Red Robin

The warmer weather have brought the birds back.  Walking the dog to their chirping.

What I have learned about Golden Retrievers

I grew up with German Shepherds (and still love the breed).  Moving to Seattle, we decided to get a golden.  Personality-wise, they are quite different.  We have learned some things as Binks has grown older. 
One:  They have huge tongues.

Somehow, that tongue never seems to fit in his mouth. 

Two: Learn to brace.

They will use you as cover when chasing each other.  Binks especially doesn’t quite get the concept of momentum yet and can’t turn quite as fast as his smaller friend.  So we keep our feet apart and knees bent, they might just come sliding into you.

Three: they love chasing balls or sticks or even better, each other.

Four: Goldens have a unique way of playing with other goldens, different to how they play with other breeds.

They will wrestle each other mercilessly.  They also like to tease, holding a ball or a stick just out of reach, taunting the other to get it.

Five:  They can entertain themselves really well.

They will hold a ball on a slope, let it go to roll down, then pounce.  They sometimes even throw it up in the air and try to catch it (that goes for sticks and even gloves too).

We are having great fun with our puppy.  Being able to socialise with other pups in the neighbourhood makes it even more special.

Megan and Co

This neighbourhood has lots of golden retrievers.  On walks, we regularly get to meet up with them.  Megan is a gorgeous girl 15 years old, still going for walks every day. 

She was sad for a while when her sister passed away, but is really cheerful since her ‘sister’ Bailey joined her.  Bailey has boundless energy (as in she doesn’t run, she bounds and bounces everywhere!).    She and Binks, our dog, would chase each other all day if they could.

During play, Binks will go check on Megan regularly.  She is really patient and sweet.  She will sit by you all day if you give her a scratch behind the ears!

The Road to Yelm

We found a great butcher, but they are a few hours away.  I took some photos through the window as we were driving. (Hubby isn’t so patient any more with stopping so I can get a shot.  I would triple our time!)

I kept reading this sign as Military Vehicle X-Wing.  Funny how the mind works

Things had been chaos here over Christmas with the builders rushing against time to try to finish the house.  We were promised everything would be done by Thanksgiving.  After losing my temper, they finished painting the inside of the house two days before Christmas.  It is amazing to have space again.  The quiet will come much later as they are still hammering on the outside of the house and repairing the neighbour’s place.

Fetching our puppy

We are quickly on our way to winter (we haven’t had one yet!  Left Melbourne at the beginning of autumn and arrived in Seattle at the beginning of spring.)  Shortly after we arrived, we found a lovely family selling Golden Retriever puppies.  The catch was that they were in Quincy, on the other side of the mountain.  It was a great opportunity to see more of Washington state.

There is lots of farmland, with beautiful houses and barns.  The trees were all budding new leaves, bright-green all along the roads.

Snow was melting up in the mountain passes.  Small waterfalls were pouring down the mountain sides next to the road.

We drove past some of the ski resorts, the closest we have ever been to snow.

Our puppy was just too sweet in the car.  He cuddled with the kids, they were fighting about who got to sit next to him.

He kept looking out the back window when we drove away from the farm where he was born.

The other side of the mountain is not nearly as hilly as where we stay.  Lots of beautiful lakes and low rolling hills and large plains filled with farmland and wind farms.

We made a few pitstops for Binks to take a walk and stretch his legs.  (We made it home with no accidents!)

 

It was a beautiful trip!  Loved seeing more of the country.

Our first Independence Day

I have been scarce for the last few months.  We had a big move.  My husband got an offer from Amazon that we decided to take, leading a move to the other side of the world, to Seattle, WA, USA.  Slowly getting everything sorted, so hopefully I will be sharing more about that soon. 

 

Friday we got to celebrate with the locals our first Independence Day.  It was so much fun!  We went to the family day in Bellevue and saw the most awesome fireworks.  Everything was quite well organised.  The bands were fantastic and the everyone seemed to be having a great time.

 

The band had everyone dancing.  This guy sure could sing!

The atmosphere was so relaxed, even with all the people there.  The food was good too, though we didn’t have the patience to join the long queue for dessert.

  

  

The fireworks were really spectacular.  The kids had a ball!

For a slideshow with more image, click here