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

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!  ;) )

Introducing - Temperance!

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. ;)

Down at the beach...

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!) ;)

2/52 -- Brave, Brave Sir Simon!

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.)

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

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

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

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.

City Sniffer...

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!

15/52 "Hide and Peek"

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!

You put your right paw in...

You put your right paw out... you put your right paw in and you shake it all about!
Simon's attempt at the Hokey Pokey...


And then you take your ball in the pool!


Get it, get it!


Shakeshakeshake!


Of course, can't forget Caleb.


"Why shouldn't I drink pool water again?"