It’s that time of year — to reflect. A friend sent me this video and it made me pause to think about all the beings in my life. The Nix with her heart of gold and growing brains (yes, indeed, she is coming into herself!). The border collies with their toddler intellects and drive to please. My daughter and her affinity for language and culture and science. Brenda the writer. Not a one of them who thinks about taking out the trash! But we each do our own things. And come together as family. Loved and beloved. And I truly love each and every one. I wish everyone a happy end of the year – whatever that means to you. The dogs have no time table – it’s all about this moment. With wind in the ears and snow flurries in the forecast and the angst of needing to stretch muscles and minds. We love you all!
Posts Tagged ‘Sasha’
Living Connections by Toni
Friday, December 11th, 2009Rituals by Toni
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
Every family has rituals. Holiday rituals. Coming and going rituals. We have a host of them that revolve around the dogs. That’s because the dog’s created them – or embellished those that already existed to make them their own. In this case, it is the shower ritual. Now it used to be the case that I could decide to take a shower – climb the stairs without hazard – turn on the water and undress in peace. Climb into the glorious stream of hot and steamy water and stand with it beating on my head and shoulders. Make up little tunes – either silent or aloud. Think my own thoughts without interruption. Showers used to be my time. And I think I can safely speak for the other humans in the household that the same was true for them. History. Sasha introduced a whole set of new shower rituals. It started when she learned the word. Thereafter, mention of the word “shower” resulted in a black and white streak up the stairs, poised in anticipation and barking at the shower door. Humans learned to quickly follow so that she didn’t break through the doors, to quickly turn on the water and crack the back door open wide enough for her head and shoulders to enter and snap at the water while undressing occured. Now the ritual is compounded by a second border collie who is no less insistent. And of course, the border collies will “get” more out of some humans than others. The previous description happens to reflect my behavior. Brenda, on the other hand, throws the door open so that the border collies can walk into the shower entirely. And the goddess only knows what Katie does with them. But as you can see, they emerge properly and well drenched. In my ritual, I enter the shower, close the door, and the border collies wait patiently for me to emerge and assist my towel in the drying process. Katie’s ritual results in five wet towels per shower. What do you think is happening there? LOL
Summer Treats by Toni
Sunday, July 19th, 2009
What a splendid day:>) Flyball with the border collies this morning was most excellent. Katie ran Sasha like the wind. Cricket is faster than the blink of an eye. We are struggling a bit with recalls – she seems to want to return the ball to the box instead of to me. But she’s getting better and had some great runs this morning. We are trying to get reaaaaaaaaaaaaady for a UFLI tournament in Canada at the end of August. Katie will race Sasha on the team and I will debut the Crickster in singles. The BC’s were bushed after practice – and it is hot. So frozen yogurt for all!!! This is just small cups of plain organic Greek yogurt frozen in their little containers. The dogs love it – and it’s good for them:>) Can’t beat that with a stick.
Brenda’s son and family are visiting and hanging this weekend. So for all the Cooper’s who follow the blog, here are a few family shots. Buddy is their dog. Nixie loves Buddy. Buddy also liked the yogurt treat:>)
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- Buddy
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- The Nix
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- The Crickster
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- Sasha
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- David, Brenda
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- David, Katie, Brenda
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- Back: Sage, Holly, Katie. Front: David, Brenda, Buddy
Summertime! by Toni
Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009
Summertime in the NW – and a month early! Can’t beat that with a stick:>) We are on countdown here. Five and a half more days of school! WhooHoo!!! Katie has been working double time to finish up year end projects, meet her committments in track and the school musical, and just stay alive. This collage is a web page from a personal website she’s building as her tech project at school. There’s a home page, a number of tabs (hobbies, pets, rice, forest ridge, Three Dogs Blog, etc) and this is the entry to the Pets tab. I think she did a really nice job with it, especially the way that Cricket’s ears fit into the star!
Otherwise, it is HOT. I mean like 90 degrees and melting hot. The dogs are panting with no exertion. All the fans are out and busy moving around hot air. The plants in the yard and in baskets have just exploded over the last week what with regular watering and the heat. One has to walk carefully around the house to avoid the bodies sprawled across the cool tile and wood floors.
We’re having the house painted in a couple of weeks which means moving plants and “stuff” away from the house. We broke down the dog run this weekend but there remains much to shift around. I am hoping it cools down a bit this weekend so we can muddle through the rest. And then Katie and I will be off to Kansas for a week. Brenda to Tennesee to speak at a conference. And the dogs go to the doggy spa, Cascade Kennel, in Woodinville. Where they will be wined and dined and played with, have some basic training reinforced, get groomed, and generally have some down time. Not sure what the Crickster will think about that. New experience for the pup!
