Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Happy Birthday "I" Litter

It is with great pleasure that I announce the 8th birthday of Kimberlite's "I" litter. My own sweet Callie is among that gang and is a good enough reason for me to go an get some more cake. With all these birthdays this month - human and canine, well - it's a good thing that there is lycra in jeans these days.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Dexter

Here are a couple of pictures of "Dexter". He turned 1 year old this month (he's from the Q litter). If you go back you can find him in earlier blog posts - he was Mr. Gold. Dexter is out of Joey and Sparkle. What a handsome boy and apparantly a big suck too.









Happy Birthday N Litter

OK - I'm getting fatter with all these birthdays and my throat is getting sore from singing the song. But one more time...Happy Birthday to N litter - today you are 6 years old.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Happy Birthday O Litter

Another birthday at Kimberlite - today is the 5th birthday of my "O" litter. They are Sparkle, Ophie, Lacey, Frankie, Jones, Roman and Guinness. Bum rubs to you all!

Friday, April 23, 2010

Happy Birthday F Litter

10 years ago today my Four by Four litter came into this world. 8 beautiful pups - 4 boys and 4 girls. Included in that pile of love was my own darling Paliwags and our sweet blue eyed boy Apollo.

Happy Birthday to Kimberlite's F litter! Apollo will be getting extra special belly rubs and a cake tonight!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

And Then I Was Distracted

By this hole in the ground. I have no idea what lives here - but I put my camera down and took some photos.







Geese - On Their Journey North

Out and About on this fine spring evening. The Canada Geese and Snow Geese are resting in the fields before their journey north. I tried to get a few pictures.
















Monday, April 19, 2010

Fabulous Weekend in Edmonton

What a fabulous weekend I had in Edmonton. I attended the 100th anniversary of the Edmonton Kennel Club with Lola. Lola did exceptionally well at this show. She earned 3 points on Friday winning Best of Winners and Best of Opposite Sex; 2 points on Saturday earning Winner's Female and Best of Opposite Sex; 2 points on Sunday earning Best of Winners. So, she is now sitting on 9 points and only requires 1 more to complete her Canadian championship.

Additionally, my good friends Lynne and Paul finished their lovely boy, Boz on Saturday when he earned Best of Winner's for 3 points.

The weather was exceptional - I earned a sunburn on Saturday afternoon while I lolled around on Paul and Lynne's deck - jumping in and out of the hot tub at my leisure. Now - that is the way to attend a dog show! Thank you Paul and Lynne for being such super hosts and offering me a great place to stay. Lola had a wonderful time playing with her cousins - even though Chloe was guarding all her toys.

I got home around 5 pm on Sunday to see my niece Jenny. She is on her turnaround from her contract nursing, so we had another fabulous evening of great food, wine and company.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Q Litter Turns 1 Year Old

Happy Birthday Q litter - the 3 boys turn 1 year old - Petey, Dexter and Bear. Q litter is out of Joey and Sparkle.

Mom's 80th Birthday Bash

I flew to Ontario this past weekend to celebrate my mom's 80th birthday. Flew out on Friday, April 9th and just before that big stinking storm hit Saskatoon full blast. The flight was late taking off - had to de-ice the plane and sat on the tarmac for about 45 minutes - being buffeted around by the wind, but, the take-off went smooth (I think that wind pushed us into the sky).



My sister picked me up at Pearson. My mother did not know I was coming - as well she did not know that her grandson, Gord was also coming (he lives in Fernie). Gord had arrived before me, and was already at the farm. When I arrived my mom was out in the barn so when she came back into the house, I was just sitting quietly on the couch and waited until she noticed me. It was a nice surprise! We celebrated her birthday that evening (just family) because we also had a surprise party planned for Saturday. My sister blew it though - she started talking about the party spilled the beans. She could have crawled under a rock.

The following morning - my sister told me mom there really was no other party and I guess she believed her. I was assigned the task of getting mom out of the house for a couple of hours so they could prepare. So, my mom and I went shopping at the lovely dress store in Mount Forrest. I got these rocking sparkly jeans, a coral cotton knitted top, and black dress pants. Then to try and kill more time, we drove to Shelburn. I arrived back at the farm at 1 pm - walked into the house and was almost killed by the "glare" my sister shot at me. "Don't you know how to tell time?" she barked. "I told you to bring her back at 2 p.m. - the guests are not arriving until 1:30 pm!"


So, I grabbed my mom and hauled her back into the car and told her we had to go. She is giggling like a school girl because now she knows that there is a party. We tour Dundalk (wow - what fun) and then my sister calls me on my cell phone around 1:30 and tells me I can come home. Now - my mom was surprised because she did not expect all those people - she thought it was just going to be the girls from the barn. It was a great party!



On Sunday, we toured a small retirement community called "Sandy Cove" that sits just off of Lake Simcoe. My sister is looking to a buy a home there. It's a cute little "village" that caters to seniors. That evening my sister drove me back to Toronto - I had a room at the Sheraton at the Airport. We had a wonderful meal at the hotel and then Darlene went home. I had a lovely king-sized room at the hotel, and in the morning simply walked out the door, got on a little shuttle train that took me to Terminal 1. I highly recommend this hotel for the convenience of being right at the airport and not having to worry about finding a shuttle. You can print out your boarding pass the night before. The hotel is sound proof and you don't hear a thing - plus the rooms are very nice.

I got through security at Pearson with no difficulties - unlike when I came was Saskatoon and went through security. They had me put my hands in my pockets and bring them out slowly - palms up. Then they swabbed my palms and checked to see if I had been making explosives. I guess I have that "look". I had a 3 hour layover in Winnipeg, so I spent that time in the Palister Lounge. It costs 15 dollars to go into the lounge, but, it is worth it. The lounge is quiet with lovely leather furniture (very comfortable). Free snacks and beverages. Tvs - magazines, washrooms, and two rooms with computers so you can check your email and surf the web. It also has wireless highspeed if you have your own laptop. You can fall asleep without worry about missing your flight, as the attendant will come a wake you up. It sure makes layovers much more tolerable.

It was a surprise to see all the snow back here in Saskatoon - huge drifts all around the yard. So back to reality again and the daily grind.


Thursday, April 8, 2010

Washed and Fluffed

I can always count on Michelle to send me the greatest pictures. Here is Boomer being washed and then fluffed. He's so handsome.


Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Cool Parents


My dad turned 82 last week and my mom turns 80 this week. Look at how cool they were in their teens. James Dean...eat your heart out.

Eben


I received wonderful news last night. Ch. Kimberlite's Lord Eben won Best Veteran in Sweeps at the 2010 Canadian National. He was shown by his equally awesome owner Susan Abramski and the judges was Krista Johnson (Meadowoods Bernese). What a thrill! Susan and Eben have also done some other great things - a direct quote from Susan:



"He and I got his required 3 legs of his RN in 3 shows. On the last
show his score was perfect – 100!! ... put his first CD leg on at the
specialty with a score of 185 or 185 ½, I can’t’ find the sheet right now, and
it was the 2nd highest score in novice B."


Eben is from my "L" litter and is the son of Dylan and Pal. Congratulations Susan and Eben!