May 31, 2013

After lots of rain and temperate weather, the garden is sub-tropically lush. Clicking on photos enlarges them.

People often ask how my garden can do so well with my dogs running through it all the time. My response is always the the same, "The plants have to be tough to survive here. I try lots of different kinds of plants. The ones you see do well with dogs! If a particular kind of plant cannot survive the dogs, I do not keep trying to establish that kind of plant."

Many of the plants I have self-sow all over the yard. Having lush perennials that seed themselves and thrive also reduces the weeds. I do not weed much or often.

When I move up north, I will take seeds, cuttings and divisions and leave the parents here. I'm sure that I will be sad because I know the new owners will put in a tennis court, a swimming pool, or a lawn. "Change is the only constant."

Miss Timber - Memorial Day 2013

Miss Timber is definitely one of the most patriotic puppies ever! I just got an email from Sally and Daniel with this Memorial Day photo of her attached!

"Here is a recent photo of Miss Timber celebrating Memorial Day in the Poconos. She is doing great. We continue "our" obedience training--she is doing very well..excellent on the sit/stay and down/stay. She also seems to really like the agility that our trainer is introducing into the class--basically some very low jumps and a tunnel. She was a bit hesitant about the tunnel the first time but now goes through it like a champ---with much pride in her accomplishment!

"Thank you again for this wonderful puppy who has enriched our lives so much this past year."

.

 This photo was from last Fourth of July (2012) - I believe! She has certainly turned into a smart and beautiful dog, hasn't she?

Please everyone - practice your recalls until they are perfect every time. Always, always reward with lots of praise and use treats as often as possible. As I learned once again last weekend with Tryggur, Korpur, and Bear, that good recall could save your pet's life. A good sit/sat or down/stay is also very important.

Memorial Day Weekend 2013

We all went up to Sans Souci for Memorial Day Weekend. The weather was lovely and the dogs loved it up there.They adapted well to the 90 minute drive - surprising me.

                                        (Tryggur, Korpur, Kata, Bear, Kria, Pila, Totty)
The day after this shot was taken, not wanting to remain in the fenced yard, the three boys 'escaped' from a gate that was inadvertently left unlatched and roamed the woods apparently looking for deer. (They aren't talking!) Fortunately they all have a great recall and came back from over half a mile away.

The girls are much better behaved. Boys will be boys!

The above photo of the pack was taken just a few minutes after sunrise - which does NOT happen in the east up there. It's more north-east.

Some of my favorite plants are "volunteers" - which simply means they grew from seeds that planted themselves. The Siberian iris below is a three year old volunteer in my yard. It just started growing in the middle of a path - - and I let it go. At first I thought it was a seedling 'blue-eyed grass' but it grew into this!

                                     (Remember: Clicking on photos enlarges them.)

Of course the parentage is unknown. I have several purple or blue flowered Siberians. It must have come from them!

Memorial Day - 2013

                                    .   C   .
                                      Sans

                       My driveway. (Lake Huron in the distance.)

           The beach - whitecaps and about 40 degrees - fantastic!

                                     View from the decks. 
                                            (Clicking on photos enlarges them.)

Dancing on Tisha B'av

Just back from Rose Frame Shop - newly framed and tightened.

Closing

Leifur - May 2013

This week Lee and Nicki King got two 'back to back' Group Two, the herding breeds, placements. 

What that means is that both days they won Best of Breed (BOB) in his breed, Icelandic Sheepdogs, which then qualified them to compete against all the other BOB dogs in his group - the herding breeds like Bearded Collies, German Shepherds, Old English Sheepdogs, Shelties, Pyrenean Shepherds, Border Collies, etc. 

In those Herding Dog Group competitions, Lee came in second on both days under two different AKC judges - Joan Schurr Kafeli (above) and Shelley Hennesey (below) with handler Nicki King. 

He also finished the weekend with four BOB (Best of Breeds). I've taken to calling him Lee-BOB. (In both photos Lee is looking out at his mom Jennifer Sanders.)

Lee and Nicki obviously love each other; they work together well but they also enjoy playing together too. Jennifer is very proud, justifiably proud, of their successes. Here are some more relaxed shots - the kind I personally prefer.

                                              Clicking on photos enlarges them.