Infrared Goggles Photography

Teggie Loves Sunshine!

2009-07-16T06:57:00.000-07:00

Teggie is 5 months old...

(Compared to the photo on May 22nd...Wow...)

As busy as we are, we had to share how much we miss everyone, and how happy Teggie is that we are moving beyond the rainy season and into sunny days! After a morning frap, she is wild-eyed and sitting still just long enough to pose for this photo. She knows "Up!" and can jump up on anything... and into the tub! When visitors come over, she is the best puppy ever... Sure, she wants attention, but settles down and makes for pleasant company.

Our petite Tegwen is running with her boy almost a mile several times a week now, which keeps him in shape. Although incredibly active, Teggie loves to just sit on the bank of our pond and stare out at the water sometimes... :) She is a splat at my feet at the moment... but we are about to go out again...

Teg and I will drop in on our friends later. Meanwhile, enjoy a Teggie smile and have a wonderful weekend!

Teggie Says, "Yo No Quiero Taco Bell!"

2009-07-03T19:58:00.001-07:00

Life is full of lessons. A boy looks at a quesadilla filled with chicken and cheese and sees an excellent opportunity to reward his begging Corgi... Then a mother cleans up after the poor puppy for two days. She's feeling well enough to go to the Corgi meetup tomorrow morning. Stay tuned for photos...

Teggie turned 5 months old this week! She is getting to that fun age in which she sounds and acts like an adult one minute and a puppy the next. So I guess I have TWO young teenagers in the house now...

They look out for one another. But camps have been keeping my son very busy.

Teg stayed for a few days at the local pet hotel while we were out of town on vacation. At Teg's camp, she is never alone, but plays with dogs her size--including an adult Corgi who was not impressed by her greeting, "yap, yap, another Corgi like me!". Teg slept with the onsite family's daughter in the girl's bed. To our surprise, when the Tegster came home, she was very skilled at being still and quiet on the sofa. So now while we catch up on our DVR watching on certain evenings, Teg can stay up a little later with us before retiring to her crate. Teggie learned a lot in Corgi Couch Potato Camp.

In my son's latest musical theatre camp, he wrote a play that combines "Wicked" and "The Phantom of the Opera" characters and songs. Above are three photos from the production. Teg's favorite boy's singing voice is deepening...

These postings during the summer may be sporatic, so feel free to friend me on Facebook, where I upload Teggie photos via iPhone on the go...

Happy 4th!

Teggie Wishes You a Frappy Saturday!

2009-06-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

Watch as The Teenager ruins our sweet little Tegwen,
turns her into the ornery gnome, Tomboy Teggie!

After a good romp with her boy,
Teggie is subjected to frustrating sit-stay training...
When does clicker training start?!?

Have a Happy Puppy!
I poached this link, a great one to support those Corgi mom raw foodies like me:
I Eat Raw Meat: Raw Food Diet, Day 495- Chasing the Melatonin Mystery

Teggie's Two Front Teeth...

2009-06-02T09:00:00.000-07:00

are missing! She's growing up so fast...

She was a little restless the night she lost her teeth, so we made this video of her sleepy frap. She plays her hide-and-seek game, in which her ears are always the giveaway... She saved most of her cool Corgi wookie noises for off-camera, of course.

Thank you, A Corgi's Blog, for our award! Teggie loves the attention. :::bouncing:::

Now, you have to see Cathy's New Corgi Painting! It's amazing...

Teggie: Spoiled to Foiled! & Our Acceptance Speech

2009-05-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

Teggie, who takes rain personally, has set about finding new ways to play inside these past few days. As a result, the old toilet brush has had it! Our lewd, chewed tool was just brushed aside in lieu of a new, Teggie-proofed version: Voila! The IKEA Lillholmen Toilet Brush!

And now, thank you to ClassyChassy of Expressly Corgi and ocmist of Country Corgi for two Top Ten Blogs That Make My Heart Smile Awards! As you may have discovered, Expressly Corgi and Country Corgi are among the best blogs in the universe, and we would give this award right back to them if we could!

...but the rules for this award are...

1) The winner may put the logo on their blog
2) Put a link to the person who sent you the award

3) Nominate 10 blogs

4) Leave a message for your nominees for: Top Ten Blogs that Makes Me Smile

And Teggie would like to give barks to her Top Ten Blogs that Make Her Smile:

The envelope please... oh, naturally Teg ate it...

OK, en français...

