Cardigan Complex

Photodump #6

2011-12-07T20:37:00.000-08:00

Football season makes a Happy Simon!

2011-10-05T19:36:00.000-07:00

As you can see, his quarterback rating is pretty high. ;)

I also pointed out that this ball was the size of his head; and of course, Simon Did. Not. Care. If it can be thrown to be caught and fetched, Simon will catch and fetch it, no problem. Now he's got it down to a science- he picks it up by the laces and carries it back.

Blustery days and Rainbows...

2011-10-03T21:52:00.000-07:00

Went to the beach the other day with Simon, Tempe, Nancy and Nugget. Nugget needed some baby free time, being as he's been a great dad to his merry crew. ;) Wind was blowing like crazy, it was just so hard it was stinging your eyes... but we dodged the pouring rain and found a gorgeous rainbow.

Tempe, posing on the park bench. Almost six months old in this shot... purdy girl!

Of course, no trip to the beach doesn't involve rolling in stinky dead crabs and then washing yourself off in the ocean. Simon jumped right in. Nugget (who did NOT roll in stinky carcasses, because he's a good boy...) helped Tempe realize that water was pretty fun... ;)

Simon is always a photo opportunist!

Awww... see, little friend? The water's fine. Come on in!

Five months

2011-09-07T20:26:00.000-07:00

Is she really five months already? ;) Yep! She is, and prettier by the day, if I do say so myself. ;)

PS: Fun fact of the day. Her favorite bait is dried strawberries and fruit leather. She will give up any sort of meat for fruit leather. ;)

Photodump #5 (And an adorable puppy!) ;)

2011-09-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

Random summer fun -- well, fall fun! ;) Hahah, Tempe is growing like a weed... she also has her official name now - Samhain Silver Lining at Stonelight.

Also, I am totally thrilled to announce that we've got half of a new addition to the family. ;)

I am so delighted -- I absolutely adore these wonderful dogs and I absolutely adore their owner.

Meet - Galena's Golden Rule -- "Ginger" who I am totally head over heels with -- and will co-own with her fantastic breeder (and awesome friend) Nancy, of Galena Cardigans. She's a Nugget daughter (and he's one of my favorite guys ever, handsome and sweet) out of her girl Kate (who I also adore!) Ginger's going to live at Nancy's house -- which is just a short hop from mine, haha.

I get to socialize her and help show her ... bonus points is that she gets to tire out Tempe (if anything CAN tire out Tempe) and then go home. ;) Awesome. More bonus points that I can photograph her. ;) I'm working on my Tri-color skills. ;)

To me... it's amazing, I had all these years in Shepherds, and I'm only in my third year of Cardigans. And I can say that I have learned more, laughed more, delighted more, and made some of the best friends I ever, ever have had, showing dogs or not.

I sure can't thank Nancy enough for this opportunity. Also for having that darn song stuck in my head again. ;) Darn you, Burl Ives.

True facts: I totally watched the heck out of Rudolph as a kid! (I also wore a set of cardboard antlers and taped a red paper nose on my nose for nearly all of December until I had a raw nose, hahah. There is photo evidence of this, but you'll just have to take my word for it, because it's sure not going up here, hee! ;) )

Makeshift hurdles... ;)

2011-08-26T22:05:00.001-07:00

It's not a park bench! It's obviously a cool Simon game. ;)

Remodeling woes...

2011-08-04T21:01:00.000-07:00

So... we decided to remodel our kitchen. I'm going to now call it the world's most expensive sink - because seriously, this all started when our ancient sink finally rusted out in the bottom and leaked all over the floor and Tempe was darting through the puddles as if she was Debbie Reynolds and Caleb was right behind her swinging like Gene Kelly.

It was one of those things that was supposed to be straightforward. By straightforward is that everything was supposed to be done within a few days... and that it would all go as smooth as glass, right? Simple as pie. Cabinets out, electrical in, etc... Wrong. Oh, so so wrong.

We had these awesome soffits around our ceiling that we wanted to get rid of. They were holding up some very ugly (as you can all see) cabinets. Like gee we're stuck in the late 70's, and I'm listening to Disco Star Wars in my really cool roller skates and there's a glitterball overhead. I'm going to say for the record that I hate the color Harvest Gold. It's not really a color, it's a state of mind. This state of mind affected everything from our previous linoleum floor to the cabinets to the countertops. I have been staring at these Harvest Gold counters for 15 plus years since I bought this house, and I did get the joy of humming the tune from The Office and hitting it with a sledghammer, which yeah... it was a high point of the remodel so far.

However, the soffits should have keyed me in, right? Simon says, see the hole in our ceiling?

You do see the hole in the ceiling, ta da! This is where our soffit was. This is also where the builders of this house gave us our first clue that they were a bunch of quickly trained monkeys. No, that's not fair to the monkeys. They would have said, "Hey, you know, we should probably nail this support into the beams before we actually put up these soffits." Which the humans didn't do -- in fact the soffits were being held in by NO support work, they simply slapped up two strips of metal and mudded over that. Which I suppose was better than the cabinets... which were supported by two nails driven into drywall of said soffits, and uh, the 30 year old paint they painted the room. Now, I stored all my dishes, cups and glasswear in these cabinets. How we did not die is beyond me. Hooray for fools and homeowners, I suppose.

Simon says: "Inspection is key, ahem. Dogs don't build like this. We dig a hole, we support the walls, thanks!"

As you can see, Simon is very concerned about inspecting everything. My dog could be a better house inspector than these men. Each step we dig into this "easy" remodel? We find one thing after another. Huge holes ripped in the walls and hidden by cabinets when the electrician previous came in and they mudded over the wall and couldn't find the cords so just punched a ton of holes and ripped it through when they did. Drywall (like sixty pounds of it) stuffed in between my drywall and the outside walls, we had to clean that all out first, and I have a bad feeling it's in every single wall within - that was a lazy, cheap way of getting rid of scraps and not having to pay to dump them or cart them out of here. Our plumbing was incorrect. Our measurements for the electrical we had done - also incorrect and scarily incorrect. It has turned from a three day breakdown and done to a solid week.

Oh, and we are redoing our dog run fence. See, years ago, I had put in a dog run on the left side of our property. Over the years, the gravel has shifted and the run has sagged and it was looking a bit ghetto - safe, but rather ugly and I felt awful. The person next door bought a house that had been unoccupied for like 5 years and redid it. I was embarrassed, and I wanted to clean it up and make it so gravel didn't go into this man's new yard, etc... now, mind you, the house is empty. It's been on the MLS for 450 days now - and no takers. The yard is ah... rather in bad shape. No curb appeal, nothing. I wouldn't look twice at it, to be honest.

So, I start to redo this fence, the people are on MY property line, and the guy comes over and screams his head off at the employees doing this fence. We're putting in a retaining wall, leveling, and then we're going to put on artificial grass. It will be neat, clean, and no longer have any odor issues, period. He throws a fit over the damage to his grass (mind you, what grass? They haven't watered this lawn all summer and it looks horrible, with big bare spots, etc...) Then he says he lives there, and ... uh, he doesn't. He lied several times to the workers, he threatened them, he screamed at them, and he was flat out rude. Then he parked a car across the driveway so no one could get in or out. Charming little rotter.

How do I know?

Because my mother wants to move to our area and she had looked at this home as one to purchase, but it's overpriced and under-done. I told her I couldn't recommend it - and I live next door to it. Then he screams at my poor fence guys and gets in their face and shakes his finger at the fellows... but he won't come over and talk to me about any of this, says he doesn't f-ing care. Sigh. You know, I've lived here 15 years, we don't have any issues, we're quiet, we're clean, our yard is nice, etc, and I was doing this because I felt bad about HIS property line and my dogs and was trying to be a good neighbor. He even has the nice side of the fence and the wall. :(

Oh well. Teaches me to be a concerned neighbor about the dogs and the property line, doesn't it? :(

On a high note? I rode my horse tonight for the first time in a year since I hurt my back so bad. :) And she was awesome and I felt good and she felt good, and I missed riding so much. Hahha, and I haven't lost my leg or my seat, I keep my heels down, yay! ;) It's the little things that make you happy, even when everything else is just a mess, eh?

Cardibou!

2011-07-22T14:44:00.000-07:00

This creature is a rare and elusive beast, apparently only found in the Pacific Northwest. There are some that think it may be related to the Jackalope, but this is mere speculation and needs further study.

The natural habitat of the Cardibou seems odd; it can be found as a downtown city dweller, begging for ice cream and pretzels to swimming in the great wide ocean. It has a strange, haunting call that sounds like "woooo woo wooooo" and tends to do this when it sees something it really likes.

( One thing about the species; it seems to know unerringly when you have a Wubba or a Tennis Ball and will teleport out of nowhere. Seriously, it can be sound asleep in the back hall and you're picking up toys and the darn beast roars out of nowhere in an effort to get you to toss it. ;) )

It has a fondness for puppies, kittens, and sleeping on pillows upside down. ;)

Little Tempe, Big City

2011-07-13T23:39:00.000-07:00

Tempe took a trip today to Pike Place Market in Seattle! A little socialization... well, not that miss social butterfly nose needs it. ;) She's entirely social, everyone's obviously put here to see her!

On the ferry... mmm, bench rainwater! ;)

Oh, you wanted me to look cute and get the city in the view? Oh, okay!

At Pike Place Market -- nothing phases this girl. It's amazing that she takes every single thing I can throw at her with utter unflappability. She does not panic or hide, she doesn't duck, or flatten. She'll stop, freeze, look at it, figure it out, and move on with just a quick cluck of encouragement on my end. She'd never been through Seattle at all, or busy sidewalks, a thousand people walking, or over grates (and I will tell you, most dogs balk at grates in concrete. I can't blame them, they look like yawning, dog swallowing holes to me!)

On the wall at the Harbor Steps. Hello over there, can I share your water bottle? :D

Oh right, sit pretty again. ;)

And at the end of the trip, a very happy puppy with her dad. ;) I love how they're in step here, I admit it! Her tail didn't stop wagging the whole time we were walking, hilarious. Like a little metronome. Every person she passed that said, "oh, look at that puppy!" got wagged at. She's gotten so bad that her keyword is "Oh--" and then she immediately starts heading towards the person, wagging away. Clever girl!

A Photo Day at Fort Warden

2011-07-11T12:03:00.000-07:00

Simon, Temperance, and Caleb on the wall at Fort Warden State Park...

On the way up we found this coin operated horse, hahaha... I haven't seen one in years. Simon had a blast with this.

Again, all at Fort Warden...

Tempe is really picking up fast on keeping a pose while I shoot! She's an amazingly smart puppy, wow. She's also asking to go out on her own -- hmmm, I have to say, I like that even better! ;) So does my living room rug. ;)

Tempe had to try out the horse too, but she was kind of tired by this point and wanted to just nap in the sadddle. ;)

Simon, of course, started showing off and playing to the crowd. He totally stepped up there on his own and balanced himself; I just was like "sit back down" and he smiled at me like "but everyone ELSE likes this pose!"

Temperance was a bit overwhelmed by the ocean. She would put her feet in it though, after a few minutes. She's pretty darn brave, all things considered this was the first time she'd seen something like this... the boys were up to their necks in fourteen seconds, and covered in stinky sand. ;)

And Caleb, being Caleb and watching... no, not a bird! A kite, this time. He was fascinated with it, the people were dipping it around us when they realized he was staring at it and wagging.

Fly, Simon! Fly!

Boat dog! Hold that pose, Tempe!

Working like -- yeah, I've used this before. ;)

2011-06-24T18:24:00.000-07:00

Like a dog, lately. Actually, the dogs have been working less. They get to lie there at work for the most part and eat things. ;) I want their job! Tempe is getting bigger, and she just amazes me, day in and day out. She's got incredible focus and concentration for an 11 week old. And she now has EARS... hahaha. Those came up. Funny how much she changes with her ears. ;) She's a mover too, a mover and a shaker, she can gait, gait gait... but what I love most about her is her willingness and bravery. You ask, she tries. No fear. Except for when the cats come barreling at her, and heck, I get out of the way if it's Sophie the terrorist. ;)

As you can see by the photos... Natural Balance was having a retailer contest for their promotion/giveaway.

So, hey... we figured we'd sort of take it the one step beyond and have fun. Simon was totally up for skateboarding -- I think I could totally teach him to use it. He'd probably love it. ;) Go fast!

What surprised us was Tempe -- she totally was in these shots, happy as could be. Total concentration, even with other dogs, a lot of people, and all sorts of things going on. Look at her be a show off and balance on the skateboard!! ;) I can't do that! Clever girl! Yeah, I think she came with an automatic "sit up" feature. She tries using it for everything, including when I say "no." (Sit up! Yeah, I'll try that, it works!)

She's a heck of a puppy, that's for sure. Adore her! ;) I will say all the "random scary noises" CD that Kim and Mark play for their puppies really works. Loud noises and scary things don't phase her. I uh, half wish they did at times. No fear! ;)

(Also, a Riley photo, because he's been feeling left out and crotchety.)

So you want to be in pictures, baby...

2011-06-05T17:18:00.000-07:00

Well, first you need to take advice from Simon... which is -- always show your best side.

Then take advice from Caleb. Know you're a supermodel, and work that rock like a runway.

Think you can do those things at nine weeks, Tempe?

Hmph, you have to ask? I know how to go to the back door and ask to go out, and I carry my own leash, so, this is just a cakewalk. Is this my best side? I think so...

Hmmmm... Caleb's right. You work it like you own this park. The Striped Zoolander might know the Blue Steel look, but I'm working on my own catchphrase, thanks!

And I'm spent. Talk to my agent about next week, thank you. I need to go freshen up.

Calico and Merle

2011-05-31T19:24:00.000-07:00

Simon loves his Sophie. Sophie loves her Simon. I just love how their patterns mingle when they sleep together... aww.

Simon in the beach grass...

And of course, I can't leave Caleb and Tempe out... ;)

Introducing - Temperance!

2011-05-29T15:36:00.000-07:00

Well, the Cardi's out of the bag! And I cannot thank Kim and Mark of Samhain Cardigans enough for entrusting us with this wonderful, amazing girl. I know I didn't say anything, but I... well, I'm one of those people who jumps over cracks and uh, grins at black cats. Wait... or something.

