Last Day of April

This morning Mr. Yesteryear Acres was quick to point out that it was the last day of April.  What? Huh?  How did that happen?  How did an entire month fly by already?  I know time flies when you are having fun but it also flies when you are really busy. It flies when you are engulfed in work.  It flies when you are relaxing or laughing or worrying or resting or waiting.  It just flies.  There is just one more month of school left for my son.  There is just one month left before our big summer projects begin.  We haven't even finished the planning of the projects and now the time is here to actually work on the projects.  The biggest project of the summer is replacing our entire roof.  That is going to be one long hard project.  I will be so glad when it is all over but I fear it will take several weeks of long days before it is all done. We still have so much to do to get ready for the roof so I guess I am glad that this is the last day of April because April Showers Bring May Flowers.  That means that technically it should stop raining tomorrow.  Flowers should bloom.  The ground should dry up and no more torrential downpours should occur. We can get out on the roof and get all the work started.  I hope the April Showers adage is true.  I think most of us are a little overwhelmed by the drenching non-stop rains.  Summer is right around the corner!  May starts tomorrow!  I am ready for the flowers!

Stop to Smell the Flowers

Today was another hectic busy day here at Yesteryear Acres.  We have a lot of those.  Even when there are a million and one things to do, I try to remember to enjoy a few quiet peaceful moments nestled in with all the hurrying around busy working moments.  It brings good balance to the day.  I am lucky that I have sweet puppies to play with and to snuggle with.  That always brings a much needed happy break.  The best thing about doodle doggies and puppies is that they are always full of joy.  They are always happy to see you and are always grateful for a scratch behind the ears.  Doggies definitely look forward to all the little things in life and for them - those little things all add up to one happy life. I have to agree.  Life should be measured by all the little moments. So take time to enjoy a moment

Stop to Smell the Flowers

Breathe in the Beauty

Enjoy the peacefulness

Grits says, "You'll be glad you did!"

Ahhhhhhh Happiness

A Dozen Reasons to Smile

Even though we won't have new puppies for a few weeks, we have Sweet Pea's babies to love and watch grow and to snuggle with.  Her puppies are doing so great.  All 12 babies are gaining weight and Sweet Pea is doing a most excellent job of nursing her precious bundles of love.

They turned one week old

Their pigment has come in so their little noses have now turned black

So Sweet

Little Puppy Snuggles

Full of Sweet Dreams

And Olive's Puppies all go home this weekend

They are a beautiful bunch of puppies

I bet they will bring lots of happiness and big joyful smiles this weekend!!!

Happy Monday!

Bad News....Good News

It looks as though we are not going to have any more doodle puppies until almost the end of May when our beautiful chocolate doodle Nutmeg has her chocolate and caramel babies. We were expecting a litter of Double Doodle puppies any day now and a litter of F1b Labradoodle puppies but it is look less and less likely that either litter will happen. I have been crossing my fingers and hoping and hoping but I think it is time to face reality.  I don't think that either doggie will be having puppies. This is super sad as I have several families eagerly awaiting new doodle babies.  I hate disappointing people and believe me - if there were some way to change it - I would!  I don't know if it was the really cold long winter or what - but neither doggie looks very pregnant today and sadly - I don't think puppies will happen.  That is obviously the bad news.  The good news is that we will have oodles of doodle babies this June! Our adorable Double Doodle Maple will be having her Double Doodle puppies in mid-June.  This will be Maple's first litter and we are soooo excited for her babies to arrive.

As you can see - she is quite a cutie!!!!

Her babies are going to be gorgeous!

We are also expecting red and caramel F1b Labradoodle babies in mid-June and our sweet Ginger and our very handsome McGyver will be having their goldendoodle babies in late June. I think June will be doodletastic! I can't wait!

