A WET DAY OF FUN!

Well, we got caught in a bit of rain while taking one of our walks today! Being a Boykin Spaniel, it was much less of an issue for Nell and Millie than the rest of us! She is such a great dog! She's already seen her first deer, rabbits and lots of birds while exploring her new home! Even a couple of turtles that she is still not too sure about! She has this way of being bad but looking so cute while doing so that our hearts melt! What a beauty!!!

A Walk in the Park

Today we took Miss Nell down to Colonial Williamsburg for a walk and some lunch. We enjoyed Williamsburg Cheese Shop sandwhiches while Nell enjoyed her Purina Pro Puppy Chow! We took her to lunch in the park at the National Center for State Courts named after my Aunt Florence Leonard McConnell. It's a beautiful little garden with a comfortable bench, blooming azaleas, magnolia trees and tulip trees and lot's of soft green grass! Nell was proud of her heritage with Aunt Florence and enjoyed walking around the grounds of the National Center! The soft grass was a major hit! She is wonderfully social and everyone loves coming up to her and giving her compliments! We are only too proud!

Carolina Helga Nell Comes Home!!!!

FINALLY, our day to go pick up our baby has arrived! Paul and Anita live in Gastonia, NC so it's a long day of driving but it was the best day of driving I've ever had! Mom and Dad drove down with me and at 4am I was happy to have the company to keep me awake! Well, at least Dad kept me awake while Mom caught a quick nap! We arrived late morning at Paul and Anita's beautiful home and were greeted at the door by the Beautiful Miss Carolina Helga Nell!

She is a wild child and loved playing hide-and-seek in the shrubs around the house! She's a very confident, independent and beautiful girl. After some great time of advise and guidance from Anita and Paul, we all packed the car up and started the trek back to Williamsburg. Miss Nell did great on the drive though she wasn't pleased when we hit bumps in the road as she is a bit of a light sleeper! But with a little bit complaining we made it home to our first night together with our new family!

Welcome Carolina Helga Nell - February 23, 2008

Well, I've finally had my wish come true and now am the proud father of my own Baby Boykin, Miss Carolina Helga Nell, born on February 23, 2008. Nell is still with her Mom Skye and parents Paul and Anita Pennell of the amazing Carolina Kennels! I've never had such a wonderful experience with purchasing a pet in my life. The love that Paul and Anita have for their dogs and the Boykin Spaniel bread shows through with everything that they do. They truly care about their puppies and work hard to make sure that we are ready to be proper parents for this wonderful dog! Thank you Paul and Anita for doing it right! While our girl is now born we don't have her with us yet and won't for a couple of months. But Paul and Anita do an amazing job of helping us get to know our baby from afar with great emails and photos on her progress! We can't wait to have her home with us!

ANOTHER FUN DAY IN THE SNOW!!!

Well with temperatures dropping into the teens tonight, the sun didn't have much impact on the snow today. The girls enjoyed another walk on our property! It's amazing how much they love getting out and running around in the cold and the snow. The snow and ice just don't seem to bother them in least, actually it seems to be a source of energy. Watching them run around and chase each other is so much fun. Being so brown in color, the white snow makes them stand out nicely and a bit easier to follow as the bound through the woods. Big sister Maggie enjoyed the time outside as well, but being an old girl, the cold seemed to make the joints a big stiff. Nothing that an afternoon by the fireplace can't cure. As I write I'm enjoying the mellow base notes of Maggies snore. She's been bitten twice in the face by copperheads and amazingly survived both bites! The last one was delivered by a very large copperhead and yet she seemed to do better than the first time. The only impact from the venom appears to be a transformation into a piglet of sorts. She tends to snore rather loudly at night when sleeping as well as during a good hunt. But she's a great big sister and still in great shape and energy for her 10 years. God bless them all as they are so special to us!

Big Browns enjoy Winter White Day

Well, we are enjoying a beautiful snow today in Williamsburg. It started it out with some wet snow and this afternoon it changed to all snow and has now accumlated to a nice inch of snow. It's very wet so it's beautiful as it sticks to every blade of grass, limb of each tree, surviving leaf, and big brown Boykin! The girls really enjoyed a late afternoon walk in the woods. Millie seemed to get a new energy boost and demonstrated her ability to move a lot of big girl around! This was my first chance to see them enjoy the snow and they really put on a show for me. Maggie, our Springer Spaniel, seemed to enjoy it as well but wasn't quite as amuzed with the cold wet snow as the girls were. They even helped Dad with an art project drawing a picture of a snowman! We almost had to get the four-wheel drive out to help little Abbie as she seemed to get stuck at one point but she was able to get going after a few extra kicks!! They also enjoyed a nice warm towel dry off by Dad at the end of the big event, followed by dinner and a nap inside by the heater! Not a day passes that my girls teach me something new and make me see life from a different set of eyes. Beautiful golden yellow eyes that is.

Big Brown Boykins - Millie and Abbie

Welcome to my new blog! I'm using this blog as a chance to share life with my two beautiful Boyking Spaniels, Millie Nelson and Abbie James. In July of this year I left my Atlanta after 17 wonderful years there to move closer to my family and hometown of Williamsburg, Virginia. Getting to spend more time with my folks and family is just wonderful. Also getting to spend my days with my Dad's two precious Boykin Spaniels is an added bonus. My Dad and Mom met me in South Carolina in the fall of 2002 on a mission to purchase a Boykin Spaniel. My brother Jim had died from a brain tumor in August of 2002 and my parents were looking for a new dog to replace a recently deceased Springer Spaniel and to add some new joy to their lives. Abbie was the dog the breeder had reserved for my father. Upon meeting Abbie, Miss Millie realized that her only remaining sister was about to go away with new parents, so she quickly went to work on my Dad's shoes trying to get some attention. Well it worked and much to my surprise they drove back to Virginia that day with TWO beautiful Boykin Spaniels. What a wonderful addition to our home they've been. While they are sisters, they have completely different personalities and appearances. You will not find a more loving breed of dogs, trust me. They are wonderful hunters but also have the ability to melt your heart while joining you for a night of TV by the fire! Stay tuned for updates on our beautiful girls! They will keep you entertained!!