Monday Mischief: GAH! My Laptop Died!

Well, at the end of last week my old laptop started acting sick. I could hear a ticking/clacking sound as it tried to access the hard drive. It set off alarms bells in my mind, but before I could even start moving my files and photos off, it died. Holy Crap! I didn't lose any important files, but I did lose gobs and gobs of photos, including my recent Christmas shoot. Fortunately, the originals are still on my camera, but I had done a bunch of work on the ones I liked. I totally blame myself as I knew the importance of backups, but it still stinks!

I hope to be back to posting pictures soon! I've got a Wordless Wednesday photo  on my camera, it just needs to make it someplace my blog can get it!

Monday Mischief: Someone Hit the Snooze Alarm!

Click to biggify and see Wilson's silly faces!

Monday Mischief: In All Their Gritty Glory!

The beach is a wonderful place to visit. I love the sound of the ocean waves, the salty smell to the air, even the piercing cries of the gulls when they spot you eating something. But there's one thing that makes living at the beach a lot of work.....sand! It gets everywhere and when you have  a couple of thick-coated corgis along for the ride, their coats soak it up like a sponge!

Case in point.....

Extreme close-up.....just in case Jimmy didn't look very dirty.....

The boys love their days when they get to ride the jetski with us and hang out on the beach all day. There's swimming, running, barking, eating....all those things dogs love to do. But it does end with a very sudsy bath which still doesn't get all the sand out! As their coats dry out, they rain sand!

Monday Mischief: Sneak a Snack?

I usually keep my laptop on the kitchen island. It's a nice convenient location to keep it plugged in. I can easily grab a snack while I do a little job hunting.....

Or can I? Do you think there's any chance I can make it to the fridge without my movements attracting unwanted attention.......?

My corgis can make it to the fridge in 1.2 seconds.....It takes me 2.5...................

No snack for me!

Monday Mischief: Blogging Break!

I'm fresh out of photos! The  wintry weather has taken its toll on my photo adventures. I had a really fun event planned for yesterday and we woke to an ice storm. Risking life, limb and car fenders for a bit of doggy fun isn't a good idea so we cancelled. SIGH!

So this leaves me at a good spot to take a few days off and not worry about coming up with any posts.

I thought I would leave you with a little brain teaser....How does this photo relate to my blog?

Monday Mischief: Sledding and Herding Dogs Don't Mix!

This past Saturday we had a pretty big snow storm. I'd say we got at least ten inches of light fluffy snow. As the day wore on however, the temperatures rose and the snow was topped with a bit of ice and rain. It made for some perfect packing snow that makes sledding conditions great.

Now Jimmy and Wilson are herding dogs, and as such, their instincts demand that they control motion that they see around themselves. Ideally it would be sheep or cattle, but in a pinch anything might trigger the urge to chase and herd. Sledding is very high on that list! Both boys go batshit crazy nutso at the sight of sledders. They are NOT allowed around children and sleds! It's just not a safe situation.

But, when we have the hill to ourselves,  we know what to expect (sort of) and can let the boys have some over the top fun on the hills.....And just so I set the scene just right, this is accompanied by a whole lot of BARKING!!!!!!!!

Jimmy is already trying to wrestle control of the sled from John.

It becomes a game of tug-o-war just to get the sled on the ground.

Both guys try to bite the sled and bring it to a stop.

Jimmy does his best to take the sled and also avoid getting run over.

Jimmy says:  I told him that sled was mine! He didn't listen, so I dumped his ass!

No worries, there was no one hurt in the making of this post, dog or human. I did hear a bunch of cracking plastic so the sled might be a bit worse for wear thanks to Jimmy's steel jaws!

Monday Mischief: The Saga Continues

I've written several times about a cute little habit Wilson has...I'll wait while you get re-acquainted....

Here is the post where I introduced his little quirk:

Wilson's Odd Habit

Next was the story of his little rug in the upstairs office:

Wilson's Rug

And finally, I caught it on video, even making a Wordless Wednesday out of it!

