ALMOST 1/1/11 ... HAPPY NEW YEAR ;O)

Nature's Beauty

                                                            

I woke this morning to hear TV news about horrendous weather in the West and then I looked outside my own window to brilliant sunshine, a gorgeous 8" snowcover and a passable "snowblown" driveway cleared by 4 hours of my own labors ... the birdfeeders are occupied with various small birds, the woodpeckers are "chowing down" at the suet feeders and 6 grey squirrels are collecting all falling seeds on the ground ... inside the girls are sprawled on their beds and we're happily warmed by firewood in the cookstove, cut, hauled and split on our own property ... I'm sooo thankful as another New Year approaches, to be healthy, happy and physically able to maintain and enjoy my 14 acre homestead in all 4 seasons  ;o)
Christmas was fun for the girls and I ... we had a lil' 11 week old visitor who is a Willow/Lyric cousin from SunKissed kennels ... "Margo" just added so much fun to the holiday ... we journeyed to my sister's Massachusetts family gathering and everyone wanted to hold the puppy ... she got very little naptime ;o)


Hey, are all these for US?



Margo loved all the toys!





Blanket memory "kayaking visit" ;o)

[picture if you will, between each of these photo uploads, the girls and I going outside and playing with the new Christmas Frisbees & giant "Chuck-It" balls ... then I return to this Blog ... Oh the joys of slow "dial-up"... girls love it! ]
         

Awesome Lawn Flag ;o)


Special Christmas Gifts ;o)

The girls had a great "bonding" time with our lil' visitor ... playing or napping ;o)


Gonna catch ya!!!




Hey, let me catch you Willow!





We play by "my" rules girl !!!



Let's Sing Christmas Carols!



Nothing More Precious ;o)

PROSPEROUS 2011 to ALL from GOLDEN EMBERS ;o) 



One or Two Pictures Say it All ... LIFE IS GOOD ;o)

                                                PEACE ;o)

Golden Embers "Foster" Pup Program ;o)

Buddies ;o)

Willow & Soot Chasing!

Willow/Soot Sparing!

Like Family!

 Dispite the frigid temps, we're having fun with our 3rd 10 week old "Foster" pup ... the first two have gone to their "forever" homes ... one to upper Vermont and the other to Texas ;o)



Collar-Leash Training!!!



"Sutter want to use my papers"



SK Mr Black dubbed "Soot" (came out from under the cookstove with a soot black face while exploring on his first arrival at 8 weeks) is with us for his 2nd visit (after my work weekend) ... we're getting him ready to meet a possible "forever" family this weekend ... this visit he's learning collar/leash walking with "clicker-treat" rewards, continued "potty" training and awesome playtime with Willow while continuing to win over his "grouchy teacher" Sutter ;o)
           TREASURE THE CUTE MOMENTS THAT MAKE YOU SMILE ;o)  
Adendum: Mr Black (aka "Soot") got a wonderful "forever" family for Christmas with another 6 year old Golden ... his new name is "Brady" :o)




Willow's Dad "Apollo's" Big Dog Show Win ... SK "Mr Pink" Finds Home ;o)



The Hicks



                    

Apollo/ Handler Diana

 It was such a fun weekend ... Willow's dad "Apollo" won Best of Breed at the Dog Show in Fitchburg Ma ... Yea Dad ;o)

Our SunKissed "Foster" pup Mr Pink "Troy" (officially named "Peyton" by the Hicks) went to his loving "forever" home in upper Vermont and it truly felt like a perfect fit  ... experienced his first snow already ;o)



Sending Mr Pink "Troy" off to Vermont



Amazing what Mr Light Blue "Ty" can learn ;o) Click-Treat!!!

Fostering 8 week old pups individually from SunKissed Golden Retrievers (Lyric & Willow's breeders) is so much fun and I'm fascinated watching each pup's personality develop ... I hear that it's being done as a business ... Hummm, possibly a "retirement" job!

 "I'm Mr Light Blue"... he's searching for his "Forever" home!





