Fayston, Vermont. Thank you for following along with our adventures in the Green Mountains of Vermont. To celebrate our second year of wagmorevt, here’s a video slideshow of some of the best of last year’s photos. Enjoy!
For daily photos, please follow me on Instagram @skimor, or search #wagmorevt.
If you have a comment to share or would like your dog to be featured (if you’re within 50 miles of the Mad River Valley in Vermont, I’ll come to you), please fill out the contact form, below.
Lucy, Linus & Charlie Brown
Fayston, Vermont.
“Mom, don’t you ever want to pet just one dog?”
“No. I just wish I had more hands.”
Fayston, Vermont. Barking woke me up. Linus and Charlie were sounding the alarm downstairs, loudly. I looked at my bedside clock: 11:30. Probably a mouse or maybe a raccoon on the deck. I’m not going downstairs. Charlie spooks easily and Linus barks at the t.v. The visitor will move on, then the dogs will quiet, I told myself as I pulled the pillow over my ears.
The barking became even more frenzied, joined by a third voice. A low, deep, measured bark under the alarm bells. Lucy. Golden retriever who’s never met a stranger Lucy. Hers was not an alarm, but a call for back-up.
I made my way in the dark, down the stairs as fast as my arthritic joints would allow, switched on the outside light, and shrieked with surprise. I was standing a few feet away from A BEAR.
We looked at each other through the window, the bear blinking at me in the sudden light. I took in its beautiful, thick, glossy coat and healthy, bright eyes. It was full-grown but young. Probably the same one who left prints on the driveway recently. A leaf was dangling from its mouth like salad interrupted. I wanted to reach through the glass to touch its head and brush away the food from its face.
“What is it?” my husband finally called down from upstairs.
“A bear,” I softly replied, not wanting it to run away just yet.
“Big or little?”
That’s a ridiculous question, I thought. Instead, I answered “In-between?”
Footsteps down the bedroom stairs broke the spell. The bear plodded around our emerging herb garden and ran into the trees at the back of our yard. (The dogs are not as polite – they run straight through the garden.) We could still see the bear in the shadows cast by the outside light.
My husband returned to bed. I waited a long while before I went on the deck to close the gate. I brought inside the Brussel sprouts awaiting transplant. One of the plants had definitely been nibbled, but the others were untouched.
I guess bears don’t like Brussel sprouts.
Ed. note: Our house borders on state land. When we bought the house about six years ago, the sellers told us we’d have a moose and bears. We were not concerned as we were coming from New Jersey, where the bears are big, sometimes aggressive, and love throwing pool parties. Since we moved in, I’ve seen a bear on the road a few times, but not close to the house. In the yard, I’ve seen an ermine, an eight-point buck, and all sorts of rodents and birds. Plus a variety of reptiles and amphibians. Linus met a porcupine once, but that’s another story. Where the driveway meets the road, I’ve seen a family of fishers, a doe and twin fawns, turkeys, and a coyote. Still waiting to see a moose.
On a walk a few days after the visit, I smiled as I followed familiar bear tracks down the middle of the road. The footprints made wilderness-styled street markings drawn in the dirt, a message left by my neighbor.
Slightly off-topic from Fayston, VT. For Mother’s Day, I bought myself a new sewing machine. Fashion frustration has brought me back to the sewing circle. Sometimes my favorite Carhartt cargo shorts are, well, too casual. Jeans are warm in the summer. I’ve been looking for a simple, comfortable shift dress that looks presentable at work yet withstands the daily mess that my life produces, and – this is very important – has pockets for my lens cap and dog treats.
If the story sounds a bit familiar so far, it’s because it’s similar to how Lilly Pulitzer first started. The company that bears her name is a long way from Lilly’s first simple dresses that she made to wear at her juice stand. Today’s Lilly is too neon, too short, too low, too much lace, and too expensive for every day, dog-slobber-and-muddy-paws-wear. I’ve trolled eBay, etc, for old school, pre-neon no-lace Lilly that someone discovered unworn in the back of a closet, with a couple of great finds but a whole lot of yuck. Then I googled “lilly shift dress pattern.” BINGO. My frustration is shared, I found.
