When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

In the last few days the weather has not cooperated. We have been getting a lot of rain again, and yesterday we had water in the house...again. I have never seen anything like it in my whole life. Roads are closed in many directions. Two miles from us, the Rte 443 (a major road here) is missing - 6 miles of it got washed away.

Yesterday we were looking forward to Suzanne Clothier's visit as she wanted to come and see the pups. On her way here she got trapped in a parking lot in Cobleskill where a major flooding took place, and she was stuck there for seven hours. Never made it see us. How disappointing and frustrating.

In spite of the poor weather the pups have been expanding their territory. They sleep in my office, but during the day they can move freely downstairs through the hall to the downstairs bathroom and mudroom. They really like running and playing there. Today they had a nice playing session with Bella in the mudroom, and at the same time I had a washing machine and a dryer going there. It was pretty noisy but they did not seem concerned. When they get tired they go on their own back to my office and pile up to sleep in a crate. Pretty amazing that they do that. Paika is not sleeping with them any more, but in the morning she is very anxious to see them. She lets them nurse occasionally, but I also give them solid food about twice a day. Actually they like to crunch her dry food and now their teeth are up to the task.

Playing in the mudroom

Plastic bottles make good toys. Pups thrive on novelty!

Bella was pretty good with pups, and the playing session was beneficial to her and to them.

Bella is a retrieving fanatic.