Puppy Dog Eyes

This photograph truly reflects the expression "puppy dog eyes"!

The Crew (with pics attached this time!)

Pictured the bottom up, Zeek, Nitchske, Teal, Sassy and Butkus

The Crew!

Well, here they are! It is going to be a bittersweet week. Three of the puppies now have new homes, so even though it will be sad to say goodbye, we look back at how happy we were when we brought Maggy and Molly home, and it's all good!

Mom and Dad

Here are the proud parents, Molly and Rocket Man!

KISS at Summerfest

Good morning everyone! We are finally winding down from a hectic morning of taking care of the pups! They are doing great! I'll be putting together a collection of pics of the entire litter and mom and dad, so check back soon! All but two are spoken for, so who knows, we may be keeping the last two, pushing our lab count up to five! :-)

We're a bit tired this morning, my son and I went to see KISS at Summerfest last night, what a show! If you get a chance, check 'em out, they have several more concert dates on their 2009 tour. I got hooked on the band back in the 70's when I was in High School and it is really cool to see that the younger generation enjoys them just as much as us old shits do!

Nitchske Boy...

Heeeeeeeere's Nitchske! It's official, well, it has been for a while, but now we have been letting others know that we will be keeping one of Molly's litter. His name is Nitchske because he is a little hellion, named after the infamous linebacker that roamed the gridiron of Lambeau Field in the 60's! Nitchske turned seven weeks old today, as did his two sisters and two brothers.

Another HOT DAY!!

Woke up this morning to a wall of humidity, while box and ceiling fans tried their best to move the thick wet air. Looks like it is going to be another muggy, hot day in NE Wisconsin. Well, I suppose hot is a relative term, I guess low to mid 90's to someone in the Southwest is probably Spring like weather! But I still feel blessed that the weather is the only thing I have to complain about!

Tiger Salamander

Tonight, as I was returning from dumping compost containers, I noticed something moving in the bushes right next to the steps leading up to the deck. At first glance, I saw a tale moving back and forth, and then upon closer examination, I saw a large garter snake pulling something that was moving its tale back and forth, which turned out to be a large Tiger Salamander. The snake was pulling the salamander toward a hole that JD swore was a snake hole! Weeell doggie..as Uncle Jed would say! She was right, that was in fact a snake hole and he was about to have a nice dinner! Well, being the humanitarian I am..I rescued the helpless salamander from the jaws of the reptile, and then humanely relocated the snake to a remote area of the property, in hopes he will not return! As for the fate of the salamander, I placed him into the flowers and then sprinkled cold water on him, which must of revived him to his senses because he immediately vanished into the foilage. Good luck Tiger...I named him before I released him! ;-)

Puppy watch"frog"

JD took this awesome shot this morning of a frog perched on the fencing that surrounds the puppy compound. He was keeping a watchful eye over the puppies or perhaps just wanted an aerial perch to snag unsuspecting mosquito's as they flew past. I suspect the latter!

The garden is rockin'

This morning I took this photograph from the NE corner of our garden. As you can see, the veggies are doing great so far, thank goodness for some occasional rain and some "more than" occasional watering and tlc. Last night I added compost and hay to the potato plants, so we shall see if that in fact works. Can't wait to start harvesting stuff! Today, the weather in WI was definitely conducive to growing, it was in the high 80's and very humid! I'm actually sweating at 10:32pm as I sit here preparing to post this! Yikes! :-(

New digs!

I'm happy to say, the pups have a new place to relax until they leave us for their new homes. For efficiency purposes, we had to move them from inside to our out building, it provides them "quick" access to their outside play area, and has reduced the impact to our home of having five fiesty pups inside. They all are doing very well, they had their six week vacinations yesterday and got a clean bill of health from the Doc! And even better news, we have a couple that is taking the yellow male!

Strawberry-licious...

Last night, JD picked these from her strawberry garden, they are extremely sweet and tasty! Can't wait for more of 'em to ripen! :-P

EXTREMELY Important!! Please Read Everyone!

