January

Lilac bush with buds, dried flowers and ice.

Beautiful icy landscape

 We enjoyed some snow and then an ice storm during the week between the holidays.  We got about 6 inches or so of snow at first so our youngest got to spend the better part of one of his school vacation days learning to ride his new (used) snowmobile!  He took to it like a fish to water--no surprise there.  We hope that he will enjoy winter trail riding on the wonderful trail system we have right here where we live.

I enjoy when there is a whole cycle of life captured in a photo like this lilac bush which had plumped out it's buds during that warm spell in December.  Just behind it are the remnants of what was flowers and then seeds perhaps? of the plant.  Now it's all coated in ice and waiting for the next cycle in it's life.

The whole landscape was coated with ice on my way to work that morning and I felt the need to stop and appreciate it before heading to an office for the next 8 or 9 hours.  Such a beautiful world out there.

First ride on the Polaris

Knit lace shawl

I have been knitting and made several gifts for the holidays this year.  Some of which I forgot to photograph!  Here are 3 of the finished items.  I also "whipped up" a neckwarmer for our middle son who reported that walking the 20 minutes from the room he rents just off campus to work last Tuesday in -3 temperatures found him wanting more winter clothing.  He was c-c-cold.  With any luck the addition of a neckwarmer that covers his face, more Smartwool socks and a nice polar fleece coat to go in his down coat will help him out in the next weeks of cold weather!

Tasha in her new slouchy hat

Hubby sporting his birthday scarf

December

Still too nice to shop

It was an unusually warm December.  I found myself gravitating to the trail instead of to the shopping malls.  I had my "last hurrah" of 2015 ride.  5 times I think.  Each time I thought that would be it for the year and then we'd have yet another gorgeous weekend.  I love this view of Mt. Chocorua from Pocket Mountain where I was riding.  This property has a lovely trail through it but this ride was the last weekend of deer hunting with rifles so I stuck to the dirt roads for my ride.  I enjoyed every minute of the ride--thinking it was the last one for 2015.

Our "perfect" tree

What a nice group!

We managed to find all of the boys available to come with us to pick out a tree this year.  What a surprise.  With our oldest son working nights and our middle son in the finals end of his courses we didn't expect to have a family outing this year.  We ran all over that Christmas Tree Farm this year in search of the perfect tree.  I'm not sure that we found a perfect tree but it was the perfect one for us.  The boys were all giddy and running through the trees.  I'd be trailing along behind them and get the feedback from other families about the kids.  I said, "even in their 20's they become little boys when they are together."  One man said that was true of his little boys in their late 30s.  That is a nice thought indeed.  I hope they always are little boys when they get together.

Solstice wish balloon

We hosted a Solstice Party again this year.  We chose Tuesday the 22nd and that was so that our oldest son could join in.  We thought it might be "shooting the party down" to have it on a Tuesday night.  And then on that particular night we had downpouring rain for our bonfire.  I dutifully made two large crockpots of soup, a double batch of gingersnaps and began to clean the house for warming guests that might still arrive in the storm.  The weatherman did say there would be a break in the weather later on...
Well!  Much to my surprise we hosted near 40 people and the weather did break.  What started out as an inside party moved outside 1/2 way through as the men somehow got that bonfire burning.  We even had totally clear skies and were able to send up wish balloons as there was little to no wind!  Who would have imagined such an event.  I still can't believe that night.  It was a wonderful time.

Millie just keeps getting bigger

Our "Little" boy and his "Little" puppy just keep on growing.  His gift for Christmas was to come downstairs and give me a hug to which I exclaimed, "did you grow again last night?"  I couldn't reach his shoulder to hug him without him stooping.  Something seemed different.  So I measured him on the wall where we've kept a running tally of their heights.  Yup.  A full 6 feet tall now.  John double checked for me as I was not standing on a step to mark the line.  Still 6 feet and a tiny bit more.  I think it was his best Christmas present of the year.  He stood very tall that day when we celebrated the holiday with extended family.  Very smiley and very tall.

The packaging is still the most fun of all.

Day after Christmas - had more of an October feel to it!!

