So besides the dogs (and puppies when we have them) I have other thing that keep me busy, especially in the spring and summer months.

I love to have a garden. Some years are just too busy with puppies and I give up trying to have much of a garden or it ends up very small. This year, I made sure to get things in the ground before our trip. And hubby made sure the dripper hoses were in and working before we left so it would be easy for my SIL to take care of. There are only a few things that need to be hand watered. And thankfully while we were away, it rained quite a bit which saved her some work and really made the garden grow.

A garden is a lot of work; from planning, to planting, weeding and watering and then harvesting and preserving (whether that be canning, blanching and freezing, dehydrating or pickling). But nothing tastes better than home grown veggies. And knowing where my food comes from and what’s “not” sprayed on it makes all the work worth it. Plus I find it kind of therapeutic too.

This morning I picked strawberries, raspberries, peas and some arugula. Yum!

And then there’s these hay burners that need tending too.

I used to ride a lot! But the last few years I haven’t. But that’s another story…

But they still need to be fed, watered, their feet trimmed on a regular basis, groomed and worked with.

Right now hubby is busy cutting hay in the back field. (The field, which is just a big meadow of grass, belongs to my FIL). Years ago, we bought a baler with my SIL (the other horse owner in the neighborhood) borrowed the neighbor’s little sickle bar and started cutting and baling our own hay. We still have to buy some, but it does save some money doing as much as we can from my FIL’s fields.

Once the hay is baled, I’ll go out with hubby to help pick the bales up and haul them to the barn to be stacked.

So as you can see there are more things to do than just play with puppies and dogs. But I enjoy all the aspects of our country life (most of the time) and keep extra busy this time of year!