Ziska's

It's Spring

2011-05-18T17:04:00.000-06:00

It's springtime in the Rockies

Powder Day!

2011-02-08T08:20:00.002-07:00

Early morning in Wagner Park after a wee bit o snow....

Corgi deep

2011-01-10T11:26:00.003-07:00

Powder day on Aspen Mountain- and in Wagner Park

2010-11-30T11:37:00.001-07:00

www.corgiaid.org

Corgi Aid auction ends today.

duffmeister

2010-11-30T08:25:00.003-07:00

This picture of Duffy was just too good not to post. It's morning and he is expecting breakfast. Can you tell?

Extreme Herding

2009-03-21T12:23:00.002-06:00

It just doesn't get better than this:

BaaaStuds

Group Win!!!!!

2009-02-10T08:57:00.006-07:00

oh oh oh oh my oh my oh my!

The Puli won. The Puli won. The Puli won. (Group- now we're all on the edge of our seats for BIS)

Ch. Cordmaker Field Of Dreams won Group 1st for owners Sue Huebner and Jackie Beaudoin, and his talented handler Linda Pitts.

He just owns the ring. Look at that jump!

http://video.westminsterkennelclub.org/player/?id=1004081

For the Corgi fans... fluffy butts... many fluffy butts....

http://video.westminsterkennelclub.org/player/?id=1004081#videoid=1004161

Morning romp

2009-02-04T08:06:00.003-07:00

Blue Pulik (see? two noses?)

Backlit Pulik (still two of them- really even though all you see is 4 feet) They will be 2 years old next month and the dreads are getting longer and longer....

Running up to the Studio- cold this morning... Duff keeps up with the hell boyz just fine thanks.

froggie

2009-01-20T08:45:00.002-07:00

What's that you got boyz?

Duff thinks it might be something he wants too...

Purple Froggie- a present from Sadie.

Haha, Pulik win...

House guest

2009-01-18T07:51:00.002-07:00

Yesterday was one of those perfect winter days in Colorado.

Sadie is here for the weekend.

She likes her vacation home....

Boxing Day?

2009-01-16T08:50:00.004-07:00

It's way past boxing day..

But the Pulik don't know that...

Duff is a little skeptical about this early morning play time...

It might be fun..

Or not...

In the end the Puli Bros. keep the game to themselves.

Full Moon

2009-01-16T08:42:00.003-07:00

A Full Moon on snow- bright enough to ski by.

Purple Haze

2009-01-03T09:58:00.002-07:00

Sunset was lovely last night.

Looking up the Crystal River Valley

But the reflected light was probably the best of all...

Soft cotton candy sunset.....

Holiday elk

2009-01-02T08:14:00.002-07:00

For Christmas
The Elk

Come walking

Frost

2008-12-30T09:22:00.002-07:00

Fall

2008-09-16T12:59:00.003-06:00

This is still my favorite time of year, sparkling blue sky, cool mornings, brilliant color all around....

BB seems to like it too.

This is Luverboy diving for a stuffed toy on the drive. It just seemed to me that this was like a little parfait of greens and greys with a Puli at the bottom of the glass....

drive to Denver

2008-09-16T12:57:00.003-06:00

Last Friday I drove to Denver. The scrub oak has already turned and the leaves are starting to turn on the Aspens; but above tree line it was snow.

A good 4 inches or more of snow.

rain

2008-09-16T12:55:00.001-06:00

The seasons are changing what started as rain ended as snow on the mountain.

Meeker 3 - heartbreak

2008-09-11T08:40:00.003-06:00

Five days of sheepdog trails at Meeker- they're all top dogs.

This uploaded backwards- so if you want to start from the beginning go 2 posts down to "Meeker"

Ian and Peg got all the non-collared sheep out of the ring with about 10 minutes still on the clock- that's really fantastic.

Now the only thing left to do is get the 5 sheep with the orange collars into the pen.

...and heartbreak one of the little lambchops gets away and rejoins the herd. Which means Ian and Peg have to start the shed again and bring the whole group into the ring and shed down to the final 5 once more.

The really tragic part is that this happened to Ian and Peg *three* times in the last 10 minutes. They got the final 5 shee up to the pen and then one little mutton breaks off and rejoins the flock. Once was bad luck, twice was really bad luck, three times- heartbreak.

