The highlight

photos taken by W.York; thanks, Shep!

of the show weekend was the Cardi-pardi on Saturday at Samhain (as usual). We were all a bit burned out and confused, and tired. The dogs? They just wanted to have fun!! Caleb and Simon joined the mix and are such very good boys. Mark outdid himself at the helm of the bar-b-q yet again, and I neglected to snag some of the salmon, the tuna, and the fresh Happy Valley corn. Yep, lame. I admit it.

Nugget is in love with Wendy, who wants to chew his face off, but secretly likes him too. The lovely Miss Kitty was allowed to come out and play and got slobbered on, but managed to avoid rolling in the chicken do-do. I think we were all a bit surprised that Grandma Kim actually let her come out and play as she is a grooming chore like Nugget. It was such fun to see littermates Nugget, Shea, and Flower together. They are from the first Carbon frozen litter, and Lilac sure produced some pretty babies. Nugget is huge, and very boyish. The girls are very dainty and pretty. My choice is boys that look like boys and girls that look like girls. There is no doubt when looking at these pups. Kate got a chance to be wooed by Casper, who thinks she is "just right." She is a bit smitten with him as well, but puppies always rule to Kate, and there were plenty to choose from.

I have no idea why I was so wiped out, and stressed out on Saturday. The party allowed me to unwind before heading for home with two exhausted dogs. I had to be up at 4am to get dogs ready for an 8am ring call. Unfortunately the long side was cramping up most of the night, for whatever reason. (Perhaps the lack of aforementioned salmon, tuna and corn, eh?) 'Twas a long, but very short, night. After bathing Nugget and getting him about half dry this morning, I opted to leave Kate at home. She was quite happy to sleep in, although she was a trooper in the ring on Saturday. She was happy, with smiling face and wagging tail. There is not a lot more I can ask of her. In the beginning of this adventure she hated the show ring, and let everyone know that she was being tortured. Now she is happy. Not winning, but happy. At what point do I quit with her? If she were miserable I would say "now." She is so very pretty up front; I just don't know...Anyway, pupster was every bit the puppy this morning. He is so cute, and come on, judge, give me a seven month old pup that doesn't boink a bit! It means they are happy, right?? I love him so much it hurts. I know, I am completely herd blind. He should have taken Best of Breed both days. yep. I know it. Nugget knows it. Nothing else matters.

After quick good-byes and one last crawl into Leo's lap and chomp on his eyebrows, (uhh, yea, that would be Nugget doing that, not me!) we headed for home and a nap. Next week we continue our quest for points in Redmond. It is such an interesting sport...thank goodness for Samhain cardi-pardies! (And friends who are amazing photographers!)




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