Doesn't get any cozier than this ;o)

 

Ahhhhh ... nothing better than a cozy snooze by the wood cookstove after a long chilly 12 degree hike in the snowy woods and a long chew on  new juicy marrow bones!
Ummm ... smell that meatloaf cooking and wild blueberry pie cooling!

Happy New Year

As I type, Lyric has brought to my lap, a lil' grey elephant that Kara had sent home with her as a new wee pup in '07 ... she also still treasures her slightly worn "baby blankie" that held the scents of her mom/siblings during those first "lonely" nights in her new home  ;o)

(Happy New Year photo credit to my sister, having fun with "Picnik")

Sutter on the other hand, is cozy by the Glenwood cookstove on this wintery day, with her new Christmas addition to her Audubon chirping bird collection ...

Having any "Puppy Dreams" Lyric ... we're patiently waiting!

(photo from our recent puppy visit to our friend Linda's TruHeart Goldens "Broadway" litter)

Sleepin' Heavenly Peace

Christmas is 3 days away and the girls and I are looking forward to a stormless Christmas day drive to Massachusetts for the family gathering.
Lyric seems to be waiting till after the holiday rush to start thinking about a family ... my sister's sewing machine has been going full tilt making "puppy blankies" ... a Lyric daughter "Cinder" will be joining our family in 2010 and this is her "forever" quilt from her Anty Diane ;) ... I on the hand have been scooping up colorful blankets on sale (thanks for the i-phone tip Kara!) ... Linda tells me that you can never have too many blankets and towels!!!
The girls had their groomings today and with the wind chilled 20 degrees outside, we're enjoying the woodstove warmth!
We wish you all a very Merry Christmas and we'll hope for exciting blog news in 2010

Getting Started!

Well here I go ... not computer savy but encouraged by "Golden" friends Kara Ferri of SunKissed Golden Retrievers & Linda Flora of TruHeart Goldens!
("True Love" collage & "header" detailing credits to Kara Ferri)

In 1972 I got my first golden "Ruff" from Sutter Creek Goldens and sadly Susan Breakell died last year, so I can't let her know how far I've come in my 37 years of owning, loving, training and occasionally showing my family of goldens:

Ruff (obedience/tracking/field wc)
Sage (sweet rescue/therapy/canoeing)
Cedar (conformation/obedience/agility/kayaking)
Sutter (my agility-wildchild/hiking/camping/kayaking)
Lyric (retrieving swimmer/agility/conformation/hiking

So, with all that history said, I'm now moving on to my dream and "menopausal adventure" ... READY here we go ...

It starts with a brief look back to 2007 ... my then 5 year old "wild child" Sutter and I had been living together "in heaven" on 14.6 acres with an open pond surrounded with wild blueberry bushes and enjoy our days with gardening, water sports, chainsawing fallen trees for winter firewood, enjoying/challenged by our weekly training sessions with C.A.T.S. dog club, enjoying kayaking together and summer "van camping" on vacations to Maine's Acadia National Park, 2002 mile trip thru Nova Scotia Canada, overnight camping with "agility" friends at trials/shows!

Got the idea? ... human and dog together with everything they could dream of ... my good job, my ideal log cabin homestead and my best friend ... so I thought! Now enter the sight of some absolutely gorgeous Golden Retrievers at an event at Muddy Paws Training Center in Westminster Vermont ... oooh, my type of Goldens ... I have to follow up on seeing that kennel!

OK ... fast forward many months and I finally connect with the kennel owner and arrange a visit! I made it very clear that I was just "looking" and wasn't ready for a puppy in my life yet!

Long story short, second visit to Kara Wetherby's SunKissed kennel to see "a puppy looking for a Performance home" and I came home with "Lyric" from SunKissed Golden Retrievers in Charlestown NH ... hummm, just in case I had brought a puppy crate up from the cellar and put it in the back of the van!!!

Sutter spent the first 2 days isolating herself in the cabin loft and I was sure I'd made a huge mistake! On the 3rd day, I went to the car to get my camera (never can have too many cute puppy pictures!) and as I slowly started to close the car door I was startled by a yelping ... my new baby had followed me and luckily the door had only startled her ... well, what I thought was my worst nightmare ended up to be a special bonding between my girls ... Sutter came flying at her gazzel speed, over the snow covered yard to check on her new crying sister and they've been best buddies ever since!!!

Weekly agility classes (CATS, MuddyPaws, AK9C, Breeze Thru training centers), seminars, a few trials and conformation shows ... now to the BIG dream ... SunKissed Emerald Lyric's planned breeding to a carefully selected stud (Kara's sooo good at the research thing, where as I go with my what my eye sees ... then I email her "what do you think?")

Anyway ... we're anxiously awaiting Lyric's 8 month heat cycle which should happen in this month of December!

That special stud, Am CH Westin Having A Party UD JH OA OAJ WCX VCX ::Mr DJ:: well, he's in Tennessee and a 20 hour drive in the dead of NH winter ... but "he speaks to me" ... his owner, German born Heike Stroup, her repro-vet Dr Adams, our Vt repro vet Dr Pratt, Kara and I are all in email contact and we're just waiting on Lyric and Mother Nature!

Oh, did I forget to mention that with the "long distance" thing, a surgical artificial insemenation (AI) is planned ... semen shipped from Tennessee to Stowe area Vermont and then a 3 hour drive for us from NH to VT ... need I say I'm praying for no snowstorms, not on/after my 7p-7a shift to work and not on Christmas or New Years ... is that too much to hope for???

OK ... I've heard all the "your CRAZY" comments, but there are a few who understand and are excited about sharing my dream ... PUPPIES!!!

So that's the start of this blog thing ... if I haven't bored you, please come back and follow the CELEBRATION LITTER "puppy dream" ... see more info at:
www.sunkissedgoldens.com/celebrationlitter.html
I'll learn to post photos and you can bet Lyric's updates will be forth coming from me!!