This week’s Howladays challenge is to show you and your dogs relaxing and enjoying a movie together. Unfortunately it is hard to fit all three of us on our love seat but we tried.
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Iron Paws Week 5 Challenge
Filed under Brodie, Iron Paws, Spirit, Uncategorized
Iron Paws Week 4
This week’s Howladays challenge is a little different. It says “Stage 4: Heroes week. Feel free to interpret this however suits your fancy, and don’t forget to share your vision.” I am not sure that hero is the right word but these dogs are my world. They mean everything to me. Before Brodie and Spirit I had never done any dog sports. Now our lives revolve around driving to various classes, practices and trials. They make sure that I get out and about every single day. They give so much but ask for so little in return. They may not be “heroes” in the traditional sense but they are my heroes.
Filed under Brodie, Iron Paws, Spirit, Uncategorized
Iron Paws Week 2
This week’s Howliday fun challenge was to play One-eyed-Jack-is-wild virtual poker game. You have to answer 5 questions and your answers are decoded into poker cards. Let’s just say we aren’t going to win the game. You can tell by the dogs’ expressions that we have a really crappy poker hand.
Filed under Brodie, Iron Paws, Spirit, Uncategorized
5 Mile Classic
Another Running Room 5 Mile Classic is in the record books. Spirit did the race with us but she could not come into the hall after the race so she wasn’t included in the picture.
Filed under Races, Uncategorized
More Pet Therapy
Today, on behalf of the Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta, Tilly and I went to visit 311 operators at the City. There were many visitors who enjoyed petting and visiting with the dogs. These two lovely ladies volunteered to pose with Tilly.
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Another sniffing Saturday
We made another trip to Red Deer today to compete in a scent trial hosted by the Little Nose That Knows. Brodie had a great day in his advanced trial coming in 2nd in interiors and vehicles and finished first overall. He got lots of ribbons and swag. Thank you to Judges Ryan-Ann King-Smith and MaryAnn Warren and to Kristina Sveinson and Samantha Freschette for all their hard work organizing the trial.
Filed under Brodie, SDDA, Spirit, Sporting Detection, Uncategorized
Enough already
We’ve had an incredibly mild start to our winter….at least is was mild until the last week. It just keeps getting colder and colder with no end in sight. It is -39c with the windchill. Yikes….I hope it ends soon. We all have cabin fever and need to get out in the fresh air for some fun and exercise.
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Happy 3rd Birthday
Our big, baby girl is 3 today. Gosh time flies. What is even scarier is the fact that her life is potentially 1/3 over if you base it on the average life span of 8 years for a Berner. Of course our girl is going to live much longer than the average because she has a great example in longevity….her big brother, Wally the golden retriever, who is 16 years and 9 months old.
She got a giant salmon head for her birthday breakfast treat.
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365 Progress
So far so good. I’ve completed blocks up to Dec 20th. Still on track for completing this quilt top by the end of the year.
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Garden helper
Brodie wants to remind every to stop, relax and smell the flowers …. and then eat them!!! I just hope he doesn’t un-plant all my baskets that I just spent hours planting.
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Puppy class
We had fun at puppy socialization class today. Brodie got a bandage on his paw and he wore the cone of shame with a stethoscope. Nothing seemed to concern him. Good puppy!!!!
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Canada 150 Mosaic
On Friday morning I went to the Enjoy Centre to paint my tile for the Canada 150 Mosaic Mural for St. Albert, Alberta. Our group was tasked with painting a tile for the blue background. I decided to use this picture, from our recent trip to Jasper, as my inspiration.
It has been many years since I played around with watercolours but I’ve never used acrylics. There were some very talented artists there so it was a little intimidating to say the least. Here is my finished tile.
I went back this afternoon to see the finished mural. I was amazed to see how it all came together to make this beautiful 8′ x 12′ mural.
I searched and searched but I couldn’t find my tile. I thought to myself oh no….it was so bad that they couldn’t use it. But alas, I finally found my tile. It is 14 rows up and 7 rows in from the bottom right hand corner.
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Resolution Time Again
Before…..
After….
We just finished the annual Running Room Resolution 5km race. We’ve been doing it for about 5 years now. It is a family friendly, non-competitive event that helps us start our new year off with health and fitness in mind. Of course the pancakes and sausages at the end are always a big hit with the skinny guy.
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Workout Buddy
No matter what I am doing, Spirit thinks she should be part of it. I don’t know how she managed to sit her giant body on the narrow incline bench and polish my face.
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Foam Fest Mudder
“Before” clean but wet
“After”…not so clean
Today I was able to cross another item off my bucket list. We ran our first mudder in Red Deer this morning. It was a lot of fun and I would definitely do another one. It was a cool rainy day which helped to make the mud even thicker and more slippery. I didn’t lose a shoe and I came out injury free….now that’s a good day! We had mud and grit in cracks and crevices that we never knew we had. It was great to get home and have a long hot shower.
