May Flowers...lets chat

Doug, what a beautiful variety of colors,  I love the first pic of the creamy yellow and grayish-lavender ones.  We have an iris festival here every May.  There are a couple major iris farms in the valley.  They are huge wholesalers, but you can visit their display gardens and buy tubers when they have hours for the public.  You can see some of the "crop" fields from the highway, and it's gorgeous at peak bloom time.  I never knew there were such exotic varieties of iris until we moved here.

Spring allergies are making me feel really lousy this week.  One of the drawbacks of living in such a fertile area where a zillion kinds of pollen surround me!

well I finally decided to try logging in again and see what was happening

very moderately hopeful they really fix things but been there done that

Ruby your human dad is 100% correct, Tank's loss! And Bugsy would love you <3

Kate I know it's difficult (((hugs)))

We had a cool wet Spring and the azaleas and rhododendrons were spectacular, we are still pretty far behind normal Springs but this week turned into Summer so there you go

Bugsy is still Bugsy. He has this back thing going on. I have taken him to a chiro and it helps. The news may not be great after we get some images done but he is otherwise very healthy and super happy.

Still very active and I finally did something with him I have wanted to do forever, we climbed a mountain

And you can see the heights didn't matter to him :) He leaned over every edge and scared me to death a few times

Wow!  What a view!  Although, quite honestly, the second one makes my stomach drop....not good with high places.  Must have been an awesome climb!

All the flower pics are great.  So pretty and the vibrant colors!

Kate so sorry about your Dad. Seems like coming together ,for only funerals or weddings, is the way with so many families. Doug love all the flower pictures...even the dandelion. Tracy, sorry the play date didn't work out for Ruby. Wow there Bugsy don't be scaring your Mom like that. My husband will go to the edge like that and I hate it. I always tell him you don't know for sure what is under you. It may be a piece of rock jutting out from the cliff and ready to fall any time. You can't always tell. I didn't get my qualification this past weekend that I need for the National agility trial. I have more chances though, so still hoping to go. It's not until the second week in October, or somewhere thereabouts. My old boy, Gus, he qualified but I won't be entering him in Nationals. He was 11 years old May 1 and doing Team Tournament is just too much for him. Real happy he did so well, as I had decided to retire him from Team Tournament classes. I'll play another game of agility with him...one or two runs maybe, as long as he continues to like it and shows that he can still handle a couple of courses. Will be anxious to see what they do with the forum.

Maureen let's not let your DH walk Bugsy on high trails ;)

Kate, wanted to offer my condolences on the loss of your Dad.  (((hugs)))  We're all fine here.

Karen - so good to "see" you!  I've missed hearing from you and Bugsy.  I'm glad he's doing well.  And I'm very impressed that you guys did the mountain climb. He obviously is still very young and active at heart -- you're both very fit, that's for sure!

Those views are amazing.  I'd have been a wreck so close to the edge, too.  When we first adopted Ruby, we visited our friends at their cabin near Mt. Hood.  We did a short hike and sat on a bench at this beautiful viewpoint so we could all have a water break.  DH tossed the remaining water out of Ruby's collapsible bowl off the side of the "cliff" we were on, and it was a good thing I was tightly holding her leash and we were several feet from the edge because his tossing motion made her jump up and try to head towards his throw.  I think she would've jumped right off!

While eating lunch just now, I went to read that thread about the forum changes.  I was going to post a couple suggestions, but seeing the tone the new admin person has taken already makes me think I shouldn't bother.  

tacran please do make suggestions, but also accept that things can't change instantly and that negativity is just not going to help. What we need is for members to raise their ideas and concerns in a constructive way that can be discussed.

PS Nice pictures :)

I don't believe that anyone expects instant change, and big deal if we've gotten negative.  Go back to the thread and just read what you said to Jackie and to Tina.  Rude and disrespectful.

Doug, I've gotta know what kind of camera you use for those awesome pics!  I'm finally seeing a few tulips here!

I have a Kodak Z650.  Old, no longer made, but it still works.  10x magnification and a close up setting, along with Kodak Easy share software for easy edits.  I looked a while before deciding.  I wanted something that looks like a camera, has some weight to it, easy to use.  I look at the new cameras-Yes, I would like a big shiny Canon EOS t6 with a bag of toys to go with it, but this one still works.

