Little Puppies

Life back at Yesteryear Acres has been going really well.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres is taking really good care of the mommy dogs, the newborn puppies and all our doodle doggies.  He is so dedicated to our sweet four-legged family members and they never miss a minute of tender loving care. I have been able to email and text Mr. Yesteryear Acres to give him the updates on my health care. He is so proud of me which makes my heart smile even more.  I have fitness classes, health seminars and/or doctor meetings every hour which makes keeping up with my Yesteryear Acres work a bit challenging.  I have had a ton of requests from people wanting to talk to me this week and sadly, I am just too busy this week to be able to talk. There is a no cell phone policy here which makes it almost impossible to chit chat. I can say that at this age - the puppies are still in the neo-natal stage.  They cannot see.  They cannot hear.  They just sleep and nurse and then sleep some more. There are no personality differences or developments at this age and puppy selection will not happen for another 5 more weeks.  There honestly isn't much to say other than I will have more pictures posted again next Monday.  If I missed your call, I am sorry, but I promise I will get in touch with you when I return back home.  I have been checking my emails when I can - so please feel free to email anytime!  Don't worry - we will have lots of new puppy pictures next week and all the babies are doing well.

Gold Star

Today I got a Gold Star!!!!!  I am so excited and so proud of myself! I got some results back on my health testing and am smiling from ear to ear.  Last year I found out that I was seriously under lean.  I was not carrying enough muscle for my body.  They compared my muscle mass to that of a 4 year old.  It was really that bad.  I was 20lbs overweight and every single pound of that was fat.  Nothing but fat.  If I didn't change my exercise routine and start adding strength training to my weekly ritual, I was headed for severe health issues when I got older.  Well for one entire year, I have strength trained.  I have strength trained 3 times a week, every week for the entire year.  I have added healthy foods to my diet. I have worked out 4-6 times a week doing cardio exercises.  The result.........
Last year I had 38% body fat.  That was ONE percentage under the "Obese" category.
This year - I am down to 26% Body Fat!  That is ONE percentage ABOVE "Performance Athlete Level" !!!!!
I also lost 20lbs AND I gained FIVE pounds of lean muscle mass!!!!!!  Everyone was so proud of me and I got high fives and gold stars.  The biggest one was the one I gave myself!  Hard work DOES pay off!!!!!  On Thursday I get the results of my blood work.  They are testing my cardiac enzymes and cholesterol and everything in between.  I am crossing my fingers for another gold star!!!!  I hope I get it!

New Babies!

We have new babies to love!  Our sweet labradoodle Belle has 8 adorable F1b labradoodle puppies that are just so sweet.  She is a great mom and her puppies are so beautiful.  AND our lovely adorable Goldendoodle Eloise is the proud mama of our new little Double Doodle babies.  Both moms are doing a great job taking care of their sweet babies. Enjoy Newborn Puppy Picture Monday!!!

Everyone loves a soft pillow!

Especially a pillow you can hug

 Little F1b Labradoodle Snuggle Buddies

Eloise's Newborn Double Doodles are so new their little noses are still pink

Their pigment will darken in a few more days

Little Heart Pile of Babies

Newborn babies are so sweet!

Happy Monday!

Healthy Me

After my quick trip to the Super Zoo, I have just one day to get everything ready before I leave again.  I hate being away from Yesteryear Acres but there was nothing I could do about the crazy schedule I have for the last week of July.  Last year the Super Zoo was held in September.  Just this year they decided to change the date to July.  So of course I had to go in July.  I can't miss the Super Zoo.  There are WAY too many awesome things for doggies and the seminars are so informative.  I learned so much again this year.  The whole conference/trade show is so worth it.  This year was even better than last year.  My doggies think so too!  It looks like doggie Christmas at my house!!!  I can't wait to see which things the dogs like the most and which things  are a great match for Yesteryear Acres.  It was a great trip and I am so glad I went.  