Wilson's Wake-up Wiggle

Ok, so now that you've seen how silly Wilson can be, I have to tell you.....Wilson had his morning "happy roll" so many times, and often so vigorously, that he actually wore out that rug! Yes, he wore it out. It was one of those braided rugs, sewn into a circle with a round hooked center. The rug had been down for many years, over ten at the very least. All of Wilson's rolling loosened the stitching on the braids. I had sewn it several times, but there came a day where we found Wilson all caught up in the rug, waiting for rescue. Safety dictated that the rug must go. I worried Wilson would be sad without his rug, and not take to a replacement.You know how much dogs love a routine! It took a while to find just the right rug for the room, and I really had nothing to worry about.......He took to it like it had been there all along!

I've still got to grab the shots very quickly as he does not like this silly act caught on camera!

You're not trying to take my picture, are you?

The camera always ruins it for Wilson and he stops just as soon as he sees me. Even without a camera, just trying to have a peek, he will stop. I guess his rug dance is a very private affair!

Monday Mischief: Running Low on Photos!

I haven't had much opportunity to take blog-worthy photos lately. When it is really cold and windy out, lugging the camera with me just feels like too much work. I'm already buried under twenty layers of clothing so hanging a camera on top of all of that, well, just, MEH!

So here are a couple of re-hashed photos that I posted on FaceBook a while back. My apologies if you have already seen these.....

I posted similar shots when the last of the leaves were still hanging in there. Does this look familiar?

Monday Mischief: His Pacifier

Jimmy and Wilson each have their own favorite backyard toy. Wilson's is his Chuck-it Flying Squirrel. For Jimmy, it's his Cuz. If he's in the backyard, it's pretty much a guarantee it is in his mouth. As soon as he runs out the back door and has cleared the yard of bunnies and squirrels (he does have priorities after all!), he grabs his Cuz. I often tease him, telling him "I'm gonna git it!!!!" and start running for it as fast as I can. Let me tell you, I can never beat him to it!

I've got my Binky! All is right with my world!

Funny thing is, Wilson pays attention to whether Jimmy has his Cuz in his mouth or not, too. Jimmy is a very rough player with lots of nipping and biting. Wilson is a gentler soul and prefers things not get so rough. He knows if Jimmy has his Cuz, then he won't be nipping Wilson. I often see Wilson wait for Jimmy to grab the Cuz before initiating a game of chase.Wilson's a smart one, he is!

Monday Mischief: Holiday Leftovers

Well, I am just about out of photos from our trip to Myrtle Beach. I'll share the last of what I have, and then I'll need to get busy finding something new.

I'll start with the holiday related photos.....We went down to the Myrtle Beach State Park for one of our dog walks. The boys needed a change of pace and this park has actual woods to walk in. The nature trail wasn't particularly photogenic so nothing from there. The path eventually brought us out to the beach. The park offers a nice long fishing pier that has a little gift shop at the start of it. On the decking outside the shop was the cutest little Christmas tree made of the dried fronds of some of the palm trees. These are quite thick and dry into interestingly shaped wood. Of course I get the best holiday shot of the boys....after the holiday has passed! Pure mischief, I say!

And a close up of Jimmy, posing his heart out....

Other folks standing around on the deck were quite impressed with Wilson's and Jimmy's posing talents. I was proud!

Moving on to the next holiday, New Year's Eve. We've reached an age (ahem) where staying up until midnight isn't all it's cracked up to be. We decided we wanted to partake of our Champagne while 1) We weren't so sleepy we couldn't enjoy it and 2) the view was still bright and beautiful. Here's everything ready for a nice toast......If you want to try a good mid-priced bottle of Champagne, try Bon Vivant, it was delicious!

Our condo doesn't come with Champagne flutes....
We had to rough it with wine glasses :-)

And finally....If you have followed my blog for a while now, you know we go to Myrtle Beach fairly often. We own the condo we stay in, so we need to keep an eye on it in the off-rental season. While sometimes our trips can be all about cleaning and repairs, they are also little vacations for us. As such, each trip we try to play tourist and do something new. This past fall a new entertainment venue opened, The Hollywood Wax Museum . We decided to give it a try. The place offers three options and you can pick and choose what you want to do and your ticket price varies accordingly. We chose the Wax Museum and Outbreak! The third option was a maze billed for younger kids. While the Wax Museum's creations were not up to Madame Tussaud's standard, the neat thing was that you could walk right up and touch them. This made getting silly photos easy, plus we were there on a very quiet night so we had the place pretty much to ourselves. Some of the statues looked somewhat like the movie star they were supposed to be, some, not so much. And once you saw them in a photo, they looked even less like the person. We had fun taking lots of pictures, but I'll share just this one, as it is obvious who I am posing with.....(oh, and enjoy the very rare picture of me! LOL!)

