The Corgi Chronicles

2012-01-04T19:52:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone!! This is for our Secret Corgi Santa-- we have not forgotten you! :) The day after Christmas Finn and I suffered a bit of a setback-- I got the flu and right as I got really sick, and wanted to watch Netflix in bed and finish my graduate school applications, my hard drive completely failed and I lost everything. It was bad. I just got the computer back, and am almost flu-free, so photos are coming! fear not.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2011-12-24T18:49:00.001-08:00

We wish you a very merry Christmas!!!!

We hope you all are warm, cozy, happy and safe this holiday! And a special thanks to our Secret Santa, we got both of your packages and they are tucked under the tree, can't wait to open them!

And to our friends over at Not a Leaf, Aparna and Gryff, we know you opened your gifts early so we are allowed to reveal ourselves, hope you love them!!

p.s. best hat ever, right?

bellyup!

2011-12-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

love is corgi shaped

Since last we spoke...

2011-12-01T15:52:00.001-08:00

Since last we spoke, corgi comrades, I have been going going going, and I never got to wish you all a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I hope you all were warm and cozy, surrounded by that you love the most. Finn, my family and I all headed up to my Aunt's house and had a great time.

I looked through my phone for some cute photos, and I realized that while I haven't been getting much sleep lately, Finn has, and she is still the cutest sleeper I know! So here are all my most recent photos of sleeping Finn, with a few from the rest of my life scattered in: (oops, newest at the bottom, sorry!)

Mom and Finn, watching Bones together :)

I'm my best friend's Maid of Honor! Vintage glassware inspirate:

Snooooore. Finn snores! Do your corgis? I like to tuck her in at night :)

I stripped, sanded and painted a great old vintage dresser with my Dad and boyfriend! I LOVE the three tiny drawers at the top. Didn't it come out cute??

Andrew and Finn...Do you think she likes him?? Look at that belly!

Up close. "Yessssss?"

It's been oddly foggy lately in San Francisco! Sunlight in the morning, burning it out of the inner sunset, looking through Golden Gate Park

I'm studying these days again. Finn commiserates:

Thanksgiving! Peel de potatoes

Our first Thanksgiving out of the Navy!! YAY!

Happy fall faces! Love this one :D

Look, Mom! No paws!!

2011-11-08T07:00:00.000-08:00

why, hello there...

Love: the story of a 130 year old tortoise and a baby hippo

2011-11-06T14:50:00.000-08:00

Have you all heard this story? It's been reported on NPR and international news agencies, but today is the first I've ever heard of it-- It's the story of a baby hippo named Owen that was rescued from the Indian Ocean in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, and bonded with Mzee, a 130 year old huge tortoise at a sanctuary in Africa! It is wonderful. You'll love it! Here is link to the story, which is a little document from NPR that was made for the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival. Here is the intro and a few photos from that story:

December 26th, 2004 started off as a normal, quiet day. My son Joshua and I were out for a morning walk along the beach in front of my home when suddenly the sea began to race in. Within minutes the ocean became threatening. The tide had risen well beyond the high water mark. At that instant it became apparent the Tsunami that had started nearly 4,000 miles away far across the Indian Ocean would impact us as well. In less than 12 hours the Tsunami had ﬁnally reached the coast of Africa from its point of origin in Banda Aceh.

We ran from the beach back to my house where my sister and her children were waiting for us. They were all crying having just seen on television the haunting images of the devastating Indian Ocean Tsunami. Although we escaped the waves, a one year old hippopotamus 80 kilometers away was not as lucky.

Just before Christmas the unseasonably heavy rains near Malindi town washed a family of hippopotamuses down the Sabaki River and out to sea. The residents of the town tried in vain to urge the family back up the estuary. When the Tsunami hit Malindi, the sea turned angry, the sky clouded over and for a moment the hippos disappeared and were forgotten as all efforts went to rescuing the stranded ﬁshermen. The next day only one hippo could be seen. It was the baby and he was stranded on the reef. Hundreds of people came to watch the efforts to rescue the hippo. It took ropes, boats, nets and cars – though the hippo was tired he was still fast and slippery. It took a brave rugby tackle to ﬁnally
capture him, and the cheering of the crowd could be heard over a kilometer away.

Lafarge Eco Systems agreed to provide a home for the baby hippo and I rushed to Malindi to collect him. Tangled in ﬁshing ropes, angry and tired, the hippo did not seem to appreciate our rescue at all. As we left for Mombasa, the crowd unanimously agreed to name him ‘Owen’ in honor of the volunteer who tackled him to the ground. Exhausted, confused and extremely frightened, Owen immediately ran to the safety of a giant tortoise when we released him in Haller Park. Mzee, our 130 year old tortoise, just happened to be nearby and he was very surprised by Owen’s odd behavior cowering behind him as a baby hippo does to its mother.

Mzee quickly came to terms with his new friend and even returned signs of affection. The unusual relationship between this baby hippo and the ancient tortoise amazed people the
world over and has featured in most countries on television and in news papers.

Owen and Mzee continue to spend their days together in the pond, feeding and patrolling. Owen nudges Mzee to come for walks, and Mzee sometimes even follows Owen. Hundreds of people have witnessed this incredible spectacle ﬁrst hand at Haller Park which is open every day to the public. Owen will eventually be moved to a bigger pond in Haller Park were he can socialize with other hippos.

Dr. Paula Kahumbu
Chief Environmentalist, Haller Park
Mombasa, Kenya

Happy Halloween!!!

2011-10-28T06:00:00.000-07:00

Finn and I took some Halloween-themed photos with a friend of mine, and the result was a lot of fun, and a lot of treats for Finn! Here are some of the best ones:

Here she was making her piglet noises while trying to find treat crumbs that I had dropped by accident:

Happy Halloween!!!

oxoxo Sam and Finley

Corgi Clothes

2011-10-24T06:00:00.000-07:00

Are you dressing your corgi up for Halloween this year? If so, please share!! I won't be home on Halloween, so Finn is escaping un-costumed this year... which is too bad for me, but she won't miss it at all. So I want to vicariously enjoy the fun of goofy outfits and tubular shaped dogs in antennae. Finn and I did take some silly Halloween-y photos that I will post this weekend, though! Let's just say horn-rimmed classes look good on her :)

Which brings me to dog clothes-- do you use them? I always toy with getting Finn a sweater or something for the winter. She isn't so into clothes though.

Here she is in her Paws for a Cause t-shirt last summer at a fundraiser. Thrilled, no?

Also, notice the slightly shredded end of the wrapping paper tube in the foreground... heh. The Shredder at work!

Do you have a favorite dog bed?

2011-10-20T19:59:00.000-07:00

I am in the market for a new bed for Finn! Do you have any advice? What have you tried?

She really likes to sleep on the couch, but we are getting new ones, and it's not a great habit anyway. All the ones I have found in stores seem very meager when you actually put weight on them... a small amount of weight goes straight to through the fluff to the floor. I wish I could find a square of memory foam!

Does your Corgi sleep with you on your bed? What do they like to sleep on during the day? I feel for the little joints on a floor or rug and want to give her some nice cushion! Especially since Autumn is here.

I am apparently soft enough, though, which is very nice :)

Greetings: I think you're the best EVER. I love you.

2011-10-18T02:49:00.000-07:00

This is how I feel when I come home everyday. Finn runs, ears tucked back, smiling, through the house and rushes me at the door, so I almost can't come in. She wiggles and squeaks and jumps up, pushing off my legs with her two front feet, and then runs around and around me. It makes me happy no matter what kind of day I've had. Today was one of those times-- came in the door not feeling too hot, but 2 minutes later I was chatting happily to Finn while I put on my PJs. I felt a million times better. She's the best.

I need to work on a way to do this for humans!

Corgiwagon

2011-10-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

Smile for the camera! :D

It may be fall, but fall in the San Francisco Bay Area is summer! Woohoo! And Finley loves to be outside with us. Here she is at our favorite plant nursery, riding around in the radio flyer.

Hope you all are enjoying whatever fall has brought your way. Can't wait for halloween!

alive!

2011-08-10T20:20:00.000-07:00

I am alive! I am almost done with my summer job, and have some cute photos to post of when Finn came up and visited me, but until thennnn I found this on pinterest (my newest obsession! even though I am internetless 98% of the time)

Corgi sighting!

2011-07-08T17:00:00.001-07:00

I met a corgi today on my day off!! I walked into a Cafe and there he was.... It was great. He was a bit car sick from the car trip his people were on, but he let me take his photo. His owners said they had just adopted him from a rescue place, and that he's about five. Meet Corwin:

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Location:Main St,Groveland,United States

Summer

2011-07-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone is having a great summer!!! How are you and your corgis handling the heat?

I am running aquatics at a camp in Yosemite again for the summer and want to say hello. We just had a huge thunderstorm and now it's in the 80s again. Mountain weather is so sudden. Finn and my parents came up to visit for a day, to drop some stuff off and help a friend who got injured and had to head back the Bay Area for some medical attention. It was so great to see Finn, and my friend is doing just fine. I am still sweeping up Finn hair :) She loves all the mountain smells and always looks smaller than usual to me in the mountain setting.

There is a camp dog and a dog at the stables that I am going to take photos of and post for you all to see. Love to you and your corgs!! and have a wonderful, sparkler-filled fourth of July for me!

2011-06-07T14:44:00.001-07:00

I am up in the mountains again for the summer... Missing Finn and West and the cats. But I'll see them soon. I hope you all are having a wonderful June!! We've been having wet and cold weather, but today was sunny! Hopefully some heat is on the way. Camp needs to dry out :)

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Location:Robert T. Monagan Fwy,Tracy,United States

We are here!

2011-06-01T12:55:00.001-07:00

We are officially on our way to San Francisco today. We ll be there in a couple hours. I'm so excited!!! I cannot wait to run in the house and leap around with Finn while she does her happy greeting squeaks and jumps and bounds. I'm can't waittttt!! Yesterday we drove to my summer job in Yosemite, dropped off some stuff, did a few check ups on my departments equipment and then spent the night and are heading home now. The mountains have gotten a serious amount of snow-- something like 200% of normal, so all the waterfalls and our lake are just brimming. It was also really cold.
Half dome:

In my pjs still :) that's bridal veil falls in the background.

