Reminiscing

Just a couple of pics from our wedding and engagement....one day I will get a lot of them on our blog, but for now...just some favorites. Don't the boys look handsome?

Welcome Phoenix!

Meet the newest member of our family! This if Phoenix, the Great Dane-Pit Bull Mix. He is 6 months old, and about the mellowest puppy we have ever met. He entered our lives on Saturday, August 17th. Max, the neighbor puggle (see other blog) was waiting to greet him when he arrived and they played for 2 hours straight that night, and over an hour the next day!

He is very attached to "his people" and sticks close by when we are outside. He was fully potty trained when we got him, and we put him in the laundry room on his bed with no problems for his first night. We have left him out during the day and he does great! No chewing, accidents, or other destruction. No major barking yet either. Just a few "ruffs" when someone comes to the door, but then he calms down.

He loves to play with the horses, although we are not sure yet if he realizes that they CAN hurt him, though they don't. It didn't take him very long to figure out that horse poop is his favorite treat. He sneaks into the horse paddocks when he thinks they aren't looking to find nice fresh ones.

Phoenix is VERY stubborn and, with those Great Dane eyes, always looks like he is glaring at you when you ask him to do something he doesn't want to do. He does pretty good on the leash though, and has proven that, despite the stubborn-ness, is trainable.

He has a rough first week though. He ran into SOMETHING (not difficult since he is pretty awkward and clumsy) and had a HUGE bump on his head. So, we took him to the vet to check it out, and get his vaccinations. In the process we learned that he also had an upper-respiratory infection. So, he is on puppy pain pills, antibiotics, and to top it all off, had to swallow 3 nasty wormer pills. For the most part he is taking it in good spirits, and doesn't appear to be upset with us, as he is still very much a cuddle bug.

Garden - 2nd Entry

More of our 1st Garden Attempt. Please see entry below for more detail. In addition to the plants shown in the two blogs we also planted cucumber, and peas. We were fortunate to have lots of strawberries as volunteers from last year, as well as quite a few Sunflowers, though a couple broke off, and we removed the rest because they were crowding out the other plants.


Broccoli. Jeremy loves fresh broccoli, so we will be
enjoying that soon!

We planted regular carrots and purple carrots. The
regular carrots seem to be shorter and fatter, while the
purple carrots seem to be long and thin. However,
it appears they aren't purple al the way through!

Squash....way too much squash....any takers?

Tomatoes! They are getting riper!

Garden - 1st Entry

This is our little garden. Jeremy and I are learning a lot about each other as we have taken on this endeavor. For example - Planting Style. Jeremy carefully takes each seed from the package and places it in the desired location. Cadi, digs a trench and sprinkles some seeds. Garden Care. Cadi doesn't care too much if the neighbor dogs run on through. Jeremy, is very protective and gets very upset. He bought fencing material for the future.

However, we have too much of just about everything (except strawberries, you can never have too many strawberries). It doesn't help that we had planted only 3 tomato plants when Jeremy brought home about 9 more left over tomato plants from his students' school project. All have taken off. They are fighting with the squash for territory.


Isn't it cute?

Our leaf lettuce was the first to take off, and we have
been enjoying lettuce since about June.

We are about to enjoy some cabbage. A lot of cabbage
actually, since they were planted with Cadi's method.

Carrots (forground), with Jeremy's mass of school
tomatoes. Squash is behind.

Our other 3 tomato plants. We should be enjoying
those in August. Cadi may be canning tomatoes and
pasta sauce.

Penelope and Sweet Pea

Penelope and Sweet Pea are our new goats. They are Toggenburg goats, which are the original goat of the Swiss Alps. They are a medium sized goat with distinct white facial and leg markings. They are usually light to chocolate brown. Our two goats are sisters and were raised by hands. They are very sweet and only butt us with their heads occassionally.

This is Sweet Pea. She is about 7 years old. She is
very shy, but very sweet and gives kisses. She is a
beautiful light creamy brown color.

This is Penelope. She is 4 years old and is much more
fiesty. She is a darker more mocha brown color, and
has the coolest eyes ever!

