is learning and getting braver each time he has the chance to go in. 

Calvin has his own little "mini boat/float" and is so happy to be with the big kids in the lake. 

Next year, there will be another grand to the bunch, but it's the three right now... 

Since the 4th came on a Tuesday this year, it was decided that a weekend cookout would work best for everyone. So, we invited friend and family to join us on Sunday and have fun...

the Brady family came....as did my Mom, sisters, the Flagg family and various dogs!!!!

A new addition to camp is a sand box!! Ed and Nate built the base at the farm and than trucked it over to camp.. along with a truck load of sand. Building the box was the easy part, the sand had to be "hand carried" to the box. But once it was done.. the boys were so happy to be able to get their trucks out and play.

Even the doggies liked hanging out there... Amy is checking out little baby Luke. 

It was nice that this kept the boys happy and for the most part in once place.. so the adults could enjoy a little "sit time". One thing with little ones.. "sitting" is usually not something that can be done. 

Shadow puppy seems to enjoy all the activities that went on at camp too. He wasn't much of a water dog, but he liked hanging out with the kids....

Another fun thing about camp.. is the simple things are still fun to do.. like a good old fashion water balloon fight. And of course, fires and smores .... a must...

and sometimes, even active little boys are OK with a bit of down time. 

One of the days, we even headed over to Wolfeboro for lunch and a bit of shopping ..

We went to our favorite little restaurant and had lunch right beside the lake.... 

and even though photo opts are not a fav of the grands... they do them because I ask.... (one day, they may appreciate their silly "baby" and her camera!!!)

And the reward for the photos... a stop at the candy shop. That's what today is all about.. doing all the things that you don't "normally" do or "allow"... Cal certainly enjoyed his first big boy lollipop!!!!

Back at camp.. the day finished off with a bit of fishing. No one got a bite, but what does that really matter????

The morning of the (actual) 4th began with the lake's annual boat parade. This is always fun to watch and I believe there were even more boats than in the previous years. 

We got our coffee and went down on the dock to watch and wave hello.....

Well.. some of us watched and waved hello.. others.... took the opportunity to go swimming (again). This little "fish" of ours... she is in that water as much as possible... she pops out for a bite to eat, warm up a little and she's back in again. She has spent hours!!! in that lake... and it just pleases me so much to see them enjoying the water as much as their parents did, and as much as Ed and I did (do)

We are down in the doggie numbers this year, it's been a long time since I have brought just a few dogs to camp. Trevor, Tazzy, Livy and Shadow were the ones this year... poor old Trev actually stayed inside most of the time.. he no longer hears and can't see well.. but he knew where he was, and I found him happily sleeping when I checked on him. Little Tazz is so stiff and sore from her age.. but she stills gets around, much slower and doesn't care to swim anymore. She always wanted to be down on the dock with us and outside when we went out.. but I suspect when we get back to the farm.. she's going to be pooped out for a few days. 

And those menfolk... they never seem to be able to sit still for long. The front bank of the camps have really become overgrown with all sorts of brush and just stuff... so Ed and Nate got to work and did a lot of trimming back and cleaning up. It made a huge difference and the camps are beginning to look like they used to. 

Each day, Reagan got a bit braver with the water. And has even begun "jumping" off the dock to get in. Like Abi, it won't be too long before he's doing cannonballs off the end...

The big boys from next door... Dom and Robbie popped over and swam for a while.

We have watched these boys grow up on the lake and it seems sort of odd (neat) to see them now as the big boys and our guys are the little ones. Was a time where Kass and Sadie were the "big" kids and Rob and Dom were the little ones, but the times have changed... and who knows... one day Reagan and Cal will be the big boys for someone else. Reagan thinks Dom is pretty cool and really enjoys hanging out with him....

By the end of the weekend.. fun had become tiring.. especially for one little chap. Poor Cal, his whole schedule has been thrown off by all this camp stuff...

and as good things usually do... it all comes to an end. The weekend went by way too fast, and it was time to pack up and head for home. But July is off to a very wonderful start and I for one, so appreciate all these very special times together. 

And Shadow puppy will hopefully remember some of his days with us too... 


We'll squeeze in as many camp weekends as possible, but here in the north.. summer is way too short!!!!!

Goodbye to june

I try as much as possible to hold off the big pasture until the month of July..that way the horses have grazing all threw the summer and pretty much into late fall. It amazes me how much they chew down the grass...this picture shows the difference. But today the fence is coming down and the big pasture is open for business. I can't wait to see what the boys will think.

This is the winter pasture, usually the boys are so busy with the big pasture that they never go in here during the summer. But I've decided to block it off this year and allow it a good rest over the summer. I'm hoping this will give them some grazing in the late fall and possibly until snow...time will tell.

I'm so pleased at how these two get along. There's a real bond happening here. Tonka used to pick on duke a fair amount but he doesn't with Abe. Like us, I know that just because they're horses doesn't mean they immediately like any other horse and some are more friends than others..So I guess that's just the case here as well. Either way, it's nice to see..Tonka was so lonely without duke and Abe took some time to settle in..but its all good now.

Morning chores...

Annabelle...queen of the barn

Time to check it out....right away they notice it's different.

Then Tonka sees what it is..his steps quicken and so Abe follows...this is a first for him but he trust Tonka..









And then they find the good stuff.......I love seeing them out in the "front yard" once again... on completely quiet nights, we can even hear them chewing and happily blowing threw their noses... a true summer sound.




The guineas are doing well, and doing a great job at keeping the ticks down. I have heard so many complaints about the ticks this year, but have seen very few here on the farm. I check the cats almost daily and so far haven't found one on any of them. Sometimes I have come in from chores and found one or two on my clothes but overall I think we are ahead of the game. 













Abi was playing around the barn, and found these little egg shells... the barn swallow babies have hatched. I have noticed the parents are pretty busy these days, swooping in and out and bringing food to the babies. I'm beginning to hear them chirp when the parents arrive. I love having them in the barn... more "free" bug control....



And then I hear her say... "Baby.. look what else I found!!!"


















A sweet little toad has also taken up residence in the barn... goodness, with all this help, we shouldn't find a bug anywhere!!!








And the last of this blog's "good things"... Livy's therapy dog "advance" title has arrived in the mail, sporting her spiffy new patch. Advance means that we have done 100 or more visits.... I love doing this therapy dog work, and so does Livy.... we have met so many nice and interesting people and have heard some many stories. I plan on doing this work for a long time to come.... the next patch is for 200 visits.. so, there's a way to go.. but we'll just enjoy each visit as it comes....

Another month has sped by... the summer is here and there are so many wonderful plans in the works...... life is good.