The weather here the past week or so has been COLD – in the last five days the high temperature hasn’t gone above freezing.  Our low (so far) is 9 degrees.  See the black plastic tub Molly and Grizzly are standing on? 

It is actually a water trough and it is completely frozen solid.  

Depending on who you talk to, we are having a Nor’Easter or a Blue Norther – either way there is a lot of cold, dry air.  Not much snow in the mountains around us as it has been very dry, and the first two days were windy. The wind comes down from the Fraser Valley in Canada and it is cold.  Maybe it is called a Blue Norther because your fingers or nose or whatever part of you is out in the cold and unprotected turns blue?

Now it is just cold and icy.  In places that are shady, like here where the fence rails block the sun – the ice doesn’t melt all day.  

You can see the line where the sunshine ends and the shade begins.  

The puppies have not let the cold stop them from enjoying their time outside.  They have fun with anything.  Here they are chewing on my boot.

They especially enjoy shoelaces.

It has been a challenge to keep the dogs and chickens warm and watered.  The hosebib we use for the animals froze.  The first couple of cold days Rick broke the ice off the chicken water can and it was OK for them to drink.  Today, the water was frozen pretty solid so he brought the can outside to clean it.  The puppies thought it was a new toy for them.  

After we broke all the ice out of the inside, we refilled it and hung it back up for the chickens.  We also ran a light bulb down close to the water to hopefully keep it from freezing.  I am really thankful that we have electricity in the shed and that the power hasn’t gone out during this cold snap.  The puppies thought it was great fun to play in the chicken coop, I don’t think the chickens really enjoyed it so much.

We have been pleased that our chickens are still laying pretty well in the cold weather.  I hung a light in the coop on a timer when the days started to get really short (it is completely dark now at 4:30 pm).  The lack of light really affects the chickens and their egg production, but with the light on for a few hours we are still getting 8 – 10 eggs a day.  

The playful puppies have fun with most anything available.  Their empty dog food sack kept them entertained for quite a while.  It reminded me of Christmas morning when the kids were very little.  They would unwrap their presents and play with the wrapping paper. 

They also explored the burn pile.  They are enjoying the freedom to roam around outside during the day, though they stay pretty close to the shed.

They have caught on to going inside and out with the shed door ajar.  That keeps them entertained too.

After they play outside for a while and start to shiver, one by one they go back inside the shed and pile into their warm bed with the heat lamp.

The cold weather has given us ice crystals that are really beautiful, they sparkle in the sun like diamonds. The grass is frozen and crunchy when you walk on it.  Rocks are frozen solid in the ground.   

There is ice in the Cascade River.  We still see fishermen all the time, but it looks way too cold for me.

The water feels ice cold even in the summer time, it must be really cold to freeze on the rocks.  

This ice formation was amazing to see – guess where it is?

On the windows of the Scout, it had completely iced over.  I guess this is what they base the “frosted glass” pattern on?

It has been cold, but it is also beautiful.  And after last year when there was snow on the ground from the middle of December until the middle of March, when people here refer to the four letter, it is s-n-o-w.  

No one seems to be looking forward to it, but the weatherman says snow may be headed our way in the next few days as our cold front is moving east.  To those of you in Indiana – better bundle up!

The little puppies are growing up.  It is amazing how much they have changed just in the week we were gone for Thanksgiving.  Though they still spend a lot of time sleeping . . .

. . . they also spend a lot of time playing.  They are six weeks old now and have learned to enjoy going  outside to play. 

They don’t need toys to chew on- another puppy works just fine. 

Their different personalities are really showing; this sweet little girl reminds me a lot of Molly.

This little black one is more curious, I think he is eyeing my gloves.

Now that they run around and play outside, Grizzly is finally allowed to play with them.  Molly still keeps a very close eye on him, and if a puppy yelps she is there to see what is going on.

Grizzly has shown the puppies all sorts of fun things to do – like climbing the compost pile.

And sliding down the pile.

The puppies also enjoy a dog pile on Dad.  It is quite a switch to see them all piling on him.  Molly is enjoying having them weaned and they have pretty much stopped following her around.

The weather here has been really cold – 17 degrees last night with a wind chill around zero.  The water freezes in the bucket in just a couple of hours.   We chipped a hole in the ice and poured fresh water on top and this little one thought that was a lot of  fun to play in.

The cold weather hasn’t stopped the puppies from enjoying their time outside.  They run and play and chase each other. 

Then one by one they tire out and come over to their blanket in the sun.

And soon they are asleep again.

It has been a lot of fun watching them grow up.  We have two sold and hopefully will find new homes for all of them soon.

