Cherry Trip with the 2nd Cousins

At the beginning of August, we took a Cherry trip with Jim's second cousin's, Lisa and Karl and Karl's boys, Ian and Eric.

We had originally planned on fishing some streams but the forest where the streams were located was closed.  So we did Cherry instead.

It was a great day of swimming, fishing and playing with the dogs.  No trout were caught but LOTS of blue gill!

It was a relaxing day catching up with family and getting to know the younger generation.

 

Lydia 10 Months

 

Surfing Pics

                                            Loved these pics of Kody and Drew playing at the lake!

 

Town Hall

 My team at work was responsible for the Legal Department Town Hall this month.  We went with the theme of "Cool for the Summer" and planned an hour and a half for content with 3 "commercial breaks" between the sessions.  It turned out great and I was so happy everyone got into it!

Fire at PML

A couple weeks ago, we went out on the boat early in the morning to swim the dogs before G started her shift as a boat patrol.  We headed out to our favorite buoy but when we got half way across the lake, we saw smoke from a fire. 

So instead of swimming the dogs, we rafted up to a couple boats that had planned to ski and watched the fire.  Pic above is G and her coworker, Cameron.   It was his last day at the lake as he headed to Texas to go back to school.
 

After about an hour, they finally called in air support and out of nowhere, a giant helicopter came in to get water from the lake.   We high tailed it off the lake and tied up to the dock where we spent the next two hours watching two helicopters come in every 4 minutes for more water.  Luckily the fire was out in about 4 or 5 hours.

Working Pup

Jim and I had to go to Staples and the Sonora Courthouse to make copies and submit paperwork for a lawsuit.  We thought it would be a great experience for Lydia.  Above is Lydia waiting for us to make copies at Staples.  I just tied her to a bench and she napped.  Occasionally she would look up at someone working at the copier right by her but she never stood up!

 Here is she is at the Courthouse waiting for us to finish.  She did an up on the auto door opener and opened the door for us.  The guards working the metal detector were so impressed.   And then we had to go thru the metal detector.   I went thru and had her wait on the other side.  Then I called her thru to me and she went thru it all by herself!  So proud!

Lydia at Work

Part of Lydia's training is going to work with me so she learns how to cope with boredom.   Last week, I went in early and before anyone was there, I took her off leash and threw her ball.  At one point she was just standing around and I asked her where her ball was.  She went and stood by this giant plant.   I got on the ground and hunted all around for the ball and couldn't find it.   So I stand up and look down at her and see it in the pot!  She must have put it there and when I told her to go find it she went right to the pot.  Smarty pants!

Honey Harvest Aug 2022

We harvested honey last weekend and bottled it this weekend.  We had 30 frames full of honey and filled one and a half 5 gallon buckets of liquid gold.

This is the wax capping that we have to cut off to harvest the honey.  This is a messy job!

 After letting the honey sit for a week to get the air bubbles out, we bottled it.  Total was about 75 lbs of honey which was 60 12 ounce bottles and 25 16 ounce bottles.  Plus some that needed more straining in some take out containers.

Lydia Swims!

We have been working really hard at getting Lydia to feel comfortable on the boat and to like to swim.  She usually gets on the boat, curls up in a ball and falls asleep.  I think it is her way of avoiding something that scares her.

Well, last week we get on the boat and she decides she is "all in"!  She goes on the back deck with the other dogs and jumps in the water.   I think what finally got her is she saw Hops swim to shore and play on the shore, so she followed her.  Then the next thing we know, she is taking her turn jumping off the dog ramp and fetching a toy.

Next up - get her so she is not terrified of the toilet and bathroom at work!

Hops in the Doghouse!

I was sitting in the kitchen working and look out and Hops has squeezed her fat body into Ahi's dog house and had her head hanging out looking dead!  She is such a nut.   Poor Ahi is sitting out in the middle of the yard because her Labrador sister thinks she owns her dog house.

Angry Ahi

 

These pics were taken on the boat out at Cherry Lake.  Ahi was sitting in the co-captain's chair and growled at Lydia every time she innocently walked by.   After I got done giggling, I told Ahi to "knock it off" and that is when I got the last picture of her acting like nothing happened!