Rain, drizzle, wind, mist, .  Lovely day.  May have to start some demo on the basement just to avoid insanity.  TV is misleading.  It takes more than 30 minutes to redo a basement.  It takes me longer than that to decide what to do.  It takes me longer than that to build up enthusiasm to start.   Wife wants to start on the finish work before I start on the demo work.

Sky is growing up.  His head is taking on the adult shape-squared up jaw line.  He is focusing better-not perfect, but better.  Working him with a dummy at the park on retrieving.  He is really into this game.  Out at a full sprint, pick it up, bring it back, spit it out so it rolls to a stop at my feet.  Worked a bit on "to hand", using treats.  Now, he spits it into my hand (wonderful graphic) while still running.  Will start working on getting him organized.  Return, sit, hold until getting the "give" command.  Then,  we walk around trees on leash at heel.  He walks home on leash at heel with a loose leash and his head right by my knee.  There is hope.

Bugsy is looking good. Big and powerful. A mountain trail with him would make me nervous.  I live on the MN prairie.  A Colorado Park Ranger called us "flat landers".  If you ever watch "Little House on the Prairie", keep in mind that it was not filmed in MN.  There are no mountains in MN.  Some big hills, deep river valleys, but no mountains.  I can watch a storm coming for a long time.  

Ah, but sometimes the old stuff is better than the new and improved in a lot of areas.

LOL at your TV vs reality!  Same for me.  Nothing moves as quickly as TV pretends, especially when it gets past 50!

Lordie, hearing about your work with Sky makes me wonder if I'd have the energy for a pup.  With time, you can cushion the memories of the non-stop work they take.  But, there IS hope!  He'll get there.

We are having absolutely gorgeous weather with clear skies and temps in the upper 70's.  The trees are finally no longer naked!  Flowers blooming, all good stuff!  Seemed to have skipped right from winter into summer, but I sure won't complain since our winter was soooooo very long and hard.

@DougB

Bugsy is looking good. Big and powerful. A mountain trail with him would make me nervous.

With good reason Doug! He is still very strong and at 105lbs I had a great sense that if he went over so was I. You can see the rope I had him on, taut, it was tied to me. :o  

I was thinking that in some ways I was glad I waited until he was nearly 10 because when he was younger it would have been even more frightful

@kpwlee

You can see the rope I had him on, taut, it was tied to me. :o  

I was thinking that in some ways I was glad I waited until he was nearly 10 because when he was younger it would have been even more frightful

Boy, that's the truth Karen -- I can just see him launching off the edge of the cliff, with you attached by a rope behind him, like those old Marmaduke cartoons!  

I decided to put my 2 cents in on the Forum Improvements thread.  It's Friday, I'm in a hopeful mood!

Actually, I've got nothing planned this weekend, other than some yardwork and a trip to the Saturday Market.  It's going to be gorgeous sunny weather, maybe hitting 80 degrees.  My MIL is pretty much staying in bed all day now, so DH isn't even going to ask her about trying to go out on Sunday.  We'll get her some flowers at the market and bring them by.  Believe it or not, one of her favorite treats now is Burger King, so maybe we'll just bring over some fast food so she can enjoy it while in bed watching TV.  

My mother had cataract surgery this week, so she's laying low this weekend, but my sister and her boyfriend are coming for an overnight, so she's super happy about that.  My sister got divorced a couple years ago (a shock to everyone, including her), but I'm thinking now it was for the best -- her new guy is a former high school classmate, and he is a peach.  He has a big black lab who looks just like Bugsy, and he dotes on him, so that makes him a great guy in my book.  Plus, you should see how good he is to my Mom.  Mom told me this week he's "almost as sweet" as my DH.  I told her it sounds like he's even sweeter!!  

There is something about the dignity of an older dog.  Young dogs are fun, older dogs just fit in to life.  You know them, they know you.  The rough edges are worn off.

Boy, you hit that nail on the head!  Theo is a lazy bones these days, but all we have to do is ask if he wants to go to the park and he's at the door.  On the far side of the house next to us is the start of a 2000 plus acre  park.   This is where most of the walking trails start and he absolutely loves to go exploring....as long as we don't ask him to cross the stream!