Some things stay the same.  The packaging is still the best toy ever.  Especially when there is a puppy to play in it with!

And there actually was a last hurrah ride.  My neighbors joined me for a day after Christmas ride.  We were only out a couple of hours for a slow wander through the trails and around a remote pond and back again.  It felt like October with 50 degree weather.  I enjoyed the bald eagle that soared just overhead as we were tacking up to get ready to ride.  It was a wonderful, last hurrah ride after all.

Fall

Here comes the ball...go get it!

Fall has been a whirlwind around here.  Soccer had me logging a lot of miles on the truck between working more, shorter days so that I could get to the field and running home in between to walk Millie.  Many weeks I drove over 450-500 miles in that old truck of mine.  I hardly had any time in the saddle at all!  This boy really enjoys playing soccer.  A new coach this year and some changes to practice times were quite a struggle but we made it through and I think he enjoyed it.

Riding with friends in Tamworth

I did find one Tuesday to sneak off with friends for a day of riding in Tamworth.  It rained but we loved the trip anyhow.

Millie at 6 months

That puppy keeps growing and growing.

Millie at nearly 7 months

My happy hubby just out of the helicopter

We did find time one weekend to go to the Sandwich Fair.  The weather was beautiful and the foliage made for a wonderful trip.  We enjoyed the antique car parade and the helicopter ride.

Someone really liked the chopper ride!

Fun photo of John took of me taking the photo above...

 October also found us car shopping as the Jetta hit it's credit limit on repairs.  No more registrations needed for that car so this Honda Civic is John's new ride.  His old Civic is shifted to the college boy for now and I'm still in the truck--which is also being quite spendy lately...but new or newer ones are just a bit over budget at this point!  Happy commuting John!

John's Civic

Strut Your Mutt

45 pounds now and still growing

I'm not sure how much longer we can do these photos.  She doesn't quite fit in his arms anymore at 5 months.

Meeting the Characters

We enjoyed attending the Animal Welfare Society's Strut Your Mutt fundraiser at Mother's Beach in Kennebunk Maine.

First time in the ocean

I'm pretty sure Millie would say it was the best day of her life

Games to play and dogs to see

Our college son was able to swing by for some family time with his girlfriend too.  They got a chance to walk Millie around the crowd as well.

Look who's awake

We also had the company of our oldest son for the day!  He had a couple of vacation days to take from his job.  He still works nights, 12 hour shifts.  He hardly ever sees the daylight anymore...well, a little on his drive home I guess...

We were so happy to have the 6 of us there together.

Out on the strut

The strut is a 2 mile walk along the beach and sidewalks.  I have no idea how many attended.  Well over a 100 dogs for sure.

Everybody earned their medals

At the end the dogs get medals and Millie enjoyed visiting with everyone she could all day long.  She's a super friendly puppy and loved them all.  Big or small, old or young.  She's so social.

Sleepy puppy on the ride home

She was tuckered out for the hour long car ride home.  The goody bags had some new toys in them and she loves her new sea horse toy.  Sleepy puppy with happy dreams.

Back to School

This summer is coming to a close now with school back in session.  This little boy went back last Thursday.  He's been in pre season soccer practices for 2 weeks and Millie is still in school so summer has not been without any instruction.  Now it's all the high school classes beginning for this 9th grader.  She's weighing in at 38 lbs at 4 1/2 months old.  Not sure how big she will be just yet.  Or what her hair coat will be like.  Lots of changes yet to come.  She's lost a couple of baby teeth this week (canines) and her new big dog ones are growing in.

She still loves a puddle.  The Miller Brook that cuts through our land is just a dribble now but we did get that one storm last week which created this puddle in the driveway and got the brook flowing again for a few days.  Millie can't "swim" in the deep spot the way she could before but she still enjoys the water.

First day photo to record his height on the "Daddy scale" and he's officially off the scale now.  Sorry John, he really is taller now.

We brought this boy back to college on Saturday.  He's renting that room up there.  The one with those 2 windows.  It's off campus by just a few minutes.  He's got a packed fall schedule and plenty to do with Medieval Society and a nice work study in the Archives again.  We're rooting for you!

Changes and I was wrong

Puppy School!

Puppy classes are fun!  This was week 2 and we got to play a game of pass the puppy where we all had a chance to play with one another's puppy.  That was a fun game.  They are all so sweet.  Millie is the largest pup in the class but also a pretty good player with "excellent social skills".  She LOVES the playtime outside with the other puppies.  She's excited now just arriving at school.  We really are big fans of the Animal Welfare Society now.  We've had nothing but good experiences with them so far.

Learning to "targt" the hand.

This target game has already had some good things to come of it at home.  Millie can sometimes decide she just doesn't want to.  Mostly it's about coming back inside the house.  But she will follow that "target" hand now and it's got her moving when she was firmly planted to the lawn.

He can still hold her, but not for much longer.  34 pounds at 4 months and a week

We still have no idea what her final hair coat or size will be like.  We're still thinking large.  The lab in the class is two weeks younger than she is and he's probably heavier than she is although she's taller.  So she's not as muscular as a lab.  I think she'll be leaner like a german shepherd but we don't know.  She's still growing and changing all the time.

Cooking together.  Did you smell bacon?

So I was totally wrong.  This 17 year old cat has had a much better life since Millie's arrival than she has had in the past 4 years.  The arrival of our kittens wasn't too big an event at first but over the course of the next year or two we started to have a lot of trouble between the girl cats.  The calico has treated Mouse like prey.  Self fulfilling prophecy there with that name?  I don't know.  But the game of cat and mouse has had Mouse fearing for her safety whenever she was at ground level.  She'd taken to living her life atop the fridge, counters, my bureau or any place "up".  Even then she often had to sleep with one eye open.  She'd find herself trapped outside if she left the house.  Jester would not let her back in.  So we added cat litter boxes to all 3 floors inside as well as one in the shop.  We have multiple places for dry cat food and water as well.  I thought a puppy would be just too much for this old cat.  I thought we'd get a dog when she passed on.  At 17 she is not slowing down in the least.  So we gave up and I braced myself for what might happen to Mouse next.  I was wrong.  I was SOOOO wrong.  

Mouse slapped that puppy in the face the first day.  And she's stood her ground against that pup every day since.  They do well together.  Mouse is not in the least worried about Millie.  Jester, on the other hand, is terrified of her.  She hides in "cat sanctuary" which is a room we have gated so that a cat can slip under the gate and keep Millie out.  She just now has started to hiss and hold her ground a little but she is still worried about the dog.  Mouse has control of the house.  The power has shifted and her life with her new bodyguard is just the way she likes it.  She's thriving.  Here she is with Millie checking out the kielbasa that John is preparing for our German Potato Salad.

Attentive staff in the kitchen

The view from here.

New screen house

 The new screen house is mostly complete now.  We need to stain/paint it and also add a little screen to the spaces between the rafters where bugs could get in.  But otherwise it is quite ready for relaxing.  Which we've been doing as often as possible the last week.

a place to vacation at home

It's so nice to have this vacation right here in our own back field.

August

The puppy is still growing

The summer is just flying by.  We've spent a lot of time with these 2 growing young things.  Millie got to go to puppy class with this boy.  She was the largest puppy in the class.  They certainly are birds of a feather those two.

Riding through Joy's fields

There has not been much time for riding but I have sneaked in just a few rides in the last several weeks.  High and dry is the key to not being eaten alive by the biting flies.  So it's mountains or hilltops that I search for in my rides.  Neighbors have been along for a couple of these rides.

Nancy out riding through Hickey's fields

State forest

On one ride I couldn't help but notice the crop of blueberries just ripe for picking so we went back.

Trying out the borrowed rake

Then we made pie.  And blueberry cake.  And blueberry pancakes.  Ate them on cereal.  And in our green salads.  And froze a lot of them for later.

Looking for the best berries

What is he thinking?

This little boy had a fun time up there.  21 years young this one.  We had a nice time celebrating that too.

Oh!  That!

But he's still my little boy at heart.

Carrying the "mother ship" with all our berries back out to the car