Home Improvements

I've been in the house a few weeks now and it is great!  It is so huge compared to what I am used to in the duplex and the studio before that.  Plenty of room for all of us!  Since moving in I've done a few improvements.  Or at least, I've HAD a few improvements done.

Removed and chopped up old clothes line.

This is the hole from the clothes line.  It was huge!

See, Fancy fits in it!

Then it went down even further at the bottom.  Crazy.

Security screen door on the back so I can leave the door open during the day for a breeze.

Electrical outlets on the back porch for the agility lights and dryer.

Ran the gas line out the back for the dryer.  The washing machine is still in the garage, but there is no hope of fitting my car in the garage with the dryer in there.

Blinds in the kitchen.

And living room.

These are the kind I got in the bedrooms.

New ceiling fan where there was only a light before.

When we had the "big" rain I pushed these trees over in the soggy ground since I was going to landscape the backyard.  The trees are still alive months later and the back yard still isn't landscaped.

Front screen door for airflow when I am home.

The most recent project was a new gate.

Nothing new here, just the weeds that grew in after the rain that I mow and weed whack every 2 weeks.  But now that it as been so hot and dry, they are dying off.

Giant Mega Ball

I bought this ball from a vendor at the Regional.  It was not this dirty when I bought it.

It is a Jolly Ball with a cover.  The Malinois love it.  Fancy tried to play with it a little but mostly got bashed by the malinois and by the ball so she stays away now.  Muffin runs in terror.

The cover got a hole after the first use, but hasn't been ripped to shreds yet.  The ball itself seems pretty tough.  I kick the ball around and the mals jump up and hit it with their noses then chase it around. Sometimes they keep it rolling for a while going in circles but most of the time it ends up stuck in a corner and I tell them back (to keep them from getting a grip on it) then kick it again.  Both have figured out to go for the little velcro seam where you insert the deflated ball, but both are pretty good about outing when I tell them to.  Somehow Dottie has perfected catching the ball with the very front of her mouth and holding onto the fabric not on the seam.  How she does this while it is flying through the air I have no clue.  Very talented.

I took lots of pictures but these were the best.

Pie rolling it along.

Flying Dottie!

Flying Dottie on the way down.

Goofy flying Dottie.

Fancy observes.

Drooltastic.

Dottie gets pretty worked up playing with it.

Fancy's ears look very cute here.  The Mals look painful.

A very hot, tired, satisfied dog.

Me

Here is a picture of me.  And Dottie.

This is from the SW USDAA Regionals.  Last year we won Grand Prix and also got a bye in Steeplechase.  This year we didn't do much of anything.  We didn't participate in GP because we couldn't get qualified, and while we took 5th in round 1 of steeplechase, we had a bar in round 2.  We had a bar in almost every run.  The good part was our DAM team, Dottie is Gunning the Vette, with Gunner and Vette, got a Q.  This is my first DAM Q so that is one requirement towards the ADCH done.

ffluffy came for the weekend and her dogs did great.  I loved hanging out with her and she got to see the new house.

Pie was sad because she didn't get any turns and Fancy was cold so I bought her a coat at the vendors.  Muffin didn't think much one way or the other.

Last Few Agility Trials

Since I'm so behind, here are the "win" (or not) pictures from our last agility trials.  Well, actually it looks like I only have once ribbon picture.  This is from the 3 day trial.  Fancy finally got a chance to play and even after several months off, she got a QQ!  Pie got a double NQ (sad) and Dottie got one QQ (yeah, finally!) and 2 single Qs.  I brought my big camera and took some still shots and some action shots.

Smiling Dottie.

Pretty Pie.

The owner of this dog (Lucy) liked the picture so much she made it her FB profile.

A different golden, Ryder.

This could be in a calendar, if I do say so myself.

Showing off by taking a picture of a black dog that didn't turn out like a black blob.

Border collie running between jumps.  Jumping pics get boring after a while.

Ryder again.  She liked this picture so much she submitted it to the Golden Club newsletter.

Red merle border collie taking off from the start line.

Happy Easter!

Yes, I KNOW I haven't bloged forever.  I've been watching Netflix!  Poor excuse, I know.  I have a draft of a blog of the improvements I've had done on the house, so that will probably show up under this one at some point.  The house is clean and the snacks are out and I'm waiting for the family to show up for Easter.  Waiting, and waiting... The good news is it has given me a chance to blog.

Muffy tips over.

Muffin looks extra cute while Dottie pouts.

Pie kept licking her lips and ruining the picture when I said, "cookies!" to get ears up.  Also, Dottie's eyes are closed.

Finally got Dottie's ears up but Fancy wouldn't look at me.  So I cropped her out.

Success!  Except Fancy doesn't look too happy.

Muffin practicing his best devil dog face.

The house, aka The Best Nest, gets into the (secular) Easter Spirit.

Agility Trial

A nice trial this weekend.  Pie got a QQ (and 2 firsts) and Dottie got 2 Qs but only 1 on each day.  On Saturday in Standard Dottie had the fastest time of all the dogs in all the heights!

Beef Bones!

The only grocery store in my new town didn't have most of the food I wanted, but the butcher next door had just what the dogs wanted!

Dottie couldn't be bothered to lay down!

Muffin's bone was almost as big as him!

Happy Mardi Gras!