Is that a gun in your holster or are you just happy to see me?

The other thing we tried while there was Outbreak! A zombie adventure that was very fun and scary. We were taken into a lab where, you guessed it, something goes horribly wrong! And all of the sudden we were fleeing from zombies, mechanical in some cases, costumed humans in others. You ran through all sorts of rooms and spaces, some in complete darkness, all the while being chased by the zombies. It was very well done and a blast! We were the only people in it at the time so those zombies were all over us! No pictures as we were too busy saving ourselves!

I think the place they spent the most money however, was on the outside of the building. Let me show you....

Talk about your 800 pound gorilla in the room!

And just to give you a sense of scale, here is John in front of the building.....

Now that's a Kong your dog could really sink his teeth into!

So there you have it....a few days at the end of 2014. January 1st dawned beautiful and blue. We had meant to get an early start home, but opted for a couple hours on the beach, followed by a bike ride to a favorite outdoor lunch spot. It was that beautiful, and a great way to start a new year.

Monday Mischief: Missing Mojo!

With so much to accomplish over the holidays, friends to visit, meals to cook, gifts to buy and wrap, not to mention fitting in a bit of travel, something had to give.  And what was that, you might ask? Well, computer time of course! I didn't intentionally take a blogging break, but it sort of just happened. It wasn't a complete break, I checked in now and again. But now I'm having trouble finding the oomph needed to get back into it. Sort of like exercising, when you let it slip, it is all too easy to let it go altogether. I certainly don't want that to happen! As you can tell from my last few posts, we made a trip to the beach. I've got plenty of pictures to post from down in South Carolina, so lack of content isn't one of my excuses.

I've heard the expression....Motivation follows action...So I guess I need to jump in with both feet and relocate my blogging mojo!

When we first reached Myrtle Beach on the evening of the 28th, it was warm and balmy. We took a wonderful walk on the beach in the dark in just light weight clothes. The next day we awoke to pea soup! The fog was so thick, I could not see the beach from our balcony. Looking out along the neighboring buildings had a rather ethereal quality.

I was quick to recognize the photo op I was given, and hurried to get out on the beach before the sun could burn away the fog. I was rewarded with views that I haven't photographed before.....

The ordinary became extraordinary, views I've seen a thousand times were transformed into something new and fresh.

The beach had taken on an otherworldly feel.....I could hear an ocean, but I couldn't see one.

I wasn't even sure if I could find my way home.....

But I am pretty sure Jimmy knew what road to take......

Monday Mischief: Healthscare Horror Story!

