I'm a Sophie Doodle Dog!

I want to take this opportunity to apologize for the four months between my blog updates.  While I am an avid on-line reader, I'm not so much a consistent on-line writer.  Sophie keeps me busy but so does being a farmwife, grandma, and friend.   Today was spent gathering groceries at the local butcher and bulk food store.  If you've never had the chance to visit an Amish community, I would encourage you to do so.  I spent some time with my middle nephew and his son.  Tough times have come their way and I hope we are able to do what families do best, support and love our own.  We celebrated our oldest son's birthday two weeks ago tomorrow and, tomorrow, we celebrate my youngest son's birthday.  I love them both! Next weekend we're hosting the extended family for grandma's birthday.  More posts to come.  I promise!   Sophie is sitting by me as I write.  We hope you have a wonderful weekend and are able to spend time with...

Six inches of rain on the farm over 3 days.  It is often annoyingly humid here in central Illinois to begin with and after all the rain, it seems even worse!   Working in the yard feels like working in a sauna! I walked out of the gym yesterday to find my sunglasses fogging up as I walked to my car.  The rain came in buckets with winds blowing, lightning crashing, and thunder rolling, then slowing down to a gentle shower. Our mailbox blew over, a first, and a dead apple tree fell over in the wind that accompanied the storm.  We needed the rain because the crops were dry. We had to hire a tree service to take out a huge tree in our front yard.  As far as I can figure, it had to be over 65 years old.  It provided the most lovely shade and I am heartbroken to had to have it cleared away.  The tree we planted to replace it looks so tiny. It was struck by lightning shortly after we remodeled the house.  The strike killed a neighbori...

Happy Turkey Day! Sophie helped her momma decorate a Christmas tree for the local hospital's fundraiser.  Actually our offering is a wreath on a mirror with a matching tree.  Who knew the level of stress accompanying the design of such a donation!  There have been no less than four different attempts at the design.  In momma's opinion, there is nothing worse than GLITTER.  She has had glitter everywhere over the past 3 weeks! Usually, momma helps a friend with the set up and isn't in charge of actually designing the tree.  This year her friend asked for our help because she had the gear for two more trees donated by a lovely retiree who moved south and didn't want to take it all with her.  The two, along with her own tree would be quite a challenge for one person to decorate.  Momma said yes, she'd help and as such, momma was blessed with the bronze/brown decorations to design a tree on her own.  In all honesty, the tree and wreat...

It rained yesterday!  The first significant rainfall we have had in a couple of months, 3 inches.  (Cue the 'happy dance')  My very favorite farmer is smack dab in the middle of harvest and, although it stops them from being in the field, the rain has multiple benefits; it gives him a break to make needed repairs, it will improve the yield of both beans and corn, and it will lessen the risk of fires.  My VFF had to stop harvest last Saturday to bring in his combine and water it down.  A mechanical problem caused sparks and the bean dust and stems were smoldering... very dangerous.  In the past two weeks there have been at least one field fire and our neighbor's combine went up in flames while he was at the house for lunch.  I'll give a better explanation of fire hazards in my next post.   For some reason, Sophie is tied to me at the hip!  She is often a very "needy" doodle...she wants love and LOTS of it especially if she is in...

Hi there, friends...or soon to be friends!  My name is Diana and I am the human voice behind Sophie Doodle.  Sophie is a Bernedoodle, which is a cross between a Bernese Mountain dog and a standard size Poodle.  She is 3 and a half years old, she is mostly black/silver with a beautiful white Phoenix on her chest.  My doodle-dog has the most beautiful, big brown eyes.  I was hoping to get a tri-colored puppy, but they are not very common.  When you can find one, I have noticed they tend to be VERY expensive.  She weighs 75 pounds but thinks she is a lap dog, which can be a big challenge.  Sophie is very lovable and very bouncy!  I sometimes believe she is the reincarnation of Tigger...Winnie the Pooh's friend.  She literally bounces on all fours when she is excited, which is most of the time.  My Sophie is still very much a puppy, the vet says it may be that way for some time to come.  Oh. My. Goodness!  I'm so glad you stop...