Flowers are Blooming

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Spring is here!  The flowers are beginning to bloom and they are wonderful this year.  We will see how the rest of the buds do when they grow in the next few weeks.  I think the little crocus are really cute!

The Trees Came Down

Monday, March 8, 2010

All of the houses around our home began to get their older damaged trees removed.  We have talked about having some of the pines in the front taken down because they continue to loose limbs and were overgrown when we moved into the house.  So, they began!!  What an amazing experience to see these men do their jobs.  


Sad to see the big trees go, but we will replace them with new growth for the future.  Look at some of the cool pictures below.




Here is the BEFORE picture.


There are two pictures of the crazy climber guy in the trees... he was pretty amazing.

Then there was also the guy in the bucket truck cutting.  See how much sawdust was flying around??!!

The final two are the stumps - pretty big trees!!  Also the 'after' picture of how things looks until we finalize some landscaping this spring.  Big job for all, but the trees with the falling limbs and the worries of an accident on the house in a wind storm are over.  Whew!!

Finally Back in the Woods

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

I took my baby boy into the woods after 18 months.  Yes, 18 months!!  He got a tick bite last spring and then quickly became lame followed by the ACL rupture.  Then came the surgery and long road of recovery.  The woods WAS a place of happiness, joy and togetherness.  It became a place of fear and regret.  But, I took him back during the winter when the ticks are low and he became his old self.  He ran to the river and swam in the strong current, enjoying each moment. Out he splashed in time to get me wet, then back to the water for another swim.  Up and down the hills he ran, returning to the place we both love so much.  You can see from the pictures that he is happy and alive in the woods.  


He was very sore when we got home, after months of winter laziness.  I think he over did the swim, walk, run event -- but he sure was a happy boy in the process.  I hope that we can keep him out there, without any tick fears, tick issues and tick BITES.

My sweet, sweet baby boy.  I sure hope he continues to be able to enjoy his romps in the woods!!

Holiday time is here

Sunday, December 6, 2009

It seems that life has been terribly busy and posting has been lacking. Last night snow finally came to our house - I forgot how fun a first snow can be. The pups loved to eat the snow, play in the snow, throw the snow on their heads and just be happy with the snow. I can't wait for a bigger snow to play again with them. I hope that each of you are enjoying the excitement, rush, laughter and craziness of the approaching Christmas time. The dogs and I are happily waiting for our chance to get back home to see family and friends.

Halloween Party

Monday, November 2, 2009

This weekend we had a Halloween party. It was VERY fun! Honestly, we worked on the decorations for weeks - not to mention the costumes. All in all it was a real success. Here are a couple of pictures to show the highlights.

My pal Dean from Canada had his 50th birthday, so we also had a cake for him...it was a yellow lab ghost. It took a long time to make, but was really worth all the effort. Only 363 more days til we can do it all again!!!

Findlay is improving slowly

Monday, August 24, 2009

It has been a pretty intense, stressful and joyous 6 days. Tomorrow will be one week from the surgery on Findlay's knee. He is putting weight on the leg, sometimes too much ramming...but also has times of three leg limp. We have finally worked out the eating, meds and hopefully close to working out the nighttime sleep issues. I have not had much sleep in five days - probably less than 20 hours. So, I am running on empty so to speak!! He finally slept a 4 hour stint all at once last night, but then was up at 3am, 4am, 5am, and 6am. It is sort of like having a baby I guess!! Not really sure on that part.

Anyhow, I am putting on some kinda not nice looking pictures. He was UNHAPPY on Saturday, as he would not eat and we were really working to get the pain meds working well. We do our daily range of motion, you can see that from the pictures, icing, walking, and massage.Those tasks alone take a goodly portion of the day!! He loves the attention, but is not really happy with any of the above except for the walks. Don't you just love his 'naked' leg - poor baby has not a drop of fur on his leg.... The constant treats he loves though. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers - keep them coming. I will keep you posted.

Findlay's HOME

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

I wanted to be sure and post a quick update. Findlay came home tonight around 6:30pm. He is doing pretty well walking on three legs and touches his toe down on the right hind leg. His shave job is pretty cute (pictures in the next few days). I finally massaged him to sleep after 45 minutes of him not letting go. I sure hope he rests a bit easier the next few days. More posted tomorrow. Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers.

