You should all be happy this is a still and not video. This is the kind of attention you get when you pick up the squeaker that has recently been removed from a toy and use it for your own entertainment. Even the dog that HATES squeakers was in for the game. It was more powerful than food. No one got it in the end – it was for my entertainment only. No dogs were harmed in the making of this photograph.
dogs
Tomato Thief
I have a few combination pots of herbs that have (had) cherry tomato plants in them. I have had tomato blight this year in a big way so the tomatoes are on some very sad looking vines.
Years ago, when I had only one dog, it was a little schnauzer named Holly. She was completely food obsessed. Each year I planted a pot of cherry tomatoes in my back yard in Enfield so I would pick one for her every time we went out. She loved it and her first stop in the yard was that pot. Buddy came along and she showed him the trick. Years have gone by and I no longer have tomatoes in Enfield.
Buddy is getting on in years and we think he has a little dementia (which dogs actually do get). This is what we saw him doing Sunday night. He was picking the tomatoes off of the vines in the pots in the yard. He’s hard of hearing so was unaware of me being behind him with the camera, he was totally concentrating on eating tomatoes.
We all had a little chuckle about this finding it interesting that so many years have passed since he actually did this.
The day was beautiful and we cooked and ate outdoors. As we were sitting down to eat Bill looked over to the garden where Buddy was showing Chester the ropes in tomato eating in my tomato patch. One yell and Chester made a beeline out of the place he knows he’s not supposed to be. Buddy? He had to have at least one more before he left.
And The Reward
I’m the type of person that needs some sort of motivator when I have to do work that I don’t find particularly enjoyable. I reward myself with things I enjoy doing, like weaving or hooking or knitting. If I vacuum the entire downstairs I let myself enjoy a couple of hours of guilt free crafting. Honestly, if I didn’t do that nothing would get done.
We have been taking long weekends for the month of August. We didn’t really have a vacation this year and found a true need to get away from the shop even if it is for only an extra day a week. In doing so we have tried to designate Mondays as a day to do something we enjoy and is relaxing. With everyone helping us split wood on Sunday we promised a trip to the lake (we would probably have gone rain or shine).
We took one of the islands for our beach for the day and brought Chester and Malcolm. It was overcast but warm and humid, not enough to go swimming but very comfortable sitting on the beach.
When Bill wasn’t on the boat this is what he was doing. Chester’s new favorite game – swimming to fetch. He’s a little obsessed.
It works out well for us in the long run – he does nothing but sleep for two days after a weekend event like this. It’s a win for everyone.
Faded Glory
The attic at Fort Pelham Farm is a repository of family history. I hesitate to say treasures because those are truly in the eyes of the beholder. There are layers of items by generation. Nothing makes sense other than in one corner it’s the Monroe stuff, another corner belongs to the Alix side, you get the picture. The attic space is expansive so there is quite the trove. I sometimes feel like I’m on an archeological dig when I’m up there but I always seem to find something of interest. Many times I don’t know how interesting it is until much, much later.
The faded photograph at the top of this post is an example of just that. The scan actually gave me more to see than is actually on the original – I love modern technology. I played with it (a lot) in photoshop and ended up with this image. It’s amazing what you can do with a little patience (and no fear).
Now this photograph came from the Martin/Monroe corner of the attic so I had an idea of who some of the players might be in the photograph. Much to my surprise it turns out that the four Martin brothers are in it (this is my mother’s father’s line). They are on the far right in the first and second rows. I have many other photographs of them and was able to identify them by comparison. I love this photograph – the roll of the canvas background that is by their feet, the funky “grass” or fur that is under them. I love the fact that they are the ones with the dogs. I love how it shows how important the YMCA was to the family as well as team sports. The shin guards and padded clothing speaks to the roughness of the sport yet shows nothing of the caution that we see today. The team manager (I can only assume) is decked out in his finest to have his portrait taken with his team.
This photograph was taken around 1905. Their adult lives just beginning.
I haven’t looked at this photograph in a few years. In doing so now I think I might have to go back up to the attic and see what else I can unearth.
Day Off
There are days you have to leave everything behind and relax. No canning, no splitting wood, no lawn mowing or weed whacking.
It was a perfect day. When I loaded this photograph my first reaction was wow, is that blue. You know, it really WAS that blue.
And there is nothing the dogs love more than us spending the entire day throwing a tennis ball.
Water Dog
I knew Chester had water dog potential when I saw his huge, webbed feet. He had a bit of a rough start but everyone has to start somewhere.
I’ve been taking him to Percy’s Point on Pelham Lake once a week to fetch his tennis ball in the water there. It’s a great spot, no distractions. It slopes gently into the lake and it’s easy for him to return with his ball. This is a game he has truly learned to love.
This past weekend we took the next step and brought him boating with us. We found one of our favorite beaches in a cove on Harriman Reservoir, getting there early enough to secure it.
The only other thing we needed was a tennis ball. If Chester has a ball there is nothing that will distract him from the game, other dogs, kids, nothing.
We had him fetch for a good hour and a half which he did joyfully. His swimming has improved tremendously and he will fetch a ball thrown quite a ways without hesitation. It’s just what you want in a water dog – of course if we brought the other dogs they would have shown him the ropes.
