Syrup Season Once Again!

Apples is such a pretty girl.  The muddy weather gives her a whole new look.

February is more than half over.  Late February means Maple Syrup Season gets under way.  And it is definitely under way here now.  Our last two years were very poor.  Last year it got very warm very early and I think 2017 was similar.  We need nights below freezing and days above freezing to make the sap run.  I don't know how 2019 is going to shake out, but it is off to a big start.

Sam put out 38 taps while I was at  the agility trial on the 9th.  Some trees he puts 2 taps in, and many just one.  He runs tubing from the taps to holes in the lids of 3+ gallon buckets.  There are many ways to tap trees and gather the sap, but this works for us.  

The conditions were not right for the sap to run until Tuesday, when it rained pretty much all day and was around 50 degrees.  Wednesday afternoon I went up to the maple grove and discovered full buckets under every tree!  I collected 21 buckets and hauled most of them to the sugar shack.  In a nutshell, we started the evaporator early Thursday and ran it Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  We gathered another 22 buckets of sap on Friday, 6 more on Saturday and only 4 on Sunday. This wonderful sap run yielded 3 gallons of finished syrup.
 
Once the sap is gathered, it goes into the sugar shack, which is where our wood-fired evaporator is.  We stack the buckets and load them one at a time into a warming pan on the top of the syrup pan.

To the right, the syrup pan is full of fresh sap that has not yet been brought to a boil.  It looks and tastes like water at this point.  Once we bring the sap to a boil, we will add wood to the fire about every 15 minutes.  All  Day   Long.  We use pine because we have a big supply of it and it burns hot.  It is split fairly small and stacked outside the sugar shack.

We  slowly add fresh sap to the pan as the water in it boils away.  We put 14 buckets into the pan on Thursday and it took pretty much all day to accomplish that.  There is an opening in the roof of the sugar shack to allow all those gallons of water to escape in the form of steam.  And there are great huge clouds of it.  When you consider we boiled approximately 150 gallons of water away to end up with 3 gallons of syrup, it kind of boggles the mind.

Our sugar shack is a mile from our house.  Uphill most of the way and the road is a sea of mud this time of year.  So one of us stays at the sugar shack  to keep the pan full and the fire going.  We read, do Sudoku puzzles, games on our tablets, etc.  We have no electricity up there, but we have a comfy van-seat couch and there is always something to do.  Yesterday I cleared a lot of brush and briars on one side of the pond and piled them up to burn.  Grover is always with me, as Rowdy used to be (and still would be if he was able to go). If it is warm enough I have been known to sit in the sun and knit and listen to an audio book.  Oh, there is also an outhouse.  All the comforts of home.

The season can run until mid-March and we hope we get a few more good runs so we will have syrup to sell.  I already have a gallon of syrup in jars set aside for our use and some for my boys.  When we decide we aren't likely to get enough sap to run the evaporator again, we will pull the taps and clean everything and put it away for next year.  

I have been keeping a paper Syrup Season Journal since 2013.  it is fun to go back and look at daily temps and weather and see if we were getting sap runs and how much and how long we cooked and what the yield was.  

We had some more snow early this month.  We got about a 6" snowfall maybe the first weekend of the month and Sam was able to use his new tractor to clear the driveway.  he has also been using it to load round bales on his trailer and deliver them to his dad for his cattle.  I think he is happy with the tractor.  

Grover and I attended an agility trial in Zanesville on the 9th and 10th.  We had 6 runs and Qd in 4, earning 2 more Double Qs toward MACH 2.  That brings us to 15.  We only have a third of the points we need however.  We will trial in Zanesville again March 9th and 10th and then head to Tulsa, OK for AKC Nationals.  I am very excited about that.
One of the people I am going with said last time she went everyone decorated their stalls with banners, so I had a banner made.  It is 2' X 2' and is vinyl with grommets for hanging.   I will go this week and order similar ones for the other 3 people with whom I am sharing a stall.  These will be fun to display and will make nice souvenirs for us.

But before all that, my mom and I are heading out to Portland in just a few days to visit my son, Ian, and his family.  My little grandson will be almost 10 months old.  He looks like he will be walking any day now.  Mom has not seen him since June so I know she is looking forward to the trip.  Ian was her first grandchild, so he is special to her as well.  Like all her grandchildren.  

I did finish my other thrummed mitten, and I started a hooded vest, and have a warp on the big loom for a custom order rug, but when it is really cold, I don't spend much time in my studio and I have been busy doing other things as well.  

