Maggie

July 2015

Last July we added this sweet little kitty to our family. I had wanted a cat for years. I had one before we had children but she died unexpectedly when she was only nine. We never replaced her. My hubby isn't a cat person. He is very much a dog person. However, one day he had a change of heart and the rest is history. Next Monday sweet Maggie will be one year old - officially no longer a kitten but a cat. She's changed quite a bit in a year...

February 2016

I'm still so thankful to have her in our lives. Whenever I'm sitting at the table or the computer. she will come up to ask for cuddles. She doesn't do it as often as she once did. She will still climb up on my chest though and settle in for a pat and a snooze.

Maggie "asking" to be picked up. She only does this to me.

Our dog is still the only one not all that thrilled by having this little one in our house. Annie (the dog) does tolerate Maggie a bit more than she did at first. However, she will still growl at her at times. And then this happened...

I had bought this dog bed for Annie a couple years ago but she wouldn't use it. Our dog definitely has some quirks about her and she wouldn't stay on the bed. We could coax her on it, but then she'd just get right back off and sleep on the floor. It's a nice orthopedic bed since as she's considered a mature dog (she's now 12 years old). 

Then one day we walked in the house after being gone for part of the day to see this...

The funny thing? I haven't seen her on the bed again since. The cat still sprawls on it every day though to take at least one of her naps there. 

Animals All Around

It's always a given that one will see some animals while up at camp. It's just a matter of where and when. Last year we saw two beavers swim by & come to shore just below our camp. We also saw a mommy loon with her babies.

This year was no different.

We saw two loons VERY close to shore - as in about 50 feet from our dock. This photo was taken with my zoom half way out. We watched them for quite some time - dive - come up - shake - stretch. It was fun.

We motored in to the next town on July 4th to gas up the boat & to have dinner "out" as a treat. There was a small flock of ducks hanging out close to the dock waiting for hand outs. It was amazing how close they would get! You can even see the little feet just under the water.

As we were heading home on the 4th after dinner, we could see all these birds up in the trees. They are cormorants. Very cool. They were in two trees & I snapped a bunch of pictures of them.

While this was not a "wild" animal native to the region, she probably could have been without much trouble! Annie LOVES it when we take her to camp. Three years ago we took Keeysha - which was her last trip before she died. Last year when we went we had Annie. She loves the water. She also loves chasing butterflies - a new past time for her.

My hubby shared a story about Annie from this trip. On our last night the lake was dead calm at dusk & the fish were jumping. He decided to go see if he would have any luck doing a bit of fly fishing. The boys & I were up to the camp as I was getting them all ready for bed. Annie didn't see or hear my hubby on the dock. She went down to the little point & out to the rocks there which are mostly submerged. She sat down & just pointed her nose in to the wind. She sat there for the longest time until the bugs finally forced my hubby to move. She jumped so we know she hadn't seen him. She does love camp.

And we saw this cow grazing on the side of the road. I took the photo through the windshield which is why it's a bit misty. I wanted my hubby to stop beside it so I could snap a quick pic through his window but we had someone behind us so we couldn't stop.

Annie Girl

It's snowing here in Maine - again. It's been a really nutso winter in regards to the amount of snow we've been getting. Our first snow came mid-November & we never lost all of it at all. Today we ended up with about another 8-10 inches. ::sigh::

However, my boys love playing it & so does my dog, Annie. The only other "girl" in the house with me. She absolutely loves the snow. Her favorite thing is to chase the snow when we shovel. However, I don't let her do this when I'm shoveling as I accidentally clipped her once with the shovel. I will throw snowballs for her. Like I did today. It's hilarious to watch her.

Guess what I'm doing behind the camera? Yup, I have a snowball in my hand & I'm holding it over my head to get her attention. It's the only thing that worked to get her to look at me.

Hmmmm, where did it go? Are you going to throw me another one???

If I look long enough, I'm sure I can find the snowball you threw!

Annie Girl

We received our "Love Hound" (aka Annie) this past year spring through a Freecycle group I belong to. She has fit in very well with our family & loves to be petted and loved. When she first came she tended to paw a lot when she wanted more attention. We've been able to break her of that for the most part, but she still loves her attention.