Meet Temperance (Tempi!) (Samhain Stonelight's Silver Lining)

This is Simon and Caleb's new little sister... and my new show/obedience puppy...

I am head over heels, she is SMART (like her fantastic daddy Casper, who I LOVE. I love a working dog, it's the GSD in me still after all these years) and of course, she is gorgeous. And she's sweet and gentle like her mom Polly - the two of them are just such pleasant, well adjusted dogs to be around.

I cannot believe that this is our wonderful, wonderful puppy. She's confident and playful, smart a a whip. She walked in, had a few seconds of "wow... there's a lotta weird cats here" and then she just rolled with the flow. Our house is busy and animal crazy, and she's just been romping right along with the rest of them like she's lived here her whole life. The boys love her -- she plays tug like Simon and chase like Caleb.

I am SO excited about getting her into the ring... Four more months, four more months...

Thank you, thank you again, Kim and Mark. I cannot thank you enough... I keep looking at her trot and pose and eat the cat toys, (ahem) and going, she's in MY house?

Sophie is unamused. ;)

Sophie's day...

2011-05-25T19:57:00.001-07:00

Mighty hunter, who makes me yelp when she leaps out of the bedsheets, claws bared, teeth gnashing.

Fabric mouse terrorist -- poor little creature never stood a chance.

Of course after you finish your killer instinct moments of the day, Sophie must wash between her dainty toes...

But... sometimes even the calico terrorist gets caught on camera doing something sweet. ;)

Lazy Daisy Sunday

2011-05-23T11:03:00.000-07:00

Just a hint of sunshine...

But hey, it's starting to sort of almost act like spring, and it's nearly summer. What's up with that, Pacific Northwest.

Putting it into perspective...

2011-05-09T16:57:00.000-07:00

Putting it into perspective: I wanted to shoot dock photos.

Simon wanted to go to the beach and roll in things.

I have a lot of photos of him looking bored, and this one, which I instantly loved because I said, "Okay, I give up, wanna go to---"

Zoom!!!! Yes, yes I do, see you at the bottom of the pier!

I love this dog. He's just so smart, he makes me laugh every time.

The Stages of Fetch

2011-04-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

Simon's a pretty awesome fetcher. Of course, we had to run and fetch the ball twice before it got swept out to sea, whoops! ;)

Thanks so much to a friend of mine who worked with me on this - I've never done anything like this before, and I think it came out pretty cool!!! :D They're an amazing artist who is working on a gorgeous graphic novel. I know a bunch of us are kinda fantasy geeks here -- Cardigans and geek just seem to go together, haha, so... I'm going to link the page! The Winterkings. Enjoy!

I had no idea how to put it together, and I learned a lot about Photoshop! Heh. I can do photos, but man, forget that layers and moving thing, yipes. ;)

Sometimes it's the photodographer...

2011-04-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

Who gets caught totally enjoying the day with awesome friends, adorable puppies, and gorgeous sunshine. (I also can make the joke I'm the token brindle out in the sea of blue.)I actually love this shot of me for some funny reason - you know I'm in the grass and probably have puppy poop somewhere embarrasing, but hey, I'm good with that!

Photo courtesy of Mark Thorson --

I had a great time - but I always do, talking dog with Nancy and Kim and Mark. It's funny... I had all these years in Shepherds where I wasn't part of the cool kids, but Cardigan people ARE the cool kids, and I... I just enjoy a community where we worry about each other. Where we know each other. Where we know our dogs by their call names and love other people's dogs and admire them as much as our own. Where the dogs are delighted to see you and know you and crawl into your lap.

I think I should be paying all these people out there with puppies to photograph their puppies; it teaches me so much about lighting and framing... :) I LOVE photographing puppies, it's such a neat thing to watch them, you have to work fast and you have to work quick, and you try to get those shots that are downright adorable. You can see the shots that I took on their blog Samhain Cardigans

Also, hahah, I love the little face staring at me from over her brother. "Hey, crazy lady down on our level, get my best side!!!"

Without these little short dogs, I wouldn't have gotten into photography so much, and I LOVE it. It's a hobby that I can relax at, and I love taking the dogs out for photo sessions... it lets me spend so much time with my crew that's fun for all of us.

Man, Simon's just a muscle-bound critter. Not the best pics, but holy moly does he gets some serious air.

Down at the beach...

2011-04-21T19:05:00.001-07:00

Caleb and I went to Point No Point today for a photoshoot (and just chat) with Nancy, from Galena Cardigans and the lovely gentleman Nugget.

So, of course... gotta show the photos! ;)

One thing I love about Cardigans -- here's two young adult males and... hahah, totally cool with the whole thing. Not a grumble- well, not a serious one. Happy as could be, romping down the beach together, sniffing at things. There's a whole bunch of the pictures of Nugget over at Nancy's blog, so... I'll just toss up the ones I took of Libbers. Honestly, I LOVE shooting other people's dogs -- I admit, I get lazy since I know all the settings for my own, haha. ;) This was great fun and good practice and Nugget is SO well behaved, it was great. :D

Handsome boys! :D

... and soaking wet boys.

Caleb, the wet and dirty...

Hey, I see another dog!

Now I see... a bird!

And another bird!

And... another bird! (there's a pattern here.)

The end! (You can't catch me to put me back on those logs, wheeeee!) ;)

Cats and dogs, living together...

2011-04-15T14:12:00.000-07:00

Today is let's see if I can shock anyone on the blog here, haha.

See, I have this deep, dark secret. I hide it. I really do. But...

I'm a cat person. There. I said it out loud. I'm probably going to be voted off Cardi Island. ;)

Really. I- I love cats. In fact, I am more of a cat person than a dog person, hahahaha. I've been showing cats and into cats since I was a four year old kid, and growing up, I totally liked dogs (and my dad paid me five bucks to wash and groom his OES - full show coat. I realize later in life how much you jipped me, dad, but dang, I think grooming corgis are a snap!) I've trained a lot of dogs, worked with dogs since college, and yet... a cat never fails to melt me.

So, here's a little cat story for the day.

Parker is one of our Korats. Born and bred in our house, he's sure not a show cat. In fact, he's uh, rather um, p-e-t quality, I'm afraid. He's never been a cuddly guy either with people. Which is just his personality, and has been since day one. All the other kittens were people, people, oh boy people. Not Parker. He'll sit on my lap, and a few select folks, but... nope.

However, he's been in love with dogs since he was a kitten. His first cross-species love was my fantastic, wonderful German Shepherd Ali. He slept with her, ate with her, slept on top of her, loved her, and she adored him back with all of her heart. What always made me laugh is whenever I picked him up to cuddle him for a second, he always smelled of - well, of dog.

.... and then she died, and he was very, very lonely.

So, then he figured, what the heck, and moved in with my big male Shepherd, Gabriel. And then he died, suddenly.

Now we had no dogs that would tolerate a cat sleeping with them. The Pembrokes just didn't get it and would stomp away and roll an eye. How dare a cat try that, so rude!

Poor Parker. He tried sleeping with the other cats, but... it just wasn't the same. And then his favorite cat passed away of a blood clot, totally unexpectedly. So, like all sad boys, he moved back in with his mom, I guess. Then sadly, his mom died two weeks ago of heart failure, and... poor Parker was once again very lonely.

And then... he started sneaking over by the Cardigans; and oh, hey! Cardigans LOVE cats, unlike those bossy Pems. So, once again, he's happy, and this made me smile to see him cuddled up next to his favorite thing in the world - dogs.

So, hey, I have the best of both worlds. Cats that are dog people! ;)

Simon, of course, knows how to cuddle with cats.

Caleb, on the other hand, kinda doesn't have it down yet. ;)

Photodump #4

2011-04-05T18:47:00.001-07:00

Zoom zoom Caleb!

The D-Cat, he is lounging. Dusty is juuust that cool.

Sophie's in her Sofa-fort...

Chomp!

HEY! That's actually ME you're biting, you brindle doofus!

Speedbump!

2011-04-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

Corgi hurdles, 101! ;)

Photodump #3

2011-03-31T18:55:00.000-07:00

Aw man, so much to talk about.... and just kinda out of it tonight. Here, have some photos of the boys. Also, a note to Caleb, dude... I know girls are awesome things, but man, turn your brain back on before I make a HAT out of you! ;) Goofball. PS: Simon says girls are okay, but only if they can fetch a ball. He's a gentleman. ;) So funny, they're two totally different sort of guys. Simon's the sort of fellow that totally pads up, smiles, asks a girl to go out for a soda, and opens the door and drives her home and calls to make sure she's safe and sound. Caleb's got the whole "I'm a hot supermodel," thing going, and fully expects that girls just dig him because hey, that makes sense to him! Who wouldn't!

Beach day...

2011-03-09T19:54:00.000-08:00

Simon's working on his lifeguard look... ;)

Simon's definitions #2 Contentment

2011-02-22T15:06:00.000-08:00

Contentment: Peace of mind; mental or emotional satisfaction...

Ahhh. Warm.

Simon's definitions..

2011-02-20T20:22:00.000-08:00

Bliss can be a state of profound satisfaction, happiness and joy, a constant state of mind, undisturbed by gain or loss.

It can also be a Wubba. ;)

Farewell, Piper...

2011-02-16T17:32:00.001-08:00

This is my favorite picture of Piper. She hated the camera. So this isn't the most technical picture, sure, but it's the one I call Piper's Road. Road behind her. Road in front of her, and a happy, happy Piper in the middle, running along. That was Piper -- never crabby, never sad, just licky and happy and bouncy.

Simon and Caleb woke me Valentine's day morning to tell me that Piper passed away in her sleep. She was all curled up in her bed.

Pretty much two months to the day since the diagnosis, and considering they expected her not to make it till Christmas... I'm thinking we did okay.

I was expecting it. In fact, I think we'd pretty much thought that we might be making the decision this Thursday. In her own way, she beat me to it - that's the sort of nice, honest little dog she was. No fuss, just happy to bop around with the people and sit in your lap and kiss you, never a bother - never bad.

It was tough to get up that morning and see her like that, but at least I knew that she was safe and warm and loved and she'd had cheesesticks and pie with whipped cream for dinner that night. She never quit eating, and that makes me chuckle. Such a Corgi, to the end. <3

We miss her a lot, the house is really, really quiet tonight. :( What's so odd is that we rescued her on our anniversary, all that time ago. We gave up going out to the falls to go pick her up, and she was supposed to be a Cardigan corgi, and a boy. XD We got there, and there she was and a girl Pembroke, and --- my husband was like "there is no way we can leave this puppy!"

... :)

And she passed on Valentine's day. We laughed. Came with love and left with love, we think. It's okay. We'll give each other our cards on Thursday... and think of Piper. :)

PS: Oh man, I look over and see her on my sideboard pics. I think that's why I couldn't post this for a day or two. It's going to be hard to take that down.

Reflections

2011-02-13T19:18:00.000-08:00

Double your merle, double the wet dog smell in the car on the way home... Aww.

Photodump #2 (Faces!)

2011-01-27T15:41:00.000-08:00

My dogs do come up with some grand expressions. ;)

Sophie in the bag...

2011-01-19T21:19:00.000-08:00

And other Sophie places. ;)

Photodump #1

2011-01-14T17:45:00.000-08:00

Yeah, yeah... I know. I've been bad on not updating too much... mostly because I've been up to my ears in retail work. I know, it's not an excuse. ;) But I'll try to get better this year, and one of the things I'm going to do is -well, hahah, a photodump. Which is putting up photos without a whole lot of writing.

(Besides, I know most of you here totally are like - "Quit rambling, photos please." ;) )

On the sea wall, over in Eglon Beach (this was my last 52 Weeks shot from last year. I do love how my blue dog looks in blue.)

Hmm, what's that!

Sophie -- growing up nicely. Well, okay, she's a naughty girl. Totally just does what she wants how she wants it. She rules this place with a tiny iron paw.

But she loves her Simon and her Caleb. I like to call them her harem. Every girl needs a good looking pair of bodyguards. Even if they do need an ear cleaning sometime.

Caleb's two! Man, he's maturing. (Physically. Not mentally. Sorry, he's um... never going to know higher math. Luckily Simon can do it for him and does.) Finally, wow. In the last six months, he uh, has a big dog chest, I think. He's looking like a boy dog all of a sudden. ;)

2/52 -- Brave, Brave Sir Simon!

2011-01-14T17:43:00.001-08:00

Apologies to Monty Python... ;)

When danger reared its ugly head,
He bravely turned his tail and fled.

Yes, brave Sir Simon turned about
And gallantly he chickened out.

Bravely taking to his feet
He beat a very brave retreat,

Bravest of the brave, Sir Simon!

( Besides, he totally better have beat feet, the pack was hot on his heels after he bowled everyone over into the snow like a maniac.)

52 Weeks for Dogs 1/52

2011-01-05T18:52:00.001-08:00

Yup, we figured we'd stick with it another year... and yes, I completed my set, I just -- had so much going on over here I forgot to post them. :) I'll do it in a few days, but... until then, have a pileup.

So, I'll post this one first. 1/52 "Recharging"

A new year, and.... I think we're all a little exhausted from the holidays. I totally want to crawl up there and join the pile in the window.

Contrary to popular belief, even perpetual motion Simon has to sleep sometimes... ;)

(Also, I have to laugh a little. So many people have asked me if I posed the kitten up there. Let me tell you, Sophie wouldn't put up with it. She's a pistol, hahaha. She sleeps with him all the time, and yes, up on him sometimes too! It just took me a while to get a good shot of it. ;) )

Working like a .... well, you know. ;)

2010-12-29T18:01:00.001-08:00

Oh man... retail on top of everything else, and thus the radio silence, but... I'm going to make this update as uh, covering as possible. :)

1) My hard drive finally got taken out by power outage number 16 and counting this year. Sigh. Seriously. Can't make it up. +I have a new computer, and was able to save most everything. Still sorting out some of my art programs, cripes, I hate losing software. :/ I really wish there was a magic computer button simply to move everything over instead of how long it actually takes.

