Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

From the Great Smoky Mountains National Park - We wish you a Happy New Year!

And a belated Merry Christmas.  As you can see, we were all tuckered out and couldn't get to the blog!

Photo with Santa

Here we are at the American Legion getting Scout's
picture with Santa.  At first, like all good kids she
barked and howled at Santa.  Then as the scariness
wore off she calmed down.  Along side of Scout is
her best buddy from our apartment complex "Zoe"
and her Mom, Lauren.



Say "Cheese-woof"

Scout says...

Cuteness to the "Nth" Degree



I want to be a good dog...but it is so hard out here in the Country!!
So, I do my best at looking cute so maybe, just maybe that will distract you!!!



Halloween costume or not?

Scout's true self comes out for Halloween.  OK, she is a sweetie, but does have a devilish side to her.

Guess who has found her voice!

We had one of the local farmers over to bush hog our pasture and guess who decided it was time to find her mojo!  This is the first time we have really heard her bark with earnest.  We were laughing ourselves silly!

Halloween comes early

Scout trying out her Halloween costume early.  What would you name her costume?

There is a new Sherrif in town

This is what you get after 8 days in summer camp, someone else dressing your dog.

A dog of many talents

And you thought all I could do was eat, sleep and poop!

Bundles of Energy

Ready, set....GO!

New Family member

Welcome to our newest family member....This photo

says it all!!!  We went round and round on naming

her...Hannah, Beemer, Asta, Bullet, LT (Little Terror),

but finally decided on SCOUT.  So, welcome to the

family Scout.

 

She is a rescue dog.  We were on our way to Tractor
Supply (a store) to go look at chicks and ducks, just
for fun.  As we were walking towards the store we
heard the sound of barking.  Turns out that a local
animal rescue was there at the back of the store.  I
warned Chris not to venture out back, but the draw of
the "help me" barks was too strong.  Long story short,
we ended up with this docile, cute, lovable puppy. Oh,
did I say docile....wrong answer, well for at least now.

LT, I mean Scout, has some Terrior in her.  We think
Jack Russell and a bit of something else.  The Rescue
society didn't have much info, other than she was picked
up as a stray and thought she was about 3-4 months old.

Here are assorted photos of our bundle of energy...

Out amongst the violets with Daddy...

Time for a treat....

Welcome to North Cacolacki....

How do I look in black and white?

What do you think, is this my best side?

Play time with my buddy....

Sharing a laugh with Mom...

Daddy's girl....

Max Patch, NC

We went hiking yesterday.  It was a fantastic day, sun was

out and the temperature was perfect for a late Feb walk

amongst the mountains of NC.  Max Patch gives you a

spectacular 360 degree view of the mountains of NC

and TN.

The Appalachian Trail (AT), a 2,100 mile trek from Maine

to Georgia crosses the summit of Max Patch.  After

yesterday, only 2,098 miles to go before we complete

the trail.

Our neighbor, Jack's Dad, took us on up to the summit.

One tired puppy...

Maggie Mae...

                     Britt's best buddy...

The old girl still can make your heart melt.

She will be 13 this Spring.

Timber!!!

Good morning! This is a shot of a typical
morning view, the fog comes rolling around
in the morning only to disappear later in the
day. Sometimes the fog is so thick that we can't
even see the big mountain across the valley.
For those of you have been here, you may
notice we had some of the trees in the back
cleared out. It feels a lot different back there,
a feeling of openness, it also let us clear some
of the trees that had a chance to hit the house
should they have fallen.

Well, lately it feels like there is someone coming
and going all the time. We are still cleaning up
from the blizzard of '09. Here's the latest crew,
a couple of local men with their country truck,
saw mill and crew of dogs. Notice the tomatoes
on the side rail of the truck. Chris has been
keeping these two guys supplied with coffee and
ice tea, even fed them lunch one day. So in return,
they brought us some homegrown tomatoes. Stuff
like this really makes us happy, it is the simple
country life that we had hoped for.

For those of you who have never seen a saw mill...

The younger of the two gentlemen. Check out
the hat. Got to have one of these hats if you
are going to be working out in the sun all day
long.

Manual labor in its simplest form...

Last but not least... The support crew...
Cash and Yoda, country dogs on watch duty.

Signs of Spring!

Signs of Spring are ever present these days, the
Farmers Markets are in full bloom. Here's one
on one of the local college campuses.



Although there was plenty of yummy things to
buy here 's what we ended up purchasing. We
have not opened yet, but Chris had a sample and said
it was delicious. This will make a nice snack, maybe
on one of our walks thru the "Cove".



Another sign of Spring, our flowers have
started to bloom. Here we have some large
Irises that are growing on the side of our
stone steps leading up to the house. Our
neighbor just gave us several trays that were
full of herbs, now we just have to get them in
the ground. Will show you those later.


Fresh strawberries anyone! These came out
of our strawberry patch. We had some
neighbors over today to test them out. Add
a scoop of Ben & Jerry's Vanilla ice cream,
and BAM, life on the farm is good.


Did someone mention strawberries? Hey,
wait you forgot something! .....
Moi' - (that's 'me' in french by the way!)

Dog gone....

An old photo, caught a lot of glare from
the shop window so hope it shows up.

You are never too old to Babysit

Our neighbors, Jessie and Ty, just so happened
to be jet setting off to Europe for a nice vacation,
and once we heard that their wee one, Caleb,
was bound for the local kennel, we "the ones
without a four legged friend" offered room
and board.

Adventures of a Country Dog's life to follow:

Caleb's play ground....


Of course, we have to work first before we can
play...


Hey, I said we had to work first...stop frolicking
around and lend a hand.


And you see how well he listened, especially
now that he has a running mate (Jack)!


And you can see by the appearance of this guy,
he is probably not the best to instill hard work
and no play. This shot is just after Jack came
out of the nearby stream...


Best mates!!! You know the saying, if you
can't hang with the big dogs, then stay on the
porch! These guys are definitely not Porch
material.


OMG! More dogs to play with....


OK, I'm tired...Let me in please.

I think I just may hang out here for a bit...

On second thoughts, who I am kidding....

Good Night John Boy!

Jack of all trades

Postal carrier...Here's Jack on his way to pick
up our mail with Britt.


Navigator... Always at the ready to lend a paw.


Foot warmer. Cold feet, no problem.


Sleeping partner. You'll never sleep alone.


Guard dog. Your valuables are safe with him
on the job.


Or is he just safeguarding his dog treats?