Spring in January?

I have gotten to the point this winter where I absolutely don't know what to wear.  Is this an arctic parka day or is it a short sleeve and flip flop day?  A few days ago Mr. Yesteryear Acres went ice fishing on our pond wearing appropriate deep freeze winter clothing. The weather was like this

Definitely appropriate January weather.  Gloves, mittens, winter boots, scarves - all required. The Doodle Doggies were romping in the frozen tundra, chasing snowflakes as they ran.

Yesterday my son and Bri went ice fishing on our pond........wearing T-Shirts!  The weather felt like this

Everyone was in short sleeves and I believe the Doodle Doggies were looking for Butterflies!  Is Spring here already?  Oh of course it isn't!  Next week.........freezing weather on the way!!!  Time to put aside the flip flops and bring back the ice cleats. Or maybe we should just wear one of each.  That way we will be sure to be dressed appropriately!

Colors in the Sky

The other day when I was out - the most beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky.  I immediately stopped what I was doing and watched the beautiful colors fill the sky. It was so good that I started stopping people so they wouldn't miss the rainbow.  Most people stopped to take a look and a few people stayed right with me the whole time to watch the deepening colors. It wasn't too long before a full double rainbow appeared.  The colors in the sky were so clear and the sight was amazing.  The thing that really surprised me the most were the people who didn't stop.  There were some people who just kept walking by and didn't take a second to even look up.  I felt sorry that they were missing nature's beauty.  I felt sad that they didn't appreciate the brilliant painting in the sky created just for us. As for me......I will always stop to look at a rainbow. I will always be in awe and appreciation and thankful for the colors in the sky.

Thank you beautiful rainbow

Your sky painting was beautiful

Birthday Goodness

My younger daughter's birthday was yesterday.  She hasn't been home for her birthday for several years so we were super excited that she was able to celebrate her birthday at home. I think that she was even more excited than we were.  She has really missed her special birthday dinner so yesterday she got all the fixings.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres was the real hero of the day.  He made sure to have everything just the way my daughter likes it.  Steak, cabbage, homemade rolls and for dessert - banana cake with vanilla frosting - all from scratch of course.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres even made extra portions so my daughter could have a delicious birthday care package to take home. It was a really awesome delicious night. I have a sneaky feeling I know exactly what my daughter will be having for dinner and dessert tonight!  Happy 23rd Birthday my sweet, dear, thoughtful, caring, bubbly, happy, devoted, hard-working, shining star!!!!!!  We love you so much!!!!!!

Jump for Joy

Meal time is always a favorite time at Yesteryear Acres.  We are big foodies and have homemade delicious dinners just about every night. We love food. I mean we really love food!  Even with our love and devotion to our gourmet feasts, our appreciation pales in comparison to our Doodle Doggies.  I think serving our Doodle Puppies and our Doodle Doggies their dinner is my favorite time of the day.  Almost every meal is the same.  I mean dinner is a great blend of duck and turkey and salmon and chicken and lamb but, essentially the meals are all the same. I have never once had one of our Doodle Doggies say, "Chicken AGAIN?"  I have never once had one of our Doodle Puppies forget to wag their tails when the dinner tray arrives.  Our Doodles literally jump for joy every single time I bring them food.  It is yet another reason why I love them so much.  They are full of tail wagging devotion and are always appreciative of every hug, every meal and every day.  I think we should all jump for joy when dinner arrives.  It is a nice way to be happy!

Woo Doggie

Yesterday the morning started out with the most horrific smell permeating every crevice of our house.  A great big skunk met its untimely death right out in front of our house.  No critter is a match for the fast car traffic out on our road.  Everything in our house smelled like dead skunk that even the dogs were saying, "Woo Doggie....WHAT IS THAT SMELL?!"  Thankfully, Mr. Yesteryear Acres was kind enough to put skunk removal at the top of the to-do list.   He went out in the middle of our dangerous road and scraped the skunk remains off and gave Mr. Stinker a proper burial.   I was very thankful that in our list of chores and duties, skunk burial clearly falls under Mr. Yesteryear Acres list. Luckily, the fast speeding cars were quite willing to slow down for the skunk scraping and within a few hours, the smell finally dissipated. Skunk Burial.....CHECK! Or so we thought......
This morning, much to our surprise, we woke up to the most horrific smell permeating every crevice of our house.  Mr. Stinker had a brother!  Evidently Mr. Even BIGGER Stinker was looking for the original Mr. Stinker.  Yes, today we had our second skunk burial morning.  If it is not too much trouble, could tomorrow morning be stink free?  Thank you.

Never Too Cold to Fish

Mr. Yesteryear Acres has been waiting all winter to go ice fishing.  We had such a mild start to the winter, he was beginning to wonder if the ice would ever be thick enough to go fishing.  Well yesterday was the day!!!

Mr. Yesteryear Acres couldn't wait to break out his special ice fishing rod

A perfectly cut ice fishing hole

Now that is a block of ice!!!!!!!!

Success!