In fact, every night that my hubby is home, he will lay down on the floor with her and have some cuddle time. Now that winter is here, it's a bit chiller so we keep this old sleeping bag in the living room for really chilly nights. He was all laid out here while we were watching TV & Annie came up & just laid right down. She really flops. It's pretty funny. Hubby covered her with the blanket & they stayed like this for close to an hour. She even looked right at me for her photo op - typically she hides her face when I pull out the camera.


Her other favorite spot is right in front of the wood stove out in our addition. This wasn't a spot she would go in to when she first came last spring. She doesn't really assimilate very fast to new areas. It took her close to 3-4 months before she would venture down the hallway to the boys rooms. This year when we restarted the wood stove, we started realizing that Annie would go "missing." We'd always find her stretched out in front of the wood stove. I put an old blanket out there for her to stretch out on (when the blanket is out, that is where she'll be). I'm sure it's also a good way for her to get a break from the exuberant boys she lives with as well.

Big Snow!

Today we had a lot of snow. We had two dustings of snow last month. It was enough for the kids to sort of roll around in, but not be able to do a whole lot.

That was not the type of snow we had today. We had, what I call, "plow-able snow." My father-in-law worked for about a half hour this morning & this afternoon moving all the snow out of the way so we could use the driveway. Tomorrow the boys & I will be out shoveling paths around our place & the parking area for our truck. We probably ended up with about eight inches - total guess - but it's a lot.

I ran outside for a few minutes this afternoon to snap some photos. Our dog, Annie, seemed to really like the snow. She stayed out with the two older boys while they were playing. They were outside for close to two hours after lunch today.

B built a snow tunnel in one of the snowbanks my FIL plowed up. I didn't think he would be able to make it big enough to fit through, but soon after I came inside, that's exactly what happened. Both of them were able to wiggle through it. They then promptly jumped on top of it to destroy it. Silly boys.

My oldest boy

My middle son

Oh & yes, I did give them a snow day today from school. My other ulterior motive, it was my actual birthday & I planned to do nothing but play on the PC & enjoy the day - which I accomplished.

Annie Finds a Home

The dog that my hubby & I had before we even got married (she was really mine but she "defected" to him after we started dating & more so after we were married) died last fall. Her name was Keeysha & she was 14 years old. She had a stroke one day in September. While it wasn't totally unexpected, it was still hard. The hardest part was that my hubby was gone that weekend & I could not reach him so he could come and say goodbye. He left with her being fine & came home to her being buried in the backyard. It hit him hard.

Around November or December last year I joined a local Freecycle group. http://www.freecycle.org/
My main purpose was to help us find another puppy or dog for our family. We are dog people. Well, I'm a cat person & I used to have one but she died about five years ago.

Every time a post would come up about free puppies or dogs, I would forward them to my hubby. He would generally respond that he was "not ready," but I kept sending them on the off chance he WOULD be ready one day. Well, last week one post came through & hubby seemed to be ready!

It was for a three year old "lab/shepherd" mix. The owner was moving for a new job that included housing & could not take the dog with her. My hubby asked for photos. This was on a Tuesday (3/13). On 3/14 I got the photos & shared them with my hubby. We then started making plans to meet. The owner & her daughter came up to our house to see where we live & to meet us before making the decision.

It took Annie (the dog) a bit to come in the trailer. She seemed to sense what was going on. She didn't like coming in & then she didn't want to come in to the kitchen. Apparently the previous owner had a very shiny/slippery floor that she had to put rugs across so Annie could walk on it. This made her a bit skittish of any shiny surface. She was pretty funny though. We had to put a leash on her & coax her in to the kitchen where she immediately went "splayed foot" & crept VERY slowly across until she hit the carpeted living room. :-)

The owner decided we could have her & Annie joined our household on 3/15. Unfortunately, I had to leave that night as I already had a long weekend planned away from home. However, it allowed my hubby to completely & totally bond with Annie. When I got home on Sunday they were the best of friends!

This is how they spend MANY evenings together. Annie loves it as does my hubby. It's nice to have a dog back in the house.