An Excellent Adventure

It was an incredibly fun trip to the AKC Eukanuba National Dog Show. Tigger, Bolt, Dory and I stopped at Rita's new farm in Alabama on the way there (and back). It was so good to see her and the dogs. I was quite excited to meet Fig (Galena Cornerstone Imagine) and Baby Twizzler, who is Tigger's nephew. In Florida, we stayed with Amy in Eustis. Tigger got reaquainted with his mom, Bubbles, and the Raglan Crew. Little Dory stayed to learn to sheep, and Tigger's Aunt Rosy came home with us to play Puffy Dog. Although Tigger didn't get any ribbons, I hope to do it again. So many beautiful dogs all in one place!

Fig tells Twizzler, "I am NOT your mom!"

It's hard to capture a moving Fig, so I waited until he was asleep. Handsome boy!

Twizzler gets an earful from his mom.

One of the lovely garden areas designed by Amy's mom.

Amy, Carol and Dory chillaxin' at the dog show.

The guest shed at Amy's. My bedroom should be so nice!

Sally in charge of the transportation.

Sweet Christmas puppy!

Fig and Twizzler have a bonding moment.

Patsy and Bolt meet the sprinkler.

BTW

And by the way, Amy, this is Dory's favorite song ... http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11e2y_ozzy-osbourne-crazy-train_music

T-minus 2 days!

Eukanuba here we come!! But even more exciting, we'll be visiting with Rita in Alabama and Amy in Florida! Tigger is practicing his best Puffy Dog imitation. Bolt will get to see his Florida family again, and Dory will be going home to learn sheeping. The boys will really miss her. And so will I. But I know Amy will be happy to have her little rathead back!

aDORYble

Miss Dory had a good time at the Kalamazoo cluster last weekend. On Friday she went winner's bitch for her very first major, 3 points, which now gives her 4 points total. Thank you Judge Mary Anne Brocious for the win, and for calling her a "very pretty girl." I celebrated her win by getting her a lovely crystal-studded collar. Every girl needs some bling, and she is one stylin' babe! She can't wait to show it to Mom Amy and her Raglan family.

On the cat front, sadly, Tux came back to live here. A member of his new family developed severe allergies, so they made the sad decision to return him. He misses them, and they miss him. But he's making the best of it, and has declared the bathroom sink to be his. He is growing into a magnificent cat.

The morning routine here is not complete until the cats have helped me make the bed. Here, Sylvia, Tux and Scout lend a helping paw. At least, they think they're helping. 

Henley's debut

Henley and Dory had a fun time at the Fort Wayne cluster two weeks ago. On our first day, Dory went RWB and Henley went WD, for his first point. On Saturday, we didn't do anything but it was fun watching Nancy Willoughby's Chili Palmer swoop in and take BOB for his first GCH major. He was awesome! On Sunday, Henley went WD for his first major (3 points) and got the icing on the cake as BOW. He is turning into a very handsome boy, and I am grateful to Kathy Carlson for selecting Tigger to breed to her lovely Celeste, and to Nancy W for being Henley's co-owner. And, thanks to Judge Debra Gschwender for his first point, and to Judge Arlene Czech for his first major.

Thanks, Chris, for the day off

So on Columbus Day, a bunch of us went on a driving tour of US 12 through southern Michigan. Apparently, much of the Irish Hills is for sale, lots of touristy businesses had real estate signs out front. After a quick detour to sample the mad delights of Cement City (Masonic Lodge, convenience store, Iron Coffins Motorcycle Club), we ended up at McCourtie Park. In the 1930s, cement czar Herb McCourtie hired a Mexican artisan to craft a series of 17 bridges over a stream on his property. It's strange and interesting, and worth the stop if you're in the neighborhood.

One of the more ornamental bridges

Incredible detail

Two trees that are actually chimneys for the rathskeller built into the hillside. I guess Herb was kind of a party animal.

Not part of the park, the Irish Hills Towers are a little further east. The observation towers were built in the 1920s. They actually were separately owned and competing enterprises. 

Here's a postcard of them in their heyday:

Then, I went home and cleaned the house. Woo woo!

Henley's Big Day

Henley had an exciting day Saturday ... He was Best Puppy in Match at the Berrien Kennel Club B-Match! The club members are a great group of folks, and put on a very nice match. Thanks to Judge Janet Nahikian for giving Henley this honor. He won some lovely ribbons, along with some nice loot! He also got to meet his Auntie Raven, who he thinks is a very cute babe.

Henley's winnings (after being inspected by the cats, of course)

The official photo

And here he is, New Champion Bolt!

Obsession

I am without camera for a little bit, so I thought I would indulge in my other obsession: fire. No, I'm not a firebug. I like my fire legal. I think people who have fireplaces are very fortunate indeed. Nothing like crackling flames on a cold night to keep you warm. Since I live in the sticks, I can burn stuff outside, so every now and then I'll make a little campfire and toast (and by "toast" I mean "burn") a few marshmallows.

Fire also can be funny.  Here are my two favorite fire-related clips As Seen On TV! First, the classic and iconic opening to a "Frasier" episode, in which Niles sets the couch on fire:

And the DQ Flamethrower commercial. For some reason, this always strikes me as incredibly hilarious. But then, I am a little weird ...

And no, I don't burn candles in my house. Not since the day my little Katie-Cat leaned in a little too close to watch the flame and lost her eyebrow whiskers.

No pool 4 U!

You buy them a brand new shiny pool, and what do they do?

Archaeology

The kids were expanding their foxholes under the deck the other day, when they uncovered this:

So many questions! Was it brought in when they trucked the fill to the house site? Was it buried by an alcoholic contractor? Don't drink and build! Was it put there by a previous occupant of the house? Did they have a dog that liked to bury whiskey bottles? The truth will never be known ...

