Atwood Lake In October 2010



Where Did It Go?

Wow! The summer went by so fast. We got a lot of work done at home and it seemed easier to keep up with the chores. Maggie continues to grow and has become part of the family. We had many 90 degree days this season, but also many weekend storms. Many of them occurred while we were at the lake.

I want to take more pictures (I know I've said that before) and have family and friends up to visit more often next season. We did improve on our method of travel this year though. We sold the F150 and purchased an '08 Jeep Wrangler Sahara Unlimited in Kendallville. This gives us more creature comforts on the highway and large cargo capacity, without sacrificing offroad capability.

The fall has been good to us this year, and we're hoping for a mild winter so we won't have to be couped up indoors. We now have some lake friends on Facebook, so that should help make the winter seem shorter. I guess we'll do some indoor projects and do some organizing too. All the kids are doing ok and they all made it to Jennifer's wedding in October. Work has been busy and stressful for Shelly...I hope things calm down!

The Torch Is Passed

Maggie, our fifteen year old Cocker Spaniel, passed away at the end of February. That was a tough time for us. Misu (17) and Sandy (6) are still around but I think they missed her too. All of our dogs have been family bred and raised puppies. We came across a family that had a litter of puppies so we went to check them out. The first born was a little cutie that looked a lot like Maggie, so we used her namesake and took home Maggie May.

We bought her a new crate and Beneful Puppy Formula to get her started. I was a little worried about her first night (from past experience), but she did great. We had a blanket with her litter scent but she wanted to sleep on my mowing sweatshirt. She also wanted the "big dog" food, so we went with the flow. Mags got along fine with the other dogs and she was good in the Jeep.

Maggie is truely a people dog! She loves to lay on or against our feet or follow us from room to room. Her personality is very much like the first Maggie. She is the light buff puppy in the pictures below. These were her one month photos.

Nice April!

Spring has been good to us this year. We've been down to the lake three times this month, but we've gotten into a sun-during-the-week-rain-on-the-weekend pattern. A lot of our attention this month has gone to completing some much overdue projects at home. Painting, new doors, yard/garden work has kept us busy. We are ready to "shift gears" whenever the weather does.