Nov 292010
 

Dawn in the mountains. The distant mountain peaks rise above the valley fog below. Sunday appears to be as blue and clear as Saturday was.

But as we walked through our field past our favorite tree, something looked different.

Remember that Cataloochee Ski was busy making snow Saturday morning?

The skiers and snowboarders were enjoying all of that snow.

Unfortunately, our field was snowless. Sorry, Cheoah, but the Cheoah Snow Slide seems to be missing something important.

Nov 282010
 

After a few days of cold rains and heavy fogs, Saturday dawned bright, clear and cold. We love these special days and enjoyed all of the normalcy around us.

The moon setting over bare trees.

Our favorite tree has lost all of its leaves.

Cataloochee Ski is busy making snow.

The Herd is out hiking.

What more can you want out of a Saturday?

Nov 272010
 

In preparing for the winter (which can be cold for those human types), our hu-dad was careful to make sure everything was ready for the brutal winds and temperatures we can have.  One of the things he did was replace our dog door with a brand new flap to make sure it sealed well.  We decided it did not quite look right and did a remodeling.

We were just looking for some ventilation.

Yes, yes, he is aware that we have redecorated the wood frame of the door, but he was a little surprised that we have “adjusted” the flap itself.  Apparently this is supposed to cause some sort of problem with this morning’s predicted temperature of 19F (-7C).  Compared to the rest of the mornings this week, that is supposed to be warm, so we do not understand his grumbling.

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Congratulations! If you are reading this post, then your IP’s servers have been updated with our new host address.  We realize that some readers could still be another 24-48 hours until their servers receive the new instructions, but hopefully everyone will be with us soon.  Thanks for your patience during our change.

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Nov 262010
 

We were driving and saw a hang glider in the distance.  While trying to get that picture, we somehow took this one.  Isn’t it funny how sometimes the best photograph is the one you were NOT trying for?  Hope you enjoy it.  As always, you may click on the picture to see a larger version.

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We are in the process of moving our website to a new host because of the number of complaints we have received about the difficulty in accessing our site or leaving comments.  While we are trying to do this with a minimum of interuption, we anticipate that there will be a few “moments” over the next couple of days.  Thanks in advance for your patience.  Note that the website address will NOT change.

UPDATE – If you are seeing this message, you are now viewing the website on the new host.  Some comments left in the last 24 hours or so are still catching up, so don’t feel alarmed if you left a comment earlier and it does not appear now.

Nov 252010
 

Thanksgiving is about pausing just long enough to express what you are thankful for – no matter how large or small.  We thought we would share what we are thankful for:

Qannik - With a wink and a smile, i can get away with almost anything.

Kiska - We get to go on these really cool hikes.

Kodiak - We get to go on cool vacations to the beach.

Tartok - I can get comfortable anywhere.

Ruby - When food falls, I am faster than the humans.

Rusty - You can be unique, even in a Herd.

Cheoah - That this really cool white stuff falls from the sky and covers the ground.

Natasha - That the rest of the Herd knows who is boss.

All of us our thankful for this big, furry family.

So what are you thankful for?  Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.

Nov 242010
 

We have shared this theory before, but this past weekend really made us question again whether Ruby and Cheoah might be long lost sisters.  Like all of The Herd and The Herd Annex – except for Natasha and Tartok – we do not actually know who their parents are.  We do know that they are of similar age and have many similar mannerisms.  Want to see?

Similar colors and markings - check out those faces.

Cheoah stretched out on the picket line.

Does this look familiar?

Same stride and way of holding the tail. (Can you even tell who is who?)

So what do YOU think?

Nov 212010
 

Something about those red headed Siberian Huskies is just amusing, so today we feature pictures of the Saturday morning walk at Big Ridge State Park, where we are camping.

Ruby walking with determination (while Tartok plays in the leaves)

Rusty and Kodiak playing King of the Wall

Rusty recaptures the King title and knocks Kodiak off.

Kodiak is laughing because he got Rusty to look into the woods for something.