Puppy Visit Day Happiness

Today was Puppy Visit Day for Olive's puppies.  They had a blast.  The weather didn't look too promising with the first few visits but then the skies cleared up and the day turned out beautifully.  Olive's puppies had so much fun playing with all the new families.  By the last visit, they were all tuckered out.  I think they will all sleep like babies tonight.

The puppies say, "Thanks for visiting with us!!"

We all had a good time!

Even the spring flowers enjoyed the day.

Happy Puppy Visit Day!

Dinner for Two?

My son is busy enjoying his Candidate Visitation weekend at the Naval Academy which leaves Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I home alone. Well not exactly alone because we still have doodle doggies and doodle puppies all around us but the house seemed extra empty today.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres thought so too. Tonight I have to cook dinner for two.  I don't know if I remember how to cook a meal for only two people! I am used to cooking gigantic size portions. Cooking for two?  How does one do that? I started getting out the ingredients when I realized, I had way too much on the counter.  Then I started thinking about what it will be like when my son leaves for college. I definitely am not ready.  I am already missing cooking for him. I am already missing him walking in the door. I am already missing his witty banter. Mr. Yesteryear Acres misses him too. We have decided to make the most of our son's absence.  For dinner tonight we are cooking up something spicy.  My son hates spicy food and we love it.  We are going to prepare some Thai Soup of FIRE and make it extra extra spicy.  My son will be so glad he doesn't have to eat spicy food and we will be so glad to have a chance to enjoy it.  Then after dinner maybe we will watch one of the movies that my son would rather not sit through.  There.  Evening plans made.  Now what will we do tomorrow?!

So it wasn't me

At 9:15am this morning....our internet went out.  I know you have to be thinking, "Oh no! Not this AGAIN!" and believe me, I thought that and more!  I have been wrestling with our computers and gadgets and routers and wi-fi for over a week straight. At first I thought my computer was dying.  Then the router.  Then the wi-fi. Then the tablet.  Back to my computer.  The other day nothing worked and I spent the entire day reconfiguring EVERYTHING.  When the internet went out this morning, I just sat there and shook my head.  Great!  Here goes yet ANOTHER blog about how I spent all day trying to fix my internet.  I called my internet provider (again) and what do you know? My computer isn't actually dying. It is fine.  My router was not broken. It is fine. My tablet is fine.  The wireless set up. Fine. I found out that there is actually something wrong with the lines coming into our house.  Evidently whoever set the system up 15 years ago did it incorrectly. The entire internet and phone service to our house crashed for good this morning so they sent out a real technician to come and overhaul our system.  All the cables and wires needed replaced.

This is one of those, "Yup...this is all wrong right here" moments

They actually had to call in back up support.  We are talking a major project. So now we will actually have a working phone line.  We will have a brand new modem (that works). We will have consistent and reliable internet service. All I have to do is wait and then re-configure everything ONE LAST TIME and then this time will be the last time you get the joy of reading about my internet woes....  At least that is what they are promising me!

Are you still ironing?

My son leaves early tomorrow morning for the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.  He is going for the official candidate visit and will be staying in Bancroft Hall for the weekend.  We have to pack sheets and athletic work out gear and all of that for his weekend away.  If you read my blog often, you probably know that well-pressed crisp ironed shirts are not needed at Yesteryear Acres. In fact, my son's very favorite outfit is a white t-shirt and jeans.  When he dresses up, he may break out a colored t-shirt.  OOOOH.  That's when you know he is all fancy.  If he is REALLY dressing up - my son moves onto a flannel shirt. That's when you know he is serious. This weekend however calls for something beyond his white undershirt or favorite flannel.  My son needs to wear nice clothing and so he brought down several shirts for me to iron.  If you were to rate my ironing skills on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being the ironing ability of a 4 year old and 10 being the ironing skill of my mother-in-law - I would rate a -11.  I am literally the worse ironer on the planet.  I was never taught to iron properly and I spend half my ironing time pressing in more wrinkles than removing existing wrinkles.  It is one of the chores I loathe the most.  I rarely do it.  Ask Mr. Yesteryear Acres.  Every now and then he wishes I would iron a shirt for him so he could wear something really nice and crisp and fancy.  I just hand him a polo shirt and say, "this is SUPER fancy!" I just don't iron. So when my son, who needs to look his best, brought me his shirts, of course I said I would iron his shirts.  The shirts sat in front of me for most of the day.  They taunted me with their wrinkles.  I finally acquiesced and dug the ironing board out of the back of the closet and started ironing. Every now and then my son came in the room to see if I was done with his shirts. Nope.  After 90 minutes had passed, he walked in and said, "Are you still ironing?!!!?" Sadly my answer was yes.  I was only on the third shirt. sigh. I need remedial ironing help. OR better yet.......... Hey son! How about a good ole polo shirt!!!!!

