Happy Birthday, Jackson!

Happy birthday, Jackson! We are super duper THRILLED that you're coming home today where you belong! We hope you have the BEST birthday celebration ever with lots of treats and pressies!




We thought long and hard about what would be the biggest and best gift for you and this is what we came up with~

This is all of our love stretching across the ocean for you!

We love you, Jackson!

Happy birthday!

Maggie and Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - Mitch is Learning to Knit

Hi everybody! It's me, Autumn!

Our friends, Winston and Clementine have challenges going on at their blog! Every week is a different challenge and it's really fun submitting pictures and playing along and trying to win! Last week we had to submit pictures with one of us doing a craft with mom! And seeing as mom loves to knit and Mitch has always wanted to learn how, this was an easy photo for us!

Guess what? We were one of the top 3 contestants and here's what Winston had to say about our picture -

"We love how Mitch is able to take direction, but you can also tell that his own creative wheels are spinning as mom teaches him how to felt-knit. We are also pretty excited to get ONE photo with a human-dog crafting team pictured."

If anyone wants to play along, let Winston know and I'm sure he'll be thrilled! The more the merrier, right?!

So naturally I was just a wee bit jealous that Mitch was learning how to knit and I hadn't been taught yet so I asked Mitch to teach me how to knit!

And of course being the sweet boy that he is, he happily said that he'd teach me whatever he had learned so far!

By the way, the knitting on the needles is called the Ballband purse! If anyone would like the pattern, we'd be happy to share it! Just let us know! Mom just finished this one not long ago!

So I have a new project to keep me busy while the family is away on Nantucket! Maybe when they come back I can show them the beautiful sweater that I intend to knit for myself!

See you all next Wednesday!

Love, Autumn

Sherwood

We have more sad news! Sherwood passed away yesterday morning!

He was doing so well by himself! Dad was spending lots more time with him and yesterday he actually had him on his shoulder walking around in the yard and Sherwood seemed to love it! Barn Swallows were flying in and out of our barn saying hi to Sherwood when he chirped. We think maybe Sherwood got tired and couldn't tell dad that he'd had enough activity and he needed a nap. He unfortunately fell off dad's shoulder and hit the ground. He initially seemed fine after his fall. He was right back up and chirping away.

Missy and Jim came for dindin last night and after they left dad checked in on Sherwood again to feed him and get him ready for bed. He had jumped out of his nest again but when he heard dad's voice he would chirp and all dad had to do was put out his finger and he'd jump right on!

This morning Sherwood snuck out of his nest yet again and we think he must have fallen again. He lost his spunk and he stopped eating. Sherwood didn't want to die! He fought so hard to stay alive! Dad stroked him and told him not to struggle anymore. It was absolutely heartbreaking to watch! We feel so badly that God trusted us to take care of two of his precious little creatures and neither one of them made it.

Fly free little Barn Swallow babies! We're so happy we got to spend time with you - even if it was far too short! We'll miss you!

Love,

Maggie and Mitch

We're Chillaxing and I'm Dancing

Eduardo has created the most gorgeous award for anyone who dances for somebody and Emmitt the Pug tagged us to dance!

This picture is from last year! Mom and I are practicing our dancing for the wedding!

I practiced a WHOLE LOT and in the end I wasn't invited to the wedding! boohoo But I did have fun dancing with my mom and that made us both happy!

We were at Wally's blog a couple of days ago and noticed that he and Ethel and Oscar had the most yummilicious creations ever! He has Chillaxympics going on over there and we fully intend to celebrate the dog days of summer to the max, especially the foodie part of it!

Mom gave us each a dish of wallymelon sherbet topped with blueberries! So we kept up the red, white and blue theme, Wally!

This is some VERY good stuff! Nice and sweet and COLD!

OMG, I think I have a brain freeze!

Boy, oh boy, was that ever good! Do you need any help finishing yours, Mitch!

No, Maggie! Do you?!

What an awesome idea this was, Wally! We're totally chillaxed!

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

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Quiche, an Award and a Barn Swallow Update

A friend of ours gave us some homemade pesto! Mom LOVES pesto and the aroma drives her NUTS! This works for us because it means she'll be whipping up something tasty!

I knew it! Mom and I made a sun-dried tomato and pesto tart today! The tart also calls for feta cheese and half-and-half cream and eggs so it's not a low-cal dish by any means!

It just came out of the oven! It's very rich, yummy and delicious! Mom and dad both gave it a 10!