Successful Surgery

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Just a quick update. Findlay's surgery went well today. He is resting at the animal hospital with a morphine drip for pain. He will be there for the night and through tomorrow. I will pick him up late in the day - assuming all goes well. Now the tough part begins...12 weeks of doggie rehab. WHEW!!! Mommy will be the one under stress once we get to week TWO and Findlay decides to rock-n-roll!!

Findlay's new adventure

Friday, August 14, 2009

We have had about 5 weeks of craziness with little Findlay. He had Canine Anaplasmosis - which is like Lyme disease. It is often called deer tick fever and results in a fever, pain, lameness, etc in the dog. The disease is treated with high and long doses of antibiotics and some sort of anti-inflammatory for the joint issues. He seemed to do well on the antibiotics, but never stopped limping. Somehow in the middle of all of the tick fever, he tore his back right leg ACL ligament.

FANTASTIC!!! That is the leg and ligament that I had surgery on last summer...so he gets to now have surgery next week Tuesday on his knee. The surgery is pretty intense and the recovery is VERY intense - about 12 weeks in length. SO, keep my little guy in your thoughts and prayers. He will need to only walk on a lease for the first few weeks, otherwise he will be cage-bound. No jumping, etc for the whole 12...yup...mommy will need a valium by the end of this 3 month period!!

LYME DISEASE for Findlay

Monday, July 13, 2009

My little one decided to wake me up yelping in agony at 3am. He was totally lame on his right back leg and was in such pain. I immediately knew what was happening...LYME DISEASE. Yes, the tick virus made famous here in good ole' CT. My baby got to get some serious meds, shots and a blood draw. The vet said his temp was in the right range (103+, with his at 103.6), the swollen knee and ankle, lethargy and joint pain all point to Lyme. He has had some ticks lately, mommy has missed getting them off within the special 48 hour window.

When we finally got out of the car (yes, mommy lifted her 90 pound baby), he walked outside straight to his place to 'hide'. He is a hide in the bushes kind of dog. I think it is a safe place or something. So, have attached a few pictures of him in the hydrangea bushes. He spent from noon until 7pm in there, even ate dinner in there. Finally, I used Peanut Butter to get him to attempt coming inside the house. Hopefully, (as the vet said) he will be close to as good as new tomorrow by midday. Poor baby!!

4th of July 2009

Monday, July 6, 2009

The weather finally has turned toward summer! We had a fun day painting the garage and playing with the dogs. It was a nice day for a cook-out and doing some work that the rain has kept moving 'to next week'. Here are some before and after pictures, plus some shots of my swimming sonshine!! Happy 4th to all of you.

Birthday Boy!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

My baby boy is enjoying his birthday toys and his birthday weekend. It finally got warm and sunny for a few hours this afternoon. He wanted to swim in the pool...so he did!!He is praying that Grandpa gets better REALLY SOON. Doggie kisses to all.

ONE YEAR OLD

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Can you imagine that Findlay is ONE YEAR OLD today?? What a special guy in my life. He was a very cute little puppy...but is now a very handsome young man.

Clearly, he is a water dog. I am trying to download my video of him doing one of his trillion daily swims. The dog is in training for the doggie Olympics or something...what a cutie to watch.

He just decides that it is time to take a dip and he jumps into the pool. He gets in and out at the steps, avoiding scratching the liner or other bad things.
I am very blessed to have him in my life. He is a good companion and I love him very much. I can't wait to see what 'tricks' he decides to pull next.

Rainbow Bridge

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Today was filled with many emotions - happiness, sadness, wonder and joy. I spent most of it with Findlay, Koda and Cheyenne. It has been a year since I had to put Carli down due to her cancer...and it seems like yesterday or it seems like a life-time ago. Jayme sent me a wonderful poem that day about how dogs go up to the Rainbow Bridge when they die and wait for us to join them in heaven...all the while playing, running, sleeping and being good dogs. The thoughts were such a comfort and have continued to be throughout this year.

While walking Findlay in the woods along the river, the sun shone on the water making little rainbows all over the surface of the water. I guess Jayme was right...the Rainbow Bridge is a special place!! Hope that each of you has a great week filled with love, special times with those you hold dear and many, many sloppy doggie kisses!!