2) My Cardi Claus box got here wonderfully, with delicious jam, horse treats, dog treats, and dog and cat toys that promptly run off with. I have photos on my camera, but they'll have to wait for a little later date as I catch up. I do want to say thank you, thank you so much to Amy and the wonderful Raglan Cardigans over at the
Crazy Cardiness blog. :) Thank you guys so much. It couldn't have come on a better, more needed day. Simon loves the Frisbee UFO, and Sophie promptly ran off with the mice before I could get them off the cardboard -- both of which keep ending up in my bed. Plus, thank you to the wonderful Janet Simple Things -- who on top of having a whole lot of puppies, put together the Holiday Exchange. :)

3) Man, I've waffled over making this part of the post. My female Pembroke Piper was diagnosed with lymphoma just a few weeks before Christmas. Unfortunately, she's not in the category of good response to chemo, and... it had already spread pretty badly. She's still with us, but I'm not going to say it hasn't been tough -- she totally has decided housebreaking is not high on her list. To the point where everyone else goes outside and she uh, runs for the other end of the house to pee on the rug. Awesome, Piper. That takes talent! ;) I'm up for a run of no animal issues for a little bit though...

Retail was good though -- had a good season! :D That's always a nice thing to have happen after the holidays! Good to breathe a sigh of relief and watch people shopping this year! :D

He who shares...

2010-12-01T14:09:00.000-08:00

Is loved. :)

(Well, he's loved anyway. But he shares everything, including his food and his chewies. No wonder the kitty is growing like gangbusters!)

Snow days...

2010-11-25T17:02:00.000-08:00

I have all these things to say, and it's just like -- so much going on, summing up! Busy as heck with work... my horse ended up hurting herself bad when we went to Canada for a dog show (Caleb got his first two Canadian points, awesome, and I showed him, and that was awesome... and of course it's possibly the worst photo of him ever. Not so awesome. ;) ) and after a whole lot of money to get that fixed...

Merlin passed away. His cancer spread from his foreleg to his hind leg... and he finally let me know it was time.

And of course, it snowed like heck here this week... and the wind came in and we lost power for 39 hours. ;) Which amazingly enough is exactly the degrees the house got down to. And my stove blew up, and the new stove came in damaged, but we've jury rigged our turkey and it's all better now. *grin*

But darn did I get some awesome snow pics. ;) And thus, freezing nearly into a lump was kind of worth it. ;)

Brain freeze...

Simon loves him some snow!

Pembrokes suffer snow quietly. With much disgust and resistance. ;)

Epic snow battle!

Oh, look, he's sitting still! Because he's frozen to the table, ahaha. ;)

Notice he has a sweater on? It was pitch dark, ice cold, and Caleb was like "sweater me plz" all the other Corgis were fine, not Caleb. He was so cold his teeth were chattering. Once he got a sweater, it was all good, poor little fellow.

We have gone past cute...

2010-11-05T15:45:00.001-07:00

And into impossibly adorable. ;) Who seriously throws this face out to fend for itself? What is wrong with people? :(

Camodogged: Can you find the Corgi in this picture?

Awww -- haha, my sofa only has a Caleb on it right now! Matt has been moved over. ;)

I have no idea what the heck they are all doing in the bathtub. I heard something rattling around in there, walked in, saw this, walked out, snapped a cheap camera pic because I thought it was hilarious. I personally think they're discussing if my evil cat will fit down the drain. I wish them the best of luck. ;)

Sophie: The mighty sock killer. She has a thing for my socks. She growls at any cat who comes to see her kill, but plays tug o' war with Simon with the sock.

Simon's Cat...

2010-10-27T15:17:00.000-07:00

Okay, I guess Sophie is Simon's kitty. Or he's her dog. ;) Every girl needs a good looking guy to boss around, right? ;)

(The last one cracks me up. Little flirt!)

Hello, Kitty!

2010-10-25T16:04:00.001-07:00

Vet cleared, vaccinated, tested, microchipped, worming = expensive.

Happy, well fed kitten playing in the chair rungs = priceless. :)

41/52 42/52 (AKA: There's a sucker born every moment! )

2010-10-24T16:58:00.000-07:00

41/52 "All the better to see you with, my dear!"

The challenge last week was a tribute shot. There was one done by a woman in my Flickr group that I loved -- it was of her adorable dog in a rain jacket.

Now, hahah, you'd think it would be easy to find a rain-coat in the Pacific Northwest, but darnit, I'm sold out at the shop! So, okay, we had to go for a parka. A red fur lined parka. Of course, I can't get Simon to look soft and pensive sometimes to save my life when he thinks something's hilarious. This he found quite funny, and of course he was laughing and then I was laughing. Not a good combo. ;) So, hey, you roll with it. *grin*

So, to her dog's sweet, adorable Red Riding hood we have Simon the Wolf in uh, Grandma's Winter Wear. Apparently he raided the back of the closet for his hood.

"But Granny, what big blue eyes you have!"
"All the better to beg for a cookie, my dear.."
"But Granny, what a big nose you have!"
"All the better to snuffle loudly in your ear and wake you up in the morning, my dear..."
"But Granny, my what short legs you have!"
"All the better to trip you in the kitchen carrying those muffins, my dear!"

Little Red Riding Hood probably is still laughing because the Wolf needs to hire better stand ins on his day off -- but that's okay, the Corgi probably ate the entire basket of goodies and was content.

Since we still had the coat, I had to go take a few more photos. This one cracks me up, he looks like a person who's off to sell fishsticks or go crabbing or something. ;)

Now for this week's shot... okay, it's not technically a grand shot, but oh man, it's so, so Simon.

42/52 "Stray Kitty..."

Huh... well, there is a little bag of bones calico kitten now ensconced in my spare room as of Friday night.

My neighbor found her in the back of a non-running truck on their property -- the poor little kitten was screaming and screaming. It saw them and ran towards them, yowling. The poor neighbor's daughter (who is not a pet person) was like "You pick it up mom! It might have rabies!"

So, of course, the baffled neighbor brought her to us and said, "I think her mommy lost her..."

Sadly no, dumped, starving, very, very desperate for love and food kitten. So, of course, we being the cat suckers we are took her in. She is not afraid of dogs, not one bit.

Simon took a bit to realize that she was actually a tiny cat. At first all he would do is poke his nose in the room and the most hilarious thing was how huge his eyes got. Kitten had NO fear and was like, "Hi!" and ran up to see him and Caleb staring into the room; quickly Caleb got all excited with the "Hey, look, Simon, it's a KITTY!" smile and pushed in to visit with her, wagging himself practically in half.

So, then the next thing that happens is that Simon goes into "Man, my brother's too friendly (note, stupid) for his own good better save him from himself!" mode and jumps in front of his brother! Our intrepid hero gives the "yipyipyip" noise as he turns around and shoves Caleb down the hall away from the kitten into the other bedroom, and won't let Caleb come out. Poor Caleb's just got the blink-blink expression on, and Simon's all stiff legged and ready to leap out to sacrifice himself for his dope of a brother.

I'm dying laughing, and Simon gives me the "It's NOT funny" glower, and then adds on a "fine, you stay in there, and wait until it becomes an alien chestburster, mom," for good measure.

It's okay though -- he finally realized it was a cat! He just didn't know cats came in concentrated form, like orange juice. Once he figured out the cat just wanted to love all over him, he was so excited, and poking her all over the floor, tail going a mile a moment with a big smile on his face. ;)

I just love this shot -- like I said above, it may not be a beautiful technical shot, and a little cluttered... but Simon is saying hey, little cat, no worries no more. It's pretty cushy here! :D

40/52 - Point and Shoot... (and a thank you)

2010-10-12T21:26:00.000-07:00

Okay, I just have to shake my head. Week forty... and my dog is now on Auto-pose.

Seriously. This shot really sums this up. We went to the park, since it's been pouring all week, I had a tiny window to work in and I wanted to go find some fall leaves for him to play in.

I let him loose to run and he zipped once around in a big circle, and then went straight for the bench. He then promptly proceeded to walk up and down it a few times before he decided to strike a pose on his own accord until I put the camera down on the rocks.

It was a lovely pose, though. It's always funny all the things I see in his merle patterns -- see the chess knight on his haunch? Rather fitting! ;)

Of course the Zoolander himself (hahaha, several of you will understand that joke) had to get in on the posing. "Blue Steel, Caleb! Blue Steel!"

Hey, look - my leaves! (and a disgustingly slimy mushroom he perfumed himself with after.)

Ps: Thank you for all the comments on the old Merp. He's still hanging in, doing okay. I'm shocked... but really, he's a tough old bird, so to speak.

I know, I know. He's not an attractive cat in the slightest. The happy-purr drool isn't helping, but this is the best photo I could take of the old fellow. I like to think of him as ruggedly handsome. ;)

39/52 -Worship the Dog ;)

2010-10-06T22:19:00.000-07:00

I think Simon was recalling the days back when dogs were worshipped.

Sadly, when he got home all my cats laughed at him for his grave misunderstanding of history....

(And of course, just a few more shots. Wow, Caleb's uh, looking more like a dog every day...)

Playing catch up...

2010-09-30T19:04:00.001-07:00

Let's see... went to Vegas for Superzoo, the pet trade show. Long week -- some nice stuff there. I really only came home this time with several nice pet beds, some T-Shirts, and some very cute shampoo that has this neat 'pet freshening spray' on the bottom, and VERY nice shampoo on the top. Wouldn't use it for a show, it really softens the dog's coats, but Simon is now wafting the masculine smell of Coconut Lime. Ahhh. It's like a Cardi air freshener. ;)

So, here are my week photos...

37/52 "Luggage Inspector" (I left treats in the bag unpacking. Hahah, guess who found them!)

38/52 "Mmmmmuffins!"

Got home, have been working like a maniac. Well, got into work, turned around to let Caleb through the door and... my back went "no." So, this time went directly into the doctor and now am on muscle relaxers (still.) I will say the stim treatment though worked awesomely well, and this time it's only been a little over a week and a half and I'm nearly back to normal.

Found out that my little Arab is officially a "pasture pet" only. His knee is getting so arthritic that he's locking up a lot even loose in his pasture, and he's pitched on the ground a few times when he's got up a head of steam. Well, on a high note, he's photogenic and cute! He'll have to model and earn his living. ;) Sadly, he is nowhere as good as Simon.

Of course... getting ready for the Richland show, and I come home and my 19 year old arthritic cat's leg is swollen up like a little peg. Great. I had an appointment with my regular mobile vet (who I love. Matt and I had a mock fight and he said that if we divorce, he's taking custody of the vet. I told him no way) but he can't make it until Thursday. So I run him down to a new vet and the guy is great. He looks at it, takes fluid, tells me that the cat has cancer and without taking off his leg the cat has days to live. I pay the deposit, and take Merp home. I admit, I adopted this cat back in January... and I absolutely adore him. He's just the sweetest old cat, with everyone, including the dogs. Either that, or like some grandpas, he just doesn't care.

So, I spend a sleepless night, and decide that morning that he can't go in. He looks horrible, he's barely walking, etc... there's no way this cat can survive on three legs, none. Sigh. I call my regular vet out for Thursday... and we're all set to put him to sleep.

Well, get up this morning, his leg is way less swollen, and he's bopping around the house. Enough that he goes to get a drink of water in the other room, he lies in the sunshine and bakes himself. My mobile vet comes and we watch him happily purring and headbutting us for a while...

I've had to euthanize many of my crew over the years. You really do know when they are done; there's just something about them at that point where you realize they're ready to go. Merp decided today wasn't his day, and well... now we're sending away a test for a second opinion on the leg.

Unfortunately, my other cat walks in with his eye swollen shut last night, and he's ulcerated his eye again. Sheesh. Drops in the eye six times a day. Well, now that the cat's not in danger of dying this weekend at least, and the other one can be medicated, still preparing for Richland. Find out that a friend's dog that I've been hoping for a puppy from didn't take -- so bummed, but I'm sure not as disappointed as they are. Been looking for a pup since this spring... well, I guess that's someone's way of telling me the right one hasn't shown up! ;)

So... yeah. What does Caleb do? Cut his paw on a freshly cut branch of my Vine Maple running around after Simon in the yard... and is limping like gangbusters. It's not a bad, bad cut, but between his front toes, and bad enough for me to realize there is NO way we're going to Richland. Oh well, I'll live vicariously through everyone else, I guess, and hear how things went!

Sigh. Lovely.

Oh well! Pets happen, right? Everything's for a reason. Besides, today I can walk into the back room and the old cat purrs at me, That alone makes it all better!

Air Simon..!

2010-09-08T00:21:00.000-07:00

Move over Jordan, for sure!

I snapped this photo when we were out playing earlier. Matt and I both were like "holy..." when he leapt into the air and did this ninja Cardigan backflip and whipped the toy into his mouth. I downloaded the camera tonight and man, I wish this background was clearer -- this is simply cool. It happened so fast I'm shocked I was still snapping and that I caught it!

For someone with short legs, holy crud... he is an athletic dog. I can't say I've had a Shepherd that was as athletic as this dog is. I still can't get over the air he got on this.

34, 35, and dogs and cats living together...

2010-09-05T22:27:00.000-07:00

Well, it was an interesting last week. I bought a new desk for my home office. Then I cleaned out said home office this week with much help from Simon. Threw out a ton of stuff, yay, declutter!

Promptly had the laptop decide when I rebooted it last Sunday afternoon that I no longer needed photoshop or half my programs, and uh... it ate all the photos from that week, argh... then I couldn't find my disks. Anywhere. Yep, they got tossed out in the last great back room purge.

That said... I got a huge laugh out of this shot, because I darn well wasn't going to miss a week in the project when I hadn't missed a one yet! I spent the last few hours sitting here cursing bad, bad words, and pulling my hair out. So, then I managed to rig up Open Canvas to at least do a bit of photo editing, thank goodness. At least I could crop!

My workstation is a bit Simoncentric isn't it?

But hey, fast forward to this Sunday and the computer issues have somewhat been resolved, and thank goodness, my program now works once again! I think I saw little heralds with trumpets -- you don't know how much you use Photoshop until you don't have it, and then when you go look at what it costs new again, you have a nervous breakdown and swear to get it fixed somehow!

But yep, all fixed. This was this weeks shot -- Simon supervising the folks at the barn putting in the new fences. He did not like them approaching the horses and found this perch to watch them at on Thursday morning, right before I managed to convince him we should just go and take a walk, the horses would be fine. ;)

Caleb of course, never has any intention of looking very workmanlike. Instead, he happily plays with Dusty...

"Rar." "Rar!"

"Dude, what did you eat...? Ugh! No thanks, no kiss I!"

Simon and the Fluffy Ball.

