happy birthday...

...to Neka's second litter of puppies, the Devon Nine, who are 2 years old today. Can it be? Even little Maija is now a fully-fledged grown up Lappy.

Oh, and did I say that when the older dog is 2 years it's the ideal time for a new puppy... heh, just kidding! Well, I'm not kidding about the timing, actually. Two years is the ideal age to bring in a new puppy because that's the magic number when one's Lapphund finally starts to grow up and be a bit sensible. If you're lucky. I was, however, just kidding about getting another puppy. I wouldn't. I couldn't! Could I? No! Most emphatically not. My 6-year-old Neka? Not sensible, not a bit. Little Maija out-sensible-s her mum in every way.

Here's how the Monta puppies looked at about 5 weeks. As you can imagine, it was notoriously difficult to get a photo of all of them at once. There is a cute one at the bottom of this page, though.


A few of the Devon Nine.
L-R: Maija, Tarkka, um, Sulo? - no, Rauhan, Jaana, er, Inko?
It's difficult!








L-R: Inko, Tarkka, Jaska, Maija, Rauhan squished on the bottom (& I think Tarmo might be down there too.)












And here they are with their mum at 1 day old.














Dad Keskiyö saying hi to Sulo (Kaija) & looking a tad unsure about the whole puppy thing.

welcome...

... to the new-look blog!

Blogger have a snazzy new template designer and while I changed the look of the other blog ages ago, I only just got around to having a play around with this one. I like it, I think.

Of course, I'm supposed to be working. Needless to say.

visit

Liz & Ian dropped by with Usko for a visit yesterday as they were passing. There was much joyful greeting between puppy, auntie & granny. So sweet to see Neka and Usko remembering each other. I'm not quite so sure about whether or not Maija specifically remembered him as she tends to treat all newcomers with the same degree of elation.

They had a wonderful time playing and it was typically difficult to get any photos - I got mainly blurry noses too close to the camera, random bottoms/tails and, of course, the classic empty floorspace shot. However, the girls did eventually tire him out.

















Settling down for a chew on a bone generously relinquished by granny Neka.

pupdate

The puppies are 17 weeks old today. Is that all? Doesn't sound like much, does it? Around 4 or 5 months of age Lappies tend to go through a gangly stage. They have a growth spurt... of ears, muzzle and legs, anyway, and the coat can't keep up. They tend to be, um, cute-challenged. Not these puppies, they're cute all the way. (Um, mostly. So far.)

Note the fuzzy tufts of lighter fur behind the ears - a classic feature of the wolf sable puppy as the coat colour changes.

No new pics of Usko, but he's coming to visit in a couple of days, so stay tuned.

Jaana has been on holiday in Cumbria.




"Where'd they go?"













A perfect seat for two... Lapphunds.










Minna has also been on holiday - camping with the relatives! I've been assured she was a complete angel the whole time. No, really!







Snoozing with auntie Kaija in the foreground.







Kesä illustrating the play-bow. And looking very much like Kallio.







Kallio looking quite grown up... well, sorta.








He hasn't yet learned you can't out-stare a cat.






And, finally, in honour of Jay's recent birthday, Inko sent this greeting:

i heart glasgow

No, I'm not being facetious, actually. It's a wonderful city - beautiful architecture, including a generous smattering of Macintosh - lots of green spaces & wide, tree-lined streets - a cool, relaxed vibe - plenty of welcoming cafes, comfortable pubs, great service and very, very good food that always seems quite affordable. Yet in terms of ingenuity of menu and quality of preparation, it's far and away beyond the standard pub grub served up all across England.

Edinburgh is billed as the prettier sister, but where she's all dolled up to impress the tourists, Glasgow is the one who is gorgeous just in jeans and a tshirt.

Dare I say I've also never met a Glaswegian I didn't like. You may think I haven't met many, considering I live more than 700 km away. However, I have met more Glaswegians than, say, Americans. Probably.

And then there's the wonderful weather. What? Ok, so perhaps that bit is an accolade too far. I've been to Scotland quite a few times now and, believe it or not, there has been only one occasion when the weather was unremittingly wet and horrid. Every other time I was blessed with at least some sunshine. True fact. The photos don't lie.



Bee-yoo-ti-ful apartment buildings with amazing stained glass in every window.



















Front of one of the many impressive buildings of Glasgow University. Wow!











Is this really just an empty, disused water pumping station? Really?






In addition to all these great reasons for visiting Glasgow, there is one more utterly compelling reason: Wendy & Scott live there with Karhu. And that is where I spent a few days this week.




Waiting for someone to throw the tennis ball.









On the snow mountain in the park (yes it's July - don't ask).









At the beach in Elie near St Andrews (of golf fame) on the east coast.








Sleeping off his walk on his custom-made window seat.