Un..........Corgi Butts
Deux.......Frankenstein
Trois.......Chantels Fave Things
Quatre....Colorado Lady
Cinq.......The Senakames | Corgi + 2.5
Six.........The Corgi Lounge
Sept.......My Boo Bear
Huit.......My Favorite People Are Dogs
Neuf.......Three Commies and a Corgi
Dix.........Stitchado

:::bouncing, bouncing, bouncing::: Love you all! :::Corgi Licks:::

Teggie!

Find more videos like this on MyCorgi.com

Corgi Noseholder & Teg's Trip to Grandma's House

2009-05-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Teggie fell asleep in the grocery store parking lot waiting with her boy...

She found that the drink holder in the car's console made an excellent Corgi noseholder...

Then she went to Grandma's house to see her cat cousins...who have the best toys!

Playing ball while the kitty boys look on in shock...

Cats have better hiding places, too!

Teg greets her new friend, "Hiss 'n' Spit"

Grandma shows Teggie the windchime...
which she works with her nose

Now Read This
Allele "f" Stands for "faeries": How Do Fluffies Occur?

Teggie Needs Waterproof Pantaloons

2009-05-22T16:17:00.000-07:00

Teggie smiles with a sigh,
"I Like the Lanai, it's nice and dry!"

My Corgi is a cross between a fox and a deer:
Her face flaunting doe eyes is angular and foxy,
Her Corgi pantaloons with their nubbin, boxy.
She looks upon wet grass with trepidation and fear,

Her belly will be soggy, her fur will be mussed,
She stands in the St. Augustine in utter disgust.
“I prefer to take my business where it’s nice and dry,
Please leave me to myself back on the lanai

To burrow like a fox, make a thicket like a deer...”
Even in the rain, I can’t complain,
Though she’s driving me quite insane.
How can I be cross with my Corgi so dear?

Warmly,
Christiane, Teggie's mom

Mom, Teggie Keeps Tabbing!

2009-05-19T12:56:00.000-07:00

Teg hits the tab key on her boy's laptop,
which is taking up all of her lap!

"Well, don't do your homework on the way to school (Mom says this is not even safe!) and pay attention to me, your adorable Corgi girl..."

:) Teggie is all better, but will have to spend all day at the vet for observation on her next booster vaccination trip. She had a really yucky digestive reaction all week after the incident. Thank goodness for the doggie yard service. Love entrepreneurs who will do this for almost nothing, what a great idea!

:( Teg ripped her toenail on something in my bedroom and it really bled. Poor girl. After I cleaned her up, we sat down for a nail sanding, and I have to recommend the grinder versus the clipper. I didn't have the batteries for our PediPaws yet, so I used my heel callus remover with the sandpaper attachment and it worked great.

***Please note, Teg usually has her seatbelt from Outbound Hound, and we were still in the neighborhood when this was taken. She helps take Shayne to school every morning... and this is finals week! Yay for summer! Posting Teg vid very soon...

The Wonderful Thing About Teggie...

2009-05-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

Teggie feels better after a severe reaction to her immunization boosters on Saturday, which landed her in the puppy hospital with red, droopy ears, swollen eyelids and lips and hives on her tummy! Her ears are up now, and she is feeling bouncy again, back to her trouncy Teggie self.

The wonderful thing about Teggies
Is Teggies are wonderful things
Their tops are made out of rubber
Their bottoms are made out of springs
They're bouncy, trouncy, flouncy, pouncy
Fun, fun, fun, fun, FUN!
But the most wonderful thing about Teggies
Is I'm the only one!
(adapted from "Tigger's Song" written by Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman)

After our move, Teggie enjoyed helping me clean our new home by pushing the toilet brush around the bathroom. (Good thing it's a new brush!)

Thank you to the wonderful Corgi moms who sent Teg baby gifts, such as the Hershey's Bar squeak toy!

Joanie Loves Teggie

2009-04-26T07:16:00.000-07:00

Saturday at the pet shop my best friend Joanie, who is going to be a service dog when she grows up, played with me really fast!

- Teg

Groovy Cats & Dogs offers holistic pet food and toys, which Teggie loves! We love that they keep the shop scrupulously clean. We were their first customers Saturday morning, so the fur kids were allowed to play together. (Teggie is still too young to walk on the floor at the pet superstores, our vet says be careful until she gets all of her shots.)

sent from my iphone

Teggie Wanna Go Outside!

