five months...

Yesterday "our" Abbie turned five months!!! and so keeping with "tradition" Sadie took her "Abbie/Tatter" photo.

Tatter sure does love her little baby!!!

However, part way thru the "shoot"..Tatter got bored and went for a little walk... so.. Camille thought that she would step in. (Abbie thought she would just give Camille a little bite!!!- good thing her teeth haven't come in yet!!!)

Abbie greatly admires Camille's spots!!!!

Abbie has discovered many things over this past month... she loves feet!!! And did you notice... she can sit up on her own now.

She also is getting into hugs!!!! and laughing

then...Tatter decided to come back and finish the photos... (and yes, you did see ear rings in Abbie's ears!!!)














and the sitting up thing... well, it still has it's tumbles














and Abbie's other favorite "creature"... is Douglas!!!!

Where has the time gone?????

NEADS training

The next morning ( after a grand breakfast) we traveled over to the NEADS campus. This is quite a place and they have almost everything now in one location... training building, house for the students when they come and match with their dogs... a puppy house and kennel... and there are plans for future improvements. We met with Dave.. the head trainer and got to have some time to work with him privately. I was happy to do this, because I want to be sure that I am on the right track with Chester.

We loaded into the van, and headed over to a small mall where the puppies go to do training. It had all kinds of "good things" to work with. One being this glass elevator. Here Kathleen and Kelly take a little ride with Dave. Both Chester and Kelly did just fine with the elevator - in fact, Chester probably did much better than I did (I am NOT a fan of elevators or "tight" places!!!)

Now,what's the big deal about stairs??Chester and I fly up and down them all the time... well, there's the "problem" --we "fly" up and down them.. I never thought that perhaps one day, Chester's owner might not be able to do stairs so quickly... so... lesson... can you do just one step at a time? Guess what, we need work on that one!!! I now look at stairs in a different light and we will be practicing this lesson for sure.

And how about this lesson...do we look a bit "uncomfortable" to you. We are!!! In the world of dog training, dogs work on your left side. Which I have done for years and years... well, what if Chester's future owner needs a dog that will work to the right side!!! (never thought of that one).. so.. next "lesson" more working on the right... he has to be comfortable on "both sides of the human"

Ah.. back on familiar ground in this photo.. "stays with distractions". We're good at this, so that old broom that was being pushed all about didn't really bother anyone.

After the mall work, we were able to return to the campus and have a little tour. As I said, it's a nice facility and from what I understand, they haven't been here too long - just a few years. One thing that I really enjoyed seeing was this wall... it has all the pictures of the "combat dogs" that have graduated over the past few years. The veterans are given their dogs and it was just so heart warming to see so many pictures of them... actually this is only a small part of the wall and now the pictures are beginning to cover the wall around the corner. Many more combat dogs will be added I am sure.



This is the training room, lots of space for everyone. It even has a kitchen in one end where dogs can learn to open cupboards, the frig and fetch all sorts of things.

And then we got to tour the puppy house (Chester was here) NEADS uses all "kinds" of dog for their training, on this day there were three labs, two smooth coated collies, a standard poodle and a couple of labradoodles... they will soon be heading out into the world with their puppy raisers...

A nice shot of "the group"

And then it was time to head for home. We plan on going back in a month or so to work with Dave again, I am excited. This is a whole new way of looking at dog training for me and I can't wait to learn more.

"service dogs heading into the future"

NEADS graduation

I find it hard to believe that it was a week ago today, that I met up with the "Maine Puppy Chapter" and we all traveled down to Massachusetts to see a NEADS graduation. Kathleen has always told me that once you see a graduation, you will be a puppy raiser for life... and I can tell you, she was one hundred percent right!!! It was a wonderful experience and I hope to attend many, many more!!!

The graduation was held in this elegant hotel, and we arrived around noon. It is so nice to see that places like this are "dog friendly", and since we were heading over to the NEADS campus the next day, we had reservations to spend the night here. We got unpacked and settled into our surroundings and then went out to lunch - seven people and four dogs!!!

After lunch, we took advantage of the "city surroundings" and did a bit of training on the streets. The three puppies did real well (Pia - the black lab is a "real" service dog, so nothing of this was new to her)

It was such a pretty spring day, and we were already having so much fun, that I couldn't imagine it getting any better. Chester and I haven't had the opportunity to train in places like this.

When we got back to the hotel, it was filling fast with all kinds of folks that had come for the graduation. Naturally, there were the graduates themselves, and their families and friends, as well as puppy raisers from all over, (both past and present), volunteers and staff from NEADS, and folks just interested in the big event.

I tried to get pictures of the graduates as they were receiving their diplomas, but I was sitting a little too far back and the room was dark. All I can tell you, is watching the 21 handler/dog teams graduate was a very moving experience. There were several "types" of service dogs that graduated that day... everything from "full service dog".. to the "combat dogs" (for veterans).. hearing dogs, ministry dogs and "social" dogs. NEADS has a wide variety of dogs that they train.

The hallway after graduation was busy as well.. so it was hard to get good shots there, but I did get this picture of a recent graduate.

Aside from "simply" going to watch, we were there for a couple of very special reasons... one being that Kathleen's last puppy Harvey, was graduating. And here he is with his new handler. If there is any doubt that the puppy you raise will remember you... just take a look at Harvey's face as he sits here between his two favorite people!!!!



