some old dog photo's

 this is me and my old boy, baby huey.  he was a yellow lab that i got as a puppy in south dakota. he was born on a buffalo ranch.  he only lived to be 11 years old. he was strong like a bull until the kidney failure took him.  at first we thought he had a neck injury as oddly he seemed to have a sore neck.  he did not live long after his diagnosis.  this was the day before i put him to sleep.  several friends joined me for a final walk.  he was strong this day and i think he enjoyed all his friends, both human and dog.

 blossom was just under 6 months old when i lost huey.  she seemed very sad without her big buddy...that is when rio catalina came into the picture.  blossom and rio took to each other right away.

 from one of blossom's many puppy classes.  they had playtime after the class was over.

 huey wasn't actually too keen on blossom at first, but she persevered and eventually won him over.

 out with friends...this is quinton snacking all the dogs on gasline trail.

 this puppy photo of blossom made her dog of the week on Dogster.com.  i used to frequent that site often.  the dogs and cats have pages there still.  they kept making changes and i've stopped going there very often.  it was a fun site in those early days and it was a kick for my dog to be crowned dog of the week.  her page was viewed by thousands across the globe...i think this picture also made it into the anchorage daily news.

 haven't had the opportunity to get pictures like this of late.  today was actually rainy and miserable. not many photo's taken today so that is why i loaded some oldies but goodies on here. i try to do that at times so i can get more photo's loaded onto my shutterly account.  makes them safe in case something bad happens.  all the pictures i put on here go to a picasso account i believe.  so that helps to.
my mother instilled a fear of fires into me. i try to be very careful.  that always seems like the worst kind of loss.  nothing is saved and often pets are lost as well.

 blossom got her spay and on the drive home she snuggled onto huey's back and this is how they rode home.  she was a bit pukey post anesthesia.  poor pooch.   by the next day she seemed pretty much back to normal. huey really was tolerant of her....she required a lot of his attention.

 who couldn't love these faces though.

 despite going to bed early last night, i was unable to knock off.  eventually i took a few sips of nyquil, but i try to avoid that.  if i'm not asleep by 2 or 3 am that is usually what i do.  played a few favorite games on the ipad.  catch up on draw something, play some bookworm and a new favorite that i discovered last night...ski safari. it's action packed and hilarious.  cool ski dude with yeti's and penguins and eagles.  just ski like crazy and try not to get taken out by the avalanche.  if you haven't tried it...it's a fun app.

 probably not the best app for settling down and sleeping.

 eventually got out and about. just headed to dog park again.  it's an easy place, always nice folks there.  rio enjoys it, blossom gets to play.  i get some social time in. the roads are ice...everywhere. not a good day to drive anymore than needed.  did get the dogs over to petsmart.  they like that as well and i always need pet supplies.

 got a new case for my cell phone.  the one i had was busted again. just wears out.  the iphone 4 covers are disappearing.  found a cute mickey mouse one though.  hope it lasts awhile.  that was at best buy...not petsmart.

 the dogs out enjoying a sunny day on the front deck.  kotenouk below...another animal passed on.

 attempting to get a certain cabin for this summer.  figured i'd try right as the clock flipped over to tomorrow..no luck.  i think that web site for that cabin is in another state so i'll have to try tomorrow on the hour every hour starting with east coast time.  what a bother. these forest service cabins are great though.  they can be very popular though.  got that holgate cabin...this summer will be several smaller trips to plan i guess. want to get byers lake for august and then this one at lost lake...it ain't easy.  then i'll have to try and get time off.

 summer seems a long ways off, but up here you have to start planning early. you also have to start asking for time off early as well.

 mufasa above...another cat from the past now.  that cat lived forever!!that is the lovely view from my bedroom window...i love my view in the morning.

 more of huey on his last days.

 made some brownies tonight.  seemed a good day to bake.  should make some cookies tomorrow night.

 a few weeks back there was this interesting interview on NPR.  of course, i can't recall the name of the person interviewed or the book she'd written, but anyway....
she and her husband had been going through ivf.  (invitro fertilization).  after at least one failed attempt she could tell this time she was pregnant.  the office seemed to take forever to get her the results to confirm she was pregnant.  when they did call they informed her that yes, she was pregnant but that the wrong embryo had been implanted, she was pregnant with another couples baby.  they were going to have to decide how to proceed.

 she opted to become a surrogate to this child and return it to the couple who also desperately were trying to have a baby.  that must have been so difficult when you have wanted something so badly to have to let it go after carrying it for 9 months.  eventually, she got a surrogate and her embryo's were implanted. she got a one baby from that pregnancy.  it's always refreshing to see people make the unselfish choice.  to just do what is right.

 more from that last days walk with huey.  the next day i put blossom in day care for half day and just hung out with huey. he was weak and a walk that usually takes 20 minutes, took over 2 hours.  it was time.  i picked up blossom and we took huey to the vets.

 i've been blessed with some really great dogs in my life.  huey was high energy, it was just those last days that saw him slow down.  used to love to come out to the car after shopping and see people taking pictures of him sitting in the drivers seat with those glasses on.

 bald eagle flies by.

 as you can see, it was a pretty nice turn out for huey's final walk.

 there were a few photo's from this paddle trip...i think it's icy bay/dangerous passage.

 water was nice and calm for us so not too dangerous on our trip. we did have that one night camping where we misjudged the incoming tide and had water lapping at our tents with no place to go.  another few inches and we'd have been in trouble....or even a large  boat going by at the wrong time creating a wake.  we all do so many stupid things out there, and somehow we usually live to tell the tale.  mother nature can have her fury, but mostly i'd say she's pretty forgiving and tolerant to us humans and the crazy stunts we pull.

 blossom didn't get her full coat and curls until her next year.  she was pretty scruffy and i had no idea how she'd turn out looking.

 a rare shot of blossom and i doing training courses.  quinton joined us with emmitt his puppy that he'd found at the dog park across town.

 i had forgotten about this day.  i do make attempts at a social life.  i'd gotten together with a group of other doodle owners in town.  we had a doodle walk.  don't think we ever got a second one going but it was a fun day.

 more bears from mcneil river trek.

 pogi is the only cat still with me from this group shot.  there were some adorable kittens at the local petsmart looking for homes.  they have a bank of cages that have rescue cats that take turns being on display.  they had some cuties.  i didn't come home with another cat though...

 several charlie bear shots.

 we saw a lot of this particular bear the week i was out there.  he was quite handsome though.

 worked on a simple resume...best to be prepared.  it's easy to stay where you are and change can make me anxious but i'm sure i can handle it with the right attitude.  will just force me to learn and stretch those brain cells a bit more than usual.  that can't be a bad thing.

 hoping that tomorrows weather improves some...this has  been a crazy winter so far.  we had a fairly early snow, followed by a long, long stretch of pretty dang cold weather for us, then it got windy and warm.  today...rain.  haven't skied yet.  will hopefully find some nice snow to play in soon.  could go out to hatchers pass, they have some nice trails out there.

 eagle feather on the beach by the river.

 fishing.

 another group walk out at kincaid.  i remember this day...we all had fun.  i've also been blessed to know some really wonderful people in my life as well.

 sam taught blossom to lay in puddles like this...sam has also gone on to the bridge with huey.

mountains from the trails of campbell airstrip.  guess i shall attempt to get to sleep before 3 am tonight.  wish me luck..i may want to stay away from that app...ski safari though.