Bridal vail up close.

And el capitan!

We re driving through the central valley now and it is raining! As my dad said, he's never been here this time of year and not needed the air conditioner. I'd say the theme of this trip has definitely been weird and intense weather!!

Next post will be from home!!

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Location:Northside Dr,Yosemite National Park,United States

The Grand Canyon

2011-06-01T12:43:00.001-07:00

The day before yesterday, after driving through sand storm insanity, multiple Indian nations, lots of tumble weed and abandoned trailers scattered through the desert, we got to the Grand Canyon. It was amazing. We stopped at a view point before getting lost in the maze of unmarked park roads and then finding a campsite just outside the park.

Andrew had been checking the weather, trying to see if the sand storm haze was dying down so we'd be able to see the canyon better the next day, and found that it might rain or snow that night!
The view out at the clouds. The camp ground felt like some of the ones we've stayed at in Europe-- wide, open, flat.

Then the lady at the campgrounds told us it was supposed to get below freezing. Insert me kind of freaking out. I then put on virtually every item of clothing I'd packed, helped set up our camp to be as warm and put of the wind as possible and went to bed.

It did rain, but only a little, and I eventually got warm and stayed warm all night, which was wonderful. I didn't escape without being harassed though-- Andrew went to bed in shorts and a long sleeved t shirt and at some point we had to switch sleeping bags because I, in my six pairs of pants, three shirts and a sweatshirt and three pairs of socks was STILL cold. So he took my bag and I got his below zero one annnnd his super warm fleece blanket. And he was too hot. And I was just right. Heh
We went back to the Grand Canyon the next morning. Breakfast!

The wind had gone away and the rain had washed all the dust put of the air. It was perrrrfect.

There are so many layers! I'd look down and see a piece of canyon floor, and then look farther down and see the actual floor.

And all the rock striations and colors... Mm. So amazing.

We could see trails winding down into the canyon, a little ranch at the bottom nested in a sliver of green, and pieces of cloudy green Colorado River.

After that we headed toward California.... And we went that way for almost 600 miles. We drove through the Mojave Desert and by trains pulling long trails of cars, some stacked two high.

At sunset the sun reflected off the tracks. We drove by tiny towns, down part of the wonderful and historic Route 66 corridor and by wild horses. We weighed the truck at a scale in Barstow, which was fun,

and then we pushed on, intending to stay the night at a rest area that turned out to be closed. My mom sent me pictures of people at her work "planking," which I'd never heard of in this context-- apparently it's lying flat on your front somewhere unusual and have a photo taken? I'll let you know when I learn more. But i sent her a picture of me at a rest stop doing it:

So we stayed at a truck stop. which ended up working out well and now we re very close to Yosemite! I slept in the cab for the last time.

We drove through the worlds raisin capital, Selma! And now are climbing into the mountains. No 3G so we ll see when I can post this.
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Location:Tulare,United States

Arches!

2011-05-30T21:29:00.001-07:00

Again, this is from yesterday, but I couldn't post it. I can't believe it was only yesterday... We have gone so far!!

This morning we woke up early and went to Arches, which is another one of our favorites from the first ca-va drive.
Balanced rock!:

Hey Dad! He's in front of Turret Arch:

It was so windy where we stayed and at the park, and when we were walking around. Red dust got everrrywhere.There were also really pretty high desert wildflowers.

Me using a macro setting and hiding from the wind+dirt:

This was along rim rock-- I love the lime green spears!

After Arches we stopped in Moab, which is so cute! It is busting at the seams with outdoors people-- rock climbers, cyclists, runners, hikers, rafters, four wheelers and off roaders. As a result there are equally awesome cafes, stores, and little shops. I have never seen soany wranglers all in one spot either.... It was like the motherland. We got breakfast at an adorable cafe. They even had my long-lost favorite drink! Limonata.

The cafe was called the Love Muffin :) the door note:

We also got our cigarette charger fuse changed in Moab-- fortuitously there was a little uhaul depot with someone who knew what to do!
We drove by this: a hole! On the other side was a store... I think rock climbing stuff?

After Moab we headed toward Monument Valley and the wind we had back in Arches got a lot stronger. It actually was a dust storm. The gusts were comparable to the tornado wind back in Kansas (49-50mph I believe), except this time it was across 300+ miles!! So so so insane. It was all the way from Arches to the Grand Canyon.
My dad talked with a local in a tiny town at a gas station and he said it's the worst it's been in five years. It's so windy there is a massive amount of dust in the air and it looks like the valley is full of smoke.

And there are tumble weeds!! I wanted to bring one home... And I am. We pulled over in the crazy wind storm and my dad and I went to the fence that endlessly runs through the desert even though nothing is around, and plucked tumbleweeds from the fence and threw them up into the wind so they could tumble on. There were hundreds gathered against the fences! We put two in the wrangler. And today at the California border inspection the inspector even checked them
out to make sure they weren't the kind that have lots of seeds. Hehe.
It was actually this windy, even though it looks like I'm posing:

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Location:Cochise Ave,Barstow,United States

Grand Junction and canyon camping

2011-05-30T20:57:00.001-07:00

At Grand Junction we unhooked the wrangler and Andrew and I drove up along Rim Rock Road (or drive?) in the Colorado National Monument which was one of my dad and my favorite parts of our drive out to Virginia a few years ago. Andrew loved it! And he even found a little road to four wheel on after.
Going up:

I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles....

So aMazing....

I think the jeep was happy to move on it's own for the first time in 1800 miles or so.

After that we chugged along to a gorgeous canyon along the Colorado river just outside of Arches National Park and pulled over for the night.
Sunset on the deserted road to the canyon:

It's Memorial Day Weekend so campgrounds are all full, so we parked near a rafting marina right at the base of the vast red rock canyon wall. My dad and i stayed in that area on our previous trip. Places like this are even better the second visit! :) this time it was really windy though.
The view from where I slept if you opened the uhaul door and let some wind in. We still have some of the red dust in the truck from that spot:

Turn to the right. The photo even awes me:

Morning guys! Waiting for me to get up: cmonn Sam!

Arches photos next! So far so good, I'm so excited I can post these at last.

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Location:Cochise Ave,Barstow,United States

2011-05-30T20:38:00.001-07:00

I wrote this the other day and had problems posting it. It was a long post, so I've broken it up. I also have 3G now which I think makes a huge difference. I wrote this the 29th:

It has been an awesome two days!! Staying with my family in Denver is always really fun. Andrew arrived the night before last, after having his initial flight cancelled because the same storm we went through hit Atlanta pretty hard and that was where he had a layover. He's out of the navy!! After six years he is out... We re all still kind of letting it sink in. I took his photo right as he got in the car at the airport to document the moment. Sleepy, happy and blurry:

We had a wonderful breakfast with my aunt and uncle and then got back on the road.
My aunt and I posed in our matching hats :)

We drove through the Rockies-- which are so incredible--

"frisco"! But don't ever say that to a San Franciscan. ;)

This is a runaway truck ramp at the bottom of a grade-- doesn't look too inviting does it??

There were lots of little towns with neat names: Rifle, Copper, Silt, Parachute. We also saw Vail and the roads for Breckenridge. Then we went through the Colorado River Valley on our way to Grand Junction.

Weeee color filters :)

Grand Jumction photos next. Fingers crossed-- please post!!

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2011-05-30T15:57:00.001-07:00

Testing! I haven't been able to post because of either bad reception or the app telling me it can't load photos. I'm hoping because I have 3G it will work. Here goes!!

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Denver!

2011-05-27T14:36:00.001-07:00

We are hereee! We have made it. And it is so wonderful to be with my family and not be on the road. Dad and I have just been taking it easy-- hanging out with my aunt and uncle and enjoying having company, conversation, real beds, homemade food, dogs to play with, places to walk and a backyard to lounge in. Everything is just sooo great. The Rockies ushered us in:

Closer!

We got here just in time to see my little cousin, too, which was something I really wanted to do-- he graduated from high school and then that evening jet setted off to play in a music festival. So I was really happy to have caught him. Way to go, Daniel!! You are going to looove college :) he let me take one cap picture, yay!

Today we met up with a good family friend who is out here for school and had delicious gyros for lunch and then got a tour of her university! It is a gorgeous day!

I really wanted to just lay down on her soccer field... It was so green and soft looking, and the breeze was just right...

Today is also my birthday! I am 25!! 25. 25. Do I feel 25? I must, because I am! But I'm not so sure. Thank you everyone who has called (and sang!) and written, I love you all! You are making my day awesome. Oxo
A little while ago I had a great conversation with a couple friends about what their parents were doing at 25 and what they want to be doing at 25. It was so liberating and exciting, because everyone had done something different and wonderful! So my question-- what were YOU doing at 25? Or what do you want to be doing? Please tell!!

Here is little me, during a long roadtrip with my mom, dad and cousin along the coast:

And me right this very second, in the perfect-colored sun hat my aunt gave me this morning!

Happy day!!!!

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Windy!

2011-05-26T04:53:00.001-07:00

It was reallllly windy yesterday. We went from severe thunderstorms to almost pulling over and taking cover from a tornado at a rest stop to high wind advisories all along the interstate. And of course it's just that much worse for high profile vehicles. I couldn't get a good picture of the wind because it's pretty much just us and grass out here. But this morning we pulled into a Starbucks and this was taped to the door:

Hehe :)

It's cold out here, too! The night before last I slept in the cab in light clothes and a snuggie and woke up too hot, but last night I had a lot of layers and was inside my sleeping bag and when my dad woke me up around five (ahh) I realized I was still cold!

Last night's sunset:

Now the sun is chasing us:

Denver is within reach!! My 'little' cousin is graduating from high school today and I'm super excited to see him!!

Ps- we drove by oil drills yesterday evening! Little ones in fields! Churning away. Pretty interesting. they looked nice against all the fields.
And I follow the Giants from afar when I'm not at home and I'm horrified to hear Posey was hurt at the plate last night. Marlins! You are on my you-know-what list, and I don't even care that the player who did it is from SF. Grrrrrr.
I took this a while back. Get better quick, Posey!!! I hope it's not too bad and we love you!!

