Bailey

Posted in Bailey by Annie T

It’s been a while since I posted about Bailey so I thought a nice picture-filled update would be fun! Here are some photos that I took earlier this week. I love this dog!

The above photo is classic Bailey. She looks very serious because I’m holding her frisbee in my hand and trying to get her to make a nice expression for the camera. She’s like “come on, just throw it already!” This is what happened when I finally threw the frisbee…

The weather is too cold for dock diving now but Bailey is keeping herself busy patrolling the yard for squirrels, lounging in the afternoon sun, and burrowing as deep as possible into her doggie sleeping bag when it’s time for bed. Bailey has also been taking K9 Nosework classes for several months. Last night she finally graduated from searching for treats to hunting for “birch” odor, woohoo! I’m biased, of course, but I think she has a very good nose, don’t you? 🙂

As I write this Bailey is curled up between Matt and me on the couch. She is not normally allowed on the furniture but when it gets cold out we let her snuggle with us. If we snuggle too much she gets hot and hops off the couch to cool off though…. which just happened. Now she’s headed up to bed. Good night, Bailey!

10Oct2013

A Word A Week Challenge: Silhouette

Posted in Bailey, Challenges by Annie T

I don’t usually participate in the “A Word A Week Challenge” but this week’s photo challenge topic was too good to pass up, especially since I just uploaded the perfect photo today! This week’s challenge is Silhouette:

That’s Bailey gazing out over the “upper lake” at Promised Land State Park in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. I was going through these photos today because I am planning on doing a post on Promised Land very soon. Stay tuned for more photos, info and a trail map!

The A Word A Week Challenge is run by Sue over at A Word in Your Ear. Thanks for giving me an excuse to post this photo of Bailey’s silhouette, Sue! 🙂

16Sep2013

Weekly Photo Challenge: Inside

Posted in Bailey, Challenges by Annie T

This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is inside. Here’s what Bailey does when she’s inside!

We joke that Bailey is either “on” (full blast running, hunting and playing outside) or “off” (sleeping peacefully inside). In this photo Bailey is demonstrating her favorite sleeping position: snuggled into her covered “dog den” bed with a comforter tucked over her face for good measure… she’s such a prima donna!

Also, I have to point out that she puts herself into bed this way with no help from us! It’s really a cute sight to wake up to in the morning… 🙂

9Sep2013

Weekly Photo Challenge: An Unusual POV

Posted in Challenges, Hikes by Annie T

This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is “An Unusual Point of View.” I think that this photo of the beautiful lake at Promised Land State Park in Greentown, Pennsylvania fits the theme fairly well:

I snapped this shot just as Matt and I canoed under a low bridge on a gorgeous October day. It’s hard to believe that Summer’s lush green trees are going to look like this in another month… I can’t wait!! 🙂

13Aug2013

Weekly Photo Challenge AND Bailey is a Finalist in a Photo Contest!

Posted in Bailey, Challenges by Annie T

First of all, I just learned that this photo of Bailey has been chosen as a Grand Prize Finalist in a photo contest! The winner is determined by popular vote which means that YOU can help Bailey win simply by clicking here and then hitting the “VOTE” button.

I would REALLY appreciate it if you could take a few seconds to vote! Voting is open until August 16th and you can vote once per day. The contest is sponsored by Yakima Racks and the winner receives gifts from Ruffwear (Bailey’s favorite dog gear outfitter), Zukes (Bailey’s favorite treats!) and a $500 Yakima gift card!

In other news, this week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is One Shot, Two Ways. The idea behind this challenge is to show the same subject from two angles and I have a fun example to share. The following two photos show Bailey flying through the air about to catch her duck. They were taken from two different cameras at the exact same moment during the same jump. Cool, right?

