Diet

See that black strap sticking out of Coulee's neck? That is a wonderful invention called a Citronella Bark Collar. Coulee is officially on a bark collar diet. She is wearing it all the time for a few days. So far, it is making me very happy.

It has even had some unexpected side benefits... Lacey is barking less too. We went to the dog park today and without Coulee barking like an idiot at the people, Lacey didn't either.

She did briefly bark at a guy in a hat and sunglasses that was leaning over her, but when we ran into the older couple who acted a little less scary, she didn't say a peep! And we even chatted for a bit so it wasn't like she didn't have a chance.

I have run into the same older couple 3-4 times in the past few months and every time we have the exact same conversation. The have a golden retriever and can't help but compare their dog to Coulee (Lacey is completely ignored). We discussed body shape, eye colour and temperament. They never remember us from the previous visits so we have to go through the entire comparison each time. I find it kind of funny for them to be so obssesed but I guess if I ran into another pug/cattle dog at the park, I'd want to talk about them too.

Stick Stealer

Poor Pixel... She was pretty happy with her stick until Coulee decided to steal it.

Thanks Amanda for the picture!

House Guest

We were happy to have another houseguest this weekend.

Meet Ditto. A very sweet lab who lives with friends of ours. He is the kind of lab that is perfectly content to sleep at your feet all day but will spring (spring might be a little too energetic of a word...) to action the moment you are ready. He is incredibly laid back. He is also blind.

I was unsure how well he would get around our house but he has done amazingly well. He walks slowly and cautiously everywhere he goes and will follow your voice to navigate around furniture and up and down the stairs. I took him out to RDog yesterday (A Responsible Dog Ownership event hosted by the Lethbridge Kennel Club) and he had a great time getting cookies and pats from everyone. When we stopped to watch the demos he just laid down next to me and fell asleep. He was perfect. It was nice to pretend that this incredibly well behaved dog was mine. :)

Thank doG

I don't think I've been this happy to see a Friday night in a long time. It has been a VERY long week! Marlin and I are going to go watch a trashy movie (GI Joe) to celebrate. Lacey has her own way of celebrating.

Ewww!

Jo arrived home last night and came over to pick up Tate. While waiting, we hung out in the backyard and played some fetch.

Coulee tends to get the stuffies really disgusting and Tate obviously wasn't used to such grossness.

He would carry it around by a limb or ear.

Heaven forbid he actually touch the slimy body!

Tate was such a good boy at our house. He barely said a peep, he was very respectful of Lu but he did take up lots of space on the couch!

Snuggly

Lu is feeling really snuggly today. It must be the new blanket on my lap.

Softness

Tate isn't the only visitor this weekend. Kort is also here for a few days. Amanda is technically looking after him, but she went to an agility trial this weekend so Kort came to stay with me and the gang.

I love how soft these photos of him turned out.

Isn't he gorgeous?

That Kind of Man

13 years ago today, Marlin and I went on our first date and I almost ended our relationship before it even started. I had a friend at work who "had a thing" for him and I felt really guilty going on a date with him. So before the date even began, I decided that there wouldn't be a second. About 30 minutes into the date, Marlin started talking about what we should do for our 2nd date and I broke the news to him. He was not impressed. Needless to say, he won me over and the rest is history. I'm so glad he persevered.

If he hadn't I wouldn't have known that Marlin is the kind of man that:

• holds your hand when you walk down the street
• gives money to strangers that are stuck in a bind
• walks the dogs and makes dinner when you are working long hours
• gets you a bowl when you are feeling sick and empties it out when you've used it
• likes to cuddle on the couch
• puts his arms around you when you are feeling sad
• finds something nice to say about what ever you've made no matter how ugly it is
• will let you watch your show on TV (provided that the sports channel is "back-up")
• makes his co-workers cry when he leaves his job
• helps you deliver newspapers in the morning because you've decided to quit your job and start a business and therefore have no money
• listens when you just need to talk

Marlin is all that and so much more. He is also the man that I love.

Tater Gem

Look who is away from his momma for the VERY FIRST TIME!

Jo has never gone anywhere without Tate. Never. I'm not sure how she managed that for 7.5 years but Jo has flown home for a visit and had to leave Tate behind.

So Jo, if you are reading this you can rest assured that Tate is being his usual self...

He is playing with toys...

Barking...

And getting his butt rubbed as usual. He won't let us forget his butt rubs. He is constantly presenting Marlin with his butt for a good scratch.

Oh and I'd like to report that he got his two walks and he pooped both times. He ate some food during the day (or it might have been Lu - she LOVES his chewy meds and his rollover. She meowed really loud when I didn't let her eat the meds but he had to fend for his rollover for himself) and he ate more again tonight. So far he has been a perfect gentleman and houseguest. He can come and stay any time!

Blogging

Blogging is a bit of a catch 22. You need to be doing stuff in order to have stuff to blog about, but if you do too much stuff, you don't have time to blog! I seem to be in the too busy category at the moment.

