Musings on a Sunday morning…

…might be more like Sunday afternoon before this gets posted.

It’s been more than a week since the last blog entry. Sometimes I just need to cut myself some slack. There’s plenty of ideas saved in my @blog folder. I’ll visit that at some point today and schedule things. But, for now I’m going to write a little.

This is the Year of Images, Backroads, Backyards and Training. I haven’t taken a photo in over 2 weeks. There’s only one road – I-70 -that leads to the dog shows in Eagle. My backyard remains full of slash. Edie’s currently a class dropout. Sometimes I just need to cut myself some slack.

Life does feel like it’s slowed down a little, in spite of working five days most weeks. That’s exactly what I wanted with the Year of Images, Backroads, Backyards and Training. The slowing down, not necessarily working five days a week. Perception? Perhaps. As corny as this sounds, FlyLady has helped. Morning routine. Afternoon routine. Before bed routine. And her Eleven Commandments. I still haven’t figured out how to seamlessly work in daily computer time. (Which may be one reason I always felt behind! Giving higher priority to the computer than the simple pleasures in life – like place mats and candles at dinner. Or taking 5 minutes to sit down with a drink after work.)

For the first time in years I won’t be attending the Twin Cities Lhasa Apso Club’s Specialty weekend. And, hopefully, I’ll need Plan B for the Lhasa Apso Club of Central Colorado’s Specialty weekend. Why? Puppies! Puppies! Chandra’s ultrasound Thursday showed at least three puppies. Khamma is the sire. Here’s the pedigree of the expected puppies.

Nagpo has also been bred to Khamma. She’ll be ultrasounded the second week in August. I’m hopeful for similar results likes Chandra’s. Here’s that pedigree.

These two breedings represent the work that’s been put into continuing the Gompa dog lineage. Those of you that have followed this know that it hasn’t been easy. In the spring of 2007 I enlisted the help of reproductive specialist Dr. Milan Hess. These two breedings are the result of diligent work with Dr. Hess, first introducing an outcross – Keeper – Kai-La-Sha Keepsake -to determine if the bitches could carry a litter full-term. Those bitches were Chandra, Nagpo and Ponya. Ponya was too old to breed again, but fortunately she produced Margo (along with Dawa). Chandra produced Akasa and Sky (along with Kipu and Karma). Nagpo produced Siku, Whisper and Echo. Since Nagpo and Chandra produced nice puppies with Keeper, the next step was to breed them to a (100%) Gompa. Keep your fingers crossed!!! Those puppies will have Tibetan names for patience, persistence, tenacity…you get the idea!

I don’t want to jinx the third breeding by writing about it. I haven’t allowed myself to put together a pedigree. For now, I’ll simply say if it too is successful I’ll be whelping two litters the weekend of the LACCC Specialty shows. That trumps a dog show, including a Specialty. Oh, and Chandra’s due date is August 21 – 23, the weekend of the TCLAC Specialty.

The  Year of Images, Backroads, Backyards and Training. Since I’m cutting myself slack…

My images are now easily accessible and I was able to put together the above pedigree pages with relative ease.

I do take backroads if possible. I love backroads! Last week, after making the I-70 drive home Sunday afternoon (with record traffic recorded the two previous weekends) from the Eagle shows Vickie and I took time for burgers and beer (or a Bloody Mary) at the bar across the street from my shop. And we did take a backroad into Evergreen.

My perennial garden, neglected last year, far from perfect this year, has rewarded my clean-up efforts with blooms. Rather than a vegetable garden, there’s a vegetable table on the deck where tomatoes are growing on the two tomato plants among the lettuce, radishes and cilantro. The herbs in the window box are large and lush. Geraniums, Cosmos and a water fountain beckon me to stop and smell the…well, there are no roses. I smell the fresh mountain air instead.

Edie has made the transition from kennel dog to house dog. Ultrasound results will determine when she starts back up with agility. She can do the A-frame, the dogwalk, a short tunnel and her favorite the jumps. Elliot doggedly continues agility. Keeper started Family Dog yesterday. Zen was suppose to be in that class but came into heat. With the females coming in and out of heat the past several weeks, Keeper seemed like a good choice. He needs focus work and lead work. I was pleasantly surprised with his participation in class. He took dc (doggie crack) from me and Ana.

Indeed it is now Sunday afternoon. Time to step away from the computer and take some photos. Or put some photos in an album. Or read a book. Or spend some time in the garden. After all, according to FlyLady, today is Renew Your Spirit day.

The Writer’s Almanac

Be well, do good work, and…I cannot write the rest because it’s registered to American Public Media‘s The Writer’s Almanac. I love this podcast, hosted by Garrison Keller. A five minute podcast every day of the year, he shares ‘on this day’ and ‘it’s the birthday of’. Each podcast ends with a poem.  You can also read it online. A nice way to start my day, I enjoy the episodes on my drive to work.