At our house today we are all tired and slow after being up most of last night watching Willow the Maremma give birth to her six puppies, three girls and three boys.
It was such an incredible and emotional and humbling part of life to witness. Willow has been napping on and off all day while her still closed eyes pups guzzle hungrily at her teats. She is such a great mama, so attentive and patient and adoring. And we have all been drawn to her like magnets, watching and stroking and checking and admiring.
I've been knitting a few rounds of Jazzy's rainbow dress here and there.
And taking lots of pics of it too.
We have been doing the farm chores and picking raspberries, strawberries, currants and gooseberries.
We have been making cubby houses and sand tea parties and we have been drawing, colouring in, dressing up and stirring yet another frothy pot of strawberry jam.What are you up to?
I hope all is merry and happy and bright at yours.
sounds like it was a busy time.
ReplyDeleteyour puppies are gorgeous!!!
How wonderful for Willow to have 6 such beautiful puppies. I bet everyone is watching over them very tenderly. The rainbow dress is looking amazing in that wool, what wonderful color it has. Glad to hear that your having a very fun and relaxing day!
ReplyDeleteAwwww so so so cute!!!! Love that rainbow dress..I can't wait to have time to knit again :)..have a beautiful day miss kate
ReplyDeleteOh they are just gorgeous puppies & mama!
ReplyDeleteYour girls must be so excited :)
Oh, how delightful, puppies!! Wishing your growing family a lovely Boxing Day & what a way to bring in a new year, with all that puppy love. Love Posie
ReplyDeletearnt those puppies just so georgeous!
ReplyDeleteLove the photos, they are a great reflection of the life of a new mummy dog!
Beautiful puppies. So many lovely things happening at your house. Sounds like summer holiday bliss for children! Lou.
ReplyDeleteOh those puppies!! Beautiful... you will have your hands full in a few weeks :)
ReplyDeleteThe puppies are adorable and dear mama looks worn out indeed. What a wonderful experience. Will you keep many of the precious little puppies?
ReplyDeleteYour knitting is looking so colourful and happy! What a fun ball of yarn. Jazzy must be tickled pink?
I do so wish I could make jam. Not just sweetened fruit sludge. Maybe one day?!
We have been having a lovely slow paced day. I even got an hour to myself in the bath with a book and a coffee, before Cohen woke up and came and found me and seemed to be wondering what Mum was doing in his bath.
My camera died this afternoon sadly. So we decided to pool our Christmas monies and buy a new one. A Lumix FZ40. Can't wait to start playing with it! :)
What gorgeous puppies and what a clever mumma she is. How wonderful to have that experience! And I totally have strawberry jam envy!! I so wish that was going to be on my toast in the morning! Merry Christmas.
ReplyDeleteAwww..love those pups! And sleepy mama. I remember years ago when my own doggie had pups, it was so exciting and amazing. Looks like the hols are in full swing over your way, same here. I'm so happy Christmas is over and life is more cruisy. Lets hang out together one day in the new year...much love xo
ReplyDeleteOh how adorable! What an utterly lovely thing to happen at Christmas, and on Christmas night too! A real gift :) Loving jazzy's dress big time and all your great photos. It's always so lovely visiting here Kate.
ReplyDeleteI've been sewing, winging it with my gingham dress. Hopefully I'll be able to do a show and tell soon. I've just decided I probably won't be able to get into it without a zip and am puzzling over my latest wing-it surprise ;) Have a great week! Kx
Hey Kate, what a wonderful job Willow has done. Maremma's are amazing dogs we used to have one called Vincenzo he was a great guard dog.
ReplyDeleteThe rainbow dress is looking very colourful and your knitting is superb.
I'll be cooking raspberry jam this week, we finally have a good crop after all the rain........
