Those aren't Raisinettes

The weather today was simply beautiful.  It was a perfect day to do a little one-on-one off leash training with one of our older puppies. Our doodle puppies learn very early how to have excellent manners on leash but then we also have to work on good manners off leash.  We love to take our doodle doggies hiking and they are allowed to roam free and romp and have fun, but within a limited radius.  They all need very good recall and must come galloping back when called. They also need to learn not to chase the deer, not to eat yucky things along the way, and not to get into the briers. We like to start training early so we can have stress-free super fun hikes.

Apple says, "I am ready!!!" 

"Apple! Those aren't Raisinettes!  Please don't eat the deer poop!
 

"Apple.....Come!"

"You called??"

Good Doggie!

 

Let's Get Busy Typing

It is important to do lots of different activities with doodle puppies. Puppies need to experience many types of interactions, surfaces, sounds, sights, and locations.  Spending quality time with doodle puppies leads to happy, well-adjusted, socialized furry best friends. This is easily achieved with outside recess time, car rides, playing with older doggies, hanging out in the kitchen or going for long walks.  Sometimes though - quiet time is the best time to hang out with the puppies. Puppies can learn to be patient and quiet and wait for work to be done. Tonight I have a little doodle helper to assist me in writing my blog.

"Alright! Let's get busy typing!"

"This is hard work"

"I got the punctuation!"

"Will she ever be done writing???"

"Yay! We are finally done! Time to publish!"  

"Now let's go play fetch!!!"

No time to workout

Ever since our son left for college, Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I have been extra busy.  We were blessed to have so much of our son's help when he was home and his absence is definitely felt. We have a new routine established for getting all the farm chores done and puppy chores done and doggie chores done.  We are working together and crossing all our chores off the list each day.  This has left me absolutely no time to workout.  I am really devoted to exercising and I have to find a way to carve out some time for working out with our new schedule.  So far, I haven't been able to set aside time for my workout routine. I was talking with Mr. Yesteryear Acres about how bad I feel for not getting my exercise in each day.  That is when Mr. Yesteryear Acres asked me to recount my day. Let's see....
I worked with some older puppies on leash training. I vacuumed the entire house. I cleaned the litter boxes. I did the morning farm chores. I cleaned out all the puppy areas.  I unloaded an entire trailer full of pine shavings (100 bags). I did the afternoon chores. I washed 2 loads of laundry. Loaded and unloaded the dishwasher.  Mixed food for the mommy and mommy-to-be doggies. Groomed two dogs. And I still have the evening chores to do.  My stats so far for the day are - 13,101 steps. 5.81 miles. 33 flights of stairs and 74 active minutes. Even though I didn't workout - I am thinking this qualifies for ice cream tonight!  Maybe tomorrow I will actually workout! Then I can have two bowls of ice cream!!!! Good plan!

Tomato Inspector

For dinner tonight we are having homemade tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches on fresh baked honey oatmeal bread.  First up, I had to peel the tomatoes.  As I was working on my sink full of tomatoes, one of our kittens would not stop meowing.  I am talking non-stop meowing.  Evidently tomato peeling is SO interesting that he didn't want to miss out on the action.  I finally got him to stop meowing by pulling up a stool to the sink so he could have a good view of the action.

He sat there for 45 minutes while I peeled several pecks of fresh picked tomatoes.

"I am the Tomato Inspector"

This particular batch will be homemade tomato soup tonight!

Evidently his expertise was needed for the clean up inspection as well.

Tomato chores complete.

So glad I passed inspection!

Little Notes

Not long after my older daughter left to go back to Camp Lejeune, I began finding little notes all over the house.  Our daughter left us little thank you notes and funny little pick me ups hidden so that we would find them after she left.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres found this one under his placemat -

He still has it right where he eats dinner.

My daughter and I spent one afternoon coloring together when she was home and I found this one with our pictures inside the colored pencil box.  We already have our next coloring picture picked out for when we get together again.

Despite my complete loathing of having the recliner chairs left open -

I somehow found a way to overlook this particular chair..... 

One day I will close this chair and fold the blanket....

one day.

 For today, I will just smile and enjoy my little notes.

How are your babies today?