2009-04-25T05:41:00.000-07:00

The Poochie Bells are driving me crazy! Hard to believe I was worried about whether or not our Teg would get the hang of them. If she were not crated at night, she would ring them at 3am! Since we have a lanai, and know her potty schedule, I can leave the back door open when I am with her and she wanders in and out without bursting my eardrums with her constant, urgent bell-ringing (watch the video below). This satisfies her need to chase lizards and sniff the pungent breeze without actually going into the "dangerous" (and escapable) yard.

We will always have to watch her in the yard, thanks to our living in a preserve. Last night when I took Teggie out for her final potty break, the motion-sensing light illuminated a 2-foot-long snake slithering up the side of the house. We were barefooted at the time, and my imagination immediately began to work on me. Thank goodness she was quick! As we were going inside, I heard a clumsy rustle, and caught the gleem of timid o'possum eyes from the forest's edge. The local raccoons are not timid, however, and have attacked small dogs on late night walks around here.

We love living in a wilderness preserve. For a city girl who was born next to a New Orleans swamp, it suits me to hear the wild things talking at night (it's when the nights are too quiet that I worry...). That's another reason Teggie is such a wonderful family member. She doesn't let those creatures get away with anything! Just ask the fat lizard who lives by the screen door.

PS. I have been asked how Teggie learned to ring the bells when she needs to go potty. She learned this in less than a week (she has been with us at home for 7 days today).

A) We began by lifting her little paws and ringing the bells with them each time we went outside for a potty break.

B) In the first couple of days, we made sure that each time we opened the door, we made the bells ring. By the fourth day, she was ringing them to ask to go outside.

C) Yesterday, I began opening the door for her to go onto the lanai (what a screened back porch is called in Florida) when she rang the bells, if she had recently been outside to potty.

Keep Off the Grass!

2009-04-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

Teggie has really gotten the hang of walking with us, and she must be a south paw like her human brother, because she prefers to heel on the wrong side. After her first trip to the holistic DVM, we have confirmed that Teg needs to walk on the sidewalk and stay out of the "poopy" communal grass used by other dogs who have already had all their vaccinations (hopefully)... until she gets all of hers. Incidentally, the vet is wonderful and Teg loves her!

At home, however, grass is the greatest stuff! Potty time, play time, all the time--Teggie could play in the grass all day. She has even learned to ring the bells on the back door to go out for a potty (or play) break.

But we heard a lot of noise in the yard this morning and went to check it out, only to find that little white fertilizer sign that appears about once a month or so, telling us to keep children and pets off the grass "until it is dry." Well, we've just had rain, so when is that? We decided, not today.

So Teggie was forced to use the emergency potty pads. She doesn't like them very much, and usually only takes advantage of one when she is being ignored by the distracted humans who should be letting her out...

By this evening, she was fit to be tied! Every thirty minutes, she furiously pawed at the bells and whined to be let out. She nosed around the lanai, but it just wasn't the same as that soft St. Augustine grass...

We took an extra stroll around the neighborhood before she went to sleep in her crate tonight. As I watch her now, I'm certain she's dreaming about romping through the dewy morning grass. Tomorrow will come soon enough, Tegwen, sweet dreams...

Here is Teggie with her cards and gifts from Cathy and Monica, welcoming her home. There are no friends like Corgi friends! Thank you both so much for the doggie bling and playthings. Teggie loves them!

Teggie plays with her boy. She jumps constantly--her poor back! Good thing she's small and lean...

Teggie Takes a Walk--?

2009-04-21T08:44:00.001-07:00

We have been playing a fun new game with Teggie...

Teggie has taught us to work on our weight training during our walks. She is planning to gradually increase her weight day by day until we are able to walk 3 miles carrying about 20 pounds. Very clever!

On her plan, my arms should be more toned in a few months. Of course, I may be wearing braces on my wrists...

Little does she know, my personal training plan for Teggie involves gradually increasing her walking time to 1 mile by the time she is 6 months old.

We shall see who wins! Perhaps all of us...

Teggie Sits, Seeks, and Speaks in 3 Minutes

2009-04-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

After a bath, a party, and barking good time, Teg naps with her binky chew toy

Teg is napping before her big evening walk, so I thought you may want to see the Corgi girl in action earlier today when she entertained the birthday party with her acts of obedience prowess.

She watched how yummy the treats her mom sent Gibson of Corgi Butts are, and will try some soon (check out his adorable video in which he plays with his food!).

Meanwhile, Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Dog Food Rolls in Turkey Formula used as training treats inspired Miss Tegwen's utmost in obedience. Watch her learning "come" and "sit" before a live studio (kitchen) audience.

Later, the Tegster found her voice just in time to greet Ricco the Lovebird. It's fun having two giant personalities in two very tiny packages around here... This video marks the first time heard her gnome-like woof.

