Remembering

Today is Memorial Day and although it is nice to have a three day weekend (I'm working so only 2 for me), it is a time for us to think about the men and women who have fought in wars for our country and our freedom. (Although the whole fighting thing is pretty controversial, I still think we need to be thankful of the men and woman who everyday put their lives on the line in the name of our country). Now the people in power who send them there...that is another conversation for another blog.

My dad was in the army. He entered when he was 16 and fought in 3 wars. He was a good man with a heart of gold. I think I get my, "let's have a good time" attitude from him. Also my bad conformation and arthritis.

I know that his experiences in the wars he served shaped who he was. I know that the scars that he carried (both inside and out) impacted his behavior and how he responded to stress. He is no longer with us, but his legacy of what he did is still there.

A big shout out this weekend. To the family and friends who have lost family members as well as have family members serving today.

I am taking time today to remember and be thankful.

Another little remodel project...

"Where's the carpet? I want carpet!" Fin whines from the sofa.
I do like remodeling. I especially like the results. After finishing the downstairs bathroom (which looks lovely), we went ahead with the living room/dining room floors. This had been the plan since I did the hallway about 11 years ago...just never got around to it.

One of the reasons we hadn't gotten around to it was because it is freak'n hard work. I simply don't want to give up my nights and weekends to lay hardwood anymore. Now that I have dog agility, my free time is limited. So our buddy Greg (who most recently did the bathroom), came in and saved the day. If he hadn't showed up, we'd still have the wood piled up in the entry way.

Before he came, my friend and I thought we'd save some time and pull up the carpets ourselves (THANKS LAURA and KELVIN!!). While they were here, I said, "Let's pull the paneling off the fireplace. I hate it!

Ok, I know it sounds crazy now, but at the time... so we did. What we found was that under the paneling was old barn siding. It looked like there was good drywall under the old barn siding so...we started to pulling the barnsiding off. Unfortunately we didn't realize that the barn siding was sorta BEHIND the fireplace so we broke the bricks getting the barn siding off.

Now the truth about home improvement rears it's ugly head. "Nothing is ever as simple as it first seemed."

In the end we refaced the fireplace...well ok, Greg refaced it after he fixed the bricks that Laura and I broke and secured the fireplace to the wall.

I have to say, it looks really nice. We still need a mantel, but wowza! what a difference.

Oh, those hills, so much fun!

Today we again headed to Harvey Bear to tackle some more hills, Fin and I. She is on her "flexi" due to Dr.s orders. She is supposed to use the freedom to trot back and forth on the hills. Here's the truth. Even with all the freedom, she walks or paces up hills right next to me or in front of me. She hates the uphill almost as much as me.

As we got going today there was a couple walkers with their dog walking slow in front of me and as I passed them they started yelling for me to stop. I'm like, "huh?" They pointed and I looked. What I saw was a big ass rattlesnake curled up with his head sitting on his coiled body and his rattles sticking up in the middle and every once in a while he gave his tail a little shake.

Hmmm. Now this is a quandary. I guess I'll stand still. Fortunately we were on an uphill and Fin was by my side. We waited and he eventually slithered off into the grass. By then there was quite a few of us standing around including a number of walkers, 3 dogs, 2 horses, and 4 bikers. No one wanted to go first. I'm like, heck, the trail is 4-5 feet wide, he's off in the grass, I think I'm safe and off I went, followed by the bikers then the horses and finally the rest of the walkers. Of course, then I get to the gate and have to hold it open for all the bikers and the horses.....but it was better to have them in front of me anyway. It is pretty steep going from the gate to the top.

Once on the flat or down hill, Fin is a wandering fool. Trots all over the place, newest game, trot out to the end of the Flexi and trot back for a cookie. Rinse and repeat. But once we hit an uphill, all trotting stops. It never occurred to me that uphill could be as hard on the dogs as it is on me. My job is watching for more snakes...after our earlier encounter, I kept my head up and watched the trail ahead so she would be safe.

There was alot of green, but evil foxtails lurked everywhere. Really bad this season. If Fin even thought of wandering off the trail she'd have something sticky in her feet and we'd have to stop and pull thorns and foxtails outta her hair and feet.

There was also some flowers still blooming in all that dried grass.

I didn't see any cows and I wonder if there is so much overgrowth and foxtails due to the lack of cows. They must be on other parts of the park as we usually run into alot of them.

The Day I woke up and My Baby Dog Was No Longer a Baby Dog

Happy Birthday Fin. Little Fish Fry. You are 3 years old.

The Golden Bra

In 2004 a little merl pup came to Morgan Hill to live. She was feisty from the get go. Anytime an agility handler brings home a pup, we have stars in our eyes for the promise of potential that the pups give us.

Tazzie got a new best friend. My buddy Laura got what we now refer to as "The Golden Bra."

Contact Point's In Your Face "Brazen" just got ADCH Gold. She is 5 years young.

Who would have thought way back when the dog that stalked pumpkins would turn into a Q'ing machine.

The journey hasn't all been easy for this wonderful team. But Laura has persevered to be an amazing agility handler giving Brazen the edge she needed to turn Gold.
Way back when, Tazzie's BFF and he would run and play chase.
Today, they still have each other's back and are partners in crime.

Congrats to Laura and Brazen!

When the elevation makes me park the car on a rock...

Went to the sierras this last weekend for agility. Had a great time. After a long day of agility, then a hike at 8000 feet, came back down to 5000 feet for dinner. Parked the car, had a WONDERFUL meal and then came out to find this. Neither of us felt a thing when I parked the car! All we could do was laugh.
Although agility was amazing, we also had some great hikes. Fortunately I purchased an inexpensive digital to replace my broken one and the results were fabulous.

Just a little snow, here and there. But enough to make it extra fun.

We were throwing snow balls and letting the dogs run up and down the snow banks. Fin did not have as much fun, as she was attached to me the entire time.

Snow ball tossing fun. Until, Laura discovered the fresh bear tracks. Then Vici wanted to keep walking.

Fin, watching the fun.

Going up hill is easier with a little help from my friends.

You know it is summer when I start talking about my shearing techniques...

Tazzie's beauty is undeniable. He has one hecka good looks. However, he swims. Fabio hair doesn't much help a 21 pound sheltie when it starts to work against him in the pool. Also, no matter what anyone says about hair keeping him cooler as well as warmer, Tazzie is just happier during the summer with the buzz cut.

In the past, me cutting Tazzie has been somewhat of a joke amongst my friends. Ok, well maybe my "mad skills" haven't really been up to snuff. This year however, I think I'm getting somewhere.

Ok, well maybe I have a ways to go, but I will say, he is looking rather "cute" these days.

And what did my husband say upon seeing Tazzies buzz cut this year? "Well, I see that since I won't let you have a puppy, you are making one."