Honey Harvest September 2024

We had 40 frames this time - which is way more than we have ever harvested.  Last year we had 24 frames which was our previous high.  One box of frames weighed 53.6 pounds!  And the water content was about 14% which is really low and means the honey is really thick.

 This is 50 pounds of honey in a 5 gallon bucket that is not even filled to the top.

Total amount of honey - 108.8 pounds!

Kierstienne the CCI Pup

Kierstienne is a CCI pup who turned 1 on July 4, 2024.   Her puppy raiser is a delightful older woman who found herself in over her head when Kierstienne was about 5 months old.  She reached out to the CCI community asking for help.  Ideally, she was looking for a co-raiser.  I reached out and said that I could help but likely did not have time to be a co-raiser.  At that point, she brought her over for a visit and I gave her a bunch of tips.

A little while later, we took her for a day and worked on some stuff that she was having trouble with - including being resistant to her gentle leader.  We played gentle leader games with her and BAM - fixed that problem!

The awhile later, the puppy raiser ended up in the ER and had no one to watch Kierstienne and didn't know how long she would be in the hospital.  Jim ran over (I was at the cabin) and rescued Kierstienne from her crate and brought her to the cabin.  We had her for a couple days and brought her home once the puppy raiser was released.

Most recently, the puppy raiser had a more significant medical issue and reached out to let me know since I am invested in Kierstienne.  She had talked to the Puppy Program Manager who told her she had a couple choices:  re-home Kierstienne or find a co-raiser.   And then she had a longer term option of sending her to San Quentin in November.  The inmates would work with her for the month, giving the puppy raiser a break.

If you have read this far, you have figured it out:  We agreed to take her for a week to allow the puppy raiser to rest.  After the first week, we checked back in and she asked if we could keep her until Aug 10.  Because I am living at the cabin right now and not going to the office, the answer was an easy "yes".    So this is our guest, Kierstienne, living the adventurous life that we give our dogs.    

She is a great dog who is super easy to manage.  When she first came to us, she was dog crazy.  She just could not get enough of the dogs and played a bit out of control.  But these last couple weeks of having dog friends 24/7 has solved that problem.  There is so much they learn from other dogs that this has been a really good experience.  Plus I have seen her confidence grow as she watched the other dogs do stuff that she was not sure about.  

Date Night at the Brewery

Since we are spending a good chunk of the summer at the cabin, we get to do stuff that we wouldn't normally have time for.   Including a paint and sip class at the brewery.  We went on Friday night and really enjoyed it.  We met some nice local folks and learned some stuff in the process!

The pics we painted are of Tenaya Lake, which is a lake in the high country in Yosemite.

Memorial Service for Daisy Mae and Ahi Wasabi

On July 21, 2024 at 5:30 pm, we held a memorial service for Daisy Mae and Ahi Wasabi and sprinkled their ashes together in one of their favorite spots.  They will forever be together.

Before the ceremony, we spent the day enjoying the beautiful weather, nature, swimming, fishing and playing with the dogs.  The extra dog in the middle is Kierstienne, a CCI pup we were watching.

The ceremony was held in the grove of trees at the end of the lake.  Right near the Magic Fishing Hole.

Our special guests:  Astrid, Hops and Kierstienne.  They seemed to understand that this was a special occasion and were incredibly well behaved, staying in a down the whole time.

Here they are watching Jim walk up from the Magic Fishing Hole.

After the ceremony we had some quiet time fishing.  We then had dinner on the boat before heading home.

This is the Euology that I read to the dogs who were in attendance:

Eulogy for Cherry

As we bring Daisy and Ahi to their final resting spots, we want to remember them for the joy they brought to our family. 

 

In remembering Daisy we celebrate her uniqueness.

We remember:

That she was the labrador that raised the children in our family.

How she liked to fetch rocks from the bottom of Cherry Lake.   And wore down her teeth doing so.

 

How she didn’t like to listen to anyone but her mama.

 

How she panted all the way to Cherry Lake.