If you have another minute, check out our tiny genius working to get the squirrel out of the hole... the hard way.

Teggie Trains Her Family

2009-04-19T07:29:00.000-07:00

Teggie's Log
In less than 24 hours with her new family, Teg has trained them--using only precious squeaks and broad smiles--to do the following:

1) Throw her toys for a game of fetch (she figured out how to operate the squeakers and does not need help with that anymore)

2) Tear a bit of the humans' chicken dinner into tiny, bite-sized pieces and mix with her Innova

3) Go with her to get a drink from the fountain

4) Rescue her at night once the crate door is closed, and place her on the leather sofa with the down-filled throw, soft pillows, and cuddly humans

5) Walk her around the preserve where she may meet the neighbors, then carry her when she gets tired of walking

6) Take her with them wherever they go

7) Take her outside to potty, even at 1:30am (much easier to convince humans once they've fallen alseep with her on the sofa and she only has to wiggle and lick to get attention)

Only one thing remains to train, and it may be a huge challenge (ideas welcome):

* Get those humans to take off that silly leash and let her run into the alligator-infested preserve to explore!

(Before you judge this an impossible task, let us remember that this is the only Corgi baby in the breeder's 15 years who scaled the stall gate and escaped into the yard...)

For the record, the humans remain quite convinced that Miss Tegwen will never succeed at the escape. They say that they love her too much to ever let her explore the wilderness alone. Instead, she will be treated to daily walks and occasional camping trips.

Tegwen enjoyed playing with her new grandparents, too, who are cat people... but she has already started converting them to Corgi people.

Overall, Day One has been a big success!

In other news, one of the humans has just won 2nd Place in Junior Chemistry at the State Science and Engineering Fair. Hooray!

All Teggie cares is that her boy is skilled at puppy games.
Which, of course, he is.

Only 8 and Almost 9 (Weeks)

2009-04-14T20:41:00.000-07:00

Teggie says, "I'm big enough to go home, too, see?"

Teggie's breeder says she will be slender like her Corgi mother. Teg is among the last of her litter to be picked up, and is beginning to look pretty grown up at almost-9 weeks. Time to come home, Teggie girl! She has such cute ears...

Monica at Expressly Corgi has tagged me to participate in the blog game Only Eight. It was a lot of fun!

8 Things I am Looking Forward to
1…..Watching my son become a man
2…..Being able to run with my son again after our necks heal
3…..Running with Teggie the Corgi as she grows up
4…..Succeeding at my new project at work
5…..Flying to Key West with my best friend this summer
6…..Swimming with the dolphins again this summer
7…..Our first Corgi meetup with Teggie the Corgi!
8…..Flying my sister and my 6-year-old niece to Tampa from San Francisco

8 Things I Did Yesterday
1…..Unraveled a scam by consorting with Verizon tech support
2…..Drove a rental car through a tornado-riddled rainstorm
3…..Smelled scorched cypress when lightning hit the preserve
4…..Sent witty text messages during the craziness of myriad appointments
5…..Muted my cell and scarfed a snack during a conference call on the run
6…..Helped my son tweak his science fair project until my brain went numb
7…..Laughed with a girlfriend across the miles
8…..Giggled with my son during dinner at Chili’s

8 Things I Wish I Could do
1…..Sing in a 40s era lounge on Friday nights
2…..Finish my first novel!
3…..Build the home of my dreams
4.....Help Americans build a more ethical country
5.....Volunteer with the dolphins every weekend
6…..Buy my sister a horse ranch
7…..Keep a herd of Corgis on my sister’s horse ranch
8…..Give every child a sense of her own potential

8 Shows I Enjoy (DVR)
1…..House
2…..The X-Files
3…..Law and Order: Criminal Intent
4…..NCIS
5…..It’s Me Or the Dog
6…..The Dog Whisperer
7.....Stargate
8…..Clean House

8 Fur People I tag
1…..Theodore at Corgi Tails
2…..Bryson at Paper Elixer | Corgi +2
3…..Freya at Freya the Corgi
4…..Sully at CorgiPants
5…..Addie & Jake at Corgi Dog News
6…..Moxie & Izzie at The Corgi Lounge
7…..Zippy of Zippyweb
8…..Ocmist & Dott at Country Corgis

Teg, We Will Come Back For You!

2009-04-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

Our Teg comes home next weekend! My son goes to the State Science and Engineering Fair this week (wish him luck!) and we pick up Tegwen the following day.

