NW Ridgeback

Holiday Bokeh

2009-12-19T17:21:00.000-08:00

Mom has been playing with her camera again...what's new? ;) I don't mind being her model as long as she keeps the treats coming! She was trying to get the bokeh effect. Bokeh refers to the quality of the out of focus or blurred background areas in a photo and the way the lens renders these points of light. It means you have a shallow depth of field. At least that is Mom's understanding. :) Anyway, she has been hearing/seeing this term alot lately, and she kind of likes the word. :) In this case, our Christmas tree lights provide the background. Mom discovered that the further she was away from the light source, the bigger and more eye pleasing bokeh she could obtain.

This is one of our Christmas ornaments that Dad got last year. The dog is supposed to be a Ridgeback like me but it clearly has hair that is too long to belong to a Ridgeback. :) Still cute though, and we love it!

This little guy tops our tiny "dog" tree. That's right, we have a dog tree that has my ornaments, as well as, Dad's Husky football ornaments. Mom says we are getting too many ornaments though and next year we may need a Husky tree and a Nala tree. :)

And finally, Mom wanted to see the bokeh effect in black and white. We like the color ones the best but this photo lended itself better to black and white due to the fact that I was not as sharp as Mom would have liked in the color version.

Happy Holiday Photo Taking! :)

Love,

Nala

POW

2009-12-17T18:33:00.000-08:00

That's right, I have been a Prisoner Of War for the last month. I am talking about the war between my Mom, school, and the holidays. Somehow I got caught up in the battle and have been unable to get my paws on the keyboard. Mom says in about a month though she should have more time. In a month she will be finished with her long term sub position and will just be a regular sub so she will be able to focus more on ME and my blog correspondence! I don't know if I can wait that long but what choice do I have really? Anyway, my point is that I miss ALL my blog buddies terribly but hopefully I will catch up before a whole month has passed. :(

As for me, I have been holding down the fort, barking at UPS guys that deliver packages, supervising the tree decoration, and enjoying some romping in our first true snow of the season! I am looking forward to Mom's school vacation as she promises me there are sandy beaches in my future and a visit with my Nanny and Grampi!! WOOHOO! My Grampi is doing well, by the way. His heart is getting stronger everyday! :) Lots of kisses to all my blog buddies! Hope you are having a pawesome December. Miss you and I hope to bark at you soon!

Love,

Nala

I am thankful for...

2009-11-30T21:26:00.001-08:00

my Grampi!!! The doctors did a bit of work on his heart over Thanksgiving break, and he is doing better now. In fact, this was the day after surgery and he is looking as handsome as ever. Even more amazing is that he didn't let a "little thing" like heart surgery interfere with the anniversary of his marriage to my Nanny. Nope, on his second post-op day he had a dozen roses sent to her. Of course, his friend helped him order them, but he made the arrangements!
What a man! He is certainly a special Grampi, and if I could I would give him a million puppy kisses right now, but Mom says I need to wait a bit for that. ;) Anyway, we LOVE you Grampi and are so happy that you are on the mend.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

2009-11-22T12:15:00.001-08:00

Hope you have a Barkarific Day!!!!

Photo Fun

2009-11-21T16:23:00.001-08:00

Mom and I went out for a walk this morning with our friends, Ozzie and Julie, and Mom enjoyed taking a few photos of us. She had some nice conditions for shooting some silhouettes so she gave it a whirl. We are always so enamored with Sheba's silhouettes that her Mom Esther takes of her in the Niger bush. Go check out their site...it's super cool. Oh, did I mention Sheba is a Ridgeback like me?? No, well, she is and she has puppies too...cute baby Ridgebacks...seven of them. :) Anyway, I know that may look like my tongue BUT it is not. It IS a big, juicy bone that I found! It was wonderful while it lasted...that is, until Ozzie took possession of it, and once he claimed it there was no going near it for me even though I was the one who found it. That's ok, it got Ozzie to chase me, and we had fun!

Next up, Mom took this picture from our walk and added texture to it. She just recently learned how to do this, and is having a bit too much fun with this technique. It doesn't work well for all pictures, but some become so much more interesting with a little texture. We couldn't decide which one of these we liked better though...no texture, texture, or neither. :) What do you think?

