Yep, I’ve been neglecting my blog.

I’ve been spending some of my Saturdays working down in our lot, clearing out the brush. We’re hoping to get started with the house soon, and I’ve been itching to do something, anything, to help the process along. Plus, there’s the added bonus of a little exercise via manual labor.

I have about three hundred ten projects in my head that I’d like to work on, but I haven’t found the time. Or I’ve found the time, but at that point my motivation was gone, and all I wanted to do was veg out.

And my current time-suck is this puppy who was found late last week by one of my bosses at work:

Yes, I know that window is disgusting, but since Ajay’s nose is on it EVERY time someone is outside, it doesn’t stay clean for very long.

We contacted the Humane Society and learned that a “found” ad has to run in the paper for 5 days before anyone can adopt her. So, I volunteered to take her for a week while we try to find the owners. A puppy means lots of attention going toward avoiding messes on the floor and away from getting other things done.

At least Ajay is having fun with another dog in the house and he’s already teaching her the ropes.

Also ignore the crazy patterns we have going on – we’re renting and we’re very thankful for the deal we got.

We have managed to start some seeds for the up-coming growing season: some tomatoes and peppers, loufa gourds, basil, celery, and a some flowers. And by start, I mean they’re in some dirt – whether or not they’ll grow is totally up in the air. We probably wont do much else this year with everything we’ll have going on. Some broccoli and lettuce will probably be added in, and hopefully some potatoes.

We’re also preparing for our trip later this month. We will be heading back to Assateague Island for a couple nights of camping on the beach, waking up to the sunrise over the ocean and hopefully catching a few glimpses of the horses. I’ve been trying out some dehydrated meal recipes and we took a hike with our packs a couple weekends ago to get a feel for them again. Ajay came along, sporting his own pack and probably walking twice the distance we did.

Yep, that’s snow. One weekend it’s snowing like mad, and the next I get to bust out the flip flops and tank tops. Crazy weather.

Filed under: Ajay, gardening by Rachel
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We had our annual luau canoe trip over the weekend. Two beautiful days on the river, hanging out with friends. And this year, Ajay came along.

We got a few compliments around camp for his good behavior for only being about a year old, but on the river it was another story. Rather than ride in the canoe, he wanted to swim alongside it.

Which would have been OK if (1) he didn’t keep trying to cross in front of it, (2) he didn’t try to get into my kayak (or anyone else’s) and (3) he didn’t just suddenly jump out. I’m sure the temperature had something to do with it, though we tried to give him a little shelter from the sun. But most of the time he was in the canoe, I could hear him crying, and every time I turned to look he seemed to be watching me. So, I think knowing that he couldn’t reach me was also part of the problem, and, he’s the same way with Matt.

Needless to say, he just did not want to stay in the canoe. I’m pretty sure in this picture he’s saying, “I’m in the water, and you’ll have to catch me to get me back in that boat!”

That, combined with an attack of moths that I kept swatting at, made the stress levels on the trip home pretty high. So high, in fact, that halfway we called Matt’s Dad to come and pick up me and the dog.

The trip wasn’t all bad though. In fact we got to see a bald eagle a little closer than usual. I had seen a bird fly over us, but with the sun shining directly above it and through the feathers, it was hard to make out the colors. But, Matt caught a glimpse of it in the tree it landed in up ahead and I carefully got out my camera.

I was very surprised at how long it stayed in the tree with me quietly paddling around below, trying to get a clear shot. The color isn’t very good in the picture because the sun was coming through the trees behind him, but I just wanted to get a picture before he flew away.

Which, shortly after, he did. But I had enough time to switch to a continuous low capture before he took off.

So, I got a few shots of him in flight. I’m pretty happy with how clear this one came out, showing the white spots in his feathers and his yellow feet.

Have a great week!

Filed under: Ajay by Rachel
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Last weekend felt very busy.  Saturday was cleaning/laundry/quilting for me and golfing for Matt followed by hanging out with some friends and setting off fireworks. It ended in a very late night – much later than usual for us. I was so thankful that we didn’t have to be to church until later Sunday morning, and we got to sleep in a bit. Even Ajay didn’t want to get up.

Sunday, after church, we headed out on the Clarion River with some friends for a afternoon/evening trip finishing just before the sun set. It was a nice trip. The guys did a little fishing – our friend, John, even caught a small Northern Pike – and the girls did some floating and wildlife/fish watching. It was so nice to see the different kinds of fish and birds on a river that is coming back from paper-mill pollution. We saw, along with that pike, some bass, carp and a catfish, plus, we heard two birds talking to each other. I think they were Cooper’s Hawks. If you click that link and scroll down to “typical voice” in the “identification” section, you can listen to it.

I don’t have any pictures to share from the weekend, so I’m posting a picture of Ajay trying out his new pack.

He’s going to start helping out by carrying his own food and water and sometimes our water when we’re out on hikes. He’s got enough energy to go around! He didn’t seem to even notice it was on, he just ran around like usual.

I’m planning an update soon on my quilt – I had to order a little more fabic – and also a different way to cook something that is generally thought of as a fall/winter food.

Have a great rest of the week!

Filed under: Ajay by Rachel
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This past weekend my husband and I took our 11-month-old lab on his first camping/canoeing trip. He’s been both camping and in the canoe once before, but never in one trip and never with the both of us.

We left Friday evening after I got off work and made the short trip downriver to an island that we frequently camp on and set up camp.

These are some of our views from camp Saturday morning as the sun was coming over the hill on the opposite side of the river:

Our campfire area and some super-comfy beach chairs borrowed from my in-laws

The fire ring has managed to get very close to the steep bank going down to the river. Well, actually the ring hasn’t moved, the unusually high water we had this spring took quite a bit out of the bank and even washed a large tree down.

Our tent, complete with air mattress, sheets and REAL pillows, because when we travel by canoe we have space to take all the comforts (We even brought our very large and very heavy cast iron skillet to cook breakfast in.)

The sun on the water

Looking down the bank to the river

I think Ajay was loving the fact that he could jump in the river first-thing in the morning and again whenever he felt like it.

This was what I saw upon emerging from the tent earlier in the morning:

The photo quality is pretty bad, but I was more focused on capturing it before they saw me – or Ajay – and took off, which they did shortly after snapping the photo. This was looking the opposite way on the island as the rest of the pictures to the river bank on the other side.

We saw quite a bit of wildlife on this trip. With these two deer there were three or four more and we saw a few on the river banks as we headed downstream to Emlenton. There were lots of ducks and even more geese with goslings. I saw a black snake while packing up camp, actually I almost stepped on it. Lots of fish, of course, though we never got our lines in the water. We saw a heron, a bird often seen along the Allegheny, and another bird that Matt believes was an osprey. I’ve never seen one before, so I’ll have to take his word for it.

The verdict on Ajays trip: I’d say he has the camping thing down, but he needs some more practice sitting still in the boat!

Filed under: Ajay by Rachel
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There’s an old railroad trestle,down by the river that now holds the bike trail. The creek runs through it and drops into a nice size pool below. Matt would throw Ajay’s squeaker off, and he would jump in after it.

He did lots of fetching and swimming until the sight of a copperhead caused us to leave the pool area and head for the river.

I don’t think Ajay cared as long as there was still water.

Have a great weekend!

Filed under: Ajay by Rachel
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