Xsasha is here

Here is a quick snap shot.  Hannah took this with her I-Pod and e-mailed it to me...it appears that my Kodak that I so dearly enjoyed, is on the fritz. 

Xsasha is very laid back and a real sweetie.

This was taken within the first couple hours here.  When I sit on the dog bed she crawls right up and snuggles.

...icing on the cake?  ..she has freckles!

She's coming tomorrow

I suppose I am a bit excited<grin>  Given all my dissappointments over the last year and a half, this unexpected surprise is welcome.  I could not let a tri girl with that movement get away.  She is 8 months old and Lord willing, I pick her up tomorrow in Huntsville!

Linda said I don't have photos of myself on my blog so here I am looking at the camera with my welcoming committee ... let's hope they welcome our new girl.     ...ok, ok, she is coming from Paul Chen (Afara) in WA.  This is an 'X' litter and  I got to name her ...oh joy!  Don't we all want to try to come up with an X name!?   She will be Afara Xsasha.  Kind of pretty X name after all.  Pronounced Sasha and maybe with a zee sound like zasha.

...yes, I still have Izzee the other tri girl here from Lynn.  So that will make 3 tris in the house- wow!  BUT I still will ONLY have 7 dogs....with one almost 13 and 2 at 11 yrs.  I am planning on puppies too, will plan to keep something from each  AND expect to still keep my number at 7....maybe 8.

Cheers!!  Here's hoping for fun dog activities and puppies sometime before the year ends.

summer update/visitor day

Finally, for Jill (grin), here is a shot of 3 Speckled Sussex.  I have 6 and they are my favorite breed so far.  They should start laying this month but the heat has really taken a lot out of the older hens and they are not laying much.

 Here is the proverbial dog in the pool cooling off in this awful heat.  This is Luna.  Fig will not go in the pool...big chicken,silly dog.

You would think he would go in the pool with Luna after running around like this!

 ...and this....

 Shady spot is good...

 I think they'd be attached at the hip if they could...

 Linda visited today!  She just *had* to meet FIG since she has been following Fig's Dad, Nugget and that first litter where Fig came from.  We had a great visit!  Corgi lovers rock!

 I LOVE this 'almost' candid shot.  Luna is listening to me and Fig is behind her  saying "what ever Luna says is good with me"

empty

We will not be having puppies... the Vet palpated and said yes, I saw begining signs...??... This is the oddest series of occurrences ever! I can only come to one conclusion and the common denominator is my neighbor spraying chemicals. I have asked him to please call me when he is going to spray, but he doesn't. Of course the dogs see him and go running straight to where he is!

I will be impeccably cautious and never let a bred or to be bred girl even have the opportunity go near the fence line. I have done everything I know how (been doing this 21 years) so I have to consider outside the box here. The extended  problems I have been having have only been here at our new AL home, so it must be something here.

 I am not giving up! 

great kitten entertainment

Throw a plastic jingly toy in a bathtub!

Luna palpated/New Kitty

Hannah and I took a trip to the vet yesterday with Luna for pregnancy palpation.  The vet believes she is pregnant. YAY!!!  It is hard to palpate Cardis which is why I don't even try.  While we were there we saw this young cat running around and I commented on how pretty and cute...Hannah and I have been wanting a kitten but the costs of spay, vaccines, etc. and David not wanting another dependant for the next 14 years...have stopped us.  We talked to David about this one barely a year old, already spayed, tested, vaccinated,*free* and he said "ok".
We are not set on a name but thought 'Drizzle' was good...then I wasn't sure and came up with 'Smore' since she looks like a toasted marshmellow with chocolate.  Anyway, here she is, but this pose did not last...she is pretty busy, also very sweet...purrs, licks, rubs...  Oh, her eyes are blue-very pretty.

Samuel in Japan

My son, Samuel, arrived in Japan yesterday!!!  For those of you who don't know, he was called to be a missionary to Japan at about the age of 13-14.  I am blown away by the fact that the time is here.  He has completed 4 years of college at FCC (Florida Christain College) and was blessed with financial support to be able to make his first trip which is an internship required by the college.  He'll stay 3 months and stay with 3 different sets of people.  He has already gone with 2 other men and helped the homeless on his first day.  This is something he did weekly at home too.
It's kind of hard to  grasp, but Japan is 13 hours ahead of us so their day has alread passed.  We always joke that they are in the future.
Also, since my husband,David, works for United Airline, Samuel was able to fly as family and no extra funds were required for him to fly.  THAT is a huge savings.
David and I joke (sort of since it is also the truth) that one of our ministries is supporting a missionary full time!
Please pray for Samuel.  Japan has only 1 to 2 % christian population. The problem with the thinking of the people in Japan is that they are completely open to many Gods.  So, they can accept God but just as another to add to the list of Gods and the concept of one God is a difficult to allow into their hearts.