Back From Glacier

We had a great trip! But like every trip I've ever been on it's always good to be home. And now we have a whole week at home. This will be really different. Of course we also have a new little bundle of joy ( a puppy, not a baby) to keep us busy too. We'll be writing a lot more about him as time goes on. But for now a little about our trip.

There were pluses and some minuses about going to Glacier this late in the season. One big plus - lots less people. No crowds in restaurants or any place else that we were. One minus: Some things were closing, or already closed. The biggest disappointment was that the "Going to The Sun" road had closed just the week before....but on the other hand the fall colors were incredible. Because of the elevation, leaves were turning earlier than back home. At times it seemed that they were turning before our eyes in some places!

In stead of driving up the "Going to the Sun Road" we took a tour on one of the "Red Jammers" , a restored 1930's 12 passenger bus that have been converted to propane fuel, by Ford as a donation to the National Park system. The tour was great. We went to a place called Two Medicine Lake and travelled over some incredible roads with fantastic views that neither I nor WHW had ever seen before. We took a couple of short little hikes, looking for bear all the way. One older Gentleman that was on one trail with us, had a new bottle of anti bear spray with him. It's like a very powerful pepper spray. I had to help him get it open with my pocket knife. It took many minutes, to break through the tough bullet proof plastic shrink wrap package. Good thing a bear wasn't coming or we would have both been dinner, I think.

We spent 4 nights in a wonderful log cabin near West Glacier, and spent a day in Whitefish looking around, and then drove into the park to McDonald Lake Lodge, and took another short hike to a waterfall. From West Glacier we took the Amtrak Train, to East Glacier, an hour and a half ride, and spent almost two full days and one night at the old lodge in East Glacier.

All in all it was a great trip. We would like to go again some time. We saw a lot, but there is still lots more to see. We recommend it highly.

Whitefish

Greetings From Whitefish Montana. We've found a little coffee shop here with a computer, so thought we would give a quick update on our trip.

Whitefish is a great little Montana town. We came here to buy train tickets at the Amtrak Station. We will be taking a short little trip from West Glacier, to East Glacier on Wednesday. After spending one night in East glacier, we will return late the next day to West Glacier, where we are also now staying. We are staying in the silver Wolf Resort, in a very nice little log cabin. were we spent a very restful first night. It's really cool to not have a lot scheduled and to really be able to relax.

Wuffhound woman here, what a great trip. Last night we ate at a place called the Rawhide Steak House right outside of West Glacier. They are debating closing down for the season, and many places are closed. It gave us the opportunity to really talk to the people. Like the 77yo gentleman who was working in the Gift Shop portion. He shared a story of going to the Grand Ole Oprey in his youth. He said he was invited on stage to sing with Minnie Pearl. He talked about meeting Hank Williams and Roy Acuff. He then topped off the story by yodeling a song for us. He told us a story from his career as an auctioneer, a woman told him to "kiss my - --" and he told her " darlin I would love to, but I only have 10 minutes and there's about 40 acres to cover!"

I have seen more stuffed critters in 24 hours here then I have seen in my life. It is very apparent how the local community supports each other and we heard stories about the Fireman's Ball that occurred the night before we arrived. I am relaxed and life is good, the only thing missing is our pooches. We hear from Ruth our house sitter that Heartman follows her everywhere and has expressed interest in crocheting, while Guido hangs to the yard probably pissed off that we aren't at home. More to come....

Clocks, Trips and Jobs

We have a new alarm clock. It’s relatively hairy has 4 feet and a very wet tongue. Oh and by the way, its name is Heartman. Heartman is a great sleeper. As long as he gets a chance to pee a little before bed, he will sleep the whole night through,…generally. But he also has an amazing internal alarm clock. Almost every morning two to three minutes before 5:00AM – the time our old fashioned clock radio alarm clock is set for…We are awakened by a sloppy wet and cold tongue. First WHW, and then over to the other side of the bed to get MBD. The clock has beat him a couple times, but when it does, he springs right up for the rest of the wake up treatment. He will be great if the power ever goes out - the only trouble is, he has a hard time telling weekends from weekdays!

