Sundae

Isn't she pretty?  We have been letting her out of the bathroom a little at a time.  Mostly when the dogs are outside.  She doesn't really seem bothered by them, but we don't want her too overwhelmed.  She's a bit spooky.  Twix is still playing the "but I'm the baby card" and being fussy at her, but I'm sure she will adjust.  She's very curious about her anyway.

And just so she doesn't feel left out...our little jealous sweet pea...

We may have a type

You be the judge.

New subjects

Having new dogs around, gave me a chance to photograph something new.

This is Declan-he's a 3 year old sheltie just rescued from a puppy mill.  He's very nervous but I did get some cute shots.  Unfortunately the lighting did not cooperate.

Renny is a 10 or 11 year old BC from MOKAN BC Rescue.  She is obsessed with cats.  Which is unfortunate for Twix.

Xena is a 9 year old BC/Sheltie mix (?) rescued from the pound as a mangy puppy.  She's a wild girl.

Puppy Party

We are having unseasonably nice weather this weekend so yesterday I got some pics of the dogs playing.  Yes, there are some extras. We are keeping Cheri's dogs while they are on vacation.  That means seven dogs.  It's a bit crazy.

Happy Birthday Shea

By our estimation, Shea should be about a year old now.  Who knew that when I picked up a little 5 month old puppy last summer, we'd be celebrating her birthday still as a foster dog!  She's grown into a lovely little dog-finally housebroken too...I think anyway.

In the time we've had her there have been two approved applications that then decided they were not interested, one that would probably have been approved if they were willing to get a fence (last dog was killed by a car), one that was possibly approved pending a home visit that adopted another dog in the meantime, a few that failed the vet check, some that didn't seem appropriate and I'm sure some that I can't even remember.

Here's hoping that 2015 will hold better luck.  Happy birthday Shea.

The chosen one

We love Twix. She's adorable and funny and sweet. But she didn't quite fill the void for me. But after our failed attempts with kittens one and two, I wasn't really in a rush to find another cat. I figured eventually the right one would come along. So I waited. And I saw no shortage of adoptable cats. But none were "right."

Then a Facebook post came across about a young momma cat and her four kittens who showed up at someone's apartment. Against the landlord's wishes they cared for the little family and contacted a local cat welfare group who was raising funds to get momma and babies spayed and neutered and vaccinated so they could be adopted and the caretakers not evicted! 

And there in the photo of the little family I saw her. I finally found "the one."  

Introducing....Sundae!

She comes at an awkward time, since we will be dog sitting for much of the next two weeks and traveling ourselves at the end of next month. So for now she resides in the bathroom, where she won't upset Twix and where she can recover from her upcoming spay in peace and away from all the dogs. Hopefully after that it will be a smooth transition.  Meanwhile she is asleep on my lap purring like crazy. 

The norm

It's January. It's cold. I spend most days working since there is nothing else going on. I'm slowly getting my miles back up but doing a lot of it on my treadmill thanks to lack of sunshine and warm weather. Legend is back to Nosework after a holiday break. We've been doing this a year now and looking forward to more trials this spring and summer. 

Everyone else seems to be doing well. Twix is growing but still very kitten like. Shea has still not been adopted. That's about all I know today. Maybe I will have something more interesting soon!

2014 Running Review

Last year I got in 787 miles, still short of 1000, and short of my total for the last two years.  But that's why we have another year right?  I'm not really sure where I got derailed but anyway, I did run three half-marathons, seven 5ks, five 10ks, four 15ks, one 8k, and one 4 mile race.  We also raced in 5 states.  Here is my collection of hardware for the year.

And just a closer view of all the fancy medals.

Yesterday we got off on the right track and braved the cold and drizzle to get our first miles in.  If at first you don't succeed...

Not exactly

I saw this idea on Facebook. 

Freeze water balloons with food coloring in them. Seemed easy enough. I decided to try it. 

First, I thought I could gently lay them in the grass to freeze. Nope, first one popped. Next I decided to put them on the porch where it is smooth and shady. Seemed fine but when I carried the second one out there Twist had popped the first one. Next step, lock kitten in cage. I also dropped one resulting in a complete clothing change and taking a squeegee to the porch. 

I finally got them all done and left them to freeze. They didn't.  I let it get colder. Finally after about two days I got this. Some of them broke and leaked all over the porch. Some sort of deflated and some were partly frozen. 

It kind of looks like a rainbow vomited and froze on my porch. I'm sure the UPS guy thinks we're nuts. 

I waited a few more days. It got really cold. Still, no real results. Just more mess. 

And some fancy icicles. 

In the end I got a few lightly tinted shells that look sort of like broken eggs. 

And this. Which will likely remain a mess for some time. 

I think I tried to make my balloons too big (bigger is better right?) and/or the weather was not cold enough. Maybe I'll get brave and try again.