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-18T20:29:00.000-08:00

Resistance is Futile!

2009-11-13T22:56:00.001-08:00

Mom had plans to wash the bed sheets but I had other things in mind. ;)

Wordless Wednesday

2009-11-11T09:42:00.001-08:00

Cover Girl...Well, Almost...Kind of...Ok, Not Really

2009-11-05T20:09:00.000-08:00

Although I didn't make the cover like this cutie pie, I did make it in the magazine! :) That's right...you see, my pawtastic dog blog furiend, Honey, has a Mom that is a great writer. Honey's Mom, Hsin-Yi, writes articles of all kinds and she happened to be writing about "hard to train" breeds for Dogs Today out of the UK and asked my Mom to answer some questions about training me. At first I protested because I didn't like the thought of people thinking I was "hard to train", but Mom convinced me it would be a good article that portrayed me well. She said it would educate people about how some breeds just require a bit more patience and consistency but by no means are they untrainable. Mom even told me it meant I was smarter than most because I had a mind of my own, so I decided to let her answer the questions and send a few pictures. ;) Anyway, that was a few months ago, and then about three weeks ago my furiends from Pointer Pandemonium told me they saw me and Mom in a magazine so Mom ordered up a couple of copies to show off, of course. :) We were both very excited and guess what?? The Dughallmor Beagles are in it too and another blog dog whom we are not acquainted with named Chow Chow. How cool is that? I know, I could hardly stop wagging my tail and have been shamelessly showing MY magazine to everyone who will look at it! hehehehe!

Here we are in our action shot. Thanks Hsin-Yi for writing a great article and asking us to contribute. It was lots of fun and we are thrilled and honored to be a part of it. :)

WW Follow Up

2009-10-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

So, who are the Irish Setters from Wordless Wednesday, you ask? Well, one is my furiend Samson and the other is his furiend Gabi. Ozzie and I met them for a walk along the river last weekend. Gabi belongs to the parents of Samson's human Mom. They have always had Irish Setters in their family. Gabi is 9 years old and Samson just turned 7 not long ago. They are both very handsome boys! The humans in the picture are Samson's sweet human sister and her Grandma. (Gabi's Mom)

Mom thinks I have a funny look in the picture above...what do you think?

Greeting Gabi

At least these two provide some red color around here since most of the leaves are just yellow in these parts. Beautiful yellow indeed, but Mom insists it's not the same as when you have oranges and reds like in other parts of the world.

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-27T20:45:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Dad!

2009-10-25T10:16:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my Dad! He turned another year older on Friday, October 23! Mom and I made him dinner to celebrate, he opened his presents, and then he and Mom went to the Husky game on Saturday but I didn't get to go to that. :( Oh well, they lost miserably so no loss for me although I would have liked to play with the sweet Husky they call Dubs. Mom brought back a few FAR AWAY pictures of him for me though. :) Oh, in case you are wondering, my Mom did not make the dessert above. Dad said he didn't want cake for his birthday so Mom went to the bakery and got these chocolate mousse filled cups w/ fruit.

This is the dinner Mom and I made. Dad's favorite dish, Runzas, and some broccoli and green beans. Runzas are this dish from the Midwest, specifically Nebraska, where my Dad's family is from. I don't know if they originated there but that's where they came from for us. I am thinking they may have originated in Germany but I really don't know...anyone familiar with these things? Anyway, they are filled with ground turkey, (we don't really eat beef which is what they normally have) cabbage, onions, cheddar cheese, a dash of paprika, salt, and lots of pepper. I got to eat some cheese when I was helping Mom make these. :)

And here we are working HARD to make Dad's special dinner. Notice Mom's apron...BOL! And of course, there is me supervising and then inspecting the finished product! She would never survive in the kitchen without me I tell ya. ;)

Happy Birthday Dad, I WOOF you!!

