Fun times in Madison

Our last weeks in Madison have been very good. Graduation last Friday was a great time to celebrate with my family. We've enjoyed seeing friends and eating at our fave places. Moving is a lot of work, but we've had great help and time to get things done.

We are also enjoying Sadie, who's now nearly 4 months old. She seems bigger every day and may almost be half her adult weight. She's all puppy, which means she loves to lick, chew, and play. She recently discovered the garden hose. Given her interest in it, we think we can train her to water the yard.

Thankfully, she's also learning some things, including walking on a lease, sitting before being petted, and shaking with both paws. We can't wait until she's better at coming when called and being less rough when playing with other dogs. She's a social dog and has enjoyed our outings to hang out with friends and their dogs.

Ryan did a 10 mile time trial race this morning, with a very long and steep climb. I'm glad I didn't miss the picture because the pain on his face is evident. Our friends, the Gartlands, hosted a farewell open house for us today. We're thankful for this great time to see so many friends and have their help in teaching Sadie to be a good dog. Now it's time to rest, as Sadie is already doing:

Pig and Puppy Playdate

See the video that Kriss shot of Sadie and the piglet greeting each other:

At the farm

One of the things I'll miss in Madison is the Community Supported Agriculture we were part of last year. It's run by great folks who have become friends, Kriss and Shannon Marion. We took Sadie out to their homestead last night where Ryan tuned up their bikes, I helped herd the sheep and goats to a new place to graze, and Sadie loved exploring and meeting all of the animals. Here's Sadie meeting one of the new calves. The horses and larger cows were quite intrigued with Sadie, following her around as we walked near them. They would have gotten much closer had they been able to. Sadie wasn't so sure...Piggy Lou, the mama pig, recently had a litter of pigs. One of them had some trouble immediately after birth and is now being raised inside. Sadie thought she was quite interesting. It looks like Napster 2.0 is telling Sadie a secret...We had a great time and will miss being able to go out to their place to help and hang out!

First Bike Ride

Despite the fact that Pittsburgh has some serious hills, including Canton Ave, the unofficial steepest street in the world with a 37% grade (see a crazy cyclist here: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1344/1403140318_9f138eb6cb_o.jpg), Ryan is committed to cycling all around the city - rain, snow or shine - just ask about the "snow pig".

To this end, he has also researched and purchased a pretty blue, 25 lb trailer to pull with his mountain bike. We plan to use it to take Sadie to the dog park, bring veggies back from the farmers' market, or run errands (obviously, not all at the same time). Here is Sadie enjoying her first ride around the block. The carrier is intended for dogs (or cargo, but not kids) and comes with a leash attachment.You'd think she thought we were going really fast, but how fast can Ryan pull a 25 pound trailer with a 25 pound moving dog?