Mr. Yesteryear Acres was out until the sun set

and more birds decided to fly south looking for warmer weather.

Blue Cuties

Blue's Double Doodle Puppies get cuter every day. I just love watching them grow and change.  This week they start solid foods so they will all have huge growth spurts.  It will be a really fun week!

I just love their faces

Here are this week's pictures of the boys

They have really grown

Mr. Milk Mustache boy is so cute

Blue has the most adorable puppies

and so polite.....waiting for picture time

Awwwwwww

Say Cheese!

Picture taking is hard work

Here are this week's pictures of Blue's girls

They have really grown too

The bottom row is so comfy

Ms. Sunshine

Ready for nap time

Happy Monday

Round Two

Now that we are all covered in white and the snowstorm is slowly making its way to sea ......
 as promised, here is Round Two of Happy Doodle Doggies enjoying the winter wonderland!

I think Olive loves her very own snow globe

Blue thinks it is pretty awesome as well

Chasing snowflakes is always a blast

I love Yesteryear Acres in winter

Time for snow tag

Look!  Real Snowmen!

Blossom can't wait to play!

This snow thing is pretty fun

Time to warm up with a warm heart brownie.  

Now that is how you celebrate winter time!

Penance

I hereby accept my part in the blizzard of 2016 and for penance for such actions, it has been requested that I post Doodle Doggie snow pictures until the blizzard is over.  I certainly want to make up for my transgressions, so here are the happy, fun, snow-filled, wonderful, I LOVE SNOW SO MUCH doodle doggie pictures!!!

Nothing beats snow ball catching!

Doodles love the snow

Always time for snow poses

Snow hikes are the best

Snow shadow!

My son always makes romping through the snow the best time ever

Chocolate Doggies are easy to find in the snow

Where did the fish go?

I am a snow bunny!

I don't like snow!

Now go warm up with a nice cup of hot cocoa and get ready for round two tomorrow!

Storm Watch

I think it is safe to say, one should never utter the words, "We have had a really mild easy winter so far."  No sooner did those words leave my mouth than the temperatures plummeted and the snow cometh.  I am personally sorry for causing the winter blizzard of 2016.  I was complaining to Mr. Yesteryear Acres about the lack of snow and clearly, this is the cause of the weather pattern shift.  While I happen to love a blizzard and love tons of snow, I am pretty sure that the more than 2 feet of snow falling within a 24 hour period is not cause for rejoicing for other people. I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience the blizzard has caused.

The Doodle Puppies say........

At least it tastes good!!!!

1,000 Sparkles

Taking the dogs out late at night isn't exactly my favorite chore.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres is usually sound asleep on the couch and it is up to me to do the late night chores.  The last out for all our Doodle Puppies and Doodle Doggies is around midnight each night. The timing works great because Mr. Yesteryear Acres gets up super early so we rarely have any accidents overnight.  Last night as I bundled up to do the last out for the night, I was treated to such a beautiful sight. The moon was out and the snow-filled landscape lit up like a million diamonds twinkling in the night.  The snowflakes were really flat and rather large and each one reflected the moonlight and it was breathtaking. I have seen countless snowfalls but last nights diamond snow was one I will never forget.

The pictures really don't do it justice but there were 1,000 sparkles in every glance.

It was the best reward for late night chores.

Do NOT Smile

With our below freezing temperatures - it is that most favorite time of the year.......
POOPSICLE TIME!
That's right.  Poopsicles.  Frozen Doodle Doggie Dog Poop.  Poop that is so hard, one needs a mattock or pick axe in order to unleash it from the earth. Mr. Yesteryear Acres is especially skilled at poopsicle removal.  He hits the edge of the poopsicle with just the right force and just the right angle so that the entire frozen poop pile gently sails into his awaiting shovel. I, however, do not possess that skill.  Not. Even. Close.  I hack and miss and hit the poopsicle in such a way that frozen poop shards come flying towards me like missiles. I am bombarded with little pieces hitting me everywhere. Thankfully they are frozen solid pieces, but still, I can't say I enjoy poop missiles.  There is just one rule that one must follow without failure........whenever you are using a pick axe to clean poopsicles....
DO
NOT
SMILE
That is the lesson for today.  You are welcome.

Just another day at the office

How quickly things turn from muddy, soupy, drippy, yucky and sludgy to the frozen tundra of the arctic.  Just last week I had to towel puppies off and give them baths and the amount of mud puddles in our yard were too numerous to count.  Our apricot doggies were chocolate doggies! Well now everything is frozen and cold and did I mention frozen? The sudden turn in our weather has left some of the wildlife around here unprepared for the hard freeze.  We have a lot of deer and other creatures that come to the pond and now their water source is frozen solid.

You can see all the animal tracks on the pond.  I think they were thinking, "Where did all the water go?"

No worries!  Mr. Yesteryear Acres is on the job

He makes sure the drinking hole stays open for all the animals to enjoy

Just another day at the office!

Good work Olive....and Mr. Yesteryear Acres!