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Location:W Willow,Colby,United States

2011-05-25T11:30:00.001-07:00

We are somewhere between St. Louis and Kansas City, which from what I understand is the heart of tornado alley? So far no tornados! But I've been hearing a lot about Joplin, Missouri. Driving through Missouri it was clear it had hit home. The gas station we just went to had a donations jar and the radio announcer on the station we picked up gave me chills, telling all his listeners how proud he was, in this day and age full of fabulous communication technologies, to be part of the radio world because every other form of communication is down in Joplin except the local radio waves. And broadcasters there have been going 24/7, keeping their town informed and giving them some kind of an anchor. Sending them thoughts and prayers as well.

I tried to get a picture of the St. Louis arch as we drove by.

Mississippi river:

It's really dark out here for being so early-- it's almost like early evening and it's only quarter to one. We re listening to the road weather station and there's a tornado warning for a county just south of where we re driving. Lightning also just started! Oh. Now they updated it: severe thunderstorm. Which we are apparently in and a tornado Warning-- ahh, So there's a tornado seven miles behind us. The radio used mile markers which was geniusly helpful. These updates on the radio are crazy! We re keeping with the big rigs, since they communicate over radio and know the area.

Just drove by a big rig that was blown over, flanked by two monster tow trucks. Clouds are breaking up now but it's still dumping rain. Highway patrol are watching a cloud to our left.

Looks like we rode the edge. Is this business as usual for out here?? That seems crazy. The ppl on the radio say it's a long tracking storm and that cloud breaks down mean anything. excellent. Anyway, insanity.

I wanted to experiment with videos so I'm not sure I'd they'll work.

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Location:Jackson Rd,Boonville,United States

2011-05-25T04:38:00.001-07:00

Slept in the uhaul cab last night, surrounded by big rigs-- it was actually pretty comfortable. On the road early again and gunning for Denver.

Drove through a few states and one time zone yesterday... Saw a LOT of coal. Piles and piles next to railroad lines and trains with hundreds of cars with even black mounds. Saw lot of rivers, huge and small, and the Ohio was probably the biggest. Lots of beautiful green... And sliced rock cut for roads.

Saw the Belle of Louisville all lit up at night sitting at it's dock. Sooo pretty! Drove by a nuclear plant.

Saw a critical delivery fed ez truck pull over and the driver, his wife, two dobermans and a miniature greyhound climb out to stretch :) Talked with hardees workers who were trying to coax a tiny kitten out of a bush and talked with all the really nice ladies working the toll stations on the turnpikes. Heard a lot of amazing accents. Picked up local radio coverage of high school baseball championships, which was awesome! Oh, and I learned that truckers flash their headlights when other truckers (or 17' uhauls towing wranglers) pass to let them know when they have enough clearance to merge back into the slow lane! Which I think is cool.

Dad and i are getting kind of stiff though. Can't wait to get to Colorado!!

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Location:Woodridge Rd,Holland,United States

2011-05-24T11:24:00.001-07:00

We are on the road!

It's crazy that we re racing Andrew, who won't get to Denver until Thursday around eleven pm, but we are. I really really hope we will get there way before him. This uhaul is not the fastest thing though and it sure likes gas!!

There have been lots of sudden downpours and lightning. I love it!

Also saw the new Pirates movie last night-- has anyone else? I enjoyed it, but I felt like it kept setting up for some twisty plot element that never happened. Like maybe it was just filler for a while other movie. Ohh it's raining again. Time to go!

Ps it's fun to see where the locator puts me, but I'm not ao sure it's accurate....

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Location:Lester Dr,Charlottesville,United States

Hello from Virginia

2011-05-23T11:35:00.001-07:00

Hello hello! I am quite literally on the road, and I am going to try really hard to keep a nice little travel blog of this roadtrip going! As some of you know, my boyfriend, Andrew, is in the navy and this is his last month! My dad and I flew late last week and are helping him pack up a uhaul and tow his wrangler back to califonia. We've already had a couple snags and I've already taken a lot of silly iPhone pictures, so let the last navy roadtrip blog posts commence!!

First- dad and I flew out to Va. Finn is staying with my mom, who had to stay home for work, and I really wish they could both be here! But it's hot and there are really only 2.5 seats in the uhaul so it's probably for the best.

Next, we got here laaate Wednesday and were hoping Andrew would be allowed to leave this past weekend, or even friday, since today, Monday, should be his last day. But it's not working out as planned-- "they" aren't letting Andrew out on time (grrr) so my dad and I are going to have to leave without him and he's going to fly and meet us in Denver in three days. It's not how we wanted to do it but it should actually work out really well! We're really going to have to book it to Denver though.

We've packed:

And picked up the 17' (!!) uhaul and started loading it up:

I am especially proud of how i packed the knife block ;)

And I tried a wild strawberry that turned out to just be a ground cover that looooks like strawberries: Don't recommend it.

We also hung out with the handful of Andrews friends who are still here-- his ship left a little while ago for deployment. I didn't get any of the friends photos, but I did get Ruca, who's amazing:
She's focused on my hot dog bun.

We also sold two jet skis and their trailer to a nice family.

It's been a busy weekend!! I'm also really excited about this new blogging app-- it's awesome!

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Location:N Mallory St,Hampton,United States

It is officially almost summer--

2011-05-10T22:07:00.000-07:00

Because Finn is shedding LIKE CRAZY! There is fur everywhere. It's insane. I am going to try to take a picture of it all together....but it's seriously taking over the rug in the living room. Something must be done! I think a furminator intervention is called for.

Summer for me is definitely fast approaching! I am getting ready for a cross-country road trip, moving my boyfriend home from the Navy and back from the east coast, which will be very exciting!! And I'm an avid gardener, so I've been loving every new bloom, unfurling leaf, happy little shoot and all the wildflowers.

This is a particularly pretty nasturtium and a new poppy that I tried this year, called Lauren's Grape! I love the spots!

I hope summer is showing itself for you all as well!

Happy Mother's Day, Corgi World!! (in keeping with the day, I am seeking input on having corgi puppies)

2011-05-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! I hope you all had a wonderful, wonderful weekend. My mom and I had a really nice day together, and I made a very cool cake for the first time! I was SO excited it turned out okay, I haven't really made cake before, and I knew she would love it. Love you, Mama!!! Here she is:

On the theme of mothers, I want to ask you what your experiences are with your corgi having puppies. Or, corgi mamas! :) Don't get toooo excited! I am still just thinking about it. But, Finn is not fixed, mostly because we all were secretly wondering about her having pups. I have never loved a dog inside and out as much as I do her, and I would be so thrilled to meet her babies and see them grow up. She'd be a great mom. I feel like any little corg-lette of Finn's would be an amazing creature. I am wondering what your experiences are!! And about the parts I don't know about, like after the little corgs are grown, is there a big personality change in the mom? No more silly hyper puppy-like behavior? Would Finn still be Finn? Maybe this is ridiculous, but hormones do crazy things. Would she have saggy tummy skin and dangly nipples forever more? Sometimes I see mama dogs with really loose skin. How many corgis did your corgi have? I have read 4-6. Was labor difficult?

We met a very nice boy corgi at the pet store the other day and his owners were interested in discussing the potential for puppies. I haven't called them yet... I feel weird signing Finn up for sperm. But she has the option of not liking him, or not being interested, and maybe they have changed their minds. It's all very much still up in the air. I feel discussing it is a good first step.

Lumpdate:
I want to thank you all sooo much for your input on Finn's lumps. It has helped me so much. We are heading back to the vet and she is going to look at them again now that they are almost gone, which leads her to strongly believe that it is some form of allergy. I will let you know what comes next! We are returning Finn to her old food as of today, because I'm not sure what else has significantly changed over the last two or so months except that we did change brands. Maybe that'll do the trick! I am interested to learn more about why allergies can cause subcutaneous lumps in the mean time. Will keep you posted!

lumpdate

2011-04-30T23:40:00.000-07:00

So, I'm confused.
The initial results for Finn's lumps have come back inconclusive, like I said, and the vet and I talked about what to do next-- this was about a week and a half ago now. My options are:
1. Get the lumps biopsied-- shave a bit of fur, take a skin bunch, stitch up the little hole and send the larger samples to the lap.

2. Go visit a dog dermatologist and see if they have any ideas-- the rest of Finn's fur and skin is great. Westly has food allergies so I am familiar with the red itchy skin, and Finn's is fine!

3. Kind of blindly try to treat the lumps with a combination of antibiotics and prednisone. The vet wasn't fond of this option b/c she said finding the exact combination of drugs to treat a mystery lump can be frustratingly blind. Sounds like a last resort for serious stuff to me.

The thing is, while we were waiting for results the vet suggested I try giving Finn some benadryl every day to see if it helped the lumps, since she still felt like they might be an allergic reaction. I thought I could feel a slight difference in the lumps, so we decided to give the benadryl a week before we moved ahead with anything different. It's been 10-ish days and now they are almost gone! The newer lumps are still there, though smaller, but the larger, older ones are 75% smaller and less defined.

So-- Do I go to the dermatologist and see if she can figure anything out even though the lumps are harder to look/feel now? Should I still consider a biopsy of the one that is still a bit large? Finn can't live on benadryl, and if it IS an allergy I want to know what it is to! Should I let it go, b/c the vet isn't worried? I am puzzled-- I am elated that the results don't point toward a serious issue-- SO SO elated-- but I am frustrated b/c I can't help but want to know the why and what of this whole situation!

Finn, on the other hand, is quite relaxed and care-free about the whole thing :)

"inconclusive"

2011-04-20T15:03:00.000-07:00

I am still working on finding out what that means... the test results for Finn's lumps came back inconclusive. The vet left a message saying that the samples didn't show signs of infection or tumors, but I'm not sure if inconclusive means everything is still an option, or if it means some things can be ruled out, i.e: infections and tumors. Hopefully the vet will call me back today and let me know. I'll keep you posted! Thank you for all the well wishes and good thoughts, we really love and appreciate them :)

Finn all cozy and ready for bed in her froggy towel-- one of our secret santa gifts! :)

lumps and bumps?