I learned to sew from my mom, who made adorable dresses for me when I was little. Except that I preferred pants. She also made these really cute bean bag frogs, which she would sew for each of her kindergarten students. I started as a helper in the frog factory. Over the years, she made a few frogs for me, too. I still have my frogs.
As a teenager, I sewed a few things I actually wore. I remember a particular skirt I made that I loved, but it almost gave me detention. My prep school dress code specified skirt length, and I made it to spec. The dean was not so sure. He stood me against the wall and measured my skirt, from waist to hem. I didn’t gloat, but a sly smile crossed my lips as I went almost skipping to my next class.
I should also thank my step-mom for patiently letting me invade her sewing room to make a formal dress when I was in college. I remember that it was a royal blue dress and blue stuff went everywhere in that room. I’m really sorry for the mess I made, still.
Fast forward, I sewed curtains for my newborn’s room. On the last panel, I broke my machine. He’s now finishing his first year in college. Sewing machines have become less expensive, lighter, and computerized. I think I’ll start with a bag, then perhaps move onto a jacket for short-coated Linus, as he’s cold in the winter. I found some great polar fleece fabric that would look great on you, buddy. Looking at all the fabric, I can see why quilting is so popular.
I’ll eventually tackle that dress.
Thank you to moms everywhere for their loving patience and guidance. It does stay with us, always.
I think the party’s over there…
Fayston, Vermont. Wagmore is one! To celebrate this first anniversary, here’s a look back at some of the many wonderful dogs and their people who participated. Thank you for your continued support and sharing – and here’s to even more fun in year two!
Merriam meets the gang from the next office.
Waitsfield, Vermont. With Linda and Bill Barnes and Merriam the puppy in the Festival Gallery, where Linda volunteers. This is an adoption update from my October 29, 2015 post, Special Edition(s).
Merriam, aka Merry
I went over to see the puppies at Dirty Paws Pet Spa, and I called Bill. I fell in love with a puppy. And we took the puppy. We couldn’t take her that day because it was Bill’s dad’s memorial service. We had to wait until Monday. We knew immediately that she was for us.
She terrorizes the cats – she thinks they’re supposed to play. The kitties don’t play. They growl. Then they hiss. And they bat her in the nose. They don’t have front claws so they don’t hurt her.
She knows when she’d done something she shouldn’t have because then she’s under the bed.
Charlie Brown started it. Lucy did not catch him…
Fayston, Vermont. Wagmore Wednesday slid into Tail-Thwap Thursday this month as life obstructed my blog schedule. I became a spontaneous and accidental tree hugger last month – I now sport a souvenir dent on my helmet – and I somehow managed to hurt my arm and shoulder in my low-speed crash, thus impacting my ability to hold my big girl camera. Excuses aside, the mild January weather allowed comfortable snowshoe walks in the woods and shenanigans in the yard. The snow is all but gone now. What will the weather be like in August?
Rusty, at his forever home in Waitsfield, Vermont
Waitsfield, Vermont. With Brigitte Ritchie, co-founder of Golden Huggs Rescue.
Rusty is from Louisiana. When I adopted him I had just been diagnosed with cancer. Adopting a Golden was on my bucket list. I found him on-line in a Lousiana rescue. They told me that he had been hit by a car – he was a neighborhood doggie – and he had heartworm. The shelter called the rescue to tell them they had two goldens, but when they got there, they were told that there was another one in the back, but he’s a total mess. The gentleman that runs the rescue, well, he took one look at the dog – named Rhett at the time – and he took Rhett in his car straight to the vet. They took his leg off and started to treat him. When I got him, he was only about a year old. He was driven up. No transport company, no rules or regulations. That was about twelve years ago. I was startled with the realization about all those kill shelters: They gas them, about 35 at a time, then put them in trash bags at the curb for the city garbage trucks to pick up.
