Bob & Brew @ Portland Show - Rally Trial

This last weekend, Bob and Brew competed in Rally Novice down in Portland. They both got qualifying scores. I think the judge was very generous.

Bob had his nose to the ground the whole way. He got a 90 and his first leg in Rally Novice. Lots of work to do with this one. Treats would make it so much easier!


Brew got a 93, but I think he looked better at the Puyallup show. This was his third leg so he now has a Rally Novice title which means we move into the Advanced group where it is off leash (OH NO!) We better get to practicing especially on the paying attention to me part!


Bob (R64) and Brew's (R61) group scores


















Bob's score .................................................................Brew's score

Abba, we will miss you!

Sadly, Abba passed onto the Rainbow Bridge last Saturday night. We are grateful for the joy she gave us in her short life. Abba came to stay with us in Nov 2005 while David and Lesley were vacationing. We fell in love with her and she came to live with us permanently. We had great times with Abba: dog shows, training, raising her two litters of puppies, long walks and watching all the beagles play together.

Is the Doctor In ... or Still Talking on the Radio?

At night the radio is on here. It started by being a way to cover a dog barking at whatever goes on outside in the wee hours - "wild" critters passing thru the yard and such. Now I'm hooked. It's not that I am awake all night but sometimes I'm alert for an hour or two.

Last night was such a night. Two doctors were on and they were talking about voltage and medicine. Huh? Electric shock? Well, not exactly but there was a discussion about thyroid and something about sticking a gadget from Radio Shack in his mouth to measure voltage after the unit he had broke. On the web sites these two docs have there's charts and some verbage about voltage being healing. The one from AZ is more chronic pain and sports injury. The other one, from CA, is homeopathic and, in his own research, has connected dental problems to other problems and that caught my attention for I've said that myself.

There were exchanges on dead tissue and bacteria and how streph infections spread - another area of interest for me since we went thru Ed's ordeal with one three years ago. It about killed him. We were going to change the name of the hospital I would then own because he got the infection there. I digress.

The point is these guys were focused on how one thing leads to another - all the health issues are connected. Duh. We should all understand that. It's one body trying to work as a whole not a bunch of dissociated parts.
This is way off target for me but I did find it interesting.

Consumers or late night radio junkies started calling in and revealing the dangers of anti-persperants and toothpaste. Hmmm. I we could all stop using those but it would have to be EVERYONE, no exceptions. Are YOU in?


http://www.tennantinstitute.com/TIIM_MAC/Welcome.html - lots of charts!
http://www.21centurymed.com/ - he gets $300/hour but I think that's the office visits not reading his web site

News from Designer Landscapes via @constantcontact

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There are days I wish I still smoked cigarettes, whatever. Admit it if you are a reformed smoker, a quitter as it were; you feel the same way. At times nothing takes the place of inhaling. I don't care if Bill Clinton never experienced that or not.
Today was such a day. Our oldest and newest dog, Abner (King Abner, he was about the length of a ruler), turned in his collar. He's running free, barking directions to the big and the mighty. Too many times I've made that trip to the vet's office with a loved and loving pet. Sad as it is at the time, I'm grateful to give this last gift before pain is unbearable.

Our time with him was brief - a mere nine months - but oh, the laughs we had as he entertained us and others. For one thing, who else would have taken him? He had no clue we'd come along; we didn't spend time with him until we decided to sweep him off his feet and release him from a shelter. Oh, the rolling eyes we gave each other as we questioned our sanity for having fostered and then adopted a 16 year old dog who could barely see, was nearly incontinent, had an inner ear issue that made him walk in circles, and a heart murmur.
But, as is usually God's will, timing is everything. We needed him as much if not more than he needed us. We needed to see what old age and gumption can do for a soul. Abner truly did rule. He did not know defeat; even at his end he was fighting. He nuzzled close to let me know it was OK to let him go - his victory here was a new start.

He was a little guy with mighty aspirations and that's probably what kept him going as long as it did. Never quitting nor, like any dog, knowing his own size. He was the first to take on the old fire hydrants we had installed for the boy dogs.

There was little about him that would be considered gentle unless it was in his way, on his time. He would boss any of around and then would determine where he was to settle and for how long. We all waited and then took our places accordingly. When it was time for "out" or food or bed we didn't need a clock; we only needed Abner's voice to ring out the orders.It made them his own more than once, tottering over to the fenceline and back just to prove a point. He spent just one Christmas with us but he loaded up on soft treats and new bedding and that was just the beginning of the gift-giving. We showered him with soft blankies, a new dish, a new collar, puppy pads, his own space, and as much love as we could cram into each and every day, marveling at our good fortune for being able to care for him and for having other bigger and younger dogs who understood his frailty.
Animals get it. They get life and living together and what is important. They aren't caught up in all that we are or have or do. Tonight as I talked to our other dogs (yes) it dawned on me how much they will miss Abner. Their world is  right here, the (now) five of them and the two of us. OF COURSE they will miss him. He was such a part of every day, every routine. And maybe that's why we love them all. They are the every day, the every routine. They are what keeps us grounded and semi-normal. They instill and reinforce our faith.

They can't read. They speak only DOG. They can't do a lot that we can do. Good. They do love. They do relate. They do comfort and care. Great.

Wow. Do I have a lot to learn? Lucky me. This place is loaded with great teachers. God knows what He's doing and just how to work in me.

Ever have "one of those days"? Been there. Done that. Today.

It was the funeral for a dear person, a friend of 15 years, gone at 54. She lived fully so who's to say it's too young to leave?

It is the birthday of another dear friend, ageless and also living fully. Admittedly she's a different generation than the other.

