Those of you that remember Katie know that every spring mom took her somewhere to do a yellow flower photo-shoot. It started out as a joke, since mom’s yellow flowers aren’t all that exotic.
But it turned into a fun outing for them and mom got some really sweet photos of Katie smiling at her parks.
Well now, mom doesn’t want to give that up so guess what mom and I did last week?
I suppose that wasn’t very hard to guess, was it!
Yep, mom rushed me over to Katie’s park when the sun came out one day. She had seen lots of yellow flowers in people’s yards and she figured as long as the park staff hadn’t mowed we’d be good.
And we were!
There were sooooo many pretty yellow flowers that I could hardly decide where to sit. In fact I didn’t want to sit at all.
I mean, if you’ve got the space and time, why not run through the yellow flowers with the wind in your furs? Right? So I did.
Several times.
Mom says I’m a very good model. I say as long as she has treats I’ll be a good model.
Cause if there’s one thing that Katie taught me it’s that you only have to sit for one photograph as a time and the flow of treats should be constant. And when the treats are done, so am I.
Thanks Katie-girl. You’re the best big sister ever!
Now I have to go comfort mom because she says that after looking at these pictures she realizes that I’m growing up too fast. She says she wants to slow it all down, but I gotta tell her, there’s no slowing me down!
Shhhhhhhh! It’s me, Penny! I’m trying to give you an update on things I’ve been doing without letting the mom know. Cause as you can see, she’s not giving me nearly enough online exposure. So I’m doing what they call an ‘end run’ around her and getting on here myself.
Mom has been taking me on lots of walks in my parks.
She’s sharing lots of stuff about her silly birds, and hardly anything about me and my adventures. All you’ve seen of me is the Easter picture. And to be honest I did that under duress. I mean pink is not my color!
“Hey mom! I didn’t bark at those bikes!”
Anyway.
Since I last wrote to you all I’ve been very very busy. I had a play date with Levi at his dog park which is about an hour away from my house.
Me and Levi. I was watching my mom come back from the car.
We had lots of fun and I made Levi chase me a few times.
We both love to run.
Mostly we did our own thing, you know? He was into running and chasing his frisbee…
Levi loves his frisbee.
…and I was just into running.
I just love to run!
Levi is a very handsome dude and of course the moms wanted a picture of the two of us together. And of course, as is stipulated in the sheltie bylaws, we made it very hard for the moms to get said picture.
“OK here’s the deal. We never both look at mom at the same time.”
Sit next to each other? No way. But maybe on our next play date we’ll be nicer to the moms. I guess it depends on the quality of treat being offered.
“Listen, mom, we’re not going to SIT. So get the shot and let us go play!”
And I also did a Rally Trial where mom signed me up to do two runs. A run is where you and your mom or dad walk around in a ring doing a bunch of stuff at little signs. You’re supposed to take your cue from your mom or dad who is supposed to be able to read the signs correctly.
Frankly it’s a bit boring because they don’t let you have treats while you’re in the ring. And without treats, what’s the point anyway?
Mom said I did great and she’s proud of me.
I did real good on the first run, I got 96 out of 100 points and second place in my group. But then mom rushed me right over to the other run without any breaks (and no treats!!) and we were all of the sudden in there walking around and I was sort of more interested in getting out of the ring, and also I forgot what the word “sit!” means.
Mom says she’s always glad when we make it to the “finish” sign!
I guess I just had a mental block. I don’t know what the big deal is, mom has those all the time! I still got a qualifying score, 80-something, but I didn’t place. Mom says that’s just fine. She says we have two legs of the three we need for a title in Novice Rally.
I’ve been taking her to doggie school every week to practice reading the signs. Between you and me, this past Tuesday afternoon she couldn’t read much of anything right and I got really frustrated with her. So I decided I didn’t know how to sit straight anymore. Or heel. Or wait. Waiting is my hardest thing anyway.
Mom says we’ll be in the basement working on that stuff this week.
Come on down, mom! And bring the cheese!
In fact, talking about the basement, my friend Lance and his folks came over and Mom and I did some work in our new basement, teaching me the tricks of Beginner Novice Obedience! Mom say she has great plans for me. I say I’m all in as long as there’s cheese involved.
Lance and me being patient with the moms.
