Happy 10th Birthday BrownStone Thanksgiving Litter

BrownStone Thanksgiving litter was whelped by McKenzie on September 30, 2004. Happy 10th Birthday to Kalama, Lolo, Ali, Tiki, Hatshiput. (Rodian tragically died in a house fire).
Unfortunately, I do not have any digital photos of this litter. The plus side is that I got to spend a wonderful morning in memory lane going though the litter album and scanning a few of the hundreds of pictures I have. (It was also bitter-sweet to see all the pictures of Silly Willy. I do miss him so much.)

My niece Emily wanted to do a pyramid stack of the bundled pups. It did not last long. The drape behind McKenzie is to capture heat from the gas fireplace and direct it into the whelping box. We did not have electricity for three days and the pups don't produce their own body heat at this age.

10 month old Nanny Willy was IN LOVE with the puppies. He was never far away.

The first trip outside.

 

Willy still watching the pups with his mom McKenzie

By Day 24 the pups had breached the walls of the whelping box.

Willy was sure a handsome boy. Both he and McKenzie were so attentive of these pups.

Day 32. The pups were spending more and more time outside as the weather permitted.

Willy in the pup enclosure. He actually did several times let the pups try to nurse on him - even with their very sharp teeth.

Always popular Willy's bone.

My great-niece Sarah during her first ever puppy visit.

Willy sharing his bone.

McKenzie and the pups at their final vet visit. Yes, she is still nursing. She nursed the pups until the day their went to their forever homes. 

Ever inquisitive and active.

Emily and I decided to make Christmas cards for each of the forever families with their puppy pulling a sled of the litter toys - and Willy's bone. If we didn't have a great sense of humor, boundless patience and steak bits, this project would not have succeeded.

Happy Holidays from Ms Green (aka Lolo).
And Happy Birthday from McKenzie, Emily and me.

Summer-Winter In One Day

This summer has been long and hot - record setting hot. Little did I know that when I sat outside with my morning coffee and paper that summer would come abruptly to an end.
Koyuk, Trask and Cedar enjoying the morning sun.

McKenzie, with her emerging winter coat, chose to rest in the shade.

Summer ended about noon while the dogs and I were down in the garden harvesting tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, grapes, apples and pears. A winter-like, pouring, cold, rain storm came out of no where. The soaked dogs and I retreated into the house. Me to preserve the produce. The dogs to supervise.
McKenzie on her landing observation post.

Cedar, Trask and Koyuk on the dog couch.

Tule Lowit & Greg Joined Team Nookies

Greg and Tule Loowit came over today for their first run with Ferrari. His first lesson was untangling a team. Koyuk is ready to show her daughter how to mush but Trask in his excitement to play with Tule tangled grandma Cedar.

OK - the back of the team is untangled and now...

I have crashed several times on this corner. The dogs are usually at full speed as we go around. But today the team came to a screeching halt. Only on the return trip, when they again halted, did I notice that Greg had thrown an invisible fence collar into the basket during harnessing. The dogs heard the beep and "knew" they couldn't go any further. I didn't hear the beep over the quad motor. Unaware what was up, I got off the quad and pulled them back onto the road. "Let's Go!" got them over the invisible barrier and charging ahead.

My plan was to drive the quad ahead of the team so I could untangle as necessary and get them turned around. It took third gear just to catch up. Sixteen paw power pulled Greg right up the hills.
Not much further on a couple of wild turkeys were flushed. Fortunately they ran on the road and didn't head off the cut-bank with dogs in chase. (been there - not fun) Visions of an inevitable crash flashed through Greg's mind as he applied the dual sets of brakes to slow the excited dogs. There is a reason he has a helmet on.

One-half mile and time to turn around. Tule is looking great next to her mom Koyuk.

"Those turkeys came out right here."  Another tangle.

Visitors always wonder about the Caution Sled Dog Trail sign.

The hot dogs were rewarded with a cooling swim.

All-in-all, it was a great first run of the season for Team Nookies.

Aloha

Life since my last post has been crazy busy: harvesting and squirreling away produce from my very productive garden; re-roofing; running a regatta; swimming with the dogs in our record setting, thirty-six, 90 degree + days; just keeping everything well watered...
With the dogs at home joined by Tule Loowit and her family, we then went on a well deserved business vacation to Maui.

Our hotel after the storm clouds had finished dumping their tropical load.

The view from our room deck the evening we arrived.

 Sunset while we enjoyed dinner.

Life-Is-Really-Good view while I enjoyed my room deck breakfast of Kona coffee and cookies (poor Dave was in a meeting). I spent the rest of the morning snorkeling along this reef right outside the door (while poor Dave was still in a meeting).

 Lunch in paradise.

Trees in the resort open-air lobby on my way to go shopping (while poor Dave is still in meetings).

What is a trip to Hawaii without a Lu'au...

 and a beautiful sunset?

The next day we went for a all day boat ride with stops for snorkeling along the way.

Dave so wanting to be a the helm.

 

 The seas were amazingly calm. A large pod of spotted porpoises escorted us to Molokini, the first island...

and another pod of spinner porpoises took us to the Lanai cliffs.

The water was incredible. After a private underwater tour by a naturalist, this vibrant aquarium became even more awe-inspiring (and I was thoroughly bummed I had not brought my waterproof camera).

Sunday was free time. Except for the rain storm at our arrival, the temperatures had been record setting high throughout our stay. Like the rain shower, the humidity was close to 100%. The trade winds had all but disappeared making the water exceptionally calm. Wanting to cool off and put my new aquatic-life knowledge to use, I grabbed by snorkel gear and headed for the water. I had heard there were a lot of large turtles in front of the resort, but the last thing I ever expected was one to blindside me with a flipper touch on the shoulder. My sinuses are still full of saltwater for my surprised scream. I followed it to it's cave on the bottom and got a good visualization of what to look for. Dave watching from shore said he could tell I was doing a grid search of the reef as I searched for more resting turtles. Then a paddle-boarder yelled "turtle!".  I swam over and watched the turtle descend to the sandy bottom. Soon a huge male turtle with at least a 4' diameter shell, joined her. I hovered above throughout the entire, 1/2 hour long, courtship, foreplay and mating (and again was kicking myself for not having my camera). When it was over, she swam away and he surfaced right in front of me. I quickly backed away. His head, with it's sharp beak, looked as big as mine. He had claws at the elbows of his long fins. And, he was looking right at me. I could have touched him had I reached out. I then followed him for another hour, as he lazily fed along the reef. He actually meandered all the way into the beach (to the amazement of the sunbathers) providing me with a rational excuse to get my chilled body and sunburnt back out of the water.
That evening was the farewell party...

 and another amazing sunset.