This week I will be going on another great trip. Last year my mom took me to an amazing exercise medical health spa in early August.  It literally changed my life.  My mom offered to take me again this year and of course - I said YES! AND THANK YOU! The health seminar week got changed to the end of July so........off I go again!  I am excited for this week.  Last year the doctors at the health spa let me know that I wasn't quite as awesome as I thought.  I was 20lbs overweight.  My blood sugar wasn't being metabolized efficiently.  The biggest medical issue was that my muscle mass was dangerously low.  Evidently I had the muscle mass of a four year old.  Since that week, I have faithfully committed myself to the prescribed exercise routine.  I have done 3 days of strength training every single week.  I have never missed a single day of strength training.  I have done 4-6 days of cardio exercise every single week.  I have never done less than 4 cardio workouts in a week.  I have eaten protein with every meal.  I have added healthy grains and eliminated most unhealthy foods from my diet and I have lost 20lbs. As promised by me, for the entire year, I have followed the nutritional plan and exercise plan they prescribed for me with no misses.  I can't wait to see my medical report this year! I am hoping for gold stars!  I have really worked hard!!!!! I hope I get the "YOU ARE SO HEALTHY"  award! I guess I better go pack my exercise outfits.  The weeklong Exercise Medical Health program begins!

Doodle Doggie Gifts Home Safe and Sound

The doodle doggie goodies are now home safe and sound!  Getting everything home took some imaginative packing! Toys, treats, shampoos, leashes, collars ....looks like I packed a suitcase just for doggies!  My clothes barely fit and I have the world's largest carryon full of more doggie goodies.  I am glad everything made it!  I was worried I would have to leave some awesome goodies behind! Even though the flight home is a long one, it is so nice to just sit back and relax and watch the beautiful scenery of the United States glide by. The Rocky Mountains are breathtaking. I can never get tired of looking at mountains! The pasture lands of Kansas - lovely.  There is so much to see and admire, the flight was over before I knew it.  I heard a couple of people complaining about how long the flight was and all I could think was - man this is great!  I don't have to drive!  I don't have to battle the weather!  I can eat a snack and drink a bottle of water with both hands! I am so used to making the puppy delivery trips, I am grateful to just have some downtime and let someone else do the "driving".  To me - the long flight home is a luxurious break in my busy day.  Good thing I like to fly.........I have another trip this week! I will have to really run around like crazy to get everything done before I leave again.  This is one busy week!

I've Seen The World!

The Super Zoo is all done and my bags are LOADED with awesome presents for the doodle doggies and doodle puppies.  I think the bags are just about bursting at the seams!  For my last day here - I covered some major geographic ground.  I believe I just about traveled the world.  Let's see - I have seen the pyramids of Egypt.  I went back to medieval times and saw Excalibur.  I sang "New York, New York" in New York. From New York, I walked all the way to Paris.  I know you have to be impressed!  I went to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and watched dancing fountains and saw distant mountains. From Paris what else could be done except walk to Italy!  Gondolas and fine masterpieces of art awaited me.  Of course traveling the world by foot is SO exhausting so it is necessary to fuel up often.  Italian coffee with caramel and whipped cream really hits the spot in the early afternoon.  A raspberry tart with pistachio cream from a famous French Patisserie is a must for a late afternoon pick me up.  And no trip around the world would be complete without visiting the Master Chefs!  30,000+ steps, over 14 miles of walking.....I think I might have just seen the world!

I think I am going to need a bigger suitcase

Oh man!  I feel like I have been walking forever!  By 2:00 this afternoon I had over 7 miles in and 16,000 steps. I still have more to go! I have gone up and down all the aisles at the Super Zoo and have been lugging all my goodies along with me.  This is my second time to the Super Zoo and last time I came home with brochures and pamphlets. I had a great time and learned a ton and I loved it.  Well THIS time, I have brochures and pamphlets AND goodies!!!!!!  I have so many samples and floor display models and brand new doggie things - it feels like Christmas!  I met SO many nice people and it was really fun learning all about the different doggie businesses.  Almost every person I met, gave me a doggie gift! I was shocked AND delighted AND grateful!  I have awesome stuff!  Now my only problem will be....how do I get all the goodies home?  I can't leave anything behind!  It is all too awesome!  I think I am going to need a bigger suitcase!  Doodle doggies.....GOODIES are on the way!

So much good stuff!