Heartman and Guido met their house sitter, Ruth Yesterday. She will be staying with the boys while we begin our vacation starting tomorrow. We will be heading toward Glacier National Park for a week and then back home for the next week to pick up our new puppy and help him out through the first week of transition.

BD had big news on the job yesterday. I’ve been made Interim Assistant Director for Business and Employment Services. My boss took a voluntary demotion last week, so I’ve been appointed to fill in for him for the next three to four months, while they conduct a nation-wide recruitment for his position. Of course the first thing I had to tell them was I had one condition…The two week vacation previously scheduled doesn’t get changed…and they agreed. So one of my first duties today has been to select and Acting Asst. Director for the time I’m gone...or is that an Acting Interim Assistant Director, Or an Acting Acting, Assistant Director…..

Should be an interesting next few months

First Birthday

We went to a party yesterday. Anna's First Birthday! I'm sure she had fun, and we had good food, lots of salads, and great Birthday Cake.

I wonder what she thinks ...all these people...pretty paper and Boxes!! Lots of Boxes! And what a great opportunity to show everyone how good you can crawl!!

Guido Runs Free

Imagine my surprise to come home from work and find Guido waiting for me outside of the garage. Luckily, when I opened the garage door he ran right inside so I didn't have to chase him around the neighborhood for hours.
My neighbors told me that he got out around 3pm, they came to the house to tell us, but of course we weren't home. They said Guido walked right in their front door and made himself at home, though at one time he was trying to dig up a bush outside of their place. They also saw him taking a tour of the neighborhood and having a pretty good time of it as well.
We took a tour of the fence and think he squeezed out of the gate. No small feat to be sure. The gate is now tied off at the bottom and we plan to put a second latch at the bottom to prevent further adventures. Never a dull moment, at least he stayed in the neighborhood and returned home.

Heartman Therapy

Sadness for Sketch today, miss the routine of her and the place she held in our home. Anne is a smart woman. Heartman has so totally distracted us. He fills that hole that his mother left. He licks our faces in the middle of the night like she did, and whines and sighs before he settles in for his sleep. There must be an Irish Wolfhound maual for our home that only the wolfhounds understand. How does he know the preferred places, the same spots that his mother and Chiani had called their own before he was even born?

Heartman is a goofball, picture a young Jerry Lewis in Errand Boy. All arms and legs, and a silly wild eyed take on life. He is incredibly sweet and has slipped into our lives and routines easily. Easily that is except for Guido, who is suspicious, but gives him respect. It is not clear who the top dog will be yet. Guido is used to the girls who let him run the show, Heartman doesn't back down at all. The boys haven't had the important conversation yet, so for that reason we will keep them separate when we leave them alone until we know pack order has been established.

Weekend gone too quickly and would like more time before facing those stresses so unique to my job. But I will inhale, for work also offers a good distraction for me. Soon we will have a puppy, who will turn this house upside down!

Good bye to our Beautiful Girl

Today we said good bye to Sketch. It was very hard to make the decision and even to the last minutes we questioned our options. The reality was there was no other option. Perhaps we could have given her another pain medication that would have only sedated her more and not changed the outcome. Sketch had hurt enough, her tumor had grown 2 inches in a week and she could no longer use her leg or even stand to eat at her feeder. We gave her great treats today and she rode to the vet with her head out the window. She was happy and excited to see Anne, her breeder and original owner and the three of us surrounded her as she stepped away from this world and all the pain of her cancer.

Anne says she should put warning labels on all her dogs that say" beware guaranteed to break your heart", but I wouldn't trade the pain of this last two weeks for the joy that Sketch brought us in the two years she was ours. She was a beautiful gentle creature our Sketch. She made us smile every day. Thank you, Anne for being brave enough to breed these dogs, it is not for the faint of heart.

Anne left us Heartman, Sketch's son, turns out her female Rune is in heat and Heartman is raising the roof at the farm. So Heartman is here with us now and soon we will have Sailor our puppy. I feel oddly at peace and know that Sketch is not in pain, wherever she may be.

A Turn For The Worse

This was Sketch, just this weekend, when we went on a picknick in the park nearby here. It's surprising how fast she has gone down hill in just a few days. When this picture was taken she seemed happy and interested in everything going on around her. She wasn't walking well, that's true. but she still was like the old Sketch in most ways.