2010-08-25T08:45:00.001-07:00

What can I say. Give a striped Cardi a fluffy ball and he'll roll it around, take out the squeaker and gut it all over your house. (Ahem, Caleb.) Give Simon a fluffy ball and he'll play with it for hours and throw it for himself.

Yep. This dog is toy driven, just a bit! ;) I think if he ever discovered Flyball, he'd probably move out and go live with someone who did it on a regular basis. I know where I stand, heh!

Edit: Also, I am glad I am not the only one who has different names for toys in the house. Fluffy ball, Jolly Ball, Squirrel Ball, Football, "Don't you dare throw that in the house ball..."

32/52, 33/52 and a question...

2010-08-23T11:24:00.001-07:00

32/52 "95 in the Shade."

Oh man, it was miserable here, whooch. Seattle is not meant to get to 95. It's against all nature. ;) So, new pool, since the dogs punched a hole in the old one, haha. Simon likes it because he can dive for his Wubba.

33/52 "Ferry Ride.."

Had to go across the water Friday for a trade show, so I dragged the dogs along with me. :) Simon and I went upstairs to shoot a few shots. As you can see, he's totally not paying attention to me hahah, he heard some people behind us stop and go "Oh! Look at the CUTE dog!" "What an adorable dog!" "EEE, I want to pet that dog!"

Yeah, he's totally not paying attention to me and hamming it up for those ladies. And their wonderful bag of potato chips. The little rotter knows instantly the "cute dog" tone and he is all ready to sit in someone else's lap and lick their face.

Running! Short little legs go!

(Also, I have to say, the fact that Simon's markings look like a map of the Americas crack me up. When he puts on a bit of weight, I go, "uh oh, buddy, your continents are drifting! Time to go jog more!")

Also, maybe someone can help me. Someone out there had a gorgeous grooming table with a Cardigan on it, and for the life of me, I can't remember who that was or if they made custom tables for folks. I actually not only wanted it for a grooming table, but for a temporary display table at work when we hold specials on products. Yep, I'm a multipurpose person, heh.

Busy, busy, busy...

2010-08-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

Sure has been lately. I usually never bring things up like this but lately we've had a run of strange people at work. I have no idea if it's the moon, the weather, or financial issues, but I totally think I can sadly relate to the Jet Blue guy who deployed the emergency slide. Trust me this week's been one of these weeks where I just want to say, "Excuse me please," pop the slide, and scoot to freedom. I think I'd have this face on, too! ;)

I've had a lot of strange things go on in customer service, some funny, some sweet, but it's the ones like the customer who winged an unopened can of dog food at my head that give me great stories, but make me wonder if people realize in customer service, most of the time, if you say, "Please help, thank you?" most good customer service folks will bend over backwards to do just that. Common courtesy gets you a long way, really! *grin*

So, hey, have some dog photos to laugh at. Caleb gets some cute shots before I make him sad and toss him in the tub.

Oh, and a happy Riley, because he's lording it over us all as supreme Pembroke dictator. ;)

31/52 "Loungewear."

2010-08-07T17:58:00.000-07:00

Simon and his dad watch football every single night together on the sofa. (Yep, we have NFL network here, mwahah. It's a routine they have, and it cracks me up.)

I loved that Simon's eyes and his dad's shorts were the same color, and wanted to sort of play with that a bit.

I've not done selective color before - usually my shots are straight out of the camera with minimal editing. This was sort of fun!

30/52 "Where there's a will..."

2010-08-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

I was cleaning out the garage and found Gabriel's old Jolly Ball that I'd put away after he passed. I'd forgotten all about it. Well, I figured I'd take it to the barn and give it to my mare to play with.

Simon was helping, and his eyes got huge when he saw that ball, haha.

Simon: "Want!"

Me: "Si, you can't fetch that. That ball is bigger than your legs, dude."

Simon: "Want want want bark bark bark bark bark want! Gimme gimme gimme am I annoying you yet? Want!"

Me: "...okay, gah, fine, here. You can have it."

He was right, he could fetch it. Apparently, once again, I am not smarter than Simon. ;) I guess it wasn't meant to go up to the barn after all.

29/52 "Motorboat!" ( Lots of Corgi paddling, hahah!)

2010-07-26T11:58:00.000-07:00

29/52 "Motorboat!"

(Kids and Simon know... if you make the noise, you go faster!)

Also, my poor friends come over to my house and get abused. "Hey, you have a cool motorcycle!"

"Yeah!"

"Can I put Simon on it?"

(Bryon is such a good sport! I need goggles for Si if I do this again but Simon was all like "I'm driving now. Hellllooooo ladies, check me out!)

Now onto the other cool things --- ocean fun! Took the boys out swimming at the local beach, and I learned a few things. One was that Caleb -who dives into my fish pond at the drop of a hat- was totally shocked by the big wide ocean, and wouldn't go in past his shoulders. But he'd chase his brother through the shallows.

But he preferred digging in the sand and eating it. Hmm, well, at least I know he's nice and clean on the inside!

Simon, on the other hand... in his past life, he was apparently a Newfie or some sort of seal, haha. He was out there and paddling around so quick it was funny to watch him. Of course, with Corgis, it's like two strides into Puget Sound and they're swimming, heh.

Swim, Simon, swim!

Caleb really was positive that going past your shoulders invites sharks to snack on you. "Simon, dude, I hear that John Williams ominous music, so I'm heading back to mom."
"I fear no shark. I'll club him with this awesome stick."
Or simply retrieve seaweed. Yum.
This is Simon's Baywatch expression. Move over Hasslehoff, I look more intense in slo-mo.

28/52 "Eagle Harbor", and assorted sunset photos...

2010-07-19T16:20:00.000-07:00

28/52 "Eagle Harbor Marina"

I hadn't been down in downtown for a while, but we went for breakfast one weekend. Now, you know you've been doing dog photos too long when you look out on a gorgeous morning, see a rock wall, and go "Wow, I need to take a photo of Simon there!"

So, we happily went back during the week, and he obliged. ;)

Of course, Caleb wanted in on the action as well... goofball grin!

So, then we took some photos at night from our local marina, which is just a quick walk around the corner from the house... I decided I wanted to try a bit of evening photography, and the boys were happy to go for a walk.

I really like this shot of Caleb. He rarely sits still long enough to get shots of how pretty his head is when he's not being silly. I love, love, love his expression -- he's got such a gorgeous face and ears.

Of course, then it was time to wind down a bit and just enjoy the evening. Simon's still posing, though... and Caleb - well, he saw a blinky light on the ocean, and happily watched that for a while.

25/52, 26/52, 27/52 , and hey, don't steal Simon!

2010-07-13T19:31:00.000-07:00

So busy lately, and there's been some internet issues. Like, let's drop the connection every five minutes issues, ugh. Yay, I can post!

25/52 "Garrison Duty"

Simon at Fort Worden State Park. This park is where an Officer and A Gentleman was filmed.

26/52 "After the Parade..."
Simon at the Fourth of July parade here on the Island.

27/52 "Tour Guide Break"

Man, it was 97 degrees here last week. And for those of you who live here, you know what I mean when I say it was miserable. We Seattle folks are totally beside ourselves when it gets that hot, we wander around like sparkly vampires and hiss at the flaming ball in the sky.

So, my sister in law was out and we had a great time, but the last day she was here we decided to scoot by the little town of Port Gamble. It was hot, and we had ice cream, and of course, Simon had to go pose for me against this cool walkway and fence. I have to say the tourist in the background is what makes it for me-- she was a bit confused as to what me and the short dude were doing. ;)

Now for the funny -- well, not so funny part of my week. So, the other day I get up to a bunch of messages that said, "Hey, congrats on Simon making the Daily Puppy!" :D

Now, I have never HEARD of the Daily Puppy, so I am utterly confused.

Long story short, I didn't submit him. Someone else... er, "borrowed" my pictures off of my DA site. I had a feeling because the shot of Dusty and Simon isn't on too many places at all, it was more of a personal snapshot because technically, it's not the greatest, it's just cute. <3 I think it's in scraps there or dug in my flickr site somewhere.)

I went there and realized, wow, um, not only had they "borrowed" photos but that they'd changed Caleb's name to "Charlie," and had them as THEIR dogs with bios, and fake birthdates and everything! XD (Poor Caleb. Now we can really tease him about going to Candy Mountain. Inside joke. If you don't know it, go look up "Charlie the Unicorn" on You Tube (but beware, it's a bit er, not kid safe for language!)

I was totally baffled, but I wrote a very nice letter to the Daily Puppy explaining that they were my dogs, and I was very flattered that he was chosen and that I didn't mind sharing the photos at all, but that it wasn't me who submitted Simon, and I'd like my dog back. ;) I do embed my stats with the Nikon, including my name, etc, so yes, those were my shots, haha.

They totally emailed me back quickly, apologized, and fixed everything for me. I didn't mind, now that I was able to write his real biography and explain that he's my dog. I now have control of the submission process, and the person on there with the photos is actually me.

I couldn't believe it though - this person was giving out private messages and accepting thanks as if they were their dogs and photos! I honestly feel like there's something really creepy about someone taking your dogs and saying that they're theirs. How odd, honestly.... really, I'm baffled. It's sort of hilarious in a way though, Simon's a victim of identity theft! ;)

I will say next time they do this, I'm setting Caleb on them. He's been practicing his RAR face. ;)

Patience and Sticks...

2010-06-20T20:14:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is babysitting a puppy for the next week. In an effort to tire out the puppy, she asked us to come up and play with him. The puppy wasn't sure it wanted to play at first, he was a little overwhelmed...

Then he scooted for other cover. The cover is ah, old and ancient and tottered away to go lie in a quiet part of the yard away from whippersnappers using him as a shelter.

But then he realized that Simon did want to play and wasn't going to eat him, so he attached himself to Simon.

Literally attached. Simon has way too much patience, haha. Poor Simon.

Still chewing!

But it was okay, since we'd gone out earlier and played on the backtrail in mud puddles and filth. Best part of being Cardis, is that they're fairly wash and wear!

Mmmm, water! Caleb was like, wow, this is like the pool only flowing into my face! Awesome!

Of course, then Simon found a stick... But then Caleb's avarice rose, and he too wanted that stick. Not to fetch though... to chew apart. Simon knows that's all Caleb does with sticks and he wasn't about to surrender his game of fetch to chompy Mc Destruction!
Needless to say, the stick is uh, no longer with us. ;) Simon found another stick though, so it turned out all right in the end.

Mud and daisies...

2010-06-18T08:18:00.000-07:00

Went for a riding lesson yesterday, the first time since I hurt my back. My horse has been a pill lately, but I borrowed the instructors horse and had a great ride, and so far, so good, the back is holding.

Afterwards, the boys and I headed out on the backtrail for a walk...

Simon sniffs the daisies...

Now, there's a spot where the beavers used to keep this pond nice and dammed. Now, they're gone as of this winter. :/ I have a feeling perhaps the coyotes got them, the darn things are everywhere, like roaches. It's funny, I did a lot of wild canid rescue 20 years ago, and rarely did we see coyotes in our area. Now, I literally hear them every night at the barn, howling. The Corgis don't get to go out on the trail past afternoon anywhere where there's not open area and I can see something coming for a good distance.

Well, without the beavers, the water's been pouring out the side. Last time I rode my horse down there, it was a pain to get through, this cut canyon that my mare had to crab carefully across. She's good at that, even if what she really wanted to do when we reached the middle was lie down and roll around in the water. She loves water. We settled for her pawing and splashing and putting her lips down to make motorboat noises.

However, I went back there with the dogs yesterday to see how it was doing, and see if perhaps it was safe enough to get my Arab across. Well, the traffic from the new trail access has cut the banks down flat. Where I expected the boys to be carried across, oh no, they ran right down and into the water. Party party!

Of course, then... Caleb wasn't paying attention as we moved on and fell off of the bank of the pond right into the water. Sploosh, right into the mud and the filth. I was really hoping he'd figure his way out of it, since I really didn't want to go mud-diving. He did, but came out solid black and plastered in mud so thick he looked like a mutant otter. Oh, that was fun. ;) Thank goodness for leather seats in the car. Note to self, remember towels next time.

22/52 "Dubious"

2010-06-14T18:29:00.000-07:00

Simon and I don't like wasps. The wasps want to move in on the back deck. Both of us have decided that the prudent thing to do was uh, scram to the other deck, and finish our snack over there. ;)

Unfortunately, they've uh, also taken over the old grill on the other deck. Then again, it's better than the time they built a nest in my car's gas cap. I got to the station, went to fill it up, and literally slammed it shut, had the gas line back on the pump, and was in the front seat of my car hyperventilating before the wasps even knew what had just happened. What was even more hilarious, I had to call a friend who was an exterminator who gave me a hard time about the "wasp" in the gas cap.

... needless to say, he opened the car up, leapt back, and the next thing I saw was him putting on a full bee suit and pulling out the wand o' death to kill them. Yeah, I told him it was a NEST. *grin*

Pawspective... (22/52)

2010-06-06T19:23:00.000-07:00

Simon and I did a quick shoot down on our dock, and this shot was the one that I used for this week's photo. He didn't feel like sitting and posing that day for me, and finally I just let him do what he wanted... he was right, it was a better shot. I think I might just give up and hand him the camera.

Meanwhile, then on Friday Caleb and I were at Yakima. This was the first time that I handled him myself both days. My back is a little sore but not bad, thank goodness... and we did okay. Meaning ol' one eye me did not drop Caleb on his head on the table, and Caleb wasn't a whirling dervish of happiness. ;) Baby steps. Nothing for us this weekend, but that's okay -- I'm happy with him just focusing and listening and actually thinking bait might be tasty for once.

However, the drive there is so beautiful. Sadly, it was pouring on the way home; I'd been dying to get a shot of Caleb against the sagebrush and sky... but I'll settle for this one. He was so tired after the show that he was half asleep as I set him up there, and he still looks a little rumply from the rain earlier and being wet in the ring and then squished between the seat of Dayl's van, haha.

Man, he is really growing up all of a sudden. I still think 'goofball puppy. Now he's er... well, still a goofball. ;)

20/52 - 21/52, and a pretty houseguest! ;)

2010-05-30T21:22:00.001-07:00

I know, I know, I'm so backlogged on journals right now. I'm also backlogged on riding my horses, ugh. My back is still having issues -- thank goodness for Dayl a) let us all crash at her house for the show, and who showed Caleb for me last weekend and got another point on him! (Hooray!) :/ I couldn't even pick him up on the table, and he's a skinny little dude! I took a ton of photos while I was there of puppies, puppies, and more puppies. It's addicting!

