We have had to say goodby to another one of our beloved dogs. Duchess, my buddy  for fourteen years passed away on Saturday. She had a good life and loved the farm, especially the pond and the creek. She was drawn to water and loved to swim and go for walks around the farm. She was a great companion and will be missed very much.

This time of year Tank has such a heavy coat of long hair and so he has to be clipped. It's a 2 day job. Deann uses shearing shears on him and it is a slow process. There is about a bushel of hair when they finish. When he is done he looks quite different. Zen is next and she has as much hair as he does.

While visiting with my brother and sister-in-law, J and Patti, at their lake house on Rough River, we decided to go on a picnic. We had a lovely boat ride to the Sandy Beach area, which by the way was under 5 ft of water, so we just had a picnic in the boat on Sandy Beach. It was a wonderful relaxing visit with a nice fish fry and even a campfire one evening so I could roast some marshmallows.

I think the babies are so cute and so much fun to watch them wander around eating grass and playing in the water.

The Honey Locust trees around the farm are stunning right now. They all have full bloom and the air is sweet with their odor. These trees are interesting. Any other time of the year and they are really sort of ugly and scrappy looking but they sure put on a good show in the Spring.

Walking on top of the hill and noticed that the daisies are starting to come up. This is the first full bloom I've seen this year.

Deann picked up her big, red, shiny new pick up truck today. It's a 2006 GMC 4-wheel drive. It'll be helpful for hauling all the goats she's raising this year.

We have two male geese and so Donna ordered some females to go with them. When the first 2 arrived one was dead on arrival so the company would send us another one if we ordered another one. They won't ship one alone. Which Donna did, so we have 3 females now. The first one is only a week older but is twice the size. They are very cute and have bonded with us, we are mother. Donna takes them for a walk to strengthen their legs since we have to keep them in a pen until they are bigger.

Donna leads the way through the woods on our walk. I enjoyed walking in the woods so much. The dogs did also. It is so peaceful and quiet and beautiful.

Yesterday I had a wonderful Mothers Day and it ended with a wonderful walk with Donna and all the dogs among the locust trees in bloom around the pond, one of my favorite places on the farm this time of year, and then a long walk through the woods where Donna has been cutting a path. Thanks Donna and Deann.