And, I'm caught inbetween.

So I wonder. I wonder, what if the first friend had been given the extra years, how would she use the extra 7 or 12 birthdays? 

We just never know. We think. We think we do. We think we do know. But we don't.

Hikes with dogs

A couple of hikes with dogs!
John Wayne Trail June 2010


Twin Falls March 2010
Bob's 1st hike. He did quite well lots of dogs and kids but he trotted right along following Jo with the treats.


Here is a video of Bob and Jo at Twin Falls. Look at the great attention he has on Jo of course she has treats and he is a beagle, need I say more. click on the movie icon.

From Twin Falls

In Memory of Glady

Sadly, Team Beagle lost a friend last week. Glady came into our lives in 2006. She stayed with us for a month and stole our hearts. We were so excited when our friends Libby and Herbie adopted her because we knew that we would get to see her often. With Libby and Herbie she got to experience the good life. Libby and Glady would go on long walks and Libby often took Glady to work with her. With Herbie, Glady enjoyed every evening on the couch with him until it was bedtime. She had a wonderful personality, friendly to all. She will be sorely missed. Glady is playing with Browny at the Rainbow Bridge.

halfway to a new kitchen

UPDATE: The earring mentioned in the previous post has been found and not by picking through anything! HooRAH. That means Baxter has only consumed one earring in the past year and a half. Concern was growing that the metal in his belly would soon start weighting him down. As a pet lover I need to be more aware of his unusual tastes.

Have I mentioned the kitchen is being re-modeled? Oh! Not just new appliances - the entire room is M-T. Nothing but the diagram on the old floor showing where things will be someday. We are walking around the island and past the cupboards drawn on the old floor with a Sharpie. That's my tip for you when you re-do a room. If you can clear out the old and draw in the new, do it and live with it. Maybe not as long as I am needing to but try it out and see if things are as you imagined. You may find, as we did, you need to make a change or two. As I've said during other situations, if we weren't involved in it this would be an interesting study to do, and then humorous paper or book to write. We're not skilled enough to do it ourselves so I admire the accomplishments as they occur. I was really oblivious to how dated it was so had little interest in it. Yes, I missed the kitchen genie gene! There's no doubt it will be fantastic, someday. Till then we have "kitchen" in every room.

Here's the work crew, on break  Oh, I'm kidding, of course. Somewhere in this is someone I'm related to probably - who knows? Writing on the back of pictures was not a habit anyone in our family had. I'm doing my best to maintain that habit. Keep anyone related to any of us guessing.

The point of the photo is to illustrate how people used to dress to go to work. These are not business office administrative staffers but outdoor workers. It makes me appreciate today's relaxed dress codes. Need I say this is pre-air conditioning? Wow.

Speaking of A/C I finally cranked it on this a.m. The workers should be thrilled today when they come inside. It's not that I didn't want it on. It's not that I didn't think it was on...The control/thermostat is tucked behind the china cabinet (bad move) and I thought I reached back and turned it on but was actually turning it off. My tolerance for heat is above average. All right. All right. Criticize me for poor home management. I'll be stopping by YOUR glass house soon. Get my drift. The A/C is not something I like much. But for these guys I've now got it going and even dropped it a couple of degrees. Maybe that "someday" for the finished kitchen will be a reality! After all, who wants to be called a kitchen bwitch?

I could bake some cookies to show my appreciation. Wait. I'd need the oven to do that. Whoops.

Don't Be Depressed

Can you count an earring lost if you know you last saw it in the bedroom and have a very strong suspicion that, if you look diligently, you will find it in the fenced in yard, having been "transported" by one of the dogs? I think in this case, yes, it's gone. It was pretty small and even though it is gold it probably won't be so shiny as to be seen. Ah, well.

Then, there's the long-owned, nicely broken in brown huraches that slipped on easily and worked well in creating happy feet. It's useless to wear just one so after they suffered irrepairable damage they moved on down the road. I suspect the same critter. Could he be unstable? Ah, well, again.

Yes, I should have put the shoes on the shoe rack. He seems to ignore them there. As for the earring, I COULD have gotten up in the middle of the night and put them away once I awoke from rubbing my ear and having it come undone. I did put it on the nightstand. Can I have one point, please? Just one?

We're out of bananas. I love bananas. It's hot, humid, looking stormy, and I need to go get bananas. I could do that if I had earrings to wear and errand shoes to put on my feet. As it is I'll probably manage to get there but not feel "like myself".

These three things are minor and it will be easy to get past each of them. No. Big. Deal. But then, I turned on the television. Am I on some sort of self-destruction plan here?

The news was on and I realized a few weeks ago that I have no clue what is going on globally unless someone tells me. We don't get the paper and I rarely watch TV news. I do catch up on the the hot topics associated with all night coast-to-coast radio. I digress.

It turns out that depression has been identified as causing dementia. 

We can always count on the news, which I have discovered hasn't changed. It is all the depressing stuff about deaths, accidents, drugs, missing people, weather problems, Lady Ga-ga eye contacts, political tirades. The little household goof-ups aren't depressing at all, just frustrating and forgetable, and LAUGHABLE. But, the stuff in the news is different. Shouldn't the news broadcast teams realize how reporting all the depressing news is irritatingly, well, depressing. I think I'll just turn it off again. I'd rather be considered crazy because I can laugh at life than subject to dementia because I'm weighted down by what is dumped upon me by a talking head or two.

Today be grateful for something in your life - at least one thing. It can be as silly as being able to post a photo on a blog in which you are wearing (now baggy) jeans and shoes you once loved.