Summer Doings

Hi folks and welcome to another installment.

In May we had the dogs' kennel room renovated with all new ceramic tile flooring and wood siding going half way up the walls. The room transformation was marvelous and the dogs, especially the Newfs, thoroughly enjoy having a brand new room to rest in while we are at work. Now that I have the room painted ( except for the closets ), I can assemble the new Kuranda bed I bought for Zander. Although he loves resting on the cool tile, he also appreciates a nice comfy bed to sleep on. Some years ago, I had a rather cheaply made PVC cot bed made for Mollie and it just wasn't sturdy enough to handle a dog of Zander's weight...so for his new bed, we opted for the aluminum frame.

Things tend to slow down in the summer with vacations and folks doing outdoor things with their families and that gives me time to indulge in my favorite pastimes...watching baseball on TV and my own garden.


I decided to try the Topsy-Turvy planters this year and have to admit I am rather impressed so far with them...I still am not sure how the stems will keep from breaking once the tomatoes get large enough to start ripening. Right now, all we have are some blossoms because due to the chilly early May weather, we were a tad late getting the plants out. Plus, this year we started most of our garden plants from seeds rather than buying all established plants.

This year I decided to try and grow some sweet potatoes since they are a staple in several of the M & Zee's treats and I also keep some on hand and grate them into the dogs' morning porridge meal. They all really like them and it's very nutritious. Of course, another staple, zucchini is also in the garden. I won't be able to provide the apples for another few years...the trees I have are too young to produce and since I lost my large tree last year I have to be content with looking for other local sources for the fruit.

There are a few changes coming here at M & Zee's ; a few months ago I provided ring favors for the Boykin Spaneil Society's National Field Trial ( second year ) and all the dogs , I was told, loved their treats. I also donated two gift Certificates and one winner came to me with a special request.

Seems, out of her 5 Boykins, one has been tested and came up positive for an allergy to Eggs and she asked if I could consider making her dog cookies ( she asked for Apple/Peanut Butter ) without eggs. After corresponding back and forth I gave it a try and although it was different, I have to say that the treats actually came out very well and I was happy to be able to accommodate her dog's special dietary needs.

She was so happy with the batch of prize treats that she wrote back last week and asked if I could make some more...so I went to the other recipes and tried a batch of Egg-Free Apple Pumpkin. They presented more of a challenge because of the moisture content of both the apples and the pumpkin but, they, too came out nicely....she had her order packed and shipped and my crew got the extras....which they are happily devouring.

Sad to say I cannot offer a variety of the Egg Free treats simply because I do not have the freezer storage space...but....if I get another client with a dog having the same allergy issues, I will be very happy to make a special single flavor batch of Egg-Free treats...at the same price as the standard flavors on my web site. All one needs to do is send me an e-mail ... landlubbernewf@yahoo.com and once the treats are made and ready to ship I will just invoice you directly through Pay Pal

I think it's very important to take the needs of the customer to heart ...

Time to take the dogs out and scan the sky as we have some storms headed our way ....

Many CONGRATULATIONS to Bill & Pat Betchley on the ( I believe ) very FIRST Brown Newfoundland AKC Grand Champion: GR CH Bifrost's Gust O' Boradaile.