Spring is just around the corner!  But meanwhile, here are 2 snow-loving dogs:

 

Snow, Cold....It's January.

This old dog LOVES just laying in the snow.

We have had a couple of good snowfalls, 5 to 6 inches, which is plenty to make one feel like they have experienced winter and are ready for spring.  Unfortunately the coldest days are yet to come.  It seems to me that the coldest weather occurs the first week of February.  And this year is no exception, though the coldest days are expected at the tail end of January, so starting tomorrow.  They are telling us things like the "coldest weather in two decades"  and "wind chills well below zero".  I hope they are wrong again.  I remember in the mid-90's when we lived in Indiana having almost an entire week when the temperatures did not rise above 0*F.  You tend to remember that kind of thing when you have to take care of horses before going to your 8 am job in the morning.  At least we lived in a new house there.  Here in our 120+ year old house with no insulation we have to worry about frozen water pipes, frozen drains and more.  The good news is that this cold is only expected to last about 3 days.  And we have LOTS of firewood just outside the door.



Since my last post I have managed to keep busy.  No agility trials this month, though I did ride along with a novice handler and her dog to Incredipaws for their debut in the ring earlier this month.  I went for moral support and to help her navigate trial protocol.  They did quite well, though they did not Q in either of their runs.  But the very first time in the ring is kinda scary for the handler and can be somewhat overwhelming for the dog.  They really did a great job and they are entered in our trial in Zanesville coming up in just under 2 weeks.  I can't wait to see how they do.  They are a great team.

I spent a good part of yesterday prepping for the cold weather to come.  I bedded the stall area in the barn for Apples and Truffel and Grover and I used the Gator to take a couple loads of hay and dog food for Star to the barn.  I do worry about the chickens in the cold weather to come as their coop is large for 3 chickens, despite having a heat lamp.  I have been debating putting them in a dog crate in the barn and piling hay around it, but then I can't use the heat lamp.  I haven't decided yet.

This past weekend, starting Thursday and going through Sunday, I took a class for certification in Canine Massage Therapy.  I ended up being the only student for the weekend and so I got more hands on training than I would have had there been 2 other students in the class and I came away with my certification.  I am contemplating what I plan to do.  I still feel like I need a lot of practice, but I have Grover here to work on.  Rowdy has some physical issues that make him difficult to work on, but he may get some massage as well.  I wanted to learn this to work on my own dogs, but people keep telling me they think there would be a market for it around here, so I need to have some cards made up.  Tomorrow Grover will be my first client.

Other than that, I have been working on finishing up some projects and have started a new one or two.  The towels I had started in the last post are off the loom and just waiting for hemming.   Well, one is hemmed the other 4 are waiting.  One of the black ones was the request from the Arts Center that prompted my weaving these.  There are 2 black, 2 red and 1 green.  I am happy with how they turned out.  The black and red ones will go to the Arts Center and I will keep the green one or possible gift it.

I also made a second baby sheep hat for my grandson, Wilder.  The first one I made him was much too small.  I was very pleased to see that this one fit him and may fit him for a little while.  Isn't he adorable in it?  I will be back out to Oregon to see him in only 3 weeks and 2 days.  Not counting or anything.  My mom will be going as well.

I need to get all of us in my family I have knit these hats for together for a photo. But there are 2 of us in Ohio, 1 in Oregon and 1 in California, so it won't happen soon.  Sadly. Maybe I will get 3 of us when Mom and I are in Oregon next month.

 



This particular project was on the loom for almost a year. I decided it was time to finish it.  Yes, it's a guitar strap.  It was meant for a gift when I started it and it will still be a gift, just a year later than planned.  I don't think the recipient reads my blog.  But I won't say who it is for.  Handy that I was even able to find a guitar in my house.  And it goes so well with the strap.  I would be willing to make more of these straps. Just let me know what colors.  We'll see who reads this.

I also finished my lacy beaded Mystery Knit-Along shawl that was for the month of October.  I wonder who had time to knit this entire thing in one month?  Not me.  It is beautiful!  This is my favorite kind of knitting, though the finished item is very impractical, especially for someone whose daily wardrobe is jeans and a hoodie.  Can you see Rowdy over by the creek?  I love this photo.