I am in Doodle Doggie heaven!!!!  I am at the annual Super Zoo convention and WOW!  So many awesome doggie gifts and accessories and doggie products. I think this year is even better than last year.  I was in seminars most of the day and have brushed up on my SEO skills and website maintenance protocol along with keeping abreast of the new legislative bills and regulations for the pet industry.  My first session started at 8:30 and as soon as my last class was over late this afternoon, I hit the big convention floor.  I have only made it through about 1/3 of the floor as there were just so many new awesome doggie products.  I met a LOT of really nice people too.  I am trying out some new things for our doodle doggies and will be bringing home a lot of samples to see which things my doodle doggies and puppies love the most. I can't wait to do the rest of the floor tomorrow.  There is just SO much to see! Nothing beats spending the day shopping for Yesteryear Acres Doodle Doggies!

That was Nothing

The other week we had some flooding that at the time seemed pretty significant.  Yesterday's torrential downpours made the previous flooding situation seem like nothing. We don't live in a flood plain.  We actually live in a nice hilly area.  Our little creek usually has just a trickle of water running through it.  There is nothing significant about our creek or surrounding areas that would even make us susceptible to flooding.  That is until this summer. Yesterday the skies opened up and it poured and poured and poured and we had the worst flooding to date.  The entire backyard became a torrent of rushing water.  The creek rose several feet and the water ended up rising above the culvert and over our bridge.  We lost most of our driveway that leads back to the pond.  Even the huge foundation rocks were washed away.  My daughter said, "Well now I see how the Grand Canyon was formed".  It is that bad.  We almost lost our gigantic wood pile as well.  We have full tree trunks stacked up for the winter and we had so much rushing water, the skids under the lumber started to float away.  It was unbelievable.  We will be repairing the storm damage here for quite some time.  Tonight's forecast calls for heavy rains, high winds, intense lightning and hail.  Let's hope Round 2 isn't as bad.  I don't think the yard can take much more abuse. 

Just in time

We got the Monday puppy pictures taken just in time.  The skies have opened up and I think it is time to get out the rowboat!  What is with this weather? It is hard to plan for anything as you never know when you will be needing a life jacket!
Here are this week's cute puppy pictures:

Our Caramel Girl is still available.  The family planning on getting her over the weekend had a change of plans so she is still looking for her new family.

She loves to play fetch

AND can multi-task!  

She is a sweet Snuggle Bear

That will love you forever

AND we have new babies!!!!!!!!!!

Belle's F1B Labradoodle Puppies were born

We have 4 girls and 4 boys to love!

Happy Monday!

Safe Delivery

My son did an awesome job of delivering the puppies safely to their new families.  It was a really long trip and I was nervous having him do that all by himself.  My son didn't get as much sleep as I had hoped as we didn't quite plan on all the fun we would have the night before creating a new "puppy mobile".  The pups decided they liked the temporary play area and my son said they were really great on the long road trip. My son has a huge place in his heart for his diesel truck and he said the pups did too. They slept for a good portion of the trip and then played nicely until they arrived safely at their destination.  Despite the torrential downpours - the trip went smoothly and my son arrived home late last night just in time to join us watch the beautiful sunset over Yesteryear Acres.

 I was so glad to have my son home safe and sound and the new puppy families were all so happy to have their new furry family members.  It was a good day all around.

How about NO extra Zzz's

Last night my son went to the gas station around 10pm to fill up for the big puppy delivery trip. He called on the way home to say something was wrong with the SUV. By the time he pulled in the driveway, the rear end of the SUV was basically sitting ON the rear tire.  The suspension had gone out.  Great.  Awesome. The Puppy Mobile was broken. Alright then....time for Plan B! With slight hesitation my son agreed to let us turn his pickup truck into a temporary Puppy Mobile.  My son saved every single penny he ever made and bought his pickup truck himself.  He got a terrific deal from an older gentleman who took such good care of that truck it almost looked brand new. He made my son promise to look after the truck and love the truck just as he did.  My son does too. He loves his truck SO much. He was a little sad when we got out the wrenches and screwdrivers and began disassembling the back seat passenger area.  Out came the seats. Out came the seat backs. We took the entire back end apart and then constructed a puppy play area for the puppies. We finally finished the temporary puppy mobile project at 2am this morning. I have to say that even though it isn't nearly as nice as the customized puppy mobile box that Mr. Yesteryear Acres made for our SUV - it is pretty awesome considering how late it was.  This morning when I woke the puppies up at O'Dark-Thirty - they all looked pretty happy with their new play area. Dear little puppies, please be good on your trip today. Dear son of mine, as soon as you return home, we will put your truck back together again and I will vacuum and clean and make it good as new! You are my hero.