Wordless Wednesday

2009-10-21T19:36:00.001-07:00

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

2009-10-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

I got to meet my baby brother, Remi, for the first time yesterday! He was quite the little darling and full of puppy energy! If anyone thinks I am bouncy then they need to meet Remi first. ;) That boy was bouncin' on all four legs trying to jump up at my face. It was SO cute! That being said, don't think he is all silliness because this boy already knows how to sit for his Mama too! That's my bro, SMART and PLAYFUL!!! He's a boy after my own heart. :)

At first, he was a bit intimidated by my size and kept running under the table and the BBQ to hide from me. He soon warmed up to me though and would come out every now and then to play. It's hard to believe that one day this cute little guy will be bigger than me probably.

Ahhh Remi, you are a fine hound my sweet brother! I loved your playfulness and social ways. I can't way to see you again!

Hugs & Kisses

2009-10-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

A New Friend!

2009-10-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

Well, life has been pretty uneventful lately. Mom and Dad have been busy so I haven't been out as much, but I did get to meet a new furiend when I was working with Mom at her school last weekend. This is Marlon! He was a very nice dog, but I'm afraid my bouncy nature intimidated him a little. Every time I would run at him in my usual bouncy and boisterous way he would freeze. We still had fun though....hope I didn't scare him too much. I am really a nice girl Marlon, I promise! I just like to be up close and personal when I play. :)

Marlon likes to hide between his Mom's legs for protection....hmmm, wonder what made him want to hide here?? I'll never know. ;)

In other news, my furiend, Sierra, had another run-in with some barb wire! :( Poor girl...this is like the 3rd or 4th time (maybe even more) that she has been hurt in a similar fashion! She had to get stitches, she has to wear one of those nasty cone things that go around your head, and she is restricted to the leash for 10 days!!! How will I ever survive without her. :( Get well soon Sierra!

My Baby Brother!!

2009-10-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

Oh, isn't he DARLING!!! Meet Remi! He is MY brother although we have not met yet. He lives near where my Nanny lives, and Mom and I met his human Mom a few weeks ago before he was even born. :) Remi and I have the same dog Mom, Apache Red Kelly. He is definitely more red in color like our Mom than me and boy is he ever cute! Have I said how cute this boy is?? ;) I grabbed this cute picture from his blog. That's right, he has a blog too! Please stop by to say hi to my bro sometime. I can hardly stand waiting for him to get bigger so we can play! You can click on his picture to go visit him.

Just thought I should make sure everyone knows that Remi will not come to live with me....he has his very own human family that loves him, but hopefully he and I can have some play dates soon! :) Mom and Dad are not ready to add another RR to the pack quite yet. Mom says there would not be enough room in the bed. ;)

How Much is that Doggie in the Window?

2009-10-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

Ruff Ruff!

One slice of cheese and I am yours! ;) Shhh, don't tell Mom! BOL!

Another Wedding

2009-10-03T10:13:00.000-07:00

Not long after my pawrents got married, my Mom's friend tied the knot too! Selena was Mom's first friend when she moved to Washington, and Mom got to take her wedding photos. This marriage was 11 years in the making, and Mom says it was a very magical day!

My relationship with Selena started off a bit rocky as I like to immediately run up to everyone and say hello with my wet nose. Plus, I am just the appropriate height that people don't always appreciate my muzzle placement. ;) Anyway, as I have grown and "mellowed out" things have been better. That being said though, Selena is much more of a cat person. We won't hold that against her....she probably just doesn't know better! ;) I am sure that one day she will learn the error of her ways! BOL!

Top left: Getting her hair done
Top right: Fastening the shoes
Bottom left: Just married
Bottom right: The lavender cake made by Sarn's Mom - YUM!

Selena and my Mom

And of course, this is a dog blog so a post wouldn't be right without a picture or two of a dog. This is Cocoa...you can see she is really enjoying the wedding. ;) Actually, she is probably wondering why all of these humans are at her home disturbing her slumber. If I were Cocoa, I would have been raiding the food table! BOL!

And this is Kira...a wedding is not complete unless you have a muddy, wet dog run upon the deck and try to kiss everyone! Way to go Kira, you are my kind of girl!

And finally, Kira couldn't let the humans have all the fun on the dance floor, so she joined in. :)

Wish I could play with her...bet she would be tons of fun!

