2008

May 08 - At the beginning of this month we went to visit Matt and Helen Emery and then Gordon and Margaret Briggs. It was Natashya's first 'road trip' in the van (the first of many!!) and she was really very good. The weather was lovely and Cameron helped Matt do some 'gardening' while Helen and I supervised. The next day it was off to Strathpeffer to visit the Torraneas pack. Our dogs got out for a free run round Gordon and Margarets fantastic enclosure and had great fun winding up the other dogs! While we were away the cows had been put out in the field behind us. Mohceh and Wilson spent two days shouting at them but have since calmed down slightly. Between the rabbits and the cows they dont know what to do with themselves! Natashya's ears are nearly up having spent the last few weeks in a crumpled heap on top of her head. She is certainly finding her feet and loves Wilson and Norris. She is rapidly becoming a delinquent though and runs off to the dogs pens instead of coming in when shes told. She has also aquired a taste for footwear which really doesn't go down too well in this house! Snopeak has also been back up to visit along with his chainsaw.....we now have a few less trees!!!

January 08 - Happy New year everyone! Hope you all had a good x-mas! Unfortunately we couldnt run at the NSDSC Culbin event this year as Norris was ill over Christmas which meant he wasnt fit enough for it. We attended the event anyway to help out and I (Lisa) went round as passenger with David and his 10dog team. The write up is available on the NSDSC site. We are now training hard for the Balloch Wood event on the 16th +17th Feb. Our friend David has left for Sweeden with Michael from the Sassicaia Kennel. They are both competing in the World Championships over there. Good luck David and Michael! We still have no internet or TV and Wilson decided he didnt like the decor in the caravan............

February 08 - This month saw us taking part in the Balloch Wood event. As David is away in Sweeden, Cameron had the opportunity to run two Seppala girls from the Gwaihir Kennel. Hermine (Wilsons mum) and Misty were excellent and fitted in nicely with the boys. They had a good run but unfortunatley a couple of dogs wore quicks down so they didnt run the next day. Cameron ran McKinley and Lennon instead the next day. I even ran at the event! I agreed to run two of Helens girls for her over the 5.8 mile trail. Thanks again to Helen for organising the weekend and allowing us to borrow dogs. This month also saw a rare night out for us in the Highlander bar in Craigellachie with friends Scott and Maggie. (I wasnt allowed to buy new shoes though!) We were also treated to Maggies famous Sweet and Sour Chicken which certainly lived up to its reputation! Lovely! Mum and Dad are coming up again in March so we will have the pleasure of Princess Lyscha for a few days. Hopefully we will be able to get her out for a few runs while she is here. Our next event will be Quithel at the end of the season. Hope to see you all there......Snopeak if your reading, remember MC Hammer!!!!!!!

We may also be getting a new Witchy Woo puppy (GSD) in late March so watch this space!!!!!!! And no.....we still dont have TV or internet!

March 08 - Happy birthday to Kifa, Norris and Witchy! This month my Mum, Dad and Aunt Margaret came up for a visit. Princess Lyscha also came with her usual assortment of pink leads, her own bed and a suitcase full of toys. Lyshca did have a few runs with Wilson while she was here and we were glad to see she hadnt forgotten how to work in harness! She was excellent and teamed with Wilson they put Mo and Norris to shame! We also attended the Quithel rally again this year organised by Wendy and Wattie for the SSHC. We had a fantastic time and i'm glad to note that Snopeak did remember MC Hammer as well as a few other choice tunes!!! Ha Ha!!

Work on the house is getting there and work on the outbuilding roof has started. All the spring flowers are starting to appear but the rabbits seem to be eating them just as quickly! I think a fair few of them will be for the pot! Witchy Woo number 2 is also due to be coming home on the first weekend in April so keep a look out for new pictures soon. We still dont have T.V or internet!

April 08 - This month saw the arrival of Natashya, our new GSD puppy. She is from the Langfaulds Kennel again and is closely related to Witchy. She is a fantastic little girl who is full of fun as well as cheek! We also had a visit from Snopeak this month along with 'Duke'......that dog is mental! Maggie and I also had a weekend in Glasgow and attended the Annual Vet School Rodeo. Maggie, Anne and myself all went out in Glasgow for a girls night and met up with my school friend Joanne. We had a great night and didn't get too drunk at all......although Anne did fall asleep in the taxi.....but we let her off considering the amount of hours she has to work!! Bless! In the morning Maggie and I went into Glasgow and went shopping.....whats that i hear you ask??? Of course I got new shoes!! Cameron spent the weekend with Scott (Maggies other half) and they started breaking out the concrete floor in the dog house. Ta Scott. AND........wait for it........we have TV!!!!!! Camerons mum and dad bought us satellite installation for our birthdays. A huge thanks to them...now we can watch tv instead of having to make conversation! Still no internet though. Happy birthday to William Wilson!

