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November Memories

Vixen and James 2006

It's been three years since you swam in the pond. She taught you well. Three years since your mother died. Every year that brings another November, the trees lose their leaves, you lie in those leaves, and it is like a thousand losses all over again. You have none of your mother's wild abandon. More of a quiet solitude as you study the world around you. Content to hold the ball and watch the others romp. Her presence is still strong. I know you all feel it each time the wind blows, sending gentle ripples across the pond, and setting every last leaf adrift on the breeze. Free to fall into piles for you to lie in.

2006 November 2009 November

Two sisters.
Different as can be.
I can't believe I kept them both.
I can't imagine not having them both.
Glory and Caroline.
Two Sisters

End of Summer Labrolympics

Oh Dear! Summer's almost over and we haven't had our Summer Labrolympics!

Glory? Are you ready for some games?

The first game is the tomato agility maze. The object is to successfully jump the wire fence avoiding the weave poles and various jump stands, navigate to the nearest tomatoes and devour them as quickly as possible before 'mom' chases you out. Are you ready?

This is harder than I thought. There must be some way to get in here easily. If only 'mom' hadn't put those weave poles and jump stands to make it harder. This must be the advanced course. I easily got in there before. Those green tomatoes, so close I can smell them. I can see them. Woof!

Next up, the picnic table ball relay. Jump up, grab as many balls as you can and keep them away from the other Labs. Ready, go!

This is lots of fun. Ready for the final event. The "anything edible" Harvest Scavenger Hunt.

For this event you simply check all those favorite haunts where we have snacked all summer.

The apple tree, yum! and the cucumbers and string beans. Don't forget the blueberries and raspberries!

We're exhausted! This was a great Labrolympics. Will there be a Fall Fest? Most definitely! ...and of course don't forget about the Happy Holiday Labrolympics.

Vanity Plates

New Hampshire ranks second in the nation for having the most vanity plates. I now join the ranks. I have never had vanity plates but when we purchased a new vehicle this summer and my husband suggested that I get vanity plates that reflected something about my second life with Labs, I thought that maybe this was my opportunity to try it out. Of course it was a bit tricky to limit my choices to the seven letters allowed. My first choice would have been my kennel name, Pondview. But for one extra letter, oh well. My husband thought perhaps "Pondvu" but that somehow didn't appeal to me. If it couldn't be spelled correctly(the teacher in me, I guess), then it was not to be. LABSR4ME would have been a great choice, too. Oooops, just that one extra letter. I began to think that vanity plates were not for me and that perhaps the 7 letter limit was a government conspiracy to discourage people from getting vanity plates. I have 7 Labs and so another good choice would have been 7NHLABS which was available but I won't always have 7 Labs and I certainly want to keep my plate for a while. Finally I settled on PondLab. It satisfied part of my kennel name but also gave credit to my beloved Labrador breed. Now I am easily identified as I drive about town. There she goes, the lady with the Pondview Labs.

Cape Cod Dogs

Being a vacationing dog on the Cape in the summer is a challenge if you want to enjoy the beach and a swim. Most beaches are closed to dogs until after Labor Day. How unfortunate that natures beauty cannot be enjoyed by all God's creatures. Irresponsible dog owners who don't pick up after their pets and allow them to run free when joggers and children are about ruin it for those who are resposible. We did manage to enjoy the bayside after 4pm where dogs are allowed. At low tide we walk way out to the water's edge where, for a brief moment, dogs can be dogs and run free.

Simple Pleasures

Coda at Carolina State Park

A Lab, some water, and something to retrieve. Happiness found. A great place to cool off on a hot evening. If only we all could find joy in such simple pleasures.

My Two Year Olds

Hawksmoor Pondview Glory My crazy Glory, who reminds me so much of my sweet Vixen, is beginning to focus her energies and is fast becoming an attentive, quick learner. Now if only her mom would have more time to spend on her Rally and Agility training, she would surely rival all that Vixen once accomplished.

Hawksmoor Pondview Caroline

My sweet Caroline, constantly seeking her sister's attention. She seems at bit softer, in personality and expression, but looks can be deceiving. She holds her own with the rest.

When these TWO pups claimed their stake on our pack and my heart, I couldn't believe that I was actually adding both at the same time. If only there had been more girls in Meadow's litter, my decisions might have been different. If only Meadow hadn't had to be spayed during her emergency C-section, I might not have felt the importance of having more choices to continue the line. But the what if's are now in the past and I can't imagine my life without them both. Whatever happens with decisions about breeding them, they will remain two special girls in our pack of 7.
Happy Birthday my sweet girls.

Delightful!

Nothing better than daffodils, Labs and sunshine.