 

How she welcomed (with some grumpiness) new dogs into our family or tolerated rescued dogs that we would bring home.

How she would jump off of boulders at Cherry to follow her kids in the water.

How she would cry when she had to stay in the boat when others were jumping from 40 foot high rocks.

How she broke her leg when she was just 4 months old while sledding with her family - and how that never held her back.

How she was the most loyal Labrador there has ever been.

How she grew to be quite grumpy when she got old and we respected that.

How she hated Lola the German Shepard from the second she met her.

How she was a trust running partner for years and years.

In remembering Ahi we celebrate her feisty nature:

How she thought she was a Labrador and that she was the leader of the pack, regardless of how many Labradors we brought into the house.

How one of her very important jobs was to let Canine Companions pups know that not every dog was “rainbows and unicorns”.  

How we had her out on a hike one day and ran into a bear hunter who said “that there is a bear dog” and pointed at Ahi.

How she went from a terrified rescue to an angry, over confident weener.

How we almost lost her twice - once at the local elementary school and once in the forest behind the cabin - and she made her way home by herself.  Much to our surprise.

That she almost died multiple times from intestinal issues and liver issues but fully recovered to spread her spicy opinions!

RIP Daisy Mae - may you forever fetch sticks.

RIP Ahi Wasabi - may you find peace and occasionally put others in their place

Mammoth July 2024

Jim, Hops and Astrid and I went to Mammoth from the cabin for a weekend in mid-July right after Ahi passed.  We went to celebrate her life and get out of the heat.  We also had the bonus of seeing Grace.  (Above pic is Mono Lake looking from the Whoa Nelly Deli parking lot where we stopped and fed the dogs)

We stayed at great condo in the Westin property in Mammoth.  It was on the 6th floor which meant it was a haul to take the dogs out.  But they are so good it was not even and issue.

On Saturday, we drove south all the way to Lone Pine to check out all the little towns along the way.  Highlights were:

The Whitney Portal which is where hikers start to go up to summit Mt Whitney

The Mt Whitney Fish Hatchery which is 100 years old

The fish slough which is a spring fed saline slough that has all kinds of unique species in it

Alabama Hills

Sabrina Lake and North Lake

Hops sleeping in the condo closet!   She is nuts!

 

4th of July at the Cabin

We had a quiet 4th of July at the cabin with Kaylene, Drew, Tina and Marty.  We spent some time on the lake during the day and of course, watched the fireworks from the boat in the evening.

 

RIP Ahi Wasabi

On July 9, we made the incredibly difficult decision to help Ahi cross the rainbow bridge.  We were spending the month of July at the cabin and had visited our vet in SJ before coming up to make a last ditch effort to help her.  But even with antibiotics and denamarin, her dementia continued to get worse.

She was a feisty little weiner who won all our hearts, even if we didn't want to love her with her angry nature.

The picture above was her last day with us.  I spent the day on the couch with her, telling her about how much we loved her and what a good dog she was.

These are some of my favorite pics of her that show he argumentative nature.  In both, she is angry about something - probably a dog, from her family, that got to close!

 She will always be remembered by us as the one that kept us on our toes!  Godspeed Ahi Wasabi Tuna Noodle Casserole, with peas!

Engaged! June 21, 2024

It was a big night last night!  Drew proposed to Kaylene in Santa Cruz with the dogs at their sides.

We met at the Crow's Nest to celebrate!

The pics on the beach were taken by Tori and Kody who were laying down in sand in disguise!

 

UC Davis Graduation

Who are we most proud of for graduating from UC Davis?  Astrid or Grace?  They both had a lot of hard work to do!

We spent the weekend up in Sacramento attending Grace's graduation, which was held at the Golden One Center, which is where the Sacramento Kings play.

We celebrated the night before with a steak dinner at Mortenson's Steak House and the next day with lunch at Paesanos.

I am so incredibly proud of Grace.  She worked hard, she stayed focused and she continued to be a woman of grace, poise and kindness through it all.   I can't wait to see what good she does for the world in her life.  And I thank God everyday for Astrid and the support she gives Grace.