Father-Son Reunion

Dakota and I met Susan and Nome for a walk yesterday after his puppy training class. Both Dakota and I were SO EXCITED that Nome remembered us so well! You should have heard the excited caterwauling Dakota and Nome were doing across the parking lot as soon as they realized the other was there. Dakota makes the funniest non-dog noises when he’s “talking” and Nome was making the exact same sounds. Susan said it reminded her of the seals down at Pier 39 in San Francisco and after she said it, I had to agree! Attached is a picture of the two of them in the back of my car post walk after sharing a bowl of water. ~ Alli

Eugene Celebration

Where else but in Eugene, Oregon would you find a parade celebrating a Slug Queen or U.S. Congressman pushing a "slime scooper" wheelbarrow containing beer for bribing judges? No where.

The Willamette Pass Ski Patrol served as judges for this year's parade. One of my favorites was "Building a Future for the Physically and Mentally Handicap Persons". The entry included about 50 people and was followed up by this couple. The esteemed judges.

The group immediately following this neighborhood group was the "100 Hens". They had 100 hens both real and in costume and danced the chicken dance as they went by. Unfortunately, I was laughing too hard to get a good picture.

The most amazing local entry included children doing the circ du solie hanging acrobatics. Judges took their job very seriously - of course,

bribes did sway the tally a bit.

Enough Already

Cedar was properly attired in class today.

"You expect me to go over that jump maze dressed like this?"
Willow remains our guest. While the big dogs slept, she went through the toy basket and sampled each of the bones before she settled on the one.

Rag Part Two

Your latest blog entry had me laughing out loud! At Freda's house it is not uncommon for the cats to drag clothes all over the house. When I lived there, I would come home and find a shirt that had been in the laundry room on the other side of the house, on my bed. How they managed to drag it up the bed is beyond me. One of the first times I watched Freda we went for a walk, when we got back there was a black, leathery, S&M looking pair of undies with a big hole in the back end laying in the family room and I had no clue what to do with them!

= ) I later found out that they were the dogs. ~anon

On the Rag

On the Rag - you may have to be at least my age and female to be familiar with the term but Cedar learned all about it today. Honestly, I spaced out the fact that she was in season when I headed off to class with her. We have missed 4 weeks and I was so excited to be going. Unfortunately, there are intact dogs in class. Using what I had in my car first aid kit, we female humans of a similar age, came up with what we thought was a solution. The red bandanna bow was added because her triangle bandage "panties" immediately slipped off.

Cedar was a bit embarrassed about being on the rag.

Even with her fancy bow, Solution A would not stay on for running agility obstacles.

Everyone, including Cedar, got a great laugh from Solution B, the ACE wrap and bandanna "pad". "I'm out of here. You old ladies are just plain crazy."

Good News

Today we got wonderful news from the cardiologist. Just last week the prognosis was grim but the nuclear scans showed that there is a lot of viable muscle to work with and Dave can get better. Of course, he is still on a yucky, bland diet and lots of pills but they are working. Dave's first question was if he could run rescue boat for the harvest regatta. The answer was "yes". The next was about going up to the ski area - "wait a few weeks and see how things are progressing at this altitude, but probably yes if you take it easy and don't try to carry anything up there" is what I heard. All Dave heard was "yes in a couple of weeks". While at the office he did an exercise stress test treadmill and actually did better than expected. The endorphins released during the test have us both on cloud nine. We are already on vacation so another week of rest and gradual increase in exercise will go a long way toward going back to work. We will both sleep well tonight. This has been a long month.

Today's mail included a get-well card created by my great niece and a house guest. Both girl's wore more paint than the paper.Sorry Lind, your neat arrangement of the refrigerator door chaos is becoming a memory.