Reasons to celebrate!

April Birthdays

April is a great month to have a birthday. On my birthday I share the day with my cousin, Jon. He is the same age, and born on the same day! Pretty amazing!

I also share April with my sister, Robin, who was born on the 14th!
And my special boy Alex(on the right) who was born on April 16th and Meadow(in my lap) born on April 30th. Birthday celebrations change over the years. Yes, we grow up, we get older, but the celebrations from year to year hold different meanings for us.
This year is no exception. What a great week and a great day. My colleagues bought me lunch and we actually got to sit down and chat about things other than school for 30 minutes. My students finished their personal essays and we had our writing celebration on my birthday. What a wonderful gift for a teacher who loves writing. My sons called me on my birthday and I imagine I will hear from my cousin who calls every year on 'our' birthday. My sister, Christie sent an email photo card out to all the family and my sister Robin called to chat. My husband bought me two cards, one funny and one sentimental, (he loves to do that). Then we'll go out to eat. And so, another year of birthdays passes. April birthdays, filled with daffodils and sweet songs of birds, of soft breezes and the smell of green grass growing again. It is a perfect month to be born in. A perfect month to celebrate a birthday.

Celebrating Three Generations

Look at my special girls. What a reason to celebrate. The four of them sitting in the late afternoon sunshine with the pond to their backs, I am so lucky to catch this moment.
Grandma Bounty, now a decade dog, always so serious when she is having her picture taken.
Actually, I think she is just sick of me taking photos of her. Miss Meadow, Bounty's daughter on her left, always smiling, probably because she thinks she is getting a treat. Glory and Caroline, Meadow daughters and Bounty granddaughters, to the opposite side, patient just for a brief moment while I snapped this shot. I know that they find something to celebrate each and every day. They are happy whatever the weather, wherever they are, whatever they are doing.
My special girls. Three generations and yes, what a reason to celebrate!

Happy St. Paw-Tricks Day

Paddy and Penny, the lucky Lab pups stopped by Pondview last week to play with Caroline and Glory. They were met with much indifference. In fact, Caroline took a nibble out of Penny's neck as she whizzed by racing to get her Jolly ball to play with. Apparently these 'go green' pups were a bit too docile for my rambunctious duo. No matter, they disappeared as quickly as they had appeared. The warm temperatures were not to their liking. And after all, they were St. Paw-trick's Day pups..."a wee bit o' magic' in their making, I imagine.

Making Dog Biscuits the Easy Way!

What!? You mean you don't make your own dog biscuits! Well, it couldn't be easier. Watch and I'll show you. All you need is a food processor, a rolling pin, cookie sheet, and a few ingredients.
Usually I make the same recipe, peanut butter/banana biscuits, but sometimes I vary it and today I did just that. Mainly because I was all out of the peanut butter I had bought way before the "tainted peanut butter" news. So my other favorite combo is banana and pumpkin.
Let's get started.
First let's get out all the ingredients you will need.

2 small bananas(or one large one)
2 eggs
1/3 can of pumpkin (or 1/2c. peanut butter)
2T olive oil
4-5 T blackstrap molasses
3-4c. unbleached flour (enough to make the dough rollable)

Add the eggs, bananas, oil, molasses, and pumpkin(or peanut butter).

Process until smooth.

Add flour gradually and pulse to combine.

Continue adding the flour, pulsing after each addition until the dough is pulling from the sides and forming a ball.



Now you are ready to roll the dough out. NO NEED to Knead! Just put it on an old cookie sheet(non stick) and roll to about 1/2" thickness.


Here comes the easiest part of all. No, I don't mean getting out those cute little bone shaped cookie cutters or the Lab shaped ones(if you are me). That would take way too long, although I might(and I mean MIGHT) do this once a year for gifts(yeah right). Just slice in rows and then cross cut so you have small squares(they don't have to be perfect, I don't think your dog will care)


When you have all the dough cut into squares, separate them on the cookie sheet. No they don't have to have their own space. The squares can be touching. Just so they are not solid on the sheet. You can break them apart after they are baked.

Great Job! Now you are ready to pop them into a 325 degree oven for an hour or two.
You can keep checking them to see if they are rock hard. Sometimes I even turn the oven off and just leave them in there to harden and cool.

And that's all there is to it.
Great crunchy, healthy treats for your dog!

Memories of Meadow Pups

Time out for a Puppy Fix....

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N...We're on Vaaaaacation!

Hoo Hoo!



Are you ready?

Here we come, there we go...

We are sure ready for VACATION!

Remembering Hawksmoor Vixen RN NAJ February 14, 2001

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Happy 3rd Birthday to all the Vixen Pups!

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