Today is Aoife’s 10th Birthday… As is her tradition, Aoife went shopping for her own birthday present. She marched into Mill & Feed with her monkey in tow. Clearly she owned the place. There were two woman looking at stuffed toys in a wire bin. Aoife rushed up and pushed her way in between them, […]
85A09034-E1A2-49A4-9DEA-02AB87C93C3F My Pack is really on slow-mo today… I stayed home again today, as simple exhaustion has set in after one of the worst weekends in memory. I am not meaning to complain, as it could have been a whole lot worse. Still it grieves me that this gorgeous darling bitch will never […]
Sadly, my intuition had been spot on… Nollaig was not growing puppies, but rather a deadly Pyometra. No words to convey my relief, and disappointment. In the words of a dear friend… “Wow you are lucky. And unlucky.”
Here is proud Papa… ready to help put together our whelping nest. ~~~ Honestly, I am still not certain we are expecting. Mama has been fussy about her food, and acting a bit different. But her body remains svelte. Although I am preparing, I am not yet expecting. Having once lost a litter pending whelp, […]
Grateful to have the ear of several respected breeders from the KBT community, I have had the opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of several worthy studs for Nollaig. I have learned a lot from the process. After much research and consideration, I have settled upon breeding Nollaig with my very own Stirling O’Hanluan. […]
Honestly, I spent my last dime to get to the Kerry Blue Terrier Club of Chicago Specialty in hopes of finishing Nollaig. And once again I am reminded to dream big, as dreams do come true. Nollaig finished her AKC Championship with a 5-Point Major at the Independent Specialty and earned a 5-Point […]
Dog fancy has pulled me out of the comfort zone called home to visit several regions of the country to connect for breed competition. It has been my pleasure, for every place we have gone we have received a warm welcome. From my observation, I have got to say the Kerry community is quite […]
Competitive by nature, I play to win. But the win is only as sweet as the imposing challenge. This weekend Stirling did well at the specialty hosted by the Kerry Blue Terrier Club of Chicago held in St.Charles, Illinois. This was good. But what made it great for us was respect for our competition. I […]
when we see in terms of us & them; we only see half of it eyes without vision are blind when we are intolerant of them, we are a bigoted us when we hate them, we hate us when we kill them, we kill us there is no us without them our us & them […]
Standing on the travel crate that served as our grooming table, Stirling casually yawned as we stood ringside waiting for the Best In Show competition on the last day of the Fairbank’s cluster. Sasha, a kerry-man and acquaintance we see annually at this show, asked in a hushed tone whether we might ought to work […]
10,000+ feet above earth en route from Alaska to Maine; when an epiphany struck. I am a big fan of the a-ha’s of life. Perhaps I should not have been surprised that Rebecca Brandon came to mind as I was flying over the clouds… After all, she is now of the […]
Being my sister’s birthday, July 25th has always been a memorable date. But on that date of this particular year one of my dreams came true… The whole experience is sort-of-a blur to me now, and even at the time it had a surreal feel. But I still have tiny bruises from pinching myself so many […]
So many qualities to love about our dogs; and, two of my favorites are their in-the-moment consciousness and their resilience. You can learn a lot from a dog when you quiet your thinker, watch, and take it to heart. Obviously mental health leads physical health, at least quite a bit of the time. Aoife […]
Just last weekend we were celebrating our Best In Show win. There has not even been time enough to write about that, and now already we are swallowing the grave reality of losing an unborn litter of puppies… Who pushed me off Cloud-9? …Life-it’s-own-self, of course. Again I ask, please do not question […]
Jasper found a varmint hole. Curious about the critter inside, he started to dig deeper… and deeper… Until finally he was quite satisfied with what he had done. Aoife took a closer look. Being one sharp smeller, Aoife […]
The All-Breed Dog Show held in Soldotna was a bit of a disappointment this year, as there seemed to be an inordinate number of professional handlers. The competition was tough, and it felt grand to be awarded the Terrier Group 4 the first two days. The third and last day was a total […]
The access trail to Thunderbird Falls is pretty short – perhaps one mile long. And it is pretty easy with the gain in elevation at perhaps 100 feet. But the falls are big with a 200 foot drop. There is a collateral trail that leads down to Thunder Bird Stream. We found some good […]
Now I am kicking myself for not having blogged regularly over the past few months. But honestly I did not want to sound negative or overwhelmed, which is sometimes how I felt. …So today I will lay out the synopsis. Months ago I spent weeks – sometimes frustrating weeks – presenting proposals […]
Independent Specialties June 19th-21st, 2015 ~~ The Queen Mary Events Park Long Beach, California Our Show Holiday was really fun!! …From an unexpected upgrade to first class, the perfect venue, unique accommodations on the Queen Mary, and especially the opportunity to meet a whole new group of Kerry fanciers. Yup! Fantastic!! I […]
What strikes me most about the death of our loved ones, is that nothing prepares us for that moment. Nothing. …Not the knowledge that death is pending. …Not watching our loved one’s courageous journey through those later days. …Not even that peaceful resignation […]
