Just Another Day at the Beach

I think maybe tomorrow I'll start telling you about my second out-of-state trip that I took in July, but for today I'll share a few more local pix:

A Grand Day Out

Some friends are down visiting for the weekend and we took them out on the boat yesterday. We love sharing the beauty of this area with friends and one of our favorite things to do is to see the Shackleford Ponies. We really lucked out this time as we were able to get a good look at a very new baby.

 Cape Lookout National Seashore has some really good information on these wild horses here: Horses of Shackleford Banks Click on some of the links from that page if you want to learn more.

Baby was so incredibly adorable and even put on a show for us...excuse the jerkiness of the video...it's hard to keep it steady when using the zoom and no tripod.

Another Fine Day

A wee ghost crab peeking out of his hole

Swing for the Sky!

Swing with childhood abandon...

On the Trail

Solana and best pal Geronimo (a/k/a "Mo") got to go on another lovely trail ride Sunday. Weather was so warm (dare I say hot?) that it was hard to believe we were only 3 days away from Christmas! (And that's not a complaint!)

This time we took the longest of the three equestrian trails. Technically, it just goes down to the beach and then loops back around, but we took a detour and walked down the beach a ways.

The trails we were on are in the Croatan National Forest in an area that's adjacent to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. The flight path goes right over the trails and I was very proud of both horses to not freak out over the planes. There were harriers practicing "touch and go's"...it got really loud! I was too focused on Solana when they were right over head, but later on captured them in a few pix when they were farther off. Look just over the tree line above my saddle:

That's right! Incidentally, you can also see how wooly Solana's winter coat is. She was really sweating by the time we got done :D

Walking through thick sand is tough work, even for horses and we spent some of the time dismounted and walking along with them.

Still have a few lovely colors in the midst of the green woods. :D

Altogether we were on the trail for about 3 1/2 hours and covered about 7 miles. It was a fabulous day.

More on Dogs

Okay, so it's "tomorrow" that I'm continuing yesterday's post...ran out of time (imagine that!) last night.

In honor of yesterday's National Dog Day I offer this video, sweet, but guaranteed to make you tear up. Sorry about that, but it's worth it!


Now, to explain further yesterday's tease...Gwyn and I encountered a box turtle on our walk Saturday. She wasn't as freaked out by it as she had been the first one she ever saw, but she's still not entirely sure what to do with them.

Sadly, I must report that Buster, the pointer that mom & dad rescued last year succumbed to mast cell tumors and had to be euthanized. While they didn't have him as long as they'd have liked, he had the best year+ a retired hound could have! One of his funniest quirks (to me, at least) was that he loved to pick up turtles and carry them around :D He would have most certainly liked this one!! Rest well dear one.

Solana update

It was a long, painful winter on the equine front...and some day maybe I'll find the time to share more of our experiences...but for now, as usual, I'm wide-open and short of time, so will just tell you that Solana is doing great. She's fit and we're finally both able to ride again (she was cleared for riding while I was still in my boot...my foot's not all the way healed but I'm in a smaller brace instead of the boot and am able to ride).

While many horses would have been a bit crazy for their first ride in months, my sweet mare (with whom I've consistently done much ground work) was rock-solid and just happy to go.

 

My favorite view

Self-Portrait

Ready, Mom, open the gate and let's go!

Best Toy Ever! (part the second)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: the Kong Extreme Flyer is the *best* (outside) toy ever! At least in Gwyn's not-so-humble opinion! And, no, I'm not receiving anything from Kong..they don't even know I said this. I've mentioned that Gwyn's first Kong Flyer was given to her when I took her for her first photo shoot with the wonderful Joe Frazz. It lasted over a year, but I had bought a back-up knowing the day would come...

This is what they look like out of the box:

This is what they look like after a year + of heavy-duty workout. To be fair to Kong, there were times I left it out in the elements...and when it did finally start cracking and tearing away I got the rubber bits that pulled off and took it away so we wouldn't have Gwyn swallowing rubber!

 It leads to great interactive fun, like this:

I've got this, Mom, let 'er rip!