20/52 -- "Free Range!" Ahhh, for the days when Cardis roamed the earth in giant packs of slavering doom, taking down the mighty dinosaurs! ;)

21/52 "Counterbalance"

(See, that's what that tongue is used for! I knew it!)

Corgis on a Porch! It's like Snakes on a Plane, except if you trip and fall when you step out the door they simply devour you, starting at the ankles. (I'm feeling guilty since the Pems have gotten no journal time lately - see, there's Riley's fuzzy bum, right there!)

Our houseguest for a few weeks is the beautiful Bella, belonging to Yolanda, over on the Dune Blog. :) She's just visiting and going to the store and meeting and greeting a ton of new people and dogs. :) She's been a joy to have over -- talk about a perfect, polite lady who fits right in with the crew.

(Cue Jaws Theme, here...) Isn't she beautiful? :) I just like taking photos of her, she's a pretty model!
I probably shouldn't tell her mom that she's totally asleep on the sofa, squished between Simon and Caleb and snoring away. That's not very ladylike to admit, but I'm sure Simon will take the blame for it. He's a gentleman. ;)

18/52, 19/52 photos (and owchies!)

2010-05-17T15:27:00.000-07:00

Not for a dog, thank goodness. The owch is for me. Last Wed. I was happily unloading freight. Now, I do this all the time, I lift bags of dog food, etc... never had a problem with my back, ever. Bent down to pick up (beat this) a five pound bag of cat food and put it onto a shelf. My back said, "I don't think you should do this."

I, being the doof I am, went, "Oh hush," and rolled an eye. Thus, by Wed night I was flat on my back, and I can say wow, I feel incredibly for those folks with hurt backs. You can't do anything -- move, stand, sit, lay, sleep, etc... without it hurting like heck. Thus I missed out on conformation class (argh!) I have something in my car for Nancy, for dragging my photo stuff from the last dog show, and I forgot to thank her in the last entry. Bad dog me! :(

However, I had obligations to be at the local rescue group's walk and charity fundraiser. So, I limped out of the house on Sunday and thought I'd do my photos there at the park and hope I got something -- it's a beautiful park, for sure! The boys had a great time; they are so well behaved people comment on it, which is really nice. I realize how much I appreciate them for not screaming and barking which a lot of the other dogs were doing.

So, here's last week's photo and this week's photo, haha, and then just some random shots of the boys doing Cardi things. ;) Man, this week I really did wish they had taller legs though, glad I didn't have to shoot too much sitting down this time. ;)

18/52 "Splish Splash" - Simon loves the pool, that's for sure. We've had gorgeous weather for the last couple of weeks.

19/52 "A casual Cardigan..."
Simon was taking it easy, watching the geese in the Gazebo. Darn geese were as big as my Cardis, wow!

At the park... I love the greens in this.

Caleb looks like a tapestry in this to me. If I stuck a horn on him, he'd be a *drumroll* "Unicorgi!"

Caleb again. I had someone on a message board ask me if this was his real color. Yep, he really is fire-engine red-orange, I swear! *laughs*

And for those of you like me who have a collar addiction? Look at this collar, wow. I bought this at the dog walk, but I've got to go and get one for Simon, too; they just didn't have the one I wanted there at the Dog Walk. These are hand made collars by Lodi and Lewi and this one's an absolutely stunning pattern.

Whoa (and not a horse one for once!)

2010-05-11T20:34:00.000-07:00

Actually, it's about the CWCCA photo contest at Nationals! Not my mare, but she's doing way better at the trainer I've got her with now. I do like the word whoa though, we sure use it a lot.

I'm sort of in that daze point still... I just finally today got the full scoop as to how I placed, and so I just have to share, since I'm all like "eeee!"

I've never entered a photography contest before, and to enter my first one at Nationals and do so well just has me trotting on air. Good air too, not the other kind, that some dog in this household is sharing with me right now. I better get onto the photos, huh, because I reveal much more and you'll all be like I am, looking to open a window and run.

To be honest, I thought I hadn't placed at all when I saw everyone's blogs go up with the other winners...

So I was shocked when folks told me I'd won some and everyone then started asking what it was and I'm like "I... don't know?" It really was funny, you could have knocked me over with a feather, and my friends got a good laugh at me! So, thank you, guys, for letting me know! It made my whole day, so I have to share for everyone who asked!

First place in Portrait: Caleb down at the beach.

This is one of those shots that looks simple, but wasn't. Those of you who know Caleb know that the longest time Caleb sits in place is about one second. I think I took a hundred pictures of him that day and most of them were him whizzing by; I had an ear, a blurry eye, a tail... this one, he was finally tired out for half a minute, and apparently his crack ran out. ;) (Inside joke, Kim and Yo will understand!)

First Place in Action: Simon catching a ball! *grins* Go figure, Simon with a toy in his mouth? Who would have thought? ;)

Second in General: (One of my favorite shots ever. I admit it. This is the only one right now I have on my wall in the hallway, and people keep asking if it's a painting.)

And third in Portrait:

(See, that garbage can really did come in handy... ;) )

So there you have it! Now I know, so now you know! *grin*

I just want to say a thank you to everyone who comes to this little corner of the internet, too. Honestly, all of your comments and encouragement and enjoyment and laughs make my days, and I love sharing my photos and silly dogs with you all. I wouldn't have had the courage to send my shots into the contest before. Cardi people are the best people... well, dog people. ;) I better not be Cardi-Centric, even though well, darn, I love this breed.

Also, go check out Taryn's first place photo! It's gorgeous! I love the light on this photo, with the towers and the shadows. :D

PS: Simon's full brother placed second in his class at Nationals. Wow. Way to go, Target! :D

City Sniffer...

2010-05-02T10:53:00.000-07:00

Well, my mom's been out visiting for the last two weeks, so it's been a lot of fun. :) We took her back to the airport today, and since we were on the city side, I begged to stop and get some photos using some different backdrops other than my yard or the woods, hahaha. ;) Actually, being in the city makes me really appreciate the boys more and more -- both of them handled themselves wonderfully with kids running and people wanting to pet and hug them. Of course, everyone has to ask me what mix they are and when they find out they're not a mix, there's a fifteen minute discussion about both breeds of Corgi, haha. I really need to grab a handful of the brochures from the club one of these days. Or photocopy mine - be way easier to hand out, but I guess not as personable...

Caleb wouldn't be happy though if I did that; everyone pets him for those fifteen minutes. ;) He likes that way too much.

So, without further ado, pictures.

Simon at the International Fountain... have to appreciate a dog who minds his own business while everything's going on around him.

The boys on the stairs...

Apparently, carnivals have a bias agaist Corgis. Simon protests. :(

Simon on the stage over in the center...

Caleb in front of the flowers.

Been a good week -- man, though, wish I could have gone to Nationals. I lived vicariously through the blogs. ;) Maybe next year!

16/52 - "Recess!"

2010-04-27T19:55:00.001-07:00

Simon has found one more thing he thinks is awesome -- the slide.

I climbed up the stairs and over the bridge and to the top! Ta da!

And then... I realized holy moly, I can go down FAST! Wheeeee! :D This is fun!

I admit, Simon's just awesome for photography. I'm spoiled. He's so easy to set on anything, he'll try anything, he likes strange places and strange things to climb on. Caleb on the other hand... well, at least he sat still with Simon giving him the hint about nice poses. ;)

I get back from taking photos of Caleb and feel like I've worked out for two hours trying to get him to sit still for half a second. Then again, I always tend to feel that way when he gets distracted. Okay, he's easily distracted. He totally has no attention span and no food motivation, but at least he's always ready to play with other dogs in a friendly way. He's never met a dog he didn't like. A lot of them don't like him, but hey, it's all good! There's more fish in the sea to play with! :D

So our goal is to knuckle down and go to a handling class starting next week. I have my mare in training and need to go over and take a lesson tomorrow, but after that, I am bound and determined to find something to crank his attention around and back onto me or a handler.

I'm guessing it's not going to be as easy as getting Simon to pose. ;) Actually, I think it would be easier to teach Simon how to play a waltz on the piano.

15/52 "Hide and Peek"

2010-04-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

No cheating, Simon. You finish counting to a hundred, buddy. ;)

Share the ball, bro?

We had a guest over for a bit; Dayl's pretty tomboy girl Candy. She was just visiting to hang out and get some social experiences, since my work's pretty good for that. Simon was sort of smitten with her for the first day or so -- and then she took all of his toys and that sort of blew the whole deal for him. He stopped being smarmy and just wanted his toys back.
Caleb in the pasture...

Caleb, Simon and Candy -- we found a use for the arena besides riding the horses, haha! Run Candy, Ruuuuuuunnnnn!

14/52 "Let Me Have Cake!!"

2010-04-08T14:40:00.001-07:00

Simon has the biggest sweet tooth ever...

Tonight he realized the Red Velvet Cake had Cream Cheese Frosting. Wow, he didn't know cakes came with cheese! This is like some magical combination purely for Corgi happiness!

(Last weeks photo was the sad one of him in the window, haha.)

And just for fun... one extra with cake excitement. I think if his eyes get any bigger they're going to pop out of his head. Sadly, Caleb took a bite and was like, "Okay, don't get it, what's the big deal?" He's so not food motivated, haha.

Mostly because he just makes me grin. What a goof.

Show days, spring storms, and a good boy...

2010-04-05T13:05:00.000-07:00

Weekend two of three weekends in a row for Caleb and I. Last week in Bremerton, he picked up a point, going BOW there on Saturday. Had a great time with everyone over at the house like I said in the post before, haha.

Of course, it's been miserable and wet all week. Simon just is bored to death with the limited inside time. :/ Sigh.

This weekend we went to Albany, Oregon, and had a blast. Well, okay, the opening was uh, not so much of a blast. First of all, a grand old storm decided to blow into our area. Sixty mile an hour gusts, driving rain, and man, it was a mess. Of course, I was walking Caleb onto the boat to meet Dayl on the other side, and first off the ferry was running behind. Secondly, oh man -- see, they don't allow dogs in the cabin, you have to stay outside on the upper decks or the front of the boat. It was bitterly cold, the ship was rolling and rocking, and the two of us were the only critters up on that top deck.

This was beautiful though. This huge rainbow was right off the point, and ships were passing underneath it right before we left the dock. I wish this shot showed a bit more on how rough it was -- doesn't look it, does it? Let me tell you, when we started to move, it got downright er, a bit touchy there. That deck was rolling and pitching like a rodeo bull, and the rain was coming down so hard that the covered deck was leaking above us. We kept scootching back and back to get under the cover. Luckily, Caleb handled it all like a little trooper; he just sat on the bench and cuddled with me and I sort of admit I was sort of thinking things I shouldn't as we were being tossed up and down unpleasantly.

"In case of emergency water landing, Cardigan can be used as a flotation device..." was running through my head.

Luckily, his little coat kept him pretty dry and warm... mine, not so much. ;) Grabbed the wrong coat, whoops!

Finally got over and met Dayl and her crew and then we got the joy of being stuck for three hours in bad traffic, ugh. Oh boy, that makes for a long drive from Seattle to Albany, eep! Apparently a big fir tree had crashed down in the storm, landed on the brand new guard rail and smashed it into a mangled mess, and there were branches all the way across the highway. :/ Hope no cars were under that or clipped, but I wouldn't have been surprised - traffic was bad. The rain wasn't helping either - at times you could barely see.

However, the show was a ton of fun. Pam was so sweet and gracious for letting us and the dogs crash at her house. The puppy party was fun and I learned a ton from a lot of breeders there, and I was thrilled to get some nice comments on my dog from them.

Caleb went RWD both days, and I'm really thrilled about that. The dogs there were very, very nice, and it could have gone any way either day. One thing I can say about Liblet is that he's consistent! Plus, the reserve earned us this gorgeous blanket as one of the supported entry trophies, embroidered with a wonderful Cardigan. What's so cool? It's the same shade of green as my walls, and it looks sharp on the sofa. Plus, it's big enough for me and the dogs to cuddle in.

Coming home, we made much better time, and the ferry ride home was much less of an adventure. Caleb is a good little traveler -- he takes it all in stride. He was so wiped out though he just flopped and sat on the benches, and I think his expression says it all. I love this shot for some reason. I think it's the crumpled ear and the softness of his eye...

Simon was overjoyed to see him -- and it was a roughhouse Cardi party for about half an hour. Me, I had to try and wheedle my way back into the cat's good graces. Dusty is not amused that I would leave for a whole weekend. I'm being shunned, hahah. At least the dogs still love me. ;)

Weekend photography...

2010-03-29T12:52:00.000-07:00

I've decided I really enjoy taking photos of other people's dogs. It's more of a challenge than my own; I know how to shoot mine for their best sides, so to speak. I know how to adjust colors and backgrounds to make my dogs pop out and stand out. However, since the entire crew of Dune Cardigans and Aurigan was at my house for the Bremerton show, I'd been itching for a chance to practice my photography on someone else's dogs. You can see some of the pictures I took for Dune over on her blog. :) I love her dogs; they were so well behaved. Hunter was really a pleasure to work with - I think with a bit of practice he'd pick up modeling as one more career in his resume!

Of course, the highlight of my photographer's day was how much fun it is to photograph puppies. They don't sit still much. They don't have to look at you. But they do all these freaking adorable things and you hope you're fast enough to catch it on camera. I'll let Dayl over at Aurigan share most of them... this litter is gorgeous... but I have to share a few of my favorite shots of these beautiful pups. The photographer in me is thrilled with them.

One of the pups from Aurigan Cardigans... apparently Matt has good taste for girls. ;) Hey, I knew that. I also know he'd dump me for that pretty face in a heartbeat, sigh.

... Albany next weekend. If you see some crazy person ringside with a camera and a red-brindle dog, hahah, that's probably me and Caleb!

11/52, 12/52, and a quick photo drive-by...

2010-03-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

11/52, "No, you give it!"

Simon says: I want that toy, dad! I wanted it five minutes ago when you asked me and I still want it now!