This is not a tale of garden variety mischief. This is REAL mischief, the kind that does harm. A couple of weeks back, we noticed a lump along Wilson's left ribs. It was rather large and firm. It was well hidden under his elbow so it had escaped notice for a while. Now he is prone to fatty lipomas,  those lumps of fat that are generally benign. Wilson was due for a physical and there was no chance we would just "guess" this lump was a new lipoma. We scheduled an appointment and took him in just a couple days later. There was a young "relief" vet on duty who was visibly shaken when she found a tick on Wilson. Oh, the horror! While I hate ticks more than most, dogs get ticks, it's just a fact of life. This didn't get our rapport off to a good start. But whatever, keep moving...She takes blood for his CBC, listens to his heart, examines his teeth, all the usual. Next she takes him to the back to aspirate a sample from the lump..She has a hard time getting it and needs two tries. Wilson remained stoic. She felt the sample looked suspicious, and wanted to send it to the pathologist to be sure. Instantly our thoughts turned to the Big C. So now it is a waiting game for results and we are completely focused on that lump. The next day,our regular vet called. All we wanted to hear about was the lump results. She says they were still rather inconclusive, but what she was really worried about was the results from his blood test. Both his white cells and his red cells were way too low in the counts she expected to see. Wilson was badly anemic and could even be bleeding internally! Holy Crap! She needs us to bring him back in ASAP for an x-ray to look for bleeding and to start on aggressive treatment. We took him back in that very evening. X-rays are done and his insides look great, no tumors, no pockets of blood. This leads her to feel it is likely a tick disease because he always tests very slightly positive for Erlichia as he had it years ago. It was treated back then, but Erlichia can never truly be cured, just controlled.  A dog that does not get treatment will die eventually. So Wilson is prescribed a double dose of Minocycline (generic antibiotic for Doxy). It was a massive amount! And also prescribed was the steroid Prednisone which comes with the side effects of excessive thirst and hunger, and peeing all over the house if you aren't attentive. We started the treatment on a Tuesday night, and by Wednesday night, the Pred side effects were kicking in. If Wilson so much as thought he heard food potential, he came running! Corgis are pigs, corgis on Pred are just plain scary! Wilson seemed to tolerate the meds pretty well until Saturday when he threw up a little in the middle of the day. I could tell he didn't feel well and he no longer wanted food. Now stomach distress is a side effect of the antibiotics, and it was over-powering the Pred's hunger! From then on Wilson would eat and within a few minutes, up it came. The pills went in with the meal so he was losing those as well. Basically Wilson feels like CRAP, can't drink water, can't eat. He was miserable! First thing Monday morning we were on the phone to the vet. We got a spot for that evening. By then he was very lethargic and depressed. First thing he was weighed. He was down two pounds already! To shorten the story a tad, it was decided to do a small in-house blood test. It would not be as thorough as a lab reviewed CBC, but she could see a little bit. They took blood and disappeared into the back.  She returned in a few minutes saying she wasn't sure what was going on.  Her results on the little sample showed as perfectly normal. It was impossible for his blood to have done that kind of repair so quickly. A tiny notch, maybe, a full turn around, no way! So she wanted another full blood sample in order to do a new CBC to send out to the lab. All she could figure was that the lab had sent the wrong results back on the first sample!!! Holy Crap! She gave Wilson an anti-nausea shot to try and settle his stomach and sent us home to wait. Poor Wilson. The shot just made him more lethargic. He was on drug overload!

The results came in the next morning. His blood was PERFECT! We had been torturing our poor dog with strong drugs when he was perfectly healthy! What a horrible thing to do to your dog! The vet was very contrite. She apologized profusely although it was truly the lab's fault and not hers. I mentioned the fact that we had spent hundreds of dollars on tests and drugs Wilson didn't need and thought a refund was in order. She contacted the lab company and they agreed to refund all costs associated with their mistake. This certainly wasn't about money, but I shouldn't be stuck with the bill! My poor dog was put through hell. I know we are all human, and mistakes are made, but wow, this was a douzy! It also leaves you with one other thought....whose dog did the bad blood results really belong to? There is a very sick dog out there not getting treatment.

It took a full couple of days for Wilson's system to clear all the drugs and his energy, stomach and attitude to return to normal. What an awful week for the poor boy.

Oh, and that lump that started it all? My regular vet took a new sample. Nothing but a fatty lipoma, thank goodness! The difference was that instead of the usual location between the skin and the muscle, this one was between the muscle and the ribs.  Not a common spot, but it happens.

Here is a pretty picture of Wilson on a much happier day back in October (taken by professional photographer Dwight Dyke).....

The Weekend Report: Mega-Mischief!!!

