Golden Days Parade

Here is a great picture that Tania Simpson (new Quest Director) sent of our "float" in this year's Golden Days Parade. Julie was in lead with Sammy and then in swing is my little leader Feather and myself. Devlyn is sitting in the front seat of the cart (blue shirt) holding one of Ken & Gwen's pups (that's Ken in wheel to the right). Tania is at the helm of this "dog team". She did finally get the commands down! :o)

It is really fun to do this event each year. As a musher, I usually can't volunteer much in the winters, as I'm out on the trails, running in the races. However, summers will find me helping out wherever I can. It's important for us to remember that we have to give back to these great organizations (Yukon Quest, Two Rivers Dog Mushers, etc.), or we won't have the wonderful races to run each year. I usually have a great time volunteering at booths, for events, etc., because it allows me to talk to people about something I truly love...running dogs. It doesn't get much better than that. If you can't run the dogs, then the next best thing is talking about running the dogs. ;o)

-Tammi

My Arabian buddy...

This is my gorgeous Arabian gelding, Druid. He sure is a beauty, isn't he? His dapples get better and better each year. Dru is 7 years old now...we've had him since he was a yearling. He's my boy!

It's been a very nice summer so far. Hot and sunny, though we've been getting plenty of rain (mainly in the late afternoons/evenings). We got the yardwork done today, so now I can see the dogs again! Ha ha ha! It looks soooo much better. We actually have a yard instead of a jungle! Next is to fence off the area (behind Druid in the picture) for the horses. Manny is working so much that we just haven't been able to get the permanent fencing up...so, we figured we'll do the wide, electric tape fencing for now, then get the permanent wood fence up later.

The parade was a blast! Ken Anderson brought his big cart, along with harnesses and we all "harnessed up" and hooked into the gangline to "mush" our way downtown. Devlyn helped hold the pups that Gwen brought, while he rode in the cart. We had Feather with us, so we put a harness on her as well; so, Feather and I were the "swing" dogs during the parade. It was hot; but, Donna really pulled through for us and was our "water girl" throughout, making sure Feather, Sammy (Julie's pooch) and all of us "sled dogs" were well hydrated. It was a lot of fun! Hopefully I'll get some pictures to follow soon. Until then, enjoy your summer and don't forget to hug your kids (both the 2 legged & 4 legged variety)! :o)

Summertime, summertime...

This is a picture of Bismark, our Percheron getting tacked up for his very first ride down the road. He did GREAT! He's turned into a beautiful, BIG boy.

Sorry for the long delay on updating the blog. I was off in New Orleans at a Education Conference, learning LOTS to bring back to school. Hard to believe that summer is on it's way out...boo hoo! I'm really enjoying summer this year...no classes, no work, nada! Just me, the boys, the dogs, the horses and the sunshine. You GOTTA love that! ;o) I have to confess that I've been rather lazy, not getting much done. But you know what? Life's too short to worry about it. Building great memories with the boys are more important than getting projects done. The work will be there tomorrow, or the next day. The kids are only kids once.

The puppies are growing and are more rambunctious everyday. We've named them: Hale (the male pup), Storm (his twin sister) and Rain (the dark colored female). We've started taking them out for walks around the yard and all three are little lovers and very outgoing pups. I think that this is a fantastic breeding! I'm bummed that we didn't get to do the breeding between Zen and Zorro...but that's ok. We can always do it next spring. In the meantime, we have Hiltey and Chevy, two VERY nice males who we hope are excellent additions to the kennel.

I have to get pictures developed and get more photos on the digital so you can all keep up with us here in Two Rivers. We've been having 80F, beautiful summer days. While I was gone, the grass grew like crazy...so we're doing yard work again this weekend. The veggies that I planted are really flourishing! We've already eaten some lettuce and broccoli...next are tomatoes as there are a couple starting to ripen...and green peppers on the plants, along with cucumbers! Wahoo! I'm not very good at gardening...so this is pretty cool. ;o)

Well, more to come...but I'm going to sign off for now. Devlyn & I are going to be in the Golden Days Parade tomorrow morning, supporting the Yukon Quest. So, look for us along the route...our "float" is like number 55 or something. You won't be able to miss it. :o)

-Tammi