We have written a filk just for her based on
Steely Dan's Peg:

Teg

I’ve seen your picture,
Your name is right above ya.
This is your big debut,
For us, a dream come true!
And when you smile for the camera,
I know we’ll always love ya!

Teg
We will come back for you.
Teg
We will come back for you.
When the breeder calls,
You’ve got us all, our Teg-gie!
It’s our favorite Corgi movie.

(If anyone can come up with that second verse, I will send you a free gift!)

We have decided to feed according to Dr. Shawn’s Simple Holistic Plan to Minimize Disease and Treat Problems. This means shopping at a local pet shop that specializes in holistic goods, such as Nature's Variety Organic Chicken Formula Raw Frozen Diet. The ingredients look pretty yummy... except for the raw chicken.

We also supplement with flax seed oil from the health food store. This provides Omega 3s. It's excellent for humans, too--I drizzle it over salads as dressing, which adds a nutty flavor. In the past, our pups have loved the stuff--and it helps the medicine go down, if ever that is necessary.

Less than 7 days! We are counting them down...

Teggie Investigates! Almost 8 Weeks Old...

2009-04-06T14:42:00.000-07:00

Thank you to my friend for the help with this post while I'm injured.

Social Seven: Teggie's 7th Week Is About Learning to Be a Dog

2009-03-31T08:51:00.000-07:00

Teggie is doing well, as you can see…

Temperament

OK, I have history of selecting (or being selected by) hyper dogs. Now, a police dog needs to be very high energy, but the perfect Pembroke Welsh Corgi personality is eager, happy, bold and sensitive.

We want a baby-love, a sweet girl who won’t come undone by our energy and active lifestyle (in other words, not shy), and who likes to “just hang” once in a while, lay on the floor with my son while he conquers Civ IV on his laptop, sigh meaningfully with me as I read a novel… I think we are the right family for Teggie.

I will train her with the help of Courteous Canine, which should solve just about any behavior issues, but the original temperament is so important… She should be fully socialized (puppy-wise) by our next visit, and we will administer more of the puppy temperament tests detailed at Veterinary Partner.com.

This visit, she came up to us, let us do whatever we wanted with her, and demonstrated curiosity about noises and playfulness with toys… She whined once: her fluffy brother went to investigate the SUV that pulled up in the drive and she didn’t want to go all the way to the fence with him. She loves that fluffy boy!

Please watch these videos and let me know what you think. The other pups in Teggie’s litter are all spoken for now—or the fluffy would be coming home with us, too!

Incidentally, the breeder thinks Teggie is a nice fit for our family. She also thinks any of that litter would do just fine for us. The video of Miss Priss, Teg's mother, proves her wonderful and sweet. We visited Harry Potter, Teg's father, as well, and he is a doll.

Another P uppy Aptitude Test

Videos of Teggie and her Corgi Family

Miss Priss shows her agility...

The pups play when mom leads the way...

Teggie kisses her boy before her nap...

I will post more videos on my page at MyCorgi.com.

Teggie Tuggy

2009-03-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

We visited our girl today.

At first, she was sleepy from a day of play... then she invented a game of tug!

Probably The Red One...

2009-03-11T16:14:00.001-07:00

This is probably Teggie.

I want to know who does her brows!

More photos--and hopefully video--in a week!

Say This Three Times Fast: I Heart Cathy's Corgi Art & Classy Chassy's Sassy Corgi Cards

2009-03-04T09:47:00.000-08:00

After framing and hanging lots of paintings and prints that were piling up for months, it's time to expand our Corgi art collection again. It's fun to search for Corgi art online--please let me know if you make any!

I (finally) found Cathy Santarsiero's The Christmas Corgi. She is an amazing artist, and paints adorable Corgis. Check out the "Mad Scientists", where Corgis in lab coats appear busy creating Tesla's lightning and performing curious lab experiments. My science-loving son truly appreciates this piece (it activates his funny bone) so it has found a place in our collection.

Her agility pieces are my next target--there are several in the nub-loving agility series. In "Agility Corgis Gone Wild", Cathy explains that "performance Corgis took over the course while their owners were reportedly distracted by Cosmopolitans and Chocolate Martinis, although this can not be confirmed. A Conga line was started by 2 non-qualifiers. Jump bars were intentionally knocked down to serve as impromptu limbo poles." --See why I love her?

As I have mentioned before, ClassyChassy has excellent Corgi cards. In my experience, even quick and simple correspondence brings big grins when sent with Corgi smiles like these. I use place card holders to display my favorites on my bookshelf.