River (Elim) Update

Leila sent this update on River's summer advnetures:

It's been an exciting, busy summer for River, Danny, and I. River is growing into a beautiful, sweet, frighteningly smart dog. She finished puppy kindergarten in June and is now in her second week of obedience class with Julie Flanery. She learns new things so quickly it's astonishing, especially when there are hot dogs and cheese, her favorite treats, involved (and there always are). My mother, who has owned dogs all her life and occasionally babysits River, thinks she's hands-down the smartest dog she's ever seen (and I agree). Of course, she's becoming a teenager right now, and has suddenly discovered that she can ignore me, so training has become a bit more challenging. I'm finding Julie's class really helpful in that respect--she helps me remember that this is just a phase in training, and that River is not an evil genius--just a really smart, adolescent pup. She is so confident and friendly that she wants to meet every person and dog she sees, so training goes out the window a little bit in these moments--but I'm really glad she has such confidence.

The month has been really fun because River's getting big enough to accompany us on adventures. She goes hiking with us every week (short hikes to match her short legs), and has been to the beach many times, as well as canoeing and camping. She even went to a wedding with us last month (the bride is a close childhood friend of mine who loves River and encouraged me to bring her to the outdoor ceremony and reception). I was a little nervous about that, but she was amazingly well-behaved and was a huge hit. Not many four month old pups could manage something like that, I think.

She's become a great swimmer and an intrepid water dog, although she still has some reservations about the water. She tends to plunge in and leap around excitedly for the first five or ten minutes after we get to the water. Then she seems to realize that the consequence of swimming is being wet, and she retreats to the shore and sits there looking sadly at me, as if to say, "Look, mom, I'm all wet. You know I don't like being wet... why did you do this to me?" She likes to stick close to us when we're swimming, though, so she'll plunge back in and swim after us if we stay in the water.

Kay Lee, and thanks again for bringing River into our lives. She is every bit the pup we were hoping for, and we really love her. Leila

August 21, 2010

I'm not really sure if anyone besides my nieces read my blog but I apologise to you and them for the delay in writing this entry.

We had another emergency stay in CCU and are now working on the myriad of lifestyle changes the will be made around here. I must say that I am glad I am not the one on a no alcohol - no salt - low glycemic index diet. There is only so much food I can make with hot spices to cover the blandness. I have never added salt to any of my cooking because all processed ingredients had enough for our taste so we thought that we were on a low salt diet anyway - not close it seems. During the past few days, I have searched stores to find no salt items to cook with. You would be amazed at what that has salt in it. Check out the low fat items like salad dressings. The less fat, the more salt. All the diabetic foods pile on the salt. Fortunately the garden is producing lots of flavorful vegetables. (Unfortunately the birds and raccoons got every blueberry. By this time last year I had dried gallons of blueberries. Now I just have blue poop all over the garden.)

finally worn out Willow and the wayward slipper

Willow is still our guest, though missing out on the training I had promised. She is a silly little girl with an aggravating belief that anything that fits into her mouth is hers to play with. I am always on the search for the other shoe or slipper. The older dogs take turns trying to wear her out with vigorous chase games.

Today I got to reunite with my dog friends. It seems forever since the dogs and I have been to dog classes. Our club had a meeting devoted to learning Tellington Touch. Willy was the lucky recipient of the calming and healing technique.

Wedding

Dan and Cindi finally tied the knot. Last evening they were married at the yacht club by fellow ski patroller Dewey.
Dan and Cindi have often loaned me their catamaran for on-the-edge adventure around the lake. We were so lucky to have friends like them to play with in the winter and summer.

Right at Home

Willow has made herself right at home. Last evening she spent a couple hours picking out toys to play with. As soon as she was bored, she would go back to the basket and dig for something else. Finally she just jumped in the basket spilling contents (including a long missing shoe) like a Thanksgiving cornucopia.
When we went to bed, Willow was a bit distressed at being in her crate. We really needed sleep so I opened the crate door. She settled down nicely. The dogs routinely play musical beds at night, taking turns on the dog bed next to me; in one of the three crates: or in bed with us. Our bed is quite high. I figured Willow could not make the leap. Much to my surprise, I awoke to Willow's kisses and the other three dogs each trying to have the most body contact with me. Yup - Willow is right at home.

