Windmills

After our white water rafting experience on Sat. we went to get a close up view of some windmills......here are the pics......
Looking up at it, the wind was incredible, I had to hold on to my hat!......Making my way up towards the windmill......Can you spot me at the bottom of the windmill???...... I love Alberta!

A Year Already !

Wow, it doesn't seem like a year since I arrived at Davenloch Kennels to pick up Kort !......

Here are some pictures from a year ago today......

I loved him from the moment I held him......

I think the feeling was mutual !......Holding Kort up in the air for a better look!......

It's been a great year !

More Pictures from the Day !

I have to do these in separate posts apparently....can't seem to get them all in one post!
Me & Jenna just before going body surfing!......

Can you spot Wendy jumping from the cliff??? !!!......

My Souvenir of the day, it says " The Intense Study of Gulping For Air Between Submersion's!!!.......quite fitting I'd say!

It really was such a fun experience.......one I never would of had if Wendy hadn't of planned it!! Thanks Wendy!

Paws On The Run's Great Adventure!

Here are some pictures as promised!......

Before getting on the raft...... Me & our guide Amanda.....Amanda..... Me moments after being pulled from the water!!.

Of Course I Did !!!!

Fall out of the boat that is !!!!
Today was our Mystery Fun Day...Wendy told us over a month ago she was taking us on a Fun Day Adventure.....nice right?.....well, it just happened to be White Water Rafting! I was a tad nervous, but thought what the heck, an adventure....that was until I fell out of the boat !! Now Amanda says there was no risk of danger or injury but I beg to differ!......When we hit the rapids the raft went down sideways, I was at the bottom side of the raft going down first...the raft kind of bounced & I bounced right out with it !!!!! The water was freezing & knocked the wind out of me for a second, when I popped up I was hanging onto the raft backwards, my hat was falling in my face so I remember flinging it into the boat, I turned myself around to try & grab onto the side of the raft but the current was really strong so it kept pulling my legs underneath....I remember hearing Amanda (the guide) yelling, I've got you....so I knew she had my life jacket, I also remember hearing laughing...lots of laughing!!....guess who??...Amanda!( um, my friend ?? !! ).....she says she feels bad but I don't really think she does LOL!!.... my sandals also came off & my left leg was dragged along some rocks......the girls got me to shore & I was alive! Hallelujah!!.....it was pretty funny I guess. I have some nasty bruises on my leg but I'll live! The guide Amanda rescued one of my sandals floating in the river, & one of the other rafts saw the other one floating down the rapids & rescued it!! Oh, thanks Jenna for holding my hand while I was dangling in the water...even though I don't remember you doing it!!

We also all body surfed down river & through some rapids....some people were impressed that I did it after my "experience". Jenna, who just started working with us, somehow managed to miss the rapids on her turn...she was totally bummed!, then Wendy cliff dived off a 40ft cliff.....she's crazy!!....but brave....she did awesome!

Later Wendy had us all over for a barbecue & it was the perfect end to our day.....my friends rock!

We do have some pictures of our adventure that I will post when I get them...for now you can enjoy these random white water rafting shots!

Lazy Days!

Being on holidays is great!!!! Being on holidays & having my mom visit is even better! We have been catching up, shopping, enjoying our wine LOL!! & soaking up the sun! Today we went to the mall & I decided to go & get my hair all chopped off!! I have been wanting to cut it short for a long time but just didn't have the guts...with my mom's help , I went for it, & I love it. This is NOT a great picture of me but what can I say!.....

First Shed

I finally made it into work yesterday thanks to Wendy's husband Marlin driving in to open the door for me! My day was not good up until that point....while I was waiting for Marlin, I went for groceries.....I took my husband's debit card & off I went. At the check out everything was going smoothly until the debit machine said " pin error".....I was putting in my pin instead of Brad's....no problem except now I could not remember his pin #.....as my face got redder my brain got foggier....there were people in line now behind me & there was nothing we could do as the till could not be used until I either remembered the pin or we voided out all the $200.00 in groceries! The nice check out guy said I could use the phone to call Brad...which I did, however he had already left for work! Brad has recently changed his cell# so I didn't know it from memory, ( not that my memory would of helped ! ).....I stood there & forced my brain to work..I came up with a number & thank god it was right! Not a good day!

