ANOTHER THEME DAY

With all the unexpected snow we have been having here by the sea it made me think about our winters in Montana.

So I am posting some of my photos that I took near our home there during the winters we lived there. Some majestic mountains appear more than once because  each day...or each winter they always look so different.

  Sometimes if just depended on the time of the year. 

or the amount of  snow changes their entire look.

Some were taken off my front porch.

Some just because we just had a very heavy snow storm.

The picture below was taken in Montana but it is a odd shaped mountain across the great divide in the state of Idaho.

The following picture the hill just across our country road in Montana.

I thought the light cast of clouds on the mountain when we were experiencing some winds made a very pretty picture.

I do miss these views that were so close to our home in Montana but I don't miss the 21 degrees below zero temperatures!!

Enjoy all the beautiful scenes you will see during this winter.  There is beauty in all of Mother Nature and she is just waiting for you to capture many of them with your own camera.

PRETTY FALL COLORS

We took a drive around the area this weekend and saw some very pretty fall colors.  I want to share them with you.

SIGHTS ON MY WALK

Gosh, when I awoke this morning I really didn't feel any older than I was yesterday on my Birthday.  Well, I guess that's good. 

 And I am beginning to feel much more rested after our return from our home by the sea.  I did a lot more exploring while on my walk this morning.  And M.O.M. took this picture of our neighbors cows and though how much alike these two looked.  I guess it is "Like Mother, Like Daughter"!

I did wonder if I looked that much alike of my own mother.

It wasn't quite so warm today so M.O.M. and I went on two walks today.  On the second one all the chipmunks in the neighborhood seemed to be in the trees by the road just to taunt me.  So I had a lot of fun chasing them back up the trees.  Yeah, they thought they got away from me but they didn't seem to realize that I wanted them to get back up in those trees.  So I won!!

A WET RAINY WALK IN THE FOREST

M.O.M. and I joined her walking group today for a walk in the woods. It was not raining when we started out at the trail head.

But after walking for about 20 minutes it did start raining...a few drops at first then more and more.

Of course I didn't care that it was raining and M.O.M. and the ladies didn't seemed to mind either.

I did my usual running everywhere thing and loved every minute of it.  We did have to cross 2 rather deep creeks but as you might guess I just trotted on across. But I did notice that a few of the ladies were having a bit of a hard time.

I forgot to mention that 2 other dogs joined us on this walk...Jasper and Buster.  On the walk up the trail Buster's mom kept him on his leash.  But about an hour and a half into the walk/hike, Buster's mom said she was going to turn back and would meet us back at the vehicles at the trail head.  M.O.M. then told her we would join her. (We didn't want her walking out in these woods by herself. We did find Wolf scat on the trail earlier.)

After crossing the first deep creek she let Buster of his leash and he and I ran up an down the trail having so much fun.  In the above photo you can see me with Buster in hot pursuit!  He is a beautiful Boxer that has gone on many of our walks/hikes over the last 3 years.  Yes, I know I have been on the hikes only a year and 1/2 but M.O.M. told me about that.

As you can guess, both Buster and myself were very wet by the time we arrived back at the parking lot....so was M.O.M. and her hiking friend.  But none of us really minded cause I heard M.O.M. and her friend doing a lot of giggling and laughing in the front seat.  And we had to wait just about 20 minutes for the rest of the group to join us. 

Buster and I both fell asleep on the way home.  But before we did I did have to make sure that he had to stay on his own side of the car.  Gosh, It was easier than I thought to make him understand what I mean when I curled my lip and made a little angry noise.  I could see that M.O.M. was kind of proud of me for finally standing up for myself. 

Hmmm,  I think I grew up a bit today!

WHERE IS THAT MISTAYA DOG??

M.O.M. and I went on a walk this morning and you will have to look real hard to find me in this picture. You may have to click on it to enlarge to be able to find me.
Okay, I am the black spot running near the fallen tree near the ridge of the hill.

Again, I am out and about in the woods as M.O.M. is walking on our dirt road.
I am the black spot in the middle of the photo.

It is always good to get to water on our walks cause as you can see how hard I run up an down all the hills and everywhere I can.

I did hear M.O.M. tell M.O.D. when we arrived back home that she might as well stay home cause Mistaya knows exactly where she is allowed to run, she always looks back to see where M.O.M. is and we sometimes don't see much of each other until we are headed home.  M.O.M. said she feels like she is walking by herself sometimes!

But I am sure M.O.M. understands that I know where she is every second and that makes me feel very safe so I can run like crazy everywhere.

Thanks M.O.M. for trusting me.

A WONDERFUL DAY IN THE WOODS!

M.O.M. and I joined her walking group for the final walk of the semester on Wednesday. And because it was the last walk with the group until next fall, they held a very fun Bar-B-Que at our favorite campground in Montana.

Everyone brought lot's of food and I even got to sample a Hot dog for the first time.  Yummy!

I did have to stay tied up to a real tall tree while everyone was eating...all 5 of us dogs had to.  M.O.M. said it was because there were so many people and too many dogs and someone might get hurt.

That was okay with me cause she tied me as near as she could so I could watch everything that was going on.  And of course she brought along my water bowl and even my usual lunch time snack.

They have all been so kind to M.O.M. and even me. They didn't mind me coming along on their walks or hikes when I was just a pup and didn't know the etiquette of the trails. M.O.M. always said that their kindness and patience towards me helped me learn how to act on the trail real fast.



