This Moment

New baby chicks are here!  Currently they are residing in a cozy box in our guest space, until their feathers grow and the weather warms up. 

New at the homestead: Part 2 Puppy

As mentioned, spring brings new arrivals to the homestead.  The second addition here this past month has been a puppy that we found as a rescue through the local humane society.  We are not quite sure of his mix, but were told he is part Norwegian Elkhound/Lab Retriever/Border Collie.  He's a cutie!  Despite the work involved with a brand new pup (teething, teething, teething) we have all settled in well together.  The pup (named Lucky) has adjusted easily to the rhythms and routines of this house and has become a huge part of our everyday on the homestead.  He follows us around like a little shadow, gets into everything (but in the funniest ways), and is in general a very mellow little fellow.  He just loves company, so trots along wherever we are gardening or harvesting or working.  He loves to wrestle sticks (or socks), is gentle with the kids, and we are so very happy to have this little guy around.   We're still working on introductions with the chickens, as Lucky loves to break into their yard and follow them around (he means no harm, but the hens go into a tizzy).  We've had some really helpful training sessions and puppy socials with our friend Michelle who runs a local force-free dog training business called Canine Evolution.  She did a few house calls for initial training during the first week, which we thought was amazing.  Our daughter has been doing much of the training with Lucky, so it's become a large part of her homeschooling focus this spring (the theory is that really anytime we interact with him or play with him we are in fact "training" just by reinforcing different kinds of behaviour, good or bad).