puppy/spring clean up...

 started in on the puppy books.  cover off one, thanks to Huey, part of cover off another thanks to Blossom.

 had to take a stroll down Blossoms puppy life.  i forget how little curl she had to start and how much i love her coat now.  not sure how Ivy and Tuskers coats will turn out...time will tell.  above Blossom was 6 months and still lacking much curl, but it was starting to kick in about then.

 the crate is at the foot of the bed and it's all set up.  figure i'll take time for individual snuggle time with the pups and also training time in the yard.  some have expressed concerns about the pups bonding with each other more than me and that i should really make sure and give them that individual time.  i'd kind of figured that in the plans.  i actually hear more positive than negative about having sibling puppies.

 got them signed up for puppy class. got a few work mates to sign up as well, they both recently got puppies as well.

 was busy getting the downstairs area more ready.  shoes up off the ground, the front entry set up as a puppy area.  bummer for Blossom as she won't have access to upstairs with them there.  Huey survived it though.  will be good when the dog door is in and she can go outside to use the facilities.

 prepping has had the added perk of getting some spring cleaning done.  last night i hit the gym and swam 80 lengths...a new high.  today i got to cleaning and purging. i try not to interfere when that happens...just run with it and see how far i can get purging crap and cleaning.

 Huey with Blossom.

 the cats are enjoying the crate.  below is the outdoor run.  i've decided now that whoever bought it originally actually bought this one and a smaller one, combined them and then threw all the leftover parts they didn't need into the bigger run box to get as much money back as they could.  since 4 panels were missing, i suspect they just widened this by two panels on each side.  making it 8x8 instead of 4x8.  i had actually pondered doing that myself...not the return the leftover bits part, but combining two of these.  when i tossed the parts back to return it, i forgot to toss in the cover that had come with it.  i put the cover on the other day that came with it. tried the other cover but it was only half the size.. mystery solved.

 got a little package in our WARIS mail box. someone got their kids to draw pictures of walrus and wrote thank you notes.  makes me want to get more of these to put in our thank you packages for the organizations that help keep Round Island staffed this year.  so cute.  thank you so much to that family.  we would love more!!

 the walrus cam at explore.org is live!!  the walrus are back  chatter has picked up a great deal as walrus lovers old and new come check it out.  very exciting to have them back and to be able to pop in and check them out frequently.

 Blossom's baby picture.  she must have been 7 weeks.

 i pick up the puppies on Monday after i wake up.  a friend will come here and that way i can snuggle with puppies as she drives us back to my place.

 these pool pictures are from 2 trips to pool.  Blossom was joined by friends again yesterday.  bath time. today, we hit the University Lake...so much for yesterdays bath.

 Blossom above and Teva below.  playing with the fish eye.

 i'm in my bizarre schedule, which i guess will probably work out well for the puppies. i'll just have 2 nights of work to deal with over the next 8 days.

 leaf frozen in the water dish out back.

 nothing seems frozen anymore.  melting very rapidly.

 possible rain tonight, it was windy this evening for sure.

 these are from Campbell Airstrip walk

 Blossom is enjoying all the smells released from the thaw.

 a walk out at Eagle River Nature Center with a friend.

 she lives out there.

 Blossom did get to get into the river...on leash of course.  she can't be trusted around big water like this.  don't think i'll ever trust any of the dogs with these big rivers.  they run super fast.  have had some scary moments with Huey in big rivers..made me keep the leash on everyone since those experiences.  he was fine, but i clearly wasn't.  too scary.

 my cute princess. i'll have to do special time with Blossom as well.

 was thinking about dating.  a gentleman at work was working that direction.  i just said we could hang out, do stuff.  i think for me dating has always been stressful.  just always seems that dating is fraught with expectations.  expectations always seem to come with disappointment.  who needs that!

 i'll be pretty busy this summer with the dogs anyway.  i always know that my dog relationships have been my longest and most stable.  may as well invest the bulk of my time on the relationships that have the best history and chance of survival.  haha.

 lichen are coming out more and more.  have seen some signs of spring coming.

 always love when you can see the roots.

 another day, with another friend out to the beach.  this was Sunday.

 a beautiful day.  we've had several really amazing days of late.  so nice to be able to enjoy the outdoors.  today i even wore my sandals!!  crazy.

 put away the winter boots and got out some summer hiking boots.

 thought this came out cool...there was a little layer of fog and these people seemed to be walking right through it.

 Blossom and Camos.

 she got coated with mud.  i mentioned to my friend that on the walk back there would be at least 5 folks who would stop and comment on the mud on Blossom.  there were...it was funny. predictable.

 still a few lingering chunks of ice out there.  those will melt away pretty fast in these warm and sunny days.

 liked the angle of this and the big clouds.

 a few different friends joined Blossom and i at  the pool yesterday.  newbies.  :-)  i think we all had a good time.  will repeat.  nice to mix it up and meet different friends there.

 the pool action

 and the after pool bath/drying action

 Blossom was over the bath session and ready to go home.

 the rest are out at University Lake today...beautiful.  busy with my list of stuff to get done so haven' taken a longer walk.  getting my steps in anyway.

 still lots of ice out there...Blossom again on leash for the most part.

 big and beautiful Great Dane.  got to chatting with the owners.  this guy was a rescue and they are trying to get Sasquatch right now.  this guy has vision issues and Sasquatch has hearing issues. they have visited Sasquatch and are hoping they end up with him.

 was happy to meet them and hope that Sasquatch ends up with them.  felt great to hear this.  helps me put this option to rest.  i have often spoken to Rio through the universe and hoped she'd help us find the right situation and the right dog/s when the time came.  i can now relax a bit knowing that wasn't supposed to be Sasquatch.

 Blossom had fun playing a bit with this big dog...his head is huge. i guess the Danes of European origin have the larger head size.

 here are the nice folks who adopted this Great Dane and hopefully will take on Sasquatch.

better get ready for bed...more puppy book reading to do.  thankful for A.  meeting what will hopefully be Sasquatch's new people.  hope it works out B.  dogs...they bring those of us that love them so much happiness.  C.  getting stuff done, cleaned, tossed.  purged.  so rewarding!!  night.