Meeker 2 the shed

2008-09-11T08:36:00.002-06:00

Let that one go...

This is an amazing time for Ian- he and Peg have almost shed all the sheep without collars...

There go the last two! Now only the collared sheep are in the ring

Ian waves his crook to move the non- collared sheep farther away...

While Peg holds the 5 collared sheep in the ring.

Meeker

2008-09-11T08:25:00.003-06:00

The Meeker sheepdog trails the biggest cash purse in the sheepdog world. This is Ian Zoerb and his dog Peg (they finished 4rth) in the double lift finals on Sunday

Bring 'em in Peg

Right into the shedding ring... with a good amount of time left on the clock (Peg did one of the nicest "look back"s I've ever seen. This is a double lift so there are two groups of sheep to bring into the ring- She brings one group in and then waits for the "look back" command and brings in the second group and then herds all of the sheep into the shedding ring.

Almost half the 30 minutes left for the "shed"

Hold 'em Peg. Ian works one side of the sheep and Peg works the other. Only the sheep with the orange collars are to be penned all the rest have to be "shed" or moved out of the shedding ring.

Oops- not those- that one has a collar on- that one stays..

Junipers

2008-08-12T15:45:00.003-06:00

We're in the pinion juniper woodlands

Which means they're not so good for eating...

coming in for a landing

2008-08-11T19:36:00.002-06:00

Hummies

2008-08-11T19:32:00.002-06:00

This is the time of year for little birds to leave the nest and fend for themselves....

We have mostly black chinned , broad tailed and rufus hummies here.

Sweet Gin

2008-07-07T06:19:00.005-06:00

Sweet Gin is gone. She was only here on the ranch a short while.

Here she is when she arrived from rescue (from a puppy mill). Her eyes have that wary look.

It didn't take long for her to settle in. Soon she and Jinks were running up and down the drive and digging for prairie dogs. She was a good hunter- not as good as Jinksy but she got three prairie dogs her first day here. It was wonderful seeing her become a dog after having lived in a cage for so long.

Last summer- such a short while ago - both Jinks and Gin doing a perfect recall and sit. Of course, this had nothing to do with the treats in my pocket.

In the snow this spring with that great big corgi grin.

Just a few days ago- still sweetness on four paws.

In March I took her to the Vet since she was lethargic. They found the signs of mild kidney failure. Off I went to yahoo groups to find a support group K9kidneydiet. The diet was switched to home made meat loaf in broth twice a day. Her numbers got a little better. That was until last week. At first it looked like the kidney disease had progressed and started that dreadful downward spiral. Unfortunately it wasn't just that, she started showing signs of a brain disorder of some kind, tilted head, circling , falling down and seizures. It just kept getting worse.

Yesterday, she left.

Dear sweet Gin. I hope you're playing with Jinksy and having a blast.

Hugs and Kisses

2008-06-29T11:19:00.003-06:00

Hugs
More hugs

Kisses
and a bit of a Goose

Funs' over- dinnertime.....

keep away

2008-06-21T11:17:00.003-06:00

BB and Duff spinning in circles

The object of such ferver?

A stick.

spring blooms

2008-06-21T10:19:00.008-06:00

Sego Lily, Utah's State flower. The bulbs are edible but not what I'd call scrumptious.

Yarrow which makes a nice tea. You have to remember that it's a laxative however.... Actually on the list of medicinal plants Yarrow is quite impressive. The leaves can be used as first aid on cuts and abrasions to help clot the blood, the tea can stimulate sweating if you have a dry fever, and some claim it shrinks polyps.

Salsify aka Oyster plant. Now, these roots are edible and I would recommend them.

Larkspur- for that green soap tincture which kills lice. Not loved by cattlemen- it will poison the livestock.

False Dandelion. The petals have that little tooth at the tip- that's what makes them a "false" dandelion.

Dasies- oxeyes I think...

Blue Flax - how pretty they are and they close up at night open up for dawn and follow the sun all day long. What can't you use flax for? Linseed oil, rope, linen and linoleum it's all flax.