A Rough Couple of Days
It’s difficult for a dog that wants to be a mean, protective guard dog to be afraid of everything. That’s my theory on Chester’s exhaustion this morning (other than the fact that he’s lazy). We went to Rowe on Wednesday afternoon and the first disconcerting thing to happen was a neighbor and her daughters walked their two horses by the house on the road. Chester lost his mind (from afar). All of the hair was standing up on his back, he barked his scariest howling bark (which we now recognize as his I’m really scared bark). They finally disappeared down the road (well, they were out of his sight because he wouldn’t go close enough to the road to see where they went). Whew! Into the house he went, didn’t go out again.
Thursday morning at around 5:00 I heard a bear coming up through the woods – I’m assuming it was a female talking to her cub(s). Chester was on the end of the bed – all perked up, hair standing on end. He never made a sound, just listened. The bear came across the road and through the side yard under my window talking the whole time. Finally she went over the bank into the back forty. I stayed in bed for another hour or so then got up, got my coffee and went outside with the dogs. Chester, hair standing on end, ran crazily towards the back forty on what I’m assuming was the bear trail. He was doing his best sniffing but you could tell just by his stance that he was a little freaked out. He immediately came into the house when I did.
I have to tell you that having a dog that weighs over 50 pounds may deceive you into thinking that they will protect you. For my money the Schnauzers are much better protection. They weigh much less and are not afraid of anything. In fact I really have to be very aware of what they see as a threat because they think they are much bigger than they are. Sophie thought nothing of attacking Chester when we first got him, Chester on the other hand is afraid of cats – won’t come within 100 feet of one. I like to think this speaks to his intelligence but others just think he’s chicken.
Dogs in Cars
Chester never knows where he’s going but he always knows where he’s been.
A Day in the Life
This is how Chester spends his days at the shop. It doesn’t matter how hot it is he will lay in front of the door with his tennis ball (it’s behind him) and wait for any willing person to throw it for him. He’s our good will embassador and loves inducting new members into his fan club. I swear he knows that if they like him the next time they will bring him a treat, which they usually do. This week I had to take him home a couple of days because I thought he would die of heat stroke. Dogs don’t seem to understand the concept of hydration during a heat wave. Once there he spends his afternoons on the sofa in air-conditioned comfort. What a life.
Fruit
The rain has stopped – for now. In doing my morning walk about I noticed how well the fruit on the property was doing. The blueberry bushes are loaded this year, last year I didn’t get a single berry. It warmed up to abnormal temperatures in February 1012. A week or more of 70’s and 80’s fooled every early flowering plant, tree and shrub into thinking spring had arrived early. The temperature then dropped to below freezing (where it should be that time of year) and froze every blossom on the fruiting trees and shrubs. It also completely messed up our sugaring season. In 2011 we made well over 100 gallons of maple syrup, in 2012 maybe 30. Our pear tree had 3 pears, the deer ate two and my sister picked the last one.
Losing your entire fruit crop is distressing in many ways. You’ve already made plans for what you are going to put up based on previous years and suddenly you realize there will not be any fruit of any kind. This year the pear tree is loaded once again and I’m making plans for what to do with the hundreds that will be available (barring any extreme weather event from now until frost). I often wonder about people who plant 5 or 6 of a kind of fruit tree. This one tree, in a good year, produces enough for a few families to eat fresh and preserve. I find that at times it has really stressed me out because I feel like I’m wasting good food by not putting more up but honestly you can only do so much. The deer eat the drops and the ones hanging from the lower branches. I try to give them away.
I have to say that one of the favorite games for the dogs involves that pear tree. When the fruit starts to drop onto the ground we go down to the tree and I toss the pears as far as I can in rapid succession in different directions. Buddy will chase a couple, then settle down to eat one. Sophie will run after one, tag it and run back. Chester will fetch them all day long, every so often taking a bite out of it but always bringing it back and dropping it at my feet. The only problem is he likes the game so much that he continually goes out in the field and brings pears up to the driveway and the lawn. A lot of fun when you’re mowing the grass.
Fruit is always a long term endeavor. I planted a row of raspberry plants that Carmen had given me last year. I got a couple of berries in July (I probably would have picked more but caught Chester picking them, apparently he finds them tasty as well). This year the patch is twice as large – raspberries propagate readily sending shoots up all over the place once the plants get going. I will probably have enough berries for a couple of pies and maybe a small batch of jam. I transplanted more canes this spring doubling the number I had. I’m looking forward to a crop large enough to put up for the winter. Now that I can see the potential for this patch of fruit I’m happy that I did it.
Growing these types of long term crops can be a difficult decision to make. You always have to create a new bed for them and put it in a place that you know will be dedicated to that fruit. Trees are the same way and even longer term considering how slowly they grow and the years it can take before they bear fruit. Once that tree is planted it has to stay there, that’s a commitment. I planted a bed of asparagus this year at the end of my vegetable garden knowing full well that it will effect how I till for years to come. I will not be able to eat anything from this bed for another two years but once it’s going I could potentially have a healthy asparagus crop for another thirty. I’ll take that and leave it to my kids.
Fort Pelham Farm 