And So It Goes...

Thanks for checking in! I hope this finds you and your friends and family members safe and healthy. I know that many people are confused, angry, frustrated, stressed, and worried. Learning about all the illnesses and deaths really takes its toll. 

You would think that with social distancing and stay-at-home directives, life might get a bit boring. Somehow, for me anyway, the days seem to fly by, and I am scrambling to get through the days' to-do lists. I admit to being rather tired of Zoom meetings, but they do help a lot when it comes to getting things done. 

Staying home and feeling silly (but safer) by wearing masks and gloves to the grocery store seem to be small prices to pay for staying healthy.

I will say that one upside of staying home is that I have spent less money this past month. I have not even shopped on Amazon. My daily garb consists of jeans (or sweats) and sweatshirts. 

Our 48th Anniversary was on April 15. We just hung out at home. We'll celebrate when the restaurants open again.

Here we are all those years ago, a couple of young kids not even out of college yet--one semester of student teaching left and no jobs. What were we thinking!? Fortunately, we found summer jobs, both working at our campus. Lynn worked for Maintenance, giving dorm rooms fresh coats of paint, and I worked for the the English Department. I'd done a practicum the previous semester and was asked to teach the same course during the summer when the professor to whom it was originally assigned became ill.

Our dining room set was a card table and chairs. Our black and white TV sat on a TV tray. We had no living room furniture until our Best Man forked over $50 and bought us a used sofa from someone who was moving and needed to get rid of it. Somehow we managed to survive!

I have just a few photos to share. Colleen sent a picture of Biscuit, who is a Josh and Greta daughter. I love those beautiful eyes!

Stacey sent a picture of Enzo with his buddy Elliot. Stacey and Lisa also have another Joyslyn's Lhasa, Lola. Lola did not really like Enzo at first, but Stacey reports that now they play together all the time. Lola does not like to have her picture taken.

Molly Anne sent a nice report about Luna, who has lived with her for a year now. That time went fast! Luna enjoys her life with Molly Anne and their frequent nature hikes together.

As you know from my frequent posts, many of our retired champions, both male and female, are enjoying their retirement with new owners. If you are interested, I will have three 5-year-old females available for new homes by the end of August.

Here are photos of Kimmi's puppies that were born on April 1st. These were taken yesterday. The puppies are 3 weeks old. The first two pictures are of the females. The other three are of the males. These puppies will be ready for homes in early June. I have not asked for deposits yet, but all have been spoken for.

Speaking of puppies, we hope to have others available by the end of August. The breedings have been too recent to know yet if they resulted in pregnancy. We expect light color puppies as well as black ones.

Stay safe. Stay healthy.

Joyce

Happy Easter!

"The Easter egg symbolizes our ability to break out of the hardened, protective shell we've surrounded ourselves with that limits our thoughts and beliefs. As we break open our hearts and minds we discover a transformation to new, life enhancing thoughts and beliefs."

~ Siobhan Shaw

I'm writing this on Easter morning, happy because it is Easter yet sad because, like so many other things in our lives these days, nothing feels the same. I miss the Easter services. Watching a video just did not do anything for me.

Here is an interesting thing that happened on Good Friday morning. I walked into the kitchen in the mid-morning and I was thinking about it being Good Friday and how I would miss the Good Friday service at our church. I happened to glance out the kitchen window and saw this shadow on our backyard shed.

Now, I realize that the image was made by the utility pole and transformer in our backyard, but still...

Not even 5 minutes later the shadow had changed and the image was not the same. It just seemed like a blessing to have seen it when I did.

When I posted in March I said I would post the photo of Winter when she won her first major in Texas, so here it is.

I am not a big fan of show photos taken with the dog looking at the camera because I like to see the profile, especially when the dog has a nice length of neck like Winter has. However, Winter has always been reluctant to stand still on the table. She wants to look around and I am sure that in order to get her to stand still, she had to be allowed to look at the photographer. She is still with Sue in MS, waiting for the time when we'll all be free to go to dog shows again.

