Still here...

Yes all, we are not missing in action at all. I've been a horrible blogger of late, but you see, it's not without reason....

First, Murphy (pics to follow later today) turned 2. TWO! She's my puppy- she can't be two already!!  It's given me the unfortunate feeling that I need to expand the family again... maybe a puppy, maybe a kitten. All in all, a bad, bad idea!

So, when I haven't been busy with the celebrating of not having a pup in the house (not entirely true, because anyone who has ever raised a Jack surely knows that 2 is still a pup, at least in terms of brain power, LOL), I've been working on agility with her.  Murphy seems to have suddenly decided to work. Or, I have suddenly figured out how to work with her- that's more likely, to be honest. She's driving forward more and showing me an incredible ability to run contacts (amazing touches at the end!), a desire to jump like a lunatic and an increasing ability to listen.  So,  I've been starting to work front and rear crosses with her and increasingly more difficult handling. And, she's starting weave poles tonight. I'm aiming for her first trial to be late this summer, early fall so watch out world, Murphy and I are on our way!

I've also been hanging with the big kids. Sophie has been quite stiff of late so I've spend extra time massaging her hips and working her knees. She doesn't seem to hurt, just be stiff. It's a reminder that Miss Soph is just around the corner from 5 and somewhere deep down, I never thought we'd make it this far with all the problems she's been through. I feel hopeful to be honest. If she's just stiff, that's so much better than crying and refusing to move. And, we've been there before.

And, Spike.  Well after months away, I've gotten the old man back to agility classes too. He's a delight to work with. :)  No other way to put it. Just a delight.

Besides all that, I've been sewing. The orders are coming in slow (phew) but steady (phew!) and I've been busy working on getting stuff done. Biggest mistake I've made to date was sewing myself an alpaca mattress pad because it's become very, VERY easy to cuddle in bed and not want to get up. But, it's February and it seems the perfect time to cuddle up in bed with a good book, a warm dog and lovely, cozy bedding.

All in all, life is pretty good these days. So no fears- we didn't freeze into pupsicles here, we are just distracted from the blogging world.