Guido

 We lost our Guido, age 13 suddenly last week. He was big brother to every wolfhound in the house. We all miss you Guido, you left your imprint on us all.

Dog Shearing

Guido got a hair cut today, and I think it could be compared to shearing a sheep. If anyone out there would like his fur to spin yarn for a sweater, just drop me a note. I think it would be an extremely warm and water resistant yarn! As you might guess, Guido wasn't too impressed with the whole deal, but really didn't get angry until Martin accidentally stepped on this tail. He survived and as you can see below, is looking pretty handsome.

Yes, Guido, you are still king! The wolfhounds would not go outside while he was getting a hair cut. They are smarter than we think.

Caught in the Act

We always had a hunch that while we were at work during the day, Guido enjoyed the comfort of our bed. In the 8 years I have owned Guido, I have never allowed him on my bed. Then last night as I was getting ready for bed, he just hopped up there and made himself at home!

We would see the disturbed bedspread and the indentation and ponder was he really sleeping here during the day? No more conjecture, here is the hard evidence and Guido seemed shocked when I made him get down.

Spring Clean Up - Not Just for the Birds

Cleaned up my front flower bed this afternoon to take advantage of the 50 degree weather today. This is a photo of my climbing rosebush and the new growth on it unbelievable for the last day of January....

Found some daffodils with buds on the side of the house, I will watch for them to bloom, they are much further along than I even believed!

My cousin's wife, Deborah, asked if we were still bird watching. The answer is a resounding yes. Our breakfast table faces the backyard so whenever we are sitting there we have full view of the feeder. The dogs, especially Heartman love to watch the feeder. Heartman will sit for hours in front of sliders observing. He especially loves it when his squirrel arrives. There are actually two squirrels who have adopted the bird feeders as their own. One is a red color and the other is your standard brown squirrel who is chubby thanks to all our sun flower seeds. I don't mind that they eat the sunflower seeds out of the ground feeder since the birds don't seem to like them as well as the bits that are in the hanging feeder. The squirrel leaves all the seed for the Juncos, Sparrows and Chickadees. I have attached a couple of short clips of the dogs enjoying the squirrel and the birds. The music in the background is Phil Ochs a folksinger from the 60's known for his protest songs. In one of the clips you can see the squirrel's tail hanging out of the ground feeder. Martin noticed that the tulips we planted in our pots on the back patio are up about a half of inch, can Spring really be far away?

Beautiful Saturday

What a day, second day with no rain. Very unusual for this time of year in this part of the Pacific Northwest. We did all our ususal household chores, as well as managed to get the dogs out for a walk at Lacamas Lake which is on the outskirts of Camas. It is a great place for a hike that isn't too far off the beaten path. The dogs are exhausted after an afternoon of chasing each other around and we are, too. Looking forward to a quiet evening at home and a mug of hot chocolate!

Enterprise and Joseph OR

Well, Martin, Molly, the dogs and I piled into the van and headed for Eastern Oregon. It was a beautiful drive and we saw a little of every kind of weather. At 4100 feet in the Blue Mountains we even saw sleet. We are hoping to avoid bad weather when we head for home. Martin's mom is so excited to have us here. We have been able to spend lots of time with her and explore the area around Joseph and Enterprise. Molly is staying with her grandmother and Martin and I are staying at Barking Mad Farm in Enterprise. A great bed and breakfast who even accepts our huge guys. Diana the proprietor with her husband Hunter is an accomplished photographer and we had the wolfhounds pictures taken while we were here. Poor Guido didn't make the cut but we did get some good photos of him as well. The dogs are enjoying the 8 fenced in acres at the B&B as well as the half acre at grandma's. We are going out to eat at a Mexican Restaurant tonight in Enterprise. Spent the afternoon in Joseph and around Wallowa Lake. Above the post is Martin and Sailor enjoying the roadtrip; Guido in the field at Barking Mad Farm; Martin, Sailor and Guido at Barking Mad; Martin and I at the Wallowa County Courthouse; Martin and his mom at Lake Wallowa; and Molly and her grandmother in Joseph. Tomorrow back on the road!

A Beautiful Sunday

A gorgeous Sunday morning we decided to take the dogs out for a run near our house. Guido was uncooperative and opted for sleeping in the passenger seat of the van. The wolfhounds were much easier to convince and had a good run by the river. They were exhausted for the rest of the day. When we returned home, Guido realized he had missed something and hopped out of the van to check out his returning pack mates.

We also visited Martin's mother who is moving to Enterprise Oregon at the end of this week. She lived there about 19 years ago and loved it. I hope it is a good move for them and as wonderful as they remember! Hard to return to work today after such a beautiful day.

Christmas Spirit

Yes we got it..or are getting it. Lights are up, Tree is up...lots of shopping done, some not. Wrestled with the dogs to try to get a christmas picture..finally gave up getting it perfect, and took what we could get.

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.