A Preview

It's the week following month end at work and that means I am up to my neck in reporting but, I will post!  Hopefully, later this evening.  In the meantime, here's a preview....

No Dog Events this Weekend

Yes folks, it's true - there have been no dog-related events this weekend. Saturday we had the carpets and furniture professionally steam cleaned. That basically ate up the entire day.

Today, I spent the day canning apple pie filling. I've done a lot of that sort of thing this year. In August, Ann and I picked nearly 80 lbs of peaches (I know - 80?1?1?). I scalded, peeled, sliced, bagged and froze those. In September, the woman who works for me gave me a grocery bag full of green beans from her garden. I blanched and froze those too. In October, I bought 4 pie pumpkins, baked them down, pureed the flesh and froze that (mmm, pumpkin pie or pumpkin for puppies w/upset tummies). This weekend it was 20 lbs of apples made into pie filling and canned. I borrowed a peeler/corer from one of the women at work. I have GOT to get me one of those do-hickeys! It peeled, cored and sliced all those apples in no time. I expect there will be more food made in bulk and frozen in the next month or two. I have a great recipe for chicken and white bean chili that freezes well. Also, chicken pot pies w/artichoke hearts - delicious recipe and another that freezes well.

Ann downloaded the pictures from the show last weekend but she wasn't happy with any of them. Taryn over at A Tail of Two Cardis got a great shot of Moira and Scout together but I am saving it for the girls' b-day post. The proofs aren't up yet from the professional photog.

So it's a quiet Sunday. There's a fire in the fireplace and I think I'll plant myself in front of that for a while.

PS - For those who are be concerned, Sam recovered from his tumble off the table just fine. He's a tough old guy.

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It's Monday Already?

It was a big, and busy, weekend for the Horde.

Saturday was the CCWCC Specialty in West Friendship, MD.  Sam was entered as a veteran - his first time back in the ring in over 3 years.  He place 2nd in the 10+ year old class and had a BIG time doing it.  You would have thought it was his own, personal Mardi Gras parade.  The judge even commented that she wasn't sure he was in the right class because a dog that enthusiastic couldn't possible be a veteran.  We pulled from the regular veteran class though.  In between sweeps and the regular classes, Sam managed to back himself off the table, taking a pretty good tumble.  He's fine but, in the immediate aftermath his back was a little sore and I didn't want to aggravate that with getting on and off the table.

Then Moira got to visit with her sister, Scout.  It wasn't exactly a Southern girls sorority reunion - no screaming or crying.  Moira was much too worried about everything that was going on around her.  Scout was worried that Moira was going to try to take some of the things in her birthday gift basket.  We haven't downloaded pictures yet but you can see some at Janet's blog, Simple Things.

Bogey was along for the ride to the show too.  He had a great time too.  That little dog belies all the talk of Cardis having softer temperaments.  He's never met a stranger - in fact, I've decided that he is obnoxiously social.  He wants to meet everybody, whether it looks like they want to meet him or not.

Gin made a brief appearance at the show too.  She is basically a homebody and doesn't care for all the hoopla associated with dog shows but she did come out and got to see some old friends. 

Sunday, we loaded up the entire crew again and drove up to Burke Lake Park in Fairfax Station, VA.  If you are in the area, I would highly recommend this park.  It's huge with lots to do and dog friendly as well.  We were going up there to meet up with Christopher Briscoe.  Chris is a photographer from my hometown and he's brilliant.  I've had Chris shoot portraits of me twice - at 21 and 31 years old - and wanted another sitting but thought I would have to make a trip to Oregon to get it.  Imagine how thrilled I was to find out that he has clients on the East coast and flies out here regularly?  So, everyone piled into the Yawt early yesterday afternoon and we made the trip up north to meet Chris.  We spent about 2 hours in the park w/him shooting lots and lots of pictures.  The proofs should be available in 7-10 days.  I can't wait to see what he got.  We couldn't have asked for nicer weather (sunny, upper 60s) and the dogs were relatively well-behaved.

So now it's time to head into work for another week.  The Horde's next big adventure will only involve Bogey and Moira.  We're heading up to Ohio in 2 weeks for a weekend of herding with Dana Hasemeier.  It will be Bogey's first introduction to sheep.  There should be some interesting photo ops there......

Ch Sam ROMb

YAY!  I just checked the CWCCA website and Sam's name is listed under the ROMb stud dogs.  I've been watching his offspring/points for a couple of years, just waiting for him to break the magic point total.  Thanks to a couple of his offspring attaining their own ROM awards, he finally had the points he needed.  Oh, and did I mention he's also been tested normal (or as normal as Sam gets!) for DM.

We did toenails tonight in preparation for the show next weekend.  We all hate doing toenails but, it's a necessary evil.  We'll probably try to do them again one more time before Saturday....

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Let's Go to a Show!

The Chesapeake CWC Specialty is a week away and Sam is entered in both veteran sweeps and the regular classes.  It's been over 2 years since Sam has been in the breed ring.  I don't have any expectations, we are going to support the club and because Sam LOVES to go to dog shows.  He will bark his head off to let everyone know he's there, then nearly wag himself off the table.  For a dog that wasn't shown until he was over 7 years old, he sure does love the game.

Tonight I took Sam and Gin to our favorite DIY dog wash in Culpeper.  It's a wonderful set up - raised tubs, steps up to the tub, hydro-surge washing systems and even dryers!  Of course, I take my own shampoo and my own dryer; I want to use a particular shampoo on Sam's coat and my dryer has more horsepower :)  The prices are very reasonable and the allure of not having to clean up after myself makes the drive worthwhile.

Gin is typically a breeze to bathe.  She stares at me with deep, tortured eyes until all the wetting, lathering, rinsing and drying is done.  Tonight was no different and I had her bathed and dried in no time.

Sam, however, is blowing coat right now.  He's really blowing coat.  I mean REALLY.  I brushed him out on Sunday at got at least a plastic shopping bag full of undercoat out of him.  Tonight, I brushed him again and got nearly as much.  While I was drying him, the hair was swirling around me and the wash stall.  I can't recall ever seeing him blow coat like this.  I'm not panicked though because, out of coat Sam has more hair than most dogs do in coat.  Being out of coat basically means that Sam will be easier to groom for the show.

At this point in time, you are probably wondering why I am bathing Sam a full week before the show.  Well, Sam's coat is temperamental.  When he's freshly bathed, he is a big fuzz-ball.  By bathing him a week in advance, the natural oils have a chance to get back into his coat and it ends up looking and feeling just about right.  Now we just need to cross our fingers that there is little or no rain for the next week and that Sam doesn't spend a lot of time in his Man Cave (under the deck in back of the house).  Wednesday evening we are going to visit Cathy O-C for some help polishing his look.

I'm excited about next weekend for another reason.  Moira's sister, Scout, is also entered in the show.  We haven't seen Scout since the 2008 National in KY.  Both girls were still quite young then.  On Halloween, they will turn 4 and, I can honestly say that Ra has matured tremendously in the last 6-9 months.  It will be fun to compare and contrast her and Scout.  I'm hoping we can get some family portraits too - Sam is the girls' grandpa and Ginny and Bogey are their aunt and uncle, respectively.

I have 3 clean (Ra got a bath last weekend) and tired red dogs waiting to go to bed.  Next weekend I will post show results and, maybe, some pictures.