A Secret Spot

Hi everyone. It's me, Mitch!
Guess what mom and dad and I found this morning on our walkies. 
It's a secret so you can't tell, okay?

Mom and dad have lived in the house that we're living in for almost 26 years and they've walked by this round barn foundation almost every single day. 
It's always been overgrown both inside and outside but look what we discovered.
A neat path going right inside!

 OMG, a picnic table!  What a spot for a picnic!

 This is inside the barn foundation. It's it awesome?  Mom is reminded of the movie, A Secret Garden, and she wishes that she had this spot on our property!

 It's so peaceful and quiet and beautiful in here!
Someone is obviously clearing it out to make it their special secret spot!

 I wish we didn't have to leave.  I could explore in there forever!

 We'll poke our heads inside in a couple of weeks and see if gardens are being planted. 

I told Maggie when we got back  and she promises to keep our secret too~~

So until next time...............

Yer friend,
Mitch

I'm a Graduate

Hi everyone. It's me, Mitch, and I graduated this morning from obedience school!  

 Do you want to meet my classmates?
This is Sophie, the Puggle.  She's only 6 months old and she's fun!

 And this is Louie.  He's a Rat Terrier.  Louie is shy and he just adores his dad. He's very smart!

 And this is Trek.  He will go on to bigger and better things.  He's the smartest pup in my class!

 And this is Harley the Golden.  I asked him if he knew Khyra and Merdie.   He said no, so it's a different Harley than the one from blogland. 

 We got to try out an agility course today.  It's my very first time and it was fun!

 It took me a few times before I'd go through the tunnel but I did it!  yeaaaaaaaaaaa

 And I went through the hoop too!  Hey, mom, the hoop picture is supposed to be before the tunnel picture, ya know!

I impressed my friends with "bang"  and I made them all laugh!

That's Miss Cathy with my diploma and each of  us graduates got a moon stuffie~

Maggie is impressed. She never thought I'd pull it off!    
Mom had her doubts at times too but I knew I could do it!

I got my "bang" down pretty good!

Yesterday we lost our internet, phone and TV so please be patient as we try to catch up!

Dad and Mom are taking me out to celebrate!  whoooooooooooohooooooooooo

Yer friend,
Mitch

Studying Hard

Yer friend,

Mitch

Canaan

Guess where we were yesterday?  In Canaan, Connecticut! 
Mom and dad took a ride to look at these and decided to come home with them.  Now we'll have even cleaner beds!

Mom says Canaan is absolutely gorgeous and she'd have no problem living there~
She can't seem to get Carole King's "Been to Canaan" out of her head!

But that's not the exciting part. The exciting part is that for the very first time we got to eat at a MacDonalds!  Can you see the Golden Arches on the window?
We are psyched!

 So this is a sausage McMuffin!  Make sure I get the bigger half, dad~

 Dad cut everything into bite-sized pieces and we ate like Kings and Queens!
How come you get to eat first, Mitch?

 Senior ladies should always go first! That's a law, I think. 

 And we had drinks of water out of a MacDonald's cup!

What a fun day this was!
Thanks for taking us with you, mom and dad!

So until next time................

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch

Treats from Reilly

We got a surprise box in the mail on Thursday. It was from Reilly! 

 We've seen his mom's handmade cards on his blog before but never in person. 

 Her work is incredible!  This card is absolutely gorgeous!  There is so much detail! 
It's a keeper!

 Reilly also sent us a package of ginger snap treats.  He was shopping with his mom and was reminded of our stocked freezer full of CHOCOLATE gelato when it could have been GINGER flavor!

 Please open them quickly, mom!  We're starving to death here!

 They're delicious, Reilly.  Thank you so much!

 One of those was supposed to be for me, Mitch - you PIG!

Mitch thinks they're inspiration to help him learn "bang", Reilly!  We hope the ginger snaps do the trick!
Thank you so much for your generosity and thoughtfulness!

We love you~
Maggie and Mitch

Obedience Class - Week Five

Hi everyone. It's me, Mitch!

Yesterday was my obedience class!

 It was week #5, which means that next week is graduation!   Mom says that we've been doing "okay" and that means that we need a whole lot more practice!

This picture is me focused on mom (and my yummy treats) and I'm following her wherever I have to, to get rewarded. 
Can you see that my leash is dragging?  I'm the only one in the ring so there's hardly any other distraction. hehehe

 One of our requirements for graduations in learning a new trick - one that we've never done before.  I'm practicing it at school today.  Can you guess what it is?

How about now?

I'm working very hard mom!  I want you and the trainer to be so proud of me!

So until next time................

Yer friend,
Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - Airedale Alphabet Quilt

Hi everyone. It's me, Autumn.

This year, for the first time, the Airedale Quilting Bee is offering the individual block patterns for the main 2010 quilt, "A is For Airedale." You can buy individual blocks for $3 each, or the entire 25-block set for $30. The patterns can be used for many things beyond a quilt or pillow - create a stencil, wood silhouettes, appliqué patches - let your imagination run wild!

The purchase of a block -- or the whole set -- is important. This pattern sale is the first stitch in the safety net that extends to Airedale Rescue groups nationwide. The pattern sales will help defray the costs of the quilting bee fundraiser, whose sole purpose is to help fund National Airedale Rescue. Each purchase helps to ensure the funding needed so the Bee can continue to create these beautiful quilts thus providing much needed support for Airedale Rescue.

This link will take you to the page with all of the details. 

This past winter, mom spruced up our downstairs bathroom by repainting and restenciling ! Guess where mom got the patterns?

She used these Airedale quilt patterns - this stencil just happens to be the pattern for letter T for TuckbuttRun. 

 And this is the "P" pattern for Playbows. 

Mom has future plans to spell out our names and make a quilted table runner and she would love to do a small wall hanging too.  The ideas are endless!

Support Airedale Rescue - Buy a pattern

http://www.airedalerescue.net/alphabet/a_is_for_airedale/patterns/ 

Today is the birthday of Maggie and Mitch's very good friend, Putter!
Happy 7th birthday, Putter! We hope you have a wonderful day!

See you all next Wednesday!

Love,

Autumn

Raspberry-Blueberry Buckle

Mom and I were in the kitchen making Raspberry-Blueberry Buckle for Uncle Jeff's workshop that just happens to be today.  His barn raising is towards the end of August and we have lots of work to do before that day so the Northford Timberframers are lending Jeff a hand. 
And busy workers get hungry so there will be lots of yummy food this weekend!

Mom has made Blueberry Buckle many times before and it's easy and it's good and people seem to like it but this time we thought we might try something a little bit different and add some raspberries along with the blueberries. 

 Don't forget I need to lick the spoon, mom!    I'm the best taste-tester in the whole wide world, ya know!

 It's ready for the oven.   Bake it at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

 While the buckle was baking, mom and I took a walk outside so that I could do my business.
My nose is buried in a hole here.
Guess who owns this hole?
A chipmunk and he drives me and Mitch crazy everytime we come out our back door.  We get within snatching distance and the little bugger disappears down his hole!   grrrrrrrrrrrr

 I can tell by this sundial that the buckle is just about done,  mom. We better head back inside~~

 It's all done and smelling yummy!

Mom let us share a piece of it and she topped it off with ice cream!  THANKS MOM!

So until next time..............

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch