Cooper & Spicy's Kingdom : A new month, a beauty of a day

Happy Sunday everyone! Can you believe that today is October 1? I sure can't. Time just goes by way too quickly. Just think, New Year's Day is three months today LOL!

This past week was simply beautiful, weather wise. Maybe a tad too warm for some but what an amazing Fall we're having so far. The temperatures have cooled down somewhat but they are still very nice. Our nights have been fresh and perfect for sleeping. It is especially nice to have the air conditioning off and all the windows open.

All is good with us. This was our first full week back at home since we returned from Iceland. It didn't take us long to get our routine back, although I will admit that this gorgeous weather makes it very hard to attempt to do any house work. We have been spending a lot of time outside and for the past few days made good use of our patio heater. At this time of year, there is no sun on our deck after 3:00 pm so it can get a bit cool. The heater does the trick.

On Tuesday, Coop & I had our first Fun Obedience Class. And it was fun. I must say that I am pretty pumped about this training, so is Cooper. It is truly "Fun" combined with "Obedience", the best of both worlds. It didn't take the Coop long to get back into the swing of things, same for me. My only challenge is that the training incorporates a certain amount of agility type moves....my feet don't always want to move the way they are supposed to. I had the same issue when I took agility training a few years ago. So, I've been practicing the moves at home but, for the life of me, there is one exercise that has me completely baffled.....Wanda, if you read this, don't laugh. All kidding aside, it is great training for Cooper and I know we will both learn a lot from it. And we will have a lot of Fun along the way!

We are still talking about our trip to Iceland. We are truly happy to have had the opportunity to visit this beautiful country. Here's an interesting fact: Iceland is a country of approximately 340,000 people, so really not big at all. Yet, despite the size, it has over 800,000 sheep, roaming all over the country. We saw tens of thousands of sheep, of all colours, as we were visiting the country side. Although they are often seen by the roadside, they are quite skittish so we were never able to get a photo of them. But they are cute little creatures and their wool makes beautiful sweaters. Russell bought one, made by the Handknitting Association of Iceland. It is gorgeous and very warm. I didn't get one...I just can't wear warm sweaters/clothes, I get too hot...case in point: I was wearing shorts when we took the dogs out this morning and the temperature was only 4 celsius!

Another interesting fact, this one a little more annoying: the hot water in Iceland smells of sulfur, caused by the geothermal origin of the hot water. The first time that we ran the hot water, we thought there was something wrong with our taps but then were told that it was totally normal. Having said this, we didn't smell like rotten eggs after we showered but the smell sure lingered for a while in the bathroom.

So, here we are, on the first day of a brand new month. I leave you with a couple more photos of Iceland. One of them is of the "wedding cave", a gigantic cave on the black sand beach. It is often used for wedding ceremonies, thus the name. Another photo is of the "Little Jurassic Park" as our tour guide calls it. It is a canyon filled with small waterfalls, walking trails and little rivers. Very pretty to see and explore.

Of course, I also include a couple of photos of our two darlings. They seem closer than ever now and truly best buddies. We had some very nice walks with them this past week.

It is now 4:30 and we're outside, enjoying the weather. In a few minutes, I will practice my "figure eights" with Cooper! Have a great week everyone!