Ivan's first hayride

Ivan (far left) and friends

On the scale of human excitement, I rate hayrides around 2.  I like them and all but, let's face it, the tractor goes about 5 miles an hour and the most exciting thing that usually happens is you get whacked in the face with a branch.  But when St Johns does its annual hayride, they throw in a bonfire, hotdogs and s'mores.  How could I resist introducing Ivan to all these fall traditions?

We sit on the hay bales, right Mom?

Farmer Ann

We got to the Richmond's after a full day, which should have left any normal dog, well, dog-tired.  Not Ivan the Adorable!  After most cars had arrived, I let him off the leash and he ran around like a maniac.  You would have thought he had never seen tall grass.  He bounced, cavorted, gamboled and generally enjoyed himself greatly.

And then it was time for the ride.  We loaded up and made ourselves comfy one the straw bales.  Ivan was content to snuggle with Betty Gill until the tractor started.  Then he was all about driving.  He supervised each twist and turn and his tail never stopped wagging.  Once the trip was over, he jumped down, inspected each of the tires and ran off to chat with his new friends Winnie and Gabby.

Seriously, Mom, let me drive!

Then it was time for food and Ivan thought hot dogs and chips sounded great. He even followed the example of the big dogs and stood under the hay wagon collecting chips and other glorious tidbits as they fell off people's plates.  The bonfire lighting did not even faze him although I never had to warn him away from it. Favorite part?  Possibly the sticks we used to toast the marshmallow sticks!  Ivan thought they were wonderful.

When it was all over, we loaded into the car and Ivan slept all the way home.  He woke up briefly for his bath and brush out (it was not possible to bring all the burrs in Woodford County home with us, but we tried).  As soon as he was dry and fed, he sacked out again and has not yet woken up as of 8:15 this morning.  Awesome day!

Blessings

Well, it has been quite a while since I have posted anything, so this blog will mostly be catch up.  Looking at the last post, I can tell you that a lot has happened since then!

Ivan and I survived his ugly teenage stage without too much damage but I am sure glad that is over.  About three weeks into it, I came home for lunch one day and released the hound from his crate.  He bounced and pranced and kissed the cats and I thought, "we haven't seen this kind of joy in weeks.  Happy Puppy is back!

That was at the end of August, and September flew by with preparations to head off on vacation for the first two weeks in October.  I was having work done on the house and the critters were going to have to vacate the premises for the duration.  My neighbor kindly agreed to take the cats, but Ivan still required a potty break every 4 hours, which meant he needed a vacation spot with a dog door or a person who is home all day.  Plan A fell through at the last minute but I was able to call upon a wonderful couple from church who thought Ivan might just provided them with a little entertainment.

Texas is sulking, Ivan is fine.

Off to summer camp with Ivan

I don't know about you, but I have returned from trips to find sulky, bitter and downright pissed off critters waiting to greet me and to tell me how much my absence has disturbed their daily routine.  I expected it with the cats, I feared it with Ivan.  I need not have worried.  I am not sure Ivan had time to give me a thought after the first night.  In fact, when I stopped by to pick him up, he wanted me to move in with Ron and Kay so that he could have it all.

Father Phillip blessing Ivan

While I was gone, St. John's had their annual Blessing of the Animals on St. Francis's holy day.  Not all churches do this, I think it really depends on how much the rector likes animals. Luckily, Father Phillip likes them all.  I am sorry to have missed it but Ivan was in his element, with dogs galore, one very alarmed cat and one pony.  I hope he communed with God and told him how sorry he was about the whole teenage thing and that it would never happen again.

Since my return, jet lag, recovery from construction and that dratted day job have curtailed much adventuring.  We did make it to the Woodford Humane Society's Canine Olympics, and Ivan has requested that we go next year and participate rather than spectate.  I, myself, am looking forward to getting back to our routine with Lord's Legacy Ministries and our other therapy work, so stay tuned for more on that this fall.