Homecoming

This morning as I went for the cereal milk I realized my sister had not only cleaned my refrigerator (along with all the spice bottles) she had straightened up the chaos of magnets and pictures on the doors.

What a sister!

Dave got to come home today along with a huge basket garden, a 4 1/2' tall plant, and a pink flamingo statue. Sarah and Cindi adorned their flamingo creation with: The Pink Flamingo Understands Cardiac Health: The Heart Is Sensational*. (*P.F.U.C.H. T.H.I.S.) Dave was kept entertained by watching peoples' reactions as they read the inspired statement.

The plant and flamingo are currently residing in the bathtub.

Beautiful BrownStone Iditarod Willow also got to come home for a visit. We are so lucky. Cedar is so excited. Willow gets to stay with us for several days. All four dogs should sleep well tonight after an evening of endless games of Chinook tag. Willow is currently asleep at my feet.

Willow has her mother's tongue.

World's Best Sister and Brother-in-Law!

I have the world's best sister and brother-in-law! They came down today and cleaned my house. I have a large house and hate to clean. I will take a whisk broom to a rock wall but not the room corners. I came home mid-day and windows were being washed. They cleaned stuff I did not even know could be (make that should be) cleaned. I came home tonight and was overwhelmed. Even the dogs have clean beds.

Linda and Chuck - the BEST

Much Needed Rest

I will sleep tonight. Dave is being monitored and in good hands.

BrownStone Archaeologist

Raking has proven to be way more time consuming than whacking. All day and I only have about 1/2 of my whacked area cleaned up. But to my credit, as I racked I pulled all the weeds missed by the swirling string. Then I trimmed the plum trees to above head height. Without their horse tail shroud, the ferns looked pretty dismal with all the dead fronds so they too got some pruning. Then came the fun part - rediscovering long buried rock walls and dry streams. I felt like an archaeologist. I even got out a whisk broom to sweep away chaf and seed.

Rock wall before my "dig" ...

rock wall during my "dig". Looks like I got a little over-spray with my herbiside witches brew. Eight foot high pond retaining wall with and without weeds.
I wonder what I will uncover tomorrow?

August 9, 2010

Ms Doe left quite a mess by dropping every branch outside the trailer after she ate all the leaves off. The trailer was empty by morning.

Yesterday in need of mindless, stress relieving, hard labor, I attacked the place with our commercial Stihl weed whacker. After ten hours of whacking down chest high grass, blackberries, horse tail, thistles and a myriad of other weeds, I created a muddle to rival Ms Doe's. Outside the air is damp with coastal mist. I started early with the rake. Now that my coffee break is finished, I need to go out again to take advantage of the coolness for my arduous labor. The stress is not lessened, but I can ignore it while I toil and perhaps even work off some of the comfort food calories I have increased of late.

Oh Deer!

Deer are a constant around here. That is why the flower, fruit and vegetable garden is behind a 12' wire fence topped with barb wire. I have been weeding my perennial beds and pruning the espaliered fruit trees in the garden. When we got home this evening I noticed that my overflowing trailer was down about a foot in foliage.

Just before dinner, Dave spotted a doe in my trailer. She must have driven the dogs nuts as she spent the day eating tasty fruit tree branches about 30' from their kennel. When I went outside for a picture from another angle she bound away -

only to return to her feast a few minutes later.