Kimmi and Cooper's litter was born on April 1 (no fooling!). There are 3 boys and 2 girls in the litter. All the girls have been reserved. I think one of the boys is still available. Here is a photo taken a couple days after they were born. They are big eaters, and Kimmi is being the best mom ever! I'll post photos once their eyes open.

Resources

AKC has a lot of helpful resources, this is just one of them:

How to Have Your Dog Singing in the Rain at Potty Time

Judy wrote: "I have attached a file of ideas of using this time for e-learning with your dog. Hopefully you can use them in your blog. I enjoy taking classes and hope there is some interest in them. Winny and Izzy will be signed up for the C-WAGS Obedience title. It sounds like fun, and it keeps them busy.  Susan Garrett is a well known top agility trainer, but her free classes are general obedience ideas."

This is the information she sent: "Now that we are spending more time at home with our dogs we can also work one-learning teaching our dogs basic obedience. C-WAGS offers ObedienceLevel 1 ACE title of CW-OAL1qv. The cost is $15 to enroll your dog. There are 6 exercises including heeling, stay, call to heel, find front and forward, sit or down walk around, and sit down sit. After you have signed up you will be contacted on the order you and your dog perform the exercises. You film you and your dog performing and email the video to C-WAGS. Two judges will score the video. Scores over 70 receive the title. It’s a one-page form and three pages of directions. Another fun idea is “Home School the Dog”. Presented by Susan Garrett, it’s a 2-month free trial on 3 different levels of training. Go to homeschoolthedog.com for more information. During the year she offers several free classes on training."

If you are interested in a panel discussion regarding preservation of the Lhasa Apso, go to Facebook and search for "Lessons in Lhasas." The first panel discussion took place on the 9th. It was streamed live but also videoed so those who could not watch on the 9th could view it later. I am one of the panelists for that discussion. There will be 3 additional panels.

Another resource that will soon be available on the American Lhasa Apso Club's website is "Introducing the Lhasa Apso." I put the information together using PowerPoint slides, but it will appear on the website in a magazine format. I'll let you know where to find it once I know it has been uploaded to the ALAC website.

"What Do You Love About the Lhasa Apso?"
That was a question I posted on Facebook while I was working on the slide show for ALAC. I received so many wonderful responses. Some were long and I could only use excerpts, but I included something from everyone who responded.

Here are some things people wrote:
"I love their beauty, loyalty, intelligence, and hardiness"

"I love Lhasas because they are so protective of their family, smart, sensitive."

"Those beautiful faces look at you all the way to your soul to their soul."

"They are joyful, playful, and clownlike, as well as having great intuitiveness and empathy."

"Many dogs are happy just being a dog, but a Lhasa wants to walk down the path of life with you."

Notes and Photos from Others

Joe sent this photo of Abby. Abby is Kimmi's litter sister.

Carol wrote about Jaime, who is a son of Kimmi and Rafe and litter brother to Autumn. "What joy he has brought to our family! Thank you for raising these wonderful dogs. We are blessed each day with everything from howling while "mommy" and/or her students play the piano to watching for the next-door kitty that he can go out and nuzzle. He is an excellent traveler, gets excited over his squeaky toys, is sociable with other dogs and thankfully very good with children. We love him dearly."

Carol also called me so I could hear Jaime "singing" as she played the piano. So funny!!!

Jim sent a picture of Daisy. That girl just cracks me up. All of her photos show such personality!

LaVonne sent a picture of her champion Nelson, who is Winter's litter brother. 

Sally sent photos of Ginger. I just had to post the one of the outcome of Ginger finding a mud puddle. 

Thank you for taking time to read the blog. I hope you have/had a wonderful Easter in spite of the restrictions our various states have required to guard our health. Our lives have changed, that is for sure. Thank goodness for the technology that allows us to keep in touch.

Blessings to all of you and prayers that we all and our loved ones stay safe and healthy. This too shall pass.

Joyce