Lucas in the Lake

Hi,

Last day of vacation. This is about the farthest Lucas will go in water. Butch our first Springer loved the water. Not Lucas. It was 80 today so he was willing to go in without out much prodding. I actually got outside today without Lucas following me. He has been "helping" me all week. Wherever I go so does he. I find myself looking for him if he isn't nearby. He'll be 10 in August. He just started slowing down a little in the past couple of months.

DW

Lucas, Me, and Sport

Hi,
This is Lucas' first play date. Sport is 4 years old and they hit it off fairly well. Sport started out by barking at Lucas and I thought here we go, but Lucas never barked back and they made friends after the initial butt sniffing. Sport is one of the nicest Springers I have met. His owner says he is just the sweetest dog. Lucas and Sport have very similar spotting. Sport's owner thinks they may be related. Could be. Anyways it was a fun day and Lucas got to roam free for awhile. He came when he was called and really behaved himself.
DW

Lucas in the backyard

Hi,
I am on vacation and have been working every morning for about 2 hours in the backyard and Lucas is "helping". Any damp open ground and he will dig (I have used this to my benefit on a number of occasions especially with weeds) He is also the chief inspector of anything I am doing and his big paws trample things really well. I have noticed that there is no dog poop in our backyard, so I am assuming that the daily walks he takes is the only time he poops. He is a thoughtful dog at times. I am happy to say he is getting much better with other dogs too. He has met several new dogs lately and has displayed very little aggression.
DW

From Flowers so pretty to Chestnuts

Hi,

We have a dwarf Chestnut tree in the back yard from the previous owners. The tree is large now, but near near as large as the chestnut trees across the street. This tree is at least 25 years old and is about 12 feet tall. The ones across the street are about 75 years old and are at least 40 feet tall. This is the first year our chestnut tree has so many flowers. They are beautiful. I think all the rain we have had has been very good for our tree. Lots of chestnuts this year.

DW

An error in judgement

HI,

This is a Robin's nest. It had three beautiful eggs in it a few weeks ago. Mom was happily nesting away. I thought that is not a good place for a nest. Mother Robin didn't realize it maybe, but there are a family of feral cats in this area. Also this nest offered no protection from the elements and we had a nasty few days of rain. It appears she abandoned the nest. I looked everyday for three or four days and never saw her again. I looked into the nest and saw the three eggs and when I looked into today the eggs were gone. I didn't see any shells anywhere, so don't really know what happened to them. It is a beautiful nest. So I guess even the best laid plans are sometimes not good enough. She will be smarter next time. Too bad humans don't learn as easily.

DW

I Love Trains

Hi,
This train came into town in April of 2005. It was a dinner train. I can't remember all of the details, but I do believe they do this once a year and go to different places each time. My Mother and I used to take the train to Upper Michigan every year for a vacation. Her family lived up there and it was always a great time. I remember stopping in some of the small towns for sandwiches. It was a magical time when things went slower. I loved that train ride. Now it is too expensive to ride Amtrak and it surely doesn't go to Upper Michigan.

D.W.