I did get Kort bathed though....it was his first shed & he blew every stitch of undercoat he had. I pray it comes back, at least he kept his tail hair...I was worried! I took these 2 terrible pictures this morning so you can see how bald he is, he looks like he has coat, but trust me there is NO undercoat on this dog !!....I think he looks good though.......funny huh!

Dunce !!!

I am a dunce...a really, really , really, big Dunce!!! I left this morning to go to work & bath Kort.....opened the door, brought in all my stuff, including my purse...then went back out to get Kort, leaving the keys inside the shop!!! Good thing I had put my car keys in my pocket or I would have been sitting in my van right now with no way to leave.....so, here I sit at home waiting for someone to call me back so I can get in. Wendy is house sitting somewhere out in the boonies, I've tried her cell, her house, & the home owners house....all answering machines.....Amanda is in an agility seminar so her cell goes to the answering machine also....I am angry & annoyed at myself.....I can't even go for groceries as my debit card is in my purse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holidays !

I am officially on holidays!! Whoo Hoo!! We had a great end to our work day today...Amanda & I planned a little surprise party for Wendy after work...we were really sneaky & she didn't suspect a thing until the dumb pizza delivery guy came 15 min. early...... we had to tell her because she was telling him he was in the wrong place!! Last year Wendy didn't even tell us it was her birthday until it was over, so this year we didn't let her get away that easy! Her birthday is actually on Monday but I won't be there. .....I sure work with a great bunch of people!

My mom arrives on Monday.......how exciting! I can hardly wait for all our talks & wine drinking on the deck! I hope the weather holds too....this will be her first time seeing Lethbridge, my house, & meeting my wild man Kort!! Amanda offered to look after him if he is too overwhelming for my mom! LOL!! Thanks Amanda!, we'll see how it goes!

Just For You Diana !

This is a candid picture that was sent to me from a very generous person back in 1991. She took this photo at the Collie Club of America's National Specialty in 1978.
The dog is Mac...AmCanCh Shamont Stormalong, he was Drake's grandfather. He is also in Tate & Kort's pedigrees.....this is the day he took Winners Male to finish his American championship.

One Week And Counting!!!

My mom arrives one week from today...it will be a long week just waiting ! I have not seen my mom in almost 2 years....do you think there will be tears??!! LOL!

Bye Lacey !!

Tonight Lacey will be going home...we will all miss her, especially Kort! They have played non-stop , inside, outside, on the bed!! LOL!!....this morning I went into the bedroom & found Lacey laying on the bed with a big hunk of Kort's hair in her mouth!...bad Lacey!, she was trying to look all innocent!.....the cutest thing is when she see's Tate....she has this funny high pitched whineing that she does while she jumps & wiggles at him....she LOVES Tate!!

I have all her belongings packed up just waiting for Marlin to pick her up....I put her bed at the top of the stairs to make sure I didn't forget it.....I just walked by & this is what I saw...Kort has taken over her bed & poor Lacey is left with the floor! Bad Kort!

One Of The Boys!

Lacey has been a perfect house guest. She is a tomboy if you ask me! She has to get right in & sniff what ever Kort & Tate are sniffing, she is strong, & fiesty, & can certainly keep the boys in line!
Here is just 2 short clips of her yesterday afternoon having fun outside......

For Wendy

Wendy!!!!! I have tried 5 times to e-mail you & it keeps bouncing back????? Lacey is great!! Today went great !!! Kort is too tired from his 10 hrs at daycare to bug her! LOL!! She has only barked twice at Brad!!....all is well....I will kiss her for you & leave you with some pictures of her tonight in her crate, & a super close up when she jumped up on me!

Lacey says "Hi Mom!!! I love it at Auntie Jolene's"!