2011-04-13T13:04:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody! I haven't been around these last couple of weeks b/c I have been on the east coast, helping my boyfriend get ready to finish his time in the navy and move back to the west coast, which is amazing (yayy!!), except:

I got home last night and my dad said that he found a lump on Finn. gulp. So I've been trying to stay calm. But I had a nightmare that it was because of her hew martingale collar inhibiting blood circulation. Ridiculous, no? Suffice to say it is on.my.mind. We have a vet appointment tomorrow at 1:00, and I've been reading about all the different types of "solid-appearing lumps and bumps on the skin of dogs"which is of course a roller coaster ride of "omg, cancer. or a fatty deposity. or, omg cancer. or a benign abscess..." you get the idea.

My question: what is your experience with lumps or bumps on the skin of YOUR dogs?

Of course I'm terrified that it is some form of cancer... She is so young! I think of cancer developing later in life. I remember thinking that one of her back hip bones felt like it was protruding a little more than the other, and making a mental note to keep an eye on it, and that is now where the largest of the lumps is. But she also has a smaller one next to it, and a tiny one on her opposite hip and in the middle of her back. Why so many?!!

Other than that, she seems completely normal and happy-- her fur is shiny and soft, her eyes are clear and bright, her teeth and breath are good, she is barking at everything, she leaps all over me when I come home, she plays with the cat, she chases Westly, she eats a lot.... She HAS lost a little weight, but I figured that was because we've been covering the cat food because I thought she was gaining a little weight from eating some of it behind our backs. Now, in my nightmare-fueling state of attempting to stay calm I am wondering if it isn't some symptom.

I will definitely keep you posted!! Please send us good thoughts. Crossed corgi toes? :)
On a lighter note, here are a couple of photos my dad took of Finn and me while I was blow drying her after her back right before I left-- it was gorgeous out and we were all spring cleaning so I scrubbed her down :)

getting all her thick black fur:

Tummy time!

Sliding Corgi

2011-03-30T09:00:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this video of Milton, the corgi who doesn't want to walk? And is blessed with a perfectly slippery, clean white office floor? Hehe, here it is if you haven't!

Happy MoNdAy!

2011-03-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

I hope it's a smooth rolling one.

via Warming Glow

I couldn't resist :)

Happy rainy Monday!

2011-03-20T23:02:00.000-07:00

Blog Award

2011-03-18T22:22:00.000-07:00

Finley and I would like to thank our friends Laurie and Sadie over at Sadie the Rescued Corgi for giving us a blog award!! :) We happily accept, and have been thinking about which 7 things might be cool enough to share, and which blogs we should list. it was a lot of work!

The rules for accepting this award are to thank the person (or pups!) who gave you the award, share 7 things about yourself and link to 15 recently discovered bloggers. I am also supposed to contact them to tell them about the award, but I am still discovering a lot of the big, popular dog blogs who would either scoff at my baby blog or whom ya'll already know about, so I'll just keep it to my list :)

Blogs:
1. The Briese Moon (They gave Laurie and Sadie the award, so we found them)
2. Corgis in my Garden (I LOVE THE CORGI TOPIARY! may I just say? :)
3. Dances with Corgis (they are local! yayy local corgis)
4. The Senekams: Corgi + 3 (local, too! though soon going to China for an adventure!)
5. Bailey the Corgi (again, local :) Sometimes we see Baily on walks, but we haven't made it out in ages because of my work! more on this later)
6. Puppy on a Roomba
7. Jasper & Lindsey
8. Adventures of Sammy & Norman
9. My Dog Henry
10. The Ein and Brian Chronicles
11. Peanut a Corgi
These last 4 aren't necessarily corgi blogs, but are fun nonetheless!
12. Desire to Inspire (every Monday they post readers' pictures of their pets on fun furniture! amazing!)
13. THXTHXTHX (I've posted this before, but I really love it)
14. Letters of Note (they post cool old, new, anything pieces of written amazingness mostly related to amazing people and historical events-- Katherine Hepburn, Jane Austen, astronauts, Jimi Hendrix, President Roosevelt, etc)
15. Lolita (Eclectic, artsy and expressive photo blog)

whew!

And 7 things about Finn and myself you may not know:
1. Finn is not remotely interested in eating carbohydrates. bread? no thanks. tortilla? nah. potato? mehh. She's so hip. I, on the other hand-- totally into carbs. Sourdough toast with salted butter? mmmdeliciousss.
2. I am an intern at a big museum in San Francisco, and the women I work with love dogs! We share our dog photos. It's really fun :)
3. Finn and I play with the broom-- she bites and growls at it while I pretend to use it.
4. Finn always lies under the rocking chair rockers.
5. Sometimes I roll her around in her sleep to try to stop the snoring.
6. I call her snoot. It's a form of snout, because:
7. she always touches you with her cold wet nose--one little tap-- to announce her presence so you pay attention! It's really realllly cute.

Want:

2011-03-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

This fabulous poster. Thanks Daily Corgi for posting! I love love it:

can be found at Obey The Purebred.com

It's a hard life...

2011-03-13T16:49:00.000-07:00

being this cool:

Found this and traced it back to a site I'd never heard of, but have added to my blog list, called Hipster Puppies. Love the camera :) and the little pointy ears-- What size are your corg's ears? Finn's are taller and sit more on the sides. I love them all. I'll have to get Finn in some shades for sure now!

Dog heists, SF Examiner

2011-03-11T00:12:00.000-08:00

Dog heists highlight need to keep a short leash on your pets to prevent thefts | Andrea Koskey | Local | San Francisco Examiner

This kind of thing makes me so angry. I know it makes everyone angry...how could it not? It makes me upset on so many levels... And I just wrote a bunch of paragraphs about it and then deleted them. I know you all know. I know you probably feel the same way. All I will say is that I wish the favor could be returned to the people who steal dogs. I'd like to see them dragged, terrified, through a broken car window and thrown into a strange bag and taken away. BUT, I have a story, and that I will tell:

My mom has told this to me I don't know how many times. I was incredulously fascinated as a little girl, hearing her tell it-- She had a big, beautiful, show-lines afghan hound when she was in college named Gobi. Afghan hounds are notoriously stubborn and Gobi was no exception. While he wasn't a jump-to kind of dog, they had trained long hard and he was safe to have off leash-- wouldn't go in the street, wouldn't jump on people, wouldn't go too far, etc. One day, she had him off leash at a park and they were walking, sniffing around, having a nice day. He crested a hill and when she caught up some strangers had taken him by the collar and were trying to leave the park with him!! They ended up having a huge argument, obviously, with the strangers saying he was their dog and her saying they were crazy, he was hers, and a crowd gathered around them and took sides. No one was making any headway when my mom said something like, "Ok, I will prove he is my dog-- He has a tattoo, and I will show it to you if you let me see him for a minute. If it's not there, everyone will see I'm wrong and he's yours," and everyone watching thought that was great, so the people with the hold on Gobi's collar grudgingly handed him over to my mom. She was lying-- Gobi did not have a tattoo, but through all the training and the hours spent practicing, stubborn Gobi had really caught on to one command in particular: Run. He loved to run, and he was fast. So as soon as they let go of his collar my mom yelled "Gobi, RUN!!" and Gobi took off into the park! Everyone watching broke up to try to find him, and while my mom was still looking a couple came up and said they had found him and had put him in their car, and that they believed her story so she should come with them. They knew the people who had tried to steal him and said that they were pretty nasty folks, and that they would follow my mom if they saw her with the dog, so the couple drove around the block with my mom and Gobi in their car for a while before taking her back to her car, and she and Gobi went home. The end!

I guess the moral of the story is...bad people who steal dogs have been around. But good people have been around just as long, and there are wayyy more of them then the former. And I refuse to let the bad people make me afraid all the time of going out with Finn. But I will be smart about it, too.

Happy Westly

2011-03-08T01:21:00.000-08:00

Smiling! Tongue out. it means we had a good walk, and that Finn is twice as tired from chasing after West with her little stubby corg legs. <3

Puhhhhleeeasse...

2011-03-01T17:38:00.000-08:00

read: 'please please please please pleassseee GIVE ME A FIG NEWTON. I would loooveee that fig newton that you have right there, and there, and that other one over there, too, any of the would do, PLEASEEE just onnneee.'

that is what is going on here. :)

also, Happy March, everyone! Spring is inching closer... Today I noticed my little lilac has buds! And the magnolias around where I am working have beauuuutiful beautiful blooms. But last weekend I had to scrape frost off my car windows (I know, many of you have been doing this for months, but the ocean keeps temperatures mild here, except for the rogue weather front) and we are supposed to be getting rain soon. So to enjoy todays cool, breezy sunshine, and rather than go get coated in mud at our favorite park, Finley, Fiona, West and I hung out in the back yard and I re-potted a huge geranium that needed some one-on-one tlc. I am realizing how much I am turning into a gardener, just like my mom, and it makes me really happy :) I hope you all are well!!

This will make your day:

2011-02-18T15:56:00.001-08:00

happy sighhhh :)

Ice is falling!

2011-02-16T23:32:00.000-08:00

From the sky. In huge, loud quantities! I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day!! I had a great weekend with some of my best friends down in Southern California, squeezing in some sunny weather before the return of storms, eating lots of cheese and chocolate, dancing late into the night, visiting an adorable museum and plenty of hanging out in our pajamas talking all morning. It was wonderfulll. Finn hung out at home, and is currently asleep with Fiona, the cat, at the end of my bed :)The picture is a little dark, but I didn't want to disturb them with lights.

Love: (look at Finn's little foot sticking up in the back! hehe)

the sleeping cat

2011-02-10T00:46:00.000-08:00

She wiggles under the blanket on the couch and normally all you can see is a little lump. but last night she was peeking out at me :)

Ears on Alert

2011-02-07T10:51:00.000-08:00

Both Westly and Finley are herding dogs, and I am trying to teach Finn not to pull on the leash when all three of us walk together-- she needs to be in front! Or so she thinks. We're making some headway, though. Westly is great....she doesn't pull unless it's really important (great smell; rodent to chase), and she has great judgment. I twine their leashes together in the hopes that Finn will find it harder to pull us both. I think I need to get a collar that chokes her a little, because the harness is comfortable, and she can pull out of a martingale.