Mr. Yesteryear Acres always makes me smile with how much he loves our Doodle Doggies.  The best part of his day is showering the doggies with tons of love. He never is too busy or too tired to spend part of his day just petting the doggies. You can usually find him lying down surrounded by doggies waiting for their snuggle time. Whenever we have pregnant mommy dogs, Mr. Yesteryear Acres spends extra time with them because he has to love the mommy doggies AND the babies inside their bellies.  The mommy dogs all know the routine too!  First they get all the love they can soak up and then they wait for their belly rubs.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres gives them a daily belly rub and always says, "Oh, how are your babies today?" To which the answer is always tons of tail wagging.  Today Sugar got a really long belly rub.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres said it is because she has a lot of puppies in there and they all needed cuddle time.  Her tail wagged constantly while she listened to Mr. Yesteryear Acres talk to her puppies. Sugar said, "wag wag wag wag, the puppies are all doing fine, wag wag wag".  Sugar can't wait to give her report again tomorrow!

Happy Snuggly Puppies

Right now I have a lap full of happy snuggly puppies.  I just finished trimming their nails and they fell asleep on my lap.  Mommy Maple is patiently waiting for me to return them to her so I guess I better finish with my last puppy kisses.  The puppies are all doing great and have the silkiest coats.  They are adorable! Here are this week's puppy pictures......

Maple's Double Doodle Girls

Just a bundle of love

Awwwww

Doesn't this make you want to cuddle with her?

Happy and Snuggly

Time for the boys' pictures

They are so adorable

and cuddly 

Sweet little puppies

Happy Monday!!!!!

High Five

Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I were invited to a re-opening party at our local mill. They did a bit of renovating and added some nice new features to the mill including a great section for farming supplies.  The party included a BBQ dinner and a chance to check out all the new additions.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I rarely go out.  We talked about going but then we got super busy with a ton of farm chores and before we knew it, the party hour was upon us.  Normally we would just give up and not go but this time......we cleaned up and we went!  We actually went out!  It was a really nice party and the food was delicious. The new sections of the mill look great and they even added a veterinarian office for quick "house call" type visits.  We were one of the few customers invited as most of the attendees were long-time employees. We felt pretty honored to have been invited and we were really glad we went.  We even high-fived each other because - it is a rare event for us to leave Yesteryear Acres unless we are either shopping at the warehouse club or the mill!  We did end up placing an order at the party - so I guess we can count that as dinner AND shopping!

And the last of the Goodbyes

My son has a good friend that has been a major part of our life for the past 5-6 years. When he was in 7th grade, he pretty much became part of our family.  I always say that he is our "adopted" son.  Tonight is his last night as a civilian.  Tomorrow morning he reports to Parris Island for Boot Camp.  He has had a hard road in life and he has turned into the most amazing young man.  He will be an excellent Marine.  He is pretty nervous, but I know he will do an awesome job.  The Marine Corps is lucky to have him. We had a big farewell dinner for him tonight and Mr. Yesteryear Acres made his favorite meal - a nice big steak dinner.  I made some homemade rolls to go with the big dinner and of course we have homemade ice cream for dessert.  My son came home from college for the farewell dinner and to say his goodbyes.  We are all going to miss him.
Dear Adopted Son, We will be here when you graduate with a big hug and a huge meal and all the things you have been missing.  The doggies will be waiting with their tails wagging.  We are so proud of you.  Semper Fi.

We will remember

The night of September 10th, I am always struck with the same thought - so many people went to bed on 9/10/2001 never knowing that when they awoke, their lives would be changed forever. I think about all the people who went to work, school, traveled, or stayed home and never knew that whatever goodbye they said, that it would be their last.  I keep that thought with me. It isn't that I live in fear but I am cognizant that anything can happen at anytime and no one is guaranteed a tomorrow. I treasure every day I am given. My older daughter who serves in the Marine Corps and those who serve with her are all painfully aware of the dangers we face. Our world was forever changed 14 years ago.

"Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children.