July 08 - Happy Birthday to me!!!! We have another new arrival here at Arcticpack. A beautiful little girl from the Navajos kennel and extra special because she is Norris' niece! We have named her Natalie after her GG gran who was also white. She is impossible to get pictures of as she never stays still long enough, but there are a few of her in the gallery. Check back soon for more. Tashya loves her and they are getting on really well together. Mum and dad are up again at the end of this month and i think my brother may be gracing us with his presence as well. We also went over to help friends Gregor and Sharon lay some slabs for their temporary dog run. Cam, Gregor and Scott did all the hard work while Sharon, Maggie and I drank tea and had chocolate biscuits.

August 08 - We started off August at the Aberlour Highland Games that our friends Scott and Maggie organise. It was a great day although a bit dissapointing that there were only 4 tug o war teams!!! And none of them wore shorts!!!!! Little Tilly Pip had a day out and won her first red rosette at the pets parade for 'cutest puppy'. As always this month saw us at the Turriff Show. The show was very quiet this year and the classes at the dog show were smaller than normal. There were only three huskies entered (us, mum and Stuart and Suzzie!!) and much to Mums annoyance, Kai beat Lyscha for Best of Breed. Ha Ha!! Kai loved his day out and we also brought along the 'terrible twosome' (Tilly and Tashya) for a wander round the show. They were fantastic and loved meeting all the other dogs. Mum and Dad were up for the week and the day after Turriff we had to go and pick up the 'old people' form the bus stop (yes, bus stop, not station.) at Huntly. The 'oldies' being my Gran and her sister. They spent a few days with us and we all went to Cullen for ice cream and had to do the 'tourist' thing and take pictures of the view. Gran and Aunt Irene went home on the Thursday and Mum had a BBQ at her cottage on the Friday night. Helen and David and Scott and Maggie came along as well. The lovely Lyscha met Tilly and Tashya and got on well with both. We finally managed to get out for a run while Mum was up so Lyscha got a run with the boys. Hopefully the weather will stay cool for a while and we get some more training runs in.

Sept 08 / Oct 08 - September saw us managing to get out for some more frequent training runs. Mo is really struggling at the moment and we have had the chiropractor back to have a look. She can't find anything that would be causing him that much discomfort. We have decided not to run him with the boys but he is upset at being left so he has short runs on the scooter which he seems happy enough with. Hopefully we can get to the bottom of his troubles soon.
October saw us at the Lochaber show where Sharon McNicol and Linda Reilly were Judging. Norris and Kai got 2nds and Mo got a third. Princess Lyscha won Best of Breed though!! We also took the two Shepherds along which is always a laugh with Witchy who runs round the ring shouting. Witchy got 2nd and Tashya won AV Pastoral Minor Puppy. We also went along to our neighbours Halloween party and Cameron carved the pumpkins for the kids. It was good fun and there were some good fireworks at the end of the night. Towards the end of October we attended Morrison Contruction company dance. It was in Aviemore this year and was a rare night out for us. The free bar was greatly appreciated and well used!! Happy Birthday Kai!

Nov 08 - Very sadly and very suddenly at the beginning of November, our beloved Tish-Tash passed away at the young age of 9 months. We are all absolutely devastated here at Arcticpack and Witchy and Tilly are lost without her. Words just cannot express how much we miss her. She really was one in a million and we just can't get used to not hearing her big tail banging off the walls as she wagged it every morning waiting for us to get up. Or her dropping her ball on our feet deliberately to get us to throw it for her....but most of all I just can't get used to the quiet. Tashya was always barking about something......I would give anything to hear her shouting for her ball or at Wilson to come out his dog box. We miss you so much Tish-Tash xx Its just so sad here without you xxx.

Dec 08 - Around the same time as our loss of Tashya, Mo started to become very ill. He was cold all the time and lethargic, even shivering in temps of 12 degrees. We have been so worried about him and he has all sorts of blood tests done at the vets. These showed he was anaemic and he also had blood in his urine. Towards the end of Dec we eventually got to the bottom of his problem, or should I say problems. The blood in his urine was caused by an enlarged prostate due to bitches in season and all his other symptoms were due to the fact he is hypothyroid. He is now on medication and seems to be improving.
Mum and Dad came up at the beginning of Dec and it was lovely to see them and Lyscha. We had X-mas dinner while they were here and got to open our presents early!
We had more sad news at the end of Dec when my snake Mia had to be put to sleep. She was living at my brothers in Glasgow as the caravan would have been too cold for her. We were hoping to bring her up once the house was finished, but sadly she developed cancer and the kindest thing was to let her go.

June 08 - Happy birthday Mo and Cameron! This month we went out bowling for Cameron birthday with Scott and Maggie. We eh, maybe had a bit too much to drink but had a great night. (not so good next morning though..) I managed to convince the barman to let me have raspberry slushpuppies with gin. They were lovely!! I now want a slushpuppy machine so i can make all sorts of cocktails! We also went to the Cornhill Highland games this month. We took Natashya along and she was great. Maggie and I were particularly impressed by the Cornhill Tug of War team.....(sigh...) We also decided that we would dig out another temporary dog pen just now and Scott and Cameron got to play with a mini excavator again. Tashya is getting big and is bossing all the boys around just like her big sister. Hopefully another new addition to the pack is on the way so check back soon!