They both saw a cat that ran away from them and wanted to chase it, but both standing dead still, leaning forward here, not pulling. I loved it! Look at those ears.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMM!!!

2011-02-06T21:55:00.000-08:00

Finn and her fish:

2011-01-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

sooo cozy
:)

At the SF MoMA

2011-01-26T09:00:00.000-08:00

I went to the SF Museum of Modern Art a little while ago with a friend, and she saw this and pulled me over. I think you can see why :)

What do you think is going on there? I love the juxtaposition of the pristine, over-the-top attendant's uniform vs. the flattened, faded and dirty soccer (foot!) ball. And the two butts, of course. They have such great fur bloomers! I wonder what the Queen told him to go do...

GooooOOOOD MORNING MOooooOOOM!

2011-01-24T09:00:00.000-08:00

I am not a morning person. And most of my family is, so sometimes they enlist Finn's help in getting me out of bed, b/c I can't help but be happy if she wakes me up.

What I see:

What they see:

See? I did it. awake.

nose kisses to establish peace:

The End!

YAYYY WEEKEND

2011-01-22T09:00:00.000-08:00

Green Paws

2011-01-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

Finley, my mom and I hung out in Noe Valley (neighborhood in San Francisco) the other day and stopped by to get Finn a new harness (more on this later) as well as explore the cutest, tiniest little plant nursery ever! It's called Independent Nature, and was quite charming. It has a garage door that opens onto the sidewalk, and the little backyard, which is shared with the deck of the apartment upstairs, is FULL of thriving, blooming (in January) plants. Best backyard ever, right? I hope the apartment dwellers appreciate it! The inside is all types of organic potting soils, indoor plants, succulants, local-bee honey, pamphlets about Gardening classes and classes, and artwork. My kind of place. I can't wait for it to warm up a little so I can get back outside and dig in.

Finn liked it too: checking out the plants in the yard. Too quick for me!

Looking out at the little backyard:

butbutbut, where is mom going?? Mom went out to talk about a huge, gorgeous salvia:

Snuffling around. See how the shop spills out onto the street? And we've had sun lately! mmm:

Finn had a great time. She got treats from a nice old lady who told me her son has two different colored eyes just like Finn's, and she got to try on harnesses and didn't mind (true testament to how happy she was), she got to snuffle around plants and stores and new streets, and ride in the car!

Oh, also! Finn stopped to poop and managed to turn the always slightly awkward experience for me (cement and poop... it's just weirder than picking it up off of dirt! dirt seems more natural and like it could/should be pooped on! no?) a lot better by-- guess what? Pooping INTO the storm drain! A group of French tourists walked by and looked at me and said 'oh wow!! Zat is a great idea!' hahaha, if only I could take credit!

A long overdue Thank You to Lisa Marie and Maggie!!!

2011-01-17T22:43:00.000-08:00

Finley had a great secret santa! It was Lisa Marie and Maggie of Corgi Kisses!! and while I have communicated our thanks via Elfster, I have not yet made the Thank You Post! Soo, with no further ado, here are some of the photos of the goodies Finn got to open Christmas up at my Aunt's house and which she now looo-oooves!

This is probably my favorite picture...it's right after Finn finished playing while she/the rest of the family all opened their presents. Cousin Max gave her a new bed, she hopped right in and snuggled under her froggy towel from her Secret Santa!! She loves to be tucked in, it's pretty cute. But maybe not as cute as the towel-- it has four froggy feet and a froggy face hood! hehe :)

Then there are these, which are (apparently) delicious, because Finn loves them and I have started alternating these and Greenies for her and West as my leaving-the-house-gnaw-on-this treat :)

Hehe, thennnn there is the cutest, flattest, fuzziest little pink flamingo I have ever seeeeen!!! And Finn really likes it. She can't de-fluff it (thanks guys! ;) so she likes to chew at its bitty little eye. But it's always near her bed and I love seeing it lying around. I <3 pink (those are my new slippers at the bottom of the picture! toy story aliens! and yes-- Finn definitely tries to chew them but I always catch her! hehe)

And then there is the PINK leash! How did you know I like pink?? It is reflective, too, which is soooo thoughtful and I am really waiting to go on a night walk now and dec Finn out in reflective gear. I love opening up our chaotic everything drawer and seeing it right on top: it makes me happy.

Another huge thanks to Maggie and Lisa Marie-- we had such a great time opening all your wonderful presents, and we hope you guys had a great Christmas and New Years!! Can't wait to start following Corgi Kisses and be blogger buddies!

P.S. We were the Secret Santa for Chelsea and Wilson over at A Dashing Dachshund, and are sooo happy that they enjoyed their squeaky-eared dog chewy toy and bag of greenies!! (and high five for the late secret santa post! you're not alone!)

And a big thank you to Kelly and Gibson of Corgi Butts for inspiring all of the shopping, giving and fun of opening secret gifts!!

2011!!

2011-01-10T00:38:00.000-08:00

I promise Finn and I are still here! Our wonderful winter holiday has ended, and we are both a bit chubbier, definitely happier, and looking forward to this coming year. Here we are, after a rushed shower/bath extravaganza (anyone else just toss their dog in the shower with them when it's time for a bath?? don't tell me I'm the only one!), in the car on the way to Auntie's house Christmas morning :) I have lots of secret santa photo catching up to do!!

I hope you all are happy, healthy, warm, feeling good after the holidays and ready for a great year!! I cannot express how much I have enjoyed becoming a part of the corgi/dog blogosphere this past year, and I am looking forward to a whole lot more!!

a quick note!

2010-12-27T19:50:00.000-08:00

Finley had the BEST CHRISTMAS EVER, thanks to her Secret Santa and her cousin Max and Max's delicious food, which she ate all evening!!! I took photos and have been trying to pose her with all her treasures, but am still away and with family. I wanted you to know we will be back soon and have them up!!

Merry Christmas!!!

2010-12-25T14:15:00.000-08:00

Finn and I are currently in the back orthe jeep heading north to our Aunts house! She is passed out on my lap :) I hope you all are having a wonderful wonderful day!! We re excited to open the secret Santa present as soon as we make it up there! It's rainy and windy out here and we re feeling cozy, squeezed in the car with my mom, dad, cousin and groceries+gifts!

I can't figure out how to post photos from my phone.... But I will as soon as I do! I have time while in the car :)

Secret Santa and Wrapping Paper

2010-12-17T23:21:00.000-08:00

Finley got her Secret Corgi Santa package today!!! I was SO excited, and she seemed to know it was for her, which was really cool. I want to open it up soo much, but I am going to wait (don't worry!) and open it Christmas Day up at my Aunt's house and let Finn dig all the tissue paper (I squeezed it and heard the crinkle! haha) and goodies out like a good human. :)

Finn has been helping with the present wrapping. I took this pictures of her napping in the wrapping paper. Her nose was so close that it left a little wet mark! hehe

Totally worn out from playing with all the ribbon and The Voice From The Wrapping Paper Tube (this is a great game!! Must take a video to show you all how she leaps around and gets excited whenever I talk to her through the roll!)

Fuzzy Finn

2010-12-14T12:42:00.000-08:00

Finn and I were playing the other night and she was standing on my stomach while I was "pinned" to the ground, and I tried to take a photo, b/c the angle was really cute! But of course she moved. So instead you see all her longer hairs lit up and her little blue eye. :)

Winter Cleaning...

2010-12-11T00:37:00.000-08:00

Anyone else get in the cleaning groove during the winter just as much as during the spring? I definitely do. So while I'm not thrilled about sharing my cleaning mess, here are Westly and Finn all snuggled up on it! They were moooore than happy to share :)

Christmas morning is two weeks away exactly from this morning!! Ahhh!

rain rain

2010-12-08T10:57:00.000-08:00

Rainy weather! Finn keeps charging into the house, running circles under the coffee table, around the rocker, through Westly's legs, back under the table, over the couch (uh oh! get down!) under the table again, back outside! Her ears bounce up and down and sometimes none of her feet are touching the ground. It's pretty great :)

When I was little, one of my favorite things to do was dress up in "olden days" outfits and go play outside with my friends. And going out in the rain only added more drama to our story lines! I sort of feel like an adventure right now... And I found this olllld picture of a dog accompanying it's family on what I imagine to be a great trek. Where do you think they're going? he's definitely going to get that gorgeous white coat dusty, sitting on the running board!

Hope you're all either cozy or out having adventures!!

Christmas is here!

2010-12-03T02:08:00.000-08:00

I am 100% holiday spirit-ified! Tree up? Check! Wreathe? check! Snowflake lights outside? check! Christmas nightlights? check! cookie recipes out? check check! threatening Finn with wearing a sweater? check.

Is there anything better than taking pictures with lots of christmas lights?? I'm pretty sure they make any photo amazing. even Finn sitting in my lap on the floor :)

awwww

2010-12-01T20:41:00.001-08:00

The Daily Corgi posted this on facebook and I want to share... My favorite part is the tail in the beginning. I love it!!! wagging in their sleep, it is just SO CUTE!!

Thanks Giving

2010-11-25T00:19:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!

Finn takes Thanksgiving (and the leftovers) verry seriously

;-)

Finn and I send our warmest (literally, it is very cold here and we hope you are warm!) wishes for a cozy, happy, delicious day to you all!

In the spirit of thanking, I want to share a blog called THXTHXTHX with you all...I think you can guess why :) The author writes a thank you note every day, dedicated to all kinds of things!! SO FUN. and great Thanksgiving inspiration.

the man on the TV

2010-11-20T00:44:00.000-08:00

Finn and I were playing and watching a show I had recorded the other day when I paused the tv to talk to a friend on the phone. About five minutes into my conversation I notice Finley is sitting, looking up at the TV, growling! Softly, not like she knew he was in the house, but the way she does when she suspects but can't prove something sketchy is going down (this happens with the cats all the time, lol). I am convinced she is a body-language reader and could tell he plays a dubious character, who was having a bad conversation when I paused him mid eye-brown wiggle:

Corgis: character meter-readers? Yes?