life is fragile & robust …a miracle eludes our mind life’s form separates …do not overlook this our souls entwine give me your hand …but loosen your hold eternity awaits our sure decline forever the birds will sing …in time a tribute to our grand ‘ole lady of dogs […]
Quick Report on our first day… As tends to be the case, the rumors of yesterday were found to be only partly true today. The players are not exactly as had been thought they might be. So instead of “Bruce”, we have “Stone”. And today there was a […]
So we are off to Purina Farms, our first time out as a special with KBT competition. We will be joining Lois Grier of Krisma Kerries, who is a top notch breeder-owner-handler exhibiting two outstanding specials from what I believe to be her best-ever litter; that would be Xcstasy and her brother, the audacious […]
Wow! What a weekend… Today we scored another Terrier Group 1 under Judge Houston Clark, and the Owner Handler Terrier Group 1 & Owner Handler Best In Show under Judge Loraine Boutwell. This is simply amazing! We had very worthy competition and I am sure every entry was deserving. This showing thing is going to […]
My little man is wiped out again! A tired terrier is a good terrier, so our hotel room is still and peaceful …for now. For this I am thankful. Stirling is the son of his mother CH Beltane’s Kiss for Luck bred by Jana Deaton, and his sire GCH Krisma’s Plenty of Panache bred […]
You won’t see this very often… Yesterday we got up before… well, I was going to say before the break of dawn. But this is the land of the midnight sun, so dawn and dusk are largely indistinguishable at this time of year. That being the case, I will simply say we got up […]
New England was the place to be for snow this year. The folks back home in Maine got hammered. Our winter in Anchorage was perhaps the mildest on record. Snow was in scarcity, though we had frozen ground and more than our share of ice. Being a big fan of snow, this was a bit […]
In the words of Stephen Covey, "Strengths lie in differences, not in similarities." …But the recognition of an inherent similarity may better prepare us to appreciate our differences.
You may recall the story behind this cleverly constructed homeless shelter. But if not, you can reference back to my post More Questions Than Answers… This is the time of year when everyone winterizes their humble abode, and obviously this place has been no exception. It looks quite tight, and the warmer […]
The ride to Seward is 127 miles of gorgeous and the final destination is nothing short of divine. My friend has a comfy cabin tucked away on a wooded lot very close to the beach and mountains that border Resurrection Bay. So together we had a weekend to explore paradise… The Beach at […]
The Kerries delighted in the freshly fallen snow, dashing to and fro with noses snooting down to the roots of the brush that poked out through it. First real snowfall in Anchorage landed in 33 degrees, so it was a […]
“One is like none. Two are like ten…” Many years ago my sister said this of children. But did I follow her advice? Absolutely not. I had the second child, and all was well with the world. Two felt like little more than two. Now I cannot speak for others, as all children […]
While in an attempt to share some common ground with a friend who aspires to be a published writer; I divulged that though I absolutely love to write, I am not much of a reader. From there I learned from him there is protocol for such things. I was informed that all successful writers […]
The mornings are getting colder, so ‘ole Jack threw down a delicate crystal design on my windshield. It is dark on the way into work now, so the light shining onto the windshield made the frost glisten and dance. My morning eyes would much rather gaze at the frost pattern than the road beyond… During […]
It is amazing how much beauty can be found in the simple little things. Aoife is loving life on the throne, being queen of all she sees… Stirling wonders how anyone can live without a daily dog walk. …For him there is no greater joy. …For me […]
What surprises me most is the change in leaf carriage on the trees in the difference of a single day. This morning we are waking up to 18 degrees. …At this rate we will be snow within a week or two at most.
My method is to keep a few random-shots on hand for the purpose of adding illustration to random posts if I am so inspired to write. But these photos will soon be out of season…
A few weeks back while I was playing with the Kerries in a small high field at the edge of our neighborhood, a disinterested man tore by us on his bicycle. What made that all the more odd was that he disappeared down over the far hill that led to the marsh. Knowing the […]
The first snow capped the tops of our higher peaks this afternoon. From there it will gradually move down the mountains and eventually pile up at our doors & windows, and roof – if we are lucky! When this swamp freezes over a whole new trail network of adventure will open up to the pack. We will have […]
…for soon there will be darkness, and then snow. But no one will ever hear us complain about it. …Some of our best memories have been made in sub-zero. As for today, the Kerries enjoy the sun.
I am not planning to say anything particularly intelligent about Fungi. I will leave that to the experts: http://fantasticfungi.com We see a bunch of mushrooms on our daily dog walk, and I have observed that they do not seem to last long once they reach their prime. In fact within a day of prime they can […]
I get a kick out of the fungi. That may be an odd thing to say, but these guys are everywhere. And they come in so many different shapes and sizes, not to mention textures and colors. They can be quite remarkable. The Kerries have gotten pretty good at standing by while […]
