Very Special Visitors

Today the dogs and I got a really special treat: my niece Amanda and great niece Cadence flew in into Eugene on their way to Grandmas. We got to enjoy their company for most of the day.

Cadence is enamored with Harley's and tractors but at three has never gotten a chance to ride on either let alone drive anything with a motor by herself. Well, the World's Best Great Aunt doesn't have a Harley but she has a quad and a tractor.

I put the tractor in low gear and off went Cadence, solo at the wheel. She drove a good 500 yards with only a little corrective assistance to avoid hitting dogs or trees.Next up was the garden tour. Cadence loves berries but had never seen them on the bush. First the blueberries -then the raspberries. The dogs also love berries and Cadence's basket was just the right height for an easy snack.Cadence showing her mother the empty basket.To the dog's chagrin, the strawberries did not make it into the basket. With Cadence's hands on the handle bars we took the quad to the back pond. The road is almost completely grown over making our trip as adventurous as a carnival ride. "Sorry about the new bump over the eyebrow Cadence. I really did need to hit the breaks to avoid the rock I didn't see in the tall grass." A couple seconds of mom comfort and we were back on the bumpy trail. Once back at the house, it was time to explore the yard. The most outstanding lawn ornament is the dog agility dogwalk. The dogs showed our guests how it is done. Cadence's first couple of trips over were a bit tentative but a strong grasp on mom's hand made it doable. Then she could not get enough. "Hey, that is my dogwalk." Only a little time left for a walk through the overgrown pond garden and we headed on the freeway north to Grandmas where more fun adventures awaited.

the Answer

Interesting information regarding checking your shampoo’s bottle label next you shampoo your hair. I don’t know WHY I didn’t figure this out sooner! It's the shampoo I use in the shower! When I wash my hair, the shampoo runs down my whole body. Printed very clearly on the shampoo label is this warning: FOR EXTRA VOLUME AND BODY! NO wonder I have been gaining weight!!! Well! I have gotten rid of that shampoo and I am going to start using Dawn dish soap instead. Their label reads: DISSOLVES FAT THAT IS OTHERWISE DIFFICULT TO REMOVE. Problem Solved! If I don't answer the phone I'll be in the shower!

Unfortunately, I can't claim to be the author of this piece. I wish I had been and wish more it was true.

Short Nights

Wild Willow is here for a visit. She is mellowing over time but nights are not good. I got no sleep the first night trying to keep her quiet. Dave had to get to work early. Seems she gets the same energy burst I do about 11 p.m. But then she gets Dave's 5:30 a.m. energy burst too. Dave and Willow are up so everyone else must get up and play - no excuses.

The game of Chinook tag involves one or two dogs running in large circles, usually tightly around landscaped shrubbery. The other dogs jump out and tag the runners. As the current youngest, Willow is usually the designated "it". This game along with chasing squirrels, swimming and helping me weed tired her last by night. I went to bed about midnight. She then decided that she had to join Dave, Willy and Cedar on the bed. She also decided the prime spots next to me were hers. About 1 am, I finally convinced her that she belonged on the nice bed on the floor.

This girl howls in her sleep. Not just a little yip but a howling, wolf pack chorus. I had forgotten that until startled awake about 3 a.m.

When Dave got up at 5:30, she was ready to start the day. She made sure I was up too by running across the room and jumping up on top of me. I would fend off kisses and pawing until she would decide to attack and wrestle with the other dogs. The game evolved into all four dogs taking their turn running across the room; jumping on me; pawing; kissing then launching down onto the others. This ensued until about 6:30 when bruised, scratched and heavy headed, I got up for breakfast and much needed coffee.

Now that my day is going, all four dogs are asleep.

Recovered Entry Walk

No one ever uses my front door. A few years ago I even went to the trouble of building a walk way from the drive to the front porch. This month long project involved finding, digging up and transporting large rocks from up in the woods and creating a massive 30' x 5', 3D jigsaw puzzle. The 3D part is the under side of the stones - none of which were anywhere near flat on both sides. Most weighted 15lbs or more. I then planted Corsica mint between the stones. Front door foot traffic did not improve but the curb appeal did (if I only had a curb).

This year has been so wet. The weeds rule all landscaping. Today sun was predicted so I decided to make recovering the entry walk my project.

before When you sit to dig weeds from between stones, your face is the perfect height for dog kisses. With Willow here, I had four Chinooks vying for my attention and trying to help. It has been so long since I have taken a picture in glaring sun, I blew the exposure settings. Trust me, the difference is major.

after

Besides a lot of Nookies and an inviting walkway, another benefit of today's work is a minty smelling rear.

Muku - Takotna update

This e-mail came just before I left for the National Speciality. I bet they still have snow.

Hi Kay Lee,
I took these photos a few weeks ago but have been slow at getting them off to you. Muku is a happy little girl and enjoying her life here! She's got a new best friend who she trail runs with every week, and she is having a great time getting to know my mom's new little border collie pup, Luna. They play very well together and hopefully as Luna gets older she can join us on our trail running expeditions! We can still find snow on the local mountains (as you can see!) and Muku loves it! Hopefully for us, it will all be melted soon, but I am sure Muku will miss it. She is finally coming along much better with her leash walking and general obedience, but it still mostly goes out the window when a dog or people friend approaches. She is so quick at learning new tricks though....i taught her to take a bow in about 5 minutes. Ben really loves training Muku and getting her to perform all her tricks, and is looking forward to the day when Muku will be allowed to sleep on his bed with him.
Hope you and your family are doing well.