And I have knit ONE "thrummed" mitten.  The white "hearts" are actually chunks of carded wool that are knit into the inside of the mitten, so it is kind of like one of those fleece lined jackets, only a mitten. I am sure the wool will felt to the shape of my hands once I start wearing them, after I knit the second one of course.  It was kind of hard on my hands working with the yarn (handspun by the way) and the wool together, so I will finish up my towels and another project before I get to the second one, but I will.  After all what good is only one mitten?  Too bad I don't have them ready to wear this week!

I think that is about it for now.  Upcoming events include Agility in Zanesville Feb 9th and 10th, then a trip to Oregon with Mom Feb 21 through 26.  And somewhere in that period of time, we will be tapping trees and making maple syrup as well!  We are due for a good sap year.  I do like syrup season, especially now that I have a new Gator to use, as our Honda is getting pretty rough and not always dependable.  We have some pretty serious hills to deal with in snow and mud during syrup season and I haven't trained Apples to pull a sled, so I'm glad I have the new Gator.  So is Grover. 

Wrapping Up 2018 and Looking Forward to 2019!

2019 is upon us.  I'm not sure how 2018 went by so quickly.  I must be having fun, right?  Time flies when you are having fun.  Lots of fun.

2018 was a huge year for our family.  We had some momentous events.  I think the very most important one was the birth of our grandson, Wilder, in May.  The news that I was going to become a grandmother came to me in late August 2017 and was one of the biggest surprises of my life as my son and daughter-in-law had told us previously that having children was not in their plan.  They did not tell anyone that they had, in fact, changed their minds until it was confirmed they were expecting.  And Wilder arrived in May.  Here he is, now 8 months old with my son, Ian.  I have been out to visit him in Oregon twice, and will be there again next month.

Speaking of my son, Ian, the second huge event this year was his graduation in June from Oregon State University's College of Forestry with his bachelor's degree in Recreation Resource Management, also earning the honor of being named "Outstanding Senior" in his major.  Way to go, Ian!
 


And of course we have had yet another year with our beloved old dog, Rowdy.  He will be 14 in April and every day with him is treasured. 

Officially on the list!

And speaking of dogs, we certainly cannot forget that Grover and I earned a huge title in agility in September, our (first) MACH, or Master Agility Championship!  We worked 4 years for it and I am so very proud of what my goofy rescue Aussie has been able to do.  We both had to learn so much!  
And then of course we also qualified to enter the AKC National Agility Championships being held in Tulsa OK in March.  We are entered and we plan to be there!





In April, Sam and I closed the Real Estate business we had taken over from Sam's Mom back in 1999.  The shale gas industry coming into our area and drilling and paying landowners to lease their land really hurt our business and we decided it was time to retire and spend our time on other things.  It was rather a 2 edged sword, as the gas industry that hurt our livelihood in real estate also allowed us to retire a little earlier than we had planned. But having a 200 acre farm, one is never really "retired".  There is always so much to do!  

We have also had losses.  One of the first alpacas we bought back in late 1999, Peg, died at almost 19 years of age in June.  She was the last of our first alpacas and a special favorite of mine.  This leaves us with only one alpaca, Truffels, who is now 15, and she shares the barn and pasture with Apples the Welsh pony and Star the Italian Maremma.  We also lost most of our chicken flock to hawk predation this past fall and have only 3 hens as of this time.

I think in all, we have been very blessed this year.  There were things that could have been much worse than they turned out, such as my mom breaking her humerus in Italy in March and the flooding we experienced here in late May while Sam was off on a fishing trip.  We had the rainiest year on record here, with over 57 inches of rain in the area, which is 20" above average, according to the Wheeling Intelligencer. This made it a rather poor year for the garden, with some of my veggies being flooded out.  I will be hoping for a year of better weather in 2019, but otherwise, 2018 may be hard to beat.





I can now post some photos of projects I have been working on that were gifts this year.  Socks for Mom for Christmas.












 

A Steelers blanket for Mary, my mother-in-law.  I was disappointed after fulling the blanket that the colors became somewhat blended and muddy.  This photo is pre-fulling.  I learned that wool blankets and small checks do not work well in the finishing.

 


 I also knitted this Death Star hat for my son in California.  He loves it and says it is "ridiculously warm".  He lives in the mountains, so it will get used.

And currently on the looms are some black and gold towels, which were a request from a customer at the Arts Center in town.  I will do 2 in black and gold and 2 in a dark red and gold, I think.  I do love the way the colors and pattern are working together so far.

