Vinlands Icelandics: February 2022

Monday, February 21, 2022

I was expecting company last weekend but weather further south must have been really bad. Here we had a gorgeous weekend - If only winter was like this weekend all the time!!

There have been some persistent icebergs in front of my home. Soon they'll be gone I'm sure. They say most of an iceberg is hidden. This is only the Great Lakes and not even Lake Superior so our bergs aren't very large.

I have an early appointment with my melanoma doctor and I'm very apprehensive. Dr. Hadar is new to the practice so it's our first meeting. Doing this alone really sucks.

Vinlands Kria's "Gotcha Day"

Michele and Caitlin send some photos celebrating the day Icelandic Sheepdog Kria arrived at her new home.

We celebrated Kria’s “gottcha day” today. A picture of when we brought her home to a picture of her today. Look how she’s grown! She passed her therapy dog test shortly after her first birthday and is now doing weekly school visits. (Going to test for her canine good citizen in a couple weeks). The kids just love her. Everyone says how soft her coat is. Even the two strangers she met at tractor supply today were so surprised at her softness. It feels silky but still has an undercoat. It’s different than the dense Samoyed hair we’re used to. Her coat stays very clean and the mud comes off easily. Kria has done a few run thrus at agility to practice being in the arena in the trial setting and has been doing awesome! She’s just starting to learn jumping in classes. She’ll have to jump 16 inches because of her height. We’ve graduated to having class on the turf instead of the “puppy room”. She has also been loving all of the snow we’ve been getting. The snow was taller than her! Her favorite thing to do is to go outside and play with her Sammy sister in the snow. We’re are so very happy to have her as part of our family. Thank you! She is very loved!
Michele and Caitlin

Here are some additional new shots. I love when I can see the progress my puppies have made. Thank you so much Michele and Caitlin.

Monday, February 14, 2022

Birna and Miss Timber

I recently received a much appreciated note and some photos of Icelandic Sheepdogs Birna and Timber (Vinlands Birna and Vinlands Isla). Clicking on photos will enlarge them.

Hi Jaime-

As promised, pics of Birna…playing ball outside in the snow…and playing inside with her squeak toy!! These are her favorite activities, aside from taunting Timber to get her to play!

And beautiful Timber lounging indoors. She also loves playing ball outside and often tries to put two balls in her mouth, just to show Birna ‘who’s who’!

We love them both very much. They are a huge part of our life.

All the best,

Sally and Daniel

Birna

Timber

Tryggur (below) is Birna's litter brother. I kept him for myself - it had been a long time since a tan Icy lived with me and I missed that color - tan with a black mask and absolutely lovely expressive kohl rimmed eyes! He's lively, amazingly smart and extremely attractive - handsome Trygg. He's doing a great job as Watson's mentor.

Tryggur often lies down with his front feet crossed. He looks so relaxed like that, doesn't he? Regal dog! King of the jungle (aka my home). On the left is the open door of Watson's crate - he still sleeps there at night and when I leave the house to go shopping. Trygg, Totty, Kit, Pila sleep on my bed with me. I appreciate that in the winter; not so much in the summer!

My orchids are chosen for "when" they flower and their size. (Must be in the winter and small-ish so they can sit at my windows.) I also love the ones that have a really nice smell. Most of the orchids I have are intergeneric (or perhaps interspecific? - meaning they are the result of many outcrossings between several species). This one has, I think, Barssavola, Laelia, and Cattleya ancestors.