talkin' about Chester...

Well I have been in contact with NEADS working on setting up another evaluation for Chester. As it stands now, there probably won't be another evaluation... there will be a "turn in". He's a year old now, and truly I feel I have brought him as far as I can, it's time for college, but so soon??? Where did the (almost) year go???

I took him to the fair on Saturday. I knew he would be wonderful, but when such good training situations come up - you don't pass them by. We walked around the fair and then decided to sit and watch the horse pulls for a while. Now, anyone who has seen horse pulls know how loud and exciting they are... Chester settled down (on the bleachers) between my feet, found a comfortable position and just laid quietly and watched all the going on's....

Then we met up with Sparky the fire dog.

Chester fell in love with him!!! I could hardly drag him away. Maybe Chester would like to be a fire dog instead of a service dog!!!! :D

He "smoozed" with the guys on the fire department...

and loved all the attention he got from the jr. fire fighters. Nothing at the fair "bothered" him, when I asked him to "work" he did, and when he got "free time", he took all the attention he could get.

He's had a super fun week with Banjo being here, another dog his size to play with. September will go quick enough, but with the idea of Chester heading off to "college" I just know it's going to go way too fast!!!!!

photos from the fair

ribbons

Last weekend was fair weekend, and once our "entry" booklet arrived in the mail back in June, I had it in mind that I would take Mocha and try our luck in some classes. They have a number of classes for the mini's as they are getting quite popular in our neck of the woods. but before I get into the details of the day, I just want to give a few words about my dear friend Betty. Because had it not been for her, I am not sure this fun day would have ever happened. I think back on those cold winter days, when Betty came out to the farm to help me with Mocha and her driving. Walking up and down the drive way ground driving, then walking with Mocha on lead as we got her into cart, and just "giving up" her Sunday afternoons. Thank you my dear friend, and Mocha's ribbons are as much yours as they are mine!!!!

So, Friday morning was the day for the "in hand" and "driving classes" for drafts, mules, mini's and ponies. We arrived bright and early, I was feeling a bit nervous, but Mocha took it all in stride. She was actually quite exacted that she got two breakfasts (one at home and then one at the fair!!)







Our first class was "in hand". I didn't know anything about this class, so I just followed what everyone else was doing, and resorted back to my dog showing experience. There were five in the class... I thought we made a good presentation.






The Judge took a careful look at each little horse, they were all beautiful. Mocha and I placed fifth out of the five, but I have to say, I was pretty pleased. It was so much the ribbon as it was "being there and actually doing it"... and for me that fifth was as good as the grand prize!!!





We had a good fan club to cheer us on!!! My dear hubby.. Sadie and Abbie, Rick and Betty were all there to help me get ready for each class and just to enjoy the day together.










Next came the driving classes. I felt a little more comfortable in them, Mocha and I know more about driving than in hand. The same five little minis entered the driving class. It was really fun, and Mocha was wonderful. Easily changing gaits when I asked her to, turning smoothly and just doing a great job. After going around the ring , we all lined up. The judge looked us over again and then asked each one to have their horse back the cart up. I asked Mocha to back, and she acted as though she had never heard the command before.

This surprised me because she knows how to back the cart. But, not today. I wasn't the only one this happened to, two others didn't "know how" to back either. The judge just smiled and placed us third, as we were leaving the ring, he said to me "too bad she didn't back, I had her in mind for first".. oh well, just one of those things. Again, I was just thrilled to simply be showing.

Our last class was "pleasure driving for pony or mini".. into the ring we went again. By now, Mocha and I were feeling pretty good about everything. She went around the ring in great shape, and I was just having a wonderful time. It was pretty much like the other driving class we had done, so I knew what to expect. And guess what...

we placed first!!! a blue ribbon!!!! (can you tell how excited I was!!)

So...our little mini, the horse we bought on a whim, thought about selling when she was so bad in the cart, and now have fallen madly in love with... a blue ribbon winner!!!


Now, if you don't mind a bit of bragging, there are other ribbons to report on as well. My square that I made for the fair quilt.... took first.

Two of my photos got ribbons as well... the windmill/rainbow (seen in another blog) took a second and my dam goose took a fifth.





And another "surprise" blue... I entered this needlepoint piece.. and not only did it take a blue, but Judge's choice as well. Second year in a row that I was awarded the Judge's choice.....

By the end of the day, I could have joined Abbie for a little snooze, this certainly will go down in history as one of the most fun days ever. I still have lots to write about with regards to the fair, so check back dear reader!!!!

truck show and anniversary

One thing about all this unpacking business is finding all the "goodies".Things I knew I had, but didn't have a clue as to where they might be, even in the old house. Going thru the boxes is sort of like Christmas, though I am still looking for certain things... but I guess that just makes me want to continue to unpack, to find the things that are still "missing".