I went to Kimberly last weekend and took pictures at an agility trial and still haven't caught up with stuff. If you want to see some of them you can find a sampling here and here.

I also bought a new lens the other day! My first "real" lens - it is worth as much, if not more, than my actual camera. I can't wait to play around with it this weekend. All I know so far, is that it is really heavy (1 lb and it isn't even a big zoom lens!). I have some special visitors this weekend so I'll have lots of good practice materials.

More pictures to come. I promise!

I Wanna Be a Cowgirl

Just Ducky

On our last day in Nelson we went to the beach. It wasn't particularly hot that afternoon so it was perfect weather for just hanging out. The ducks at the park thought so too.

There were three or four ducks that would do the rounds to all the beach dwellers. They did manage to find some old granola bar squashed into the kids' beach toys so I guess they were rewarded on one visit, but they just kind of wandered around while I took a million pictures.

If you click on the image above you can even make out a water drop on the top of his head.

Feathers are so amazing and beautiful and you rarely get to look at them up close.

We also learned a thing or two about Mallards when we got home... We had been surprised that there were no males but we found out that the males only have their bright green heads during mating season. Who knew! You can still tell them apart though - the males have orange beaks and the females have darker ones.

Apparently I like the butt shots of ducks as much as I like the butt shots of dogs! :)
The patch of teal on the ducks would either look teal or purple depending on the angle but it was always gorgeous.

Laundry Lover

Lu will sleep on pretty much anything as long as it is novel. So for example, if I bring home laundry from the daycare and leave it in the front entrance, she'll sleep on the towels - clean or dirty! If you take off your sweatshirt and leave it on a chair, suddenly it is the best cat bed ever. I just took the cover off this pillow, left the pillow on a bench, and suddenly she decides that she couldn't possibly sleep anywhere else.

The Lighting of the Bridge

Jo, Coulee and I headed down to the bridge tonight to check out the lights. It is the first time the bridge has ever been lit. I don't know if this is a one time deal or if it will be come a nightly event. It was truly gorgeous so I hope they do it again.

I'd like to go again without Coulee and take more pictures. Coulee came along for the trip because I was attempting to get a picture of her infront of the bridge. They didn't really work. :( She tried her hardest to sit still for that long, but it was too long to not move a muscle. If I had been thinking I would have brought a toy and she probably would have been perfect. Maybe I'll try again if they re-light the bridge. The crowds of people didn't help either. She was pretty wigged out by all the dark blobs moving around. It didn't help that the first dark blobs we encountered were horses. I am sure you can imagine her reaction. She did eventually settle down and our walk back home, was much more relaxing.

Thanks Jo for having such a great idea! I actually left the house after dark and I'm not sure when I last did that. :)

Twice As Sad

If only Lacey would actually put on a sad face. Vito on the other hand has it down cold.

Copy Cat

Sarah and Amanda have both taken bridge pictures in recent months. Why? Well for starters, the bridge is pretty much Lethbridge's icon. And to top if off, today is the 100 year celebration of the High Level Bridge. It is the highest and longest bridge of its kind in the world and was probably an engineering marvel back in 1909. So today the City is celebrating all day long and they are ending the celebration by lighting up the bridge tonight. Jo and I are going to watch from the west side where we hope it will be a little less crowded.

I am going to take my camera and Coulee and see if we can get a cool picture for my 52 Weeks Challenge but as the deadline is tonight for this week, I needed a back-up picture. She definitely didn't mind the one-on-one time. I left the midgets at home so I wouldn't have my hands full.

Forbidden Fruit

I had picked all the fallen apples off the ground but kept seeing Boone eating them. I couldn't figure out where he kept finding them!

Beach Shoes

My Hippy Family

Finally time to blog! I've been a little sick and very tired this week and the one time I attempted to blog, pictures wouldn't upload so I just gave up. I have a little catching up to do! Last weekend Marlin and I went to Nelson to visit my sister and her family.

They've been living there a few years now but this was only my third trip. Bad sister! We had a lot of fun doing not a lot of things. :) One day we explored Baker Street with all the fun and unique stores.

The next we went over to Crawford Bay to check out the Artisans and to walk to Pilot Point. We turned off the path a little early and ended up at the weirdest beach ever. It was called Sawmill Bay and it was literally a beach made of sawdust. It was creepy. Imagine sinking up to your knees in wet sawdust as you wade into the lake. I was trying so hard to keep the look of disgust off my face, so that I wouldn't ruin the kids' enjoyment but I'm not sure I succeeded. I was thrilled when they decided for themselves that it was gross so I could get the heck out of there! I was so shocked, I didn't even take a picture.

Then after the disastrous beach visit the day before, we went out to Kokanee (or is it Kootenay?) Provincial Park on our last day for a little R&R on the beach.

But mostly we just hung out, chatted and weren't really sure where all the time went!