Swenson Gardens

Tag Archive: peonies

LIFE ON THE PEONY FARM – Part 3

As I posted earlier on life on the peony farm, we were expecting lots of snow during the day but with the warmer temperatures, sleet is now coming down. Hoping it turns back to snow when the temperatures cool down as the beginning of winter here was an ice skating rink. I went back to some earlier pictures of Redd and Heidi and came up with this photo. If only Redd could foretell the growth of Heidi as I found an earlier picture of those two last winter in this next photo.

Heidi at 2 months old.

Redd was an easy going guy at that time and very protective of her. Fast forward to 15 months old and oh how times have changed in this next photo.

Heidi at 15 months old

Heidi tries her best to take over the dominant role but in the next photo, she hasn’t got the hang of it yet?

Redd is still #1

Though it gets fierce during these battles, any soft whimper from playing too hard is met with stoppage of play to assess any injuries. Don’t worry (like I do when they are playing hard), they seem to know their limits. A stand off occurs in the next photo.

Redd and Heidi taking a breather

Redd is 9 years and 5 months old. I tell him that Heidi is keeping him young! He doesn’t seem to hear me and most of the time he is actually the instigator. It was funny last week when Heidi decided to venture off on her own and didn’t return for food time. When she finally came home after Redd had finished eating, he reprimanded her fiercely to the point of her pinning her ears and tail between her legs when she entered her kennel for breakfast. I will give Redd the credit on that as since then, she does not venture off on her own. If only we could understand dogs barks and growls. Speaking of food, ok ‘bingo’s’ (as I like to call them), time to come in for food in this next photo.

Food time!

As you can see in the photo, Heidi was already licking her chops for food time! My how their demeanor changes when its time for breakfast and supper. We like to feed them twice a day as we think it is better health wise for two very active dogs. I’m not sure if they like to eat or go for a ride best in this next photo.

Take a selfie dad!

Because it has been way too cold for our dogs most of this winter, yes ,they have taken over our Suburban (of course when its not stuck in our driveway from a previous post). We do not allow them to run free when it is below zero and when wind chills are dangerous. Redd takes over the passenger seat and Heidi loves to put her front paws on the console to look outside. As you can see she is a tad too tall for her ears to be held high. Since Heidi is our first German Shepard, I am amazed at her watchful eyes for all our family. Redd being a British Lab is more interested in the wildlife and birds around our peony farm instead of staying close to us. They make quite a pairing though when going into town for errands. Life on the peony farm doesn’t get better than this in the winter time!

LIFE ON THE PEONY FARM – PART 1

What a winter we have had here on the peony farm. For us and I’m sure many others, we are surely looking forward to spring! Record snowfall and extremely low temperatures have been the norm since February 1st. With another 6-14 inches of snow forecast for today and tonight, that could mean a total of up to 55+ inches of snow that has fallen here since February 1st. YIKES! Thankfully as I look out our front door this morning, the peonies are nice and toasty under the much needed snow that we haven’t had for the past few years.

Winter 2019

During last weekend’s blizzard, it took 3 hours to plow out our driveway so we could venture down to the main road.

Blizzard 2019

Can you find one of our snowmobiles in the next picture? Snowmobiles are supposed to be on top of the snow not buried beneath the snow!

Snowmobile

Yes there have been a few vehicles stuck on our driveway! Thankfully no one was injured other than our pride.

As we hunker in later today for our upcoming winter storm warning, it still amazes me how beautiful the sunsets are here on the peony farm in the winter. Perhaps this beauty helps us through the trials of snowstorms?

Sunset 2019

Hope you and yours are surviving winter in your area. Maybe in a few weeks or months(s) all of us will be breathing a sigh of relief from the winter of 2019! At least for us, life on the peony farm continues…