Class Action

I got a new camera back in the spring and have been moderately satisfied with it. It took okay pictures but I was frustrated by continual under-exposure. I was comparing it to my old film camera which I really loved and was considering dusting it off to get the photos I wanted. I gave it some thought and realized that there is one thing about my old camera which I had not altrered on the new one so I dragged out the manual for the first time and set it to over-expose by a stop. Voila.

I took so many pictures today that I am going to have to split them into different categories over a few days. Some are silly, some are action, some are portrait ... but the subjects are all the loves of my life.

BONZAI!











Here we come to save the DAAAAY! (It's super cool that they are in the exact same stride too ...)


















BEELINE! (The fact that they are both looking directly at me is just neat-oh. )
















YAHOO!

COMING Mummy ...!

Tomorrow Never Dies

Here’s a better portrait of Halo's handsome rendezvous. He’s got a beautiful head with a nice round eye. Doesn’t he look sweet? His name is Zuli but for our purposes we will call him Halo’s Vegas Luvah. He has never had a gambling problem despite being in Las Vegas these past years and that bodes well for his kids not having addiction issues. Except chasing things, that will likely carry through since it’s very strong on Halo’s side.

He also has a degree, Companion Dog, which is an obedience title not easily earned by the likes of Ridgebacks. This also means that he is pretty biddable and since Halo is biddable (under dire threat of death) the puppies should be quite a trainable bunch.

He is an American Champion and earned his points in style with 4 majors while he was still a young man.

Halo of course is up to merry mischief because being in heat means she's miserable thus everyone else's life has to be miserable too. Erin said she was sitting and staring at her for no particular reason with clam ears(pressed against her head so they fold into clam shapes). It's the face of tortured estrus.

Big thanks to Erin who works so hard with the dogs ... especially ones not her own ... and largely goes un-thanked much of the time. Halo will not appreciate what Erin is about to put her through but I do and am eternally greatful for the faith she put in an unknown girl from Canada and her very first Ridgeback.

Red Heat

Finally. It’s happened. The thing. The montrous thing I don’t have to put up with because it’s in Utah right now and will be on her way to Sin City in a week.




Magic Decoder: Halo is in heat. She is actually right on time. I thought if I was lucky she’d come in sooner but I guess I was too hopeful. Not many dogs are this reliable – she is just 6 months and a few days from the end of her last heat – what a gal.


I had wondered when I heard last week that she consumed 15 ring pops and an entire bag of firey hot cheetos if it was a sign. That was a particularly bitchy Halo thing to do and is usually reserved for special occassions. Sort of a dog PMS.




Also, Erin who has Halo right now, just got back a bitch that had been away for a year doing some agility training. I figured an unfamiliar mature bitch being brought into the house so close to Halo’s expectant heat might bring her in sooner rather than later. It’s a bitch thing.



So she will be off to Las Vegas to meet her match with Zuli. Two excellently normal health tested dogs! We expect red wheaton babies with good ridges, minimal white, possibly a light wheaton or two and not many dark masks since Halo is not dominant for them and Zuli has a clean face like Raimi.

Mark your calendars … I will be plummeting into insanity in a few short weeks.

That Thing You Do

Leeloo does a thing which is so adorable I get warm fuzzies just thinking about it. She gets all comfy-fied where ever she wants to nap; better her head is on me so I reap the full benefit of her habit. She generally drapes herself across my lap but sometimes resorts to a Ridgeball if there isn’t enough stretching room. After she gets settled and cozy she jams her pokey little nose in a good nap spot. Then … then she squiggles it. You know the squiggle. Their head wiggles gently side to side and presses down a bit and possibly stretches a touch for the perfect … most perfect spot to rest their weary head.

That squiggle is like an adorable shot to my heart everytime.

But it gets better because squiggles come with sounds. Sometimes sighing. The satisfied sigh of the truly content. Sometimes groaning. Groaning occassionally alters pitch into a whine so I check to see if there’s a leg squashed or twisted but usually it’s just the groan of the ‘irritated to still be awake’. Moaning is generally reserved for the last dredges of the barely awake letting out the ghosts of plays not played. The head squiggle marks the last moment of consciousness before blessed puppy sleep.

Sleep is also better had if the head is covered so it’s pushed into the crook of my arm, between me and Raimi, behind my back, under a cat … as long as the nose is partially buried. Better the whole body so I try to keep her covered with a blanket when she’s napping which sends her into the deepest of deep sleeps. If a blanket is not handy she at least needs her nose buried and body preferably squished in a too-small space.

