Winter pups

It's only taken a year, but Jordy will now allow us to put on his fleece jacket before we go out for walkies!!! He's made the connection between the coat and being warm, so much so that he was out there leapin' over logs he was so happy! My little woofs...(Lucy got the jacket that didn't fit Jordy)

Dog party weekend

So on to a post NOT about our new house...

This past weekend was Dog Party weekend! Together with friends, family and pack, we celebrated foliage up at Stephen Huneck's Dog Mountain.




And while Mom was up to visit, I had to make her do something fun and silly, so we made her do the Zip Line over at Sugarbush!


A great time was had by all!

And, if you are looking for a pup of your own, Jessie is fostering one that we can vouch for, as he did GREAT at the dog party and the crazy dogfest that was our place this weekend. If you have a big heart and space in your home, Oscar (aka Rudy) would love to hear from you. Email Jessie at zizias@yahoo.com

Here's Oscar with his new best friend, Eli the prancing poodle.

Update from the Dogpatch

Have I said lately that I LOVE our windows -- here seen from the second floor balcony overlooking the great room.



Thanks to Mom and Dad Henderson for coming up last week and helping!


Resting at home after a hard day's work...

From crete to walls

This week's updates include pouring cement, standing walls and dogs helping out.

Here's where my bed will be in just a few months...

First floor walls start to come together...



Stoli helps out around the job site by attracting all the deer flies away from the crew.


And after a hard day's work at the property, Jordy curls himself up for some doggy dreaming.

Video of Jordy and Lucy at play

Some video of the two little ones at play.

More from the pack

And here I thought Stoli was going to be grumpy...the boys are getting along just fine.

Who says we only like dogs? Here's a visitor of a different kind, whooo was perched in the yard yesterday afternoon.

Our Best Xmas Gift

With mom...

With Dad...


With his new beggin' buddy Bailey at the kitchen's edge...


Catching some midday sunshine nappies...


And just lounging around with the pack.

Settling in to his new home

So Jordy is settling in quite well with his new pack. Lucy is only having a slight issue with not being the smallest anymore...it's a battle of "Who can be cuter?"

Jordy's Homecoming!

In the small window of 36 hours between Friday and Saturday nigth after teh first bout of snow and before the big noreaster hit last night, I drove down to NJ and back in order to pick up the newest member of our pack, Jordy!



Thanks so much to Jacki Lugg and everyone at RatResQ for helping save Jordy from an unfortunate fate and helping him to find his new forever home with us. For the 7 hour drive home yesterday, he started off in the passenger seat....for about 10 minutes...



...until he moved to his permanent snuggle spot for the rest of the drive -- my lap (not an easy thing to navigate driving a stick shift with a 25 lb. dog in your lap!). It was great bonding time for us.

Introductions to the rest of his new pack went well -- not a growl or grumble. Jordy's inquisitive nature is cute, and at least as of yet, has not gotten him into any trouble. He's a smart dog, and clever indeed. He'll keep us on our toes, and I bet he and Lucy will make a great team on adventures.

He slept last night wedged between Seth and I in bed, even after Stoli hopped up on bed with us this morning. Clearly, the king is keeping an open mind about this new little creature cuddling his mom. Jordy is happy, already well-adjusted and ready to settle in.

More stories to come!

Our new pup to be!

We pick him up down in NJ next Saturday!!!

Snow dogs

Just thought I'd share the happy snow covered face of my favoritest dog Stoli. He loves the snow, like an ice pack on his arthritic hips, and it's fun to eat too...

There is nothing like a romp through the powder with the pups after a good morning of snowboarding. Strap on the snowshoes and pack in a trail so their paws don't post hole too bad. Winter time is a tough time for the older pups to get around, but my spunky crew doesn't let it get them down!

Bailey's settling in well

Well, Four days into her new life, Bailey is settling in wonderfully, as are her packmates. Bailey has started to show her playful side. She does the cutest little hopping thing when she gets excited. She's taken to chomping on her stuffed animals to calm her down and has an uncanny knack for throwing them up over her head. Just glad she hasn't started doing that with the dones she's been chewing on!

Week two football plus a new dog in our pack!

Today's update is two-fold. First, football... What can I say?!? 100% performance for two weeks in a row have me once again in the lead. This was an interesting week. The Panthers that so many of you have continue to suck to the surprise of many. The Jaguars are showing a defense that's quite dominant. Let's hope that that can translate into Peyton Manning finding himself on his ass and the Colts finding some challenge in that division. And of course my quick snapshot of this week would not be complete without pointing out WHO'S ON TOP IN THE AFC WEST? !!! Yes indeed, my Chargers continue to kick ass!!!

Standings can be found here.

On to more important things though...OUR NEW DOG!!!

Bailey joined our pack on Monday afternoon. She's an 11 year old black lab from Salem, NH. Her owner had to give her up because they were moving into a small third floor condo in the city to take care of an aging family member. They didn't feel that Bailey could leave the country setting where she had spent most of her 11 years, and clearly with her arthritis could not handle three flights of stairs each day. How lucky she was to find her way into a pack in rural Vermont where she'll live on the first floor with us and have the magic hands of her uncle John the canine massage therapist to ease her achey bones.


