Who's in charge here?

The dogs hate to be walked by children, but they love Kinsey our granddaughter. Looks like they're resisting her being in charge (see Missy's heads down?) She's the boss though, very deliberately, since day 1. Oh to have such power as a youngster :-) Good girl. And good doggies.

Falling back into place

Seattle autumns are nothing to brag about. The grey overwhelms us from morning until night, even memories of sunshine eluding us. We skipped our morning walk since it was raining. Ugh.

It's a strange thing. When the rain falls, it's hard to remember that it's ever sunny here. And when it's sunny, our friends start whining about the heat... when temperatures hit 80o. Never mind if it get to 90o. Then it's totally "unbearable" for those cold-weather aficionados. I crave the light and warmth every day. I only have to wait 9 months until mid-July when the sun's out reliably again...

The dogs and I love morning walks when the wind is still and the sun has come out. Since we're in the forest, we have to hike to the top of the street to get sunshine. But it's worth it! (On the days it appears.)

Next week it's back to the groomers. I found an excellent groomer in Kalispell who gave them a great cut @ $60 for both dogs. My groomer moved from a failed business (working for someone) to open her own shop. She's now closer to our home, too.

"No perfume, no bows, please. Big topknot." That's the standing request. They prance in the door after being groomed. Good doggies!

Poodle days

 We're almost "back to normal," once again at home. I took time off for a dissertation (whew, that's done!) and 2 months at the cabin in Montana. The dogs went through it all with me, of course.

Relaxing on the cabin floor after a
morning walk

Missy and Ziggy loved the stay-away as I recovered from studies. We like the quiet gravel roads where they run off-leash, explore new smells, and take me on daily walks to the post office a mile away. (I wrote a postcard a day to get us out of the cabin and into the little town.)

Dog play 101

Now we're back into the routine of morning walks, afternoon writing, and redoing the house decor. OK, I'm actually decluttering the rubbish from over a year of dissertation neglect.

One of the fun things I'm looking forward to as I get out and about again is buying new collars for the dogs. They've had utilitarian ribbon collars since I got them. I think we'll celebrate fall together with nice new neck-gear. I'll post photos once I find them.

Fun and games on the office rug

Meanwhile, hope you enjoy us being back and will be reading updates as they appear.

Oh, they're such good doggies!

Rolling around so Ziggy and groom
the other side