It's the little things

Had a lazy Saturday morning (photos on the patio and in the yard below), followed by a trip to the lake (in cool, overcast, rainy weather) to test out Martha's newly repaired boat. Picked up the pace a bit on Sunday with tomatoes and basil to plant and yard work to do...

Chili posing on the retaining wall.

Stoker showing off her toy.

One hand on the camera and the other tugging with Stoker...

Stoker and Ecko tugging.

Deckers turn to pose.

Siblings learning to jump from the boat. Ecko (right) and brother Cooper.

Argue for your limitations,...

...and sure enough they're yours. ~ Richard Bach

I love this quote and the book it is in (Illusions of a Reluctant Messiah) and passed out a stack of business cards printed with motivational quotes like it at my last water workshop. After we ate lunch on the second day and everyone was getting a bit tired, we sat around and read quotes and discussed them. In the same vein, I really enjoyed this recent blog posting by Susan Garrett.

Maybe it is the spring weather, but I am feeling motivated to get working (well, playing really....) with the dogs.

Yesterday, each of the dogs had a quick, energetic five minute session with the weave poles. I worked on weave pole entrances with all of them and limited myself to only motivating them with a toy. That was a bit of a challenge with Stoker and Ecko but they did really well and all of them made a bit of progress and pushed their understanding of how to find the correct entry.

Having done a few workshops this spring, there was money in the budget for chiropractic adjustments for Chili and Decker today. Both of them were moving a little tighter than I like to see and Chili had even been a little off in the front for the last week. They need to take it easy for a few days following their adjustments, but Stoker and Ecko each got a follow-up weave pole training session tonight and did really well. Stoker was really bounding out after the toy and even barked at me to get me to play with her with it. Ecko also did super and was very enthusiastic for the toy tonight. Brilliant dogs, just need to push the buttons right....

How does your garden grow?

"Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?"

My garden seems to be growing quite well right now and I am feeling very thankful today. In no particular order, here are some photos I took this weekend of just a few of the things I am thankful for.

Spring! Love this photo of four happy, healthy doggies playing in the yard.

• I am thankful they are happy!
• I am thankful for the beautiful spring weather and the big yard we have for them to play in.
• I am thankful for having such a great agility instructor who lets them channel their athletic ability. Thanks Venita, hope you will forgive Ecko and I for not practicing between classes....
  

Shasta, Decker's girlfriend who came to visit a few weeks ago.

• I am thankful Decker got a girlfriend and will be super thankful if he and Shasta have fantastic puppies who give their owners as much joy as Decker has given us.

A magnolia in our backyard. The velvety black background was provided by a PWD who wandered underneath...

• I am grateful for the beautiful things around me and for paying attention enough (sometimes!) to actually see them.
  

Our patio beautification project on Sunday.

• Time are tough all over and, like most, we are on a tighter budget than usual, but I am thankful that we can still spend money to make things pretty and bright around us.
  

Chili keeping a close eye on the patio beautification project.

• Thankful for our Chili-girl and the fact that the oldest member of our canine pack still has plenty "get up and go".
  

Stoker

• Thankful for the constants in my life: dogs that are always at my side, my honey Jan (who puts up with an awful lot), and good friends who are always there for me.