They like to play. Sometimes they rear up, point their
heads/horns down and come crashing into the other.
It's funny to watch.

Jeremy with Penelope

Our blackberry warrior! They like blackberries!

Horse Camp 2008

Back on Memorial Weekend a couple of us, Linda and Gary, Kaye and myself, were able to stay at a place called the Cowboy Campsite in Skagit County. They have campsites you can purchase with a lifetime membership where you can set up fencing and bring your horses to camp. There are a ton of state trails around the property, and the campsite itself has a common arena, round pen, obstacle course, fit pit and buckin' bronco (oil barrel with ropes). Here are a couple pictures of our weekend.

Cadi and Linda (Bear and Maggie too)

Our campsite!

After our first ride JJ was pooped!

Kaye on Linda's Horse Phantom. What a big guy!

Ahh....basking in the sun! I love my boy!

Introduction to Max

Jeremy and I had talked several times about getting a dog once we moved into our new place. We knew our neighbor's had a dog named Lucy (Cadi had met her many times before). She spent quite a bit of time with Kaali and Jacob at the 4036 Grandview property before they sold it to us. So, we anticipated that she would grace us with her presence as well. What was to come though, we had no idea!

One day before we moved, we came over to the house to plant the veggie garden. Over comes Lucy, but, with her was a little guy, and puppy full of spit and vinegar. His name is Max. He is a puggle = pug+beagle. He is quite the little entertainer, and very helpful. He graces us with his presence daily, loves to run around by the horses and bring us all sorts of presents. To date we have had an old shoe, plastic plant container, kids shorts, a dirty diaper, half a kitten and several moles delivered to our front and back porches. Sheesh! Who needs a cat? We've got a Max.

He is very willing to please, but not very trained, so we are working on basic commands, and leash training. If we can get him from crossing the 50mph road, and prevent a puppy pancake we will be happy. He loves to sit in your lap on the porch and cuddle, and he spends some nights sleeping on our back deck. Enjoy the pictures! He is a character, so I am sure there will be more stories to come, and for the time being, we will not be getting a dog of our own. Max is enough!



Cute Max!


Cuddling on the Deck


Playing with His Kong

We're Moving!

That's right! We are moving, again. But this time, it should hopefully be a while. We bought 4.75 acres from a couple friends whounexpectedly had to move to eastern Washington. We will officially be living in Ferndale. The property is closer to both of our jobs, and our church. It has a 2003 manufactured home, horsey pastures, a nice veggie garden, a couple storage areas, and a fenced in arena with nice hogs fuel footing. We will officially be moving in during the month of June, since we are in our lease here is Custer still. We will miss where we are at, but we hope to build in the next couple years, so actually owning the property will be a big blessing!


Entry to Rockin' Horseshoe Ranch


The house, with pasture beyond


Just one of the horse pastures


The arena with neighbor's house behind

Jentleman Jay

"JJ" is a 14 year old, chestnut, Thoroughbred-Quarter Horse cross, standing at 15.2 hands. He is very curious, and loves to give kisses, and search your pockets for treats. His interests include: eating grass, eating grass, and eating grass. Can you tell he is motivated by food?

Portrait


Beautiful Eyes


Searching for treats!

Armani

Armani is an 8 year old, seal brown, Dutch Warmblood cross, standing at 16.1 hands. He is way too smart for his own good and is in constant need of mental stimulation. If a horse could be A.D.D., he would qualify. But when he is sweet, he is just so cute! His interests include: Staring out into the fields beyond while getting lost in his thoughts, lounging around the field or paddock taking in the sun, and playing with his grain bucket.

Armani saying "Hi"


Beautiful Eyes


Aren't Nose whiskers amazing!


Someone has been playing in the dirt!


Giving Kisses

Armani Play

Here we go....let's test this out.....Armani was hilarious the other day. He was very bored, but was playing with his grain bucket for over 10 min. He would pick it up in his mouth and flip it around. He would toss and toss his head, with ears perked in pure enjoyment. I will try to add the video, once we figure out where the cable and driver disk is. We managed to get 5min of it recorded.