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.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!

This picture was taken in our front yard when we lived in Montana.

 Not something we will ever see walk through our yard here by our new home by the sea!

We hope you have a wonderful day.

MORE PUP ADVENTURES

One day at our new home by the sea, I could hear M.O.M. calling me throughout the house.  But I was very tired and didn't respond to her real fast.

Finally she walked into the living room and smiled when she spotted me in the closet.  That was just the day before we headed back on the road to return to our home in the mountains.  She told M.O.D. that she was certain that I was just worn out from all the driving, new smells, new dogs and new people, running on the beach and not sleeping in my own bed.  Well, she did bring my bed with us but it just isn't the same in a different house.

The next day we headed back on the road to the home in the mountains and we decided somewhere along the way that we were just to tired to go any further. We stopped at a cute little Motel that we have stayed in several times in all our adventures to find a new home.

The Motel parking lot looked like they had no vacancy but M.O.D. went to the office anyway.  We were very fortunate that they had just one room available...one with 2 queen beds. We took the room  anyway and quickly made ourselves comfortable in the in front of the television to catch up on the world.

M.O.M. and M.O.D.  both started laughing when M.O.M. saw me curled up on the 2nd bed making myself at home! Gosh, it felt so good to stretch out and have the bed all to myself.

     Ahhh, now that's a dogs life!

We have been lucky with finding Motels that I can stay in. This one welcomes pets and doesnt' charge extra.  One in Cle Elum Washington wanted $25 to let me stay in the room..dad said no..that was too much and the desk clerk finally agreed to $12.  What a waste of money!

One of M.O.D.'s friends told us recently that a motel in Northern California charged the $125 for a one night stay for their dog.

M.O.M. has said that she and M.O.D. will never leave me alone in the car at night in a strange town...or anywhere else.

Oh I love my M.O.D. and M.O.M.

p.s...M.O.M. actually did make me get down off the bed....she said we needed to respect the Motel owners so they would always let pets stay here with their owners.

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!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!!

HAPPY

BIRTHDAY

TO

ME!

TODAY I AM 2 YEARS OLD!!!

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY

ALLL DAY LOONG!!!

This is a picture of me the first day I arrived at my forever home with my new M.O.M. and M.O.D..  As most of you already know M.O.M. is short for "My Other Mom" and of course  M.O.D. is short for "My Other Dad".  I call them that because I dont' really remember my real mom...my people threw me out of their car at a Lake in the forest when I was just 3 months old.  So I have never seen my mom again and of course I know nothing about my real dad.

Everything was so new to me but right away I felt very comfortable here and sensed that these people could give me a lot of love and attention.

I loved my forever home right away cause when I wasn't even here very long my new people let me run and play without even wearing a leash!

And of course we don't know my real birthday but the people at the Humane Society that rescued me from the scary woods like for us dogs, pups and cats that have been rescued to feel like we have a real birthday like everyone else so they pick a date that could be real close to the real one.

So every year me and my forever family will celebrate July 13th as the day of my birth. Of course, I feel like the day we should really be celebrating is the day I found this wonderful forever family!

The photo below is me on my 2nd Birthday...a very happy puppy indeed!

This is what I got for a special Birthday present last night for dinner....Corn On the Cob!!!  Yum..My favorite!!!  Now that's what I call a Perfect Present!

P.S....We are so thrilled to have little Princess Mistaya in our lives and thank our local Humane Society every chance we get.  We donate a bag of dry dog food to them each time we drive into the big city to do our grocery shopping.  They have given us the most wonderful gift in our lives.

P.S.S....Please don't ever tell Mistaya that she is not really eating corn on the cob.....all the corn has already been eating by her M.O.M. and M.O.D. and she is thrilled to be given the cob to take outside and chew on for awhile!  What a sweet, loving animal she is.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY SWEET MISTAYA!!

MY NEW HAIRDO

M.O.M. and I went on our walk down the road and into the woods last evening.  As we were returning home very strong winds began to blow.  This wind gave me a total new look for my black coat. 

 M.O.M. clicked a picture during one of the stronger gusts.

We then decided that we probably should get home in case one of the very old trees just couldn't stand up against these winds any longer.

The below photo is one of my very favorite pictures.  It always stirs up many feelings for me each time I view it.  I am posting it here and may do so at least once a month in hopes that if someone new to our blog doesn't yet have a rescue dog that they might decided to go to their local shelter and save a dog or puppy like this one.

THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

Our temperatures are continuing to be very warm here in Montana.  The above photo was published by our Humane Society from Wenatchee, Washington and I felt that if a picture is worth a 1,000 words then this one says it all!!

We feel very lucky that our temps cool off so well at night here.  Two mornings in a row now the temp at 7 am has been right at 40.  It is wonderful to open all the doors and windows in an attempt to capture some of the cool air to start the day refreshed after days of the high 90's.