                                                                          





  And also some silk scarves in natural and navy blue with just a tiny bit of wool in the blue yarn.  The threads are very fine so these are taking a little longer than the towels.  But they will be lovely, I  think.                                                                       
 
I am almost finished with the lacey beaded mystery shawl from October.  I should have that done and blocked by my next post.   

I have also been working on re-knitting the sheep hat I made for Wilder which was MUCH too small.  I have now started it and ripped it back out twice and re-started it.  I am hoping the third time is the charm.  It would be nice to finish it in time for him to wear it this year.

A rare sunny day!

And Just Like That Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice

And Christmas is in less than a week.  I wish I could be in Oregon for Wilder's first Christmas, but let's face it, it'll be more fun next year and the year after, right?

I like to do blog posts when I have photos to go along with it.  I have been having camera problems and there hasn't been a lot to photograph anyway, so this will be short and to the point.

When I last posted, I  was somewhat reticent about attending the Woodsfield Christmas Festival due to poor turnout last year.  I have to admit, I had a very good time and sold quite a few items, including that lovely alpaca/silk scarf and a couple of other hand woven scarves and of course alpaca socks.  So it turned out to be a good day and I am glad I attended.  I will likely do so again next year.  

The following weekend, Grover and I attended a 3 day trial at Incredipaws just outside Columbus.  We had a fantastic weekend, Qing on 8 out of 10 runs!  We had 3 QQs, a Q in Premier jumpers and a Q in premier standard.  This was an unprecedented weekend for us, never having had 3 QQs before.  Our next trial is next week, Saturday and Sunday between Christmas and New Year's Eve.  It is in Zanesville and Grover and I will go from there to my Mom's for a short visit.

But the biggest agility news is that Grover and I have qualified for the AKC Agility Nationals, which is in Tulsa, OK in March.  Are we going?  You better believe we are!  I know that we don't stand a chance of making it into the finals but I feel like I need to take this experience with my first agility dog as far as I can.  Who knows what might happen?  This may be our only chance to do this.  Grover will be 8 next year.  I am keeping my goal simple:  I would like to have at least one qualifying run so I can bring home a ribbon from Nationals.  Anything more than that will be icing on the cake.  And we are attending with good friends.  Even better.

As for fiber-y stuff,  almost all my projects are Christmas gifts, though I did just warp the loom for some scarves in navy blue and white stripes.  I am using natural colored 100% silk and  70%silk/30%merino wool in navy.  I haven't even photographed it yet because I just finished warping.  I have never used this fine of yarn before, much less this much silk content.  We'll see how it goes.

I did most of my Christmas shopping online and had items shipped right to Michelle and all the guys.  Sam and I will spend the day with his mom and dad and brother, like usual.  It will be quite and nice.  And then I will spend time with my side of the family and ring in the New year with them.  It is hard to believe another year has passed. 

I call this one "Grover Squared"

 Merry Christmas to you and yours and I wish you a Peaceful and Blessed New Year.

Squeezing in Another Post This Month, In Which I Talk About Dog Food, Among Other Things.

Thanksgiving means dogs in the kitchen

Ah yes, another Thanksgiving has passed us by.  Sam and the dogs and I drove to Dayton on Thanksgiving day, thankfully without the excitement of last year's deer caught in the fence and flat tire on the truck  http://straightforkfarm.blogspot.com/2017/12/thanksgiving-trial-new-farm-resident.html 
Before Thanksgiving,  I baked 5 pies, 2 raspberry, pictured left, for the Crossed Paws Animal Shelter (previously the Monroe County Humane Society) bake sale on Wednesday, and then 2 apple and a pumpkin to take to Mom's.

 On the way to Mom's we left the truck at the Fieldhouse in Zanesville because Grover and I were entered in our trial there for Saturday and Sunday.  

Thanksgiving was nice.  My aunt Elaine and her friend, Jim, and my cousin Tracey all came from Michigan for the first time in several years, which was great fun.  My brothers were there with their families and it was just a good time.  I do enjoy everyone getting together.

Sam and the dogs and I left very early Saturday so Grover and I could get to the trial.  I had signed up for 3 runs on saturday, but figured I would be too late for our standard run.  However, we got there just in time to do our walk-through.  I was kind of surprised.  We even Q'd and then Q'd again in jumpers later for our 28th QQ, or 8 toward our MACH2.  Sunday we NQ'd in standard, but got jumper's so it was a good weekend in all.  We have another trial a week from today in Pataskala, Ohio at Incredipaws.  