I found comical cards, including a Corgi splat in which the little furkid is so far into the kibble bag, only the famous Corgi butt is visible. You can bet that butt's going on the bookshelf display! Plus, ClassyChassy donates 10% of her sales to the Lakeshore Welsh Corgi Rescue. How cool is that?!?

As famous among Corgi lovers as these talented women are, they don't necessarily need my promotion here, but I could not help gushing just a little...

Just thought I would toss up a photo of Teggie's nursery. Turns out reading the directions saves a lot of cursing the engineers of that Pet Gear crate. But it has a neat handle on the right with a comfort grip so that it can be rolled around with ease, it has the garage door feature which just "snaps into place" during assembly...if you let your son do it for you...and it comes with a lovely plush liner.

The garage door slides all the way in, but I wanted to show off that feature. You can open the top, too, to drop the Corgi in if she's not too keen on the crate at first, I guess. But leaving one side open and offering it as a Corgi bed appeals to me, and there is no crate door sticking out to bang my shins on... Perfect!

If you have not already seen it, go watch Gibson the Corgi win Tug-O-War against the Lab. Priceless!

The Corgi Fountain of Youth: Drink, Nap, and Be Lazy...

2009-03-03T18:31:00.000-08:00

Soon Teggie will be drinking from the fountain! For a mom who values the natural child philosophy, our furkid sure is a material girl!

Honestly, I think our first Corgi might have invented this Dog-It Drinking Fountain years ago, when she pawed the water out of her dish and flipped it over every time I filled it... then drank out of my decorative fountain unless I stashed it on the bathroom counter. Now our little herder will have the time of her life licking ever-fresh, oxygen-rich, filtered water. Sure beats lapping out of the toilet bowl!

Check out this doggie drinking fountain, and the cute video of lots of Labs a-lapping. Our baby is small, so she will have to lick up the spillage, I guess. Anyway, it will be fun to watch, and we have extended family with chocolate Labs in case it turns out to be a lame idea for a dwarf dog.

We have finally framed my two new favorite Evie originals, "Royal Nap" and "Bean Bag Blob" by Evie Anderson, who paints her Corgi girls, Chloe and Gwenevere. I think these pieces exemplify why I want a dog's life. If I believed in reincarnation, I'd be working on building enough good karma to come back as a Corgi!

"God's In His Heaven"...

2009-03-02T21:16:00.000-08:00

She is Puppy Poetry...

Tonight the "sullen wind" has stretched my longing to its limits. Are the little ones doing well in the cool spell we're having in Florida? How is our Tegwen fairing? I have been wondering... Then these photos arrived tonight, and although we do not know if we will bring home this baby or one of the Tri's, she warmed my heart with her sable coat on such a blustery night.

Our first Corgi girl was a Black-headed Tricolor Pembroke Welsh Corgi. This is from the final infrared photos I was able to develop from my film camera, and my favorite photo of her. What a little princess she was in her bed of clover!

Birch frame from DA Custom Frames

Which baby? We just cannot decide. We wish all three. I promise to post photos from our next visit this week. Now that their little personalities are emerging, they should make amazing shots. Meanwhile, how lovely to curl up with a photo of a puzzled puppy who could be ours... "All 's right with the world!"

*With apologies to Robert Browning, who captured the strong feelings we have for our Corgi baby!

For a print of Tasha Tudor's illustration of Robert Browning's "Pippa's Song", or Tasha's Corgis--or perhaps a handmade Corgi cookie cutter!--visit her family's shop.

Soon, like Emily Dickinson I will say, "I started Early - Took my Dog - And visited the Sea -"

Corgi Toys! I'm Happy Just Imagining All the Fun We'll Be Having...

2009-03-01T13:53:00.001-08:00

Tegwen, You Lucky Dog!

When my son was just a sparkle in my eye, he had a basket full of handmade toys. I waited until he had been on the way for almost a month before I bought the crib. And so it is with Tegwen. She turned three weeks old, so I bought out the toy store.

In the Waldorf tradition, simple silk scarves and wooden stick gnomes created an ideal learning environment for our human baby; but for our furkid, it's Einstein all the way! Stimulating toys suitable for a Corgi now include an array of seek-activating squeakers, tuggers and tennis ball launchers from fabulous companies such as Hyper and Kyjen. I supported a locally-owned business, only to find the toys a bit cheaper online, so you may want to start there if you like what you see here.