The tumor on her rear left leg has gotten bigger, and she's had a hard time moving around with three legs, but in just the last couple days she has gotten much worse. She doesn't want to get up at all. She doesn't even get up when one of us comes in the house, which is very unusual. She is obviously in more pain, even though we have increased her pain medication more than once. She is now on two different kinds.

It became obvious to us yesterday that she is trying to tell us that it's time. We didn't know when or how we could make this decision, but there is really no question now. We made the appointment for tomorrow afternoon. I stayed home from work today because I didn't want her to be alone on her last day. She's only gotten up once, the entire day, and that with great difficulty.

Her breeder, the woman that Sketch spent the first couple of years of her life with, is coming tomorrow to be with her and us. She will be bringing Sketch's son Heartman to stay with us for a while, since this will be the first time we've been married that we haven't had a Wolfhound with us. Sketch will be the thrid Wolfhound in three years that we've lost.

Working Hard at Doing Nothing

It's not easy doing nothing. It takes planning and work. So that's what we tried to do this weekend....It wasn't easy but I think we accomplished our task.

In honor of labor day we tried hard to stop laboring. We spent a good part of the day lounging under the trees in the park in the photo....Parkers Landing, a registered Historical Site, and the location of the first organized town North of the Columbia River.

We enjoyed fried chicken and fresh Marionberry pie. The pie got squashed on the journey to the park, but still tasted good in spite of it's looks. The dogs had a great time to. Sketch just seemed to enjoy being out, and among friends...Guido of course was hyper as usual and managed to wrap his chain around anything and everything, including nearly uprooting a nice little rose bush.

We also rented some movies, this weekend for the first time in quite a while. We watched "Hot Fuzz" Very funny, we recommend it highly, and "Copying Beethoven'. I liked the concept of this one, but it wasn't near as good as other movies on Beethoven that I've seen. the script was weak and the dialogue sounded like modern day English.

All and all, it was a very nice 4 day weekend..and we are all re-energized to get back to the grindstone. That re-energization should last at least for a couple hours......

How I Learned to Love Irish Wolfhounds

It started about 10 years ago, I had been divorced for a couple of years and was in my own home. I had two cats that were part of my divorce settlement. At that time, I had lost both my parents, my oldest brother and left a ten year marriage within an 18 month period. I was doing long distance walking/running and wanted a partner that I could count on being willing to go for a walk anytime and I started exploring different dog breeds. I wanted a dog large enough to be intimidating, but gentle enough to get along with my aging cats and large number of small children who lived in my neighborhood. I was working swing shift in a metro hospital and would use my spare time to read about the various dog breeds from a book I bought at a hospital book sale. I became curious about the Irish Wolfhounds. My sister and I attended a speciality dog show in the Seattle area. There were about 90 Irish wolfhounds there and I couldn't get over how quiet and laid back it was. Through that dog show I met some breeders and was screened to see if I would be a good owner or not. They wanted to see if the dogs liked me or not, apparently I passed and about a year later Romeo a wheaten wolfhound puppy came to live at my house. I haven't looked back, and can't imagine my life without one. My original breeder and I have kept in touch over the years and we are about to get our third dog from her Yachats who is featured on this site.

When my husband met me, he had the good sense to realize that the wolfhounds would be part of his life as well. In spite of Chiani chewing up his glasses and wrist watch a few months after we began our relationship, he has grown to love and appreciate the breed. This will be his first wolfhound to raise from a puppy, and I am excited for him. It will be good to have the new puppy to help balance the sadness of Sketch's cancer. She remains a happy loving dog and tolerates all that we are doing to prolong her life. Irish Wolfhounds don't usually live much beyond 7 years and you learn that every day is precious from observing their short but stellar lives. They are shooting stars and you make that bargain to love and let go and value every day you have with them in your life.

Puppy Pictures

Here are some brand new Wolfhound puppies...On the top is Yachats...looks like he is destined to have the call name of Sailor. We thought that Yachats would be hard to say, though love the coincidence of his registered name being the name of the city where we were married. The picture on the bottom is the pile of his litter mates. You can see his face in the left with the white dot on his nose and over his right eye.