Tomorrow is the local Christmas Festival and I will once again have a booth at the craft sale, which is being held in the elementary school for the second year, instead of the courthouse as it once was.  Last year was pretty much a bust for me, but I decided to give it another chance.  I have hand woven scarves, towels, pillows, and napkins, etc along with my hand-dyed yarn and of course alpaca socks.  My stuff is not inexpensive, but it is unique and is not what most people are thinking of when they think of "craft" shows.   The photo to the right is an alpaca/silk scarf I recently finished.  I took it from the raw alpaca fiber to the finished product, blending the alpaca with silk, dyeing it, spinning it and eventually weaving it.  I am very happy with it.  Most of my rugs are at the Arts Center for sale, along with some other items and I decided to leave them there as they will also have traffic through there tomorrow.

After the festival, I have the Christmas party for the dog club on Monday, then the agility trial next weekend and just random other events until after Christmas.  I have also enrolled in a Canine Massage Therapy Course, which is in late January, but I already have materials to study for that.  

Yesterday I took Rowdy up to the alternative vet for an acupuncture appointment.  He has been seeing her for 4 years, first for arthritis and then for his Cushing's disease.  She called him the Miracle Dog yesterday.  I don't think we expected him to still be around a year and half following his Cushing's diagnosis, especially since we decided not to go with drugs and try to treat more holistically, which meant changing Rowdy's diet and using Chinese herbal remedies.


As I have been writing this, my latest batch of dog food was in the oven and I just took it out.  It will now cool for an hour and I will then portion it.  Rowdy gets 9.5 oz of this twice a day and I mix his supplements into it: an herbal mixture, vitamins and melatonin.  Grover is still getting dry dog food, but only a little over a cup a day split into 2 meals, each with 4 oz of the homemade food mixed in.  Each batch of dog food I make lasts about 9 days, so I spend a lot of time figuring out when I will need to "cook" again and making sure I have everything I need on hand.  Here's my basic recipe, to which I can add or change things depending on availability.   I based my recipe  somewhat loosely on this one :             Dr. Judy's Puploaf
I source a lot of my ingredients from right here on the farm.  Venison is in good supply and it is all gotten within state laws. Sam is a hunter.  Right now it is deer season and in addition to getting the legal limit he is allowed,he will also collect meat that some of the other guys don't want to bother with.  He then runs all this meat  through a meat grinder and portions and freezes it.  I ask the guys to bring me hearts and livers and I portion those up and put them in the freezer.  Eggs come from my chickens.  I grow squash and pumpkins and cut them up and freeze them.  I grow the greens in the summertime.

I have a grinder for my Kitchen Aid stand mixer that I put much of the ingredients through and then I mix it all in a 5 gallon stock pot, literally by hand, and bake it for an hour in baking pans.  I have this pretty much down to a science by now and it doen't take too long, unless I forget to take the 6 pound package of meat out of the freezer a couple days ahead of time.  

 
 Here are the 3 pans ready to go into the oven.  It takes me most of a morning from start to finish, though I have down time while the pans are in the oven and while they are cooling.  I use this time to clean up from the preparation process and then I have to clean again after portioning.  It's a lot of work, but I don't mind it.  I know Rowdy's time with us is limited, but even when he is no longer with us, I will still be making dog food.  Grover and whoever comes after Rowdy will still get good homemade food mixed with commercial food like Grover does now.  I just won't have to "cook" as often.  

 
It has been rather wintry here.  A little snow and ice and a lot of mud.  Apples is not as clean and pretty as she was almost a year ago when she arrived here.  She and Truffels the alpaca seem to get along all right, despite speaking two totally different languages.  I think Apples and I would both rather have another pony, though.  Oh well.

 It is hunting season, so Grover and I have limited our daily walks to the roads.  We both wear orange (when I remember) just to feel a little more visible.  Grover is so deer-colored.   He usually stays within sight on our walk, though.

I have some Christmas gifts on the needles and on the loom, but this rug I just finished for Mary.  It is made with Pendleton Wool selvedges and she knows I am making it for her, so I can post it.  









 

I also knit a sock while she and I were traveling, which was meant to be for my mom for Christmas, but despite ripping out and starting over with fewer stitches, it is still quite large.  So I set it aside and will maybe make the second sock for myself after Christmas is past.


