Friday, February 28, 2014

Picture Hanging Soon - - I hope. These are some/most of the big ones, I'll fold the small ones in where ever I can find space. This is not where they will hang. Those decisions come later.

Odin

Although I did not bred this puppy, I got permission to share the note below on my blog. You might remember I mentioned this litter just a short time ago and posted an early puppy photo (above) then. At that time his name was Djatur. Sandi Dunn's Blackstar's kennel produced this handsome puppy who has been adopted and named Odin by Camilla Salem Dugonjic and husband Damir Dugonic. It's always nice to see puppies with their new families, isn't it?

This photo above and the note below - slightly edited - are from Camilla. Clicking on photos enlarges them.

My husband is sooooooo head over heels in love with him. I mean it's the cutest thing to see them together; Odin adores him as well. 

Odin is famous too. Our friend Bode Miller who just won a bronze medal at the Olympics tweeted this picture (above). We sent it to him in support.  And everyone said he was the cutest pup!

When we take him places, people cannot believe how cute he is and are so interested about the breed. Its always a happy day with Odin :).

Happy to report that Odin is progressing very quickly with his training! He is learning to heel, and he is really great with his down stay.  He also started retrieve work today and got to try some verrry light agility stuff today. His trainer seems to adore him- he's definitely a smart little guy. But most of all he is getting loved on like crazy!

Craig Paul Nowak

Craig is the amazing, talented artist who did the painting of Gilda Snowden that will soon be hanging in the hearth-room of my lake shore home. (It's leaning against one of the newly painted and just finished walls currently.) This article recently appeared in HuffPost Detroit. You can copy and paste the link below to your browser to read the accompanying story.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/colin-darke/craig-paul-nowak-best-loc_b_4847182.html

Here's Gilda and Craig's painting of her. Awesome lady and awesome painting.

Moose

Moose has a new playmate - apparently his 'cousin' Sunna found this little fur-ball for him. Wasn't that nice of her? Could he be trying to herd the mole? Just asking. He is a herding dog after all.

Nope. He is not herding this mole. Don't look further if you're squeamish. Moose is definitely NOT interested in herding this little fellow.

These ARE farm dogs, after all. For hundreds of years they have been out in the fields with their flocks supplementing their diet with small rodents, birds, eggs, etc. (Just as an FYI, Moose did not eat the little guy.) Just remember this the next time one of these cuddley dogs give you smooters! Hehehehe

Hringa and Wodin

Some news and new photos of Hringa and Wodin.

 Hringa with Ric and Barbara and her family at Christmas. Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

Wodin in the snow. Icelandics and snow: - an unbeatable combination. They feel right at home in the kind of weather we've been having this year.

"We have had our cottage land for 10 years now and the garden is just starting to look a little more mature. My garry oaks and other trees have reached 7', but I still haven't got a liner or clay for the pond and the weeds have moved in with a vengeance which is really distressing as I didn't want to use sprays etc. on them but there is no way I can weed them. My small sunken garden has had all the 'flowers' buried under grass and on it goes.  Keeping the main house up and working on the other is becoming difficult as things seem to take so much longer than they used to and......are you finding that too?
Anyhow we're in the middle of a snowstorm - haven't had many this year just you lot to the east so ....Wodin had an absolute ball so I thought you might like a picture or two of one happy boy."

 Steve and Imelda (and Wodin, of course) had a profound affect on me. Maybe they don't realize it but I decided to build and move to the shores of Lake Huron, one of the Great Lakes that surround both peninsulas of Michigan, because of their wonderful stories. Brian and Clair, my architect and my builder - I love saying that - have been working very hard and the house is nearing completion. The house and the surroundings just simply belong together. (Brian's website is above on the right - HF Architecture.)

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Sunday, February 23, 2014

The fireplace doors are up and ready - - - - - Clicking on photos enlarges them.

Clearly I am not going to be able sleep in. The house is very sunny, bright, and happy! That's fine; I've always been a morning person. (The "circle" on the wall in the second photo must be either an artifact on the lens of my camera or a reflection.)