Bailey looks astonishingly like Stoli! At times during the drive home from picking her up, I'd look in the rear view mirror and do a double-take thinking that she was Stoli. She's a little shorter than Stoli (typical for females), and has several old person skin flaps -- two are right under each eye and look like teardrops (or eye boogies), but it's cute. I think after we switch her over to our home cooked meals and better vitamins, her coat will shine right up.

We had driven down to Salem on Sunday to do a meet-n-greet with Stoli and Lucy. On first sight, she walked right up to me and lathered my face with kisses. She does the cutest little hopping move as she kisses you. Her and Lucy hit it off quite well, with Bailey doing that little air humping lesbian move that Sammie does when Lucy is around. Stoli was rather cordial when they met and didn't even grumble or flinch when she laid down right next to him and leaned on his paws.

Stoli wasn't AS gracious on Monday afternoon when it was his turn to host her in his home. Stoli was in fact a bit short with her and snappy for the first few hours, but it was rather apparent that Stoli was in fact more pissed at me than at her. He seems to be getting over that -- the spoiled only child that he's been having mommy dog all to himself for the past three months. This morning before I left for work, Stoli and Bailey (mmm... sounds like a good drink, eh?) -- they were sniffing and barking at things together. As I type right now they are lying on the living room floor sleeping butt to butt, like little mirror images of each other.

And so we start a new chapter in our pack. Stoli, Lucy-J (yes, given the new pack we've had to add J for Jamison's to her name so that she too can have a boozey name), and Bailey.

More stories and pictures to come!

Summer Dog Party 2006

Well, the summer dog party at Stephen Huneck's was another winning success for our extended pack. While it was a sad thing when the howling contest came to pass, we did take the time to remember Boodah, our THREE TIME UNDEFEATED HOWLING CHAMPION by placing a picture and some memories in the dog chapel.


Big congrats go to LUCY, who, following in her brother's footsteps, won her third consecutive title as BEST FRISBEE DOG. It was a close competition, with our friend Elwood coming in a close runner up.



Finally, the Halley pack made a great showing, taking home both BIGGEST and SMALLEST DOG prizes for Moose and Maynard respectively. Although they didn't have her category, if they had, I'm sure Sammie would have won for longest tongue!


Next dog party is October 8th.

Did I mention we're in love?

I don't know exactly what has gotten into him lately, but ever since Boodah died, Stoli has found his youth once again and has been a super affectionate love pup. He's now back to being a bed hog. He's taken back his place on the throne of king beggar dogs, and has just had more energy and spirit than I can remember in years. All I know is that I'm enjoying every minute of it and I hope it lasts for many years to come. Who said 9 1/2 years was old?

9 Years Together

June 22 marked the 9 year anniversary of that fateful day when I drove up to Newport, Vermont with my friend Steve to find the puppy who would become my bestest friend and pal. It was indeed love at first sight -- among a pen full of his five other brothers and sisters, Stoli was the one on whom my gaze fixed, and Steve's as well. There was that immediate connection -- that after three months of meeting dogs in need of a companion, I knew that Stoli was meant to be with me. A long and loving drive back to the valley in which Stoli's head nuzzled deeper and deeper into Steve's lap as he gazed at me, and we came home. I soon had that overwhelming sense of "Oh my gawd, what do I do? I don't know how to be a doggy mommy!" Well, nine years into motherhood, I think I've figured out the key points:

1) When you make the commitment, stick with it, no matter what comes up. You have to be in it for the long haul, "for better or for worse."

2) Whatever the costs in money, time or heartbreak, you reap a million times what you sow. It's the best investment -- of money and emotions -- you could ever make.

3) Dogs have so much to teach us. Life becomes clearer and simpler with them in our lives. We should aspire to their wisdom about what really matters in life.

Moving on...

So, it's been a week and change since we lost Boodah. It's still much harder than I ever would have imagined. But, alas, life goes on and with each day, there's more of that sad memory of great times than there is uncontrollable emptiness.

And just one more day now before I start the next phase of my professional life. Thursday is my first day as Associate Director for VPIRG. I've spent much of the past two and half weeks reading up on all the issues that VPIRG works on. I am by no means an expert, but I'm getting a good feel for things. I'm looking forward to starting so I can take on these new tasks and challenges and see what I have inside that PH wasn't able to tap.

There are many things I could babble on about ... planted the gardens yesterday and today. Here, that is. Now we have 2 times that space still to plant over at John and Wendy's! I have a sunburned back from bending over in this morning's early sun to plant. Feels good. Softball starts in a week. That's great. I gues we should get the mits out and practice a bit first. Nah, drinking a bit more is the only practice we need!

Enough babble. Time to finish this bottle of wine and walk the dogs.

I miss my baby