This last one was caught using a super-fast shutter speed...while there's only brief periods of time her view is completely obstructed like this, I sincerely hope she doesn't plow face first into something one of these days!!!

Grace

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I have a dear friend who defines grace as "the unmerited favor of God". I don't intend to get all preachy on you or anything, but faith is a critical part of my life and while I may not talk about it a lot, and frequently struggle with it, I do know that I am truly blessed. Blessed with family (which includes human, and not human...) and friends who I treasure. And while I've never discussed it here, I had a life-threatening medical emergency some years ago which reminded me that we are not guaranteed tomorrow and that we better appreciate what we have here. And now. Carpe diem! I firmly believe that I need to focus less on myself and more on others. I want to spread joy. Pay it forward. Commit random acts of kindness (hat tip to Lori at What Remains Now for the linky on that). And I'm right there with Houndstooth at Tales and Tails about the whole resolutions thing. She's participating in the 30/30 Challenge put forward by You Did What With Your Weiner. Walk 30 minutes a day with your dog for 30 days in a row starting today. Go. Do it. Spending more time moving with the hound...that is something I can aspire to! Gwyn is serious about her morning walk. Somebody better go with her. Every day. Unless, of course, it's raining hard...and then somebody should really make it stop raining. And then walk with her. And while right now my schedule is unbelievably crazy...and I'm spending time every day walking with Solana (more on her later)...I'm totally about walking more with Gwyn too. LoML's been really good about walking Gwyn for time reasons, but I know that when I walk with her I'm rewarded in so many ways....not even so much the exercise factor, as the bonding...it's good for my soul!

So, let's be kind to each other. Spread joy. Recognize grace. Walk the hounds. (And the horses.)

Welcome to 2013.

The Fox and The Hound...

...or, The Best Christmas a Hound Ever Had!

Gwyn here at the keyboard. Just wanted to report that it was the best Christmas ever around here! Mom didn't realize that even though Santa barely slowed down when he went by on Saturday (see Mom's Christmas Eve post) that I had time to tell him what I wanted. And boy, did he deliver! First, here I am, admiring the tree, being good, and hoping Santa won't forget me!

 My lil' kitteh, Xander, got him a sparkly mouse:

 He likes to pounce it.

 And then drag it backwards towards his lair:

 Here's the moment! Mom's handing me my new bestest toy ever....a fox!

 Xander also got a catnip toy (since Wil' got some treats she likes)...but Wil' decided she might like the catnip toy for herself!

 Me & my fox :D

 I have to keep checkin' on him to be sure he's okay.

 Meanwhile, the Orange Menace looked particularly cute in his pile'o'papers. He thought that was the bestest part of the whole Christmas morning deal. He thinks Mom & Dad should keep the papers out the whole year round.

 I tired myself out, but didn't let Mr. Fox get far.

 But here's the great thing...not only did I get a fox, I got a treat maker!!!!

 I had to supervise Mom to make sure she knew what she was doing.

 Fifteen minutes is a long time to expect a greyhound to wait for a peanut butter cookie! Even worse was when Mom found that this particular recipe did better cooking 20 minutes!!!

 I about gave up..(Mom thinks this shot with my back leg sticking out is funny for some unknown reason!)

 Me & Mr. Fox...watching the world go by....wondering if we'll ever get to try peanut butter cookies.

 Mom wants everybody to know that Dogs Rule! She & Dad got me this t-shirt at Westminster Dog Show one year (well, maybe they got it for my great-uncle Phil, but it fits me better!)

 After an epoch or so, they were done:

 Ah, mana from heaven!

 Nom nom nom nom nom...

 I didn't get to see her, but Mom thought her bro'n'law's little Yorkie, Zoe, was over-the-top cute in what she & her other SIL decided was a kilt!

 Mom says even though we really enjoyed all our goodies, that this Christmas was nice because we got to spend time with the people, hounds, cats and horses that we love and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. (*And* eat peanut butter cookies with Mr. Fox!)
Love, Gwyneth