Yesterday I was doing house chores so Wicca and the Cardis were out in the yard.  A little while later I hear Lindy barking at the door (what is new about that, Lindy barks about everything) this was a very insistent bark and it was just her at the door.  As I was headed to the kennel door the phone rings and it is my Mom calling to tell me all of my dogs were at her house.  Somehow the gate between our yards had not been closed correctly and PJ, Frost, Bailey and Wicca went over for a visit.  But Miss Tattle “tail” was narcing on them.

This isn’t the 1st time a Cardi has acted as a tattle tail, Stoney was nominated for an AKC ACE award for his alert barking when my Grandmother had fallen in the back yard.  He also alerted me when the GSP puppies got tangled in some weedwhacker line that the yard men had left down in the yard. 

I know my dogs all have different barks for different things and I have learned to pay attention because sometimes they really do have something important to say.

Those of you who are on Facebook, I’ve added the Solstice Kennels Puppy page to Facebook in case anyone wants to be a fan.

“We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” – Edith Lovejoy Pierce

At the new year it is always a time to reflect back on what had passed and then to look forward to the future.  This new year we even have a new decade to work with, I started in dogs in the 90’s and now it is the 10’s, just seems weird.

So let’s get started.  We didn’t start 2009 off well, we lost our beloved Woo on the 5th of January and she was followed to the bridge by our old friend Dublin soon after which made a sad start to the new year but joy was soon to follow. 

Frost (Rockie Top’s Flying Snow) arrived at Solstice in February and then Lindy and PJ gave us four pretty babies on the last day of February.  We spent the spring and summer hanging out and growing up.  The young Solistice dogs did well over the fall and winter at the shows and each of the show puppies are now pointed.  PJ added a Rally title to his name in May which was very cool.

I had a chance to spend time with my some of my dearest friends this year which is always a treat.  My job is going well and I’ve lost 90lb so my non doggy life is going in the right direction as well.

We ended the year with some good news, PJ is the Daddy of two new litters at Arylan born on 12/21 and 12/26 so we are excited to see how they grow up.

What does the future hold?  Who can really say but you must have goals so here are some of mine:

1.  Continue down the good health path

2. Be excited about my job and the opportunities that present themselves.

3. Train some dogs, that’s right train them.  I’ve been lucky that the Cardis are such a bidable crew that they like to work with you but it will be nice if we do some formal team work.  Poor PJ got his RN title with very little instruction and practice, but he is a good egg and did what I asked him to do.  Frost is so smart that she needs some type of job and Bailey is a rebellion teenager and she wants to do what she wants to do right now so she needs some instructions.

4.  Re work our kennel and kennel yard so that I can house 8 – 10 dogs with out a lot of worry.  I don’t have 8 – 10 at the moment but I’d like to be able to house that many if needed.  (the granddogs come over and it will be nice not to have to swap dogs around when they visit.

5. Plant a garden (sort of goes with #1)

6. Evaluate my current dogs and see where I want to go next with my breeding program.  I have some ideas/plans and with young dogs I also have time but now is the time to start making those plans.

7. Spent more time with the people I love and less time with the people I don’t.  That includes worrying about the people I don’t love.

I guess those are the big ones.  I’m sure there are lots of smaller goals out there but if I get on with the big ones then the small ones will take care of themselves.

Just some Christmas fun!

Glaedelig Jul – Danish

Vrolijike Kerst – Dutch

Hyvvaa Joulua – Finnish

Frohe Weihnachten – German

Kala Christouyenna – Greek

Gledileg Jol – Icelandic

Buon Natale – Italian

God Jul – Norwegian

Feliz Natal – Portuguese

Heri za Krismas – Swahili

God Jul – Swedish

Iyi Noeller – Turkish

Feliz Navidad – Mexico

And the ever popular “Merry Christmas”

Also there is a statistic that says that 56 percent of Americans sing holiday carols to their pets.  Do you?  I do, they are about the only ones who hear me sing.

I hope everyone out in Bloggerland has a wonderful Christmas time!

Wags and Woofs from the Solstice Gang.

In the season of light, love and hope we at Solstice wish you the greatest joy. As we celebrate the Solstice and the days now begin to lengthen and the earth begins anew we hope for you all the happiest of holiday seasons. May you and yours celebrate your faith, enjoy your traditions, your family and friends and may we share our joy world over as the song says “Peace on earth and goodwill towards men.”

 Bright Blessing you and yours from me and mine.

 Jinnie and the dogs of Solstice