Furniture. Yes or no?

2010-11-15T09:00:00.000-08:00

What's the deal guys? Do you let your corgi on the couch? Is it because you'd let whatever kind of dog you have on the couch, or because corgis are small and kind of cat-like? Do they get your couch icky?

We've never ever let dogs on the couch, and never had a dog that was inclined to, until Finn, and we're constantly debating what to do about it. We are all suckered because love cuddling with her and get that she's small and maybe gets cold more easily, and she loves the cat, who sleeps on the couch, but stiiillll...

What's your experience? We're couch shopping, so the thought of a dog on a new couch, even if it's little Finn, seems really hard to come to terms with. (this coming from the girl who just posted about letting finn play all over her bed)

its like she knows we're thinking of taking the couch away

Losing a battle to a cookie sheet mob, and dancing to Taylor Swift

2010-11-13T23:35:00.000-08:00

I scared Finn the other night by loudly losing a battle to a cookie sheet, a large heart-shaped baking pan, a salad spinner and a huge turkey pot. They rained down on me as I cursed their existence, shattered a mug, sent plastic shards from the salad spinner lid everywhere, and dented the floor. I wasn't happy... BUT, the worst part was that this really scared Finn, and she ran into the living room to shake from underneath my dad's chair :*( I've only seen her that upset 2 times before: when I had an hysterical crying fit, and when I put a collar on her for the first time (and that was angry). Needless to say, I felt really, really bad.

So we commenced operation play to make up for it! We played with her stuffed spider for a loooong time, we ran around, I chased her and then she chased me, we danced-- jumping and wiggling-- to Taylor Swift's "Mine" (she's the best thing that's ever been mine for sure) and she kinda warbled along, and I even tried to take a video to show you but I realized too late that if the camerawoman is jumping around while filming, the film is kinda hard to see. oops

Then we did what turned out to be Finn's favorite activity of the night: we made my bed. I know, how can that be exciting? Oh well, if you plop a corgi in a pile of fluffed down comforters and then rustle around underneath, it's the coolest game ever! haha, she hopped on all the fluffy spots to squash them, she rolled around and tried to dig, she pounced on my hands as I moved the sheets around and tugged the duvet cover on and sprawled out, peering over the edge as if to say "haaaa, I am up HERE now, floor!!!" It was a thorough success. Now she wants up there all the time :)

So in conclusion, I recommend playing in fluffy blankets and dancing around if either you or your corg need to be cheered up. It was the best part of my whole day, and I think Finn totally forgave me for the kitchen debacle. <3

Rainbow!

2010-11-09T19:38:00.000-08:00

Hope all your weeks have started off well!!

Happy Weekend

2010-11-05T00:44:00.000-07:00

We have had summer-like weather here in the Bay Area-- it has been in the high 70s and gorgeous out! So warm that when my dad and I went to see the Giants' parade I didn't even wear a jacket on the back of his motorcycle! Finley, my mom and I took a walk last evening and all the gardens in the neighborhood are confused about which season it is-- there were orange maple leaves falling, but baby leaf buds on the same branches! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend, be it warm and sunny or cold and cozy!

WORLD SERIES

2010-11-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

I am a born and raised San Francisco girl, and so I don't think I can even begin to describe the electricity in the city last night after the Giants won the WORLD SERIES! Or how it felt for us fans. There were fire works, bottle rockets, screaming, random musical instruments playing with car horns, and people riding on cars hoods and out of sunroofs and windows, flags and so much orange and black and high-fiving and cheering that my friends and I came home with no voices left and our ears ringing. It was incredible; a night I will remember for the rest of my life!

Finley gets crazy wound up when we are watching games because we cheer and shriek and jump up and down and sometimes I pick her up and squeeze her for good luck-- she IS GIANTS COLORED! haha, I just can't help it. She is black and orange!! and white! she also doesn't care for wearing hats:

Anyway, I know some of you are Bay Area babies and transplants, too, so GO GIANTS!!!! AHH! I hope you had a great time last night and maybe we high-fived somewhere out there on the streets and didn't even know it! Kinda cool to think about :)

Here my friend and I are on our way home last night/morning!

And here is one of the songs we were blasting in the car:

Tomorrow, THE PARADE!! The whole city loves you, Giants! Can't wait to welcome you home!!!

Happy Halloween, everyone!!

2010-10-31T17:23:00.000-07:00

Finley and I are lying low tonight, watching the World Series and hanging out with the family! What are you all up to?

Isn't this great? I love the toy horse on wheels :) Check out more of Lady Artista's corgi prints at her Etsy shop!!

The BoBo had to go...

2010-10-30T15:39:00.000-07:00

Finley really loves those little bobo dogs-- you know, the ones with the long bodies and tiny legs?? I think she feels a kindred attachment :) When she was smaller it would take her a while to chew them up and destuff them, but I've stopped getting them for her because she will instantly play tug-a-war with it, rip open a leg, pull out all the stuffing and scatter it alllll over the house! It's no fun if the toy dies almost as soon as it comes home! Buuutt, I couldn't help getting her one of the Halloween bobos. It had a cute little broom and witch hat!! It lasted... maybe a week, so not soo very bad! But yesterday, it had to go. And boy did she give me a stink eye for taking away the limp little carcass!

Here's Halloween bobo-- see her hat? no longer attached!-- hanging out with teddy, who never gets destuffed! and lots of stuffing.

Bobo with her broom and hat :)

Do your corgis also de-stuff? Finley is a shredder-- her favorite is empty cardboard toilet paper rolls-- so I'm not too surprised. But what I find so intriguing are the toys she does not want to un-stuff! I think it's a texture thing... More on toys soon! Start brainstorming which are your favorites, and which are your corgs favorites, because Finley definitely has a favorite and I think it's cute :)

lovelove

2010-10-22T23:58:00.000-07:00

xoxoxoxoxox

Syp-Syp...

2010-10-22T00:36:00.000-07:00

Syp-Syp, our wonderful little Siamese, passed away today :( She was somewhere around 13, so she had a long and happy life, and we all knew it was coming, but it was still sad and unexpected. Finn kept jumping up and looking on the couch where she'd seen Syp last, and Fiona went looking around the house.

Syp came from a horse stable when she was teeeeny tiny, and we fed her kitten milk and watched her stand in the whole tea cup saucer and sneeze, b/c she had never eaten away from a teat before! She was true to her Siamese form and very vocal-- I called it beeping-- and she had a way of beeping faster as she found you in the house and came closer; she always preferred company. She used to drive me crazy, sitting outside my window and beeping until I'd get up in the middle of the night and let her in. She had two litters of kittens--2, and 3, she was soo tiny no more would fit!-- and two of them live next door, and 1 lives with a friend, so it is nice that we still get to see them. She would sneak up onto the kitchen table if we left the butter out and eat it. and she loved good, sharp cheddar cheese, and would raid our garbage after ribs or chicken nights if we weren't careful :) She also thought she was bigger than she was, running out from under a car once when my mom came home from work late to bat at a raccoon who was in my mom's path! or chase away a cat who was trying to fight with one of her grown kittens or one of our cats. She had beautiful, super blue eyes and little dark feet and a fat little tummy and a long dark tail and a dark nose. and her whiskers were striped cream and brown. :) She got lost once, and a nice family found her and didn't want to give her back because she was such a loving, purring little thing. Years later, we've noticed that a Siamese lives with them now, who looks just like Syb! She inspired them <3. She was always the first foot in the door when anyone came home, waiting pressed against the wood as our key went into the lock.

We buried her under our lilac tree in the back yard, next to another cat who left us long ago and who was a legend in the neighborhood. We miss you, Syp!! Happy journeys, friend- we loved every moment, even the beep-filled, butter-eating ones :) xoxoxox

Paws it Forward!

2010-10-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, a package arrived in the mailbox for Finley!! Her human brought it inside, and let her sniff it, then opened it a little so she could pull things out and shred the package itself! Here are some photos of our super fun morning :) Isn't getting mail, and especially a package, the absolute best thing ever??

Finley opening her package! Snout first! She could tell there were delicious, fun things inside...

She gets the pig! Which is the perfect size for a corgi mouth-- so cute!!

Mmmm, Pig... specifically, mmm tag on pig! She loves to rip those off first.

Paws-ing (I'm so clever! haha) to pose...

And again, with Natasha of Breathing and Butter's Sparkle & Metal business cards! Beautiful things, you all need to check it out!! Natasha is amazing! and Pazzo, too!

We love the piggy!!!

And, had lots of fun shredding the packaging!! A gift all in itself :)

So now, what you all have been waiting for! ;)

Finley and I are super excited to get to send off boxes of fun to two of you guys!!

YAYY!

As I imagine most of you know, you must have an in-use blog, in which your dog is a part, to enter, but after that all is well! Please leave a comment and tell me a little about you and your dog and blog, and tomorrow I will enter all the names in a randomizer and see what happens!

Can't wait to hear from you all, and to send off your things!! Just in time for Halloweennnn ;)

Happpppy Tuesday! and Game 3# of the NLCS! Goooo Giants!!

Paws it Forward

2010-10-16T23:39:00.000-07:00

I am going to do Paws it Forward on TUESDAAAYYY!!! I have pictures to post of Finn opening her wonderful box from Breathing and Butter :). I have all zee goodies for zee winners-- and am trying to figure out how said winners will be impartially selected (help?)-- and am very excited to send off the boxes because getting a package is definitely in the top 10 most awesome things to happen to you on an otherwise uneventful day, and I like the idea of making that happen!

via Surf Dog Ricochet

On a totally different note, I am WILDLY excited that the SF Giants won game one of the championship tonight!! Good gawd it was a stressful game. I was wired and simultaneously exhausted after the last pitch. Any Philly fans out there?? Yankees? Texas?? it's all getting verrrrryy interesting!

Fridayy!