Night Owl Buddies

Yesterday was one of those days where every electronic gadget hated me.  There was a serious vendetta going on because all my gadgets and computers and tablets - hated me and nothing was working properly.  I had to erase and restore my devices and then do it again and then nothing would download and nothing would upload.  Even my website wasn't working. I was really frustrated.  I stayed up until 2:45am working on my computer trying to get everything back. I would have said it was the worst night ever but between checking on Sweet Pea's new baby puppies which are so adorable and then texting with my night owl buddy, I made it through.  My younger daughter was getting the last of her studying in for a big exam today.  She was up late and we kept texting each other every now and then to make sure we were still awake.  We made the most of our long night together and I don't know how she did it, but even with everything not working and my lack of sleep, she made me laugh.  She made me laugh a lot and we had fun being night owls together.  This morning I was up and working at my computer by 6:45am to finish my website update.  Thankfully everything is back and working properly. My daughter was up early this morning too.  Guess we are night owl buddies AND the early bird catches the worm buddies.  I think we have it all covered!

Easter Delivery

Well look what the Easter Bunny brought......

A Basket of Goldendoodles!!!!!

Sweet Pea and Waffles are the proud parents of a dozen new Goldendoodle babies. We have oodles of new doodles to love! Mommy and all 12 babies are doing great.  Sweet Pea got an extra Easter dinner for all her hard work.  She is an awesome mommy doggie! 

Meanwhile, Olive's puppies got their first experience with the outdoor playpen.  Needless to say....they didn't like it all that much.  They pretty much said, "WHY do we have to be in HERE?"  They didn't stay in the playpen for very long because Mr. Yesteryear Acres said, "Wanna come out and play?"

The puppies liked his idea

Weeeeee!  Time to run around and play!

Wanna play fetch Mr. Yesteryear Acres???

Me first!

Mr. Yesteryear Acres, your pant leg is delicious!

Sunbath time!

Time for our close up shots!

Snuggle time is always the best!

Happy Monday!!!!

Easter Dinner Care Package

Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I were lucky enough to be able to celebrate Easter with Mr. Yesteryear Acres family. We often miss big holiday events so we were really grateful not to miss Easter this year.  My son however was not so lucky.  He drew the short straw today and had to stay home with the doodle doggies and puppies.  Easter dinner was a 2 hour drive away and there is no way we can be gone that long.  When you make the commitment to care for little baby puppies and doodle doggies - that means you have to be there for them.  Even on Easter. My son was so sweet to be the doodle doggie care person today.  Everyone at Easter dinner really missed my son and everyone made doubly sure that I brought home an Easter Dinner care package.  Make that TRIPLE sure.  Seriously. I was instructed to bring several empty containers with lids AND a cooler so I could bring home an Easter feast for him. His Aunt made sure he had enough to eat. His Grandma made sure he had enough to eat.  His Grandpa made sure he had enough to eat.  The containers were filled to the brim!  When my son opened the cooler full of homemade delicious goodness....his smile filled the room.  Yes.  Easter had arrived.  Let the feasting begin!

So My life is worth the price of one Frisbee?