Oh – and on Friday evenings I’ve been going on group walks with another trainer and a bunch of other dogs and their people. We’re walking around small towns and getting used to traffic and other people and other dogs. Mom says it’s working. I don’t go as crazy now when we’re out and about as long as mom has treats on her. She’s pretty happy with me and we have a lot of fun on the walks!
A perfect evening to walk around an historic little town.
I just know there’s more news to tell you, but mom’s almost done cleaning the kitchen so I better go inspect. Have I told you that the kitchen is my favorite room in my house? I call it the Food Room. You never know what will appear from hidden places there.
Mom’s been taking me shopping too. I don’t know what the point is, she never buys anything.
Mom and daddy say that it’s time that I stop all my temper tantrums at home and the barking and lunging at doggies at school, and the chasing cars and joggers and bicycles thing. Also my very loud and insistent objections to things like the shower being turned on, or the refrigerator door being closed without me getting anything.
You know, stuff like that.
It’s a new day, mom!
So they had a lady come over to the house to meet me. She’s very nice and has the best treats! After initially barking at her and then jumping on her I decided to show her my very best behavior and I sat. I sat a lot and stared expectantly at her.
Do you have the GOOD treats?
And every time I looked at her while something noisy was happening in the house she gave me a teeny tiny barely there treat. I thought this was the best game ever!
So now mom and daddy are trying to anticipate my outbursts and get my attention before I go off on them. I seem to be getting more attention and more treats lately. We’re only a few days in but I like it!
All this training is wearing me out. I think mom and dad are tired too.
Then yesterday mom took me out to a park and we practiced heeling and downing and sitting and coming and stuff. Lots of treats there too.
Coming in for the cheese, mom!
I may have hit the jackpot!
And then…last night, just when I was settling into my after supper nap which leads to my after supper sleep, mom woke me up and put me in the car and we went to a little historic town nearby where we met up with the same nice lady and another family with their dog, and we walked around town!
This is kinda weird. I’m usually asleep by now!
Well! I’m not real happy about being near noisy cars and I was a little bit hyper but the nice lady and my mom would just make a sound that reminded me to look at them and then I got a treat!
Mom brought cheese!
We walked around and around and around this little town and I was mostly good. Sometimes I couldn’t help it and I’d forget to look at mom and start barking and twirling over something, and a couple times she had to hug me to calm me down, but overall I am beginning to learn that mom’s got my back and I don’t have to protect her from anything.
Thanks, mom (and nice lady) for always looking out for me. And for the cheese.
Maybe.
I bet mom and I will be having more of these adventures. I can’t decide if I like them better than my park adventures, but if there’s cheese…well…I’m in! Right after I take a nap.
So…after we get the car washed what are we doing next?
Hey, hey, hey, it’s your birthday girl Penny here!
Mom says in honor of my birthday I get to let you guys all know that I’m a very special girl, highly intelligent, an over achiever, and athletic to boot.
Oh, wait. Mom’s trying to get my attention.
Mom says that was not what I was supposed to tell you. I’m suppose to tell you it’s my birthday and I turned TWO today! And that she’s not giving me any cake or blowing up balloons or anything.
On the other hand she’s also not making me wear a silly birthday hat, so I guess it’s all good.
Right.
But somehow it doesn’t seem fair that there’s not a worldwide celebration of my birthday. Or at least a house-wide celebration. And you’d think there might be a present or two.
Well. Mom does promise me a walk in the woods at a park of my choice. And she says I get an extra snuggle with daddy, which is one of my all time favorite things to do.
I’m a happy girl, that’s for sure, and all I really need is my mom and my dad and their big bed and my supper bowl and an occasional treat.
Yep. That’s all I need.
Oh…and my ball to chase and mom’s shoe to chew on.
And my sofa to nap on.
Yep. That’s all I need.
So….happy birthday to ME, the happiest sheltie in the world!
Talk later, I’m going to go threaten mom’s ankles until she gets me a treat and then a walk…
…your birthday girl, Unstoppable Penny…now moving on to her terrible adventuresome twos!
You might have noticed that mom is still missing. I’m kind of worried, even though daddy said it was all going to be just fine. But I’m also a bit miffed, cause mom has more beautiful pictures of me and she hasn’t posted them! So I guess I’ll have to do it myself.
Katie warned me there would be days like this.
So without further ado, here are the images from our second 4 season photo shoots! I think you will agree I am simply stunning.
Ahem.
