Spring Has Sprung, Grass Has Riz, Wonder Where the Blogger Is?

Easter at Aunty's

"Hey where are the Blog updates???"
WELLLL ... the beautiful sun just pulls us outside first thing in the morning, with all kinds of possible "home projects" both planned and unplanned everywhere we look ... Ahhhh, early morning "walk-abouts" in slippers, just enjoying the early morn sun and before you know it, hours later, hands are dirty, slippers are wet and girls are kinda muddy ;o)
-dead Blackberry bushes stalks pruned
-ball throwing!
-removing the beaver's overnight work at the pond Spillway

"Breakfast Nook"

If it's a nice sunny morning, breakfast is outdoors over-looking the pond or if too chilly, inside by the cozy woodfire ... there is an unending supply of kindling to take the Spring morning chill off ;o)

2012 Meadow Project!

Looks like our 2008 "Meadow Project" now needs more gravel to keep out the pond overflow ... perhaps this year, rent a small tractor with a bucket to scoop gravel ... don't relish the idea of "shovelful-by-shovelful" with the lawn tractor and trailer!

Family Brunch ... yummmy ;o)

-6am "Burrr" Easter Sunrise Service at the Cathedral of the Pines
-girl have breakfast "on-the-road"
-Family Brunch, "teenagers" Easter Egg Hunt and a spacious fenced yard for running & games
-birthday Lemon Meringue Pie

Our Beautiful Forsythia Bush

Annual Canada Visitors and Girls Enjoying "Froggin"!

Sutter "It's Easy Emma ... just take the plunge"!

Sutter and Willow have already been swimming to retrieve bumpers, but lil' girl Emma is still trying to muster the courage to swim & retrieve ... she stands belly-deep and paws the water to try to pull the bumper/ball/stick toward her ... Ok, so we have the whole summer ahead to work on that ;o)

Willow Swims with Canada Goose ;o)

"SunKissed" Puppy Party

On a gorgeously sunny day, we enjoyed the 2nd Annual SunKissed Puppy Party ... Willow's mom "Sophie" has five 7 week old pups ... their friends & future "forever families" snuggled and played with the pups all afternoon ... there was a yummy cookout, book signing/answering questions by author Kathy Goodman, and just pure FUN for all ... "Thank You" Jean, Duane, Kara & Jonathan for a wonderful time ;o)

Big Golden Friends Get to Party!

Emma Plays "Keep-Away" from Sutter on the Diving Board!

...and it didn't turn out to be all about the puppies ... the big dogs also got to come out and play on the pool cover ;o)

Emma Meets Puppy ... Good Girl Emma ;o)

Emma Has a lil' Snack ;o)

600 lbs Bagged Compost/Garden Ready!

Emma Smells Tulips ;o)

Emma Naps With Willow ;o)

Emma Naps With Sutter ;o)

In May we're excited that 2 lil' Golden visitors are going to spend a little time with us while their family is on vacation ... Willow will be in 7th Heaven being able to use her "babysitting" skills again ... a new litter of SK puppies will be born very soon ... so we're resting up and having very happy GOLDEN dreams ;o)

Willow's Introduction to Tracking ;o)

Willow continues to be actively training in Agility, but is trying to work through her "Teeter-fear" (low see-saw) and also is dealing with her inability to concentrate when distractions present themselves ... she just loves being a Golden "greeter" and is sooo ready for play at a moments notice ;o

We gave several months to training in "Rally" Obedience last Fall and then this past weekend we were active working participants in a Tracking clinic in Western Massachusettes ... way out there in the field is Willow pulling on a 6-20ft lead attached to a special tracking harness, enthusiastically scenting a 90yd straight path that Donna laid 1 hour earlier ...  following are Donna and the instructor picking up the 6 spaced articles with treats on each (sox, glove, plastic bottle etc) that Willow has just found/acknowledged ... as time goes on Willow's track will  be laid by a stranger and gradually increase to 450-500yrds with several corners, fewer articles and age several hours ...Willow seems really eager to move on to finding the next article ... GOOD GIRL WILLOW ;o)