I'm calling this room the "hearthroom" which is my combined kitchen, dining room, living room, family room, etc. Carolyn recently suggested I read "Lark Rise to Candleford: A Trilogy" by Flora Thompson. (Actually she suggested I watch the video but instead I'm enjoying the book on my Kindle.) I've changed the name Ms Thompson used from hearthplace to hearthroom which I like much better than family room, great room, gathering room, etc. Those names all seem to me a bit pretentious and/or non-inclusive; this is NOT a pretentious room but a warm, loving, accepting, inclusive, comfortable room in what is really a small home.

The room on the left of the wall in the two lower photos above I'm calling the "cubby" which I'm pretty sure will not please Brian. 

The walls look darker than they are probably because of the sunlight. 

The Great Lakes, including Lake Superior, have frozen almost completely over because of the extreme polar vortices we've experienced this winter. I'm guessing that might reduce evaporation from the water which, in turn, might actually raise the lake levels a bit.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Here are some puppy photos from a very nice litter in Iceland. I think some are still available. It's a very nice selection: six puppies: - three boys, three girls. They were born on December 10, 2013 and are now old enough to leave home. Remember - the ancestors of Icelandic Sheepdogs traveled in Viking longboats from the Scandinavian countries across the Atlantic Ocean to get to Iceland more than a thousand years ago. Flying is apiece of cake for them. If you are interested, contact the breeder: Björk Ingadóttir of Bjarklands kennel: - bjorkingadottir@gmail.com  (Copy and paste the email address to your email.)

                                     Bjarklands Lofn - a beautiful girl - my favorite

                             Bjarklands Gefjun - a photo taken when she was younger

                               Bjarklands Gna - a photo taken when she was younger

                             Bjarklands Boys: Mímir, Mjölnir, and Magni (l to r)

Friday, February 7, 2014

Friday, February 7, 2014 - Ten degrees today and yet I saw three freighters on the lake. I thought freighter traffic stopped in the winter.

I went up north today and no one was there working. The house was supposed to be done in six months. I had thought it might possibly be done by Halloween. Then Thanksgiving/Hanukkah. Then maybe Christmas. Or the First of the New Year. Who knows now? Valentine's Day? St. Patrick's Day? Easter/Passover? Memorial Day? Labor Day? Well, I honestly think it will be fairly soon.

                                 (Clicking on photos enlarges them.)

I blame myself. Probably I've been too accommodating, too easy going. I know that with some people you have to get mad and swear - a lot. You have got to get their attention. I'm really good at that but it does take me some time to get there. 

I love Anglo-Saxon words. They let people know how you're really feeling. It's just that I don't like having to resort to them to get my point across. Why are "those words" considered "bad"? I think that's a holdover from the Roman conquest of the British Isles. "Their" language was "good", "ours" was "bad", ignorant, barbarian. The law uses Latin which no one speaks any more. If you say it in Latin, no matter how bad or nasty, it's OK. If you use Anglo-Saxon words for exactly the same thing, it's wrong, evil, bad, inappropriate. Ugh! I hate the bias against words from the language of my ancestors. No one hits their thumb with a hammer and says, "Feces!". Or "Intercourse!". We all use words that express how we feel. Maybe that's the problem. We should NOT be expressing how we feel! Hold it in! (We know how effective that is!)

We are 25K over the bid - and still growing. Everything is "extra". Even the little things are extra. What, you may ask? The towel racks in the bathroom are extra. I bought three light fixtures - south closet, laundry, bathroom - extra. Drawer pulls (handles) - extra. Honestly, shouldn't those things be part of any bid. Rhetorical, I know. But really it's not the little things that pushed up the prices; it's the big things that have racked up the extra costs.

One of the reasons I chose a builder from up there is that I assumed a local guy would know stuff about things up there. The extra soil work added lots. I told him (them) last spring that I thought the soil would be a problem. The water wasn't draining. Again, it's my fault really. I should have insisted they pay attention to the ground and drainage.

I blame myself here too. (Above.) There should have been a spot-light on the west wall near where the head of the bed would be; there isn't.

There should have been a spot on the wall by the west porch door too and there isn't.

Half of my "stuff" is up north in the pole barn; the other half is down here. I've been living like a senior citizen in an Airstream for months. I'm singing the theme song from MASH lately.

For Brian: - The window 'cranks' are awesome looking.

To end on a happier note, for me: -