So this past Saturday was another agility trial at one of my favorite locations. I've posted about it several times, even in my very first blog post ever! The only caveat is that it is an outdoor trial, no barn, no indoor soccer field, just out in the elements. The weather forecast wasn't the best, but it wasn't awful.....passing showers. That didn't sound so bad. When I got up Saturday morning, it was dry and cloudy. Great! I packed up and headed out. Now this trial is the furthest one I drive to, just about 100 miles from home. It involves driving on the Capital Beltway (always a treat!), then heading east to Annapolis and across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. Well, it stayed dry and rain free until I got all the way to Annapolis, a solid hour into the drive. Just drizzle at first, and as I crossed the bay, heavier rain. Uh-Oh! Arriving at the farm where the trial was, it was POURING! The wind was heavy and the rain was almost sideways! Crap! I park, and go check out what's going on. Agility trials are rain or shine, as everything has been planned and paid for well in advance. Everyone was huddled under a couple of small tents and a few brave souls were running their dogs in this hard rain. I decided I would wait it out, hoping the rain would pass or at least ease to some drizzle. But after about an hour, it was still pouring! The ground was getting muddy, everyone was soaked to the skin and it was cold! I waffled for a bit, trying to decide if I wanted to run in the rain, or just scratch Jimmy's name off the running order. In the end, I  decided since we weren't chasing a big title, or trying to qualify for the Nat'l Championship as we were last year at this time, that I would err on the side of caution. There was no point risking either Jimmy or me slipping in the sloppy, wet footing. Agility is about fun, and this just didn't feel like fun. So I scratched us, and headed back to the car. The poor boys had never even set foot outside the car! No point getting them wet and muddy. Off we went, driving that same 100 mile drive back home. Back across the bay, heading west this time. And once we got just west of Annapolis....the rain....stopped! It just wasn't meant to be this time. It's funny, too, because it was really a three day trial, but being so far from home, I only signed up for Saturday. Friday was a cool but sunny day, and Sunday was a sunny albeit VERY windy day. I managed to sign up for the one day that was a total wash out! And while it was very disappointing to miss out on my agility adrenaline fix, it was even more disappointing to miss out on this beautiful farm at the peak of the fall season.  No walk in the leaves, no stroll down by the water, and no photographs! Mischief indeed!!!!!

The Weekend Report: Beautiful Weather + Beautiful Setting + Agility = Perfect Weekend!

Jimmy and I had our first agility trial since August this weekend. It was out in Reva, Va at a farm. We were there last year so I was really excited to go back on a weekend that was promising gorgeous fall weather. When they talk about how it's all about location, location, location, they are definitely talking about this farm. When I wasn't having fun playing agility in the big barn, I was up on the hills taking pictures like this.....

or maybe this.....

My heart just sings when I can get into the great outdoors on a lovely fall day. It was truly spectacular!

And the agility was pretty darn good, too! I didn't get any video this time so I'll just do a brief recount of the runs.

Saturday started with Jumpers. There was plenty of opportunity to go for speed plus a couple of challenging side changes. We made it through cleanly and Jimmy netted the 1st place spot.

When Standard came along a couple of hours later, I must have left my brain back at the car when I got Jimmy out to run. At agility trials, things are kept moving at a brisk pace in order to get all the teams through in a timely manner. This means going into the start line while the team before you is finishing the last couple of obstacles and leashing up to leave the ring. That way you are all ready to go when the timer gives you the go. Well, I guess, being brainless, I was going on auto-pilot. I got to the line, unleashed Jimmy, walked out, released him, all BEFORE I was given the go ahead! D'OH! This meant I got about two obstacles along before the judge called a halt to our run! He graciously allowed me to start over, but Jimmy was so indignant that I had stopped him short on the course that he could no longer focus. He made some of the most bizarre errors, ones he's never made before and hopefully never does again! So this blown run was 100% on me! I think that qualifies for Monday Mischief, although I've got an even bigger one to tell later.....

Saturday's maps.....For those of you agility nerds out there, look at the Standard map for the line from the #12 table through to the #16 tunnel. It was an amazingly tough line and many, many runs went south in that corner.

Sunday started with Jumpers as well. This was a fun and fast romp that wasn't too difficult. Jimmy buzzed through it successfully and again earned 1st place.

Standard was a fun course. It was long with lots of twisting here and there. I managed to wait for the official "GO" this time, which pleased Jimmy. He cleared all the obvious traps and we were home clean! He again earned the 1st place spot. Such a very good boy!

Sunday's maps....

The weekend netted us a double-Q and another 61 points toward our PACH. Here's where we stand....

Tracking Jimmy's PACH progress:
Very 1st Double-Q: Saturday 06/21/2014
Masters JWW legs: 7
Masters STD legs: 9
Double Q's: 5
PACH Points: 367

Now, on to the BIG mischief for this post. I'll warn you now, it's not pleasant (read that as meaning it is gross!), but it it also has a funny side as well....OK, here goes.....