Allium. Hookers Onion edible bulb and onion smell. Onions are blood thinners and toxic to dogs.

pop bees

2008-06-21T09:48:00.004-06:00

I'm not much of a gardener so what wants to grow , grows. These are some big beautiful poppies which come out every spring. The deer like them. Well, one deer in particular comes back every year. She seems to be a very happy sedate deer.

With so few flowers in the area we get a lot of bees and hummies around the poppies.

Puli sunrise

2008-06-14T09:50:00.007-06:00

Busy as little bees...

Sunrise duty playing cameleon sagebrush

Hamming it up for the camera... (Luverboy)

Hedgie tag.

Spring has sprung

2008-06-11T12:55:00.007-06:00

We get a lot of wind in the Spring and Summer (actually we get a lot of wind year round). That's a profile shot BTW.

The Indian Paintbrush is finally in bloom.

and the cactus....

and here's BB sniffing the false dandelion. At least he didn't sniff the cactus.

Smiles

2008-06-11T12:50:00.005-06:00

Duff.... the shy retiring type.....

Spring?

2008-04-17T15:14:00.001-06:00

Well, that was enough fun for this week....

The weather service issues red flag warnings when the wind is particularly strong. That means you're not supposed to start a fire when there is a red flag warning . Obviously this system didn't work as well as it should have.

It's hard to believe that 3 days before the fire started there was snow on the ground; and that Wednesday evening there was snow on the ground again.

The fire fighters were fantastic. Many thanks to you all.

Spring?

2008-04-05T08:48:00.002-06:00

Springtime in the Rockies.

Luv, Duff and the devil

2008-03-19T13:57:00.011-06:00

Luverboy decided to have a little nap with the red devil squeak toy.

Duff decided this was just an invitation.....

Luverboy decided nap time was over...

...and the tug of war began....

It looked like a stalemate for while...

Until BB decided to "help" and as so often happens the "help" kindof spoiled the game... at least for Luverboy.

I don't know about you- but to me that certainly looks like one smug corgi.

Very smug.

sopris buffalo

2008-03-19T13:53:00.003-06:00

This one's a little hard to see as it's so far away ... but the saying is that Spring is on the way when you see the buffalo on Sopris. The buffalo is just starting to emerge on the far east peak (left side of picture). If that weren't enough I saw the first ground squirrel of Spring today. That little darling tunneled through 2 feet of snow to sit on the drift and chirp at me. Ginny was too tired to chase him and the other 3 don't have a clue what a ground squirrel is yet. They will soon I'm sure.....

spring frolics

2008-03-17T11:53:00.004-06:00

The snow is starting to get soft all over so I break through but the hellboyz and Duff do not.

Ginny seems to be enjoying the walk and some sun.

Get your licks

2008-03-12T13:46:00.005-06:00

The snow is hard enough to run on and , apparently, also perfect for doggie snowcones. Everybody is eating snow.

blue mountain green sage

2008-03-12T13:42:00.005-06:00

Kandinsky didn't lie. Sometimes when the morning fog is thick enough the mountains turn blue.

Spring thaw is really starting and the sage brush is starting to appear. This is probably the best time of year to walk through the sage. The snow is crusty enough to support your weight. It's too cold for bugs (like ticks- ticks love sage) and you have paths between the brush. Once the snow melts it will be much harder to pick your way through the scrub and cactus.

barkaholic, ballaholic

2008-03-06T12:04:00.007-07:00

It seems that Duff is a balldog. He really likes soccer but only as an indoor sport. I guess the faster paced indoor game has it's appeal for corgis as well.

Not surprisingly he went for this old tennis ball as well. He's certainly been around this game enough to know not to give the ball away......at least not unless there's some big payoff involved.

Just how big a payoff was necessary I was about to discover. Regular readers will know that Ginny is a "barkaholic". We go out on our walks and she barks- non stop- right in your ear- or in this case- right in Duff's ear.

So Duff came up with an ingenious plan- he very carefully dropped the ball....

Which Ginny then picked up.....

You really can't bark with a ball in your mouth.

How do I know this was intentional? Duff didn't bat an eyelash when Ginny picked it up- he didn't try and get the ball back- he could care less about the ball. Mission accomplished....

Puli pull toy

2008-03-04T07:51:00.004-07:00

Duff is learning the routine pretty quickly. He's already figured out that it's easier to hang on to a Puli's dreads than to chase them.....