12/52 "Easy as..."
Falling off a log. Or Simon locking my keys in the unlockable car for three hours. Apparently you can do it if you step on the right button and do a Corgi Voodoo dance! No worries it was raining. :/ He was quite comfortable and took a nap. I sat in the barn and shivered after I realized there was no way I was getting into the car until Matt came to rescue me, hahah!

This is manic ball face. Manic ball face is somehow awesome when you catch it on film.

Caleb actually was with me at the Bremerton show this weekend. :) We got one point, going BOW on Saturday (Reserve on Sunday) and I was really pleased with him. He was much calmer, not a whirling, chatty, happy dervish. He really was happy and just going along, and I learned some really fabulous ideas for focusing him from some very nice people, and Dayl and I had a great time. I can say 14 Corgis in one house isn't as bad as three German Shepherds. (Gee, I still only have half a garbage can to scoop, hahahah!) Kim was wonderful as she always is, and so was Kate's mom, who did a wonderful job handling her girl out there! I really have to thank all the Cardi people up here... they've been so helpful.

Also: Caleb doing his best Zoolander impression. I cannot help but laugh at him, but man, it fits.

10/52 "Chivalry"

2010-03-15T15:08:00.001-07:00

(Aw, I didn't skip a week, I swear. I just used the flower one that we worked so hard to take.)

In a previous life, I think Simon was a knight, protecting fair maidens and eyeing the sky for dragons.

I don't know why, but this is one of my favorite shots I've taken so far for the project. It just has everything -- the angle of the driftwood, the sky, the gaze... I like how it reminds me of a wood carving, and I like how he's watching everything around me as I sit on the log below him. Fearless protector. <3

Spring makes us happy...

2010-03-13T18:18:00.000-08:00

The boys, down on the beach.
No gurls allowed... hey, Caleb, come back to the fort!
Spring makes me happy. (And squinty, haha! ;) )

Daffodils do not taste of butter, what a jip.
Dog on a log!

Starting to rain...

8/52 -- Beds and Trick photography...

2010-03-01T22:53:00.001-08:00

8/52 -- "Move over...?

Simon says, it's been a long day. Now go fetch me a biscuit.

It's funny -- Simon is a sharp little cookie. Like, scary sharp. He's been getting better and better at this, and yes, that top shot may not look staged, but trust me, it is. He really is getting this in leaps and bounds. Wait means, wait here where you've moved me until you tell me 'done.'

To explain in pictures...

Gosh, that tree's beautiful. The problem is, it's on a hill, and only part of it hangs into the dog run. And in front of it is my tent-garage, so that blocks most of it, plus the branches sit high. Now, I tried every way I could possibly think of to use the back deck to get the shot, no go.

... but ah ha! A flash bulb moment! Get Simon higher... how do we do that?

Like this. ;) And thus, this pose, produced the above shot. Three five minute sessions and he was on it - to the point where I just pointed to the can, he hopped up, and held his spot. By the third time he was an old pro at the pose, waiting until I put the camera down to lean over the edge and ask for his liver snack, haha. Smart dog. Scary smart dog. Not just in training, but in concepts.

*grins* It's like Disney magic, isn't it?

(Edit: Hee hee, had to put the smiling on the garbage can up instead, since everyone finds it hilarious. :D The light's not as good, but... that's okay!) ;)

6/52, 7/52, and other bits of photography...

2010-02-22T00:32:00.000-08:00

Man, so behind. I blame work, and the fact that one of our cars broke down this week... and it wasn't my old Volvo for once, but my husband's 06 Vibe as he was backing out of a parking space at the market. However, that did finally drive the nail into the whole "We need two trustworthy cars" point. So car shopping.

I think most car salesmen need to be sent out to sell cars to llamas or something, ugh. Mean llamas. With semi-automatic spit weapons.

I think we may have decided on one -- the Nissan Murano. But hey, going back to take one last look. It does have lots of Corgi room, though! ;)

6/52 - Hahha, in recognition of Valentine's day... Simon went to send a box to manymuddypaws' Pixel. XD I had a blast with this shot - he was so good and so fun. We have the running laugh that Pixel would love Simon, and Simon of course, would love Pixel. XD I'm sure he would - he loves girls who tussle with him. Heck, he loves all girls. He'll just lay there why they beat him up, hahah, and sit on him. ;)

What was so cute is that Pixel sent one back. Go to manymuddypaws' blog and see! ;) So darn adorable!

7/52 "Looking back."

Without getting into a huge block of text -- it's been a year since the loss of my Gabriel. Simon and I still miss him. He looks at Shepherds and wags and hopes, I can tell... he always has at the shop and on the street. It's something that makes me smile -- and he's become such a neat, awesome dog - I'm lucky to share my life with him. :)

And of course... all the rest. Caleb also is sleeping beside me in the bed as I type this. He's taken to lying on the other set of pillows upside down with his feet in the air... sometimes I look over and I really wish I hadn't, thanks, buddy! ;)

Rain, rain, go away...

2010-02-16T21:41:00.000-08:00

Simon and I would both like to go outside and play...

Wishful thinking...

2010-02-15T20:57:00.000-08:00

We can always hope, huh Caleb?

He's been focused and watching Westminster all night. He LOVES tv -- he watches football and sports too, and some movies -- but he's been stacked on the floor off and on all night, prancing around, sitting and staring. :D I wish he'd stack half that good in the ring!

5/52 "I do my thing in action!"

2010-02-08T11:35:00.001-08:00

Apologies to Schoolhouse Rock. I swear, that was probably the best teaching aid ever to come out of the seventies, hahaha. I can't remember my passwords half the time, but darn if I can't remember "Verb, that's what's happening!" and every other blasted tune. It's hilarious -- you'll start humming it and then everyone else around you starts up with the one they remember most. "Conjunction Junction, Mr. Morton, I'm Just A Bill..."

But yes, Verb, that's what's happening. To run, to bark, to laugh, to fly...

Thus I shall also give the status of Simon's toe! Vet was out this week and it's healing great. My fears were unfounded, thank goodness, the reason he was still a bit gimpy is that he had a wear spot from the tape that I thought was healed, but it was also between those nice soft little toes. Poor guy, but now we're just to taping the foot so that he doesn't accidentally catch it, and he's cleared for light exercise on the flat and on the grass. Which is good, because I'm about ready to go crazy and so was he. I took him up to the barn this week with me while I had my lesson and let him go for ten minutes on the backtrail -- mostly forgiving ground (aka mud and spongy duff, ugh.)

There's a short little distance on the gravel and that's where this was shot -- he was sniffing a really good sniff and realized I'd gone a little ahead of him. It looks faster than it was, hahah, he was just loping along. Amazing how out of shape he is in a short time, ugh. But that's fine, it meant he wasn't screaming along like a madman. :)

As for Caleb? Well, he didn't get to go with us because the two of them turn into roaring heathens when they're out there together.

So instead he got to romp around the backyard for a bit with the other crew. I love this shot, if for the grass and the cloud of steam coming out of his mouth.

Simon, on the other hand, tried to convince Matt that he should stop cleaning the house. His hints aren't subtle, that's for sure.

4/52 Weeks for dogs -- "Stair"

2010-01-31T17:21:00.000-08:00

(I admit, the grammar geek in me laughs at the homophone. Okay, I'm really geeky.)

Managed to get enough of a break in the rain yesterday to go shoot some photos for an hour or two. I actually ended up at my old middle school, which is now pretty much boarded up and in dire need of repair throughout. There's a set of stairs that go up to the high school, which has been utterly, completely redone, all brick and glass and huge buildings. I have a mural in there that I'm shocked is still standing after what now... uh, twenty years? Wow, it has been. Oh man, dated myself. ;)

But it was a great place to take shots of the dogs and I'll remember it on the weekend. It's just got a lot of neat spaces to use.

Caleb, on the stairs... sheesh, I've rarely had this problem with a dog. He's hard to keep weight on - the last one I had like that was Ali. Liblet is a picky son of a gun, oddly enough. (Unless it's something I'm eating, in which case he wants it bad. "Yum, lima beans!" )

Simon on the stairs... Ten minutes from the school and we're at Fort Ward. There was this sea lion out in the Sound barking at us and then it swimming closer and closer in fascination trying to figure out what the heck Simon was... and Simon was like, "That is the scariest, ugliest thing ever, wow." We decided the car was the better point of valor when it started to lumber onto the beach, eep! Those things are huge.

And of course, a couple of headshots...

Silly Simon...

2010-01-29T17:42:00.000-08:00

"You mean I'm not supposed to be grabbing this out of your hand and running off with it? Oooops."

Such a nutterbutter.

Unfortunately, I really don't like how his toe appears to be healing- which is, it's not. :/ Vet comes back next week to take a peek at it, along with oh, five other animals in the house. I'm just going to hand him my paycheck and call it even. ;)

3/52 - "On the Rocks."

2010-01-24T20:37:00.000-08:00

My 52 Weeks for Dogs picture this week of Simon.

I think we might do a local calendar this year of Simon on places on Bainbridge Island. :) We've had some pretty serious interest in folks thinking he might make a good card line as well...

I loved this shot, but didn't use it this week, it was so close to last week's shot in color and tone.

Tired. I will just sum up the weekend with Caleb = total happy idiot git. It was one of those moments when I wanted to throttle his little smiling, whining, barking face. Except at the hotel where he was a good good boy. He's got lovely hotel manners. <3 I'll take what what I can get this weekend.

Cardi Boyz haz won internetz?

2010-01-22T18:09:00.000-08:00

see more dog and puppy pictures

One of my friends sent this to me and said -- Hey, wait, aren't these YOUR dogs? XD

I'm like... yes? Wait, is that on... hahahahhahahahah! It's on the LOLdogs (Ihazahotdog) site.

Wow, after all these years, I have finally won the internet today I guess. That and I can't stop laughing at all the captions. Caleb's staring at me like I've lost my marbles. Which is okay, he was staring at Simon like that too!

Simon 2/52 - "Mister Blue Sky"

2010-01-12T17:58:00.000-08:00

It's funny... I was talking to my dad the other night. Now, my dad used to be a professional photographer when I was a kid. He's taken some incredible shots, ones that I sort of hold up and tell myself -- "I want to have a shot like this in my gallery some day."

So, we spent a good half an hour talking lenses, cameras, and lighting and him telling me that he was going to digitize his collection of slides (yes please, please!) I don't want to lose those. One of my favorite memories as a kid was to be in the King Tut exhibit before it opened to the public, and he took some absolutely amazing photographs of pieces that I've never seen in any book out there.

That and he taught me ELO was one of the best groups ever. ;) Hahaha. Well, we think so, anyway.

One of the things I started to notice was that I had a lot of shots of my other dogs shooting up at them, be it on the deck or rocks, or what have you, but really none of Simon like that. Two, I don't have a lot of truly posed shots of Simon, where I ask him to sit and wait while I shoot. (He's such a go go getter, haha!) Three, that I haven't gotten a lot of shots of him outside of the yard - I take him everywhere, but my camera, not so much! Four, uh, wow, he's a goof and always has his tongue flopping out because he's always having a great time. XD I failed four, but man, he's just too darn happy. I guess that's an okay one to fail, we'll get it sometime!

So, a break in the pouring weather, the beach down at Fay Bainbridge, and just enough time to grab some shots before the rain banded back and slammed back in.

Photo from the other angle -- you can really see the clouds coming in.

Tricksy, he thinks he is!

I love the grass here.

It's amazing that ...

2010-01-08T18:56:00.000-08:00

What blows my mind is this. How come it is I can look at Caleb on a daily basis and he still looks like this goofy, gangly puppy?

Then I shoot a picture like this, just one of those off the cuff, non posed pictures--

Where's my puppy? I swear, who is this strange animal in my lens? That's not my dog. I have to have a camera that teleports, right? It maybe takes future shots? I'm so bringing it to Emerald Downs and shooting the winner of the Longacres Mile. Make myself a mint, right? Ahh, of course I think about using the power for evil, what can I say?

Of course, the next picture brings it all back into perspective.

Caleb: "Bro? Tic-Tac."

Simon 1/52

2010-01-07T20:09:00.000-08:00

Manymuddypaws put out a feeler for new folks to join the 52 Weeks of dogs project on Flickr...

I've loved all the photos she did last year -- in fact, before I even started my blog, I had been sticking up photos of my dogs over there, saw Pixel and was like, "Wow, that's the cutest Cardi ever!" (Hey now, I'm a sucker for a gorgeous merle, I am, shh.) If you haven't been to her blog or seen her photography - you need to! Beautiful stuff!

I love photography. I love dogs. Combine the two and I'm happy... as you no doubt can tell from my blog.

The dog who I picked officially to do the project this year was Simon. I plan on doing Caleb as well, but just for myself, haha. :)

I wanted my first photo to be something -- well, Simon. I mean, what are the things that make Simon "Simon?" For me, it's his smile, his goofy good-nature, his drive, and of course, his love for his ever faithful Wubba toy.

The thing that makes me always smile about the Wubba is this...

He totally wanted to be just like Gabe, I guess. ;) Aw.

The- Amazing-Self-Washing-Caleb!

2010-01-05T17:45:00.001-08:00

Okay... we do our normal routine here in the mornings. I get up, let dogs out run a bath, get coffee, let dogs in, check email, shut bath off, quick finish up the email, and take a bath. This is what we pretty much do every morning here unless I'm in a hurry and grab a quick shower.

Now let me preface this by saying Caleb does not like baths. Simon doesn't mind baths. Riley loves baths. Piper is just Piper and I don't think she realizes that there's a bath going on the entire time you're washing her. (Now mind you, Caleb loves the fishpond, the ocean, the blue kiddy pool, the muddiest puddle known to mankind, but heck no, he does not want to take a bath!)

When I start washing dogs Caleb goes and hides in another room. Or he hides behind dad and I have to go pick him up while he turns into this wiggling, squirming pool noodle. You put him in the tub and he flattens his ears, squishes himself down, tail low. He looks terribly pathetic as you use the nice hose and scrub him down and up, and sometimes for good measure, he throws in a very fake-over-the-top-acting shiver.

If there was a "Most Pathetic Dog in A Tub," Oscar award, my mantle would be very shiny.

So, this morning, normal routine. Run bath. Turn off bath. Answer the email I have half done before I ran the bath. Peppermint coffee is wonderful, yum. Dogs are in the living room playing with an antler-chew, keeping them busy. It's awfully quiet while I'm drinking my coffee, aw, well, the chew must be keeping them busy!