Fun playing in the Loft playroom ;o)

With sub-freezing temps, the pond has a increasing skim of ice and I'm ever watchful of Willow, as she experiences her first Christmas season of learning about ice safety!
Don't whisper a word, but I shopped for the girls at the Dog Show ;o)






 



Willow Loves "Foster" Pups ;o)

Had so much fun yesterday with Willow & Lyric's breeder Kara, visiting Golden friend Linda in her beautiful new home in Massachusetts and "puppy testing" the SunKissed "Mystery" litter ... one 8 week old boy (from 2 litters totaling 15!) doesn't have a "forever" home yet, so we are "fostering" him here at Golden Embers Camp Cedar for individual loving, socialization, "potty" training and "clicker" training ... each pup gets marked with a different color nail polish at birth ... he is "Mr Pink" and jokinly we dubbed him "Harry Potter" ("Mischief Managed") yesterday, but we're now calling him "Troy" ;o)

I'm really loving my new digital camera, but a downside is that even with resizing the pics in the camera, it take a long time to download/upload pics to email & the Blog page with "Dial-up" computer connection etc ... fun learning though and computer knowledgeable Kara has been a great help ... I'm so not electronics savy!

 Hopefully we'll help "Troy" find his special "forever" home and then we'll help another, another and another ... Sutter has not retreated to the Loft or the Bedroom and has gently told this pup where his boundries are ... Willow on the other hand just loves her new job!

ENJOYING the Fun of SWEET PUPPIES  :o)

Fall Brings Willow's First Heat Cycle :o)

Thanksgiving has passed and Fall has quickly turned to snowcover with a bitter 22 degrees ... the rowboat rests upside down on the shore and the kayaks hang from the porch rafters ... the tractors are winterized ... the first birdfeeder is out ... the chimney and Glenwood cookstove have been cleaned and firewood fills the woodbox ... feels comfy to come in from the windy cold after a morning of "brush-cleaning" our woods  ;o)

 

Willow came into her first heat at 9.5 months and seems to be finishing her heat cycle as she turns 10 months today ... here she models her designer "Pants" that she must wear at her Agility classes  ... she had just one day that she didn't seem like herself ... she seems to continue to love her various classes  ;o) 

Sutter needed her Holiday bath early ... she found something really "STINKY" to enjoy rolling in ... she smelled really bad ... now she's all soft & fluffy and both Willow and I enjoy smelling her shampoo coat!

I'm in the process of learning about the workings/settings of my new Canon Rebel camera and am limited in the photos that I can post at this point ... something called "resizing" of photos that I've taken already ... the 2 photos above were managed after changing camera settings ... just imagine if you will the cutest photos that are just too BIG to post today ... also gotta get going on creating & changing our Winter Blog photo!

A COZY FIRE ... SPECIAL CUDDLY GOLDEN MOMENTS ... and YUMMY COMFORT FOODS 
Does it get any better than that  ;O)

15th Homestead Anniversary and Work of the Beaver ;o)

In the Spring of 2009 when I started my "Meadow" project and finished it in the Fall of 2009 with satisfaction and "conditioned" back/leg/arm muscles, I envisioned perhaps some Agility equipment but certainly a wonderfully green grass area for whatever ;o)

  :-(  This is what that special project looks like today, a year later-FLOODED   

The reason ... a Beaver who has taken up residence and built him/herself a lodge in the narrows between the pond and the marsh (in the distance you can see our log home) ... at daybreak every morning the girls accompany me (in my new black "polk-a-dot" high-water boots) to make 3 run-off points at the spillway bridge to lower the pond water level ... then every night the Beaver does his work and plugs up the run-off spots! ... some of the logs are pretty hefty, as you can see by the ones Willow examines in the wheelbarrow :-O
OK ... does Mother Nature have something else in mind for my "meadow project" ... perhaps an arched bridge from which to view the hatching/birth of pond life ... I've noticed that pond creatures like the new shallow gravel bottom ;o)

Celebrating 15 years of home ownership this month ... mortgage-free and filled with "Golden-Love" ... the "Golden Embers" name chosen to celebrate the much anticipated birth of our 1st litter of Golden puppies in 2009 ... the "Cedar Pond" name chosen in memory of the sweet Golden that Graced the purchase of this home on 11-10-95  ;o)

House Warming Gift from nephew Fred & Chrissy