What a gorgeous mama dog you have there - and 6 little identical puppies. So special. You must have a lot of strawbs to be making ALL that jam. I bet it tastes fantastic. I really must try knitting in the round - it looks so neat and tidy!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing and memorable experience for your family to experience with your dog Willow and her pups. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteOh wow Kate isn't it the most wonderful thing to watch puppies being born and what a brilliant christmas present too...is it her first litter? 3 of each how lovely :-) Don't forget they need worming every 2 weeks starting at 2 weeks of age, you can get puppy worm syrup from the vets and give mum lots of chicken wings (raw) for the calcium, she may need some powder supplement in her food as well as those are a big breed of dog. Mine get calcium deficiency and I give them calcium all thru pregnancy and more after the birth. Thirsty puppies are very draining :-)
ReplyDeleteLove the rainbow dress and Gooseberries...how I wish I lived closer, Gooseberry pie and cream was a favourite of ours from England!
I bet the girls are very excited! My Petal is hopefully pregnant too so with any luck we will have more JRTs in Feb....want one?? ;-)
What a perfect day Kate! Sounds wonderful - Willow looks delighted! I am so looking forward to having pets once we move. xo Rach
ReplyDeleteThe puppies and their mum are amazing. (Just read the story over on the other blog).
ReplyDeleteAnd just had to say that this post is filled with stunning photos. You and that camera have quite a thing going on!!
Andi xx
What a special time for all of you to be able see. I still remember when my cow had her calf and I knew I was watching something truly special, a time to remember. Lots of beautiful photos Kate. Today we went and visited family, ate and talked, it's so nice to catch up with loved ones. Have a magical Monday. xo
ReplyDeleteOh that is so beautiful - can't wait 'till my girls get up tomorrow to show them these photos!!
ReplyDeleteLove the strawberry jam too (so hungry now!)
xxxCate
Oh Darling what beautiful Christmas gifts they were! You;re non stop as always. HUGS xo.
ReplyDeleteThis morning we were off to church then I took a long nap in the afternoon, started tidying up some Christmas decorations and got ready for my sister's birthday lunch at my house tomorrow. Table is all set and ready to go. All I need is to pop down to the grocery store in the morning and we're good to go!
ReplyDeleteSo cute. How much joy you will have for the next couple of months. Little fluff balls learning to walk and eat. So much fun. Love this still almost wet look too. Cherrie
ReplyDeleteoooooooooh your puppies are super cute! They will be even cuter little furry balls in just a bit =)
ReplyDeleteI am loving your rainbow yarn - this dress is going to be awesome!
enjoy your Holiday time =)
Ohhhhhh!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! The puppies are so cute.
ReplyDeleteI'm slightly jealous as I love currants and gooseberries. Have to remember to plant some currants next year.
Wow! Gorgeous pups. I am glad that it all went well for Willow. I didn't realise that you had a Maremma! Now that I can't still the wool, I might have to steal the dress. Gollum, gollum...(reference to Lord of the Rings in case you missed it :p )
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to the new Mama and of course to Mama's helpers and admirers. How lovely to see the puppies born.
ReplyDeleteYour knitting looks wonderful as always, I'm sure Jazzy will be thrilled with her new dress.
I love raspberries, we are planning on planting some but I don't know how many plants to put in so we at get at least more than one raspberry each. We only have limited space as well. Any thoughts?
Enjoy some more PJ days.
Jen x
oooh aren't they gorgeous! that would have been a great experience.
ReplyDeletesounds like fun at your place.
happy new year {getting in a touch early!!}
xx
Our puppy Pippie has her birthday on Christmas day too, she just turned 5 :-)
ReplyDeleteThey are just so delicious!
What a beautiful mother she is.
xx
How wonderfully special. Super... and certainly uber ace!
ReplyDeletehow amazing that you all got the experience the birth of those gorgeous puppies! My Dad was a vet and I used to love going on his rounds with him as a child and have the most amazing memories of animals being born. I remember fondly many summer holidays full of puppies too. They'll be lots of fun!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations to Willow and to your family. She and her little family are beautiful. We have 2 Golden Retrievers but we always admire the Maremmer's as they look like bigger versions of our boys!
ReplyDelete