Tonight we had just about 15 minutes until dinner was ready so we headed outside for a quick game of frisbee.  We have the coolest frisbee that can really soar forever.  Seriously.  It is the best frisbee ever and we always crack up whenever we play frisbee together.  Well tonight started out as always...

A nice friendly game where we all were spread out pretty far. 

I am all the way on the other side of the creek.

My son threw the frisbee from WAYYYY back by the furthest tree and then

It soared across the yard, over the creek, up the hill and yes....into the top of the tree. At that point we all said, "game over" but noooo not my son.  He started duct taping various implements together in order to save the frisbee.

My son's friend watched my son's antics, laughing the entire time.

At this point my son concocted about a 30 foot reach

Still short

So Mr. Yesteryear Acres brought out the ladder.  At this point my son said, 

"So my life is worth the price of one Frisbee huh?"

To which we all said, "YES!"

Mission Accomplished!

We saved the frisbee just in time to get our nightly sunset walk in

The doggies were glad we didn't miss it

Always a beautiful sight

The end to another fun day

Heading home with our happy thought -

we saved a frisbee today!

Pond Picture Please

Our day started really early this morning.  We had one of Birdie's sweet puppies go home right before 7am so Mr. Yesteryear Acres was up super early making sure the puppy got a nice walk and some outside playtime before the long car trip home. I want to say that I was right there with Mr. Yesteryear Acres helping him, but that would not be true.  I was in bed....sleeping!  Yep.  I asked Mr. Yesteryear Acres if he would do the first puppy pick up of the day, and he said yes.  Then after he said yes, I told him the puppy needed to be ready at 6:45am.  Gosh I love Mr. Yesteryear Acres because even after I told him the time, he still said yes.  I actually didn't get up that much later but it was nice to not have to wake up at 6am.  The second I was up -the day didn't slow down at all and we have been doing doggie things and puppy things and work projects all day long.  Early this morning my son and I tackled my older daughter's collection of art supplies and projects that have been taking up all my office space. It was a much much overdo project and I was really glad for the help getting that one done.  I have several boxes of art supplies with my daughter's name on it.  Literally.  My son joked about my older daughter's lack of sharing because there is no denying all the pens and pencils and crayons and art pads and oil paints and pastels and sketchpads ALL belong to her.  Her name is on every single item. We boxed everything up and it is ready for her whenever we see her again. Dear art-loving daughter of mine - I have alllllll your art supplies ready for you. I expect a beautiful art piece in return!  I am thinking a lovely painting of the pond would be the perfect thank you for cleaning up the mess you left behind. Love, your mom and brother who worked hard all day. Hint. Hint.

How To End a Day

Most days here at Yesteryear Acres are pretty busy.  We don't get to sit down very often and we are on the go from sunrise to midnight.  Seriously.  We are that busy.  Puppy poop gets cleaned up constantly, puppies go outside every 90 minutes, and then back inside, and then back outside again.  Mommy dogs go outside regularly and then back in. Puppy areas get cleaned and new blankets and bedding get replaced all the time. Other doggies go outside and then back in again too.  Walks happen.  Training happens.  Regular doggie care happens all the time and then there are the horses and the garden and the property and the homemade dinners - well all that needs taken care of as well.  We live a busy life at Yesteryear Acres but it is without a doubt, a very happy life.  Sometimes at the end of a hectic day, I need a breath of fresh air.  Just a nice solitary "ahhhhh".  I love to soak in the beauty of nature and let it just wash over me in a peaceful and rejuvenating happiness.  One deep breath of appreciation for the beauty that surrounds me is enough to fill my soul with a deep feeling of serenity and gratitude that just cannot be replicated. Last night I ran to go catch the setting sun.

I was glad I had my cell phone camera!

I got there just in time to watch the sun slowly sink into the horizon

The view from our pond was breathtakingly beautiful

I was glad I had a friend to keep me company

We sat and watched until the sun disappeared

Leaving behind ribbons of colors to light our way home

I can't think of a better way to end the day.