2010-10-15T14:55:00.000-07:00

Today is my Dad's birthday!! We are all celebrating with his favorite dinner here at home, and I ordered the best cake ever (italian rum meets st. honoré, anyone? sdjf;laksjdflas, sooo delicious!), and I cannot wait to eaaatt iiittt.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!!

Because I know he doesn't read this on a daily basis, I feel safe telling you that Finley got him the movie version of How to Train Your Pet Dragon as a present! Have you seen it? I adore it. It makes me really, really happy. I'm a very happy movie kind of person, so no surprise there, but I feel pretty safe in saying that if you like Pixar, this is up there. Plus, Toothless the dragon is almost feline in the way he moves, and I swear I see similarities in the way his eyes shift around and he pounces on things to Finley!

Look familiar??

Toothless drawing in the dirt

via ~gegina

And, of course, the kick-ass Viking heroine, Astrid:

So Happy Weekend, everybody! And especially you, Dad!! oxoo

People and their dogs: Frida Kahlo

2010-10-13T16:54:00.000-07:00

Ohh the week is just flying... I can't believe it's nearly thursday all over again! Life is getting a little crazy at the moment. How is fall progressing for you all? The Bay Area is having a heat wave! Our indian summer is fighting through the fall cool :) I saw a post the other day on a blog I enjoy about famous mamas, and I was inspired. So for the next little bunch of posts, I am going to show some photos of famous dog mamas!

Heeeerrrreeeee's Frida!!

via Merry&Happy

Happy Weekend!

2010-10-08T23:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Weekend!!

Corgi Hugs

2010-10-06T23:36:00.000-07:00

Do you ever hug your corgi? I mean, kinda like you'd hug a 2 year old while you're carrying them? I'm always bending down and giving Finley hugs and kisses when we play, but I try not to pick her up so often now that she's bigger. It's mostly at bed time. But corgis seem so perfect for hugging!! So fluffy and just the right amount of heavy, and tonight Finn was all sleepy when I was taking her to bed, so she just nestled her face into my neck and laid there so I could give her a nice squeeze :) It was such a nice way to say goodnight. I love corgi hugs. oooxxooo

via pink wallpaper

Happy October!

2010-10-02T00:03:00.000-07:00

Happy October, everyone!! We are in the midst of our so-called Indian Summer here in the Bay Area, and I confess I prematurely put all my summer clothes away under the bed in my eagerness to create closet space and am now paying the price :) I hope you all are well! Do any of you have some real signs of Autumn yet?? I can't wait for That Smell....you know, the one that smells like Halloween and cold nights with high flung clouds and extra blankets? mmm. I'm ready!

As an aside, I really wish the "large" setting for photos made it so the blog template fit them! Alas. I guess I will stick to medium from here out! But I like to go big!

More on Paws is Forward coming soon, headed our way from Natasha and Pazzo over at Breathing and Butter! I can't wait to see Finn get her first package, and then to take her shopping and see who we get to send treats off to, just in time for... Halloweeeeennnnn. muwahahah. Creepy crawly doggy gifts, anyone?? hehe :)

50 Famous Dog Breeds- Wednesday's Dog

2010-09-29T09:00:00.000-07:00

This lovely fellow is another cigarette card, which if you recall from a few weeks' ago were little collectible cards manufacturers put in cigarette packs to help make them stiff. They tapered off in the 1950s, but some of the series are very collectible! This is the second Welsh Corgi cigarette card I've found in an online museum gallery, so it appears not only were dogs a popular set to issue, but that corgis were of interest back then, too :)

"Hospital for Bitten Dogs" photo Wednesday!

2010-09-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

This is from a collection of photos that the Victoria & Albert museum has by photographic journalist Andrew Pitcairn-Knowles. I love his style and the feel of the photos! They remind me of the images you see from Time and Life and Magnum... there is a lot of character and depth to them. He liked to capture the leisure activities of communities in the US and Europe during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He has a great bunch on dogs, so I'm sure this won't be the last one I post!

Miss November

2010-09-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

This is in belated celebration of Finley being named Miss November in Kelly and Gibson's calender over at Corgi Butts!! I loved loved loved all the pictures that she posted and am really excited about the expanded digital version she now has available!! Congratulations to everyone else who also won!! When Kelly emailed me I had to call my friends and family and tell them they will all be getting corgi calenders for Christmas this year :) 100% of the proceeds from buying them go to Lakeshore Corgi Rescue, so you should get a calender, too!

Check out how gorgeous! and I have to note that there are at least 3 Bay Area corgis in here, which is awesome!! I now work on Saturdays, which is when the corgis meet in San Francisco :( But I'm really hoping we run into Bailey and Karen one of these days soon!! Congrats on Mr. May, you guys!

Our corgis bring so much fun, love and perspective to us everyday just by being themselves-- it's so awesome that Kelly has put their quirky cuteness to work for the benefit of other corgis in need of homes!! It's a perfect system, and Finley and I are really proud we get to be a part of it. Thank you, Kelly and Gibson!! Lots of corgi kisses!!

2010-09-19T13:46:00.000-07:00

We got the digital calender today from Kelly at Corgi Butts and it is beautiful! I now have Gibson as my desktop image, and can't wait for a new corg face next month!! :) Thank you Kelly! (Tomorrow I have a post with more on the calenders scheduled, so until then!) <3

Training.... I need help!

2010-09-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

I need help! help help help. What do you think are the top... let's say 4, skills that you and your dog comfortably do or find the most useful? Things like coming when they're called, heeling, sitting, speaking, balancing food on their nose, lying down, rolling over, staying/waiting, etc... I'm open to them all!

My mom told me the other day that she and my dad are not comfortable with Finn when she is off leash, and it made me feel bad... so Finn and I are stepping up our game. I have learned that training/practicing skills old and new is something Finn and I should always be working on, and not taking for granted, which I don't think I fully grasped before. But I'm ready! We can do it.

I would love some direction and inspiration, though. Corgis, or at least Finley, seems a bit cat-like in her approach to commands, and I'm not sure how to beat that. Our first goal is to iron out her coming-when-called issues. Currently she knows "Finley, come" (in an authoritative voice), and she comes racing over, but that's sort of a last line of defense. I can't always talk to her like a drill sargent. I don't want her to be one of those dogs you either have to sweet talk or shout at in order for them to behave. I need to somehow get her to come on a casual basis.

Often, I get The Blink. Anyone else get this? When I ask her to sit, or when I call her while she's in the yard, she'll look at me, blink a few times, and then slowly mosey over or wait 20ish seconds and then sit. Should I expect and work toward instant response? That's what I'm used to! I grew up with retrievers and they would come racing over, whereas with Finn I feel like I'm dealing with a power-battling little child.

I realize it is my fault for not pushing her more-- I am the head honcho in our little shindig after all, and I take full blame. She is not badly behaved, and she's still so much a puppy, so I think I made the mistake of not training her more thoroughly since she wasn't difficult, and cutting her too much puppy-slack. I see that now... So I am putting us on the program!

Goals

1. Master coming when called on a casual basis/reinforce "Finley, come" for emergencies. perhaps this includes me getting accustomed to always having treats on hand. thoughts? what do you do?

2. Sitting in under 20 seconds after command word is said. I expect this to go the fastest.

3. Heeling on a leash. We have done zero work on this, so it's our first totally new skill! this will probably take a while :)

4. not sure... ideas?

Tomorrow we begin! dun dun dunnnnnn

Fog and frenchfries!

2010-09-17T09:04:00.000-07:00

Finn, Andrew and I went to Sausalito the other day for lunch, and ended up leaving the fog behind in exchange for some sun! It's always so crazy how crossing the Golden Gate and going through the tunnel into Marin makes such a huge difference in the weather. Here were are heading across the bridge-- it was so foggy that you couldn't see the second tower! See where it begins to go up, and then disappears?

We made it to the sun! I love these boat gas pumps:

Finn got some French Fries, lucky little corg!

We had lots of fun! Andrew and Finley by the boats :)

and here we are heading back:

Dog Balancing on Two Chairs!

2010-09-08T15:39:00.000-07:00

This image is from the Victoria and Albert museum and is of Lady Clementina Hawarden's poodle balancing on top of two chairs! :) According to the V&A, Lady Clementina took up photography in the mid 1850s and liked to use her family as models, often posing them in front of long, full-body mirrors to represent both the spiritual and material parts of life. I do not think Finn could do this!

Happy Labor Day Weekend!!

2010-09-03T22:24:00.000-07:00

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!! Anyone have exciting plans? I will be "helping" build a new back porch on our house, and then picking up my boyfriend at the airport on Sunday for his leave! yay!!

I helped my dad demolish our old porch today, which I really enjoyed--I like taking things apart and swinging hammers--, and tomorrow he and a friend of his are going to start putting the frame up for the new one! It's going to be bigger and better than the last, and I'm really excited. It means that for the next two days the dogs are not going to have access to their backyard, however, which is a big deal for them! So after work tomorrow I think we're gonna head to the beach for some exercise.

Here my dad and I are after we took the porch down today-- it's hard to tell, but my mom is in a doorway on top of a 6ft. retaining wall looking down on us. We're standing where the porch used to be! Note my hammer vs. dad's big crow bar :)

Do any of your Corgs use ramps? Finley flies down the porch stairs chasing Westly and I always worry about her back and wonder if she would use a ramp were one there. My dad's agreed to make a trial version for the edge of the new stairs, and if she uses it he'll make a permanent one. Thoughts? Anyone else tried this?

Corgi Butts' Corgi Calender!

2010-09-02T03:13:00.000-07:00

Like most of you, I have been following Kelly over at Corgi Butts' calender contest, and I am totally in love with every.single.corgi.on.that.list!! I mean....they are WONDERFUL! I just love all the faces and expressions, the eyebrows and different ear angles, all the colors and all the corgi smiles!! I love how you can tell they live all around the country-- snow, rivers, farms, cities-- you name it and there they are! I think we need a 30+ month calender :) I talked a lot at the beginning of starting this blog about how amazed I was that there is such a strong corgi community out there, and this is just another cool example. I feel like Finn is part of a very fabulous, very awesome, very nice dog family, and she has let me in with her. and that makes me really really happy :)

So, in the off chance that you have not seen all the wonderful faces over at Corgi Butts, you should really go check it out! and if you feel like voting for Finn, she is numba' 20! I'm super excited that she made it into the finals, and I cannot wait to see the finished calender!

