Mensona

Well, it was a great weekend. For those of you who have never been to a major dog show, it's really something that is worth seeking out. The Mensona Show features Conformation, Agility, and Obedience so there is lots going on. I was there wearing two hats---a vendor with my paintings, and an exhibitor with my two corgis. Both were entered in Rally Obedience, and this was Emma's first trial. Raleigh is a seasoned competitor now, and got scores of 96 and 98, earning him a second and third place, as well as a title. Emma, on the other hand, was a little overwhelmed by the experience and simply couldn't bring herself to sit on command. Consequently, since most of the stations required a sit of some sort, and the judge grew a little tired of hearing me say, "Sit, Emma" as enthusiastically as I knew how, we were excused from the ring midway through. However, on the second day, Emma rallied (no pun intended here), sat beautifully, and got an 85.
But, as most of you know, the real purpose for being there was to show my art, and it was great to meet and greet so many dog/art enthusiasts, especially the corgi lovers out there. I will be at the Corgi Fair sponsored by the Golden Gate Pembroke Welsh Corgi Fanciers Association in Dixon on November 13 (more on that later). It was so good to see friends who live in the area, and I have some photos to post, but for some reason Blogger refuses to upload anything but images of the paintings that I showed. So there you have it. Lee, Jody, Jim, and Lovie----thank you for coming by. I hope to get your pictures up once cyberspace cooperates.

Kai

Kai

Willie

Lee's

One of my favorite cookbook authors and food experts was Lee Bailey. His books are all about easy living, good food, and finding pleasure in simple things well done. Last year I had the good fortune to meet Lee Klein, a good friend of Lee Bailey's on an Honor Flight trip. Lee, shown above with a photo of him in one of Lee's books, was in the Navy for years, and of course is a WWII hero. He is also a great guy who is lots of fun and we enjoy sharing recipes and food tips. It was great to get him up here for a visit and we look forward to many more.

It only seemed fair to include this video of Raleigh's clean run.

Not to brag, but . . .

We had a great time at the CPE Agility Trials in Eureka hosted by Humdog. Emma and Raleigh each ran in 12 runs each which makes for a pretty active weekend. Actually, while Emma did run each course, but as you can see from the video, it wasn't always in the right direction. However, her enthusiasm and speed make up for her unpredictability. Raleigh on the other hand, was on his game. He qualified in 11 of 12 runs, and got 9 firsts. He is a solid competitor, and if I give him correct guidance, he shines. These videos were taken by 4 Legged Flix, really nice guys who do good work. While one crew was videoing our rather uneventful event on Saturday, the other crew was in Walnut Creek videoing a horse running through a dog agility course, which makes Emma running off course look very mild. As soon as that video is reposted on YouTube I'll give you a link.

L'absinthe avec des amis francais

Never did I imagine that I would be sipping absinthe on a sunny Pacific afternoon, let alone with good friends from France that we haven't seen in over twenty years. But, here's the photo to prove it. We are enjoying a visit from the Petri family, wonderful people that we met many years ago when they visited relatives in Eureka. We visited them in France and have kept in touch by Christmas cards all of these years. Through those annual photos, we have watched Candice grow up to be the lovely young woman that you see here, and it is a real treat to finally meet her. She will begin an internship in engineering in Austin next month, and we are so happy that they ventured up north before starting their tour of the Western states en route to Texas. Today we will go to the Humboldt County Fair---a slice of rural America--where they plan to try their luck at the races. It's great to be with them. Bienvenue Francois, Catherine et Candice. Nous attendons la prochaine visite!

Bart

Flowers for Twyla

Dental Teams

Today I went for a check-up with my oral surgeon to see how the gum is healing after the work described in an earlier poem on this blog. The good news is that it is progressing nicely. The better news is that I have such a good team taking care of this rather complicated procedure. Shown here is Dr. William Martey, who in addition to being an oral surgeon, is also an M. D. He is originally from Ghana, educated at Oxford and a very nice guy. Also a great surgeon. His surgical assistant is Kim, also great at what she does. I think it is sometimes too easy to take the remarkable skills of people like this for granted. Not only are they well trained, but they are so kind and helpful. Thanks you two! I'll see you in November.

As promised, one of Connie's ceramic sculptures . . . pretty wonderful, isn't it?

Foxglove

Salmon Dinner

It had been way too long since we shared a meal and conversation with our good friends Connie Butler and Janine Volkmar, so we invited them over for a spur of the moment dinner Sunday evening. These two women grace my life and I feel so blessed to travel down the road with them.

It is also good to know that these pages have a bit of influence. After reading the post about my new camera, and seeing it in person on Sunday, Connie was so inspired that she went to Costco and got herself a Nikon Coolpix, which seems to be quite a trend these days. By the way, Connie is also a world class sculptor, so Connie, I know you will be reading this, please send an image the whale, or the mermaid or another piece so that I can post it here on the blog. Oh, she also spends time at Fire Arts and makes the most amazing ceramic pieces. Connie, please send an image of one of those as well.

Pat and Kai

Pat Johnson is the owner of TNT Agility, and the central figure to much of what goes on in the dog world of Humboldt County. She is a terrific handler, wonderful teacher, and works tirelessly on behalf of dog training and education. I don't know where she gets her energy, but I think she has met her match in her new puppy, Kai.

Jan and Nina

Isn't this a soulful moment?
Nina usually starts her jump about six feet in front of the hurdle, and we all hold our breath as she sails across the pole.
As I've said, I have met the nicest people (and dogs) in agility.

Impulse purchase

When I was at Costco last week, I happened to be strolling through the camera section, and a little Nikon caught my eye. It is less than an inch thick, and seemed just the thing to carry in my purse at all times, since so many times I wish I had a camera on me, but my others are too big to have with me all of the time, so, I picked up this little maroon Coolpix thinking that it was quite an extravagant thing to have, and as the name implies, quite cool. Now it seems that just about everybody I mention it to already has a Nikon Coolpix. But it is a great little camera and small enough to be really handy. I had it today so that I could get these pictures of Alice and Gretta (above), and Nora and Tucker. Alice is 81 years old and a very good handler. Her husband Bob was on our Honor Flight in May and they are really an impressive couple. She tried to call him after class but he was out riding his bike so she couldn't reach him. He also swims every morning. I am not at liberty to share his age, but he's a WWII vet, so do the math. Inspirational folks. Gretta is an awesome dog, too.

Nora and Tucker are also great to watch in action. Tucker is such a classically beautiful dog---to me he's the quintessential American dog, and for all I know he is descended from a German breed, but he's like the dog next door.

Pembrat

Emma also loves Beverly, who owns two corgis and those two bonded when Emma was just a puppy.

Blob

Tonight at agility class, I mentioned to Judy and Mel that they had been featured on my blog yesterday and I wanted to have a photo of them. Well, here it is. As you can see, Emma adores Judy, and so do the rest of us. Mel's okay too.

Modesty Aside

I hesitated to post about this, but Raleigh did pretty well at the trials---you can see his ribbons displayed in the tent behind me. By the end of the weekend, he had won six blue ribbons (and a toy for each) and one second place. Emma didn't fare quite so well, but she did get one blue ribbon (Raleigh came in second in that trial). This photo was taken by Mel Sample, one of our teachers at TNT Agility. He and his wife Judy are real naturals at the sport, as well as being patient instructors. It's been such a gift to get to know the agility community---as I've mentioned below, they are so down to earth and real. I can see why some people get on the circuit and go to a trial nearly every weekend. How can you beat running around with your dog and hanging out with great people? It's something that most of us thought we had to give up once we reached a certain age---and then we discovered agility.