Sunday, March 7, 2010

Weekend Wrap Up!

We have had some very nice spring weather here yesterday and for the first half of today! Yesterday morning we went on a light hike with the dogs and some friends. We went out to one of the trails that we frequent and took a route that I hadn't used for a while. Which meant that there were some fallen trees and overgrowth to deal with in order to get to the better trail. But the weather was beautiful and the views were spectacular. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera at home.:( A rare occasion!

After the hike, Adam and I went off with the same friends to watch Alice In Wonderland and get some dinner. The movie was great and I loved watching it in the IMAX 3D! Dinner was also yummy and a good way to end the evening.

This morning we had intended to get up and go hiking with my friend Amy and her hiking group, but that ended up not happening. A bit of over sleeping and an alarm that didn't get set.:o/ Thankfully though it allowed me to get a whole lot done today. I got the lawn mowed, did some ball work with the dogs, got both dogs thoroughly brushed out, did some other odds and ends around the house, and took the dogs out for some off leash running around. They are thoroughly exercised and happy and I'm quite pleased with how much I was able to get done!

I also finally cracked the instruction manual for our camera and found out about some features that our little camera has that I didn't realize! I started messing with things like shutter speed and the continuous shot option. I LOVE the continuous shots!! They're so awesome! Now if only I could figure out the correct setting and shutter speed I would have some awesome action shots of the dogs. As it was, in one 20 min. chunk of time while they were running around, I took well over 400 pictures. That was a LOT of pictures to weed through. Fortunately or unfortunately, the shutter speed was so high that the pictures came out really grainy and not well focused so I ended up deleting a ton of them. I'm going to keep toying with that and hopefully I'll get some nice shots soon!

I'm also very impatiently waiting for Bess to go into season. The inconvenient thing about having an intact bitch is that you have to schedule things around theird seasons. You can show a bitch in season in conformation, but you can't for any of the performance events. I'm getting ready to send in registration for events in April, and my hands are tied until she goes into season and I know whether I'll be throwing my money away or not. While some clubs will refund your money if your bitch ends up going into season, not all will. At the moment, she's a week late. I have a really bad feeling that she's going to do what she did at this time last year and go 7 months in between cycles instead of six months. Which puts her at going into season right at the beginning of April, which does NOT jive well with my performance plans.>:o( This also would put her going into season again right around the time of the national specialty. Also NOT okay with entering her in the performance events. On the upside, there is an option to prevent her from going into season. It's a product called Cheque Drops. Depending on when she goes into season this time around will determine whether I put her on it for her next season. While I was hoping to avoid doing that, I'm not against it. So we'll see. At this point, I would prefer that she wait until after our agility class on Tue. night to go into season, but she better go in soon!

5 comments:

GonetoTheSnowDogs said...

Sounds like you had a full weekend and are getting ready for a great week!

Woo Woooo
Shiloh, Shelby, and Their Mom
GonetotheSnowDogs.blogspot.com

Two Pitties in the City said...

Isn't it nice to start taking spring walks again? I want to see those action shots once you get the camera rolling...

D.K. Wall said...

Chuckling, try as I might, forgetting to set the alarm never works. Our alarm walks across my chest and licks my face.

Amy / Layla the Malamute said...

It's some kind of curse - it can't be just bad luck since it ALWAYS happens - that they're never in season when you want them to be, and they're always in season at the worst time.

I've heard of Cheque drops too, but never used them. From what I've heard, as long as you aren't planning an immediate breeding, it's a good idea. Hope it works out for you!

Brenda's Arizona said...

The beauty of digital - 400 photos in 20 minutes, and you didn't have to pay for developing them. I love learning on my camera - and my default is the rapid fire shooting sequence. My cousin insisted I get a polarizing filter, and it has added a new dimension to my fun!

Love learning from your posts. Thanks.