Wednesday= Dog Day!

2010-09-01T09:00:00.000-07:00

Day One of posting cool photos of dogs from all over the place. I studied history and journalism, and I love art, photography and corgis, so for the next month I am going to try out posting a photo, artwork or some neat bit of information related to our darling little fairy dogs and their canine relatives once a week. I'm looking forward to it, hope you enjoy!

The Welsh Corgi, ca. 1934-1939

This fellow can be found (and printed!) at the New York Public Library's digital gallery. It is a cigarette card, which I learned is as trading card tobacco manufactures used in cigarette packaging to stiffen the packs! It looks like they were popular in the late 1800s and petered out in the mid-1900s, though I read that in 2000 a cigarette company named Doral started printing some again! They were printed in themed collections-- often of military figures, sports players, beautiful women, cityscapes-- and the record, according to wikipedia, for auction price is $2,800,000! Sadly, it was not for a corgi card :)

Um

2010-08-31T19:13:00.001-07:00

Wellll, I made the mistake of exploring the new Blogger designer templates section and...I think you can guess what happened! Thoughts? I am exhausted now, so this is how it's gonna stay for a bit. as a peace offering, please enjoy this ridiculously happy corgi grin from our walk amidst the fog this morning:

All together, now!

2010-08-30T21:19:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine sent me this, and I must share. So, in case any of you have not seen the little group of Corgis who sing Happy Birthday to the Queen Mum, here it is! Please enjoy, especially the last little woof at the very end :D

Finley v. River

2010-08-26T13:46:00.000-07:00

My mom took this of Finn swimming at the river this summer...and I crack up every time I watch it. You should watch for: A. her little feet paddling before she's actually in the water,
B. the way her butt is the last, and most vigorous, thing to shake, and
C. my personal favorite, the way she poses and stares down the river afterward. She looks like a show dog! I think she's saying "YEAH I swam in that! Take that, huge cold bath!"

And some photos of her roaming around in all the beautiful rocks:

I haven't given up on the dream of her being a swimmer...but clearly it's gonna take a little practice. :)

a little recap...

2010-08-22T23:12:00.000-07:00

My parents brought Finn to camp, along with my cousin, to pick me up when it was time to move home! I was lifeguarding the lake when my friend guarding the pool radioed over that I had some guests... I clamored down the guard stand, raced across the lawn and spent a good 10 minutes getting leapt all over by Finn while trying to pet and smother her in kisses. It was very nice :) here we are in my room:

She hung out for the next couple of days and had a pretty good time playing with my friends and going to the river with my family. She insisted on sleeping on my bed at night, which was very cute, and even managed a daring escape-- which involved her somehow getting to the top of my room mate's very tall bed (frame, box spring, 2 mattresses), popping out the bug screen and jumping out our window-- when I left her alone for breakfast. She got to smell eau de black bear and mountain lion, and it was funny to watch her stare around in the darkness because the bat noises were confusing.

I caravaned home and she rode with my dad, where there was more room, and while I don't think you can see her, she is sleeping in the trunk-cover VWs have in their hatchbacks. She had a great view out the back window and it made me paranoid about other cars...I got very upset if someone pushed in front of me and, in my opinion, was too close to the back of my dad :) Here is my view of them, as we drove through the Central Valley:

That is all for now! I am still processing the laundry and unpacking while simultaneously doing all the stuff I didn't get to do all summer, like garden with my Mom!! ahhh...I really love being in the yard. Is there anything as zen as spending an afternoon sitting outside pruning geraniums?? hehe

Hello!

2010-08-16T09:11:00.000-07:00

I hope you all are well! I am HOME! for good for a while. Finley and my parents and my cousin came up to visit me at camp this week and then we all caravaned home :) She got to go swim in a river for the first time and insisted on sleeping on my bed in my room at night, which I didn't mind in the slightest.

I will post some pictures of camp once i upload them, but i just wanted to say hello-- I hope all of your summers are continuing to go well, and lots of love to your corgsss!! I am so happy to be back at home with Finn :)

Just saying hello...

2010-07-21T19:24:00.000-07:00

because I miss you all!! I am alive and well and much more freckly. I am at a lodge up the road that has very slow internet and got this photo from my dad today! It's Finn snuggled up with Syp-Syp, our siamese. :)

It took a verrrry long time to upload this, so on that note I must scoot. I hope you all are well, and I look forward to being back in a few weeks!! Happy end of July!! oxo

16 hours at home!

2010-06-27T17:29:00.000-07:00

I am home!!! I came back last minute with a fellow lifeguard who was driving back for a family party and tonight we are going back up, but it has been so nice. Finn flew through the house and jumped all over me and we've had a wonderful day together! Here we are: I think Finn has lost all her winter fur since I've been gone and now she looks much sleeker! Look at that neck! haha

and then...

Finn insisted on her favorite carrying position:

hahaha...

<3 YAYYY!!!! <3

from the mountains....

2010-06-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody! I hope your summers are all going well-- I am up working at camp and so far, so good! I've only had to jump into the pool to a get kid once (knock on wood knock on wood!), and my room mate is really nice. I called home for Father's Day today and after talking to my dad for a while he put me on speaker phone and had me talk to Finn for a while. He said she did that cute little head cock back and forth thing that I love... I am sure you know the one. I can't wait for her to come up here with my folks and visit me!!

There are a few dogs up here with the management and I am always really excited to see them. Probably too excited; they must think of me as the crazy lifeguard girl who is nutso for dogs. But I miss Finn so much, and getting to pet a dog is like staving off serious withdrawl pangs. I talk to them, and pet them and try to hang out as long as possible :) There is Hunter, who's 13 and has the same birthday as his owner. His owner said the only time Hunter hasn't gone with him somewhere was his honeymoon :) He rides around in a golf cart all day and then comes and roams by the lake. Then there's Abby, who hangs out near the lumber and maintenance yard, and she belongs to the head of outdoor crew. She's a lanky lab mix with long legs and is reallllly nice. And then there is Lika, who belongs to the lodge a mile up the road, and ambles down to go swimming in the lake and wander around-- he is a stocky chocolate lab and is always wagging his tail so hard the whole of him wiggles, and he loves to come when we have to lure him away from lessons and stuff. It's a good dog crew!

So that's it for now... hopefully I'll see Finn up here soon and have some more to post!! All the best!!

Summer time is here...

2010-06-05T11:43:00.000-07:00

Summer is here!! And I am heading off to work.... I am going to be life guarding and teaching swim lessons at a family camp for the next few months, and my access to internet is quite limited. I will be able to update a few times a month, though, which is better than I had originally thought! YAYY!

The hard part is, of course, that Finley is not allowed at camp :*( But, she is going to stay home, with Mom and Dad and Westly and Fiona and have a great time. And every month she's going to go up with my parents and camp (for her first time ever! aww) near my work and visit meee!! It's a pretty perfect system. As much as I wish she could be my shadow at the lake and pool, I think she's going to have a better time here.

She still wants to come, though. I think she can tell I am going again-- the same suitcase and duffel as usual are out and she has been following me around. She is one smart cookie!

So-- my mom has graciously agreed, and is excited, to post pictures of Finn's camp adventures and summer excursions with the fam while I am up at camp! And I'll pop in from time to time when I drive into town and get on the wifi.

Everyone have an amazing summer!! Much love to your corgis!! I'll be back soon :)

House of Prime Rib

2010-05-31T23:22:00.000-07:00

Last week was my birthday, and my Mom, Dad and I went out to dinner at the House of Prime Rib! it was a lot of fun! My dad's prime rib was a cut with a bone, and when it was time to go our waiter was nice enough to get us another one so both dogs could have one! The next morning Finn and West got to celebrate my birthday dinner with their bones! Westly got the bigger of the two and Finn the smaller. Here they are:

Finley did not know what to do with such a big bone!! Haha, she was quite bewildered. Normally she takes something too big to eat in one (very tiny corgi-sized; I swear, she is the daintiest eater I have ever met!) bite, and runs out to her bed to eat it before coming back for more. But when my mom gave it to her, rather than take it from her hand, Finn just started licking it! She tried to bite it, but I honestly don't think she likes to open her mouth that wide! She'd try, then close her mouth, lick at it, try to nibble it, than than lick it some more. We finally got her to carry it out, but she gripped it by such a tiny bite that she dropped it pretty quickly! It was very funny. Eventually we just set it outside and let her eat it there. Here she is licking it-- it IS pretty big compared to her little mouth!!

That was last Friday, and today the bones are quite clean and you'd never guess they were once meat and gristle covered! Finn is still gnawing at the marrow and now that they are small and light, she is carrying them around...she shouldn't have them on the rug, and was kicked out with them right after this, but for picture purposes I enabled her. Sorry, Mom!! :)

Paws for a Cause

2010-05-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

A good friend of mine, known to Finn as Aunty A, is very involved in our local American Cancer Society chapter's Relay for Life work, and the other day she called us up and told us to come down to our favorite park because they were doing a Paws for a Cause fundraiser! We had never been to one and so off we went! Even though we couldn't get there until the gathering was beginning to wind down, A saved Finn a goody bag and decked her out in purple Paws for a Cause gear!

The dogs walk for much the same reasons as people do in the Relays for Life-- to raise awareness and money for cancer research and support. Often they are not allowed on the private tracks where the relays are held, so organizers created this little sub set, Paws for a Cause, for them! It's a really cool idea. Hopefully we will get to participate even more! I will keep you posted :)

Here is Finn and me, (my hat about to fall off) showing off her scarf! She looks good in purple:

And here she is playing on the beach afterward! I haven't put her in the shirt yet, but you can bet I will soon! hehe

I love this idea of donating some time and effort, and having fun (and good socialization practice for Finn!) at the same time, for a good cause. I think I would like to do more of it with her. Hopefully we can do more Paws walks, but I know there are lots of opportunities out there. Anyone have any ideas?

Hope you are all having a great weekend!! <3