The Essentials of Play and Seeking
According to Temple Grandin and Catherine Johnson, authors of Animals in Translation, who recently wrote Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals, dogs, who are descended from the nomadic wolves, which is perhaps why they have "high SEEKING needs," never really grow up, so need to PLAY a lot. "If you can afford it," says Grandin, " you should buy plenty of toys for your dog, and you should rotate the toys...Old toys are boring; new toys are fun. That's the rule. You should also play with your dog every day."

Love to be told to shop, and play with my puppy! Here is the short list of our first choices:
:: Kyjen
Egg and Babies Hedgehog (puppies can dig out the squeaky eggs)
Hide A Squirrel (watch a Schnauzer put them back in the tree stump)
Hard Boiled Softies Hedgehog (Great grunting removable rubber core, Batman!)
Fleecy Cleans Fling 'N Floss (wipes those teeth and gums clean)
:: Hyper
Doggie Driver (FORE the golfer to launch those tennis balls)
Dent-A-Tug (another "better breath, cleaner teeth" training toy)

Finally, Tegwen needs a ball like Gibson's. Watch Gibson herd his ball at Corgi Butts.

And don't forget Sunday is the last day to register to win a free dog toy from Expressly Corgi!

Mid-Century Women & Great Crates

2009-02-26T19:59:00.000-08:00

As I was waiting for my son to finish his art lesson at the gallery this evening, I stopped in at a new thrift shop to benefit the local Hospice and found a pristine (at least on the inside) Lane cedar chest from the 50s. It has the brass-tipped atomic age legs and false drawers with pulls true to the era, like this one. I'll probably use it as a coffee table in the media room.

As I was checking out, one of the volunteers commented that she was happy I was purchasing the hope chest. I nodded and said, "It's a bargain for such a nice piece; they'd call it 'mid-century' and charge a fortune for it in an antique store." One of the mature women behind me in line piped up, "Mid-century, I like that word. From now on, when people ask how old I am, I will tell them I am a mid-century woman!"

Speaking of containers, I ordered a neat dog crate for our new Corgi. The front panel flips up like a garage door. The entire crate breaks down to carry flat, and comes in fashion colors. This clever crate won the Pet Product News International 2008 Editor's Choice Award. Please let me know what you think! If you like, you can purchase one for your Corgi here.

Corgi Home Alone: The Crate Debate

2009-02-25T08:45:00.000-08:00

Our needle felted Corgi gives fairy rides when we aren't around...

Gourmet Felted Creates Amazing Custom Corgis

What do you do with your Corgi baby (or any puppy) while you are away? We crated our first Corgi as a baby, and she did well with it. The crate was Husky-sized, which is too big, so she had an accident in it once in a while.

As she grew, we were able to leave her outside when we were away (we had acreage available), or inside the house. She never tore up anything... except the blinds if we forgot to lift them a couple of inches so that she could see out!

Read about "Free-range Gibson" and his great crate adventure here: Corgi Butts: Back to Jail

We are officially perusing local acreage for a new place, but will bring our little girl home to all sorts of outside hazards, such as water and wilderness--too much for a baby!--not to mention the Corgi reputation for being stolen right out of their yards...

Please feel free to leave advice. :) Puppy Kindergarten will begin soon, but I like to worry about things waaay ahead of time...

Which One is Tegwen?

2009-02-23T15:35:00.000-08:00

Please help us decide which one is Tegwen...
The red one is my son's favorite, but there are two others. Please vote for the...
1) Two-Week-Old Red One
2) Two-Week-Old Tricolor, or
3) Younger Tricolor--less than a week old! (from another litter)

If you want to email me, or post a comment, it would be much appreciated! TIA :)

The personalities so far on these three little girls are so wonderful, and their mothers are lovely.

Two-Week-Old Red One

Two-Week-Old Tricolor

Younger Tricolor--less than a week old!

While they were sleeping in our arms, I almost wished that we already had a ranch and could have one of each color.

Pppssst! Puppies!

2009-02-23T08:10:00.000-08:00

OK, I have to get everything done quickly, because we are going to see our new baby... Out of three litters, I think we can choose just one itty bitty Pembroke Welsh Corgi girl... Will let you know how it goes!

Aren't they precious? We want a little girl who can do agility with my son someday, and run with me. Personality comes first, so we will have to see... Will we choose a black-headed tricolor like our last girl, or a lovely red... ??? So much fun!

Meanwhile, see Karen's puppies...

Deer Editor, Here's Grandmother's Recipe for Shrimp Gumbo *in which the editor goes on and on about her silly lamp, then alas gets to the good stuff!