I was warned when I got Duffy that he was "high energy". This is the perfect combination- they wear each other out- then crash- then play- then crash- then play.

Smart girl Ginny lies curled up in the doggie bed and lets them play. Sometimes she gets in the play mode herself which the Pulik take as a golden opportunity to maul Duffy.

wind

2008-03-04T07:48:00.002-07:00

Sunday night and Monday morning we had non stop wind. This made a hard crust on the snow and some pretty spectacular patterns in the drifts.

Getting to know you

2008-03-01T10:15:00.004-07:00

Duffy is 2 years old so he's still a teenager. This means the play sessions between Duff and the Hellboyz can get quite animated. Ginny has decided that curling up and sleeping is more fun.

I think he's getting used to the ranch- plenty of room to run and some company. Like all Corgis he's a quick learner. Like all Corgis he'll probably be a quick "unlearner" too once he gets settled in and decides it's time to test the boundaries.

Bunnies!

2008-03-01T10:09:00.007-07:00

I know this is really difficult to see but even with a telephoto I wouldn't have been fast enough to catch these guys. They flushed a jackrabbit this morning- there's a teensy grey flash on the left which is the hare. The two black dots in the middle are the hellboyz and the larger black dot picking up the rear is new boy Duffy.

Corgis are fast but Pulik are faster. Nothing is quite as fast as a jackrabbit however. When someone says "Quick like a bunny." This is that bunny.

At first I thought this was a snowshoe hare but on closer inspection of the photo I think those are jackrabbit ears....

Duffy

2008-02-29T14:03:00.003-07:00

There's a new member of the family. Duffy is a 2 year old male rescue. He is ready to play 24/7/365. I don't think he'll be able to wear out the Puli brothers though.

Ginny is letting him know who is the snow queen. You can see a little bit of the cotton clothesline "leash" on Duffy. He's been an "outside" dog most of his life so we need to learn things like "come". Right now he's just concerned with staying close to the rest of the pack, but once he starts to feel it's familiar territory then he just might start to wander off a bit. Today has been filled with lessons, sit, come, wait, all sorts of good stuff....

Beat the Devil

2008-02-29T14:01:00.003-07:00

They've finally found an appropriate toy. It's a little stuffed squeaky red devil.

Smiles

2008-02-22T09:49:00.002-07:00

Ginny doesn't mind the thaw at all....

The flying Puli brothers

2008-02-22T09:47:00.004-07:00

I've told you they're nuts right?

This may look like a fight - but it's not- it's a wrestling match and BB is about to get body slammed once again.

Thaw

2008-02-22T09:45:00.003-07:00

This is my least favorite time of year, taxes and mud what a delightful combination.

Walking on water

2008-02-18T08:25:00.004-07:00

The snow has a hard crust on it so the Hellboyz can now run across the meadow without sinking in. Fun for them- a little harder on me.

Of course the favorite game of spinning with an old sock as pivot point hasn't stopped it's just that the playing field has increased.

nose to the grindstone....

2008-02-18T08:21:00.005-07:00

Yesterday Ginny turned into a tracker. Looking at the tracks it looked like a pack of coyotes had moved through in the night- maybe 3 or 4.

This was more important than rolling in the snow or herding the Puli boys.

Zhivago

2008-02-13T16:02:00.005-07:00

We had a little mid day snowshoe today. The sun was out and the snow had a satin shine to it. We've had a day and a half of warmer temperatures and now the sun comes out and makes it sparkle, just a little.

The Hellboyz did their very best Dr. Zhivago imitation.

Ginny opted for the back of my snowshoes instead of breaking trail. By the time we'd toured the meadow everyone had decided I should break trail. Lucky me.

Fire in the Sky

2008-02-13T16:00:00.003-07:00

Yep, this is the type of Sunset John Denver wrote about- a classic Rocky Mountain "Fire in the Sky" sunset.

Playtime

2008-02-13T15:51:00.009-07:00

It was warmer but overcast yesterday and everyone was in the mood for playtime. Ginny just got right in the middle of the hellboyz frolic.

With her ears up and little bouncey front paws......

If they didn't pay attention she'd just grab a hold of a hind leg until they did (they don't call it bulldoggin' for nothin') BB seems to get this treatment exclusively. If they play too hard then they let out a high Puli screech. No screeching is being done here. It's a surprisingly quiet game.