We have just returned from Texas and a visit with Megan in College Station.  We missed Alex and the rest of the family this year, but it was time to spend Thanksgiving with our baby.  When I tried to take pictures to post on the blog she complained that the only pictures I ever post of her are when her hair is a mess, she has no makeup on and she’s wearing pajamas.  Why would she think that?  Here is a picture of her hiding under the afghan . . . and her hair is a mess, she has no makeup on and she’s wearing her pajamas. 

After she got dressed, we went to the Aggie tent sale.  Actually, they have outgrown the tent and now have the sale in a warehouse. 

I am still surprised at the variety of Aggie things available.

More Aggie stuff.

Still more Aggie stuff.

Megan thought our puppies needed these doggie bandanas.  

Brandon (Megan’s boyfriend) gave us a tour of the Aerospace Engineering Lab where he works.

He showed us all the different equipment and experiments they are working on and explained the real world applications. 

There is a specific purpose for each of these items. . .

. . . unfortunately I really don’t remember exactly what it is.  I do understand that there is a high-speed and a low-speed wind tunnel and they work with lasers a lot.  They do tests with grants from NASA, the Defense Department and civilian business; testing that has application for everything from motorcycles to helicopters to rockets.   I suggest if you are really curious about any other details, you ask Brandon.  He does a much better job of explaining it.

We had another first on our visit.  Can anyone guess what this is on the plate next to the chicken tenders?  A clue – it is deep fried.  

If you said deep fried pickles you are correct.  I must confess, deep fried pickles didn’t sound too appetizing to me.  Megan assured me that I would love them since I like deep fried zucchini.  She was right, they were really tasty – not healthy in any way, but tasty.  A little more zing to them than the zucchini, served with ranch dressing, mmm good.

We stopped by a little farmer’s market and saw these clementines – grown in Bakersfield by our friend Don!  A surprising sight in Texas.  Those little things do get around.

On Thanksgiving Day, we had our dinner in the southern style, at lunch time.  Then we were off to Kyle Field where the Aggies were playing the evil Texas Longhorns.  It is a very old football rivalry that dates back to the 1800’s.  Of course all opinions expressed here are completely biased towards A & M.  I am not at all knowledgeable about football, but I can tell you that the Longhorns were ranked about 80 places higher than the Aggies and everyone was expecting a blowout.   Here the evil Longhorn fans are very confident making their horn sign before the game started.

The Aggies actually played very well and made a close game out of it right up until the end.  At halftime, both bands performed.  Here is the Longhorn band – notice the lines.

And here is the Aggie band (made up of members of the Corps of Cadets) notice the lines.  I believe the Aggie Band definitely won that competition.

While we were in Texas, we stayed with Megan in her apartment.  We were reunited with Lucky, her completely spoiled rotten cat. Lucky got her name because Rick rescued her from the middle of a very busy intersection while driving home from the office one afternoon. 

Lucky does not drink out of a bowl like a normal cat, she only drinks fresh running water from the faucet.

Megan’s roommate also has a cat, actually Eve is still a kitten.

Eve has big green eyes and a little “beauty mark” on her lip which reminds me of the old-time movie stars.

She was very curious about the grocery bags.

And just to prove Megan wrong, here is a picture of her with her hair fixed, makeup on, and not dressed in pajamas.  Brandon is holding onto her so she doesn’t escape from the camera.

It was great to see Megan, meet more of her friends and see her new apartment.  We are thankful for the opportunity to visit and looking forward to seeing her soon at Christmas.

The puppies are learning lots of new tricks lately.  Molly has decided it is about time to wean them.  She doesn’t lay down now for them to nurse, they just have to stand up on their back legs and try to catch her. 

We have started feeding them a “puppy mush” of canned food mixed with milk.  They seem to like it. . .  

. . . some of them a little more than others. 

The first few feedings were pretty messy.  Here #6 is covered in his dinner.

They have also been outside for a bit of fresh air and sunshine.  The sunshine has been hard to come by here the past few weeks.  We have had lots of rain – about 13 inches so far in November.  There was a little bit of clearing though and I took them all outside. They weren’t really too happy to be out there as it was still pretty cold that day and they weren’t used to that yet.

The puppies have also had visitors.  Our neighbor Rio came to see them. 

He must have the magic touch because his puppy was asleep very soon.

His mom Cindy put her bandit puppy to sleep too.  After they have eaten, they are usually ready for a snooze.    

The little puppies are growing and getting more mobile.  The more adventuresome ones have learned to climb – right out of their box.  Here Big Boy is stranded in the middle trying to get back in. 