So that led to me going down there, meeting people, and saying there’s a supply-demand thing. There are people that can help, and Pet Finder, and all that.
Sadie
Sadie’s from Tennessee. I rescued her when she was about five. The people that had her were moving and couldn’t take her. She came all trained. She’s an alpha female. I can’t have any more female dogs with her around.
Bodie
Bodie, the little one, who’s not little at all anymore, came because my son complained that he wanted a puppy for once. I had adopted out a lot of puppies. Bodie was only five weeks. He’s the comedian of the group.
Rusty just keeps going. I just can’t believe it.
We have quite a few dogs in the Valley now. We wanted to start a rescue – there are four of us – where you answer phone calls, help people, and don’t disappear when the dog gets here. We remain a resource. I don’t have a facility so I can’t take owner turn-ins, but I have rescuers locally that will. The groups help each other – it’s a nice community around here.
To learn more about Golden Huggs and view dogs currently available for adoption, please visit the Golden Huggs website.
If you have a story to share, please contact wagmorevt!
Note: When a litter of adoptable, adorable, healthy puppies is maybe 50 yards away from my office desk, I am compelled to break my own rule of not featuring dogs up for adoption. I was armed only with my cell phone for photos, and these puppies are wiggly and snuggly – you’ll just have to see them for yourself. Oh, that new puppy smell!
With Cheri Bovee at Dirty Paws Pet Spa.
Waitsfield, Vermont. I drove to upstate New York, about 2 1/2 hours. It was very, very rural. They had kept her [the puppies’ mother] chained to the axle of a pickup truck, but it was supposed to rain so they put her in the pickup truck. When we arrived it was 92 degrees, and she was in that truck. No windows open.
The litter has four females and one male. They are nine weeks, they’ve had their first set of shots, they’ve been wormed three times. They’ve seen Dr. Hadden from the day after they were born.
Re-homing fee to adopt a puppy is $250 each. The mother has been adopted out already. My goal is to give every dog a home of their own, with their own boy or girl – a place of their own.
Visit the lab-mix puppies at Dirty Paws Pet Spa, 5081 Main Street, Waitsfield, Vermont. Telephone: 802-496-7297.
Mavis & Cleo with CeceliaFayston, Vermont. With Susie Snow and her daughter Cecelia, along with Mavis, Cleo, and Simon.
MavisMavis came from Riverside Rescue in Lunenburg, Vermont. She’s eight, turning nine in January. Mavis came from this woman – she was an older woman – who had a mixed breed female. The woman kept breeding her, selling the mixed breed dogs for $50 each. The litter before her [Mavis], all the puppies died because they had a brain abnormality. So when they took Mavis’ litter to Lunenburg, they told the woman that they’d take the mother too, but they need to spay her. So she was finally spayed after Mavis’ litter.
CleoCleo came from Potter’s Angels. We just got her off the truck – we hadn’t met or anything – and she’s fabulous. Cleo’s turning four, in December.
They both got lost in the woods together for three days last year, down at my father’s camp in Reading. When we found her, Cleo had attacked a porcupine. Quills were in her mouth and her legs. She couldn’t walk on one of her legs. We feel that Mavis helped lead her out. It was amazing. When we got the phone call that they had been found and went to pick them up, we took them to an emergency vet in Rutland. Cleo had quills everywhere. The quills had been in so long that the tops had popped off. When we had to take Mavis out of the room, she cried and cried. Their bond was so strong. We think that Mavis saved Cleo’s life… Cleo’s never off the leash now.
SimonSimon, who is my cousin Kelly’s dog, was found in a ditch in Tennessee. He was 2-3 weeks old. My cousin Kelly’s best friend found him. They had him for about six months before Kelly adopted him. He lives in Warren village.
Note: I met Susie through her work with Golden Huggs Rescue, for whom she had previously fostered dogs. Susie performed our pre-adoption house visit before we adopted Lucy.
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