Extra Zzzzz's

Oh man...today I am just flat out tired. Everything I do takes serious effort.  I drank a whole cup of coffee this morning just to get started.  I usually drink half a cup in the morning and then the other half around 2:00-3:00 in the afternoon. It is rare for me to drink more than one cup of coffee in a day but today at 3:00pm I had a second cup of coffee and drank the whole thing.  The result?  I am still tired!  I am literally dragging. I mean I had a productive day - I had 2 puppies go to their new homes this morning so I had the puppies ready bright and early. I made two batches of homemade ice cream, I washed and folded tons of laundry, I made homemade rolls for tonight's dinner but all of it took quite a bit of effort. Tomorrow I was supposed to make a puppy delivery trip to Maryland and my dear sweet son offered to do the drive instead. It took me all of two seconds to say YES PLEASE!  I am super grateful that he is willing to do the 12 hour drive! I will still get up at O'Dark-Thirty with him to get the puppies nicely situated in the puppy mobile but maybe....just maybe....I will crawl back into bed for a little nap after he is safely on the way. I think I need a few extra zzzzz's!

Puppy Care Package Cuteness

This weekend Juneau's sweet labradoodle puppies and Blossom's sweet goldendoodle puppies all leave for their new homes. Today we put together the Yesteryear Acres puppy care kits. I love putting the new toys and goodies in the bags and the puppies really like to help pick out their favorites! I found a new toy that the puppies just LOVE.  It is a plush chew toy that makes a crinkly sound and the puppies go crazy for it.  I bought four different varieties - a yellow duckie (Ms. Yellow collar girl's favorite), a blue lamby, a cow and a pink pig.  I don't know which one is cuter!  The puppies love them all and the little stuffed animal chew toys look so cute peeking out of the care packages.  The puppies all had their Yesteryear Acres beauty treatment today as well.  Nails all trimmed, coats all brushed, ears all clean.  They are officially ready for the big weekend!

Yellow Duckie...I Love You

This little caramel girl is available and is looking for a family to love. She has a medium length wavy coat and is a complete lovebug. She is ready for her new home starting this weekend and comes with a Yesteryear Acres favorite things puppy care kit. I will be making a puppy delivery to Maryland on Saturday and I am happy to bring her along as well.

I already know how to go to the bathroom outside

And I know how to sit like a good little puppy

I LOVE Puppy Snuggle Time!

I love her so much

Ahhhhhh I could stay here all day

Wait! Did you say it was Yellow Duckie time?!!!!

Hooray!  I love playing fetch with the Yellow Duckie!

I am really good at this game!

Yellow Duckie.....I love you!

Now what should we do?

You read my mind!  Snuggle time!

Good day for Jam

What can be done on a hot summer day?  Work outside weeding the garden? Nope.  I wouldn't want to deprive my son of that particular joy. Put up more fencing around the garden to keep out some very persistent hungry visitors? Nope.  I wouldn't want to deprive Mr. Yesteryear Acres of that particular joy.  What can I do? What can I do.... inside?  Where it is air-conditioned.  Where there is ice cold water.  Where there are good tunes playing on the radio. Hmmm. I know!  It is a good day to make jam!  Yes!  Now I can look ultra busy.  I can even smear berries on my shirt and wipe my forehead with a bit of berry juice so I look ever so exhausted when Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my son come in from working outside all day long.  Good plan right?!  I made a little over 12 pints of raspberry jam today so I am halfway there for the year's total! Yea!  Total jam for the summer so far is 20 pints of strawberry and 12 pints raspberry.  The blackberries are just starting to ripen so looks like that may be next. If I am really lucky, I might just have enough for a cobbler too!  Now all I have to do is to come up with another really clever project for tomorrow. Does laundry folding in the living room whilst watching a ridiculous TV show sound like exhausting work?  I think so!

Hot Monday!

Man it is a scorcher outside today!  Who turned up the heat?!  The puppies and I went out long enough to get some cute pictures and we stayed in the shade and it still was hot.  I know. I know.  It IS summer but whew!  It's a hot one! Hope the new cool puppy pictures help bring a smile to your hot Monday!