M.O.M. and I are sad that this will be our last group walk with our Montana walking friends.   M.O.M. came to Montana not knowing anyone other than step daughter and her family.  And it was a fabulous day when she hooked up with all of these wonderful, active, fun loving people...and dogs!  I am sure it will be hard on her when we leave here for the last time. But I did hear her tell M.O.D. that she is thankful for the Internet so she can keep in touch with all her Montana friends and share lot's of pictures with them of our new life by the sea.

When the ladies in the walking group heard we were leaving the got together and made M.O.M. a beautiful quilt with scenes of Montana on it. And two other ladies each made me my own blankets...1 to use in my house bed and 1 to use in the bed in the car!!  Wow! Isn't that Great?!!!

And she is very happy that all of her blogger friends will still get to read about all of my adventures during my new life by the sea.  This blog thing is the most amazing communication tool!  M.O.M knows she would never have become friends with most of you if she hadn't allowed me to write my story and all of you have faithfully followed as I grew into a happy, healthy rescued dog.  We love you all!!

Hugs and Wags to all my dog and cat friends and their humans!!,  Mistaya

YOU WON'T BELEIVE THIS!

Yes, that is me! Look!!! I am driving the car!!!  I finally have real hands!!

Well, okay, that isn't really me driving...it's M.O.D. behind the wheel. But M.O.M. really laughed when she saw this picture and said "Mistaya! What are you doing driving the car???"  Well, I wish I could drive the car. Then I would drive to the forest everyday for a super fast run on the hiking trails, chasing all the squirrels and chipmunks I could find.  "Now see Mistaya?" M.O.M. said, "That's just why we won't let you drive, you would never stay home, and besides, you have no way to pay for all that gas!!"  "And no! animal pelts are money!!"

Okay, it must be time for a nap...again.

SOMETIMES I AM SUCH A SMART PUP!

Most of you know that M.O.M. has taught me to sit down and wait while a car is passing us on our dirt road while she and I are out for our daily walk. 

She has noticed that I even sit down even while I am running in the woods if I hear a car coming by.  And of course my hearing is excellent so I always hear the car.

But M.O.M. was a bit surprised today on our walk when she heard a car coming and look over to see where I was.

There I was sitting quietly atop the pile of logs I had been playing on, waiting for the car to go by and for M.O.M. to then 'release' me.  When she did I immediately returned to my play as if I had never stopped.

M.O.M.  says she is very pleased that I remember all of my training as she always feels that I am very safe out on our walks.

  We walked with her walking group yesterday and I was running ahead of everyone as usual and as I neared a corner up the hill I sat down beside the road and waited. Several of the ladies asked why I was sitting because they didn't hear any cars way up here in the woods.

Just then a large pickup came slowly around the corner  (probably because the driver wondered why a little black dog was sitting by itself along the road in the forest.)

Everyone was so surprised that I had known the truck was coming.  But of course they would have known it too if they had hearing like us dogs do.

I THINK I AM FLYING!

M.O.M and M.O.D. took me for a ride in our new Ford Explorer and I got to ride in the back with the window down..Wahoo!!! With the wonderful breeze blowing all of my hair back I feel like I am flying...it is wonderful.

In our truck I wasn't able to stick my head out the window so this is a whole new experience for me...and I love it.  Of course it kind of drove me crazy when we drove by a herd of deer but I didn't try to jump out although M.O.M. was a bit worried.

So now I have even more reasons to want to climb into their vehicle with them.  Now if I could just get them to head back to the Pacific Ocean I would be a real happy pup!!

SATURDAY ADVENTURE-DO YOU WANT TO PLAY?

Today M.O.M. took me for a fun walk down our road. Going this direction she always let me race up the hill to see if I can find any Chipmunks hiding near the trees.
We came upon this large pile of tree branches and I am certain I heard the little Chipmunks calling my name.
So I climbed right up on top of this pile to see if I could see any.

As you can see, M.O.M. made sure she got a picture of "my better side"! Geez M.O.M.

I didn't find any Chipmunks this time...they can sure hide good, but I will continue to check for them every time I walk by this pile of branches. They are sure to be here one of these days.

M.O.M. did tell me that she didn't think the Chipmunks were really calling my name. Instead of hearing them say "Oh boy, Mistaya is here!" she thought she heard them yell "Look out!! Mistaya is here!"

Boy, they are not very friendly to dogs are they? Just to be sure I will listen closer next time.

WALKIN' ,RUNNIN', WALKIN', MORE RUNNIN'!

This is a picture of the expression on my face this morning when M.O.M. asked me if I wanted to go on a walk with all the ladies in her walking group.
If you can read dog body language my expression says..."What are you waiting for???"

Because there were lot's of walkers and a young dog that wasn't allowed to run off leash for awhile, I had to wear my leash. I wasn't too happy at first but I knew sometime along the way M.O.M. was going to let me run.

I think she was real happy that I did have my leash on when we crossed this bridge high above the mountain creek. I did hear a gasp from a few of the ladies but I never really had any plans to actually jump down into the water. M.O.M. remembered to bring a bottle of water for me so I wasn't thirsty enough to jump!

I did get off the leash and I had so much fun running everywhere. Of course I always try to be real careful of the ladies and not run into one of them and knock them down. I imagine if I did that I wouldn't be allowed to join them on the walks anymore.

If you look real hard at the picture above you can see me just at the edge of the water...that black looking thing that blends into the black sand like stuff. The water was ice cold and tasted so good.

I had a lot of fun today and look forward to joining the walking group again soon. I sure hope we can find a walking group at our new home. If not maybe M.O.M. can start one for us!