Filed under Races, Uncategorized
Big Boo Boo
Our big girl had shoulder surgery last week. The first night she just whimpered and moaned and I felt so helpless. It has been 6 days since her surgery and she is progressing well. It is becoming a full time job just trying to keep her quiet and still. She is ready to explode with pent up energy and frustration. One more week and then we can allow her to go for longer walks and gradually move up to a little bit of freedom and running around.
Linking up to Wordless Wednesday at Blogpaws
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Hypothermic Half Marathon
This morning the skinny guy and I completed our 4th (me) and 2nd (Don) Hypothermic Half Marathon. This is the first year that the race hasn’t lived up to it’s name. It was a balmy zero at race start and 4 degrees celsius and sunny when we finished. I forgot my ice cleats at home so I struggled a bit with traction but otherwise it was great. It is hard to believe that the weather is this mild and beautiful for Edmonton in February.
Filed under Races, Uncategorized
Beautiful Morning Workout
Finished 18km (-2 degrees)
What a difference a week makes. Last Sunday’s workout was unbearably cold. Contrast that with this morning’s balmy -2. Even though we went 2km further (18km vs 16km) we sure look a lot fresher and less frosty at the end.
Finished 16KM (-31 degrees celsius)
This is what I looked like after spending a couple of hours outside with the temperature at -26 (-31 with the windchill).
Filed under Training, Uncategorized
WIP
I have managed to keep up with the 365 quilt challenge. I’ve got my first 21 blocks of the year done:
My Quilts of Valour WIP is on the longarm getting ditched while I decide how I want to quilt it.
And finally, I have all the blocks pieced on my baby quilt so I am in the process of sewing the blocks together. I haven’t decided if I am going to add any borders.
Linking up to:
Design Wall Monday @Patchwork Times
Fabric Tuesday @Quilt Story
WIP Wednesday @Freshly Pieced
WIP Wednesday @The Needle and Thread Network
Needle and Thread Thursday @My Quilt Infatuation
Filed under 365 Challenge, FAL, Finish-A-Long, Quilts of Valour, Uncategorized, WIP, Work-in-progress
2015 in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.
Here's an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 16,000 times in 2015. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
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2015 Blog in review
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,800 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 30 trips to carry that many people.
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New Puppy Bed
We started making this raised dog bed over two years ago. The various pieces have spent 2 winters on our deck waiting for some attention. Well I’m thrilled to say we have finally assembled it and it has Spirit’s seal of approval. I think she will find it nice and cool to have the air circulating underneath her. It creaks and groans with all her weight on it but it should support her just fine. (Thanks Auntie Patty for finally lighting a fire under our butts to get us to assemble it)
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My Sous Chef
I decided to make some homemade vanilla bean ice cream for our girls weekend. When I was done I let the “kids” do the pre-wash on the plastic churning blade. Spirit’s big, fat head dominated and she managed to get three licks in for every one my old boy Wally got. If you look closely you can see 3 muzzles as all the dogs try to get their share of the ice cream.
Linking up to Wordless Wednesday at Blogpaws:
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FAL 1 for 3rd Quarter
I’ve got my first finish for the 3rd quarter of the finish-a-long hosted by Adrianne at On the Windy Side (here is my original list). It is a lap quilt made with “Scrumptious” charm packs.
Linking up to:
3rd Quarter Finish-a-Long @On the Windy Side
Design Wall Monday @Patchwork Times
Made by You Monday @Skip to my Lou
Fabric Tuesday @Quilt Story
Sew Cute Tuesday @Blossom Heart Quilts
Too Cute Tuesday @Funky Polkadot Giraffe
Handmade Tuesday @Ladybug Blessings
Link Tuesday @Freemotion by the River
LAFF @Richard and Tanya Quilts
Finish it up Friday @Crazy Mom Quilts
TGIFF @Crazy Dutch Bird Quilts
TGIFF @Quokka Quilts
Can I get a Woop Woop @Confessions of a Fabric Addict
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Tribute to Bella
Life has a way of really testing us. The day I published the post about Wally and Bella’s reunion I got a message from her family saying that she wasn’t doing well. She had stopped eating and had trouble breathing. They took her to numerous vets and the prognosis was not good….she had cancer. I had wanted to get Wally and Bella together because my boy was so old and I wasn’t sure how much longer he would be with us. I never dreamed that we would be losing Bella first. Three days later I got the news that my beautiful girl was gone. We are devastated……I can’t imagine how her family is feeling.
I think Wally has now outlived all of the puppies from his first litter. I’m so blessed to still have him. I put together a slideshow of pictures. I hope that it will help her mourning family. It starts with a picture of Misty, Bella’s Mom. It shows the puppies when they were just minutes old and goes up until the day Bella left us when she was 6 months old. Bella was the darkest puppy in the litter and she wore a baby blue grosgrain ribbon collar. Goodbye my beautiful Bella….Tango, Ming and Tasha will keep you company over the rainbow bridge.