Since they had started climbing out, and we needed a place to feed them besides their sleeping area, we added to the puppy condo again. 

Now they have a sleeping side and an eating & playing side, all with higher walls that they (hopefully) can’t climb out of anytime soon.

Molly does not mind visitors holding and playing with the puppies, we’ve had several friends visit and hold them.  Grizzly, however, is still not allowed to get too close to them.  He is very curious about the little creatures – but he is only allowed to look at them from outside the box.  He  has tried to climb into the new area with the puppies, but Molly won’t allow it.  Apparently it will be a while longer before he gets to know his offspring up close and personal. 

This little one is starting to show the heeler markings more and more.  They tell us that the “red” heeler color is recessive.  Grizzly’s father was a red heeler and two of the puppies are showing those colors. Though they are called red, it looks more like a cinnamon brown color to me and she has a bit of the gray color also.

It is interesting to me that the dogs have so many different colorings with the same two parents.

They still sleep in a dog pile. 

When latecomers arrive, they just climb right over the top of the ones already there.

Molly hasn’t abandoned the puppies, she still checks them carefully several times a day and cleans them if they are not up to her standards. 

Some of them have become very playful, they growl, bark and pounce on each other.

They enjoy playing with each other – it’s a good thing there are lots of them to keep each other company.

By far the most photogenic, adorable things around here are the new puppies.  It has been a lot of fun to watch them grow.  We have been spending time on a few other things though. We had a really nice garden this year.  Lots of peas, beans and tomatoes.

Our potatoes were much better than last year.  The plants were big and healthy -over waist high.

We dug at least 40 or 50 pounds of potatoes; Satina, Russet Burbank, and Yukon Golds.  All the varieties did really well.  Here are just a few of the Yukon Golds.   

We have had a lot of rain in October – almost 16 inches.  Then a freeze down to 25 degrees, so the garden was through.  Last week we had a couple of nice dry, warm days so we worked in the garden pulling out the remains of the plants, liming and fertilizing and tilling and generally getting it all ready for winter.  We let the chickens in since all the crops had already been harvested.

They quite enjoyed being out of their little yard and foraging in new territory.  After a while though, they discovered that out the garden fence is the orchard.  In the orchard are fruit trees.

At the base of the fruit trees is the nice soft dirt where I just planted tulips and daffodils.  

The chickens thought it was great fun to dig in the nice soft dirt – and they almost had the bulbs exposed.  So their sojurn outside their run was a brief one.  Dumb chickens.

After we took out all the old plants, we fertilized the soil a bit and Rick tilled it in.

Now we have to get it covered – if you don’t cover the soil around here the rain and snow leach out all the good stuff you just worked in – and it will be ready to plant in the spring.  We’ve had rain the past few days and yesterday the snow level dropped, so we need to get the plastic on before the snow arrives down here.

The snow level is expected to drop to 500 feet or less in the next couple of days. It is already low on the mountains all around us.

We have had some rain – about five inches so far in November – which  has given us some incredible cloud formations and sunsets we have really enjoyed.  

So there you have it – we have been doing something besides playing with the puppies.

Happy Veterans Day to all those who have served our country.

To those who are serving currently.

And especially to those who are in harm’s way for our protection. 

Thank You. 

 We remember that Freedom Isn’t Free.

The puppies have learned to sit up and are starting to walk on all fours rather than crawl.  Their eyes are open and they are much more alert.

Their heeler markings are becoming more distinct.  Gray (or blue they call it, but it doesn’t look blue to me) is starting to show through the white in their fur.

The one yawning here is the largest pup.  A male who has pronounced heeler markings.  #6 – the runt – is right next to him.  You can see that the little place on his head is healing nicely and now has fur. 

Though they are more awake and alert, they still spend a lot of time sleeping all in a pile.

Grizzly has been very curious about those little creatures, and Molly has let him a bit closer. 

He only got to meet one nose to nose though when Molly was outside.  She would not have approved.

They are all much more alert and mobile.  They have also started growling and barking – which is really hilarious.  This little one reminds me of Molly.

It seems there is always at least one asleep on its back with the paws in the air.

Since they are getting so much more mobile, Rick built them a little better box to keep them corraled in.  I wonder if the Craftsman people know their tool boxes are multi-purpose and can be used as puppy crates?  The whole gang slept through the remodel. 

Eye patch (there is also an ear patch) licking his sibling  – they have just started doing that too.  

So that is the latest on the puppies.  Three are now spoken for, so if you want a puppy for Christmas you need to get on the list!

The puppies are a eleven days old today.  It is amazing how much they have changed in just that short time. 

They spend about 99% of their time eating and sleeping.  