Pie says, "Laissez les bons temps rouler!!"

Of course this is a genuine Mardi Gras mask bought when I was in Nah Lins (New Orleans) on Mardi Gras a few years ago.  I had beads as well but a certain young girl pulled on them and they broke.  Pie doesn't need beads to let the good times roll though.  The good times are always rolling for Pie!  She had an especially good day since she got to practice agility in the yard after Dottie's session, then went on a long (3 miles, so not long at all if you are my mother) walk with me and the other girls looking for the Post Office.  We never found it and when we made our way home I drove to it instead.  However, on all the outgoing boxes there the pick up isn't until 5 pm!  I have something that has to be post marked by tomorrow so who knows if they will post mark it after 5, or just pick it up.  I decided to not take any chances and after all of that I will take it to a different city tomorrow.  The old post office building was neat though, with teller type windows, a metal radiator and old wood work.

AKC Nationals or Bust!

So.  We are going this year after all.  You may remember I entered Dottie, but decided I couldn't go because I didn't want Missy to have to go to a different foster home while I was gone.  So then my trainer M was going to take her and I was going to pay for her flight, Dottie's flight and 1/2 of the cost of her rental car and hotel and the person she was traveling with was going to pay the other half.  After that plan was made, I bought my house and suddenly no longer had cash to burn.  And on top of that, for some reason the travelers could not find a direct flight and the cost of the flight kept going up.  We all came to a decision to not go/ not send Dottie and I got to save my money for the new house.

Several weeks in the future (now) things have changed.  One of my FB friends was posting how he just got a direct flight so I asked him how much it cost.  Between his ticket and his dog's ticket (the dog costing slightly more) the price was mostly affordable.  I contacted AKC to see if I could un-withdraw and they said yes.  So I booked the same flight as the FB friend and we are going to AKC Agility Nationals!  The friend and I will share the rental car driving from DC to Harrisburg (in order to get the direct flight we had to fly into Dulles) and most likely I'll stay with ffluffy or another friend who might have more room.

I contacted some Aunts who live in PA.  Some live closer to Harrisburg than others.  Some may be able to stop by and say hi and some may not.  We shall see.

This will be my first time flying with a dog.  I hope all goes smoothly.  We are flying from Weds into Thurs, and our first walk through is Thurs at noon.  We arrive in DC at 7.  The friend feels we have plenty of time. I guess that will add to the excitement of the weekend!  The best news is the Monday we fly back is a CA state holiday: Caesar Chavez day.  That means I get it off of work and I won't be charged leave for the weekend.  I only will have to take 2 days off of work since we are leaving so late Wednesday.  Score!

I got motivated to practice since I have the big trial coming up now.  The yard is still not fixed up but at least there are no standing puddles.  Here is the little course I set up.  I could practice not taking the tunnel, tricky weave entries, backsides, pull throughs, 180s and of course keeping the bars up.  I found a dangerous weakness.  Dottie is confused between backsides and rear-crosses.  I hope I can clear that up for her.

February Agility

I have two videos of Dottie from our most recent trial.  Pie also ran but wans't filmed.  Pie would have had a QQ but I was too tired to run all the way to the table (I need to eat more at trials) and then I got confused between her and Dottie and Pie needs a down command if I am going to lead out from the table.  I didn't tell her down and she jumped off.  Our only mistake!

Dottie's only mistake was knocking the last bar in standard.  At first I thought it wasn't my fault, but now I think I should take some credit.  I didn't feel like I pulled up too soon, but I should have been running harder in the end.  Oh well.  In jumpers she was clean and in first place.  There is a lady who moved here from TX, I think, who runs fast border collies.  One is a 24 inch dog and if both Dottie and her dog are clean we can't beat him.  If the course is tight enough, Dottie does turn better, but if it is a wide open course, he will win.  Dottie got first in jumpers since he knocked a bar.



Standard, friend didn't know how to use the zoom.



Jumpers.

Storm Watch Twenty Fourteen

It's a joke around here that any time some rain is predicted, all the news stations start "Storm Watch: Insert Year Here."  Then when the rain comes they go out and film flooded intersections that probably wouldn't have flooded if the trash had been removed from the storm drain opening ahead of the rain.  The news anchors probably go around blocking the drains so they will have something to report on.

This time was different.  We have been so long without rain that ANY rain actually would be news.  And we were being promised a big storm.  I was excited but also really hoping my roof doesn't leak!  The home inspector said to keep an eye on it due to evidence of ponding.  I have a flat roof.  All the flat roofs on base leak, so I was somewhat worried.

The big storm arrived as promised.  In previous years it would rain in the winter and I'd look out the window in the morning and see it was raining and think, "It's raining again."  An inconvenience because I'd get wet, the roads would be dangerous, and dog training might be canceled.  When I woke up to the rain I realized how absent it had been because it should have just been an ordinary sight, but instead it seemed extraordinary.  And it was impressive in the amounts we were getting.

My back yard turned into a slippery, goey mud puddle and my roof did not leak!  However, upon inspecting it I saw it was not ponding, it is a pond!  Lots and lots of water up there.  Perhaps I should get a taller ladder and get up there with a push broom and push some of it away.

I took a short film so all the people who live in places with real weather can snicker that I took the time to film this.  But the rain!  And the wind!



Now the rain appears to be over and we are still in a drought.