Mistaya has returned to her favorite resting spot under the very large Lilac bush and still enjoys playing in the water from the garden hose.  What a great way to cool off!

We are all still worn out from our Aberdeen trip but are beginning to feel are energy levels rising again.  Mistaya didn't do much running on our short walk today.  I am afraid she is as out of shape as I am.  We are both anxious to get our toes back in the Pacific Ocean!

I promise to try to get a photo or two of Mistaya posted tomorrow.

OUR ADVENTURES ON THE ROAD TO ABERDEEN

As we were traveling on Interstate 90 in Washington State heading west  towards Snoqualmie Pass, this very large Semi tractor trailer passed us going east.  On that trailer was a very big wind turbine blade.

The cars beside this trailer gives you more of a idea of just how big this blade was.

It wasn't until we were returning to Montana over Interstate 90 just before The Gorge above the Columbia River that I really began to understand just what this blade was all about.

On the hillside next to the Freeway was a vast area with many of these wind machines already working.  If you look closely in the above photo you can see many of these giant "beasts" on the hill tops in the background.

Their size did look enormous but you really had nothing to compare them with to really understand the actual size of these costly machines.

That's when I captured this photo below that has a regular size pickup sitting beside one of the wind machines.

That's when I finally began to comprehend just how big these electricity makers really are.

Our little Mistaya was such a wonderful traveler on this journey to Aberdeen.  I will post some photos of her tomorrow so she can show you her side of the story.

WE ARE BACK IN MONTANA

Hi everyone, we just returned from our new home in Aberdeen and plan to rest for several days.  We had to stay a week longer as we had to spend the first week doing a lot of rewiring of the house.  We have patched, sanded, painted and mowed a very tall lawn, and pulled lot's of weeds.  But we hope to return to Aberdeen with the UHaul in about 2 weeks.
We did not have Internet service unless we drove to the town library in Aberdeen so we could not give any updates.  That should change on our next return trip.  M.O.M. did experience some fraud charges on her checking account so that kind of messed up everything over there for awhile.  But things are once again moving along so she may get to upload some pictures for me tomorrow about our great adventure!  I do like my new home but because everybody has a fenced yard we don't get to play and visit with each other.  Of course I was thrilled to see my friend Cody when we returned to our home here in Montana.  And of course I loved running on the beach and in the surf so life there is going to be pretty great for me and my family.
The grandson is back home and spending his days in a wheel chair and very anxious to be back on his feet again. He seems to be doing very well.  It was good to see him today.
M.O.M. will try to post tomorrow.  We have missed you all and are looking forward to getting back in touch with all of you.
 Hugs and wags, Mistaya

A SAD FAMILY NOTE...

 We have delayed our departure to the sea by a bit as M.O.D.'s grandson has been involved in a terrible motorcycle accident.  The grandson lives next door to us with his parents...M.O.D.'s daughter and husband.

Saturday grandson was riding his motorcycle with a friend and somehow the two collided on the highway. Unfortunately they were traveling at a high rate of speed.  They both received massive injuries..but they both had a helmet on.  The friends injuries were just to much for him and he passed away later that night.  Grandson is still in Intensive Care and will be for sometime. He has many injuries but no head injuries, thank goodness.  He has become more stable so we may continue our journey tomorrow.  M.O.M. said we will just have to wait and  see.

So suddenly life can change forever.

IT'S BEEN A WHIRLWIND HERE!

Apparently the Universe has been waiting for M.O.M. and M.O.D. to get serious about this moving adventure of ours. Cause M.O.D.'s last day at work was Friday, and on Monday, at 10:00 in the morning, we sold our house here in Montana. Then just 30 minutes later we were notified that the house in Aberdeen was going into Escrow.  What a wild week it has been. 

My family has been in this house deal for 7 months and 8 days today!  The house sale was a "Short Sale"...a difficult long procedure but an amazing price on the house that we just couldn't resist.

And today at 3:00 we received the phone call we have been waiting for all those months...the house closes tomorrow at 1:00 and they will hand over the keys.

We have waited so long for this...7 months..and now it all seems so quick that everything has been completed.  We are leaving for our new home soon but we will continue to post here as often as possible.  If you don't hear from us, please don't worry. We will be very busy for a few weeks but we can't wait to post photos of me running on the ocean beach.

CAN'T YOU COME OVER AND PLAY???

I caught this very cute picture of Mistaya today.

On the other side of the wire fence and just on the other side of the little irrigation ditch is Mistaya's boyfriend Cody.  They often cross the ditch and fence to play with each other.

But Cody's people caught him pooping in Mistaya's yard on a visit last week so he is no longer allowed to come through the fence.

Mistaya's body language and expression was so sweet and sad that I just couldn't resist this photo opportunity.

If I am outside when Cody comes to the fence I do encourage Mistaya to go through the fence and  play with him for a bit.  She will not venture through the fence unless we tell her it's okay to go.

She is such a smart little girl!

Good girl Mistaya.

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.