Linking up to Wordless Wednesday at Blogpaws:
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Wordless Wed: Bee Hunter
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Little Rock Star
This is not exactly a “Wordless” Wednesday post. This weekend Spirit participated in her first dog show. It was the Northern Alberta Canine Association All Breed show. Everything started Thursday night when Coreen (the breeder) gave Spirit her second bath and groom in less than 2 weeks. She was a lot more relaxed and less stressed for this bath than her first one. Even the high powered blow dryer didn’t phase her.
On Friday morning, Jo-ann (the handler) showed her and Spirit worked with her beautifully. So well in fact that she got a best bitch in the 6-9 month old puppy category. She then went on to compete with all the winning female Berners and she got reserve (second best) which gave her two ribbons for the day. Coreen and Joanne were so happy with how well she showed that they nicknamed her “Little Rock Star”. Spirit’s Mom Sophie was amazing in the show ring and her nickname is “Rock Star”
On Saturday morning Spirit won best bitch in the 6-9 month old puppy category again. Then she went on to compete in the winners bitch category only this time she won it beating the dog that beat her on Friday. The win gave Spirit her first two points towards her championship.
I was in total shock. Spirit was absolutely horrible for Jo-ann…the complete opposite of Friday. She constantly sat in the ring and she was just not listening to her. I barely had a chance to digest the win when all of a sudden Jo-ann is handing me the leash and telling me that I have to show Spirit in the best of winners category because she will be competing against her older brother Axl (previous litter) and she had to show him instead.
It was almost a blessing because I had all of about 30 seconds to panic and then I had to grab the leash and run into the ring. I felt like a fish out of water. I kept apologizing to the judge for not understanding what she wanted me to do. The good news is that Axl won the best of winners category and it gave him all the points he needed to finish his championship.
Next came the best puppy in breed category where the girls compete against the boys for the first time. I handled her again. Her brother handsome Samson had won his 6-9 month old puppy category too so that meant Spirit had to compete against her brother. Although she won, it was a bitter sweet victory. It just didn’t feel right competing against her beautiful brother.
Sampson and Spirit NACA 2015
Spirit’s first in the Winners’ Bitch category meant that she moved on to compete in the best puppy in the working group. Since she was so horrible for Jo-ann and worked beautifully for me both times, we all decided that I would show her in the afternoon. She competed against 8 or 9 different working dog breeds and she came in fourth which gave her a beautiful big white ribbon.
Here is her official winners picture.
Sunday morning was an exact repeat of Friday except that I showed her in both rounds. She got a best bitch in the 6-9 month old puppy category and reserve (second best) in the winners bitch category which gave her another two ribbons. In total she won six small and 1 large ribbon.
Here are just a few more pictures of Tailspin’s Berners at the show:
Spirit and Axl
Axl, Spirit, Samson and Bentley (Axl’s brother)
Linking up to Wordless Wednesday at Blogpaws:
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Bait & Gait Class and Mock Dog Show
Samson, Axel, Ryder and Spirit
This morning Spirit and I took a Bait and Gait class as a warm up for the mock show this afternoon. She did pretty well for a dog that loves to sit….a big no no for the show ring. Then this afternoon the handler took her and worked her in the mock show. Her brother Samson, her big brother Axel (same parents first litter) and the breeders’ Newfie Ryder were all in the same show. Axl made it to best in show but lost to a beautiful Golden.
Spirit was so wiggly every time the judge touched her and when she tried to look at her bite. She made the cut for the female working dog group but ended up losing to a cute boxer. I think it was a great experience for her that hopefully will have her better prepared for the real show. The handler Jo-ann said she did a good job so hopefully she will do her breeders/grandparents (Steve and Coreen Johnson of Tailspin Bernese Mountain Dogs) proud next week at the Northern Alberta Canine Association all breed show. This video is for you Coreen since you didn’t get the opportunity to see your grand-daughter “strut her stuff” in person.
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Bloggers Quilt Festival Entry #2
Here is my second entry into Amy’s Creative Side’s spring Blogger’s Quilt Festival. I chose Leftovers IV for the original design category. I had tons of left over strips and tiny rectangles after making my Blue Odyssey quilt. So far I have made 4 twin quilts from the leftovers and there are probably enough scraps to make 1 or 2 more. To read more about this quilt and see more pictures please click here.
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Blogger’s Quilt Festival
I thought I would try something new. Twice a year Amy’s Creative Side hosts a Blogger’s Quilt festival. There are numerous categories and it is open to quilters of all experience levels. You are allowed to enter two quilts and each much be in it’s own blog post. Here is my first entry:
I t is a king size quilt that I made for my Niece’s wedding present. I has 24 unique house blocks (several are reproductions of homes that have sentimental meaning to her) and 25 plain blocks with unique free motion quilting designs. You can read more about this quilt and see more pictures here.
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Life In The Dog House 