summertime fun

last weekend we had a nice visit from auntie laura and uncle tri. we got to celebrate their engagement in person and chat all about weddings, which dave and tri LOVED.
as usual foster just hung out and panted.

it's pretty hot with all this fur!

this past weekend was like summer here, hot and sunny! but a nice dry heat rather than the usual muggy humid crap we suffer through. foster still has his thick winter coat so he was quite warm running around in the yard in the heat. i snapped a few pics of him relaxing in the shade by his water bowl...he enjoyed being sprayed with the hose, which is why he looks so wet!
while foster was trying to keep cool in the shade i was digging out more rocks from the backyard for the vegetable garden. only one spot left to dig! here's a close up of what i've removed from the earth so far. oh yeah and lets not forget the ones i threw over the fence. pretty fun huh? next weekend i'll start tilling in organic matter! making progress slowly but surely!

puppy mange

unfortunately foster has come down with another puppy illness. after our last trip down to CT we noticed a spot on his face. we thought he just got nipped by hunter or steely so we waited for it to get better. well after a few weeks it hadn't got better, it got worse. so i took him to the vet this past friday and it turns out he has mange. mange is a mite that burrows into the hair follicle and causes an infection. pretty much all adult dogs have mites, they only cause a problem in puppies because of their developing immune system. we've started giving him a 5% benzoyl peroxide ointment that will hopefully help speed up the healing process. the vet has assured us that foster is a normal puppy and just like babies they get sick alot during their first year while their immune system is growing.
hopefully he'll be all better soon!
p.s.-the brown bear is 9 months old and up to 70lbs now!!

stuffed animal graveyard

foster the puppy has finally realized the potential of those big pearly white sharp things in his mouth! he has recently made quick work of several of his furry stuffed friends. you've already seen what happened to goose and rabbit! well now hedgehog and his beloved mallard have been destroyed too! i recently snapped a pic of the graveyard of stuffed animals foster has accrued over the last month or so.is this animal abuse? we've officially switched over to slightly less destructible balls and bones for foster to play with from now on!
have a good weekend everyone! it's going to be HOT HOT HOT here this weekend so more yard work for us!! yippee!

wake up daddy!

DH has been working crazy hours lately as it is his field season, bird surveys early in the AM and around dusk. not to mention it's almost turkey hunting season which also requires him to get up at the a**-crack of dawn. well i guess 'requires' isn't the right word but whatever.
all this wandering around looking for birds has resulted in one tired hubby.....and one frustrated puppy.
wake up daddy! if you could just throw this ball......ok puppy i'll play with you :) foster has also started sitting his back legs & butt onto the couch lately. not his whole body because he knows he's not allowed to do that. i think because he's as tall as the couch now and when someone's scratching that spot above his tail, well he likes to make himself comfortable!

landscaping

now that it's getting nice out on a semi-regular basis we've moved on to working on the outside of the house. we made alot of progress last weekend. dave cut out a bunch of the japanese yews from the front of the house.
here's a before and afterand he's also started pruning and mulching the various hedges around the front and side of the house too.i have begun the rather arduous task of digging out a spot for my vegetable garden. i picked a spot next to the back shed. it get tons of sunlight during peak hours and according to our neighbors the people before us grew tomatoes there too. turns out our soil is VERY rocky. so i spent a few hours digging a one-a-half foot hole and pulling out roots and rocks of all shapes and sizes. i'll probably have to do that in 2 or 3 more spots too-can you say fun?! it will all be worth in the end when we have all sorts of yummy summer veggies tho-i hope!
here's a few pics of puppy to tide you over till next time. i promise the next post will be all foster!

our first easter

i know, i know you missed me....er.....i mean foster the puppy. i took last week off blogging to exercise, shop, read and crash early. i had like 10 magazines to read thanks to my mum. so you can blame her for the delay in posts!!
anyhoo, we hosted easter this year at our house. our first holiday in the new house! i broke out my ol' arts & crafts skills and made a fun easter-themed egg decoration for the door. i was pretty impressed with myself. thanks better homes & gardens for the idea! i snapped a pic of the table too. it was pretty unanimous that this is the ugliest tablecloth that anyone has ever seem but it reminded me of an old hippie tapestry and i got it on sale so i don't care what anyone else thinks, i like it even if it doesn't match the walls. dave of course did all the cooking (i am such a lucky wife!) and it was all quite yummy! i did an easter egg hunt for my nephews which they seemed to really enjoy! here's a few pics.
find the eggs teddy!no time to stop looking auntie... breakin' into the loot...no post can go without a few pics of this blogs namesake! here's me & the puppy on a walk on easterand me & all the boys playin' fetch happy belated easter everyone!

congrats laura & tri!

we got some fantabulous news last week......dave's sister laura and her boyfriend tri are engaged!! on a surprise trip to FL tri popped the question and laura very happily accepted! we are thrilled to celebrate another wedding with the family!!
congrats laura & tri!!!!

palm sunday

after our sunday morning walk at sleeping giant we spent palm sunday in NH with some family. it was a nice sunny & warm day, we haven't had many of those lately, so we spent some time outside playing fetch with foster.
auntie laura & puppy d dave & pipa getting some loves dad s & fos matthew did a great job throwing the ball for foster! another fun-filled visit to CT!

sleeping giant state park

last weekend we swung by sleeping giant state park in hamden, CT with dave & michelle, their daughter daniella & silver lab steely. it was a beautiful sunday morning and the puppies had quite alot of fun running around together.
big d & little dstump chair what a good model! uncle dave & danisteely was a bit timid about going in the water. foster the otter helped him along and he eventually got in the water with him! here's a few other fun pics from the morning thanks for a fun walk guys!