This has caused some issues with Raimi and me. Raimi likes to be touching me while he sleeps. Leeloo likes to be squashed into oddly squishy spaces. This means the space between Raimi and I. We had a couch war where Raimi was on one side of me and she on the other. Not good enough. She hopped off the couch and jumped on Raimi to lie on him with her head on me which he grumbled about. I pulled her over to the other side where there was lots of room. Off again to go around and jump onto Raimi. LOOK. Sleep over HERE. She calculated a second and jumped off again. Repeat. I finally convinced her that she could sleep across me and stick her head in a small gap between me and Raimi.

Then the cat came along and was sleeping on my knees. Thank gawd for remote controls because there was no getting up after that production.

It really is my most favorite thing to sit on my couch watching TV, utterly covered in warm bodies of happy dogs and cats. Scoff if you will but they don’t care how much TV I watch, they want me to eat MORE chips and salsa and they would never have me anywhere else. I love spending time with them and I look forward to seeing them everyday almost as much as they do me.

Under the Tuscan Sun

I feel bad that my windows are so high that the sun never quite reaches the couches. If the sun does touch the couch it's only long enough for the dogs to snooze in for about 20 minutes. In the summer when the sun is quite high it hardly shines in at all. I have promised them one day we will have a home where the windows are ground level and the sun shines in warmly.

They make the best of it ... or try to. The idea here is clear but the execution, sadly, did not pan out. I'd need to move the couch back a few feet for the sun to hit them directly.

Here the top of Raimi's head is being warmed by the sun which I suppose is good since matter speeds up when it's warm. Presumably in this moment he is slightly smarter than usual. Maybe when I *do* have sunlight for them he will show himself a genius!

White Hunter Black Heart

Today was the first day in (what feels like) a dog's age that it was not negative 25 degrees Celcius so we headed to the park in the warmest part of the afternoon. The park was teeming with dogs and kids dressed as Michelin men who were sledding down a rather large hill at break neck speeds with dogs in hot pursuit.


I outfitted Leeloo in Halo's winter coat and I think she appreciated the added warmth. Her hair is still a soft puppy coat so it doesn't offer the same protection as an adult coat. Or she's just a princess sissy like Halo.



Off they go with glee and abandon. Leeloo tried her very best to keep up but Raimi was too full of beans to slow down for her.











Ears! Eyes! The coat seemed to fit quite well once I tightened the strap and she had no trouble running amuck.











Come ON Mom ... catch up already! Raimi never noticed the cold I'm sure since he spent most of his time running from tree to bush marking the park with his sign posts.




The rest of the time he was doing silly things like this when the other dog would be enticed to play.




Leeloo got in on the action once or twice but she tends to back down right away if the other dog gets too boisterous.


Apparently Pugs are a deeply suspect breed of dog. We will have to introduce her to Deuce, I'm quite sure she will be won over in no time.


Raimi takes a moment to allow the park to bask in his handsomeness. He often stops to survey his domain and once something interesting catches his eye he bounds after it ... shattering the regal illusion.


Up the path they careen hardly taking notice of obstacles. People move out of Raimi's way because of his size so he rarely hits anyone. Leeloo just mashes into legs and is instantly forgiven when they see her darling face.

Trekking homeward. She remained very cheerful for much of the walk. It was close to the end when she decided that she'd had enough and was ready show the way to the truck - very Petal-like of her!

There and Back Again: A Ridgeback Tale.

Three's Company

The cats don't often get mentioned since not much changes in their lives including my refusal to let them out in -27C weather and the various things they insist on climbing in or on.

They have a real love of cardboard. Not sure why but whenever there is a new box it gets examined very closely and then pieces get chewed off it. Like the Dell laptop box that is returning my 'fatal error' pooter for repair.

More weirdness. I did the dishes and cleaned the sink out with Scrub 'n' Shine and then Weasley made himself very comfortable. He seemed to enjoy spying on the world from his stainless teel bunker.

Mallaig continues to be the sweet, quiet, unassuming cat ... until there is food to be had. Dog food, cat food, my food ... doesn't matter. She's a pig.

Together they are a cheerful bunch ... and I love to watch them enjoy each other's company ... except at 2am stampeding up and down the hall.