MEMORIAL DAY IN MONTANA WITH MY FAMILY

M.O.M. and M.O.D. let me ride with them when the drove to the local cemetery today to view the Veterans flags that were placed by all the graves and to also walk about the cemetery and view some of the very old headstones.

Of course M.O.M. said I needed to stay in the car because this is a very special place and out of respect dogs should stay in their cars.

They walked out among the headstones and I could see that they would stop and read many of the names on the headstones.

I heard M.O.M. tell a friend they saw there that she and M.O.D. like to visit the graves and read the names out loud. And since many of the people had died in the late 1800's and the early 1900's that they knew many of these names had not been spoken in many, many years. And to say them out loud made them seem more real and to honor the time they had spent on this earth.

Me and my family hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.

MISTAYA THE SPEED RACER QUEEN!

Mistaya and her M.O.D. went outside this morning to play 'chase the ball'.

So I decided that I would station myself on the front porch and get some great pictures of Mistaya in action.  I even used the 5 burst shot mode to try to get a great sequence of her running.

I had my camera set up for fast action photos so I told her M.O.D. to throw the ball anytime.

As you can see in the following sequence of photos that I have greatly underestimated our little Mistaya's speed.  I knew she was quick but....see for yourself! 

 We have clocked this speedy little dog at an amazing 23 MPH.  We were driving down our little dirt road and she was running through the forest jumping fallen trees and dodging all sorts of forest stuff.  To say the least, I was very impressed with our sweet little girl!! 

HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU......??

I could hear M.O.M. saying something..(of course I heard her cause you know how good of hearing us Australian Shepard's have!) but I acted like I just couldn't hear her. 

 Well, the wind was rushing past my ears so I could say that was the reason I kept running all around the yard with a wonderful long, sharp, stick in my mouth.

But then I saw the look on her face.

I wasn't sure just what kind of look it was because I could detect a hint of a scowl, a hint of a smile and I am sure I even heard a bit of  laughter from her as she was trying to get my attention.

As I ran past her for about the 10th time at full speed with my big, long, sharp stick in my mouth I did hear her say "Okay Mistaya, but I had better not ever see you running with scissors in my yard!!!!"

DO I NEED TO PACK MY BAG???

 I strolled around outside the house today to my backyard to take a nap.  Now, I accepted the fact that my kennel has been taken down to prepare for the move to our new house by the sea.  That didn't bother me very much because I had M.O.M.'s big picnic table I have been laying under to keep out of the sun and rain.  And as you may remember I also made myself comfortable on top of the table when M.O.M. wasn't looking...it made it real easy for me to keep a good eye on things.  So that was okay.

But this morning as I rounded the corner of the house I couldn't believe my eyes!!!  MY picnic table and the 4 benches were missing!  Even the shade creating umbrella was not to be seen.

Now, just what is happening here???  As you can see M.O.M. was looking out the deck door and saw the uncertain look on my face.  She came out of the house and sat down on the deck stairs and called me to her.  As I sat beside her she tried to explain that because we will be living in a different climate by the sea that she didn't want to haul the picnic table and 4 benches plus the umbrella 700 hundred miles away. She is certain we would not get enough use out of them to haul them so far away.

She said she had given them to her dear friend that lives here in Montana....Oh Yes!!  Jasper's mom!  Well, I guess Jasper and his family will really enjoy them and maybe, just maybe, they will think of us every time they sit down to enjoy a meal on that wonderful picnic table.

So I guess that is okay with me as I know I will get to find new adventures in our new home soon.  And M.O.M. hugged me close when she reminded me of the big park just down the road from our new house.  And because M.O.M. is real good about "picking up" after me, that it probably won't be any problem going there to play any time we want.  And of course she also reminded me that we will be very close to one of the biggest ponds in the world and we can go there any time we want to run and play for miles and miles.

Okay, now I understand why everything is disappearing from our yard. And I am sooo ready to start on our new adventure by the sea.   M.O.M. has promised me that it shouldn't be too long now.  So I will just find a shady spot in the shadows under the giant Lilac bushes at the edge of the yard.

Hey M.O.M.!!! Don't forget to find me napping under the bushes and to take me with you when it is time to go!!!

PUPPY LEARNING TIME

"Now listen to me real close son, this is how it works. Stand here and give them your sweetest look and give them lot's of those big sad puppy eyes and when they leave that eatin place they may just bring you somethin.

Quick, I think that's them...use the eyes...use more eye...look real sad!"

PLEASE DON'T TELL M.O.M.

M.O.M. was in the office working on the computer last night and M.O.D. was so wonderful to share some of his ice cream with me!  But please don't tell her cause I don't think she wants me eating ice cream.  But boy, it sure tasted good! 

 Of course M.O.D.  had eaten most of what was left so I suppose I got to lick out a very small amount but it sure tasted yummy! 

I just hope M.O.M. notices that the empty ice cream carton is in the trash and hurries to the supermarket and buys us more....yumm!