PS.that is NOT my pudge!!!!!!!!, it just looks that way LOL!!!

This Weekend

I am going to have a busy but fun weekend.....Wendy has gone to California for a photography workshop & I get to look after Lacey!!! I am volunteering at the agility regionals being held here on Sat. & Sun. I have to be there about 7-7:30 am. both days, so I will be getting up about 5 am. ! yikes!!!

I'll leave you with a picture of Lacey & I that Wendy took last year at the daycare....Lacey is the cutest dog is the world!!!

New Spot

I guess I am on the computer alot....Kort has found a new spot to curl up so he can be with me.....under the computer desk!

How I Got My Dogs

So I got tagged by Amanda to tell how I came to have my dogs. Here goes...

My collie Drake passed away in Apr. 2001, I was devastated, I said I was never going to have another dog. Fast forward to the next year, Brad tells me that I need another dog & to write Drake's breeder. I of course said no but Brad insisted I needed a dog! So I wrote Peg of Mariner Collies, I didn't have a computer, really not caring if she had any puppies, Peg wrote back to say that she did have a litter on the way & that they were all spoken for, but if I wanted one she would "bump" someone for me. That's what happens when you are a for sure good home! I got a little excited I have to admit & told Peg that I wanted a sable male. When the litter was born there were only 2 males, both tricolour. I got the message on my phone & immediately burst into tears & said, "well I guess I'm not getting a puppy" I hated tricolour!!! However, my wonderful husband comes into the living room & says, "why can't you get a tricolour now, then in the future our next collie can be a sable ?" How did he get so smart! He knew I needed a dog when even I didn't know, & he knew that I would love a tricolour just as much as a sable ! That is how we got Tate!, Peg picked him for me, she thought his temperament was better suited for what I wanted then his brother. He flew in from Northfield Massachusetts, into Minneapolis, where a friend picked him up for me. Then she drove him the 2 hrs to Duluth where I picked him up & drove him the 4 hrs home. ......he came out of his crate wagging his tail( I have it on tape!!), & he hasn't stopped wagging! He is perfect & I love him to death, oh, now I love tricolour the best!!!

Now for Kort....

I knew I would get another collie when Tate was approx. 5 yrs old. I did not want to go through loosing Tate & being so devastated that I didn't want another dog. I started searching kennels in Canada as Peg was no longer breeding. I had originally contacted a kennel that had similar lines to what I was used to & she was doing a breeding. I sent my deposit but there never was any puppies.....I remembered seeing an ad in one of my collie magazines & I really liked the look of the dogs. I went back, found the magazine & then found the web site on the computer. This was Davenloch. The more I read the more excited I got, the pedigrees of the puppies were almost identical to Tate's. Not only that, but Drake's dad was also in Kort's pedigree. There was a announcement on the web page saying that do to the fact that they had 11 puppies!!!, they now had some available...up until that point the litter had been sold. I got on the computer as quick as I could to see if they still had a male left...yes they did!!! I went up to see the litter at 3 weeks & there was no turning back...I was in love. Brad was right, I had my sable collie too!! Kort was picked for me by Dave, & although he is the brattiest collie I've ever owned, he is also the funniest! He makes me laugh out loud everyday he is such a clown. When he matures he is going to be awesome so look out!

Well there you have it, my story!

I tag Diana of Entais Collies to tell the story of how she got Kaia, or Punky! as Diana calls her, the collie she loves more then life itself.

The Pool

This year...... Last year......

Still rescuing the same orange ball!......

A Green Thumb??

Among other things this weekend I managed to do a TON of flower planting! My back & wrists are screaming but it was worth it. I'm not quite done, I still want one , maybe two planters for the side of the house. The hardest part was digging out the roots of the weeds that have been here for the last 10 yrs. while no one was living here! They were tough & deep!!

Here's the results, this is the back of the house......This is the front of the house, it's all gravel here so I just used pots to plant......The 2 plants on my bistro table, the plant to the left is not an "illegal" plant by the way!......And lastly a hanging plant...I bought the hanger last year & finally managed to put it up!!......