Okay, so it should come as no surprise to any of you that we are still very busy at the moment. Emails are stacking up in my inbox, stock is selling down in our retail outlets and summer presses on at an alarming rate...We are having a great time at the Yukon Quest this year working their summer show and putting in about half a day depending on if our visitors keep us there longer. Its hard to turn away such nice people if they want to spend a few more moments with the dogs. The donations aren't the only reward for us to be there, shelter dogs are getting socialized, shelter puppies are getting adopted, more people are learning about our sport and my own kennel dogs are warming up to strangers. Hard not to when every outstretched hand has a biscuit! :)
With the increase of visitors and numerous handouts of treats I have been very cautious to rotate the dogs each day to make sure no one has too many days in a row and fattened up on cookies.
The shelter pups we have now are going in every day so they can get the maximum socialization and so their mom can come out of her shell. She is a shy one but since shes been coming out for the show shes been the first one to say hello and get her treat from everyone who wants to see her!
It has been very nice to sit by the Chena river, brush out my babies, enjoy the sun, talk to people and have an excuse to wind down a little bit. Its bound to get even crazier as the summer rolls on though, the buses arent completely full just yet. With the increased traffic we are bound to have even more donations that will help us get to our goal of purchasing a yurt and more supplies for the dogs and the upgrades we have in store.
But being there, in the sun, feeling the cool breeze and stray hornets being the only thing to worry about makes me wonder just how did I get to be so lucky. Truly I have one of the best jobs in the world!!Its been really nice to focus on the Sled Dog Sanctuary side of our projects. There are many facets we are working on, all are related to each other and all benefit from their combined existence.
The winter was devoted primarily to running the team, doing tours and spreading the word about these projects. Now that summer has rolled around its nice to see that the Sanctuary has its own time of year and increased focus as we work the property in Talkeetna, generate donations and spread information about our cause and the need for homes for these abandoned sled dogs.
We just came back from a super quick trip to the property. Much to our delight we noticed that the state had brush cut the powerline in front of our parcel and did the work that James and I were planning to do! Now we are more than a few steps ahead of the game and it didn't cost us a thing!!
With the property cleared out in the front we have plenty of room to park the camper and get some work done!
With the camper in use it will save us a TON of money on lodging and food and with James' friend Mike up here we can also get a LOT done. James and Mike are already talking about plans and they spent most of the drive back home talking details while I slept in the backseat.
Did I ever mention how wonderful it is to have someone else taking care of the property details? Its a load off of my to do list... with them busy on the property stuff I can continue to work on the set up and the layout of the Sanctuary. All I need to know is how many acres will we have access to. The number currently is 7 to 10, plenty of space for ALL our needs! :)What has also been great is the help that James Langston has been. What a great volunteer and helper!! Hes been making my life so much easier and its wonderful to have more bodies on hand to get things done. There is so much that needs doing on the computer that I have to focus on and still more outside in the dog yard and more set up at the Quest office for our show. Im learning how to deligate, though its taking some practise! Everyone who has helped has been so patient and ready and willing to help when I ask.
What we are doing has been so great... not only in principle but in the mind and body. It just feels good!!
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