Riffing: It was a Weekend....

...of discovery and tradition, with a bit of regret mixed in. I regretted not competing at the Bay Team trial - Riff and I had planned it as our "come back" show. Instead, we just visited. As luck (good or bad?) would have it, 'not entering' was the right decision. It was mighty cold. My back ached like the devil, and my leg was cramping like mad, in spite of all the Advil. [Sometimes you begin to think you're supposed to get tough and just run through it. Especially when you see videos of people in wheelchairs at competitions. Or you watch someone who's waiting for hip surgery run through courses, then limp around between classes. It's a weird thing. You begin to wonder if you really didn't enter because your dog just isn't well-trained enough. Or did you not enter because you can't fake running, and your dog doesn't get it? Are you just a big wimp? Or...are you hanging on to this crazy idea that you'll actually heal, if you take it easy for a little while longer...?]

LOVED seeing many of my agility friends, though. And Riff had tons of fun. So the bottom line = it was a good day, dammit!

Rampage and Riff play well together.

Goombah and his tug toy.

Channan tested Riff's sit-stay. He was a good boy!

Big hugs for Aunty Channan. (She enjoyed them. Really! I think.)

Big smile for Aunty Kathy.

Jeff and I went to two art galleries over the weekend. A friend is part of a new show up at Hammerfriar in Healdsburg, and they were having an artists' reception. Nice. Most of the art was really pricey (jeez!) - but it was great to be out and about. We played our usual "museum/art gallery" game, which is to go into a room or section, pick a favorite, then guess which one the other likes the best. Always good for a few laughs. I took some iPhone photos of paintings, but they didn't come out well. Here's a photo from the parking lot. Haha!

The other gallery space is called Feed Barn (here in Santa Rosa), and is run by the founders of the Handcar Regatta, plus a few other folks. We didn't see an art show there, but went to a Crafts Fair. Lots of tables loaded with interesting steampunky stuff, and the place was crowded with young people. I swear we were the only "gray-hairs" there, but it was a comfortable environment....I loved it. They were playing excellent loud music on a great sound system, and we found a beverage bar (were they serving alcohol? possibly...), a coffee/cookies bar, a big comfy couch, a yummy chicken tamales stand, and everyone was super friendly. Beautiful artistic crafts were presented both indoors and outside. The outside section was framed by an old white school bus and a rope that looked like it was once used to attach a cruise ship to a dock. One of the Handcar creations was sitting by the door. I stole the photo below from their website. This one was taken in front of an old rope factory in Petaluma. (I remember going in there to by rope for our braided horse halters and leads that we used to sell, many-many moons ago...) This gives you a good idea of the size and look of the handcar at the Feed Barn.

There was no 'cover charge' for the Crafts Fair - just a donation jar. (Nice!) Have since discovered that this Feed Barn is a bonafide new venue "for worship[?], DJs, live music, art exhibitions and many other events." (Yes, I once bought a bale of hay at this place.) Sounds like fun. Check it out!

Last, but far from least, we went to the Annual Snowflake Party at our friend J's place. J makes the Best Holiday Sugar Cookies Ever. Everyone brings marvelous munchies, and/or a bottle of wine, and their favorite scissors. J then tapes as many snowflakes as she can onto her big picture window, as part of their decorations. As we've done for many years, we also watched the old cartoon version of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas. We know all the words to the songs! And we're mighty proud when one of our snowflakes makes it to the picture window. :-)

I hope your holiday season is unfolding just as nicely as this last weekend did for us....