Sydney’s temp. has dropped and now the real waiting and watching has started. Most bitches don’t eat as they get ready to whelp….not my girls!!! I love sitting with my girls and feeling the puppies move around inside of them. I know Syd is uncomfortable so I wish she would just chop chop and get the show on the road! I want to see these babies and I want to see them now!!! (that was in the voice of Barushka from Willie Wonka)

I have everything ready…towels, hemostats, newspapers, the bulby thing to suck the gook out of the puppies mouths…everything….just waiting for these little stars to make their little selves appear.

So, I am REALLY not a beach kinda gal either. Daneen called me and asked if I wanted to go to the Caribbean. The first thought that went thru my head was Wow!! What an adventure!!! Then the second thought was of the “beach scene”. Thank God that I always go by my first thought gut feelings because it was quite an adventure!!! We flew into Miami and stayed in South Beach over night and from there we sailed to Grand Cayman, Hondouras, Belize and a storm came in and we had to skip Costa Maya.
This trip rated an A+++ in the animal dept. We toured a turtle farm in Grand Cayman. Most people just looked at the turtles….we touched them and made them kiss us!!!! I am sure that they were thrilled!!!

Hondouras was beautiful and the locals were very pleasant. I was doing some shopping in the flea market type area and shooting the stuff I like to shoot. I was standing in a vendors stall looking out to the street and sidewalk. I noticed the most stunning red flower and as I was making my way to shoot it closer I saw that a little girl walking with her friend/sister? reached over and picked it right off the plant. I stopped and for a split second was very sad until I saw that she had the biggest smile on her face and handed the stunning flower to her friend. That left me with the warmest fuzziest feeling. I asked the girls if I could take their picture and well here they are with the flower.

In Hondouras I got to check off yet another childhood dream!! To swim with dolphins!!!!!! Here is a shot of Fiona my new friend! This was just AMAZING!!!! In my next life I want to work with dolphins and Killer whales!!!!

I would go back to Hondouras in a heartbeat!! These are beach houses that are on a private beach just a 5 min. boat ride to where all the dolphins live!!! What a vacation that would be!!!!

The Stingray Adventure had to be the most fun I have ever had! We laughed so hard the ENTIRE time!!!
We took a boat out about 30 mins. and stopped at the place that these VERY hungry little creature hang around. I have not been in the water since I got certified to SCUBA dive a billion years ago and had forgotten the whole COLD salty water thing! The grey suction mouthed piggies with very long tails made up for the whole water and bathing suit thing.

So you grab a handful of squid and hold it for the little stingrays to suck out of your hands …you have to let go because they suck soooo hard that they can suck your hand in and bite….and let me tell you…they bite VERY hard!!! They were so STARVING that a few would climb, slither right up your back and up to your face. We screamed we laughed!! They have huge eyes and when you hold the food out of the water they come up and blow water with a loud whoosh from their gills. What a kick this was!!

This trip was a dream come true and it was even more beautiful than I had ever imagined!!!
The two top places I have always dreamed of seeing was Alaska and Ireland. One down one to go!!!
My family started our trip in Vancouver B.C. What a delightful place!!! I am not a city kinda gal, but this area was so clean and green and the people were NICE!!!!! I could live there!! Stanley Park was a must see and I am glad we did. We took a horse pulled trolley ride thru the park before we boarded the ship.

Sunset from the ship.

Another horse drawn tour….can you tell I like horses???

This was a treat and a half, a cow and her calf!!!

We did it ALL on this trip….planes, trains, automobiles, horse drawn trolley’s, ships, boats and a waterplane too!!! This photo of a glacier was taken from the waterplane.

This National was soooo much fun!!! I only took Freedom this year. He didn’t make the cut but he looked great and showed very well. I flew to New York and stayed with my friend Regina and her son Thomas for a couple of days then we road tripped it to Kentucky. We laughed the entire trip!! We got to see niagra Falls before we headed out. It was truly a sight.

This year I met up with lots of friends. Miranne from Canada, Jodene, SarahAnne and Kathy from Washington, Regina from New york, Angie and Lily from Missouri. We ate and drank, laughed and talked dogs and even had time to take in some of the local sites. Here we are at the Kentucky Horse Park. I was very impressed. The grounds and the exhibits were top rate! I had just done the breeding with Claire and Seabiscuit and knew that I was using race horses as the theme for naming this litter. It was very cool to see photos and learn more about the great racehorses of the past. The statue we are standing by is of Man O’War, who is my all time favorite race horse…..too bad he had such a funky name because that would certainly have been my first pick. Funny now that I look back at this photo that the Dalmatian with us is Denny…..Yes the same Denny that I just bred Sydney to!!!!!

Ok, ok I admit this made us laugh for quite a while!!!!!!

I just came across this shot I took last winter during a gorgeous electrical storm that came through.
I sat on my front deck just watching the spectacular show for hours. The blues and the grays, the smell of wet soil and the dancing lights….It was just magical!!!!!

I just love days like this one and fun photos like this one to remember them by!!! Three gorgeous litter mates not yet a year old at this show and working and looking so good. Cole-WD,BoV for a major…Tirzah- WB,BoS for a major…..Gal-WB,BoW for a major!!!!! Talk about a whole lotta funna!!!!!

What can I say???? Cole was Best of Variety from the 9-12 puppy class!!! He didn’t place in the group that day…but he sure had fun and showed his little heart out!!!

Here is Cole winning another major shown by Diana his co-breeder. He is as smart as he is beautiful!!! Cole is doing great at agility too!!

Easy To Spot Whirlaway “Cole” looked absolutely stunning on the Mission Circuit weekend. I am just in love with this pup. He has EVERYTHING that I want in a collie….well maybe except for a full white collar…. but truly that is it. I am so proud of Cole and all his litter mates!!!!

Here are the little darlings at 2 weeks. These pups are FAT and strong! They have their eyes open now and are starting to walk around. They are doing great.