Patience and Sticks...

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...

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"

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)

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! ;)

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!)

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!)

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