It's been a long time since I posted to the blog. My husband and I continue to go through some big and little transitions in our life with our family and with our business. As we are going through these life changes and some losses it really brings home the awareness of taking time to just enjoy the simple things in our life of which there are many. With 30 years of marriage under our belts we are really in a good place right now and this is due to the life we have created together. Our theme in the last few years has really centered around simplicity and working to achieve that in our life. We have all we need, we don't want a lot, and we have each other, some wonderful friends, and 5 GREAT dogs (and a kitty) who all help to keep us grounded as they age along with us. We are truly blessed and grateful.
We hadn't been out to Moss Lake in Carnation in a long time. Dave decided we needed a stay-cation so we broke from our usual routine to do something different. It turned out to be a great idea!
We actually saw this cute sign as we were driving around Lake Joy and it was very apropos for our outing that day.
Jenny is our oldest kiddo and she is in the 15-16 year range now. She is nearly blind and her hearing is shot but she still never wants to be left behind when there is a walk involved. Here she is saying "let's go mama".
I don't know what this plant is but I loved the veins in the leaves and also the shape of the leaves.
A bit of a cloudy day at Moss Lake but that was fine we had the whole place to ourselves!
Skip is now in the 13 year range and he still loves to go for his walks although he is slowing down some in his day to day life.
I startled Birdie a little when I took her photo, she is deaf and had been in her own world eating some grass so she didn't realize I was right there. Birdie is now in the 9 year range!
Liza on the left is 12 now, it is so hard to believe that our fur kiddos are all moving up in age.
Treat time, Timken who is the youngest at 3 1/2 years is making sure he gets his treat, lol
Jenny just stands on dad's foot making sure he doesn't forget her in the treat department. He didn't.
Blurry photo of Liza-Bear, she is always moving and grooving so this is the best I could do :) We're just getting started so stay tuned for more of our fun day.
Happy New Year! This post is a little tardy but comes with the same good wishes for a wonderful 2016 to everyone. Life happened in our world last year and 2015 was one of those years that had a lot of changes for our family. These changes kept Dave and I plenty busy and I wasn't able to do a lot of fostering or blogging. Thankfully I was able to keep up with the other volunteering I do for New Rattitude.
Last year we fostered Tesla and Kia, two fun and adorable girls who both got great adoptive homes!
Tesla now Nova has a fur sister named Ella Bella (Nova is brown and white). Look at how these two sisters love each other. You can see them and their antics on Ella Bella's Facebook page here
Here are Nova and her sister being silly terrier sisters. We are so happy for them to have each other.
Here is Kia with her furbrother Oso out having a blast with their moms. Kia has grown so much! Not such a puppy girl anymore.
Kia's moms report that both dogs get to sleep in the bed with them and they are one happy family.
Our wonderful volunteer and adopter Darin Eng Suthapong put together a wonderful end of the year video showcasing all the Ratties that were adopted in 2015. Hope you enjoy it! Northwest Adopted Ratties 2105
After we let the dogs check out the reservoir on the lookout stump it was time to continue our walk.
Come on mom let's go!
The trees here were "pruned" last year. Hold that thought.
We decided to do some recall games next. There is a nice long stretch
with no potholes or anything dangerous for them to get hurt on when
running fast between mom and dad. Dad walked way up and then it was time
for recall fun! This game is one we try to play on every off leash walk
we do together. There are no distractions and it is great fun for the
dogs. You will notice Jenny or Birdie don't think they need the
practice, but Tim, Skip, and Liza say weeeeeeee........ let's get some
treats!
After a few recall passes and the dogs were getting tired from running we continued our walk and came upon this scene.
Oh no, a lot had happened since we had been here last just a couple of
weeks ago. The road we were walking on was all muddy, there were bare spots with stumps where lush trees and underbrush had been, and we were pretty
sure what was to come...
I sure hope they come back at least and get the logs they left behind, can you count the rings to see how old this tree was? It is pretty hard to do they get closer and closer together toward the outer edge.
As we continued I wondered what was up around the bend, I had a feeling something would be very different.
Oh boy, the road was all muddy and there was MUCH more light coming through than I knew was supposed to be there.
Dave was now walking by a bulldozer with a grappling hook on the back, this wasn't good.
As I turned the corner and saw what was before me my stomach dropped. This area that is now "pruned" was the very first place we ever went chanterelle hunting. A friend had guided us all through the woods up and over logs and it had been a very memorable experience. As I took this all in I wondered how long it will take for the forest to grow to the point where it could sustain chanterelles again and all the other living things that had a home here.