- President George W. Bush

The Ohio State University memorial this morning

My son's flag

We will remember

Dog Grooming Emporium

Each September we take our Doodle Doggies to the groomer so they can get their fall haircuts.  The September timing is perfect because by the time the cold winter weather rolls around, the doodle doggies' coats are just the perfect length. Mr. Yesteryear Acres called our groomer to confirm our appointments, the same groomer we have been using for the past 15 years, and she is no longer grooming.  Did she call to tell us? No.  She just closed up shop and never said a word.  So now we have the critical September timing for grooming and no groomer.  Well that is until I stepped in and opened the "Yesteryear Acres, I didn't know I would be grooming dogs all week long, Dog Grooming Emporium."  Mr. Yesteryear Acres made a great setup outside under a big shade tree complete with music, a big fan and a grooming rod to hang all my supplies.  I was set for the day. I managed to completely groom four doodle doggies today plus do all my other work and make an awesome dinner.  Tomorrow will be more of the same.  September Grooming - no problem!

2 Dishes to Wash

Dinner time here at Yesteryear Acres is a long drawn out leisurely affair full of laughter, thought-provoking conversations, and of course delicious homemade food. We have always made family dinner time a priority. No matter how hectic or crazy our schedules might be, each evening we sit down in the dining room and enjoy a nice long family dinner. When our son left for college, Mr. Yesteryear Acres and I were faced with a dinner table with a lot of empty chairs.  All summer long our table has been full and now, we are down to two.  We have been avoiding our dining room table ever since our son left. We have been eating leftover meals in the kitchen and haven't made a real meal for the two of us. We even had a few dinners with the television turned on which is something we never do at dinner time. Well tonight, we faced the empty dining room and sat down and ate a real dinner together.  Mr. Yesteryear Acres picked tomatoes from our garden while I made some homemade bread crumbs and baked the tomatoes and prepared homemade pasta to go with the baked tomatoes. And do you know what?  It was nice.  We talked non-stop and we had more food than we could ever eat. I guess I will need to work on making smaller batches! After dinner was over......I only had 2 plates to wash! It seems that even an empty dinner table has an upside.  I was done cleaning the kitchen in record time!

What I Love....What I Miss

Having our whole family together is something so rare and so precious.  It is a gift that is treasured by each one of us and no matter how long we get to spend together, it is never long enough.  Since the year 2008 when my older daughter walked through the gates of the United States Naval Academy, we have been separated and even though 7 years have passed.......it never gets easier being apart. We miss each other. We love each other.  We all count the days until we are together again.  We cannot wait for the day when we all live close to one another and can spend our days doing what we love most.........

Being Together

What I love.....What I miss

Counting the days

until the laughter fills our home again

No better way to spend a day

Every Monday I am happily reminded how lucky I am that I get to spend my days surrounded by sweet loving puppies.  Publishing our puppy photos for the weekly Puppy Picture Monday Blog is always fun for me. There are so many adorable pictures to choose from and so many pictures that make me say, "awwwwww".  Puppies have a way of melting your heart. Puppy Picture Monday is my favorite blog of the week.  Here are this week's puppy pictures......enjoy!

Maple's Double Doodle Puppies just started opening their eyes

They are getting their first glimpses of our big beautiful world

Maple's five boys say, "Good Morning!"

No better way to spend a day

Cuddly Puppies to snuggle

and love

All together now!

They decided they liked the group photo shot

Boys on the left.....girls on the right

Group Snuggle Time

Perfect for napping

Maple's girls say, "Happy Labor Day!"

We hope you enjoy

all our pictures 

HAPPY PUPPY PICTURE MONDAY!
HAPPY LABOR DAY!

Now that's a Dinner!!!!

Our tomatoes are finally ready to pick!  We have waited all summer long for our tomato crop to ripen.  We have lots of canning to do and we are usually well into the canning process by Labor Day weekend.  Even though our tomatoes are a little behind schedule, the wait is worth it.

Our first basket of tomatoes! 

We hope to have enough tomatoes so we get our yearly quota of 104 quarts of tomatoes canned by the end of September.

Our Yukon Gold Potatoes were ready this morning too!!!!

We wasted no time in preparing a potato dish!

Home Grown Potato Perfection

Mr. Yesteryear Acres busy grilling our BBQ ribs...

Tomato Salad

Roasted Potatoes

BBQ Ribs

Now that's a dinner!!!