Luverboy just doesn't know his own strength. He's like a big floppy wiggling long haired bear.

Of course a few barks are absolutely necessary....

Then it's back to the scrum...

and finally a trot home to end the day.

Tickle monster

2008-02-12T07:52:00.001-07:00

Did your big brother ever get you on your back and tickle you mercilessly? BB tries to be "top puppy" big bad growly alpha Puli and then- boom- Luverboy just slams him on his back and wiggles him to death.

visitor

2008-02-10T11:48:00.001-07:00

Not that unusual around here but in midwinter a lone deer probably isn't going to make it through till Spring, especially in a heavy snow year like this one.

Enough already?

2008-02-08T11:38:00.000-07:00

Ginny may just have decided she's had enough snow.... we had another 3 inches last night. Our biggest snow months are ahead of us- February and March. I need a bigger plow. Heck, I need a bull dozer.....

Buffalo Pulik

2008-02-08T11:37:00.000-07:00

Squeaky balloon snow

2008-02-07T09:28:00.001-07:00

It will come as no surprise that yesterday we got more snow. It's cold enough to sound like rubbing the outside of a balloon when you walk on it. It's light and dry and gives that silky swish swish sound under skis.

Just a little 1-2" dusting as you can see by Ginny's roll in the new stuff. It doesn't seem like anyone minds being outside in the stuff except me? I have shoes and I get cold feet- they have paws and don't seem to mind in the least. In fact they like eating snow more than drinking from the water bowl. I think Ginny got into this habit at the Puppy mill and she'll just push along rubbing the side of her face through the powder with her mouth open scooping up snow, licking snow, eating snow.

That doesn't account for the wind however, the drifts can be 3-4x as high. We get a lot of wind up here.

The sunset was crisp and beautiful as usual.

It's supposed to get warmer over the weekend- into the 30's. We'll see if that actually happens.

Winter sunset

2008-02-06T08:31:00.001-07:00

Sometimes when the alpenglo hits the ridge you just feel like you're inside a Frederick Remington painting....

... or an N.C. Wyeth....

More Snow...

2008-02-06T08:27:00.001-07:00

Monday- what a surprise- more snow... Actually this is great. The old saying around here is "Hard Winter makes a good Spring and Summer."

I spent most of the day plowing and shoveling. I had encouragement from the sidelines....

Sock Wars!

2008-02-06T08:24:00.001-07:00

The hellboyz may have started holding the sock...

But not for long....

Guess who won?

sunset sunrise

2008-02-03T07:47:00.001-07:00

Yesterdays sunset.

Today's dawn.

.... and probably more snow in between the next.....

tug of war

2008-02-03T07:42:00.001-07:00

The hellboyz were playing with the sock until Ginny decided to get in on the action.

Luverboy is hanging on but BB hasn't quite sussed the situation yet.

Then they decide to make it two against one.

Doesn't seem quite fair does it? Although Ginny is holding her own quite well.

Sugar

2008-02-02T11:22:00.001-07:00

It's like someone came along and powdered their wigs... The breed standard does include "shades of grey" but I don't think this is what they had in mind.

Since we've had more snow and the previous snowshoe track was blown away everyone decided they would allow me the honor of breaking trail. Nothing quite like lifting up a snowshoe full of snow *and* full of Puli.

When I say "more snow"- well you might get the idea- our fence is almost useless at this point. The elk are walking over it.

mousey mousey

2008-02-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

Jinksy would have gone nuts. He was a great mouser. This very bold deer mouse spent the night in our mudroom and left his brazen little tracks all around the door in a little conga line of hip hop and tail dragging.

New Toy

2008-01-31T15:18:00.001-07:00

What's all the fuss about?

It's a new toy which everyone wants a piece of....
... an icicle off the roof.....

dawn raid

2008-01-31T15:14:00.001-07:00

They're running up and down the drive like maniacs. It all seems to be in fun... otherwise BB's tail would be considerably lower in the wind....

Although sometimes Ginny really gets BB down for the count. If this were something other than play you'd hear loud high yips and screeches from the Pulik- all they do is grumble loudly and roll over for more....