November of 2023, where it all began:
Winter of 2024:
Spring of 2024:
Summer of 2024.
Fall of 2024! (My personal favorite.)
I hoped you liked my second set of 4 seasons images. Mom told me she had fun too, but NOBODY has as much fun as me!
Talk later,
Your professional model (who will be increasing her fees if she has to do all the work around here),
Not only have there been lots of colorful lights in our night skies, there’s also been a comet. Or so I’m told. It’s not the kind of comet that shines brightly in the sky, it’s more reticent than that. Less showy.
Hanging out on a country road waiting for dark.
Of course that makes it all the more alluring for night photographers, professional and armature alike. I went out on two successive nights to try to find the comet.
The moon came up as the sun went down.
The first night neighbors and I met on a dirt road outside of town with an unrestricted view to the west. It should have been perfect. But though we stood out there, eyes turned toward the sky, scanning back and forth for over an hour we didn’t see it. We did however figure out we needed a heavier coat, hat and gloves if we were ever to do this again.
Over processed image to show you how big the moon was that night, rising in the east.
Oh, it was there all right — plenty of people posted images from that night. But we didn’t see it. Perhaps it wasn’t dark enough where we stood. Perhaps those clouds hanging low on the horizon obscured our view. Perhaps the nearly full moon rising behind us as the sun set was to blame.
Or maybe it was all of that combined. Regardless, we headed home empty handed. And very cold.
Nope. No comet that night.
The next evening I met a fellow Milky Way student out at my favorite park, where we planned to show her daughter the birds that come down to eat out of people’s hands, and then head to a dark place along the lake to look for the comet.
Scouting potential comet viewing locations, I ran across some color.
Before we even headed out to look for the birds we got to see other flying things.
It was a beautiful evening for a flight.
I rarely head out to feed the birds in late evening, but we tried. She did get a few birds to come down from their sleepy roosts to get a bedtime snack, but not many.
A sleeping mourning dove. He declined to come down for a snack.
We didn’t see many birds that evening, but we did see other things flying.
What is this, anyway?
Though at first we weren’t quite sure what it was.
A perfect night for this.
Meanwhile, my friend’s daughter’s new best friend was a chipmunk who stuffed himself with seeds, ran off to deposit them some safe place for later and ran right back to get more seed multiple times. I think he has enough provisions to get him through the winter now.
Did I hear you have a snack for me?
As we were driving to our chosen comet viewing location we noticed the big orange moon was rising. I made a hard, quick right and we pulled in along a couple dozen other photographers, focused on the beautiful rising moon.
It was really much prettier than this.
You’ll have to take my word for it. It was bright orange and rising up above the trees, reflecting in the lake. I didn’t have my camera set up for a moon shot, it wasn’t on a tripod. As I was messing with all of that the moment passed, as it does so often in photography.
The moon was sooooo beautiful that night, even if we never found that comet I knew I’d still be happy.
As the sky turned red and then darkened we hurried to the spot we hoped would be perfect for comet viewing. A beach, deserted, gave us a perfect view of the night sky. But where was that comet?
Another sunset, another night of searching for the comet.
We had come armed with instructions from other, successful, comet photographers — descriptions of where it was in the sky, how many degrees from this star or that formation. We tried it all, pointing our cameras in all sorts of directions, hoping.
And then my friend’s 22 year old daughter, bored with the old folks and their expensive equipment, raised her phone to the sky, shot one image and said…”It’s right there.”
Do you see it? It’s right there!
And bingo. Knowing exactly where to shoot, even though we couldn’t see it, made all the difference. We couldn’t even see it in our images, unless we zoomed way in. So we might have gotten shots of it and not even known, would never have known, without the young women’s gift.
It’s long tail extended, flying right over our heads all this time.
So there you have it. The comet who’s name I can’t pronounce or even spell. The elusive, sneaky, fading comet who will be back to visit in a mere 80,000 years. Or is it 800,000?
Sunrise, sunset, the time slips away.
I’ll have those camera settings down by then. How about you?
I’m taking a community ed class, put on by my township Parks and Rec, and sponsored and designed by a local hospital system. It’s all about balance, and it’s designed for senior citizens.
I guess that makes me an official senior.
Hi everybody!