And happy birthday Nibblets!

And one year ago today, Tigger's sister Nibbles had her lovely litter. Have a great day kids! Cornerstone/Raglan dogs are da best.

Meanwhile, back in the swamp .... Behold, the birthday loofa!!

And the unsuspecting loofa is thrown to the dogs (I always feel like I'm feeding goldfish to the pirhanas)

Five minutes later ...

Birthday loofa's nightmare was not yet over. The worst was yet to come ... THE GREAT LOOFA MASSACRE OF 2011!! Oh, the HORROR!

CSI (Cat Scene Investigation) determined cause of death to be accidental de-stuffing, since the dogs all claimed to be in the bathroom at the time of the incident. 

Happy birthday babies!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Bolt and Remy and Dory and Cooper (Nemo) and Buzz and Merlin (Boo) and Alice and Flora and Rufus (Crush) and Elliot and Bella (Cinder), happy birthday to yoooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuu! These are the most awesome babies ever. Kudos to breeder Amy Hill and parents Abby (Raglan's It Had To Be Ewe HXAs) and Tigger (GCH Cornerstone's Wonderful Thing). I can't imagine life without these beautiful kids.

Toys toys toys!

With the help of a gift card and some "Dory Bucks," I went shopping and got the kids some toys and treats.

Tigger decided he couldn't wait for me to distribute the toys:

Two on a loofa:

Three on a loofa:

Four on a loofa:

And, one on a loofa = The Victor!

And, we also got a POOL! But Tigger thinks it's a giant water dish:

Dory says, Daaaaaaad! You're supposed to wade in it!

Reggie, successfully avoiding the loofa free-for-all, shows Tigger how it's done:

Finally, they just don't make loofas like they used to:

The spoils of war

The sibs had a very nice weekend at the Marshall shows. They both showed very well, although by Sunday they were pretty tired of the 90-degree temps, and Bolt's handler (moi) went into la-la land and did not do a very good job. Bolt was BOW on Friday and won 1 point and a pretty Delft blue spoon rest. On Saturday, with his Uncle Marv at the helm, he was BOW, BOS and won his first 3-point major and two plush toys donated by BlueDog Cardigans (Auntie Penny!). Bolt gave one toy to Dory, and when they got home, Dad Tigger immediately stole them and ran off. On Sunday, Bolt was RWD and Dory was RWB to a major. PLUS, I bought them a bag of freeze-dried lamb lungs (nom and ECK) and two bottle-stuffed Skineez. It's all about the Cardis!

Here is some post-show play with the plush toys:

And Tigger says, "All chairs belong to me!" It's lightweight, recycleable, made in the USA, and only 13.99 at the farm store!

This and that

A couple of photos from the Cardi Party we attended Sunday. We're looking at starting a new Michigan Cardigan club, so Jean Brown donated her house as the site and a group of us gathered for a potluck/fun match/play on the agility equipment outing. Everyone had a great time, and we will be proceeding with our plans. And, Dory was Best in Match and brother Baby Bolt was Best Opposite! Woo hoo!

John and Kathy Hannah getting mobbed by their fan club. Ryan and the gang stayed home in the AC.

No, not a mismark, that's special guest Zephyr. There were 20 dogs in the yard, among them were four grand champions!

My brilliant idea of the week: The dog crate towels always get tangled up and it drives me nuts, so every day I untangle them. The other piece of the puzzle: Pillow shams. I never use them. I don't have enough pillows to keep some permanently "shammed," and I'm too lazy to take them off and put them on every day. So, shams + towels = towel-stuffed pillow shams as crate pads. So far, so good! 

Dory gets the retro-'60s look

Tigger inspects the final product

Finally, antler meets lawn mower. How many times have I told them, "Pick up your toys!" I admit, I was skeptical of the whole antler craze. My guys could care less about Nylabone products, and are very picky even about rawhides. But the antler was a huge hit, so much so that they spent a lot of time stealing it from each other. So, I'm hoping the Antler Guy is at the Marshall shows this weekend. He has a huge selection, and reasonable prices. Antlers, ho!

The Sibs

The win photos from Valparaiso arrived today, Dory and Bolt look very nice, I think. Something fluffered Dory's ruff up a bit in the double shot. We'll have to work on our presentation!

Thanks to Nancy Willoughby for helping with this shot. Dory BOS, Bolt BOW, both got a point. We like Judge Peggy Beisel-McIlwaine!

Dory was RWB the second day, Bolt was BOS for 1 point. That is the very sprightly Judge Francine Schwartz holding the ribbons.

A fun weekend

We had a very fun weekend ... I took Tigger's Detroit daughter, Dynamite, to a puppy match in Valparaiso, Indiana. She is just as charming as her dad. And just as naughty! No ribbons, but she was a very good girl. On Saturday, Baby  Bolt was BOW for a point, and Dory was WB/BOS for a point. Yay! We met our friend Nancy there, and her boy special, Chili Palmer, took breed. Nancy did a great job grooming my two, and I hope I remember some of her techniques. On Sunday, Dory was RWB, and Bolt was WD/BOS, for another point. The weather was fantastic, and it was great hanging with the always fun Cardi people. And now, some random photos:

Chili Palmer chilling before Group. Yeah, he really does look more elegant than that! Distortion courtesy of wide-angle lens!

A fun photo of Dory ... she really doesn't have a big head and tiny feet! Again, the magic of the wide angle lens.

Dyna front

Dyna side

Henley front

Henley side

Dyna sporting her dad's crawdad hunting nose

The Tigger Gang ... Tigger far left, Dyna front, Henley right, Baby Bolt back left, and Dory back right. Kinda got that tongue thing going.