Willow, Emma & Sutter

    4-7-12 Addendum: today was a gorgeously sunny day and all 3 girls successfully gave Tracking "a go" with members of the Massachusettes Tracking Club ... Sutter did this last year, so it was a refresher for her, but this was Emma's first experience and she took right to it ... picking up each article and eager to move on ... GOOD GIRL EMMA ;o))  

NOW THAT the WEATHER is NICER, WE'RE GOING to ENJOY GETTING OUT into the FIELDS to CONTINUE TRACKING LESSONS ;o)

March Maine Ocean/Seminar Trip

Sutter Catching the Wind!

Fun and learning round out our second half of March ... 2 Dog seminars and a return to Maine's ocean ... one weekend Emma was a "working" participent in our Agility club's annual seminar and then the next weekend we spent 3 days in Maine (sunny day#1 playing on Old Orchard Beach ... cooler day#2 at an 8a-6:30p seminar "Dog Structure in Motion" ... then drove to LL Bean on rainy day#3)

Willow Catching the Frisbie!

Emma Catching the Thrill of the Run!

Toys for the Trip ;o)

"Is the Seminar Over Yet?"

Stop for "Potty Break"

Our Own Bed at the Clarion Hotel ;o)

Waves Catching Emma :o)

When we come back, Emma hopes to "Catch the Waves" !!!

March Doings ;o)

With the mild winter, there has only been snowblowing twice, snowshoeing twice, playing on the frozen pond twice ... weekly woodsplitting, bi-weekly dog training and newborn puppy visits ;o)

Emma & Willow Chase!

Emma Pulling Ice Chunks from Pond!

Sutter Helps with Woodsplitting!

Willow & I Sneak Off to Snowshoe!

Willow Explores Up-rooted Tree!

"I Found Some Mud!"

Ice Going & Rowboat Out ;o)

Girls ... You're Making Me REALLY NERVOUS!!!

Burrrrrrr!!!!!!

Rowboat is Out for Annual Ice Breaking!

Emma Has Alot of Work to Do!!!

Willow's Mom "Sophie" & 5 pups ;o)

Awahhhhh, 1 Day Old  ;o)

 Willow Joins Emma Visiting "Shimmer"

Emma & Willow Visit "Margo"

The first half of March has been so enjoyably busy and the second half is filled with two and possibly 3 Dog seminars ... but that's for the next Blog ;o)

Sunset over Cedar Pond ;o)

Emma's Box Trick ;o)

Lyric's Box Trick ;o)

Willow Seeks Sutter's Approval ;o)

Each of our pups over the years has been required to learn a "trick" for puppy class ... Sutter (before Digital camera), Lyric and Willow all learned "Get in the Box" ... so why not Emma ;o)

On her 3rd attempt, smart lil' Emma had the "Box Trick" successfully accomplished ... OK, that was too easy, so lets add something new to it and see how that goes ... "Sit Pretty in the Box Trick" ;o)

Cute Emma ;o)

Enter Sutter & Willow to Emma's training sesion... "Hey, what's with going on here ... step out of the way lil' one!"

Ooops, Caught on Camera :-)

Come on Willow ... Try it!

Although Willow at 2 years, has just found her ballance to "Sit Pretty", she wouldn't perform for the camera ... maybe another day ;o)

(Willow) Learning is sooo Exhausting : )

ENJOY the LEARNING MOMENTS ... truly "kodak" moments ;o)

Willow in Agility Training ;o)

Weave ;o)

A glimpse into a training session ... enjoy ;o)

Jump!!!

Tunnel ;o)

Tire ;o)

See-saw "touch" bottom ;o)

A-frame "touch" bottom
(nose is suppose to be on the floor) ;o)

"Ohhh, I hope I did Good today" ;o)

GOOD GIRL WILLOW ... you done good ;o)