Snowplow

2008-01-27T08:30:00.001-07:00

If nothing else you have to admit Ginny is determined. There's a nice hard pack trail to walk on- but nooooo- the big Corgi has to plow through the snow......

afternoon hazards

2008-01-27T08:24:00.001-07:00

I made the mistake of taking everybody out on a snowshoe walk in the afternoon. By afternoon the sun was out and the snow had started to get wetter. That's a bad thing with a Puli.

In the cold mornings the dry snow just dusts the dreads. In the afternoon it clings and makes snowballs the size of grapefruit.

Smiles

2008-01-27T08:21:00.001-07:00

Ginny seems to enjoy barking at Sadie. Her ears are up, her eyes are bright, her little butt is wagging and she's ready to jump right in.

In fact this is the biggest grin I've seen on her face since we lost Jinksy.

keep away

2008-01-27T08:18:00.001-07:00

As previously mentioned BB and Sadie are non-stop.

Sadie's favorite game is keep away.

Which normally devolves into a boxing match.

dog jam

2008-01-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

They start in a line....

Then they get in a circle of barking frenzy...

Then they just mill in a "dog jam" a loud dog jam....

Our house guest

2008-01-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

Sadie is visiting for a few days while her people are on a trip out of town. The crew started at dawn by waking up the elk. If you look up the road you can see the elk crossing. The elk were not thrilled about their early morning barking alarm clock. I'm pretty sure my neighbor on the other side of the road is even less thrilled. The elk like to eat the hay he puts out for his cattle.

Sadie and BB just play non stop.

Ginny tries to keep up best she can.

That's quite a bit of snowplow action she has there. We're lucky it's not a wet snow.

The whole crew got crazy.

All through the day.

Right up till sunset.

Why am I the only one who's exhausted after all of this? They should have slept like little doggie logs but I got my 5 am wake up licks as usual.

Wild

2008-01-22T06:36:00.001-07:00

The wild pulik brothers

Here's Ginny doing her best "Call of the Wild" imitation.

3 black dogs

2008-01-21T06:59:00.001-07:00

Sun today but cold. Not super cold but cold enough for squeaky crunch snow ....

Sadie came over for a visit. Sadie is a pound puppy lab (mix?) who was rescued by a friend. She's about 2 1/2 and still full of energy. Sadie and BB tear the place up. They met when BB was just a little hellboy. Sadie had her first trip pheasant hunting this fall and has decided that is the best thing in the world. I doubt she'll see any pheasant out here and the snowshoe bunnies are too fast for anyone to catch.

We all had a nice little snow shoe walk out in the meadow.

Ginny finally caught on that it's better to walk behind the snowshoes and have someone break trail. She was panting pretty hard there for a bit but once back to the plowed drive she was fine.

Of course nothing stops the hellboyz.

Sunset

2008-01-19T07:31:00.001-07:00

Around 3:30 the shadows start getting long and clouds start to gather around Sopris.

By 5 pm the sun is behind the mountain and the moon is already up.

Aaaaaaachooooo!

2008-01-19T07:30:00.001-07:00

I'm afraid there are unforseen consequences from rolling in the snow, like a little snow up your nose.

Jump!

2008-01-19T07:27:00.001-07:00

If Luverboy looked like this all the time he'd be a Pumi.

In your face

2008-01-19T07:21:00.001-07:00

The Hellboyz were in fine spirits yesterday . Ginny tried to join in . That's a little play bow she's doing there and her little butt is wagging like crazy.

She managed to get their attention.

But the Puli puppies are more about hopping and speed. That's Luverboy jumping over Ginny. A game of Corgi leap frog wasn't Gin's idea of a good time so she went back to barking at the Boyz.

Why we call them Herding Dogs II

2008-01-17T07:24:00.000-07:00

Under Ginnys' watchful eye the hellboyz are kept in line.

Well, as straight a line as any Puli takes. Straight lines are not in the Puli lexicon.

Unlike Jinks, Ginny makes this a non-contact sport.

If you didn't know they were Pulik you'd swear she was pushing a couple of sheep down the drive.

Snowshoe

2008-01-16T07:14:00.001-07:00

Yesterday the sun was out in the afternoon. The snow was a sugary powder so I decided to take a little snowshoe walk out in the meadow.