Deavah, Brad, Ben and Muku

Company Picnic

When I was growing up the company picnic meant dads playing softball while moms kept the kids "seen but not heard" by stuffing us with hotdogs and ice cream sandwiches. Well times have changed. Dave's company holds a 3 day macho fest. The only time anyone else has made more noise than this group's annual picnic was when a Rave moved in the next dune over.

the sound system (minus the huge speakers)the HD movie theater (rained out)

This year they took over a State park along a small river. Friday, until early evening was sunny and warm. The dogs got to swim in the river and go for hikes in the woods. Friday evening through Sunday saw record rainfall. The dogs got to go out on potty breaks.

Dinners are a competition with a generous budget. This year's theme was North vs South. Stores Eugene south were the Confederates. Salem north made up the Yanks. Friday night the South went deep south. Only the sides of mashed potatoes, cornbread stuffing and greenbean casserole were not deep fried. Everything else from the imported alligator, pork bellys and crayfish to the turkey, pumpkin pies and ice cream spent time in the bubbling peanut oil.

deep fried turkey

deep fried pies

deep fried ice cream

cardboard "fort" for the kids

and of course Southern Comfort.

After a hearty breakfast Saturday morning, the guys went skeet shooting in the puring rain. This was not your ordinary skeet shooting. One of the weapons was an AK47 assault rifle. Games for all were played after the victorious, skeet killing, guys returned.

find the green jelly bean in the cream pie (adults played too but the kids were much cuter) hands free donut eating
and move the cookie from the forehead to the mouth were three of several games

Saturday night, the North team tried to go pure Yankee. They rented a commercial meal truck to prepare and serve their summer fare. Unfortunately the truck broke down ten miles out of town. The driver stripped the truck of all but the grill and left it by the road. This is a serious contest after all. The generous South loaned the North tables, grills, deep fryers and generators. We knew we had won this battle and did want to eat.

Saturday afternoon kicked off with cotton candy (does not hold up in rain), popcorn and snowcones. The Margaretta, adult snowcones were quite tasty. Competition is heating up.

Dinner was an All American fare of hamburgers, hotdogs, deep fried onion rings, deep fried tater tots (hey isn't deep frying a southern thing?) and apple pie. No wonder these guys were concerned when the South brought out the crayfish and alligator.

We awoke Sunday to more rain, a soggy, collapsed cardboard fort, wet tents and sleeping bags...you get the idea. Another hearty breakfast everything was packed away. After the last truck, trailer and motorhome left, Ma Nature could once again restore peace to a grassy clearing next to a opal river.

Koyuk Mushes

Koyuk and Cedar got to go scooterjoring on the 4th. This was Koyuk's first time in a harness and Cedar's first time pulling a scooter. Both dogs ran full lope for the entire two mile run. I was constantly on the brakes to keep us behind a team pulling a mountain bike. That team has already logged several hundred miles this year.

I would be hard pressed to see something more beautiful than matched Chinooks running along, side-touching-side, with synchronous stride. The dogs and I were all smiles at the end of the run.

Couldn't Ask for Better

Marleen graciously opened her wonderful, historic home, with views of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mts, to Cedar, Koyuk and me while we were at the Chinook National Specialty.

The Chinook dogs got along beautifully. The virgin boys were excited about the girls and the girls were all flirt. Yet, there were no squabbles - only rousting games of Chinook tag and relaxation.

Koyuk, Oscar, Toby and Cedar enjoy the views of the ocean and mountains - well actually it was a squirrel that caught their attention while Marleen and I enjoyed the views. Marleenhandsome Oscar, who earned ribbons of his owngentle (and also very handsome) Toby Coy Oscar loving the attention of the girls the four dogs dressed for the 4th of JulyMy bucket list includes as many opportunities as I can get to watch the Seattle fireworks from Ivar's Salmon House. The restaurant is a beautiful cedar replica of a Northwest Indian Longhouse, complete with an open-pit Native American-style barbecue for preparing the salmon. Large windows overlook Lake Union, Seattle and the Space Needle. Lights are dimmed during the fireworks. Wild huckleberry ice cream, excellent wine and most of all great friends make this spectacular even more memorable. Marleen, Donna and I had the best table in the house to enjoy our dinner; watch the hundreds of boats flood into Lake Union and the fireworks.

our view of the lake, boats and fireworks (the Space Needle is behind and below all the light and smoke)

Champion of Champions

Over the July 4th weekend, I took Cedar and her daughter Koyuk to the Washington Classic and Chinook National Specialty dog shows. There were Chinooks from all over the nation visiting and competing. We were entered in 6 shows. I borrowed a young handler to show Koyuk on the chance that she would win her class and end up competing against Cedar if Cedar won her class. The first show Koyuk did just that and then went on to beat her mother and all the females in the show.In the second show, Koyuk also won her class as did Cedar. Cedar won their match-up and earned her Champion title. At the first show Saturday, Koyuk again won her class. Cedar competed for the first time against all the Champions. It was hot and muggy. We got to the show site at 0730 and did not show until after 3. The dogs were exhausted from the heat and stress of the show.
I took them to the river for a cooling swim before the National Specialty. The trip must have worked. Koyuk got a second against all the females. Cedar won the title of National Champion of Champions! Sunday was a major bad hair day - me not the dogs. I handled both dogs. Koyuk really performed well but after winning her class did not catch the judge's eye for best female. Cedar showed herself proud and earned a Reserve Champion ribbon. I don't know if she was embarrassed to be seen any longer with me or just did not want the show to end, but Cedar refused to move out of the show ring. She, along with her new pink ribbon got a lift back to join Koyuk in our shelter. Over the six day trip, 979 pictures were taken by my camera. Lots of blog material and wonderful stories of other events of the weekend to come.