Incredible Weekend

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Two days of 80+ weather, with bright sunny skies and a slight breeze. All of that means spring is finally here bringing all the new chores of the summer. We worked on the fence again!! The original fence was built without using concrete for the posts, so many are rotted at 5 inches below the ground level. We took off the old ones, dug, tubed and concreted the new ones and reattached the fence....to SIX POSTS. Oh yeah...and I opened the swimming pool.

The pool opening was pretty easy this year. THANK GOODNESS!! But the best part is my sweetie pie yellow lab puppy is now swimming like the true water baby he was bred to be. I will need to take some video to add to the blog. He is a smart boy, coming in and out at the steps (which are fiberglass and will be fine). Tonight he got too hot playing catch, so he decided to take a swim to cool down. Oh boy! The summer will be very fun!!

26 days

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

TWENTY-SIX days until graduation!!! Then on and off office time until Memorial Day....THEN SUMMER-TIME!!! WHOOHOO! You can't imagine how much I want those days to rush past. I am waiting eagerly to spend time with my babies. Sum, summ, SUMMER TIME!!

GO GREEN... GO WHITE...

Saturday, April 4, 2009

What more can I say!!?? GO STATE!!

Great Aunt Brag time

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Just to let people know...Lydia Hope Bouwens was born late last night. She, her mom, her dad and her big brother are doing well. Thank God for another chance to be a GREAT AUNT.

Watching the Water Boy

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Yesterday was a pretty but chilly spring day. I took Findlay to the woods to walk, while the older dogs slept in late. The weather has continued to warm up with evening temps above freezing for the past week. These changes have allowed the daily sun to warm the pool and melt the ice sheets frozen beneath the cover. The water exposed on the pool cover has grown - especially since we have had some rain lately too.

After the walk, Cheyenne and I were sitting on the steps watching Findlay play in the yard. He decided to run across the pool (again), but this time he was startled. You see, he has been able to run across the cover with only his ankles in the water. This time, the ice cracked with a loud thud and he was suddenly in up to his shoulders. My lab baby began to doggie paddle!!! He was too funny, when he finally relaxed and stood up!!! As you can see, he is still above water!! Cheyenne just gave me a look, as if to say, "mommy, my brother acts like a cool dude but he is really just a big ole chicken!!"

We all can't wait to get the cover off the pool, the water treated and the sunshine warming up the temps. We will be doing some swimming this summer. My water boy will enjoy it and his old sister will just sun herself and laugh.

Exams...puppies...and older dogs.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

We have had a fun weekend, despite the chilly to cold weather. The sun has been out and it has helped with some crabby attitudes. I walked three days straight, so that is a good thing for starting the spring. The walks in the woods have been great after we found a nice place by a running river to walk Findlay. He seems to like that as well. My goal was to tire him out, so I could do some work both outside and inside.

Having a 9 month old puppy who is over 80 pounds makes life interesting. You see, he looks like a big dog, take up space like a big dog...but still acts like a puppy at times. This weekend was one of those times. CB and I gave him a chew toy (along with the other two bugs - Annie and Koda and out the door to do a bit of yard work). You see, the chew toys distract him from missing us...translated... it keep him from mischief. SO, we thought all would be well upon our return inside the house. BUT NOOOOOO!!! He decided to chew his toy for sure, right after he took some things from the table. One of which was the camera, thanks goodness he left that alone. But the other things.... well... remember the story "my dog ate my homework". Yes, he took the midterm exams that I WAS GRADING. He decided to partially destroy four of them, leaving the others looking pretty good. I was NOT happy about this at ALL. CB spent about 3 hours pretending that I just bought her a new puzzle and taped most of them back together. At least she thinks they look good.

As you can see from the older two, they were totally unaffected by his actions. They were sleeping when we came back into the house. No warning, no barking, no telling us 'he did it' - nothing...just sleeping and being cute old dogs. Hmmm... life in doggie daycare. Guess the students will like the 'extra points' on all of their exams due to the teacher's puppy eating the exams. Oh yeah, he was tired and decided to 'rest' after he ate the exams...bad puppy!!!