Koyuk Update

Kay Lee,
I am very excited to tell you about our rockclimbing adventure with Koyuk to Smith Rock. She was a perfect angel for the drive to Culver where Patrick’s house is. Patrick’s house has a lot of yard space with horses and Koyuk was so excited. She loved to watch the horses. I had her on the leash to make sure she didn’t get close, but I found she was great at jumping way out of the way anytime the horse got anywhere close to her. The first day we went rock-climbing she was a little scared because we had to walk over an area that required walking over some crevasses. She loved the rocks, but didn’t like jumping from one to another. On one spot I just carried her which worked out all right, but we decided that area was definitely not dog friendly. As we climbed she was absolutely perfect. We always had one person extra to be with the dog so she could wander around as she pleased. One area she went ecstatic digging behind a rock. Before we went on to our last climb of the day we took her to the river and played in the water. The next day was much better. We had five people and one was pregnant so she loved having Koyuk as company. She seemed to love doing the little hikes from one climb to the next, but once we stopped she was happy to just find a piece of shade and sleep until we moved on. There were a few other dogs around as well and she got along great with all of them and their owners of course. As we left we had one more exciting adventure and swam across the river. Koyuk got a little scared swimming for a bit but once I helped her get her feet on the ground again she was happy. By the time we got home she was SO tired! She was ready for bed way before the rest of us. We only stayed one more day playing disc golf and things. Koyuk loved playing around the yard and just walking around with us. Although I think she loved the horse manure more than anything and it got hard to make her drop it fast. Also she caught a couple of mice around the yard. I knew about one of them, but then I found another one in the yard I must have missed. (The hunter and gatherer- that's the Koyuk I remember - Kay Lee)

Last weekend I took Koyuk up to Foster lake for a big church activity I was going to. She was very excited to be with all the people and got to play in the water a bit. I even took her on a small boat ride which to my surprise she loved! I don't think we'll go on many boats in the future, but if so she will have to have her own life jacket. Monday I took her to the vet at Eastgate Veterinary Clinic. They were great and she definitely had a good experience there. She also got lots of treats for being a perfect angel. DVM Long there was SO excited to see a Chinook. His family used to own one that was black surprisingly. Unfortunately their dog got hit by a car after discovering how to pass the invisible fence. He hadn't seen a Chinook in about 15 years and was very excited that I brought her. I had the Chinook history booklets with me which he opened up to look at and he also brought out the encyclopedia showing the Chinooks. I took her to play with another puppy last week and I think she discovered its not fun to play non-stop. As I watched both dogs it made me so glad that Koyuk is so well behaved since this other puppy was not nearly as responsive to things. Anyway when I have more news I will let you know! ~ Shanna

What is the Tie That Binds Us?

Camp Fire USA celebrated it's 100th birthday on Saturday. It saddens me that so few kids are participating in youth organizations today. Be it Camp Fire, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts or 4H - all are suffering from declining support and enrollment. Such a loss. My involvement in Camp Fire and time spent at Camp Onahlee was instrumental in forming the person I am today. I live by law of Camp Fire (except I do not worship God but instead value all creation around me.)

The Camp Fire members in this picture represent all decades from the 1940's to the young boy of today. We are wearing our ceremonial attire. I am proud to have been part of this small celebration gathering (back row R).Camp Onahlee - hallowed ground for me. I have not returned in 42 years yet still think of my time spent there every time I pause to look at Nature's wonders. I sing the Camp Fire songs as I walk in the wilderness. I was a Blue Bird in Kakota cabins: a Camp Fire Girl in Latani A-frames; grown up teen in Odokwa tee-pees; CIT in Sunny lodge and counselor in my beloved Latani. My choice of my first college degree, BS Outdoor Education, was swayed by Camp Fire and Onahlee. Little did I know my education would lead to other paths and expeditions that were firsts for a woman.

After attending the 75th Camp Fire Birthday celebration, I felt it was my time to give back. I started a Camp Fire group. I have been a leader for 25 years. I can only hope that I have passed on the values and joy of the Camp Fire Law.

I grieve the loss of Camp Onahlee. It is to be closed this year. Onahlee will always be a part of me. My grief is for those that will never know or experience Onahlee. I also cherish the opportunity to celebrate Camp Fire's 100th birthday at the place I love with others that share and understand this love.

What is the tie that binds us friend of the long, long years? Just this: we have shared the weather; we have slumbered side by side; and friends that have camped together will never again divide. ~ Camp Fire Prayer.