The area we walk is the Sultan Watershed and it occurs to us that these trees and forests must be very important to purifying the water that runs from the hills into the reservoir, they also were great earth stabilizers and we really wished selective cutting would have been used instead of clear-cut.
On a lighter note the dogs weren't phased by this at all! In fact all this mud and earth that had been turned up made an old familiar place into a whole new environment for them. They had lots of things to sniff and pee on and also to climb on.
Jenny doesn't mind the mud at all.
Skip getting a sniff from a high point.
Tim was not wanting to hold still for mom to take his picture of his muddy paws, poor guy.
My shoes were getting stuck in the mud so we decided to just turn back. Normally we do a loop but we will have to wait for everything to be cleaned up and the road to be leveled and re-rocked before we can do our loop again.
As we headed back the way we came I decided I needed some more beautiful photos to finish up this blog post. I didn't want it end it on a depressing note. I just hope they aren't planning on pruning the whole area...
When we stopped to see what Birdie had been interested in we noticed she hardly had dirty paws at all! She must have been much more careful about where she was stepping than the other dogs and who's surprised? lol
And thankfully there still are some places where the chanterelles can thrive, we did find quite a few as we walked along.
I managed to get a picture of the crew, not a great one but it will do. L-R Skip, Jenny, Liza, Birdie, Tim
Here's a couple of cute videos of Jenny motoring along. Remember she is at least 15 years old and yet she motors along with a spring in her step! Ratties never get old.
As you might recall we did a lot of initial work with Tim around being off leash, here are a few of blog posts about how we prepared him for this privilege.
Well Tim continues to do his "check in" when we are on our walks. He doesn't get a treat each time but he does get a treat when he least expects it and this behavior is something that has stuck with him for over a year!
In this video I just happen to catch him doing a routine check in, what a good boy!
I will end this post with a soothing photo of the reservoir. Such a magical place this is, I hope it continues to stay that way as much as possible.
The Pacific Northwest is known for our rain but this last summer we had record breaking lack of rain. There are many reasons this is not a good thing but one benefit was that all summer long when we wanted to take the dogs for a walk on our trails in Sultan we were always assured we would not have any puddles or wet areas to maneuver. Birdie especially loved that as she is not a fan of getting her paws wet.
We are now well into Autumn and the rains have arrived, and they seem to be making up for lost time. We have even spotted snow on the high peaks, a good thing if this trend keeps on into winter. We need our snow pack badly.
The other day we headed out for a long walk and what we came across was the old familiar puddles and ponds on our trail. But the dogs needed to get out and so did we, so we went for it. Most of our walk was heavenly as usual, with a twist, but that is for Part 2 of this story.
Jenny-Boo and Birdie. Jenny could care less about any of the water or mud, she is always up for motoring, Birdie is looking at me like "mom why I am going to get my paws wet when there is a perfectly warm and cuddly crate awaiting me back at the car?"
Liza-Bear says "Giddy-up everyone there are so many birds waiting to be flushed out I just KNOW it!"
Tim says "I am really excited to be on this walk but I will try to keep my paws dry just a little longer".
Jenny says "My mom and dad don't call me 'Land Bruiser' for nothing, let's do this thing!"
Skip who normally doesn't care about his paws getting wet was going to try to mimic Tim and stay on the edge to keep them dry.
After a long wait Birdie actually decided to go for it.
Pretty reflections in the puddles...
Dave likes to keep the side streams cleared out so the trail doesn't get completely flooded, there was too much to do this time but he had to just play in the water one time for good measure.
This whole area was completely dry just a couple of weeks ago.
Tim was having a blast and he knows this trail really well. This is where we turn off to cross the stream and go up the other side.
Skip crossing the stream and now he is getting into it.
Jenny and Tim go across without a problem
Heading up the little hill and again Tim knows exactly where to go and he is so excited to be on a little hike.
Birdie decided she is going to enjoy the exercise, her warm crate awaits her when she returns, it's all good.
Lots of water in the Sultan reservoir, this pond had gotten really really low over the summer, lower than we have ever seen.
I decided to film turning down the little side trail in hopes of getting the dogs on video running to their favorite lookout stump. They didn't disappoint me, Liza is always in her element when there is water and maybe some sort of bird that *might* be involved. The other dogs check out the lookout stump too.
Liza is everyone's favorite Min-Pin, she is definitely a Min-Pin in temperament, not a Rattie, but she is a very cool Min-Pin, we just love this girl.
I got a great shot of Miss Birdie's watercolor ears. She has the prettiest ears I have ever seen.
Liza is sure she will see a duck or something if she just watches long enough :)
Part 2 will see some changes, and some changes aren't always welcome. Stay tuned for what we saw next.