I’m 68, and I qualify as a senior citizen by any number of measurements, even if I don’t feel like one. So when I saw this class in the winter township catalog I thought…why not? I’ve fallen and hurt myself a couple of times and I’d like to learn how to fall more gracefully to avoid more injury.
Maybe even avoid the fall altogether.
Sometime just looking up makes me dizzy.
Which, as it turns out, is what the class has mostly been about. Avoiding the fall. There are about 12 people attending each week. We just had week 5, so 3 more to go. Each week there’s a topic, lead by a nurse and the head of Parks and Rec. They work well together.
There’s not a lot of color in the trees here yet, but there was still color on my walk.
We’ve learned some gentle excises that I should be doing daily. The basis of the class is that if you keep your muscles in good condition, flexible and fit, you are less likely to fall.
The colors are mostly subtly, but still beautiful.
In this week’s class we put together plans for meeting class goals. My end of class goal was to have an established walking program put together. I and the group decided I was going to walk 4 times a week for at least 40 minutes somewhere.
Saw this little guy on the path. He swayed back and forth if I got too close. So I just cropped the image.
Lots of places with walking options were suggested. One couple goes up to the mall every single morning (except Wednesdays when they come to class) and walks around the one mile interior perimeter. I used to go there and walk too, especially in the winter. It’s a nice place and I’ll likely start that back up when the weather gets bad.
But while it’s still nice weather I prefer to walk outside.
Some dogwood color.
Yesterday I went out to one of our parks, without the dog, and walked 3 miles. It was lovely. All the photos today are from that walk.
Turned around at 1.5 miles. Going back was pretty much all uphill.
I could use it for my Walktober, but I don’t think I will. It’s too early, there’s not enough color yet, and you’ve seen this park before.
It’s still mostly green around here.
On the other hand, if I don’t come up with something better than maybe this will be my Walktober!
Little bits of pretty things, way down on the forest floor.
Penny says it’s not fair that she didn’t get to go. I say, she stops and sniffs too much plus she barks at other people, bikes, cars, dogs and baby strollers. Oh. And joggers. So the walk is not relaxing when she’s along.
I saw a few bike riders out there.
If she ever grows up I’ll consider taking her. Meanwhile I just have to do two walks, one for me and one for her.
So, once again, you may have detected a noted lack of Penny posts here on my mom’s blog.
I guess I shouldn’t feel all that bad. She didn’t even tell you that she went to Washington DC 10 days ago, did she. Nope. Obviously you guys aren’t top tier friends either. (I’m JOKING!!!)
Mom says it’s just that she’s really busy and hasn’t had time to write about every little thing. Every little thing? I ask you. Am I a little thing??
Actually I’m a quite large thing. I’m oversized for a sheltie, bigger than Katie was, but mom says that just means there’s more of me to love!
And did I tell you that she and I snuggle just about every single morning, most of the time with me sitting on top of her? Yea. I guess Mom is OK after all.
Anyway.
I’m supposed to tell you that Mom and Debbie over at Domer Mom have decide that we will in fact have a Walktober this year, and Mom will collect all your links on her blog and do a summary post at the end.
Mom said I need to hurry up and announce it since October is knocking on our door. Wait a minute, I have to go bark hysterically cause that’s what I do when anyone knocks on our door!
….OK. I’m back…
Mom says I can pick the official Walktober dates, because I’m really smart and she likes to keep me engaged. Otherwise I’m off doing stuff she doesn’t want me to do, but that’s another post.
So I think the official dates for the 2024 Walktober will be October 17 through October 31st. That way you have two weeks to plan and two full weeks to go on your walk (or ride, or jog, or drive, or skip or hop) and blog about it!
Of course, if you need to do yours a little early that’s fair, and if you need an extra couple days at the end just let us know. Mom will put everything together in her blog in early November.
And she says to tell you she’ll do an official kickoff to Walktober near or on October 17th so that you can all link to that post when you do yours!
Mom says if you have any questions just ask. She and I will do our best to answer and explain better. My excuse for rambling is that I’m not even two yet! So I get distracted easily.
Squirrel!
Pictures in this post are from several walks Mom and I have been on lately, cause daddy has been doing scary noisy things in the basement. Heck I didn’t even know we HAD a basement until now! Daddy says when it’s finished I’ll get to explore down there! Too bad it won’t be done by the end of October or I’d take you on a tour for my Walktober!
