Reef

Some photos of Reef at 22 months and one shot with sister Ecko and mama Stoker. Ginny was stacking him in these photos and I "cloned" her out using Picnik. This was my first attempt to use the cloning feature and I obviously need more practice!

Weekend Get-Away

We loaded the dogs in the car on Friday evening and made a break for Dick and Ginny's house in Florence. They have a lovely house on Sutton Lake and we got some photos of the mist rising off the lake in the morning. On Saturday we drove a few miles to Carter Lake and the dogs got to have a romp and swim. It was a weekend of eating too much, napping and basically goofing off. Followed by a return to reality on Sunday evening....

Castaic Lake Sunrise

Got home late last night from a weekend Water Trial judging assignment in California. A perfect, albeit extremely tiring weekend: sunny weather, beautiful venue, well-run trial, nice folks and a decent number of passes. I took these photos with my iphone as I was eating my breakfast before judging began on Sunday.

Wednesday Morning Photos

Ecko keeping watch on the stairs.

Chili in the flowers.

Rosebud in morning sun.

My favorite rose. Beautiful colors and aroma.

I'm Walkin, Yes Indeed....

A number of years ago, I would get up every morning before work and go for a run. Half an hour, five days a week, rain or shine.... I was in decent shape and the exercise had the added benefit of giving me more energy and a mood lift too.

This morning, I got up at 5:45 (my usual time), fed the dogs and, instead of taking a nap on the couch for another hour before getting ready for work, I went for a 35 minute walk! The goal is to try to keep this up, but I know from past experience that it takes a week or two before this routine will become ingrained enough for it to be easy to get out the door in the morning....

The dogs had a blast on Saturday with a couple hour visit to the river at Cathedral Park. My friend Rosie and her friend Kim met us there. Kim thinks PWDs are pretty neat and is hoping to get one in the next year and Rosie has always been a big fan of Ms. Chili. We ended up with quite the gathering. Julie was there with Cooper and Tsuzi, another friend of Rosie's stopped by with her Lab and Dick and Ginny came by with Reef. The PWDs are loud and rowdy when they are in free-for-all retrieve mode at the water and if people still want one after they see them in this state, it's a good indicator that this is the breed for them.

Which Came First?

Well, Decker did obviously....

When Decker and I are out and about we get asked a lot whether he is an "Obama dog". My nieces spotted the Beanie Baby version of "Bo" in a store recently and told my sister they thought I would like it. They sent me a little care package, which was really fun to receive in the mail.
There is a strong resemblance, don't you think? In the second photo Decker is being a really good boy not to pounce on Bo and fling him around. He couldn't figure out why I didn't want him to play with the new toy.

My two older nieces visited us in Beaverton when Decker was around 8 or 9-months old. They really liked Chili and she would accompany them to the back yard to play, but they would always ask if we could keep the "baby bulldozer" (yes - that was Decker's nickname) locked in the house as he was just a bit too rambunctious for them.

Ups and Downs

I've been a little down lately due to some minor upsets. I really can't complain, things are going pretty well, but.... I had a pretty lazy weekend and thought I would focus on all the" good stuff" from the weekend:

• I got to sleep in three days in a row!
• I finished a good book that I've had a hard time finding time to read.
• Got to play agility twice with the dogs. We all enjoy that!
• Jan and I cleaned the garage just enough to feel like we had accomplished something but not enough to feel like hard work.
• Reconnected with a friend I hadn't talked to in a while.
• Gave Stoker a haircut. They always look so good when they are freshly trimmed.
• Jan made a batch of fresh spaghetti sauce from our bumper crop of home-grown tomatoes. Yum!
• Woke up with an achy back only to have Chili curl up against my back like a warm and supportive hot water bottle. What a good girly.
• Took Chili and Stoker for a walk on Sauvie Island. We got soaked, but had a good time. Photos below.

All in all a nice relaxing weekend to sing in the rain and stop and smell the flowers.