Merry Christmas!!

From our house to yours - Merry Christmas!

The one and only….

The kingdom in autumn…

Our farm really is a pretty place to be!  We are heading slowly into the rainy season and are very busy doing last minute preparation.   …but, we always take time to appreciate the beauty around us.

Wordless Wednesday - Does the hay look a little floofy to you?

Wordless Wednesday - Garden Help

Another little sneak peak....

In which we find raccoon prints on the trail...

I took the lead after that, as the undergrowth in the forest was quite thick and full of brambles.  Harlow followed behind me, occasionally calling for help when a bramble caught in her coat and she couldn’t pull herself free.  It wasn’t long before I spotted something that I thought Harlow would be interested in.

“What is it, da Momma?” she asked, looking at the tracks in the damp soil.  

“Raccoon tracks,” I told her.

She looked puzzled.  “What is a raccoon?” 

 

“Well, it’s an animal that has a mask and a striped tail.”  I pulled out the notebook.  “Let’s make a note of it, and you can look up raccoons when we get home.”  I carefully wrote “10:03am – found raccoon tracks.”

A sneak peak to Harlow's book.... ;)

One rainy day, Harlow looked at me and said, “We should go exploring, da Momma!”

I looked at her and said, “Where should we go?”


“To da forest,” she said.
I looked out the window at the forest that surrounded our little house.  Since moving to the Pacific Northwest we had done very little exploring.  “Okay, when do you want to go?  Now?”

“Oh no, da Momma,” she said, wisely, “We need to prep!”

…and prep she did.  It took weeks to prepare, and I wondered if it was a nod to her beloved hobbit stories.  She made lists and carefully checked items off.  She packed crackers if we needed nourishment, cookies if we wanted to celebrate, and jerky because she likes it.  We had bandanas, compasses, and maps, although I did note the maps were drawn by her and in crayon.  She packed a small bag of her favorite treats, simply because she suspected she’d be a good girl along the way. 

She made sure the camera was secure and ready to go.  It was important to document our trip, she told me.
 
I made sure we had a first aid kit, and a comb and scissors incase her golden fur became tangled in blackberry.

“What do you think we will find?” I asked her.

“Moose, da Momma,” she said.  “…and wolves and bear…  …and maybe treasure?”

“Could be,” I scratched her behind her ear. “We will make sure to take a lot of pictures of all the things we see.


On a lovely summer morning we started out.  She led the way through the gate into the pasture.
"Which way should we go?" I asked her.

She consulted one of her paw drawn maps.  It was her favorite, done with red crayon, and had little figures of us on it.  "We should go dat way, da Momma." She pointed up the hill.  "We will enter da forest behind the barn."  She smiled up at me, "I also has a cookie for da Baron."  She and my beautiful black Friesian stallion had always been friends.  It didn't surprise me that she'd bring him a treat.

We spent several minutes with Baron, Harlow and him standing nose to nose and me scratching him on his back.  He wished us luck on our trip and said he'd be waiting for us to come home.  With a final pat on his neck we headed behind the barn, to where the forest grew up thick and tall.

It didn’t take us long before we found our first traces of wildlife – deer scat on the trail.  Harlow looked up at me and said “Da Momma!  Write dis down!  All da famous explorers keep notes.”

I dug through the bag and found the notebook she had put in there, and soon realized she had only packed a box of crayons.  Using a bright red one, I carefully noted “8:32am – spotted deer poop”.

Harlow was quite pleased.

With a nod to Poe...

Dere are things out dere creeping,

So to da door da Princess goes peeping...

Da Harlow does not want da drama,

But watch we should, da Momma....

Da bunnies, Momma! Dey can’t be trusted,

Some day soon dey will be busted!

So da Harlow stands here peeping,

For da things out dere creeping....

First published on Facebook January 14, 2017

Weekend Wisdom

"Dere are two sides to every puppy, da Momma...  Da underside and da upperside, and dey both need petting." ~ da Princess Harlow

I iz wise pup indeed.

Wordless Wednesday - Princess with a Pearl Earing (Guest Post by Leigh!)

Making New Friends

Our move to Washington has brought a lot of changes.  We are a little farther from the friends we have in Arizona, and while social media, texting, and the phone allows us to stay in touch, our pups don't have the same abilities.  Harlow especially is very social and loves making new friends, so we were excited when she met a fellow Golden named Sable on our walks.

Da new friend, Sable!

It was amazing how similar their color is, but Harlow is definitely the smaller of the two, and definitely has floof to spare!

Where we going, new friend Sable?

Sable's da Momma and I are hoping to get our girls together for a swim in the lake - when the weather warms up a bit, of course.

A view of the lake through the trees.

On a side note, have I mentioned we have trees to spare up here?

Seriously.  Trees.  Everywhere.

Until the warm weather returns, we have plans to take both pups walking together.  Our pretty little girls definitely need to spend some bonding time together!

Is da shnooter clean for dese photos, da Momma?

Wordless Wednesday - Golden Girl

It's all about the social media!

Since 2017 is going to be a banner year for the crew at How Sam Sees It, I thought now would be a good time to remind everyone that you can also follow us on a variety of other social media outlets - Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  I've included links on the right for each.