I come out and head for the bathroom. The Pems are sitting in the hall, looking in the bathroom. Okay, well, the Cardis must have dragged the antler chew in on the bathroom rug...

Walk in the bathroom.

Stare. (The cats and Simon are also staring, so I'm in good company.)

Walk out of bathroom. Get Blackberry, which is on the bench. Walk back in.

Take picture.

(Yes, I've apparently hit the digital age, when on seeing something that shocks you, you whip out your cell phone and take pictures.)

Caleb is in the bathtub. In the full bathtub. He is as happy as a lark, swimming around like some sort of odd little freaky otter, paddling around in the water. In MY water. My nice clean bath is now full of yard dirt and dog hair, and Caleb stops long enough to stand up and say hi, and then hops back down and is paddling around in circles in the tub.

You know, I really did think about the fact that he was probably going to hop out and take off down the hall, absolutely soaked to the bone. I did think that. But then I just scootched down the hall again and grabbed the Nikon that I had charging on the TV stand. Listen with one ear for sound of dog leaping from tub; nope -- paddle, paddle, paddle, paddle, sploosh, sploosh!

Go back in. Don't have the camera set. Other animals are staring at him like he's nuts. I am too.

Splish-Splash, I'm takin' a bathhhhhh...

They call this move the Cardi-Paddle.

Was this YOUR tub? *Yawn* (And no, that wasn't a stress yawn, hahah. That was a lazy, my hind legs are drifting in your nice clean tub yawn. He was just drifting along)

Still yawning. Nice relaxing spa day, apparently. For him!

Ahhhhh... so relaxed. Mmm. Why didn't you tell me about this hot tub? Oh, because it was your bathwater? Well, not anymore, we're compromising! :D

I guess it's time to come out. I feel totally refreshed though, wow! You might want to do something about the dirt in here... oh, and the hair. Grab a heated towel, will you?

Of course, I grab him out. Then, I had to text my employees on why I was going to be a bit late for work. They thought this was hilarious. I spent fifteen minutes drying the dog, argh!

I'm ashamed to say I stared at the tub and said, "Fine, whatever." Darned if he was going to get to use all my hot water, the rotter!

Note to self -- shut bathroom door from now on. ;)

Porch dog.

2010-01-02T18:48:00.000-08:00

I love Caleb's smile. Aw.

Happy Birthday to the Noodle!

2009-12-31T15:56:00.001-08:00

New Year's Eve posts are probably supposed to be a little introspective, right? I mean, what I should be doing is writing this page on how many things have changed this year. They have, they've changed a lot...

Especially this one. :) (Beware! Long post, and photo heavy, haha!)

Many of you know what the story with Caleb was - and some of you likely don't. So for the short short version, I hadn't planned on getting a second Cardi to show. We'd gotten Simon the year before, and I was just getting back into the swing of dog showing when Gabriel passed away. I'm in contact with Simon's breeders regularly, and had written both of them to let them know what was going on. Simon was as crushed as I was; he hero-worshipped Gabe, where there was a Gabe, there was a Simon, tagging right along.

Well... on the close of one of our many emails back and forth, Sharon gently said, "You know, when you're ready, you should think about getting another puppy at one point."

I laughed, sending the email back, "I think the only way that I'm getting another puppy is if you have a nice flashy red brindle, haha! Matt likes brindles."

About ten minutes later I pick up my phone at work, with the message attached to this picture.

"Eat your heart out."

I couldn't help it. I just laughed for the first time in the two weeks since Gabe passed away. Melisa (my manager and good friend) was there in the office with me and I showed her the phone and shook my head. She eyes the picture, eyes me, and puts her hands on her hips and gives me 'the look.' Then she says, "You need that dog."

I say, "I don't want another dog. I really don't. I- I think I'm done with dogs for a while."

She says, "Oh no you're not. That's your dog. It's meant to be. Seriously. Ask her or I'm calling her and asking her for you."

I reply, "I think that's a show pup she's holding back..."

So I email back. Mind you, I had no idea that she even had this litter, much less a red-brindle. I will say that what she emailed me back with was one of the nicest things someone's ever done for me. I'm floored. I call Matt and email him the picture. Now... Matt didn't want any more dogs. The running joke between us is "Yeah, someday we're getting down to one dog and two cats."

The email back is, "Tell her yes."

I guess everyone thought I needed a puppy. When the stars and planets align just so, you better go with it. Or get struck by lightning or something. Small, chompy, brindle lightning.

So, suddenly I find myself within a week at the airport, waiting for a plane. Where Simon was quiet and gentle and kind, snuggling into Matt's arms the minute we got him, happy as could be, I'm standing there at the baggage claim and I hear... "WOOOOOOOOOO. WOOO. WOOOOOOOOO!!!!" The guy hands me the crate, I look inside, and open the door, and this brindle firecracker whips past with this huge grin, gleefully dodging to go explore the baggage claim and goose a little girl on the way in. Gah! Catch puppy, pick up puppy, puppy grins at me.

"Oh hi there, whoa, did you see that thing, with the luggage and the people and hi people? WOOOOO! Hi world, hi strange lady trying to hold me back, hi baggage claim guy! Wait, the baggage claim's still there! WOOO!"

The trainer in me says, "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

I think Caleb's reply was, "Yes. Now let's go explore the baggage claim together!"

So, it began. Simon was an easy dog. A sweet dog. Super sensitive, gentle, kind dog. Oh no, we don't potty on the floor. Oh no, we don't chew things, that's wrong!

Caleb was a little hellion wrapped in tiger stripes. Yeah, housebreaking? Break this. Chewing stuff up is awesome. Let me take care of those cords for you, mwahahahhaha! Listening is for good dogs, and I ain't one! I'll test you up and down!

But he did have a cute face...

Simon had been so lonely, and took to him instantly.

They're total opposites in personality but they're best friends, day in and day out.

Gonna get you, bro!

Someday, he too was going to herd the chickens.

Then we had ears!

... and a big chunk of Simon's hair. (We call the little one Bitey.)

He knew he was all that and a bag of chips from the get go.

Out in public at Seattle Center, he took it in stride. Even if he found Dad boring. ;)

The bath after the fishpond dunk? Not so much. I still can't keep him out of it. When did Cardigans become water dogs?

"You do understand, I'm just going out to get dirty again, mom. Take that!"

Sometimes he's thoughtful.

Sometimes he's tricky!

Mostly, he's a momma's boy, and he's not shy about admitting it in public.

He became a pog. (Part puppy, part dog!)

Oh wait, no, the puppy's still there. It immediately ran off and ignored me after this shot was taken. Simon and I both yelled at him about it, ha! Double teamed!

He still adores his big brother, and wants to do everything like him. (Except come when called. That's still against his religion or something.)

His first show... with Cardi friends I adore handling him. Aw.

To the rescue!

I learned a lot of things this year. He's been teaching me patience, teaching me handling... and he's also taught me (the no dogs ever in the bed person) that dogs do belong in the bed. Right next to their person.

(You can also wake up your person by some sort of Cardigan Mind Meld. Stare at them long enough without moving and if they crack open an eye, lick them right on the lips. It's a talent.)

Don't say rude things to the cat. He likes you, but not enough to let you get away with it.

Nope, don't say them to the Pembrokes either.

A whistle means - come here. Got it! (Finally. I thought he never would!)

Where I go, he goes. He's my dog, through and through. He sits on my feet, he keeps the front seat of the car warm when I go in, he sleeps behind the counter at work on my jacket. From the first day he was here, he decided he was my dog, period. Either that or he was reading email. I wouldn't put it past him to do that. I also won't let him near my credit card.

Which leads us to today, a day of going to the barn together. I let him run up and down the driveway there for a while, until he was absolutely filthy and smiling and waiting for me to get done with the horses.

So, off we go! Next year's just one more adventure, right? I did need this dog. Like he lets me know on a daily basis, there's a lot of baggage claims out there in the world, better explore them! ;)

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a year old Cardigan!

Happy new year, guys! :)

As the Toe Owchies...

2009-12-29T20:21:00.000-08:00

So, recently I blogged about how Simon was limping badly, and we weren't sure if he hurt his leg or his back..

So, off the X-rays went to the specialist since my vet was unsure what it could be.

I was sitting with Si that night and sort of checking him all over again, and found that he had a rear hind outside toe that felt odd and swollen to me (and kind of clicky, eep!) Joanna of Ruffly Speaking had suggested it might very well be a toe break, as did Y. Now, you wouldn't think a toe would cause all those symptoms, but...

Darn Cardis are stoic! Oh man, are they stoic. Not a yelp, a yip, a grumble, a growl, nothing. In fact, touching his toe and having it make crunchy, awful sounds only meant that he could leap up afterward and go find a toy to make me throw it. Sheesh. Or lick anyone he could reach - my vet adores him, he's just a happy, friendly boy.

Well, the specialist couldn't find anything else on the X-rays. (Except that he did say, nice hips, and holy moly, that dog's muscled up. There's this big bulky shoulder muscle in the shot, haha. Simon's been working out with da Wubba!)

Of course the one place we didn't shoot was his hind feet. Now, after talking to the vet there's not a whole lot you can do for a broken toe in dogs. He figured that since he had stopped limping that it was likely either a dislocation or a fracture.

So, no running or playing much last week (yeah, good luck with that, Simon says heck no, playplayplaygogogo!) Today he came back to check up on him and yup, the toe was clicky. We decided to go ahead and take film to see for sure.

Both of us were like "Oh geeze!" when the film came out of the developer. It's a bad break on the P2; a lengthwise break with bone displacement right over the joint. Poor Simon! So then come the options -- ugh, pinning apparently isn't a great one. Casting him isn't either, in that he's an incredibly active (as those of you who have met him will agree) and our area is sopping wet right now. The vet feels it might do more harm than good.

So, we're trying to the old athlete's trick of taping two toes together for the next month or more, and hopefully it will heal up fine. He was concerned he might chew it off - nope! He looked at it, and then once he realized it was stable and not bothering him, off he went, skipping along and immediately tackled Caleb in delight.

I still don't know how he broke it; the vote is for flinging himself off the deck. Matt's vote, being the football guy he is is that Simon has Turf-Toe. We have decided to call it Wubba-Toe. Extreme sports, woo!

So, his $650.00 gosh-we've-X-ray'd-the-whole-Simon toe is taped up and he's as running and chirpy as ever. At least I have a great set of X-rays of his hips and shoulders and back for my records. Apparently he just flopped on the table happily and let them take all the shots they needed. Good guy!

I'm so buying him some cool colored vet tape; if I have to tape his toe for four weeks, we're going for fancy! ;)

(Ps: He says he feels just fine, no worries! Now let's play ball! Ball, ball, ball! He's got 15 other toes! Bring it on, baby! And thank you all for all the well wishes, aww.)

(PPS: Dad is totally coddling him, and don't think for a moment he's not taking advantage of it. Hey, this little new Canon Sure Shot is neat! Quick snapshot!)

Christmas Joy

2009-12-27T17:34:00.000-08:00

For the first time in years we had the step-kids with us. Usually we have a very quiet Christmas morning, but wow, this year was pretty busy. Retail was grand -- we had a good season so far, and I'm very happy about it. Made up a bit on the debacle that was last year, ugh. A White Christmas is a beautiful thing, but as a retailer, we wince if it's before Christmas. It just packs a punch on sales.

However, I was ahead of the game this year. I wrapped everything before Christmas Eve! Go me. Of course... I had help. Lots of help. There's a lot of pet hair in my tape, argh.

All Simon really wanted for Christmas was new toys, and for me to allow him to run around outside. I've not been allowing him much run time all week, and because work was so busy, he couldn't go with me. So he was bored, bored, bored. Bored. Really bored. Sigh.

However, Christmas morning came, and oh boy... can you say mess? I did. ;) It was a fun mess though! The corgis and the cats got all their toys out and were happily playing while we were still unwrapping.

Caleb: "Mom? Mom? Are you still there? Help, I can't find my way out of the maze!"

Once it was all cleaned up though... outside we went! To try out the new cameras! ;)

Caleb and Riley, playing under the deck. It's always so funny how big Cardi muzzles look up against Pem muzzles.

Poor Caleb. He just got a Christmas morning bum-kicking. Ah well, that's usually what happens to the youngest, right? I got a Nerf bow and arrow one year as a kid for Christmas and spent the morning target practicing on my sister. Ahh, good memories.

However... Simon got exactly what he wanted for Christmas. He got to go outside, and run and play with all his toys. He was so, so happy, he couldn't stop doing that horrible shriek-bark of his while debating what toy he was going to play with at any given moment. We didn't stay out too long because I'm still worried about him, but we were out enough to burn off a bit of Christmas Crazies.

Hope everyone had a grand holiday! :D I am so looking forward to getting the year over so I can get a chance to draw again! Haven't forgotten about anyone, just man, retail eats you up after Thanksgiving!

Happy "Holidogs"

2009-12-24T08:35:00.000-08:00

The boys send their wishes to everyone. :) Have a good Christmas!

(Also, to all the other folks who are retailers or work in retail, hang in there. Just a few more days to go, heh.)

(PS: For those wondering, Miss Piper doesn't get to go sit with Santa since the 'incident' a few years ago. Ahem.)

Owie, poor Simon...

2009-12-21T19:20:00.000-08:00

Well, Simon hurt himself on Friday. We can't figure out how he did it -- and what's worse, we can't figure out what it is. Then again, the way he is, he could have hurt himself running around the yard, throwing his ball for himself.

Friday night he was having a hard time getting up - no yelping, nothing was sore or noticeable to the touch, but it looked like it was in both hind legs. I gave him some asprin and sent him to bed.

Saturday morning, it was even worse, and he was very stiff and favoring his left hind leg something awful, but also looked like he was going down in back. A call to the mobile vet, who was here within a half an hour.

A bunch of X-rays later and some doggie painkillers, he was feeling better Sunday, and today, he's back to bopping around with Caleb. (Hey, he gets the good stuff, Simon does.) However, the call from my vet tonight was frustrating, and he was frustrated too.

Now, he can't tell if he has a minorly calcified disk (or nothing at all it's so, so, so slight) a hip issue (which doesn't make much sense, considering he pre-limned fine) or if he's blown his cruciate... (argh, if he did, he probably did it running around with Caleb the week the ground was icy and hard as a rock.)