Hey everyone, I know that even though you may only stop by my simple blog as you peruse Blogger and check things out, (which I appreciate! Really..I do!) you may not be interested enough to comment on my whacked out postings, pictures and commentary, which is OKAY, I'm cool with that.) However, I would like you to think about this! I received an e-mail today from a friend of mine and it reminded me of how important friends truly are, mostly this one. This person came into my life as a professional acquaintance, but I now consider her a good friend. Vikki, my friend, is running in the Nike Women's Marathon in San Francisco this fall in honor of her father Bruce, who suffers from Leukemia. Up until today, when I received her e-mail, I had no idea what was going on in her personal life, but I immediately responded to her e-mail while at the same time scolding myself for not keeping in touch with a friend like Vik! Bottom line, she needs our help, all of our help and support to meet her goal, which is to help the Wisconsin Chapter of the Leukemia and Lymphoena Society Team in Training, by raising $4K. Please check out her blog at http://www.runformydad.blogspot.com and help the cause! I'm going to, so I hope you do too! Peace!....R Dean "Slowdog"

The garden is growing...

I am amazed at how much the crops grow over a 12 hour period. I took pictures of the garden this morning, and by the time I got home tonight, although still very small, I could see a noticeable increase, which is awesome! However, I'm worried. Tonight we may have severe storms with large hale, which is not kind to a garden. I pray we get spared from any severe weather, but instead, we slumber to the mellow sound of a nice garden saturating rain!

Wildflowers

This beautiful wildflower blooms every morning and then the petals fall off during the day. We're hoping that next year when we get bee's, they will help both the garden and the wildflowers on our farm flourish!

Same ladder...different coffee mug

Another "art-sy" photo with some sort of subliminal message...I'm not sure what, but it sounds good, right?

Puppy Alcatraz

When I arrived home tonight and walked into the downstairs area off of our garage, where the puppies have resided since birth, I was greeted by two convict puppies. Nitschke and Big Boy were locked up in the crate while their brothers and sisters yipped, growled, barked and played with toys inches from the bars that held them captive. I asked them, what are you guys in for? But got no response other than the typical puppy dog eyes and wagging tails. Right then, I knew they were guilty of "something"! Well, come to find out, they had been locked up because they had scaled the walls of the joint, they wanted out and they broke free dammit! Although it sounds quite funny, and it really is quite funny, JD was not amused, actually she was quite frazzled when I arrived home, due to a hectic day of playing puppy round-up after the two escapee's and cleaning up after the other three little monsters. So, instead of working in the garden tonight, we spent the good part of the evening building "Puppy Alcatraz"! Hopefully, they will not be able to scale the walls of their new enclosure, "hopefully"! Oh, and by the way, for the record, even after a hectic day of working on the farm and attending to five extremely energetic puppies, a demanding dam and her sister, JD still found time to make us a wonderful jambalaya dish...mmmmmm! What a way to end the day!

Awkward silence...

Hmmmm...when I awoke at 5am this morning, I didn't awaken to the typical sound of puppy propaganda, but instead, silence once I shut off my clock radio. Can it be that they are still asleep after the extended period of play time outside last night? That would be wonderful! So I quietly ushered Molly and Maggy outside, and then peeked downstairs to check on the lil' monsters..I mean beautiful little pups and to my surprise, they were all sitting there staring at me..with extreme guilty looks on their cute little mugs. Truth be told, the silence was due to them realizing they had wreaked havoc in the night, completely torn one of their pee pads to shreds, paraded through a pile of puppy poop and completely emptied their water dish in the whelping box! Gotta love em! So I got down on my hands and knees and cleaned them and their kennel as I do every morning, all the while, five little fur balls jumped up at me, playing tug-of-war with my shirt, licking and biting my arms and wrists, and in their own way thanking me for taking such good care of them! I can't think of a better way to start my morning!

Crashed for the nite!

When I arrived home tonight from my "real job" the puppies were waiting for me with open paws and open mouths! What a delight! Nice to be missed and loved by the pups! It seems that I have successfully taught them that when I lean over their kennel area and say "kisses", they give me kisses and not puppy "shark bites" which is fine by me and my hands and wrists! :-) After an extended welcome home from the pups, I changed into jeans and a t-shirt and we took them outside to play with them in their kennel to prep them for dinner. New news, they have newfound happiness and joy in digging beneath the straw in their kennel in search of rocks! Lab's, they are such curious little shits! However, once JD brought the food out, there was no interest in continuing to dig their escape tunnel, play tug-a-war, wrestle or tussle, nothing like that at all..they had a mission, EAT! Anyway, after almost an hour of playing and eating out in the country air, we herded them back inside for some much needed puppy rest AND human rest too!

We're awake!!!

