Worth A Second Look

A wonderful weekend in Gloucester, VA at the RDOC Agility Trial. A special thanks to Nelson and Emily for hosting the event. I saw something I haven't seen before - a bulldog running agility! Definately worth a second look!

Jumps Tall Buildings In A Single Bound

Continuing on with the superpup theme!

Faster Than A Speeding Bullet

Had a great weekend in Warrenton. Thanks to the PVBSC and Warrenton Clubs for having us. Border Collies always amaze me in terms of their superhuman (supercanine) speed and agility. Here's one of supercanine taking a tire jump. Awesome!

Bigger Is Not Always Better

We were up in PA a couple of weekes ago doing hunt tests with Spinner. We spent a couple of days at Bushkill Falls on the eastern end of the state. Very pretty place and some great hiking. Although there are some very big falls here, I really liked the smaller pools along the river that fed the bigger falls. I guess sometimes bigger is not always better.

Thanks To The Agility Club Of Chatham VA

Well another excellent weekend of agility in Chatham VA. The weather co-operated for the most part. A bit warm in the afternoons but no rain other than a short downpour Friday night when we pulled in to Peter's field. We finally got Zinger back in shape and Karen ended up pulling a muscle - oh well comes with the territory I guess. Some great runs from the dogs during the two days of trials. There was lots of cool pictures to choose from but here is one of my favorites from the weekend.

Yahoo! Espresso Tomorrow

I can't believe I've missed three weeks of Friday morning visits to Counter Culture Coffee. This is were the local coffee geeks hang out on Friday morning. A great roaster with people who share as much passion for coffee as I do. They just get to work with it every day! Here's a shot, "no pun intended", of a double shot of Forte in progress, one of CCC's great espresso blends.

Aiming At A Distant Past

In between hunt tests last week Karen and I managed to get in some site seeing. One stop that we will definately repeat was Gettysburg. The National Militay Park is huge, covering well over 5,7000 acres and containing 1,000 monuments and cannon and over 40 miles of scenic avenues and drives. You can feel a presence there when you hike through it. Over 51,000 soldiers lost their lives there in one of the nation's bloodiest battles. The picture above is one of the cannons still pointed at some unseen foe.

Nature Red In Tooth and Claw

A well known quote from Lord Tennyson on nature's survival of the fittest, this brought home more than ever yesterday with the death of Steve Irwin. Karen and I have spent much of our waking hours underwater with these placid creatures. All creatures of the sea have the ability to protect themselves. It is a shame that such a freak accident will undoubtably lead to characterizing the stingray with the same fears as subscribed to the shark.

YaHoo - Spinner Gets Her Junior Hunter

A week well spent. Spinner and Karen finish off their Junior Hunter in four straight tests! A shot of Spinner bringing home the bacon!

Hersey - More Than Chocolate

Spending the week in PA between hunt tests on the weekends. We spent a day in Hersey and of course visited the chocolate factory. Also took a tour through Hersey Gardens. These are wonderful gardens with a really cool butterfly house. Could of spent the whole day shooting in there. The picture here is of a white peacock butterfly.

In The Field

Just finished up a wonderful weekend just outside of Dillsburgh PA. That's close to Harrisburg. Spinner, our little one year old got two legs on her Junior Hunter. We're headed for Gettysburg for a tour there and then onto Hersey to taste some chocolate. The picture is of Spinner bringing home the bacon!

Better In The Water Than On The Plate

Just finished up an article on the ever disappearing Nassau grouper population. That's me taking a picture of a friendly Nassau grouper that we see often in Little Cayman on Donna's Delight. Nassau groupers are under severe decline as over fishing destroys the remaining grouper spawning sites. Although grouper is a wonderfully tasty fish, maybe we could pass up a few meals in an effort to keep these friendly guys from disappearing completely. Karen and I are on the road for the next week, so probably limited blogging until we're back.

Unexpected Guests

Well our apple tree is laden with apples this year and the dogs are beginning to put on a few pounds from all the apples they are sneaking out around the trees. We also have a few unexpected guests drop by to sample our crop as well. These include a big fat groundhog (obviously having been sampling our apples for awhile), plenty of birds and deer. The picture here is of one particularly cheaky devil who doesn't mind stoppping by for a few apples in the late afternoon after the dogs have moved back into the house.

Antelop Canyon

I was cleaning up some of my image files today and came across this photo from our trip out to Page Arizona last year. The photo was taken in Antelop Canyon a famous slot canyon just outside of Page. Light filters down through the narrow canyon reflecting off the sandstone walls picking up this beautiful rich orange color. The purple is from the blue light reflecting directly off the blue sky above the canyon.

Vet Hab - Rehab

Well, Zinger was off at agility trials this weekend and came up a bit short. We think she is having some trouble jumping - maybe a sore shoulder or something. Anyways it's off to our favorite vet rehab clinic - VetHab. Run by Dr. John Sherman this is the place to go if you have a performance dog that is having some physical problems. The place is amazing. A ton of equipment and more importantly alot of dedicated people who love dogs. Let's keep our fingers crossed on Zinger.

Asleep At The Wheel

Well about this time every year I begin looking forward to the start of trial season again. I really enjoy being in the motorhome and on the road. I think we have pretty much every weekend booked up until the end of November. Our dogs like traveling in the motorhome as well as we do. In fact we have named our home "The Chatmobile" after Chat who absolutely lives to ride. Zinger takes a more laid back approach to riding. This one is of her having a little snooze in her favorite spot on my captain's chair at the helm. No I wasn't driving at the time!

Definately A Bird Day

Well, up early and off on my weekend ride. My first turn puts me in front of our neighbour John's place. I guess it's his 50th today because there is 50 pink flamingos out in front of his house with a sign - It's Nifty John is 50! I do remember mine - a while back though. Continue on and run into our local flock of 8 guinea fowl on the road behind us. A mile or two down the road and I come across a rafter of wild turkeys. That's a bunch! No males in the group I saw but had to have been twelve of them. What's with all the birds today. Finally almost back home and I pass a gaggle of geese in a lot a mile or or so from home. Boy a pile of birds for one ride! The flamigos were pretty cool - Happy Birthday John!

Galapagos Here We Come!

Well, we're almost ready for our photoexpedition to Galapagos this October. We had all the folks that will be traveling with us out to Fantasy Lake last weekend for a heavy wetsuit checkout. Boy it's been awhile since I've had anything on heavier than a 3mm. We plan on using 7mm suits this trip. No we didn't see any turtles in the quarry. But I bet we'll see a few when we head out to Darwin country in October. This one is of Alan a couple of months ago when we were in Little Cayman. He got himself positioned perfectly for the shot of the hawksbill turtle. You can tell it's a hawkbill because of the scalloped edge at the back of the shell.

The Best Toscano In Town

Out shooting some pics for Counter Culture Coffee (CCC) yesterday. Went to a couple of their customers places: Pheasant Creek Coffee and Shade Tree Coffee. This one is of Geoff, the owner of Pheasant Creek Coffee, behind his custom built La Marzocco FB-70 Hybrid. A beautiful machine which with the right hands on the portafilter manages to pump out some of the best of CCC's Toscano in town!

Staying Connected

With today's email, wifi, cell phones, PDAs, etc., it's hard to just unplug for awhile. There was a time not long ago when I swore I would never carry a cell phone. So look at me now! Karen snapped a picture of me "staying connected" in my kayak just off shore from our house in Brac. It does highlight how nice an office I have in Brac but it also reminds me of how compulsive I'm getting about keeping up with my email:-)