The first photo was taken head-on by a professional photographer (Key4Prints). I happened to catch the second photo from the bleachers at the exact same time… just as Bailey was contorting her body and snapping her mouth open mid-air in an attempt to catch her duck. While the professional shot is clearly a better photo, I kind of like the second shot because it helps you appreciate what a huge jump this was. Bailey ended up winning her division at this event with a 24+ foot jump!

Thanks for stopping by and, again, thank you to everyone that voted for Bailey in the photo contest!!!! (You can vote here: http://bit.ly/146NFcQ )

9Jul2013

Our St. Lucia Honeymoon

Posted in Trips by Annie T

Matt and I enjoyed a fantastic 10 days on the beautiful island of St. Lucia for our honeymoon. We spent the first week at Crystals, a boutique bed and breakfast on top of a mountain in the rain forest. Our cottage, “Papaya,” featured a shaded porch, a private pool, a bright red sundeck and oh yeah… drop dead gorgeous views of St. Lucia’s iconic Piton mountains!!

Here’s a shot turned around 180° looking back at the Papaya cottage. Can you see Matt relaxing in the shade?

While were at Crystals we used our 4×4 rental car to brave the windy roads (Lucians drive on the left!) to do some sightseeing in the Soufriere area of the island. We visited the botanical gardens, drove into the drive-in volcano, smelled the sulphur springs, relaxed on sugar beach (Anse des Pitons), hiked the Tet Paul nature trail in a rainstorm, and spent a day on a 42 foot yacht sailing along the coast. Perfect!

Sugar Beach (Anse des Pitons)

Matt snorkling on our day-long yacht trip

A botanical garden gecko!

The town of Soufriere, from the south

Boiling sulphur spring

Petit Piton, as seen from Tet Paul Nature Trail

We passed a scenic overlook every day on our way into Soufriere but it was rainy and/or overcast for most of the first week so we didn’t bother stopping to take photos. Lucky for us, on our last day at Crystals the sky cleared and the sun came out so we finally stopped and got our photo opp. This photo shows Soufriere, nestled in a volcanic valley in the shadow of Gros Piton and Petit Piton. Beautiful, isn’t it?

After our time at Crystals we left Soufriere and drove 40 minutes north to Anse Cochon for our last three days. We stayed at Ti Kaye, a cliffside resort with amazing views of the Caribbean Sea everywhere we looked. Ti Kaye had a restaurant on site so we returned our rental car and settled in for a very relaxing finale to our honeymoon.

We had our own private cottage at Ti Kaye with an outdoor shower and a large sun porch with — you guessed it! — beautiful views. We spent a lot of time lounging at the pool and beach, ate wonderful meals at the Kai Manje restaurant, indulged in a luxurious “honeymooners” couples massage at the Kai Koko spa, and – during what was possibly my favorite 3 1/2 hours of the trip – enjoyed an epic 13-bottle wine tasting session with Cleus the Sommelier in the Ti Kave wine cellar.

The view from our bedroom at Ti Kaye

Kai Koko Spa entrance

Spa Jacuzzi overlooking the Caribbean

Ti Kaye’s picture-perfect pool

Enjoying lunch at Kai Manje restaurant

Photos from our 3 1/2 hour wine tasting

After our 10 days were over we headed back to reality. It was sad to leave St. Lucia but also nice to come home to Bailey and officially start our married lives together! 🙂

If you’re interested, you can view a Flickr album of my favorite photos from St. Lucia here: Annie’s Honeymoon Picks. If you’re really interested in seeing lots and lots of photos, you can view our complete honeymoon photo album here: The Entire Honeymoon Album. Thanks for stopping by!

3Jul2013

July Update: A new streak begins and the garden keeps on growing!

Posted in Adventures at Home, Challenges by Annie T

Matt and I are home after spending 10 days in beautiful St. Lucia and a few days in Western Maryland for the DockDogs Regional Championships. I’ll post honeymoon photos and the dockdogs recap soon, but in the meantime I have some updates!