My friend, Happy, presented us with the Kind Blogger award a couple of days ago! Thank you so very much, Happy! We are honored!
Seeing as the award is pink we thought it might be fun to hand it out to the girls! We apologize if you've already received it. Lately, it seems like there are a zillion awards being given out! We would like to present the award to Baby, Apache, Delilah, Sophie and my goodest and bestest friend, Putter!

We have some sad news! One of our baby barn swallows died. We knew about 24 hours in advance that he was not feeling well. He had lost his spunk and he pretty much stopped eating! Several days before he died mom and dad had contacted a wild bird rehab and were told that it was full and they weren't taking any new customers so it kind of left mom and dad feeling like they were on their own to raise these guys! When we lost the one birdie we felt so badly because it leaves one all by himself with no buddy to talk to and to keep him warm in the nest! Dad does leave the radio on and this other little birdie is thriving and seems quite happy! Dad has named him Sherwood!

Today mom headed into the workshop to wash her hands and Sherwood beats his wings like he's going to take off any minute but he doesn't go anywhere! It's really cute to watch! He chirps the whole time he's fluttering! We'll have to get a video of that so you can all have a good smile!

So that's our news for today!

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

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Hot Diggity Dog Kong Contest

I'm sure by now everyone has heard of the Kong competition that Faya and Amber-Mae are hostessing! If not head on over to either one of their blogs and check out the instructions on how to submit your picture! We think we only have one week left to send in our entries!




I bet you wish you could have some, don't you, Miss Piggy?! You can have the last lick, okay?!







I always get what I want! Two kongs and Maggie's birthday piggy is livin'! I've got to get every last drop!

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

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Blogging Friends Forever & Needs

Our dear friend, Blue has honored us with the Blogging Friends Forever Gold Card!

Blue wrote - "rarely does a post of mine pass by un-commented on. They are a lovely family, who love ice-cream & pizza, everyone shares & even 'Wheelie' Autumn gets her say".

Thank you so much, Blue! We are blown away by your generosity!

Now, the rules re passing it on are as follows:-

1. Only five people allowed.

2. Four have to be dedicated followers of your blog.
3. One has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.

4. You must link back to whoever gave you the award.

This is very tough for us because we have so many wonderful friends!

Poppy, Penny and Patches are almost always first to comment on our postings! We love reading about their Airedale antics and they're mom is a wheelie maker, which we think is super special!

Mango and Dexter make us laugh out loud every single time we visit their blog. Don't tell anyone because it's a very guarded secret around her but we think Autumn has a MAJOR crush on Hector!

Joey and Tanner never fail to comment on our blog and 99% of the time, their comments have us in stitches!

Our hammie friend Girl girl is always writes the sweetest, most polite comments on our blog! She is most deserving!

Our new friend is Scottie, the Nottie Schnauzer from Malaysia. He visits our blog every single time we post without fail!

Blue also tagged us to play "Needs"!

All you have to do is Google your first name with the word "needs" behind it and post the results.

Maggie Needs An Alibi - WHAT??? I didn't realize that I had committed any crime?!

Maggie, needs your attention - And if I don't get it ASAP, I'll bark my head off until I do!

Maggie needs a special container - Yup, this would mean a larger one for even more ice cream!

Now you, Mitch!

Mitch needs help - Yes, I do and it would be help getting those yummy immature apples out of the apple tree so I can eat them ALL one by one!

Mitch needs to be watched closely - I love picking up nuts and apples that fall off trees on my morning walkies and if I'm not watched closely I'll put 2 or 3 nuts in my mouth at once! It's gotten me in trouble more than once!

Mitch needs to find some new blogs to read - Count me in!

We're not tagging anyone to play Needs but it's lots of fun so if you want to play, please do!

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

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - Back to the Garden

Hi everyone! It's me, Autumn!We're now into August and the flowers are so tall and way over my head! Mom had to hold me up way high to see this pretty sunflower!

I'd like to introduce you to my froggie friend, Freddie! He came for a visit and wanted a nickel tour of the garden so I told him to hop up on my back and let's go!

The trumpet vine is in bloom! I just love anything that blooms orange!

The hydrangeas are in full bloom now too! Mom loves the blue the best! It reminds her of being on Nantucket!

Hello, Johnny! I didn't bring you an apple today! Next visit, okay?!

The apricot daylily is in bloom! What a shame they only last for 1 day!

