BIRTHDAY LOVE

Today is the Wildflowers’ FOURTH birthday — here they are at four days.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILDFLOWERS!

I hope to be sharing updates all week long — let’s start with my own Pozy Clarkia.

Pozy is busy, brilliant, intuitive, and an incredible working dog. She is also very lovely.

She does not, however, enjoy being petted by strangers and this is something that is hard to address where I currently live — there just are not enough training opportunities with other humans.

She doesn’t bark at people — she simply moves away if they try to touch her.

Pozy prefers an extended warm-up period before she will be wild and lifelong friends with someone new. Once she loves you, it is both exuberant and forever.

She is a very, very kind dog and she LOVES well.

This is a good time to say that I plan to move in the not-so-distant future. Pozy will especially benefit from being in a place with more humans. She is a true Pandemic Puppy and combined with an isolated living situation — well, there is a bit of work to do but we need to be around humans to get over the hump.

We will. In the meantime, we train.

Hopefully, Pozy will be in a tracking test in June 🍀 and show in all the other things she already knows by next Spring.

Pozy is an absolute joy and I am so lucky that she shares her life with me ❤️

HAPPY BIRTHDAY POZY CLARKIA 🎂🎉🥳

I wonder if Pozy sometimes feels like Jan in the Brady Bunch? You know…

Capella and Pozy are very different dogs — and yes, Capella is more forward-facing right now. That doesn’t mean anything about how deeply Pozy is loved, how special she is, and what an absolute delight it is to train such an incredibly smart working dog. Love is expansive and inclusive, with room for all.

Also, Marcia (aka Capella) was Best of Breed yesterday, earning a GCH major and beating two lovely male Specials 🤷🏼‍♀️

Being Jan can be rough — I know this well since I have a REALLY perfect sister (Christine! Christine! Christine!) — and so I work hard to ensure Pozy knows that she is also valued and loved.

🩷🩷

Choosing Happy

I love my birthday! And it was perfect — because I planned it all out with things that make me so HAPPY.

Coffee. Journaling. And then I did a run on my Peloton Tread and that made me hot and sweaty — and feeling like a tiara was appropriate.

My birthday plan included making sure each dog had their own party with me. First up was Capella — we went tracking and then she had a nice romp.

Capella

Next was Pozy — she also tracked and then romped.

Harper B and her moose were next.

I took Sparkle to the field where Capella had tracked because I knew she would love to run around and smell things — and look for something dead to roll on.

Yep. She did. Even dogs get to plan their own party, I guess.

Sparkle

Last but not least — Claire.

For Claire, I picked the field that has the most water right now.

She had so much fun!

Claire

Then I took myself out to brunch — yum.

The afternoon included giving Capella a bath because I am showing her this weekend. Unfortunately, she is blowing coat and between the bath and the blow dry — well, that coat is now officially blown 🤷🏼‍♀️ It will still be fun!

And for dinner…

I am ridiculously happy these days — and it is so so wonderful.

❤️

Deck Week

With the work on the inside of the house done — and the weather relatively cooperative — attention has now shifted to the outside. Welcome to Deck Week, Part 1.

The reasons to replace the deck are both obvious and numerous.

Deconstruction started yesterday.

Remodel Dude and I managed to remove and relocate the tempered glass panes without breaking a single one! 😬

The new deck arrived — assembly required.

Can you believe that truck made it in and out of my driveway?! There was some very skillful maneuvering involved.

It is now slightly terrifying. No dog will be using the deck doors right now, I assure you.

I hope you are having a productive week doing transformative things, big or small ❤️