Sand Between My Paws

2009-09-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

If you guessed the ocean then you were right!! My pawrents took me to two different beaches this weekend, and I had so much fun! The first morning we went to Point Defiance where I became a rock climber (a story for another day) and the second morning we went to Dash Point. Both days were pawtastic and the weather was grrreat!

I spent lots of time doing hot laps in the sand! Mom and Dad always laugh hysterically at me but I'm telling ya, there's nothing like kickin' up the sand and feeling the soft, squishy stuff on your paws.

We saw lots of ocean creatures including starfish, hundreds of sand dollars, and these tube-like creatures...not sure of the exact name. We also saw some Great Blue Herons and lots of green seaweed and algae. Oh yea, mussells and barnacles too! Don't worry, I didn't try to eat them but I probably did squish a few sand dollars under my paws...oops! They are camouflaged in the sand and all of a sudden we would look down and they were under our feet so we had to tiptoe out very carefully. :)

Ahhhh, I wish I lived on the beach! I would run in the sand everyday!!

Of all the creatures we spotted though none were as exciting as seeing this sweet seal! We were walking again (not paying attention) and all of a sudden Dad looks up and there this little cutie was! It looked like a rock from a distance but it definitely was not. Dad grabbed my collar and made me go around and Mom snapped a few pics and then we let the sweetie relax in peace.

That's all for now...gotta run!

A Glimpse Of My Weekend

2009-09-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Can you guess where I got to go this weekend? :)

Don't Badger Me....I'm On a Hike!

2009-09-22T21:36:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh, nothin' like diggin' in the cool dirt on a hot day!

This is Sierra's signature pose...always on the look out for action!

And in the name of science I feel I have to post these pictures. R.I.P. Mr. Badger. That's right, Sierra found a Badger while we were on our hike. Who knows how the poor guy met his demise but it looked and smelled like he had been in Badger heaven for awhile. How did he get in the tree, you ask?? Well, let's just say a little ingenuity on Colleen's part...those humans do some crazy things to keep us canines from enjoying the great outdoors in all it's glory!!

As Colleen pointed out, it's not often that you see a Badger. At least, not for us. In fact, Mom and I have never seen one until this guy showed up....too bad it was under these circumstances. Hopefully, he has some Badger cousins still roaming the hillsides. :)

We apologize if this post has disturbed you in anyway. ;)

Popcorn Patrol

2009-09-18T07:03:00.001-07:00

Tagged by Honey & Murphy

2009-09-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ok, I was tagged a LONG time ago by my furiend Honey and I just recently got tagged by the beautiful Murphy! They are both very cool Great Danes that I wish I could meet and play with. :) Anyway, my Mom finally made some time for my blog after over a week of NO posts....something about getting a 4th grade classroom ready....sheesh Mom, where are your priorities?? ;) So, anyway, Honey tagged me to tell 7 reasons I am awesome and Murphy tagged me to tell 6 things I like so I am going to try and combine the two and see what happens. :)

I am awesome because I got to be the ring dog in my Mom and Dad's wedding!

I like being close to Mom and Dad all the time. In fact, at the wedding when Mom started to walk away, I pulled hard on the leash that my cousin was holding because I didn't want Mom to leave me. :) I'm a Momma's girl, what can I say!

I am awesome because I am a fast runner and people always comment on my speed and also I am awesome because I do crazy running hot laps where I get very excited and run in figure 8's and other formations. :)

I like to run on the beach....there is nothing like the feeling of the sand between my paws!! :)

I am awesome because I can do cool tricks!

I like to do tricks for my Mom but what I REALLY like is getting the treats afterwards! ;) BOL!

I am awesome because I am a friendly girl and I am ALWAYS playful!

I like meeting new friends!

I am awesome because I am a good trail dog....I always stay close to my pawrents on trails and keep them in my sights!

I like to go hiking with my family!

I am awesome because I have cool furiends that like to play with me!

I like to play and romp with my furiends more than anything!!

I am awesome because I know how to pose for pictures....I've had enough practice! Thanks Mom! ;)

I like to travel to new and exciting places with my family!

Thanks for tagging me Honey and Murphy! If anyone else wants to play then feel free!

Love,

Nala

No Fires Allowed

2009-08-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

But that didn't stop us from having a great camping trip!!