Charley and Suzie waiting for dinner

Charley is my big 1.5 year old puppy. He's in front. Pretty little Suzie is in back. She's 4.

Charley

Charley follows me everywhere, especially out to the garden. He's a year and 2 months old now. I still call him a puppy since he bounds around and plays all the time. He's curious and nosy. Sniffs and tastes everything in my garden. His favorite is fresh broccoli - any part of the plant. He's very good and has learned where he is allowed to walk and where he can and can't dig. I rarely need to say "Paws off" or "No dig" anymore. He still has those dark black, wide set eyes that look so sweet and serious.

Charley and my potatoes

I dug a bushel of potatoes this year. Pretty good for me. I had three rows about 6 feet each. Probably 18 plants. I grew only two varieties this year. I dug one row of La Ratte fingerlings early and we've eaten them all already. These are Green Mountain. A great producer, storage, and all purpose cooking. They are delicious baked, fried, or sauteed.  Charley likes them a lot!!

boating

When we're not gardening, we're out boating! Suzie (4 yrs old) is in yellow and Charley, my BIG puppy (10 mo) is in red. We're on out way out onto the pond.

charley and suzie

We got "snow" last night. One inch. I'm not sure I really call that snow. Nevertheless, Suzie and Charley enjoyed it.









It's almost impossible to tell who's who these days. Suzi has a fuller tail and Charley has the white chest splash. Suzi does her best to avoid the camera. Charley's a ham.

Charley outgrew his puppy collar today and I got out one of Skippy's. It looks good on him. Suzie sniffed and I think she likes it too. Charley's growing up fast. His last Puppy K class is tomorrow. I haven't told him yet, but he's going to have to take the next two levels of Puppy training too. He's as tall as Suzie now, but slim - 30 lbs to her 40. And very very handsome.

Charley gets his first haircut

staying warm

To stay warm, my chickens huddle together in their run. Charley hangs out in the house in his favorite spot on the steps.



(I'd like to get more pictures of Suzie. She was sitting next to Charley on the steps and they both looked so cute together. But she runs off if she sees a camera. Occasionally I catch a shot, but not this time.)

charley by the pond in our first snow

charley and suzie

It seemed like time for a few pictures of Charley and Suzie. Suzie is 3 and a half years old, Charley is 2 and a half months. They are very happy romping together in the fallen leaves.





Skippy would have had fun today too. But he had 11 great seasons of playing in the leaves.

pictures of Charley - a budding gardener

Though I can definitely see he has a lot of potential for excellent gardening skills, he still spends a lot of time goofing off with "big sister". Running, rolling around. Charley likes to grab her tail and not let go. Also he's good at biting her ears. I sort of remember this is what Suzie used to do with Skippy.

Our new puppy, Charley, comes home tomorrow!

here's Charley

Charley is the new puppy we are getting. He was born Aug 26 - the day Skippy died :-( Charley is beautiful. He's little right now, born a week prematurely, but growing fast. The breeder can tell he'll have long legs and a long body. I'd like a big dog - like Skippy was. We plan to bring him home Friday October 28. He'll be 9 weeks old then.



The breeder calls our pup Inky. He is black as ink with a very silky coat. I don't know - we prefer to call him Charley. I'm a Steinbeck fan and he had a dog named Charley.

I'm sure Suzie will love him. It will be nice for her to have another dog for company again.