After the Rain...

"...Well what do you want me to do
I've thrown away everything for you
well I've wasted my dreams
each day it seems
I'm losing my way back to you ..."
Blue Rodeo - After the Rain

Makes you want to believe there's a pot of gold, doesn't it?

Seems the bugs enjoy post rain frolic time - I guess you could call it "happy hour".

Macro - not Mac-roni, but macro - makes you appreciate the small things.

So apparently the grass is much lusher and appealing after the rain. She zipped out of the house so fast to go munching I thought that there was a free all-you-can-eat buffet...which, in essence, I guess there was.





Sometimes she makes it look so very unappetizing.

A Figment of my Imagination

The "Mushroom Eater" - 8"x10" water colour on illustration board.

This was the result of me testing out my not so fantastic water colour skills, both water colour pencil crayons and regular water colour paints. I'm happy with it, he's cute, life is good so what more could I ask?

Cartoons for Poems

One of my wonderful clients has come back to me once again for illustrations for her poems. She creates wonderful short poems, with animals as the main characters. They're witty, fun and a joy to illustrate. These pieces are the result of 4 poems that she created, and I'm honoured that she has chosen me once again for this work.

All of these pieces are created on 80lb card stock, and hand drawn with pen and (pantone) marker.

JRTRO Trial Parade of Rescues June 6th

Some great little dogs were present for the Parade of Rescues at the JRTRO trial June 6th. Great dogs, and wonderful people who've opened their homes and adopted these little guys from the Jack Russell Rescue of Ontario. My sister and I were lucky to capture some great pictures from this event. (the images marked J.Deans were taken by myself and the ones marked G.Deans were taken by my sister)

All who attended the parade were awarded ribbons for their participation. As well, they got to tell the judge all about their little guys. What a great way to get people to learn more about the rescue, and the fantastic dogs that come through its doors.

How could you resist this face? Or any of the others for that matter. Thanks to the JRTRO for putting on a great trial!!

For more information about adopting a JRT or donating to the Russell Rescue please visit:

www.russellrescue.org

JRTRO Trial June 6th

On a beautiful sunny, spring Saturday, this Saturday just past actually, Brandy and I competed in the JRTRO half of the JRTCC/JRTRO Twin Trials (June 6 & 7). It was the perfect day to be outside for 9 hours in a row. Lots of friendly faces, lots of food and lots of fun.

*Edit* The JRTRO is the Jack Russell Terrier Rescue of Ontario - helping unwanted jacks find new forever homes. Proceeds from this trial and the raffle go to support the rescue. A Parade of Rescues was held before the conformation began, and my sister and I were able to get some great shots of the rescue dogs, some of which will be featured in the rescue newsletter. We were also able to help out by volunteering to assist with agility for the day. Photos of the parade of rescues  and others from the trial will be posted a little later. www.russellrescue.org

We competed in barn hunt for the first time, placing 3rd in her division. Actually, I was quite happy with her performance as she ran right to the tube that contained the rat. Unfortunately, since we haven't played before, I made her check another tube before calling time, increasing her time and decreasing her placing, but she did well. Now I am aware of what to look for when she's signaling, so we will play again!

Trailing and locating anyone? Yes, we played that too, but we shall never speak of it again. Let's just say that the grass was too prickly for the princess and she wasn't into following a scent, but rather following me and waiting to be picked up - yeesh. I could see it in her face, "come on, let me get into the arms ... into the arms? Oh pleeeaaasssee?"

(*Note: "into the arms" really means into the arms - she's been taught to place herself on outstretched hands to be picked up, and believe me, it's come in handy during an outing in the woods when I got caught on a rather large log and needed to get her over it somehow - that, in itself, is another story.)

And agility ... oh agility. The little bugger ran perfect (or as close to perfect as one can get), taking Trial Champion for agility on the Saturday! First in Agility II, 2nd in Gamblers and 3rd in Jumpers. She looked happy, comfortable and like she was really enjoying herself - yeah for the new knee! 

(Please note all agility photos, excluding the ribbon photo, are courtesy of Gabrielle Deans, sister, and personal photographer)

Looking very happy

The perfect "drop" on the table - she is a table genius

Reward for a job well done!