Apple of my Eye

Every year when Autumn rolls around I take the obligatory trip to Highland Orchards, home of the cider donut, pumpkin picking, fresh apples, canned preserves and goats!

Ammo the Dachshund // Highland Orchards

Ammo the Dachshund // Highland Orchards

Ammo the Dachshund // Highland Orchards

Ammo the Dachshund // Highland Orchards

Ammo the Dachshund // Highland Orchards

Like most of the children there I humored my parents with having my photo taken in the fall cutouts.

Ammo the Dachshund // Highland Orchards

Ammo the Dachshund // Highland Orchards

But we all know there is really only one reason to take a trip to Highland Orchards (besides a bite of cider doughnut)…

Ammo the Dachshund // Highland Orchards

…the goats!! Now last year the goats gave me the stink eye, so I was careful to be a bit weary the second time around.

Ammo the Dachshund // Highland Orchards

I have to admit those fellows are starting to grow on me, even with their sharp pointy horns.

Ammo the Dachshund // Highland Orchards

Although I was still somewhat relieved that there was a fence between me and them, after all I was sorely outnumbered.

Ammo the Dachshund // Highland Orchards

I plan to visit the Highland Orchard goats again, if only to get on their good side, because Mom says we may be getting goats on the farm in the near future. Yikes! Ammo the Dachshund

Fall Jacket Time

Ammo the Dachshund // Fall Jacket Time

It’s that time of year again where I get to break out my fall and winter wardrobe – as it’s been getting a bit cooler now.

Ammo the Dachshund // Fall Jacket Time

I tend to wear my jackets a lot more when I’m on the farm – gotta keep warm and toasty when hunting for groundhogs.

Ammo the Dachshund // Fall Jacket Time

And as a bonus, I look extra stunning in yellow.

Ammo the Dachshund // Fall Jacket Time

Ammo the Dachshund // Fall Jacket Time

Ammo the Dachshund // Fall Jacket Time

Ammo the Dachshund // Fall Jacket Time

The horses are sooooo jealous. Ammo the Dachshund

 

Mounted Games and Versatility with the Ponies

On Sunday we held another competition at the farm.

Ammo the Dachshund // Mounted Games Competition on the Farm

When we hold competitions, they typically aren’t what you think of when you hear “horse show”. No, you won’t see any fancied up ponies parading around an arena earning marks for good looks. Instead you’ll see handy ponies navigating obstacles in our versatility trail and top speed racers vying for a first place finish in our mounted games events. It’s totally my kind of event, which is why I volunteered my services to judge.

Ammo the Dachshund // Mounted Games Competition on the Farm

Ammo the Dachshund // Mounted Games Competition on the Farm

We had a variety of ages and skill levels attempt our challenging obstacle course, all of which were hoping to win the jackpot cash prize!

Ammo the Dachshund // Mounted Games Competition on the Farm

I put on my most serious face, and took to judging the riders with great scrutiny. Looking for those who worked well with their ponies, and navigated the obstacles with ease.

Ammo the Dachshund // Mounted Games Competition on the Farm

As you can imagine, it’s quite exhausting to use your serious face all day long.

Ammo the Dachshund // Mounted Games Competition on the Farm

And inevitably I had to take a short nap to regain my strength so I could score the mounted games portion of the day.

Ammo the Dachshund // Mounted Games Competition on the Farm

Scoring the mounted games events is quite difficult, because not only do you have to keep your eyes peeled for rule infractions, but you also have to keep a close watch on the finish line in order to catch the placings. It’s such a challenging job that I enlisted to help of several scribes.

Ammo the Dachshund // Mounted Games Competition on the Farm

Ammo the Dachshund // Mounted Games Competition on the Farm

Sometimes the riders come into the finish neck and neck and you really have to pay attention!

Ammo the Dachshund // Mounted Games Competition on the Farm

Ammo the Dachshund // Mounted Games Competition on the Farm

Don’t worry – I was on the job the whole entire time!

Ammo the Dachshund // Mounted Games Competition on the Farm

Ok, fine, there may have been a quick nap between races – but I swear that was it! Ammo the Dachshund

 

Our next competition on the farm will be held on Sunday, October 7th. If you are in the Chester County, PA area I hope you’ll consider coming out to compete or cheer on the teams! It’s always such a fun day! More details here.

Leaf Break

Things are a little quieter around here now that fall has arrived. The shop slows down a little bit before the Holiday rush, the ponies start growing their winter coats and I don’t have quite as many things booked on my calendar.

ammo the dachshund in the leaves

So it’s nice to take this little fall break and play in the leaves.

ammo the dachshund in the leaves

Did you know that you can find buried treasure in fall leaves?

ammo the dachshund in the leaves

It’s true, I’ve seen it with my own eyes.

ammo the dachshund in the leaves

All you gotta do is wiggle your little nose and let it lead you too it.

ammo the dachshund in the leaves

And if you can’t find the treasure, than I hate to tell you, but those darned squirrels probably took it. Sorry pal, I guess you’re out of luck this year.

