The start to a new week

and what a week it will be. This coming weekend is the Olympia Dog Fanciers show at the Grays Harbor Fairgrounds in Elma. My sister used to live walking distance from the fairgrounds, and now lives on the other side of town. We will stay there as I was silly enough to get a dog whose name is at the beginning of the alphabet so have early ring calls. Truthfully, the AKC messed it up in the beginning by calling the breed "Welsh Corgi, Cardigan" so they would show right before the "Welsh Corgi, Pembroke." Now they are going by the more correct "Cardigan Welsh Corgi" so we always have 8:30 or 9am ring calls. For those poor, lucky, souls whose dog goes into Best of Show, it means spending the day. So, the deal was that I would stay with family, but not, since there was a horse show in Oregon the same weekend. I would stay at the house and happily do chores with the horsies that will be staying home. I realized today, in a panic sort of way, that I hadn't a clue how to do chores at the new place. Add to that the changing of horses, either looks, or adding and subtracting, and I am clueless as to what I will need to do. I really don't feel like four hours of driving so called this afternoon and figured I would arrange to go down this week. After the obligatory chat and catch up I mentioned the show(s). "A week from this coming weekend" says she. "No, this coming weekend" says I. "The weekend of the 8th, 9th, 10th" she says. "No, the 2nd and 3rd" says I. She is delighted, and I now even more nervous. She will be cheering me on. So, I thought it might be good to just take the one dog down. I make a note to call "doggy camp" to reserve a spot for Henry. Then remember, dum, dum, dum, the Hood Canal bridge will be closed starting Friday, and going for the next six weeks. So, I will take both dogs rather than drive an extra two hours. The bridge closure also means that our ferry schedule in the evenings is bunged up pretty crazy. One of the later boats will now be sailing from Edmonds to Port Townsend, and we will not have a replacement. (Sorry kids, no dinner dates for the next couple of months.) If I were to miss the last boat, and I haven't a clue now when that last boat runs, it means driving down to Seattle, or worse, Tacoma and around.

So this week, in addition to show packing, I made a date with a cousin I haven't seen in a couple of years. Perhaps my visit with younger brother touched a nerve, but I called and we have a lunch date on the other side of the "pond." Tuesday Kate gets a special bath that will hopefully wash out much of the shedding hair. Thursday she has a massage (who says show dogs are spoiled?) and Friday we leave. I haven't entered any more shows at this point. I have been working so hard on conditioning both Kate and myself that I decided to be a bit more picky and choosy as to where we go. She is plenty happy to not go any where, but I haven't got it out of my system as of yet. In between the big "dates" are a ton of little, and not so little, things I need to get done. (Like bathe and finish clipping the poor horse. It is a good thing she is alone out there as she would be the laughing stock of the field. Even my grand daughter mentioned that "there is something wrong with Windy's hair.")

The first veggies have gone into the straw bales. We shall see how they grow, and I will get pictures and post on occasion. I think I will get a soaker hose to run across the bales. The horse needs a feeder for Saturday and Sunday morning. So much to do, now that the weather appears to be turning. It is odd to have the trees and shrubs and bulbs all blooming at the same time, but there was a moment when I wondered if anything would bloom at all. (We did have frost again last night!)

Welcome to my world, and again I have to wonder how the heck anything got done when I worked full time.

With that, I am out to do evening chores and go to bed. I stayed up too late on the phone last night...but it was great to talk to you, S2. I will throw, or set, the camera in the truck. Blogging this week may be limited to pictures.

G2