After 205 consecutive days my mile-a-day streak ended the day before our honeymoon began (June 13th). I initially thought I would keep on streaking while in St. Lucia but for the first week we were staying in the rainforest on top of a mountain at the end of a precariously washed out dirt road so running a mile a day wasn’t really feasible. Oh well! 🙂 As of July 1st I have started a new streak. We’ll see if I can beat 205 days… I’ll reach that goal on January 21, 2014.

In other news, we had record rainfall in June and as a result my vegetable garden has been growing like crazy! Check out this photo that I took today… a comparison shot from my May 10th gardening post is below.

Quite a difference, right? When we got home from St. Lucia I was shocked to see how much the parsley, thyme and tomatoes had grown and I was overwhelmed by the enormous zucchini plants!! (I think my basil was overwhelmed too… it’s now living in the shadow of those large-leafed behemoths!) Here are some other photos of my garden and back yard flowers from today.

Purple Hosta Flowers

Baby Green Tomatoes!

Pink Zinnia

Mmm… Basil

Shasta Daisy

Mint

Monster Zucchini Plants

While I was wandering around with my camera this afternoon I was surprised to spot a white-tailed deer in the front yard. It is quite common for us to see deer in our area (usually in other peoples’ yards or dashing across the road!) but it is very, VERY rare to see a deer in our yard because Bailey has made it her life mission to stalk and chase any and all wildlife that comes within her invisible fence boundary.

I guess the neighborhood deer herd realized that Bailey was not at home for most of June and as a result they are now making themselves comfortable in the front yard. Luckily Bailey was on her game this afternoon and as soon as this deer made a move Bailey (who must have been stalking it from a different angle as I snapped away with the camera) came blasting over, chased it away, and then proceeded to roll and rub in the deer’s scent for a good 30 seconds. Good dog, Bailey (even if you do smell now…)

Oh hello, deer in the front yard

Bailey on patrol!

Soaking up all of that deer stinkiness

Well, that’s it for tonight’s update. Happy 4th of July and have a great holiday weekend!!

Related Posts:
• Streaking, Reflections, and Other December Challenges (December 3, 2012)
• Streaking, Day 100 (March 1, 2013)
• Let the 2013 Gardening Season Begin! (May 12, 2013)
• Waiting for Red Tomatoes (July 4, 2012)

11Jun2013

We’re Married!

Posted in Uncategorized by Annie T

Just a quick update to say WE DID IT!! Matt and I got married on Saturday afternoon surrounded by our family and friends. The sun was shining, the wine was flowing, and fun was had by all. Here’s a sneak peek from our lovely wedding photographer, Melissa Hassey:

Now it’s time for our honeymoon in St. Lucia… woohoo! 🙂

11May2013

Happy Birthday, Bailey!

Posted in Bailey by Annie T

It’s Bailey’s 6th birthday today! I think a photo montage of my four-legged best friend is in order, don’t you?

Hiding behind the tulips

Bailey ponders life with a ball in her mouth

Here are some of Bailey’s most memorable moments since her fifth birthday:

Qualified for Worlds at the DockDogs Eastern Regional Championships (July 2012)
Won Big Air and Extreme Vertical at the Monmouth County Fair (July 2012)
Diagnosed with Lyme’s Disease (August 2012)
Won Big Air and placed second place in Extreme Vertical at the Dover Summer Splash (August 2012)
Won Big Air at the Ocean County Decoy & Gunning Show (September 2012)
Competed at the DockDogs World Championships (November 2012)

Happy Birthday, Bailey!

22Apr2013

Weekly Photo Challenge: Up

Posted in Bailey, Challenges by Annie T

This week’s WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge is “Up.” As you may have noticed, I love to use photos of Bailey whenever possible in these challenges and it just so happens that jumping UP is one of her favorite things to do!

The first photo shows Bailey competing in Big Air at the Dock Daze event in May 2012 and the second photo was taken during the Extreme Vertical competition at the 2010 Delmarva Doggone Fun event. Bailey ended up winning with a height of 7 feet!