Save the Date - A Birthday Party/Samily Reunion

This is a tiny bit early, and I'll post it again but....

For those of you in the area who would like to celebrate the old man's 13th birthday (May 31st), we're having a party/Samily reunion on Sunday, June 5th.  The start time is dependent on when Cardis show at the Charlottesville-Albemarle KC show.  While Sam LOVES to open presents, he's asked that donations be made to CorgiAid, Inc. instead.  He'll be perfectly happy ripping up tissue paper to celebrate becoming a teenager.

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The White House Ain't Got Nothin' on Us

Video of the first annual Heathen Horde Easter Egg Roll.  Only Bogey & Georgia got to participate since they are the least likely to start a row over food.  Oh, and Bogey got his summer buzz cut this week - which is why he looks so funny but, he'll thank us as the temps and humidity start to rise!

Batten Down the Hatches

Update:  Seems we were very smart to protect the shrubs.  This morning (4/21)  I watched Georgia repeatedly circle one of the protected azaleas.  When she couldn't find a weak spot in the cage, she decided to try digging under it.  Brat!

You may have heard there was some wild weather is this part of the world yesterday.  Fortunately, we escaped with high winds and a ridiculous amount of rain.  The rain did wash a lot of the mulch and gravel down the hill in the back yard but that is fixable.  However, we are still preparing for some wild times here at The Ranch.

Georgia returns home on Tuesday.  She's had a great time at her first National Specialty.  She's not bringing home any ribbons but she got to see her mom do really well at the show and she got to spend time with her Aunties Liz, Marla, Diana and Mac.  Apparently a few people even offered to buy the Princess!  Not that we would ever sell but I think if Liz had ended up having to replace a cell phone on this trip she might have been tempted :)

In preparation for the return of Georgia, UHM and I did some yard work today.  The young, tender shrubs in the back yard are now wearing crinolines of wire to protect them from the predations of the baby dogs.  And to think we used to worry about deer eating the plants.

Azaleas along the left side of the yard.

Azaleas directly off the deck.

A row of Hydrangeas along the back.

Not Dog Related

I bet you all thought that I had no life outside of dogs, not true.  I am blessed to have some of the most wonderful neighbors on the planet too.  There are four women in the neighborhood who have become dear and treasured friends.  They are all incredibly smart and funny too.  There is an archaeologist, a biologist, a speech therapist and a construction project manager.  Pretty amazing, huh?  Leslie, the archaeologist, is also a passionate crafter.  She's incredibly talented and last night we got a preview of the small quilts she is taking to her first craft show on Sunday.

Leslie machine quilts and her designs are quite contemporary; think Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel.  If you have a few moments, visit her store on Etsy or her blog Harvest Crafts.  Or if you happen to attend the Spring Bada Bing craft show in Richmond, VA, tomorrow, watch for her and say 'Hi.'

Video of the National!

Domino Video, the professional video company that is shooting the National this year, was kind enough to share some clips with the CWCCA website.  You can see Lucy (Georgia & Jon's mom) in the Megan at Show Results.  Scroll down to see video of Puppy Sweeps, Veteran Sweeps and the Megan.  Lucy is the second red dog to come in the ring.

National Update - Day 1, Sweeps

Marla called this morning to give me her assessment of Miss G.  She stands by her original opinion of a year ago but does say that we are going to have to be patient while the girl grows up.  See Miss G comes from lines that mature slowly but that's actually a good thing.  It means that, while it will take longer for her to reach her full potential, there's a good chance that once she reaches it she will be really competitive in the breed ring for a longer period of time.

So, the results from this morning's 15-18 month sweepstakes class are that our girl wasn't in the ribbons.  It's ok with me though, I know that in a couple of years she will be just as successful as her mom and grandma (who's won the National TWICE!).

Tomorrow Georgia and her mom, Lucy, will be shown in the brace class.  Brace is where two dogs from the same breeder are shown together to demonstrate the consistency in the breeder's line.  Georgia and her mother are nearly carbon copies of each other so this should be fun.  Hoping someone at the National will get pictures.

Houston, We Have a Winner

I'm thrilled to report that last night Georgia's mom, Lucy (Ch Aberdovey's Infatuation), was awarded Best Red Bitch, Best of Opposite Sex to Best Cardigan, and Runner Up to Best Cardigan in the Megan Competition at the national Specialty.