Luverboy was the only one who wanted to come with me. He seemed to enjoy it.

The elk were there in the night. As you can see elk tracks in the snow are quite different than deer tracks. They sashay through the snow instead of dragging their hooves.

Here are a couple of elk sitzmarks where they spent the night.

These are tracks with an elk moving slightly faster. That's about an 8 foot stride.

Luverboy's stride is considerably shorter. He finally decided to catch up to me.

So that I could break trail for him.

Ginny looked like she'd been having her own brand of fun while we'd been out on our walk.

Day in the life

2008-01-15T07:37:00.001-07:00

Anticipate the best.

Roll at dawn.

Keep the troops moving.

Havean

after lunch

jog.

Remind your brother

Exactly

who

is

the bigger

puppy

by thwacking him into a snow bank.

Remind him again.

Kiss and make up.

Chill after a long day at the office.

Cold dawn

2008-01-14T07:43:00.001-07:00

The snow isn't quite squeaky squeak this morning- it's more of a squeaky crunch.

Dreads

2008-01-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

The sun came out yesterday afternoon and was welcomed by all.

Doin' the Corgi hop

2008-01-14T07:33:00.001-07:00

Even when I've plowed the drive sometimes Ginny likes to go straight through the new snow
Then when she gets to the plowed part it's as if she's still in 4rth gear careening into the parking lot and she needs to put on the brakes.

With a low center of gravity this technique works fairly well.

Rollin' rollin' rollin'

2008-01-11T08:01:00.001-07:00

I'm guessing that Ginny never got a chance to roll in her cage at the puppy mill. She's certainly making up for it now.

I can't wait for mud season.

Bearded Puli

2008-01-11T08:00:00.001-07:00

herding pulik

2008-01-11T07:55:00.001-07:00

With Jinks gone the walk up the drive is a little different. The Puli brothers still play endlessly but now their play is supervised and directed.

Directed by Ginny the barkaholic.

She keeps running around them and barking pushing them up the drive.

Deer Tracks

2008-01-10T09:59:00.001-07:00

Deer only hop when they have to in fresh snow they drag their hooves and leave little parallel ski tracks like these.

Puli paw prints and deer tracks. Here's a little track primer for those who want to test their skills.

Dawn after a snow

2008-01-10T09:57:00.001-07:00

Ring around the Pulik

2008-01-10T09:54:00.000-07:00

This is actually both BB and Luverboy head to head. They've made themselves into a finger puzzle.

How deep?

2008-01-08T15:29:00.001-07:00

I've spent the last two days plowing and shoveling. It's not that much snow until you look at the length of the driveway. The deck gets all the snow from the roof as well so that's a bit of a workout. In the winter of 96-97 we had so much snow the sagebrush was completely covered.

We can only hope for that kind of winter again. Snow means moisture and water is life out here in the West. It takes 10" of snow to equal an inch of water on average. The soil is hard clay and only slow melting snow can seep into the earth. That makes it great for growing things like potatoes and root vegetables which drink up the wet clay slowly. We're lucky to have 15" of water a year.

front to back

2008-01-08T15:27:00.001-07:00

dawn and a walk

2008-01-08T07:14:00.001-07:00

Yesterday morning was relatively warm. This normally means more snow in the near future.

Ginny giving me a little incentive to move up the drive faster....

She's looking back at me all the time now.

The Hellboyz are still roaring along although the dynamic has changed a little with them also. BB is more assertive with Luverboy- and when he gets too assertive Ginny steps in and tells him to shut up in short order. She's known a lot of puppies in her life and she's not takin' guff from any of them no matter how much hair they've got.

Duck Frise

2008-01-08T07:09:00.000-07:00

Fluffy Pulik

2008-01-06T09:22:00.001-07:00

This is the deepest snow BB and Luverboy have seen. As you can see Ginny is letting them break trail for her.

It hasn't changed a thing.

Corgi snowplow

2008-01-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

We had a little snow this morning.

Ginny promptly gave it a test roll.

It's nice light fluffy powder- about 12".

For the walk up the drive she decided that following in the plow's tracks was easiest.

Snow eater

2008-01-03T13:27:00.001-07:00

Dance of the Pulik

2008-01-03T13:25:00.001-07:00