Kathleen got the chance to spend sometime with Harvey's new person. Probably swapping all sorts of great stories about him... maybe one day... I will have a chance to do that with Chester.

But the day wasn't without it's own surprise for Chester and I!!! Chester has a "sponsor".. which means that because these wonderful people made a (sizable) donation to NEADS.. they have the honor of naming a puppy. The couple (right) in the picture are Chester's sponsors!!! AND when they found out that Chester was going to be there, they invited their friend (gentleman on the left). It was this gentleman's beloved golden who Chester was named after. They were all so pleased to see Chester and thinks he is turning into a fine dog... course it was a great honor for me to meet them!! (and they are readers of the blog... so a special hello to you all!!!!)

Certainly raising a service puppy is a big commitment, but it's actually just a very small piece of the puzzle when it comes down to it. They say "it takes a village to raise a child"... but I think that can certainly be said of a service dog as well. From the breeders who will donate these wonderful dogs.. to people who give their time and money.. to the trainers and the supporters of the handlers.. the list goes on and on.

After a very emotional afternoon, it was an elevator ride (first one) to the room for a little rest and then off to dinner with friends. The end to a great day. But the next blog will tell you all about our day at NEADS and working with Dave (head trainer)... so stay tuned....

catching up on the news....

busy, busy, busy seems to be the best word to use right now. Ed (and I ) have been going great guns around the house.. and here it is... the "first-last"piece of sheet rock that needed to be hung in the main house. (we still have a couple of closets to finish and the garage) but over all the "main" house can be called done. And now, mud and tape is also looking closer to the end.

We need to also do a major clean up, but we didn't want to throw out any of these "small pieces" until we had all the little places filled in. I know just cleaning up will make a big difference!!!



Notice all the "dust" in the air... no wonder we needed to be wearing masks when we work...

While Ed was finishing up the sheet rocking, I continue to paint the "finished" rooms.. and try to keep up with Ed. Just having it primed when done gives us a good sense of "getting close to finished". This room here is the master bedroom..

I love how the afternoon sun shines in... it's not as bright as "Abbie's" room in the afternoon, but it's still quite nice.

Camille... after a day of watching us work, she is always ready to run down to the barn and check things out there....

I almost don't dare say, but... it looks like we'll make our move in goal of June... we're looking at the "kitchen stuff" now and will be deciding on cabinets and appliances very soon.

sure signs of spring....

It seemed like today, the signs of spring were all around...and here in New England, we look for them eagerly...







a "punky" lake, the ice will be out sooner this year

sap buckets on the sugar maples...

dirty snow piles....

that are melting into "mud"

and that mud makes for a very messy horse!!!

heavy trucks can't use the roads until the frost has gone

and the local restaurant is OPEN once again!!!

come on spring!!! we're waiting.....

getting close...

I wish the "getting close" meant "getting close to moving in".. and it is... but this "getting close" is about --almost being finished with sheet rocking!!!! Ed keeps saying, "you wait, one day we'll be done and it will seem like it happened all of a sudden".. well.. I don't know about all of a sudden, but it is a good feeling when we look around and fewer spots need our attention.

This little wall in the kitchen area is the LAST one, the last thing.. that needed to be sheet rocked in the downstairs!!! Ed got this done yesterday and spent today finishing small bits and pieces in the upstairs bathrooms. Once the mud goes up, I will be back to last part of sanding and priming!!! I have a pretty good idea of the colors of the remaining rooms.. and now we are thinking about the floors. I guess "floors" will be our main topic this month.

I got the downstairs bathroom all primed today. I can't believe what a difference a bit of paint makes on the walls.

I feel like my life is a little "boring" (busy, but boring!!!) right now.. all I think about/talk about is sheet rock and priming... I feel like I have to look around for blog stories, because "my story" right now is much the same. It's kind of a boring time of year anyways (at least it is to me).. the weather is almost getting nice and yet winter can still show up at a moment's notice.. we haven't done much with the horses.. the dogs keep me busy, but again, its the same ol' same ol'... but I guess there's nothing wrong with that.

a new quilter

A bit ago, my friend Kelli said that she would like to make a quilt. I LOVE teaching friends what I know about quilting, so I couldn't wait and work with Kell. We went to our local quilt shop and found a quilt pattern that will be "quick and easy" for Kelli to start out with. It's part of the "jelly roll" collection (for those of you who quilt out there) and Kell picked out the most wonderful warm colors for her quilt.







After our quilt shop run, life got busy and Kelli and I never got the quilt started. I had this "great fear" of the whole winter getting by and us not getting together.. so last night, we made a date to get going.

Kelli had to start by putting her colors together and began making the "four square" which will be the base of the quilts pattern. (I just love the colors she picked.. makes me want to get quilting again myself!!! - got to get in that house!!!) We had such a good time together, quilted, talked and laughed.. the evening flew by....









However, we weren't without one little catastrophe---- Kelli is left handed, so anything that I tried to show her, she had to "turn around" for herself. All in all it went well.... except for the "pizza" (rotary) cutter...

Kell was zipping along (literally) and not only zipped across the material... but her finger as well. Having "just changed" the cutting wheel.. it was razor sharp and made a nasty cut... and BLED like crazy!!! It took her a few moments to get the bleeding under control.. and then she bandaged it up and went back to work!!! (brave gal)...

But, her quilt is now in progress and I will keep you all up dated as she goes along. And I told her.. that she needs to plan on entering the quilt at the local fair.. and I'm going to bet (right now) it will take a blue......