Happy New Year, and ...
December 31, 2021
... can you believe how big these young people are getting??
The Hanigan Kids, November, 2021
Hello, my fond and faraway friends - long time no see! I cannot BELIEVE it's been an entire YEAR since my last post here!
This was definitely the longest "break" I've ever taken from blogging - unintentional, certainly, but that's just the way the ball rolled around here this past year! As for most of you I suspect, 2021 - much like 2020- was an up and down kind of year for us. (I'll share a family update in an upcoming post.) But for today I wanted to get my January 2022 planning sheets posted here for those readers who like to use them!
My apologies that A. they are so very last minute, and B. I only have the first PDF (January) to share so far. #dontmakepromisesyoucantkeep 😬 I do have the whole year in draft form and I will be adding more PDFs here over the next few weeks. Watch for that pinned post at the top of this page to update soon!
Ok, here is the first in a 12-part installment:
Please feel free to print and use these at home for your personal use. If you share the sheets online, I'd appreciate a tag or link back to my blog (or IG acct.) and as always, let me know if you have any trouble opening the files! :-)
(Speaking of IG - or Instagram - if you are able to access that platform, I post there almost every day. Do check my feed for a peek at some of our "doings" this past year.)
Ok and now, finally, since I have you here ... I would like to share some very happy news that just unfolded over the past couple of weeks ...
We have a dog now!!
My friends, please meet, Fenway! This is our yellow Lab puppy who is all of 8 weeks old and just came home to live with us yesterday. Isn't he handsome??
It's kind of a neat story how his arrival came to be, and if you'll indulge me a moment or ten, I'd love to share it!
About a month ago we decided we wanted to get a dog, but it all came about after a few twists and turns! Little Bear (as you know, an avid animal enthusiast) had been campaigning for some kind of pet he could handle (as in, hold, pet, play with) in a way the cats (bless 'em) don't really allow. So that ruled out fish, turtles, birds and lizards (though each were considered, briefly) and then hamsters and guinea pigs also seemed a bad idea (re - the aforementioned cats) ... and then finally we seemed to settle on the idea of a bunny. Bill even purchased an adorable used bunny hutch and we started planning for how to go about getting ourselves a bunny and how (on earth) we would keep and manage that bunny.
Then I had a very important conversation with a dear friend who owns a bunny as well as three dogs, and after that chat I realized A. a bunny was not a great fit for our family (or at least, Little Bear's needs) and B. we might actually be ready for a dog!
What happened next was a very quick and fortuitous thing. We started out looking at many different adoption options. Our priority was choosing a breed that was known to be gentle, good-natured and comfortable with a large, busy family. Healthy, happy and hale, and as easy-care as possible. So we started searching different prospects online, when one day, Earlybird and his therapist bumped into our neighbor who introduced them to her new lab puppy. When she learned we were in the market for a new puppy, she told them there was one still available from her breeder ... soooo we called right away and spoke with said breeder, and because we had the reference of our neighbor she offered him to us!! All the other pups were spoken for ...
So we visited this pup the very next day and absolutely FELL IN LOVE! 
Fast forward two weeks to yesterday, the day our pup was ready to be brought home and now - here we are!
What do the cats think, you might wonder? Well ... it will be a slow warm-up I think. So far, they are mostly just curious and perhaps a little on edge. Both parties are aware of each other, but we are not allowing any contact yet. All "socializing" is done through gates and crate doors.
So we are going to take the introduction slooowly. Fingers crossed, they'll at least learn to tolerate him - and yes, he does match the cats - even the chickens are "buff" colored! 
🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾
Anyhoo - as I mentioned above, I will have a family update for you in an upcoming post (hoping to do some Wintertime Teas), but let me just say briefly, that we are all doing well. Crackerjack actually tested positive for Covid the morning after Christmas, but he has been in isolation since (feeling much better now) and the rest of us knock on wood are fine. (Little Bear, who has a bad cold, tested negative yesterday.) We are all vaccinated (even LB, who gets his second dose this week) and very careful about where we go and always wear masks in public. But such is the state of things now, nearly two years into this pandemic - breakthroughs are happening and a countrywide surge is upon us again. Let's hope and pray 2022 brings better days!
Be safe and well, my friends and I wish you all a very Happy New Year! I will see you here again very soon ...
xoxo ,
~ Dawn