A Recon Mission...

We have some trails down by the Forfar campground that we used with the team a number of years ago that I've been wanting to check out and see if we can put back into use.

Once puppies were moved and the rest of the chores done I packed up my Surly bike and headed out.
I was pleased to find the trails were actually in really good shape. 

With just a bit of work we will be able to get dog teams back on them this fall!

 

When I got to Forfar campground I took a few moments to enjoy it in its summer clothing!!

I kicked myself for not bringing my bathing suit!

A CONCESSION??????????? 

That is definitely NOT open in the fall/winter! Go figure!

I pedaled a few more of the roads around before impending rain and darkness sadly chased me back to the car. 

Nice day...and lots of promise for some nice fall days with the team to come!

Moving On Up to the East Side!

While I was feeding the girls their meal this morning I ended up with an extra dog darting around my feet.
Not shockingly, it was Sneaky Pete (also known as Crazy Pete and PEEEEEEETTTTE).

Our puppy pen is 6 ft chain link fencing, but 2 feet of that height is buried in the ground to prevent tunneling out.
Some of pups are climbers from a young age, but the Clones showed no inclining so I hadn't bothered to move them to our bigger puppy pen up the hill.
That ended this morning though....
 

Look how pleased with himself he looks!

The big pen hasn't been used in a couple years, so I set to raking out old straw and bunches of mushroom fairy rings (harmless mushrooms - I took the time to look them up). The squirrels munched on a lot of the plastic shade strips too, so I picked up the bigger pieces they left behind.

And then led the monsters over....

Apparently it meets with approval!!!

There was a lot of 'greenery' in the pen when the pups first went in. I'm not holding out a lot of hope for it!!

So, all is apparently good!!!!

"You can all thank me later", says Pete

Ice Bucket Challenge

I have been challenged by Fletch to the Ice Bucket Challenge.

I will have my faithful assistant, Bet do the honors.

BET!  It's suppose to be a bucket of water with ice in it... not a bucket of solid ice!!!!!

Forget it, I'll write a check.  My donation is going to the Alberta Heart and Stroke Association, not ALS.  I do challenge those of you who can to donate whatever you can afford to a cause that's dear to your heart or to someone less fortunate.

The Praying Betis - Bet

Howdy Ho Everybodies!!!

As you probably know by now, I am NOT a fan of the beady eyed pokey pokey beaked hummingbird things.

NOT
AT
ALL!

They flutter around and flit around and threaten you with their pokey pokey beaks and threaten to poke your eyes out.

HATE THEM!

The noises they make with their fast moving wings and they dart about... euuuuuw, they just weird me out.

So while I was cruising through the interwebs, I happened upon this little tid bit of information:

Praying Mantiseseses Can Catch and EAT Hummingbirds!

No seriously!!! Here's a video of one!!!

So... that got me to thinking!  These pokey pokey hummingbirds clearly know that the praying mantis is evil bad, you can see one of them giving it the beady stink eye and close inspection.  So what if I disguise myself as a praying mantis... and then they won't flit around me...

I think this could work out very well... if only the Musher would send for the praying mantis costume, and when I asked her for some money out of my allowance, she laughed and said no.

Sigh.

So I went out to guard dog central and asked Bear if he would be so kind as to be my pokey pokey beaked guardian.  He had no idea what I was talking about, but he's a pretty nice guy and agreed to keep me safe on my morning walks.

Ok, keep your eyes peeled for the nasty pokey beaked birds flitting around

Um... Bear... can you not BREATHE on me, I don't know what you had for breakfast, but seriously

That's better... urp

Just keep watching, they're quick little buggers

Was that one of them???

Ok, I'm going to go lay down right there... RIGHT THERE, so keep an eye out while I relax

Ok, I'm relaxing... are you watching out for them?

Hmm, this is kinda nice, and I don't have to wear that hot costume that musses my furs

If only my guardian hadn't waded through some vile stinking thing.

But we NEED our own Smart Phone!!!!!

The puppies have become completely obsessed with my iPhone. They spend HOURS telling me that they want one of their own. They say it is a safety issue, all their friends have one and I'm the meanest Mom on the face of the earth because I won't let them have one.

They have now moved from whining and pleading to attacking me and trying to steal mine.

Kind of like those National Geographic shows where they set a camera up in the wild and watch critters attack it. 

Two on one.....

They had high hopes for the 'Pounce Attack'....

The 'Sneaky Crawling' attack was also tried....

This one was just a blatant grab...

Ohhhhhh.....VERY sneaky!!!

I prevailed and kept my iPhone for this time, but if you are on my contact list and get a call from my number with someone trying to order 4 meat lovers pizzas for delivery....be suspicious!!!!