Ah yes, the pup that Cricket is kissing on the top left of the picture is Velo, a Hob Nob cousin:>)
Sundays with Three Dogs by Toni
Monday, May 18th, 2009
The dogs and I spent a fabulous afternoon with friends in the country yesterday. It was hot! We played in the rotating sprinkler and the girls discovered the seasonal pond, much to the dismay of the temporarily displaced ducks. Wak Wak! There was much racing about and exploring, chasing of Frisbees, cavorting in the water as the afternoon sun just glistened. Sigh. Much happiness and relaxation was had by all. AND the girls slept like little toasted oats all the way home:) I imagine they wore out Brawnwyn, their corgi buddy, who is not used to cavorting and running about with the tribe. She held her own very well, though, and kept everyone in line:>)
Spring Evenings by Toni
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009The three dogs spent their post-dinner evening cavorting in the backyard. Much chasing and racing as if they could beat the sun in setting. I seized one moment and stepped out with the camera to take a shot or two. Burst mode. 30 seconds later I returned to the house with 66 pictures to sort through. Sigh. In the process of downloading the photos, IE crashed again. Sigh. I seized the moment and downloaded the 64-bit version of IE 8.0. All seemed well until I went to adjust my mouse to scroll better as I tried to edit the photos. The computer would no longer recognize my mouse. Didn’t see bluetooth. I was physically pushing the mouse across the pad to try and get it to move. I seized the moment when Brenda appeared and whined. She helped. Downloaded 64-bit drivers for the keyboard and mouse. At least usable again. But no scroll. Two hours ago everything was basically fine if not as stable as I would wish. Now the environment is marginally fine and feels tenuous at best. And IE is still crashing. I hope you like these photos!
I, of course, think they are adorable!
A Glorious Spring Day – Finally! by Toni
Sunday, April 5th, 2009
What a great day – the whole weekend actually! Sunny and warm enough for short sleeves all weekend long! Dogs to the park. Dogs on walks. Sasha and Cricket got to go to flyball practice this morning. It’s our first time back to flyball since December when I pulled Cricket out because she was just over-the-top unfocused and crazed. And Sasha has been out since her leg injury last fall. They were sooooo happy to play the game again even though all they got to do was flat recalls this morning. We’re going to take this slowly. Nevertheless they were thrilled to be there and to be racing and barking their little heads off. Crickey is so much more focused on me now. She’s matured alot in the last three months and her brain is starting to connect with her body. I’m glad we took a break – it was the right decision. And then more training this afternoon. A friend came over and taught me some tips on control techniques and beginning circle work. So that was fun. And of course, it’s never enough, as you can see from the expression on the Crickster’s face after a full day of training, racing and attention. “What’s next, mom?”
Bathing with Border Collies by Toni
Monday, March 16th, 2009
Cricket creeps. Ever since she started perch-work in pre-agility class she has become very adept at squeezing her little butt into very tiny spaces. In this case, she eeled up onto the outside tile (6×6) edge around the tub, then evidently crept behind the Brenda bather (who was obliviously lost in a book), and secured herself a choice viewing spot in the corner. Now how anyone can not notice a 30# border collie puppy oozing around them in the bathtub, I cannot say. But it happened. Whereupon I was summoned to the scene with my phone to snap a picture.
Sasha, not to be upstaged, immediately threw herself back into her traditional lurking position, ready to grab bubbles and play in the water.
The Pack is on Mid-Winter Break
Tuesday, February 17th, 2009
- Katie is giving the border collies a lounging lesson.
It’s Cold, It’s Grey, It Must be Spring! by Toni
Sunday, February 15th, 2009
Plants are teasing us in February
Winter in the NW is a funny thing. In late summer, the days begin to grow short and by Christmas time it seems lilke you can count the hours of daylight on one hand. Then February comes along and there is always a brief period of slightly warmer temps and sunshine and the early plants and bulbs seem to bud out overnight. But then the cold and grey return. And you know it’s just the mid-winter teaser. On the bright side, there is more daylight. The landscsape does begin to hold the promise of a real spring. In the meantime, wiggly giggly bones amuse some while others are happy with afternoon winter dozing.
Here you can the witch hazel and lavendar bursting open. Sasha with a noisy toy and Cricket preparing to snuggle up for a snooze:>)