Snowed In

Snow-covered pines and bamboo in our front yard

Friday afternoon, December 18, the blue-grey mountain across the road abruptly disappeared into white. We were ready to depart for an early Christmas celebration at Leigh's sister's house in Connecticut on Saturday morning. . .or so we thought. The snow came down hard and fast all night Friday and part of the day Saturday.

Our house under 14 inches of snow

 

14 inches of snow and 3 days later we are still digging out with a barn shovel and the snow shovel I bought at the drugstore in the "impulse buy" section Friday morning.

 Una, alert during a previous snow
(which kept us from the Winston-Salem dog show)

Anlyn lurks in a sheltered spot

Noel!

Dashing Through the Snow!

Kalakirya Howff Noel Caerlin, LCM IV, VLCM

This is Vickie's very favorite picture of Leigh's old girl Noel, who will be 12 on Christmas Eve 2009. This picture was taken at a 2002 CHAMP field trial at Montpelier in Virginia, the year she was Number 1 ASFA Borzoi. There was 8 inches of crusted snow on the ground. Cancel the trial because of a little SNOW?  HELL, no! We kicked out a path for the string and ran those puppies! And they had a blast--even the veteran borzoi ran well that day. Vanessa Johnson and Diana Darling were the other borzoi slippers that weekend. No pun intended--though Vickie did a spectacular face-plant in the snow while walking dogs that morning at the motel.

Noel is doing pretty well for her age. She has been retired from lure coursing for several years but she still loves traveling--especialy checking in to the motel. 

She had surgery to remove 4 small mammary tumors last Wednesday and seems to have bounced back nicely. We feel blessed to have her with us.

We sing The First Noel for her every year around this time, but sometimes we customize the words a little, just for her:

The first Noel

The Angels did say,

Was to certain poor Shepherds

In fields where they lay

In fields where they lay,

Chained to their doghouses

Because they were not sighthounds

And could not go lure-coursing.

Noel, Noel, Noel, No-o-eeeelllll!

Go chase the bunnies behind the motel!

Weekend of the Lepus

The gallery: Slow hiking with fast dogs

ALL day long. . .

Pastures are way different in Virginia

And this dog would know! He was one my eye was constantly drawn to.

A weary hiker, resting with her faithful hounds.

Geeze, was it REALLY 11+ miles???

Meanwhile, back at the vans. . .

The black beauty in the foreground was one of the fastest at this event, and proved an excellent digger as well.

Kubei, my "Rabbit Dawg" with a friend.

My backpack is in the foreground--ANY excuse to get that thing off my back! 

Could there be a more beautiful sight? Yes: once they start running!

Working the sagebrush

No photos could do a magical day of running beautiful hounds with pleasant companions in a stark landscape justice, least of all these very amateur ones.

But I have always agreed with GK Chesterton:

 "If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing badly!"

All photos in this article by Vickie Littleton

Some of Street's Children

Dual Champion Avalon Ubiquitous Spirit, GRC, LCM

The first of the Avalon U litter to finish

Howff Carbonel Bagheera

He's a brick . . . house! Bagheera lives with Bonnie Dalzell in Maryland.

Renee McCartin photo

Ch Avalon Una Howff Carbonel, Fld Ch
(finished with wins under breeder judge Bill Cuningham)

Ch Howff Carbonel Bakai
(ASFA pointed with several first placements) That's me showing a dog in BLUE JEANS! You can dress some of 'em up, but you can't take 'em out. . .then there are those people you can't even dress up!

Howff Carbonel Chetai 

Welcome to Our Borzoi Blog!

"Street" Mufasa's Second Street Blues JC, Vickie Littleton, Leigh Littleton, and "Noel" Kalakirya Howff Noel Caerlin LCM IV, VLCM. Photo by Leigh's brother-in-law, David. 

We'll start with remembrance of things past: Here we are walking up the drive of Leigh's sister's house one Christmas in Stamford, Connecticut. The hills around Stamford are beautiful: grey rock, blackwater ponds, and rhododendrons everywhere.

Noel loves Christmas--of course, since she was born on Christmas Eve. We sing "The First Noel" for her every year. This Christmas she will be twelve years old. Hard to believe.  We plan to take her with us to the family Christmas celebration at Stamford again this year.  

Sadly, we lost our big blue-brindle dog Street, sire of our Howff Carbonel "B" and "C" Litters, and the Avalon "U" Litter a couple of years ago at the age of ten. There will be lots of pictures of his children and grandchildren's adventures on these pages eventually.

Vickie Littleton with her first Borzoi "Razz," Ch Lindisfarne Kiev Kislovodsk, and in front of him, his daughter "Makeda," Carbonel Silkenswift Makeda.

Anne Midgarden photo

Leigh Littleton with his first borzoi, "Aly", Hallmark Hill's Alya Yurevna, CD