As I awoke at 5 am this morning, to the sound of growling, yipping, barking and the thud of rubber bones and pretzels being tossed about, reality set in! I have poop and pee to clean up and fast, let's hope it has not been the subject of puppy exploration. And thankfully not. The puppies are trying their best to find the "right" spot to do their business, they are less than six weeks old and can already "most of the time" find their pee and poop pad. Our objective is to get that percentage up, way up! Once I arrived on the scene it was "play time". How wonderful it is to have five little fur balls licking and biting at your hands and wrist, screaming for attention. Yes, it is going to be a wonderful day!

Happy Tuesday!

There is nothing more enjoyable than awaking to a beaufiful sunrise, yipping, growling and barking puppies, and then the aroma of fresh brewed coffee in the morning. All totalled, it equates to the start of a wonderful day on the farm to begin with, and then off to work! Oh yes...work, for us that are still reliant on a real job to fund our life on the farm!

Asparagus and strawberries!

Sandhill Cranes

One of the wonderful things about living in the country is the abundance of wildlife you are exposed to. Lately, we seem to have several Sandhill Cranes frequenting Windee Acres. JD took some pictures of a breeding couple which appear to be on the "hunt". Typically, they don't get this close, which makes this photograph even more special! JD swears they were hunting snakes! ;-)

Puppy pictures...

Here are some of the lastest pictures of Molly's pups. They turned five weeks old last Thursday and let me tell you, they are a handful! We are in the process of weaning them, so they are eating "real" food now, and nursing much less, and it is showing in everything that comes out of 'em! And teeth..sooo extremely SHARP! Now I realize what getting bitten by a shark feels like!!Ouch!! But those things aside, they bring so much happiness to our lives!

Garden visitor

Look what I found in my compost pile!! I was shoveling compost last night and came across this BEAUTIFUL baby Eastern Milk snake. He/she is approximately 8" in length and just a gorgeous little thing. It is in the palm of my hand in the photo if you're wondering what it is sitting on. This is the second Eastern Milk snake I have found on the farm, the first one was at the back of the property, and was actually discovered by Molly, one of our labs. They are not as common on the farm as Grass and Garter snakes that we encounter on a regular basis, so you can imagine how excited I was to see another one, and I assume, it is the offspring of the one I caught last fall! So if you're wondering, because I know you are, I always catch and release, so they can enjoy the farm just like we do!

Oh..the pups!

For all of you that don't know this already, and how could you know if you don't know us? One of our labs had puppies! Puppies, that will turn 5 weeks old tomorrow! Happy Birthday to them, Happy Birthday to them..Happy birthday to them there five puppies...Happy Birthday to them!!!

Which happens to segue into a neat quote from author Richard A. Wolter, of whom wrote the book "Family Dog". "Twenty-nine of the 30 million dogs in this country are either "doglinquent" flea bags or affectionate parasites. For nothing more than a little companionship they get free room and board, medicare, and social security. They get all this plush living plus unemployment compensation when the family comes home. Don't classify dogs as dumb animals when it's man who goes out all day to toil by the sweat of his brow in order to feed the family...including Towser. Meanwhile, back home in the easy chair Towser rests up so he's fresh and alert when he welcomes Master home after a rough day in the cruel world."

Garden Ladder to "No Where"

Now here is an interesting concept! Stand it up, and the vines will come! We're hoping those vines come in the form of cucumbers!! I thought it would be "art-ful" to incorporate my favorite coffee mug in the image for "effect"! Did it work?

It's 75% complete! What da yah want for nothin'

Thanks to JD, about 75% of the garden has been seeded and mulched! Yipppeeee....I tend to let her attend to this activity (the planting) as it is highly technical in nature and far more complicated than sticking your pointer finger into the ground and dropping seeds....you know..like we did in Ms. Goldsmiths class in second grade...Far more complicated! So what is my role? Well, I am good at walking around the perimeter of the garden and scouting for those ever so cunning and "dangerous" grass snakes that inhabit our property and lurk in the tall grass and slither out at the most in-opportune time! Oh yeah..let us not forget that I am really good at picking "stuff" out of the garden too! No..not just crops...After a sound tilling of compost into our garden, let me tell you..."screened compost" is simply an antonym for "peoples crap"! Oh by the way...I think I found Jimmy Hoffa's left eye glass lens in our most recent compost delivery..not totally positive, just spec-ulating! Hahahaha...Okay, back to the garden..we're going to try mulch in between our rows of crops this season..stay tuned and see if it works!