One thing I came across was this little bonnet and another one much like it. I made this bonnet for Sadie, and did one for Kassy as well. I actually made several of them, because at the time, a number of my friends were having babies as well. The bonnet fits Abbie perfectly, so it makes me think I should do one just for her, though wearing her Mom's is special too. It's in good shape, and it got a lot of use, so I guess it can hold up!!!





Now, the Sunday after the Firemen's Muster is always the Barrington Truck show. Ed likes to go to see the trucks, and I enjoy it too, because there is a great quilt shop, general store and gifts shops close by. We also get to visit with friends, and it's always a nice time. This year, it happened to fall on our 29th wedding anniversary, so it was a fun thing to do for that.

Here is another one of my hubby's babies!!! A 1919 Garford. This truck was originally owned by a local lumber company, and we actually knew the son of the owner, and he could tell us all sorts of stories of this wonderful old truck. He could remember the truck actually working, delivering and fetching lumber orders. He also commented on how much "faster" it was than the horses when it was new!!!! Maybe it was faster (no horse to tend to after a long day of work).. but it certainly isn't any more comfortable - I think our own horse drawn wagon is more comfortable than this!!!!



Either way, when Ed tried to get "her" running to take to the truck show, she was being very co-operative. So, having other things to do, he gave up and just decided to tinker with her later and maybe get her to the truck show next year. But our good friends, Chris and Coz surprised us by loading her on their trailer and bringing her to the show.






Brother Bill and his good friend, Al, tinkered with her at the show, and found it to be "something simple". So, with a little TLC, they got her running. She had a lot of admirers at the show - many folks "know" this truck and people were happy to see it out and about. Sadly the day was cut a bit short but rainy weather, but we still had a good time.

After the show, Ed and I had a nice dinner together, and all in all our anniversary was a quiet one. Just being together was the most important thing anyways.

It's a busy week ahead, three days to cover at the post office and then the fair!!! another week will zip by I am sure.

94th annual Firemen's Muster...

It might be the 94th Muster for this event, but for me.. it was the 50th!!! I have never missed one Firemen's Muster since I was born.. and this year was no exception. In some ways, it's the same old-same old... but in other ways, it's tradition and a "big part" of my life, and I am so happy to always be involved. The day began with the unloading of "Protection II"... an old hand tub that is owned by the "Red Shirts".. and a piece of fire apparatus that Ed is in charge of keeping and storing. Each year, she is rolled out of her protected home, the Red Shirts come and polish her brass... she is pulled threw the parade, and then she is tuck away again until the next year.
This year, however, she will make a second appearance on September 11th for another event, which I will blog about when it gets here.


We all met at Kassy and Nate's and then walked up to watch the parade. I brought Chester and Camille along. I wasn't sure how either one would "do".. this parade is LOUD!!! Just imagine.. firemen "playing" with their trucks and you can pretty much figure how quiet this parade isn't!!! But they both did very well, and Chester was quite interested in the candy that folks were throwing out to the kids...






Here we all are.. waiting for the parade to begin!!!!













And - as usual - the Red Shirts and Protection II lead the parade... followed by a whole line of all sorts of fire equipment!!!!











Year after year, the trucks seem to get bigger and fancier. Technology has certainly kept up in the field of fire fighting.






After the parade it's on to the "field" for the firemen's games. Things like how quickly a team can get a hose hooked up.... and then run water threw it and hit the target. This is not as easy as it looks, and more than once, if the hose is not hooked tightly.....









broken connection and water every where. (we like to start the kids young... that's where good fire fighters come from!!!) "don't give up boys"












Now, the "old timer's team".......













maybe not as quick as the younger ones....














but experience pays off!!!!!












Just one question... when did "we" become the old timer's team???? Used to be the day when we were the young ones that were running. Time goes way too fast......

Burley!!!!! If there is one other person that probably hasn't ever missed a muster (other than me... and my Dad!!!) it would be Burley. Burley is amazing and back in the day, he was the one guy that you could always call on to "make up a team". Some musters he ran on several teams!!! Now at about 70 years old.. he still shows he has it... maybe not as quick as he once was... but in the ladder competition, he still showed us all that he can do it!!! Wishing you many more musters and running events - Burley!!!!

The day always closes with the firemen's clam bake!!! Such a fun time, lots of good food (LOBSTER).. time to visit with old friends, and meet some new ones... Here Abbie gets to meet Andrew!!!!











All the girls!!! on the left.. Kadee, Jen, Diana.. and then Kas, Sadie and Abbie. These gals grew up together, with Daddies in the fire department and living on the same street. They are certainly life long friends!!!

And all too soon, the day was over, and another field day is tucked away into the list of memories and blogs!!!

"the" beetle.....

I fear that the summer has been zipping by so quickly, and we have been so busy with "other" things, that we haven't even thought about our little beetle, until the Firemen's Muster was just a few days away. Often the beetle has the honor of carrying the "Firemen's Queen - Miss Flame" in the parade. Being an convertible and red, it fits perfectly for this event. So, we took it's "blankie" off, dusted it off, and rolled it out into the sunshine. Like it does everytime, it started right up and seemed to be "ready for fun".