Considering their eyes are closed and they don’t maueuver too well yet, I am surprised at how well they find Molly to nurse.

Molly is getting out more each day.  She loves to be able to run around outside, then she darts back into the shed to check on the puppies. 

They seem most content when they are cuddled together.

They have grown a lot in the past eleven days, they are very plump little things.  

Just in the past two days they have started to be a little more adventuresome.  Now they are trying to climb the sides of their little pen.

They have also learned to hang on pretty well.  When Molly is done nursing she sits up, usually the puppies roll over and go back to sleep.  Now sometimes they hang on like this little one.  

Though Grizzly is the dad, he has not been allowed near the puppies.  At first Molly wouldn’t even allow him inside the shed.  Now she lets him come in, but makes him stay far on the other side of the room from her and the little ones.  Probably wise of her.  Grizz would not intentionally hurt anything, but he would try to play too rough with the puppies.  It will be interesting to see when Molly decides it is safe for him to be around them.  

Here is little Patch – now their eyes are opening a bit.

Molly has been really good with her litter.  She cleans them thoroughly – licks them up one side and down the other. 

The runt of the litter, little #6 is doing well.  The spot on his head is healing up and growing hair.  He is still the smallest of the bunch, but not by much.  He is very aggressive about getting into the pile to nurse, and his little belly is full when I check on him. 

They are just adorable.

Happy Halloween!  When we were in California a week ago, my two nieces Abby and Sara modeled their costumes. 

Abby is ready for a safari and Sara is a gangster.  I think she is enjoying her gun.

Abby with her monkey and pumpkin.

We don’t get Trick or Treaters around here, but enjoy the holiday anyway.

As Nick reminded me, we didn’t announce that Molly might be having puppies.  Actually we didn’t know for sure until we got back from California very late on Thursday night.  So, here is a little more information about the whole situation to bring everyone up to date – and more puppy pictures of course.

                          Molly just before the puppies were born. 

We  thought Molly might have been in heat around the time Larry and Karla and then Megan and Brandon visited in August, but were not sure.  Around the first of October, Molly started to look like she was pregnant, so we took both dogs to the vet and had them checked.  The vet told us she certainly looked pregnant, but often in young dogs it is a “false pregnancy” where they exhibit all the signs but no puppies.  “Time will tell” he said.  We had Grizzly neutered then, but it was a case of shutting the barn door after the horse was already out it seems. 

We were scheduled to be in California for two weeks, starting October 15th.  Neither of us were comfortable being away for that long if she was having puppies, so we cut our trip down to seven days.   Our friend Collin took care of the dogs (and chickens) while we were away, and we returned very late Thursday night.  Friday I could tell Molly was definitely going to have puppies; I could feel them squiriming around in her belly.  Also on Friday a very cold front blew through and we lost power about 9 pm and it stayed out all night. 

On Saturday, the power finally came back on and Molly began acting like she was going to have the puppies very soon.  I made her a little bed in our shed.  She started having the puppies about 10 pm and had the first seven by 2 am.  She surprised us with the last three sometime after that. 

I’m glad she waited until we got back and that the shed is mostly done so she had a dry (it has rained almost three inches in the past two days), warm place to give birth.  And that she didn’t have them Friday night when it was really cold with no power – though I guess we could have fed the little wood cookstove all night.  

We have looked closer at the puppies, and in my inexpert opinion we have six boys and four girls.  Of the three black ones, two are boys.  The ones that are mostly white now,  but will take on the heeler markings later,  are four boys and three girls. 

There are two of these little “bandit” looking ones; one boy and one girl.

 The runt of the litter is #6.  We kept track of them (at least the first seven) as they were born, and he is the one who had the most difficulty.  We had to really work on him to even get him to breath and we didn’t think he would live through the night.  He has surprised us by making it this far, so hopefully he will continue to do well.  He also is the one with a little red birthmark on his head – closest to Molly’s front leg in the photo. 

Molly is a sweet dog with a gentle, calm spirit and she has kept that same temperment throughout.  Grizzly – who always thinks he should be the center of attention – doesn’t seem to understand why he is not welcome in the shed with the puppies.  He will have plenty of time to get better aquainted with his offspring when they are a bit older. 

So, there you have it – the rest of the puppy story.  Molly is 3/4 heeler and 1/4 lab, while Grizzly is full blooded heeler, so by my calculations the puppies are 7/8 heeler and 1/8 lab.  Luckily, though Grizzly’s mom raised Molly from the age of two weeks, they are not related. 

One is already spoken for, so there are only nine left for you to choose from.  They would make perfect little Christmas Stocking Stuffers!