 

Incognito

spider the kitten

It’s fall on the farm, and it’s my favorite time of year. Even Spider the kitten is excited about the new fallen leaves.

spider the kitten

I have to say I’m a wee bit jealous of her – as she’s become a master at going incognito in her leaf surroundings.

cricket and spider

Even Cricket can’t figure out how not to stick out like a sore thumb.

trooper

And Trooper, don’t even get me started on him, sometimes I don’t even think he tries!

ammo the dachshund

I on the other hand “might” be able to pull off the incognito look, had somebody (*cough* mom) not dressed me in BRIGHT BLUE! Sheesh!

ammo the dachshund

But, despite my shortcomings in the incognito department I can still chase the cats….

ammo the dachshund

….and romp with the dogs. Blue coat and all! Happy Fall to All!

 

It’s Carving Time

Yesterday was Pumpkin Time, today it’s carving time! And boy did I carve some amazing pumpkins this year.

carved pumpkins

ammo the dachshund frolicking

Ok fine, I might have done a little more frolicking and a little less carving.

ammo the dachshund frolicking

Alright, maybe it was a lot of frolicking.

ammo the dachshund eating popsicle

I might have also taken a few Popsicle breaks. Yum.

ammo the dachshund pumpkins

But in my defense I had two willing parents suckers to do all my pumpkin carving for me.

ammo the dachshund pumpkins

You can pretty much get away with anything when you’re super adorable like me.

ammo the dachshund

Happy Pumpkin Carving to me! (and all my blog-land friends too).

It’s Pumpkin Time

ammo the dachshund with pumpkins

Do you know what time it is? If you guessed pumpkin time, then you would be correct! And these fine pumpkins you see – well I got to pick out all of them!

ammo the dachshund with pumpkins

Mom and Dad took me Hurricane Hill Farm to pick out my pumpkins, and I was so excited I couldn’t help but let out a yell.

ammo the dachshund with pumpkins

Last year I did the corn maze, but this year it was all about the pumpkins.

ammo the dachshund with pumpkins

There were so many pumpkins to choose from I really didn’t know where to start.

ammo the dachshund with pumpkins

ammo the dachshund with pumpkins

Slowly I began to load up my wagon with all my favorites.

ammo the dachshund with pumpkins

And I might have licked a few, you know, just to make sure I was picking the tastiest ones.

ammo the dachshund with pumpkins

At the end of the day I came home with a wheelbarrow full of the very best pumpkins.

ammo the dachshund with pumpkins

Do you like the pumpkins I picked? Any other pups out there know of some other dog friendly pumpkin patches? Do tell! Tomorrow I’ll share what I carved into my pumpkins!

 

Swimming and Dining

Don’t worry, when I took a dip in the Brandywine River over the weekend I made sure to swim BEFORE dining out.

ammo the dachshund swimming

ammo the dachshund swimming

ammo the dachshund swimming

Ah! That was just the right amount of refreshing on an 80 degree fall day!

ammo the dachshund dining

Dinner out at Appetites was grand, although the waitress failed to listen when I ordered the steak! At least mom was willing to share her hot ham sandwhich with me. Yum Yum.

 

An Apple A Day

Friday is the first day of Autumn here in the good old US of A. Which means the apple tree in my back yard is looking a lot like this lately:

apple tree

apple tree

Fall is my favorite time of year, not only is my Birthday in 2 weeks (October 5th to be exact), but it’s the anniversary of when I met my family. So to pre-celebrate the lovely fallness, I had a little chow down on my first apple of the season.

fall apple ammo the dachshund

fall apple ammo the dachshund

fall apple ammo the dachshund

This means I don’t have to go to my annual vet check up in November then, right?

Goat Monster

On a recent trip to Highland Orchards I met some dogs goats monsters.

goats

Mom reminded me that I have met goats before when I went to the corn maze last year.

ammo the dachshund meets goats

True, maybe I had seen goats before, but these were not the SAME goats.

ammo the dachshund meets goats

I know, because I sniffed them.

ammo the dachshund meets goats

I mean they smelled friendly enough I guess.

ammo the dachshund meets goats

But friendly or not, I quickly realized there was like a bazillion of them….and only one of me. Yikes!

ammo the dachshund meets goats

I may have spent the rest of the day looking over my shoulder – you never know when a group of goats monsters might sneak up behind you!