The beetle has it's own little story (as does everything I have!!!) and it goes something like this. When Ed and I first married, I told him that someday I would love to have a VW beetle - yellow in color and convertible of course. Every once in a while, we would go and look at one, but they always needed a lot of work, or didn't run well, or whatever. Since this was totally a luxury, we continued to look knowing that one day, we would find just the right one.

Early one spring, I was home with two little girls, running about the house and doing a million "mommy things". I don't remember now exactly how the day was going, but I do remember it wasn't great. Nothing awful, just typical trying to run a house and manage two small children. The phone rang.. it was Ed... "what color beetle were you looking for?" he asked. Thinking that was a silly question on a day like this, I said "YELLOW"... and he replied.."not red?, I found a really nice red one, maybe you would like to come and see it". Come and see it? that meant, pack up the kids, drive to where ever he was.. stop what I needed to get done, it seemed like "too much to do"... "No, I can't come right now". He was disappointed, "it's a nice one, good price, I don't think it will last long, you really should come and see it". I told him no again, and ended the phone call. Going back to vacuuming, I began to think .... "are you foolish, your husband just called and offered you a car that you have been wishing for, you're going to pass this by???" I called him back, "that didn't take long" he teased me. Needless to tell you, we bought the car, and no it wasn't yellow, but the red suits me fine.

It's a 1978, had only one owner before us, and was (is) in extremely good condition. I am trying to remember what year we bought it, and we think it was in 1996, so we have had it quite a while. We have had some fun with that little car. We always loved loading the kids in it, and taking rides on hot summer nights. Course the girls complained about being "cold" riding in the back with the top down. So, I made two quilts (one for each) that had "beetle bugs" all over them. We still keep the quilts in the beetle, just in case anyone who takes a cruise gets cold!!!

As I said, earlier,we pulled it out a few days ago to get it ready for the Firemen's parade. I wanted to get it down ahead of time because I actually needed my truck for the day of the parade. So, last week, I popped Abbie's car seat into the back, put Camille in the front, and we headed out. Abbie's first beetle ride!!!!! and another generation for the little car to give rides to.







Camille had as much fun in the beetle as Abbie did. Actually all our dogs love riding with the top down. The cockers ears flap in the wind, and they spend the whole time sniffing.










I am glad that this car has seat belts!!! Car seats weren't the things back in 1978. Fortunately Abbie's seat has a place for use with a lap belt as it's all the beetle has, but it worked. I will tell you, I just hoped that she wouldn't throw that "binkie" out somewhere along the ride, and she didn't!!!!








Even Chester has had a few rides. He seems to greatly enjoy them as well. And now that we have it out and about again, I hope for some warm sunny fall days, where we can still run around topless before the winter winds return.

2 birthdays, a wedding & kidney stones!!!!

August has certainly proved to be a busy month so far. And my "poor little blog" has certainly not had it's usual attention!!! So, to catch up on all the activities (other than the "move").. here's a fill in blog. The first thing to report is my dear Ed has dealt with another run of kidney stones... and looking back at last year's blog, it seems it has run pretty much the same course. He had to go in for another "blasting procedure". This time however, they did a laser surgery, it took more for him to recover from it, but they feel that it was a better way to go this time. The cause of these stones (almost on a yearly basis now) is still under investigation, but the doctor feels that they are an acid base. He has put Ed on a medication that should help keep these stones from forming, and I guess time will tell.



Nate celebrated his 25th birthday back on August 1st. Kas put together a nice little party with some family and friends. She made this cool pirate cake for him as well. She loves to bake and comes up with the neatest ideas.

Happy Birthday!!!!

On August 5th we attended a wedding. This is "Father" and his bride Martha. "Father" is our hayman and a member of the fire department, he lost his dear wife a couple of years ago and the past couple of years has not been very happy for him. Martha was a life long friend of his and she had lost her dear hubby several years ago. Somehow they met up again (I don't exactly know all the details of their story), but the short of it is...

They decided to marry and to begin a new chapter in their lives. It was a beautiful church service (full of fun) and then a nice reception and dinner afterwards. I can easily see the change in Father, his old grin is back again and there is a restored happiness. His family is so excited to have Martha a new member, and I wish them many happy years together.

August 10 we had another birthday to celebrate. Our dear friend Rick. Kelli invited us over a for dinner and celebration. Another evening of fun and laughter...

Happy Birthday - Rick!!!

Believe it or not, there are still quiet moments here on the farm. We are beginning to settle in and finding the routine. The dogs are enjoying their lives here, and are settling in quite well.

Boxes are beginning to disappear and things are finding their places. I still have much to do, and will probably change things around several times. But bit by bit, it's coming together.

I thought the real work was in building, but now I think it's unpacking. Still a couple boxes a day will eventually make a difference.