HEY MOM! MOM! MOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOMOM!!!! Where am I going to take the nice people on my Walktober? You better figure it out soon! It’s a priority, mother!
You know I keep track of my mama and daddy even though I’m across the bridge, right? So I know when they’re upset. Thursday night I noticed mama had wet eyes so I paid extra special attention and wasn’t surprised when she started talking to me.
Don’t we look alike? That’s Payton on the right.
I’m a very good listener.
She said that Payton, my half sister, was going to be crossing the Rainbow Bridge on Friday, the very next day, and she wanted to make sure I’d be waiting for her so that Payton would have someone there right away to show her around.
She didn’t want Payton to be alone as she arrived.
We are both very happy girls.
Well of course I told mama not to worry, I’d be right there, first in line to greet her as soon as she arrived, cause after all, she’s my little sister!
Payton and I met a couple years ago when our moms got us together to go for a walk, way back in July of 2021. It was pretty warm and we were both mature so there wasn’t a lot of playing between us. But we did sniff hello and go on a congenial walk around Payton’s large estate.
She enjoyed sharing her home with me. She lived in a beautiful place.
Most of the time while the folks were sitting around talking we were hanging around snoozing.
A nap on the deck is always a good thing.
Or sneaking treats from the other’s mom or dad. Sometimes mama said she couldn’t tell us apart, especially from the back.
We knew how to work it, that’s for sure!
We were good about taking turns getting treats.
Then in May of 2022 Payton and her folks came over to my house and I showed her and her sister Tally around my park.
The two of us and our dads. We were already discussing how to thwart the moms taking pictures.
We had so much fun together, we even conspired to give the moms a hard time getting pictures of us, just for fun. But you know how moms are, they’re pretty stubborn, and they got a few good images of us.
She looked so beautiful in the afternoon sun.
Secretly I’m glad they did. Now that we’re both gone I think the pictures will give our parents some comfort, you know?
We were giggling because the moms couldn’t get us to sit together for a picture!
Payton was a very smart little girl, she even earned her UDX title in Obedience and she did rally and agility too!
Payton and I were not impressed with mom wanting a yellow flower shot.
Payton loved her mom and her dad very much, but she was definitely a daddy’s girl, helping him do the yardwork and enjoying a daily golf cart ride with him to inspect her estate.
She loved her folks so much.
She lived to be 15 years old, just like me, and just like me she was tired at the end, but she had a very wonderful life, and she lived every minute of it to the fullest.
Payton had the best smile.
She was a feisty little girl that managed her household and she will be missed so much by her family and friends.
But don’t worry everybody, we’re together now and healthy and happy. There’s so much to do here, so many things to sniff, and we have so many friends with us, why there’s always a game of ball to play, and walks to take and soft beds to nap on.
“Come on Katie, let’s mess with the moms again!”
And don’t get us started about the treats! My oh my, there’s any flavor we might want, and we can have as many as we want! It’s crazy!
Anyway, I know those of you that knew Payton will miss her terribly, but I wanted to reassure you that she’s just fine and when it’s time we’ll both be right here, along with all your doggie friends and fur babies, waiting to show you around.
“We’ll wait for you guys to get here!”
Well, Payton and I have a nice walk scheduled next, we’re going to explore that meadow of wildflowers over there, so we have to go for now. But we’ll be watching you, and if you get sad again know that we’ll be right there.
Promise.
Payton. Never forgotten, loved forever.
Shelties are always loyal and we love you all very much.
Mom says we haven’t had internet for a million years. Ok, maybe it only FELT like a million years, maybe it was just about a week.
Mom told me to sit on this bench. So I did.
Anyway I’ve been to lots and lots of parks lately ’cause mom and dad are getting stuff done on the house and I tend to bark a lot while stuff is being done on the house.
But mom! I’m not sure about sitting next to a BOY!
Plus mom says it’s really nice to have the time to go to parks and work on my behavior issues. Seriously mom? Does it look like I have behavior issues?
Deuce seemed to tolerate my curiosity, but I don’t think he was thrilled to sit next to a GIRL either.
I didn’t think so.
Mom says she has some really nice pictures of me that she will share with you once she gets them edited and stuff. Which could be a million years from now.
Or a about a week.
Pictures in this post were taken by my Aunt Karen, Deuce’s mom.
Hard telling with mom.
Signing off for now, your photography model and exemplary citizen,
Change Is Hard 