This trial was a good hour and a half drive from my house. I wanted to get there with plenty of time to settle in, walk the dogs, eat some breakfast, etc. That meant I wanted to get there a little bit before 8AM. Doing the math, you can see where this means I needed to leave home before 6:30AM, and well before sunrise. Part of the journey put me on a major highway. The full three lane type with barriers between the east/west sides as well as large shoulders, double exit lanes, etc. Just a full on highway. And one with enough traffic even at this early hour that I could not use my high beams to see further down the road. So, unfortunately, just before my exit, at a spot where an overpass was casting very deep shadows, someone hit a deer. At highway speeds, by the time I saw the carnage, it was too late for me to dodge the body. The left side of my car made a sickening lurch up and over the deer, thumping it along hard before moving on. Fortunately for me, I never even had a chance to panic and swerve which probably would had caused the car to go out of control. It was a wholly unpleasant sensation to have run over such a large carcass. I'm just glad I wasn't the one that made the initial strike as that is much more dangerous! I am sure who ever did it was caught totally off guard. This highway was just not a spot one would ever expect to encounter a deer. I thanked my lucky stars that I didn't wreck, and continued on, albeit a bit shaken up and very grossed out. But the story doesn't end here, and this is where it takes a turn for the more amusing side. I get to the trial and park in the field with the other cars. Lots of us are arriving around the same time. I get the boys out of the car for their walk, and instead of striking out to sniff out horse poop, they are GLUED to my car. They have their noses poked up into my wheel wells, Jimmy tries to lick the front fender, Wilson tries to wedge himself under my car. MMMMM-mmm! Dead deer was splattered here, there and everywhere on the under-carriage of the car. It must have smelled delectable to the boys if their behavior was any indication. I literally had to DRAG them away from my car! If this wasn't amusing enough, throughout the morning, I had people coming up to me and telling me how they could not get their dogs past my car, that they were being pulled over to it, leashes jerked out of hands, coffees being spilled by over-eager dogs trying to get to my car. Needless to say, the very FIRST thing I did when I got home was to wash my car! I sprayed and sprayed and sprayed. I have the unfortunate feeling there are still remnants far underneath the belly of the car as both boys were still very interested in sniffing it this morning. This is some serious mischief, if you ask me!

And one final bout of mischief....this morning finally dawned cold enough I needed my winter coat and gloves for the morning dog walk. Sigh......Winter is Coming!

To finish it all off, a couple more pictures.....

Monday Mischief: Something Ate Jimmy's Toy!

So we head out into the backyard to start our walk. Everybody gets leashed up and we head to the gate. I look down as I am unlatching it and this is what I see......

Jimmy's Cuz toy with its feet nibbled off! I can't imagine the rubber could have been all that tasty. That's probably why there are so many "crumbs" left lying around.

Here's a close up of the damage (sorry for the less the stellarly focused shot!).....

As you can tell by the weathered appearance of this toy, it's been hanging out in the elements a good long while. I tossed it in the trash and one of Jimmy's indoor Cuzzes replaced it.

I wonder which critter did the dirty deed? I regularly see squirrels and bunnies in the yard, plus mice every now and again. The tooth marks were about right for any of them!

Monday Mischief: Photo Bomber!!!!!

So we were up in the mountains (well, what poses as mountains here in Virginia. Certainly not the gorgeous mountains KB shares with us!) on Saturday. Thanks to a couple of glasses of wine, I was in the very rare mood to have my picture taken with the boys. We were in a very quiet corner of the orchard, but even that wasn't enough to keep the background free of a photo bomber!


And here's how it was supposed to look...............

Monday Mischief: No Corgis!

I have to confess to having blogger's block or missing mojo or some such mischief. When it comes to dog pictures right now, "everywhere I went it seems I'd been there before" (to steal a line from a James Taylor song). I carry my camera as always, but I don't seem to be finding shots that interest me. Of course it doesn't help to do dog-free events on the weekends either. 'Tis the season of the county fairs right now and sadly they are not welcoming to dogs. I totally understand why, but, oh so many missed photo-ops! Let me share some sights from the past weekend.....

Classic American pastimes......

As you can see, I was facing into the sunset. The monster trucks were kicking up a huge amount of dust, and I noticed this scene playing out in the background....Dad trying to catch his fleeing little boy.....Snag!

And what is a county fair with out all of the midway entertainment?

And of course the animals....This next guy looked best in black and white.....It's a wonder he can even raise his head from the ground!

I'll leave it here since I am so far off-topic. No worries though, there is already a Wordless Wednesday post in the queue!

THE END!