Follow da Harlow?

The Princess would like me to pass along that she would be very honored if you would like her page!  😉

Wordless Wednesday - Pouty Princess Edition

We are still here!

We will be returning!  After my Mom passed I needed a little time to get back into the swing of things.  I miss blogging, have a list of posts and thank you's I need to do....

Harlow wants you all to know that she has been very busy in our absence.  Here we are having a meeting to discuss the running of the estate....

She's a busy girl!

An old-fashioned barn hunt....

A week or so ago I took Harlow to find out if she'd like to try barn hunting -  a sport where a pup has to find a rat (in a tube) hidden in a maze of hay bales.  Harlow is really focused on catching critters in the yard and we thought this might be a good way to direct her efforts.

Just a quick note on the rats - they are secure and are given treats and attention when they go into the tube.  I was worried that they would be harassed, but it was just the opposite.  The rats actually came up to the Harlow and were super friendly and laid back.  Donna invited me to visit her rats and I found their conditions to be excellent - large clean cages to move around in, company and consideration for age and status of each rat.  She even had a retirement cage for one rat - he was too old to be in with the other rats or be a barn rat, so she provided him a fantastic home with lots of comforts to live out his life.

Now back to Harlow...

When we first got there, our instructor Donna held a rat in front of Harlow.  Harlow, we found, is a very quiet hunter.  I have to watch for her ears to prick to show me she found something interesting.

Hi dere, rat.  I iz da Harlow.  I will be finding you tonight.

Harlow really enjoyed seeing the rat.

Really?  You like cheez?  So does da Harlow!

Once Donna knew that Harlow understood what a rat was, we took a test with three tubes.  One was empty, one had bedding and one had a rat in it.  Harlow had to alert to the rat and she did with flying colors.  Donna then hid the rat in the hay and we worked on Harlow climbing bales and going through the tunnel.  She found her first rat too!

 She also found time to make friends with Donna...

Smooches, teacher!

I iz climbing!

We gave Harlow a break, and then Donna hid the rat for real!  Here is a video of Harlow's first attempt at finding a rat where neither she nor I knew where it was.  I left my questions in just in case someone else would like to try - they may be helpful!  If you can't see it below, click here.

Donna had lots of homework for us!  Overall, we thought it was a huge success.  Harlow finished up her lesson with a special thank you for her new teacher.

Da Harlow luvs you.

 What did Harlow think of it all?

Dis da best, da Momma!

Wordless Wednesday - Life on the Farm

Furry Friday Mysteries: Part 3 - The crime is discovered, but will Harlow catch her suspect?

If you missed part two, click here.

Harlow knew she was closing in on Slim, but still had found no sign of Monty Moriarty.  As in her Uncle's time, she knew that Moriarty would prove to be a most formidable foe and had escaped several times.  She hoped that by  capturing Slim and uncovering their plot she would her finally put Moriarty behind bars.

"Da Momma," she said,"why do you suppose they are flooding the market with counterfeits bills?"

I had no answer for her and we spent the next several hours throwing around ideas.  The only thing we could think of was that perhaps they wanted to devalue something they were interested in buying.

"...but what?" Harlow asked, gazing blankly out the window.

She showed incredible dedication to solving this mystery.

We sat in silence for a while, and then, her mind working in the same genius way her Uncle's had, Harlow looked at me and smiled.

Her grin was sheepish.

"It's fruit, da Momma.  Washington state is known for fruit.  They must want to flood the market with counterfeit bills to force inflation high and make folks leave, and then they'll buy all the fields and corner the market on blackberries and blueberries!"

I was amazed at her logic.  I queried how she had come up with this thought.

"Uncle Sam left a note regarding a vice Monty Moriarty has, an addiction to fruit that has been the driving force behind his past criminal activity."

It was brilliant.  ...but we still did not know how to catch our suspects.

"I fear we may lose Moriarty again," she said.  "Slim however, has been frequenting a burger joint several times a day."  She handed me a photo.  "This grainy surveillance photo shows him there just this morning."

This was definitely the criminal known as Slim!

Despite the fuzzy appearance of the photo, I could tell it was indeed Slim.   I asked what our next step would be.

"We will wait for him, da Momma," she paused briefly on our way to the car, "and arrest him when he arrives."

In a short time we arrived at the restaurant and it did not take long for Slim to appear.  Harlow sprang from the car and yelled, "Slim, you are under arrest!"

We should have known he would not go quietly.  With amazing speed he jumped at Harlow, and a spectacular battle ensued!

Harlow, watch out!

He was definitely not going down easy!

Had Harlow lost?

I'll admit, I feared for Harlow, but she fought our suspect courageously.   In no time at all she subdued him, and we felt secure in our knowledge that one of our suspects would soon be behind bars.

Shifty eyes....

It was only after that she paused to reflect on the day.  "Da Momma," she said thoughtfully, "I fear Slim will not be long in jail before he finds a method to secure his freedom.  This caper will only be over when Monty Moriarty is in jail."

Her face was very serious.

Only later would I realize just how prophetic her words were.

 Join us next Friday for Part 4 of our mystery series!  ;)

Wordless Wednesday - Insanely Happy Harlow

Wordless Wednesday - Flaunting da Floofs