2009-02-22T20:03:00.000-08:00

Here's a photo of my new funky lamp pieced together from part of my Shawnee deer collection, an Eames era lamp shade, and a great handmade antler finial. With modern recessed lighting, lamps are almost obsolete, but I use them as decorating pieces to punctuate the theme of the room. In the office, there are many fawns. And a lot of Corgi art, too. To create a fun photo, my editor's chair is all aglow with this lamp, and the effect is rather spooky, my favorite. It grabs attention poised on the leather inset of my carved desk, balanced by the deer planter companion piece opposite it. If anyone ever wants to really indulge her inner collector, there is no greater surface than an oversized desk. Another obsolete function of the modern household is the mid-century study, but I cannot write properly without my leatherbound notebooks and heavily carved writing surfaces. Helps lend the proper feeling when I edit my projects beneath the pool of amber light from my vintage lamp. ;)

Speaking of writing, I am putting Classy Chassy's Corgi recipe cards to good use mailing out handcopied cards of my Grandmother Lopez's authentic shrimp gumbo from the New Orleans Lopez-Ferrell side of the family. It was always my favorite (although I forgo the Crisco these days):

Shrimp Gumbo

Melt 4T Crisco in heavy iron pot and brown slowly, 4T flour, stirring constantly, do not let burn. Have ready to add:

4 or 5 cloves of garlic (mashed)
4 finely chopped onion
2 large finely chopped Bell peppers

Cook and stir until onions cook limp, then add:

1 can of tomatoes chopped
1 can tomato paste
1 lb chopped fresh okra (or frozen)

Cook and stir until well blended, add enough chicken stock, beef broth or fish stock to thin down to desired thickness. (Mayme Reid uses a medium slice of ham cut up, boiled in water.)

Add:
3 lbs peeled raw shrimp (medium)
1T pepper corns
1T Marjoram
3T file powder
1T Tobasco (we use 1t)
1T Kitchen Bouquet
3 or 4 Bay Leaves
Salt to taste, about 1 1/2T
1T of sugar

Mix well, cover and cook slowly (very slow) about 1 hour. Let cool and reheat, serve over steamed rice, with hot garlic bread and salad.

Enjoy, ya'll!

Look What Came in the Mail Today...

2009-02-13T19:45:00.001-08:00

Took this as a thank you photo, and thought I'd share with you part of tiny handcrafted world created with the help of some of my favorite etsians. As I was packaging several photos tonight, I thought about how we are using an "online community" to connect with each other through our art . Perhaps it seems sappy, but I enjoy how we use our hearts and hands to give one another more than just handmade goods; we give a little bit of ourselves, the essence of who we are, to the people we do business with online.

As busy as we are, it's nice that technology can lead us back to that simpler, homespun life and authentic feeling of community. I've been selling handmade goods online for ten years, and treasure the opportunity to brighten someone's day, many times someone who is willing to share a tiny bit of her story with me across the miles. Anyway, check out the etsian storybook characters, footprint cookie press, wooden mushrooms, and tiny universes on my shelves that keep my antiques company.

Lovebird Bath

2009-02-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

Ricco loves his bath. Even though it was not what I had in mind at the time, he was having so much fun, I had to grab a photo. The way the stream of water, his dancing feet, his flapping wings, and the basin reflecting the light work together, it is truly a one in a million action shot. At least for me. My favorite things to photograph are light and water. It's hard to capture flailing birds, so this photo was a real treat! It will be printed on metallic paper.

Here's another photo with water and light, taken a couple of years ago at the Chesapeake in the Florida Keys.

Moss, Chocolate and Holly Berries

2009-02-10T15:04:00.000-08:00

Flora the Faun was listed in my etsy shop today. Thank you, LadyFarrah, for supplying my terrarium hobby with native* moss (*I grew up in Tennessee). My kitchen nook is decorated in mossy green and chocolate brown with red holly berry accents, so the fawn Shawnee planter fits right in. Almost everything in the nook is handmade, much of it by fellow etsians. A few heirloom pieces complete the favorite things theme. Oh, and don't forget the lovebird-ravaged orchids (they are recovering) and lucky bamboo plants in the bay window living happily with the little guardian lizard found in this collage:

First Draft

2009-02-09T20:27:00.000-08:00

Like most moms, I brag about my kids, both human and feathered. My 13-year-old son's drafting table where he is currently working on a new character, Steam Ricky, serves as a great intro for my photography. This spot contains my son's essence. The air just smells creative there... I had to document the scene, complete with well-worn steampunk goggles, manga lessons, and sleeping Pleo.