I also decided to dye the alpaca/silk batts I had carded  recently before spinning.  I am very happy I did.  I just used navy blue in 3 different dye to water solutions and I am very pleased with the results.  It is so much nicer to spin when the colors are changing than just endless yards of white, even if it is lovely shiny white.

 
 

The Time Just Flies, That's My Excuse!

Sam's mom, Mary, and I flew to Portland the first of November.  She had yet to meet little Wilder, who was 6 months old on the 2nd of November.  Wilder thought his great grandma was just wonderful!  He is such a happy smiley baby.  Ian and Michelle are truly lucky.  

We were there for 5 days.  The weather was mild, cloudy one minute and overcast the next.  Ian and Michelle's apartment faces east and they have a view of Mt Hood in the distance on a clear day.  We were favored with a glimpse of it one day only.  The MAX (train) station is right across the street and Ian takes it to work downtown every morning.  And Wilder will be able to watch him coming home when he gets a little older.  It's kind of neat.  Mary and I babysat Wilder on Friday for a few hours while Michelle worked.  On Monday, Mary stayed at the apartment with Michelle while I took the MAX in to downtown and went to lunch with Ian.  So I got to experience what his commute is like and got to see the building where he works, if not his office.  Had it not been raining, we would have taken lunch to the rooftop deck area, but it is November in Portland.  All in all it was a very nice trip.  I already have plans to return in late February and this time my mom will accompany me.

 I made Wilder some "Monster Butt" pants.  
 



I also made him an adorable hat, but it is WAY too small for his noggin!   It may have fit him 6 months ago, but who needs a wool hat in May?  I have promised to make one just like it only bigger.   Sheesh.  Can you tell I am not used to knitting for babies?






Even going out to eat this kid is a delight.  

However, standing in line at Ikea for 45 minutes (!) was enough to test anyone's patience.  I have never had to wait so long in line there before.  It was a Sunday, but I have been there on Saturday before with no such trouble.   





 

 

He looks happy, right?

When last I wrote, Grover and I were heading off to our October agility trial in just a few days.  We had a successful 3 days, earning 2 more QQs towards our second MACH and a first place in Premier standard on Friday.  I even took a photo of the placement because we usually do not place and especially not first place!
In second place is T-Bo, who is one of the dogs who was in our beginner agility class 4 1/2 years ago.  T-Bo got his first MACH in March this year.  

Additionally, we earned enough points this trial to qualify for the AKC Agility Nationals in Tulsa,OK in March.  Plans are in the works to go!

 
Our fall turned cool and rainy.  Rainy.  Enough already.  My birthday was the 23rd and it was a gorgeous day.  A perfect fall day and I requested that Sam go hiking with Grover and me at Lamping Homestead.   It was the perfect way to celebrate my birthday.  I just wish we had had more days like that in October.  I feel like fall didn't really happen.  

off the loom

But the weather is a perfect excuse to sit and knit or spend time in my studio weaving.  Of course there are some secret things in the works this time of year, but I have mostly finished the Candy Cane towels that were on my loom last post.  Once off the loom they must be washed, ironed and hemmed.  3 are yet to be hemmed.

Hemmed

 

I have 6 towels and 2 little dish cloths.  These will be for sale at the Christmas Festival in Woodsfield on Dec 1st.

 I have a lacy beaded shawl on my knitting needles.  I have made little progress  because I had to finish stuff to take out to Oregon with me.  It doesn't look like much at this point, but it will be so pretty when it is done.  

I also made this hat for Michelle.  At least it seems to fit.....

But the main thing that kept me busy was this sweater.  I wanted to finish it in time to wear it to Oregon and I did.  I finished it 2 days before our trip and I was able to wear it on the plane.  It is so comfy!  I just love it.  You may have noticed I am wearing it in the photo at the top of the blog page.

Next week is Thanksgiving!  How can that be possible?  We will travel across the state to Mom's, once again leaving the truck in Zanesville because Grover and I will be dropped off there on Saturday to attend our agility trial Saturday and Sunday.  My aunt and my cousin Tracey will be at Mom's for Thanksgiving this year.  It has been a few years since they were there, so I am really looking forward to it.  

After Thanksgiving, gun season for deer starts in Ohio, so Sam will be out with the guys all week.  Then it will be December.   I have the Christmas Festival on the first, followed by the Dog Club Christmas party 2 days later.  I will likely manage to keep busy the rest of the month as well.

Hanging out on the deck in the fall.