I'm back!

So hard to get my feet wet after such a long absence...lots of exciting things happening: WindSpirit is getting busy -- new orders, new goals and direction. All good stuff. More in the days ahead.

Have re doubled efforts to focus on customized t-shirts for the dog and horse world. This will allow winners to have instant gratification by getting a t shirt with their photo almost immediately. Of course, its being done, but there's always room for one more. This will give me an opportunity to attend shows while I'm working...it doesn't get better than this. I'll be posting pics of a few t-shirts I've just done.

My boxer boy Bonjovi got his first point towards his Grand Championship on Saturday at the Flagstaff show. It feels so good to get in the ring again.

Oh! Here's a new painting of my dear friends boxer Ch. Pearlisle Standing O For Bix-L -- "Doc" is also the sire of my Remy, and my little white Angel who is going to her new home in CA next week.

Life & times at WindSpirit Ranch

So much about bragging to my friend Donna in WI about our unseasonably "warm" winters...on New Years eve morning I had just returned from feeding the horses,
still jumping around trying to get warm...OK, I might have planned better and
chosen something besides pajamas and fleece lined denim jacket to go out, but
I was wearing my woolly purple sox...she calmly asked me what the temps were,
I looked out my kitchen window and whispered "zero"..."WRONG" she said, "I'm
looking at the Ash Fork weather online, and it says 8 minus!" no wonder Noah's
wiskers were icecles...so, I said "OK, what's your temps in WI?" She said "Fourty
degrees!!!!!" What the heck? How did this happen?

What else is new? Besides the millions of new year resolutions I've made, hey!
like throwing spagetti at a wall, somethings gonna stick.

We now have boxer #7 at WindSpirit Ranch...Miss Reese is a six year old rescue from Fresno, came to us through sad circumstances. But the good news is that she now has a
wonderful, loving, forever home...she came to the Fresno SPCA weighing in at 32 lbs.
that is about 1/2 her normal weight. She has brought so much joy to our home...
all the boxer kids love her, all except Sedona, but Sedona doesn't really like
anybody besides Steve.

Amazing Sunset

Bonjovi's home - Art & Soul exhibit at Ash Fork Library

Drove to Las Vegas to meet Gary and pick up Bonjovi - home at last from the CO, ID, MT Circuit. I could tell Bonjovi was glad to see me, but I wasn't sure whether any part of him was the least bit miffed that I had handed him off to Gary 3 weeks before and simply walked away (had he known the anguish I went through he would have forgiven me instantly)...he jumped in the truck, visibly glad for the cool air, a respite from the 105+ deg temps outside. Plopped down in the Co-pilot seat as is his custom, and promptly went to sleep. As we headed home, I'd catch him giving me sidelong glances. Was that the look of love? Or reproach?

We had to reintroduce BJ to the clan so that he could once again regain his rightful place as top dog. As we went for our evening walk, we were blessed with one of the most beautiful sunsets at WindSpirit Ranch. The next morning, Bonjovi once again enjoyed his romp through the fields...

Excited that some of my paintings are being exhibited at the Ash Fork Library...

Bonjovi is a Champion!

I'm so excited that Bonjovi is finally finished - a Champion! How very cool is that?

I've not seen him since I handed him off to Gary Steele 2 weeks ago...that may not seem like a big deal, except we are together 24/7. I don't even go to the store, or feed the horses, or even sip a glass of wine, without my boxer boy next to me.

So, meeting Gary in Flagstaff on their way to the ID, MT circuit, handing him off, turning and walking away was huge...I finally decided that for all the heart, love, time, money I've invested in my beloved boxers, I had to do this...give him a chance to become the champion I knew he was, or accept that I had done my very best, send him with the best, then be at peace with it.

The truth of it is that I couldn't love him more now...but maybe I've proven something to myself. One of those AH HA moments...this inspires me to be more, do more, have more faith and confidence in myself.

Gary told me how Bonjovi "nailed" his first major points: The judge had put him second, then asked Gary to take him around the ring, with instructions "come to the center of the ring and don't touch your dogs!" All of the hours of training to self stack, came together in that one instant, as the judge rethought his initial choice and put Gary and Bonjovi first. I thought my heart would burst with pride.

I'm so grateful to Gary Steele for seeing promise in my dog, believing in him, and making it happen in one week!!...my Bonjovi is now CH. Mar-Rocco Bix-L's Bonjovi RA, how cool is that?

What's next for us? Can't wait for him to come home next week, then we will finish Rally Excellent, do Agility - he's not just a pretty face you know...but first Bonjovi needs to be a couch potato for a while, chasing rabbits and bugs...watching sunsets, sipping wine...:-)

And then there are the Sunsets...aaah the sunsets!!!

Not to brag (don't you hate it when people start off saying that? usually means they're about to brag), but I've traveled some - actually I've traveled a lot! Less than some...more than most.
I've seen breathtaking sunsets in Spain, the French Riviera, California, Hawaii etc. etc....even jaw dropping sunsets in Chicago! What I remember most about these sunsets is what I was doing, and who I was with at the time I saw them...

When we brought our property from Sharlene in 2004, the first thing she said to me was "uh, I hope you like your own company", Steve & I looked at each other, eyes shining, feeling on top of the world, in unison, we said "why?". Sharlene said "because, you're going to be spending a LOT of time with yourself up here....we looked at each other, rolled our eyes...and I promptly responded "sure Sharlene, no problem, I'm a loner anyway", she looked up at a red tailed hawk circling overhead and said "Ooookaaay, just thought I'd let you know"....6 months later, having sold our place in CA, and left my (many) friends, I stood by the horse corral, looking up at the same red tailed hawk (I'm sure it was the same one) saying to myself, what was I thinking? Leaving my (large) home (with our well, city electricity, neighbors within shouting distance), friends, activities....to come to this place? Sharlene was right, I like my own company, BUT NOT THIS MUCH!!!

Now, nearly 6 years later, I've gotten perspective...I've seen not only a lot more red-tailed hawks, but also where their nests are, and barn owls, and ravens as big as turkeys...but one of the things that stands out -- are the sunsets...and now its about the sunsets, not what I'm doing or who I'm with...every evening, the sky turns into a kaleidoscope of color, followed by stars that make one think they're in a planetarium...I have learned to love my own company...also road trips (when my own company is not quite enough), stargazing, Monsoon season, coyotes howling, rainbows and much much more.

"The surest way to reveal one's character is not through adversity, but by giving them power."
-Abraham Lincoln

My favorite time of the year, spring/summer at WindSpirit Ranch...the wildflowers take turns bursting into bloom...this week its the orange flowers - my favorite color. The grasses are so high that the dogs have to jump like gazelles to see where they're going...everywhere I look there's the
subject for a new painting...

"A grateful perspective brings happiness and abundance into a person's life"
-The Noticer, Andy Andrews