Or if he broke his toe - which is now my theory. His toe's all swollen up and he's holding it oddly. Which would be the best case out of all of these things. My vet's exact words were....

"I have no idea, but man, Corgis are weirdly shaped with those little dense bones. It doesn't help with diagnosis that they're very stoic and tough."

I'm wondering if that could cause all of his issues, if he crunched his toe pushing off the deck playing with his ball, or bent his leg under himself. :/ So, off the X-rays go to the specialist, and then we'll go from there. On a high note, he's putting weight on the leg and seems cheery as heck again.

Argh, dogs.

However, here, have a happy photo to finish off this post! :D

Throw it! Woo! Throw it! :D

Smile!

2009-12-17T10:04:00.000-08:00

Simon manages the best smiles. I love the fact that he's got goofy smile wrinkles. He's the Cardi "Have a nice day" button, haha! ;)

"Catsitting"

2009-12-15T21:05:00.000-08:00

Caleb's doin' it wrong...

;)

Rar!

2009-12-13T21:48:00.000-08:00

Been a good day -- a little photography, a little hot cocoa, put together my new bed (which is gorgeous, absolutely wonderful.)

Matt fixed the washer (hooray, oh man, I did NOT want to buy another front loader in two years.) Plus, I wrapped all my presents finally with Caleb's help. Playing catchup as I always do this time of year with retail; anyone who's ever owned a retail business understands. On a high note, I'm very happy to see how the season's gone so far. I admit, I'm still on pins and needles after last year, where the snow during the last week push hurt so many businesses in my area, but... I feel better and a bit more confident, if tired. ;)

However, Caleb looks impressive, and I laughed. Apparently, it's a RAR face sort of week. ;)

Brrr...

2009-12-10T21:49:00.000-08:00

So much frost on the grass, it cracks, and even the dogs don't want to be out for long. My horses basically are shuffling from sunbeam to sunbeam in their big heavy blankets.

Caleb had a few moments in the sun, though. He also attempted to drink out of an iced over fishpond. We nearly had a Christmas Story moment here, haha.

But the light was pretty this evening, and I got one good shot before I had to go inside. My hands were instantly numb, yikes!

And what to my wondering eyes should appear---!!!

2009-12-03T16:11:00.000-08:00

Eee, my friendly Cardi Claus visited our house today! So stealthly in fact that the dogs slept through the postman's arrival and I didn't know the package was there. Ninja delivery, apparently! ;)

Of course, I open up the card -- and it's from Taryn!! How cool is that? Apparently Jimmy and Wilson chipped in too!

I have to show this off because it is so awesome it deserves sharing! I am a huge carousel collecting nut, and apparently Taryn read my mind, hahah! Look at this, this is the most wonderful thing ever - a totally fantastic drawing of a carousel Cardi! <3 I love, love, love art, and pencils are my favorite. Add that to carousels and Cardis --- wow, wow, wow. It's now in the living room on the bookcase - thank you so much!!!! :D

And now there's all the other really wonderful little ornaments too! A little dry erase blue Cardi - - how cool! It's my first Cardi tree ornament ever, and it's blue! My favorite color. (Don't tell Caleb, though.) A gorgeous little Santa, and Jimmy and Wilson modeling a set of photo ornaments, awwwww. <3 These are so, so neat!

... of course, the crew was like... hmm, what's that? Is it delicious? Is it crunchy? So as I'm unwrapping... they're plotting.

"Hmm, she's distracted. I shall just sneak this out..."

"Hey, wait a minute! Share it with me!"

Needless to say there was this huge wrestling match as the poor sock was grabbed and run off with in fifteen different directions. ;) But in the end...

"Sharing? Caring? I'm Caleb, and the Ghost of Christmas Future can go suck a lemon. It's mine."

(Thank you, thank you, Taryn!)

Break in the rain.

2009-12-03T13:20:00.001-08:00

Here it means I get to boot the heathens out so they stop romping through the house like maniacs. Whoo, there was way too much energy to burn, let me tell you. They've been cooped up in here or at the shop for days - my yard simply won't dry out right now, and there's a good six inches of muddy slop under the deck, thanks to Piper-I-Dig-Holes-And-Smile.

Wheeeeeee!

Riley is like, "Go away, annoying puppy."

Caleb doesn't, and thus gets a fluffy-butt kicking.

So, then him and Simon go tearing around the yard -- it's like the Tron motorbikes. Complete with horrible collision and subsequent rolling in the mud. ;)

Yeah, come on out of there...

This rar-face-I'm-tough shot looks totally impressive unless you were there to shoot it. There's no one even around or paying attention to his RAR face as he explodes from the bushes. He was rather disappointed about it and then ran off to find his Wubba, doofus.

And... we wind down and wait on the deck to go in. Amazing how quiet the house is now, hahah.

Went to the Post Office too and sent out my Cardi Claus package yesterday! Hahha, aw, that was fun to put together! :D

After a hard day at work

2009-12-01T20:53:00.001-08:00

Caleb knows how to relax. I need to take lessons from him on Cardi Zen. :)

Another dog?

2009-11-28T11:13:00.000-08:00

Well, it waddles like a Corgi and sits up like one too! ;)

I love the social aspects of prairie dogs. They're so incredble to watch. I wish I'd brought my longer lens with me, they were just having a great time out there. It's funny, I walked out and then they were chirping and yipping that I was close and all of them scooted off and then slowly, they all started coming back, watching me. In like ten minutes the chirping changed to a peep, peep, peep...

One of them was like a total poser. ;) He wasn't scared at all, he was just sitting and watching me silently. Apparently that's the one who knew all about cameras, haha!

Career changes...

2009-11-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

This is going to be an interesting blog to write, I think... I might ramble a little - it's nice to bounce thoughts off of people, so to speak.

Simon was our first show prospect. Like many show prospects he looked fantastic as a pup, at six months, at nine, and then the year hit and -- well, that's why they're called prospects.

(Now, Simon's breeder is wonderful, absolutely wonderful, keeps in constant contact, has great dogs, and I wouldn't hesitate to get another dog from her in a heartbeat. Si's full brother is a lovely dog, his sister too. They're doing nicely out in the ring, looking great!)

Simon's hips pre-lim'ed clear, and he can out work, out leap, out gallop, out think all my other dogs. When everyone else is tired, or disgusted with the mud and the cold and the heat or wanting to take a nap, Simon's still throwing himself gleefully forward, delightedly singing to himself. He's healthy as a pony. Heck, he's healthier THAN one of my ponies... we won't talk about my creaky old Arab. He's got more drive than a Ferrari. Everyone comments on his temperament; he's not got a mean bone in him, he's not fearful. He's rock solid and kind.

I can admit that I am truly, honestly a bit disappointed that his career talents sure seem to lie in an opposite direction from the show ring. I adore merles. I've wanted a merle dog since I was a little kid. (Of course, this merle dog promptly dumped me for my husband, which reminds me so much of Magnus... but that's a story for another time. ;) )

Of course, it doesn't mean I don't adore Simon any less. However, in a horribly fickle way I have to admit that there are times I've wished that Si had ended up with Caleb's structure and flair and "look at me!!!!" qualities with that lovely merle color and hard-working, gentle personality. ;)

However, I've been showing cats since I was five. I had good mentors in Shepherds and Korats that warned me not to be blinded what you produce or own, to accept your dog/cat's worst physical and mental points and to look really hard at your crew - to be overcritical, I guess.

So then you sit and debate each animal structurally and mentally. What can you live with, what can you accept? What can you not? I have always been drawn to work-ethic in dogs. I LOVE a thinking, working dog. Caleb is a lot of things, but thinking - well, not so much quite yet.

Honestly, you tell Caleb to connect the dots and he's off drawing glittery pictures of kitties in the corners. I keep telling myself that the Stripey Chompy will grow himself a brain one of these days, or at least get out of the Barbie Fun Wagon and graduate to a nice sedan. ;)

Sometimes, though, you just sit yourself down and realize that things happen for a reason. Without the loss of Ali, I wouldn't have found myself finally ready to try another show dog and get back into it again - something different - and thus I have Simon. And with the loss of Gabriel, I wouldn't have Caleb. I have two awesome Cardis, who have obvious, wonderful talent in totally different directions and who have caused me to go head over heels for the breed.

These dogs are the dogs I want to spend the rest of my life with. They had some big paws to fill, and they've stepped into them and shrunk them to fit. The people are lovely in this breed; it's so nice to see people greeting each other happily in the ring and wishing a dog well. It's great to see people whistling for the dog in group that don't own him or her. And it's fantastic that people are willing to be honest about your dog; they don't candy coat, but they're wonderfully polite, and I appreciate that.

The thing is... I need to sit and do some thinking. Where does Simon go from here? Agility? Obedience? Rally? Herding? Therapy dog? Poke him in the eye, hug him, he'll lick your face. Simon shoots fantastic photos and models well for photography - and I don't think it would be hard at all to start training him to really hold a pose when the lens clicks, like Riley. William Wegman has his crew, maybe mine will be Corgis. With less silly wigs.

Or maybe... just maybe he's got another calling, and maybe I'm just trying to avoid really accepting it for some strange reason. The other night I came home and he wanted to play ball. I was tired, had a long day at work, and had more work to do. I didn't want to play ball. Simon wanted to play ball - he always wants to play ball. I tossed it a few times down the hall and then hid it under a sofa cushion. Fooled you! I think.

A few minutes later I hear him rushing back and forth in the living room, nose up, intent. He's air-scenting, you see him touch down on things. The TV stand, the toy box full of dog toys. The dog baskets. A blanket. And then he finds the ball hidden under that cushion and pulls it out, and brings it to me to throw.

I forget about making myself a cup of tea and sitting down with the laptop for a few. I hide the ball again. Simon finds it. I lock him in the bathroom, hide the ball again in the living room. This time he stares at me, confused, and I say, "Hey, find it." He looks at me, and then you see the light turn on, and the nose start to go. This time it takes longer, but he finds it. He's all proud of himself. I'm proud of him. His tail is doing helicopters, and I totally forget the rough day I've had. We goof around with hiding the ball and finding it faster and faster, we start to change rooms. Is the ball in the kitchen? Is it in the bedroom? My tea water gets cold.

Caleb watches from the kitchen but doesn't bother to leave the teakettle - hot water means dinner. Who wants a silly slimy ball, seriously. Can't eat the stupid ball. Hmm, maybe he is a lot smarter after all... ;)

You know... my regular SAR group meets at the end of the month.

(And with that, we're off tomorrow morning to Denver for Thanksgiving. This month has just been crazy, wow.)

Show weekends...

2009-11-15T22:20:00.000-08:00

My hand is finally feeling like an actual hand as of today, thank goodness. So behind on art, argh. I'm still debating what to do with Tristan the Terrible. So far my choices have not been appreciated; as in I need a winter hat and a set of earmuffs. But it's healing nicely - it's weird - I've been bit a LOT by cats and never had this problem before, but guess I was due.

(I better turn into a were cat or something for all this trouble. By day, I'm a mild mannered dog food retailer, by night, a furniture destroying, Corgi pouncing ball of furry evil.)

Met a bunch of new wonderful people at the show today -- aw, hi everyone I didn't get to say hi to for too long (I saw a whisk of Kim, I did, and drooled over her wonderful jacket but didn't get to say it.) Caleb says he totally appreciated the snuggles and the scratchies from his admirers who know exactly how to skritch a Cardi!

Kim and Yolanda already wrote it better than me on their blogs (Including Dash's amazing Conformationagility combo moment, wow!) so I'll just say that Dayl called me yesterday to say Caleb won BOW on Sat, and I was floored. In fact, I think I squealed and went running through the shop for a few minutes. At least I own a pet supply store; dog people can sort of relate to you doing that. Actually, I'm pretty sure I was frapping. <3 A major!

However... I know I make a lot of fun of him (since the Stripey Chompy Spazoid Noodlehead is my dog, I can do that) but there's nothing sweeter then coming home Sunday night and him creeping into my lap on the ferry and giving me the "I adore you and I missed you so much" face. I even accept that for that half a minute, he might have really meant it, and not because I had a peach scone in my hand that I was wolfing down on the way home.

No worries, we all shared. <3

Simon says he liked the eggnog one better, himself.

However, we're home... and Caleb has ensconced himself onto the sofa once again.

Once again, Dayl and Yolanda have been so gracious as to handle my boys, and it's so appreciated.

Edit: Sorry for the lack of photos guys... my poor Nikon is in for repairs. I miss it so. :( I'm limping along another cheapo camera. I may have to buy myself a little pocket digital for these moments.

Edit2: I really need a king sized bed. This is ridiculous. Warm, but ridiculous.

Bliss...

2009-11-02T14:07:00.000-08:00

My cats ended up getting a bout of URI this week from somewhere, ugh. Of course, with his immune system on the fritz like it has since he was a kitten, D. had a bout with his herpes cycle this week culminating in a fever and blowing snot on Thursday night. Lovely. So, we were in the vet on Friday for him since he was already showing ulceration signs in his eye again. This time we were given the warning that if we can't get it under control, it might be in his best interests to remove the bad eye... which would be fine, except both his eyes are bad, so there's a good chance at some point the second one would have to go. I'd prefer not to even go down that road, so we're loaded up with antibiotics and antivirals and so far, so good. :) It's looking way better today.

However, while D is a dream to pill and medicate, easy as pie, I had to get some antibiotics for Tristan's eye. Yeahhhh, that's really fun. Darn nasty mean cat, man, at times I have to agree with my vet of all people - there are a lot of winding dark roads in our area where I could put him and no one would notice. ;)

I kid, mostly because he'd find his way back to our house and we'd be liable for all the children he killed for sustenance on the way home. So needless to say, Friday I made the mistake of not wrapping him in a towel because I thought Tris was fine... and oh boy, not so smart. My hand is finally not hurting from the gouges and the chomp.

So, I settle down to clean house and draw today, and what do I promptly do? I'm trying to be nice to Matt and clean the kitchen since that's his domain, and I wash the knives... and promptly drop one right into the palm of my hand. Yeah, so much for drawing for a day or two again, ow. I joked with myself that I should have done it right after Tristan bit me to draw out the venom if I'd had any sense.

Luckily, one of us had the right idea on how to take the day off... I really should have just flopped and done what Dusty's doing today. I am so glad he's feeling so much better.