The Megan is a champions-only match held each year in honor of the first breed champion Cardigan.  It's the only time Cardigans are separated and judged by color with the best dog and bitch of each of 4 colors going back in to compete for Best Cardigan (the final class is an 8 dog lineup).  It's incredibly prestigious to win any of the color classes not to mention the big prizes.  It's especially exciting for a red to do so well.

Today is the start of regular showing with both puppy and veteran sweeps.  Those begin at 9am standard time.  I will be anxiously awaiting news of how Miss Georgia does.  She's got some awful big paw prints to follow in!

Winds of Change

News from the work front.  As of 2pm this afternoon, I am in the home stretch of this particular chapter in my work life.  Effective April 22, I will no longer be employed at Plow & Hearth.  It was an interesting 4 years and I learned a lot, I really did.  It's just a little depressing that it feels like another career dead-end for me.  I had really hoped that my next position would be that of Director of Inventory Control somewhere but I don't think that will be the case.

So the winds of change are blowing, I just don't know what direction yet.

This, That and Who Shot the Cat (No one, it's just a saying!)

I know, the blog is woefully out of date.  No posts since March 19th, a snowy header photo....It's all just going to hell in a hand basket.  I'm sorry not to have posted in a while.  It's not because nothing is going on, believe me.  Living with a Horde of Red Dogs means there's always something happening.  I just haven't felt much like posting these days.  Work is not good right now and a lot of things are up in the air for me.  I'm hoping that the next couple of weeks will bring some sort of resolution to the situation.

UHM and I both got new smart phones last month and, so far, Georgia has not gotten a hold of either one of them.  Although there was a particular look of delight in her eyes when she saw me using the new phone.  Her eyes were saying "Ooooh!  Look, a new chewie just for me."  G leaves for the National this weekend.  She's going with her breeder, Liz.  She's entered in 15-18 month sweeps, bred by and brace (with her momma, newly minted GCh Aberdovey's Infatuation).  Be sure to love on the baby girl if you see her at the National - but keep a tight hold on your cell phone, camera, etc.  This will be the first time she and Bogey have been separated since she came to live with us in September.  I have a feeling there is going to be one lonely little boy dog in the house.

The odd spring weather we've been having has meant Moira's agility class has been cancelled several times in the last few weeks.  That means Moira is being a holy terror at home.  Lack of focused exercise is not good for any of us.  I know, I should be taking her for walks but, see paragraph 1 and work.  That, added to the odd weather has deterred me from my parental duties.  Saturday she was so wound up that she ended up pitching an absolute hissy fit when the BC that lives behind us was in his yard.  He wasn't running or anything, he was pooping.  Moira was barking as though he had an entire flock of sheep, a tennis ball and a frisbee back there.

Ginny is, as always, practically perfect in every way.  She is due a vet visit for a dental and removal of a growth on her chest.  The growth looks to be involved in one of her mammary glands but I've been keeping an eye on it and it's not growing nor does it feel like it's attached to anything.  I also haven't found any other lumps so I'm not panicking.  Sam's Thousand Dollar Testicle put a big dent in the bank account and I need to get a little more $$ ahead before there is another surgery.

And then there's Sam.  So far his recovery from surgery is great.  He feels good and he's flirting and playing with Moira and Gin a lot.  It will be another few weeks before we can try collecting on him again to see if the other testicle can still produce viable sperm.  I'm kind of waiting on G to come into season so he has a little encouragement :)  He's also still a cranky old man on a regular basis and feels the need to pee in the front room when he is mad about something.  I want to get the carpet replaced in there this spring and then he will have to wear a Weenie Wrap (or Wacker Packer) for the rest of his life.  He's also going to be featured on a redesigned website.  Problem Solvers is a sister brand to Plow & Hearth.  The brand was started several years ago then all but abandoned for the last few years.  The new owners are resurrecting it and part of the resurrection is a new website.  The site will go live in a little over a week with a new department called "Pet Solutions."  Here's the header of the landing page for the department:

Click to biggify.

I'm not even sure how to feel about this - or the fact that, at least on my monitor, his tongue looks grey.