All the puppies said the sidewalk was the best place to play.  It was nice and cool and shady!

They were very good at doing sidewalk model poses!

See? Expert sidewalk camera style!

This puppy said - "Uh Oh! My tail is in the sun!  I think I better head towards the sidewalk!"

This puppy said, "See? I am sooooo smart! I stay right on the VERY edge! I didn't even make a mess!  I am such a good puppy!"

"Did she say it was time to go back inside?!!!"

"Hooray!  Time for some air-conditioning!"

"We can almost fly there!!"

Happppppppppy Monday!

Man Breakfast

This morning I finally had time to make the birthday boys their man breakfast. The birthday boys got up at the crack of dawn to go fishing on our pond and as soon as they walked out the door, I got busy making them their feast. First on the stove was the stone ground grits.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres absolutely loves grits so that was his special request for the morning. Once the grits were simmering, I got busy grating all the potatoes and then went to the garden to snip some fresh chives.  My son LOVES grated potato pancakes so I had to make a ton. Thankfully we have a big warming drawer so as each potato pancake came off the griddle, it went right into the drawer to stay nice and hot and crisp.  No man breakfast is complete without bacon so of course I cooked up a few slabs of pepper bacon to complete the feast. The house smelled delicious and it didn't take much persuading to get the birthday boys to leave the pond.  Eggs cooked to order and voila!  Man Breakfast! The only thing I didn't get done were biscuits for Mr. Yesteryear Acres.  He wanted homemade buttermilk biscuits but we were out of buttermilk!  He wasn't too sad though - he said I can make them next time.......like maybe tomorrow.  Both Mr. Yesteryear Acres and my son reminded me that they BOTH had birthdays so TWO breakfasts are better than one!  Looks like round two of man breakfast will be coming up soon. I guess I better get some buttermilk!

Puppy Visit Day

Today was puppy visit day. Both Juneau and Blossom's puppies will soon be old enough to go join their families so today was a chance for everyone to meet the puppies for the first time. Mother Nature was quite kind to us today and the weather was spectacular.  Blue skies, cool breeze, low humidity and....no rain! Yay!  It made for an awesome day to spend outside with the puppies.  The puppies loved it too. No need to run for cover in torrential downpours. Nothing but sunshine and belly rubs! The puppies had a great time. They got tons of love, tons of ear scratches and tons of "Awwwwww you are SO cute!"  Everyone loves days like that! The only hard part of the entire day was deciding exactly which adorable cute puppy was the favorite! With so many adorable choices - who can choose? We wouldn't have it any other way!

Kayaking Anyone?

We have had torrential rain EVERY SINGLE DAY for what seems like forever. It isn't your typical summer rain but drenching soaking, the backyard is flooding rain.  I have joked about opening a white water rafting shop right outside our back door.  What is usually a beautiful green backyard has been a current of rushing water lately.  My son almost dropped his keys when he was clearing the culvert and I can tell you - that would have been the end of his keys for several miles!!! Don't you love our "lake"shore view?  I never knew we had waterfront property!

This part of the field flooded in less than 5 minutes

Within 15 minutes the water was above the culvert (which is usually dry).

Kayaking anyone?

It doesn't look like Mr. Yesteryear Acres will have to weed whack the fence line today!

Ahhhh the peaceful vista of a meandering river

Hey - maybe we can go fishing after all!

The forecast calls for absolutely NO rain for the next 5 days......Let's hope so!

Birthday Boy......or should I say Birthday Man?

Today is my son's 17th birthday. 17th.  I can't believe it.  Last year when he turned 16 - it felt like he should have already been 16. He has been able to drive every tractor we own for a long time and waiting for his 16th birthday to arrive seemed like it took forever. Once he got his license he could finally go run errands and help out with the Yesteryear Acres work more than ever so the 16th birthday was great. The 17th birthday however seems old!  I am not ready for him to be 17.  17 is just one year away from 18 and 18 means he will be leaving soon!  I am DEFINITELY not ready for him to leave home. My son has aspirations to attend the West Point Academy or the Naval Academy and I know his days here are running short.  I know one thing - we will miss him!  My son wakes up super early each morning and helps out with all the chores before school starts.  He comes home from school and works here some more.  He is often the last one to come in at night.  During the summer he works from sun up until way past sunset.  He never takes a day off.  Even today.  Even on his birthday.  Even with all his relatives telling him he should relax today.  Instead he helped work all day.  We are hoping to celebrate his birthday and Mr. Yesteryear Acres birthday sometime next week.  Maybe they will even be able to take a few hours off to go fishing!  They deserve it more than anyone else I know.  My hard working men. I love them so!  Happy Birthday son. You are no longer the birthday boy - you are most definitely the birthday man!  Thanks for all you do!

