Merry Christmas! (???)

Some time before Christmas, I had ordered a special gift for Chelsea. I took one of her favourite photos of her and Rustle, and ordered a fleece throw from Black's with the photo screened onto it. I've never done this before, but hoped it would turn out and that it would arrive for Christmas, as promised. Well, it didn't get here until just a couple of weeks ago! Such a disappointment, and to say that wishing my daughter a Merry Christmas with her "special" gift almost a month late was anticlimatic, to say the least. I'm so glad it was VERY well received, and Chels really loves it ... I think it meets Rustle's approval, too!

Here's the original photo ...



And here is the blanket, thrown over the love seat ...



Rustle isn't sure what to think ...



I love Chelsea's new look!

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Bath Day

We gave the puppies their first baths on the weekend. Puppies are kind of unpredictable as to how they're going to react when "under the suds" for the first time. Some puppies try to scramble out with all their might, some are just frozen in place, not daring to move, and some just take it all in stride after the initial shock of having warm water gently hosed over them. Often the actual bathing is not as traumatic as the drying. We have a really good system; I bath and Chelsea dries. If it's not outdoor weather, then she parks in the kitchen with the hair dryer, on low of course, and towel dries first then uses the blower to finish the job. Sheltie puppies can be very dramatic, and some do protest loudly, but Chels turns up the TV and before you know it, the job is done, the puppy is back with it's litter mates, and it's on to the next one.








Of course no sooner do four clean feet hit the floor, and they're off and running again, like nothing ever happened.






After all that play, naturally they've worked up an appetite.






All right, a warm bath, a little play time, then a full tummy ... bet you know what comes next! :)

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Belated Birthday Wishes!

Since I'm still playing catch up, I have to wish my most special girl a Happy 11th Birthday!! My Cady (Ch Laureate Cadence) turned 11 years old two weeks ago today, and I still can't believe how quickly the time has gone! She's still such a puppy in so many ways; she still loves to show, and has more energy than most dogs half her age. She was born to steal my heart, and she knows it.

Thank you Kim, for my Cady and for your wonderful friendship over the last 11 years!

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A Late Start to the New Year

This doesn't feel very much like it should be my first blog of the New Year ... January is almost half over! I have some catching up to do, and only posted a few photos here to get going again and up to date. Besides just the seasonal hustle of Christmas, my computer was victimized by a serious virus, requiring three house calls and about two weeks of down time, so that definitely hindered any computer activity. All is well now, and I hope to make up for lost time :).

Here is a group photo of the pups at 3 weeks. The female is in the middle. They will be 5 weeks old this Friday and I hope to get new photos done on the weekend.



Rustle ringing in the New Year ...



After a lovely New Year's Eve dinner out, thanks to my daughter, she went her way to a house party and I added some sensible clothes and went to the park downtown which hosted the "official" London party. It was fun, but got cold fast. The skaters didn't seem to notice.






I hope I'm not jinxing myself. Not *too* much snow, please!

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'Twas the Night Before ...

... well, you know the rest! And even though we don't have any mice "stirring", our puppies are becoming more active all the time, even starting to interact with each other. I expect eyes will start to open any day now, as Christmas Day is their two week birthday. I doubt they have sugarplums dancing in their heads, but they are certainly content little babies.





We've decorated the house, dressed the tree (real, of course :)), gifts are wrapped and bowed, and the table is festive and ready for Santa. I never get tired of Christmas morning!

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Puppies Have Arrived!

We're extremely pleased to announce the arrival of our latest litter. We have 4 males and 1 female (the one with the most white in these photos). Quite the range in size at birth, from 5.2 oz to 9.2, but all are doing wonderfully, and Jolie (Am/Can Ch Shaydeechase Girl Interrupted) is an outstanding mother. Sire is the handsome Ch Lynphil Mirror Mask.

A little camera shy ...




It's very tiring trying to sleep during your first photo shoot ...

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Starting to Look a Lot Like ...

I never do my Christmas lights the same way twice, so it's a bit of a Cracker Jack box every year. I had taken a stab at it a week ago, but found some excuse to put off finishing. This past Sunday was bright, sunny, and not a blizzard, which is what we are usually battling to hang our lights. I got home in good time from a terrific dog show weekend with my very good friend Kim (Laureate) and was in a festive frame of mind, so even though I was going solo, and am not the best on a ladder, decided I really had to take advantage and finish the job. Unfortunately, it was not a task that would be accomplished in that bright, uplifting sunshine. I ended up crawling around in the dark (mind you, it was only 5:30!!) trying to find extension cords whose plugs were compatible. It should have been easy, but apparently not all plugs are made the same. Go figure.

The end result, although satisfactory, is really anti-climatic without that first gentle layer of snow (emphasis on "gentle"), which nicely softens the entire affect and makes the whole thing Christmas-y instead of just cold winter lighting. But from most angles, the lights didn't look half bad.

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