One pup mornings

 When you raise a litter of pups mornings are kind of CRAZY nothing like being greeted by schnauzer pups all screaming with excitement to see you, then screaming with the excitement  of breakfast.  Hurry hurry, get them fed, outside, pen cleaned, it's all me-me-me from the young pups.
Contrast that to raising one pup, what a relief.  I know most new puppy owners wouldn't agree, they will just have to trust me when I say, this one puppy thing is a breeze!

Yeah it is more work then the adults, you have to constantly monitor, even when house-training is going well you want to keep one eye (and ear) on the pup.  You can't ignore unwanted behaviour, it must be addressed, this can be a pain when you have the rest of life to deal with, but, pay now or pay later and I choose now.
New boy Cyrus has this morning thing down pat, I am greeted every morning to the sound of that glorious tail thumping inside his crate, Cyrus always comes out at a leisurely pace, he gives me a wiggle, stretches, and saunters out the front door for a whiz.  Then it is all about the cuddle, he must get his 2 minutes of 'Cyrus' time, preferably in my lap.  Once that is done he shakes, gets a drink of water, picks up a favorite chew toy and settles on the dog bed while I see to the rest of my dogs.  I couldn't ask for a better morning pup.  Once I let some of the adult dogs outside it is time for his breakfast, Cyrus is very food motivated and this is a high light to his morning.  He rushes into his crate to wait for his dinner, he learned very quickly that meals happen in crates around here.  A big burp and I know he is finished and he is back outside to complete his bathroom duties.  He is VERY strict about his morning routine, it is ALWAYS the same (right down to the after dinner burp) every morning.
Raising a schnauzer pup is all about routine and consistency, guidance and rules, give them that and the rest is easy.

Four shades of brown

Egg production is picking up!

September Beach Dogs

Egg Update

Our first egg arrived last week and for a few days they appeared every-other day.  Then, yesterdays egg was followed by one this morning!  I wasn't sure who was laying, until today.  Yesterday Mick modified the Chicken Coop adding two beautiful nesting boxes, this morning when I opened the door to let the ladies out all but one came racing outside...then I heard a flutter....out strutted our big Buff Orpington Rita (the one I was worried maybe a Rooster) I lifted the nesting box lid and inside was a lovely, tiny, WARM egg, yeah Rita!
The colour is dramatically different from yesterdays egg, I am hoping we have two girls laying.

Are they not beautiful?  The one on the left was laid this morning by Rita, the dark one is from yesterday.

Below is a photo of the two eggs laid by my ladies and beside them one out of a dozen I purchased from the farm stand down the road...I can't even imagine the girls producing something that size! Maybe next year

And finally....the end result

Eggs, perfectly poached (and eaten to quickly to photograph) served on homemade brown toast, doesn't get much better then that, yum!

The end...

...to another lovely weekend

RIVAL od Dalajského potoka

Or, you can call him Cyrus :-)  Our new boy arrived last night from the Czech Republic.  Twelve weeks old and full of beans.  Oh yeah, and he has one of these....................................a full tail!

I am love'n that tail and yes, he is keep'n it! 

Beautiful old dogs, love them

Great end of summer photo of 14 year old Bailey. 

This girl is in the pedigree of so many Dinsdale Schnauzers, she is Mom to Cutter & Hope, sired by Ch.Oakwood Simply Simon, Mom of Fiddle, sired by Ch.Dinsdale Rules of Engagement, Mom of Rosie, sired by Ch.Dinsdale Vision Quest.  Her progeny have contributed immensely to my breeding program.  Bailey lives in Edmonton with friends and is chugging along, she had a few health scares early in the year but has enjoyed her summer.  Bailey's mom was my beloved Jewels.
Fun to receive photos of the old ones from the owners of our dogs, it's not all about the puppies, in the long run it's barely about the puppies at all.

The Sisterhood

Not even sure why I love this photo, but I do.  Maybe the feeling of sisterhood that these three share, so different in personality and age but all so very comfortable and accepting of each other.  I like the way the light hits their brows, but shades the mystery in their eyes underneath...Oh, and I always love a photo that showcases dog spit on my windows :-)

The golden egg

OK not golden, but almost as expensive.  FINALLY our first egg from the chickens!!!  I am beyond ecstatic, the first offering from my hens, way to go girls.  It maybe small, but if we calculate how much money and time we have put into building the chicken coop and pen it is solid gold to us :-)
Owning your own backyard hens is a lifestyle, a way of enjoying something fresh and wonderful, it is never going be a retirement investment.
Hopefully tomorrow there will be another so Mick and I don't have to scramble this one.

I love you Jimmy

9am had me out on the porch grilling Jimmy Nardello peppers on the BBQ.  These are the most amazing roasting, frying, grilling, EATING peppers I've ever tasted.  Mick picked a shopping bag full of them this weekend, there was no way I was wasting these beauties.  They will be canned in olive oil to be enjoyed all winter, yum, thank you Jimmy.

With the rain

Come the most unusual things, like this baby Snapping Turtle that wandered into the yard.  We have a lot of ponds around us, most are dried up with the lack of rain this summer, when the skies finally poured forth rain today this fellow ended up outside the dog run gate.  Barking from Hope and Cutter alerted me to what I thought was a toad, instead 2 inches of armored shell.  I kept him around for a couple of hours to watch and photographed, then slipped him into the muddy area of what use to be a good sized pond.  Hopefully he will not come back, would hate for the dogs to maul him.