Chauffeur

Mr. Yesteryear Acres license expired on his birthday so I have been his designated chauffeur.  Whenever we go anywhere together, Mr. Yesteryear Acres always drives.  He loves to drive and I absolutely I hate driving so our arrangement works well.  If I can get out of driving - I will. My son also loves to drive so I can get out of driving quite easily. When my son and I did our college tour trip - my son drove the entire time.  It made the week long trip so much nicer for me. Let me say, being the designated chauffeur for Mr. Yesteryear Acres is not a job I want full time.  In fact - today I chauffeured Mr. Yesteryear Acres right to the department of motor vehicles so he could renew his license. Mr. Yesteryear Acres is an expert driver.  He even holds certifications in some sort of defense driving higher level driver's courses.  I am not an expert driver.  Even though I am no expert, I get from point A to point B with no problem.  I  have driven through torrential downpours and I have driven through extreme blizzards - and still I make it to my destination with no problems.  Despite this, Mr. Yesteryear Acres likes to ask me whether I fixed the mirror, if I have my headlights on, if I have the car in 2 wheel or 4 wheel drive, did I see the car merging ahead, among many other questions.  Everyone who drives Mr. Yesteryear Acres gets the exact same treatment. You can imagine how much fun it is to be his chauffeur. Dear Mr. Yesteryear Acres, I am so glad you have your license. Now before you get in the car:
Did you check the emergency brake? How much gas do you have? Did you fix the mirrors?  Have you checked the tire pressure? Did you remember to look before you merged?
Love,
Your (now) retired chauffeur

Nothing better than your own bed!

I cannot tell you the complete and utter joy I felt when I finally laid my head on my very own pillow in my very own bed. I love my bed so much.  I love my pillow so much.  I love sleeping with my doodle doggie in my very own bed in my very own room in my very own house.  I love Yesteryear Acres. I felt like I had been gone forever! I worked nonstop the entire time I was at my daughter's house. We went to bed well after 1am every night and got up super early.  We usually only had time for one meal a day.  And by meal - let's be clear - we are talking bananas and crackers.  It was a hardcore moving job!  We were so exhausted by the end of the move.  My daughter now lives a mere 5 miles from the beach and did I see the beach? Nope.  Did I go to the seashore? Nope.  I drove almost 1500 miles and never got to the ocean.  I did however see enough of home improvement stores to last a lifetime!  I don't ever want to go to a home improvement store again! On the good side of things - I arrived at the Marine Corps Base in Quantico in time to see my daughter's graduation ceremony. When I heard all the things she has learned and all the things she will now be in charge of - I was really impressed.  She has accomplished so much already. It took us 2 days to move her things to Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and when we arrived at her new house - it was perfect!!!!  We had rented the house sight unseen (just via the internet) and her house is beautiful!  It is even better than we had imagined. We got everything moved in and the place already feels like home for my daughter. We even got a small garden planted!!! The best part about the whole move is....there is plenty of room for me to come and stay.  We are all set for future visits where we will just sit around and enjoy her beautiful home and.....maybe...just maybe....next time we just might make it to the ocean!

Post Holiday Puppy Smiles

Happy Monday!!!! I hope you had a great 4th of July Holiday weekend full of family, food, fireworks and fun! I am sure many of you have to face work today and might have the post holiday blues so here are some adorable Monday Puppy Picture updates to turn your post holiday blues into post holiday puppy smiles!

We had a great 4th of July weekend!

Peek A Boo!

Time to play!

We love romping around in the green grass

And playing tag!

Freeze - You Are It!

Can someone untag me

I am coming!

Shhhhh - they can't find me here!

Happy Puppy Picture Monday!!