And so is the red one! They are such cheerful flowers!

Mom has 2 butterfly bushes and they're both purple - one darker than the other one! Tons of butterflies visit every single day!

The white phlox is in bloom! Hey, Miss Butterfly - you're on the wrong plant! We love the way the Phlox smell! When mom takes Maggie out for her final pee just before bed she takes a deep whiff! She says the smell of the Phlox is intoxicating!

There are bumblebees all over the purple phlox! You're not allergic to them are you, Freddie?

The Queen Anne's Lace is blooming too! This plant is named after our Lakie friend, Lacie, or is it the other way around!

I love this gold Cone Flower! What a gorgeous color!

That's our nickel tour for today, Freddie! I hope you enjoyed it!

Before we go you have to see this little boy tomato!

See you next Wednesday!

Love, Autumn

Paw-limpics Bone Relay

Mitch and I both got to carry the Paw-limpics bone in the International bone relay! We are so super psyched about the games!

Mitch even carried the bone to Durham where we had delicious vanilla ice cream!

Check out Lenny's blog for the coolest video ever!

Let the GAMES begin!!!!!!!!!! whoooooohooooooooo

Update On the Barn Project and Baby Barn Swallows

The barn is totally down! This is one of the last shots of it still standing!

These are some of the timbers being stored for now until dad can get to them to wash them and repair them!

Remember those barn swallow nests that got disturbed? Lots of the baby birdies died, which was very sad for everyone involved but dad did discover two survivors that just didn't want to give up! Dad brought them home in a cardboard box and he's been feeding them our dog food, a mushy mixture, and they're loving it and hogging it down.

The birdies are a week younger in this video~

The barn swallow babies have not started to bark yet but they are growing daily so we're thinking that our food is agreeing with them! Dad does have one worry though - what happens when they want to leave the nest? How does dad teach them how to fly? He's now their mom! We'll have to update you on that too! It should be quite interesting!

This picture was taken of the baby barn swallows today! Their eyes are open and they sing to us all the time! They're very clean little guys. They sleep in the center of their nest and when they have to poop, they climb up on the side and position their butts so the nest stays clean! Dad didn't teach them this! hehehe

Dad is worried that they might not be ready to be left on their own before we leave for our summer vacation so these two babies might be going with us to Nantucket!

Guess what? Dad took us for ice cream! yahooooooooooooo! It's sure nice to have dad back!

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

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Our Book Review

We got our book, "Miss Barbara Paints the Airedale Terrier" in the mail on Wednesday - the very same day that Autumn posted about her!

Mom was preparing dindin when the UPS man delivered the box and she quickly put a halt to that so that she could open the box! Did we tell you that our UPS man, Leo, leaves us two cookies on top of every single box that he delivers? He does, one for each of us - but our mean mom won't let us have them till the next day! She always said that we've just eaten our dindin and we don't need cookies in our bellies too! Did we also point out that we don't like the UPS man! I get very agitated when anyone steps onto our back porch and the UPS man rates right up there as enemy #1! I digress - back to the book!

There really are 50 of Miss Barbara's Airedale paintings in there and I'm on 6 of the pages in the book! I'm blushing!

OMG, this is the painting that's right next to mom's side of the bed of her very special girl! That's ME! Mr. Leonard's prose is beneath every single painting and he captures the spirit of each work just beautifully!

What about me, Maggie! Would Miss Barbara paint me, do you think?

That's me resting on a carrot quilt! Everyone knows that Mr. Carrot is my most favorite toy in the whole wide world!

OMG, these are both Miss Sunshade! I sure do miss her! I sure hope she comes back to blogging soon!

And here she is again and this time she's yacking her head off! She's very well known for that - just like I am!

Hey, Maggie! It really is you! I would recognize that face anywhere! I wonder who this other pretty girl is?!

Holy cripes! It's Doofus! I wonder if he knows that his painting is in Miss Barbara's book too! I wonder what he's staying to this Aire-girl to make her laugh? I wonder if this Dale is Lillie V?!

Guess who else is in the book? My goodest and bestest friend, Putter! I love this painting! It looks just like you, Putter!

What a fabulous book! Of course I am a wee bit prejudiced! Mom says this book will be going on the coffee table so we can look at it often and company will be able to see it too!

Thank you Miss Barbara and Mr. Leonard for one fabulous book! Mom says this is a wonderful memento to have forever and ever!

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

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch