May 17th Weekend - Stretch, Sam & Cysco

This weekend, Stretch (a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, no surprise) along with buds Sam and Cysco are finally getting their humans, Angie and Gwen, to Paws & Reflect. I know the ladies are bummed because the weather predictions aren't what they want. Hopefully it will be like so many other weekends when the weather turned out much better than we thought it would!

Update: Wow, did I ever get some CUTE photos from Angie after their weekend (nice weather after all)! She captured all of the dogs and all of the beds, and you can see how comfortable the pups all were at the cabin. Here's all three of them -- first on the Critter Couch in the great room, then all of them on the futon in the front bedroom.

And here you see Stretch and Sam on the new "Dogirondack Chair" on the front porch. Cute, huh???

Photos from Last Fall - Better Late Than Never

This week, when Mike sent a check to secure his & Kara's third stay at Paws & Reflect, for their October wedding anniversary, he included hard copy photos taken last fall that he hadn't sent me. Most guests do send me their photos digitally, but I'm happy to get hard copies if that's all you have. I'll have them scanned for you, as I always want guest dogs' photos in my photo albums. I just can't get enough pictures of guest dogs!

This picture of Max shows him on the ottoman in the great room, and that's a dog toy box you see in the background.The dogs all love that!

The ottoman is interesting too -- lift up the top and flip it over, and it makes the ottoman a coffee table. Dog throws, blankets and an extra set of sheets and pillow cases is stored there. If you like this storage ottoman / coffee table combination, check out the website I got it from: www.bananagump.com

May 12th Week - Bruno & Cheska

Bruno & Cheska are back at Paws & Reflect. I think this is their fourth stay, with Karen. Hopefully they will get in some hiking and have a good time even though it's POURING, or as they say, raining cats and dogs! This is a photo taken of them at their first stay, in front of the old Paws & Reflect sign that let guests know they had arrived at the cabin. Aren't they beauts?

How Secluded is the Cabin?

I get asked this question not infrequently. Thomas wrote me today to ask me that, and as his email came in, I was leaving to go to the cabin to do a little owner TLC, as I call it. So I took a picture from my cell phone -- from the window in the dining area, of the next cabin up the road. It's the only house I can see well enough to capture a picture of, or at least the only one worth capturing a picture of. The cabin on the other side is a weekend cabin for a couple that never comes, and we can't see each other very well anyway. Accross the road is the GW National Forest, so no homes there. Looking back, there is a cabin down the mountain but it's not visible. It's just the next cabin up the road that can be seen a bit -- more in the winter when there are no leaves on the trees. This picture (lower left) shows what you can see of that cabin when the leaves are on the trees, like now. That's not too bad, is it?

Here's something else I did at the cabin -- I delivered the DogIrondack Chair that I bought recently. I found a picture of it in a catalog (lower right), but the one I got is red with a black cushion. I'm annoyed that where I got it, they only offered that color combination. I like this color scheme much better! But your dog won't care, and that's who it's for. I can't seem to bring in enough dog beds there at the cabin to satisfy my desire for them. The dog beds are so important for helping the dogs to feel at home.

On the Spot Communications

Paws & Reflect doesn't have any connectivity, much to the chagrine of some of us, but I expect the majority of weekend guests really don't care. (Sadly, it really is cost prohibitive... but maybe prices will come down enough some day.) So it's not often that I get to hear from guests while they are there at the cabin. But every now and again, a guest will use their phone to email me from the cabin. I'm so glad Annie's mom did that!

Annie's human brother is in a phase during which he loves to camp -- so much that he sleeps in a tent and a sleeping bag in his room at home! Their mom had told me that, and it happens that I had borrowed a folding doggie crate from a neighbor which actually is very much like a tent. So I took it to the cabin for him to use.

What fun, then, for me to get this email from mom Kelly the day after they arrived for their long weekend stay earlier this month:

Nancy - wow! We are here and having such a good time - you really thought of eveything. Annie and my son are having a blast - he spent all night running around saying how "cool" this place was and watched a cartoon from inside the tent! Annie plopped herself on the dog bed in front of the fire and has been learning to use a doggie door for the first time! We'll take pics - thank you again for everything, this is really perfect!

March 17th Week - Casey & Cookie

Cocker spaniels Casey & Cookie, from Centreville VA, joined numerous other pups over the last several years in serving as the deciding factor for their folks in picking an anniversary getaway venue. Phillip and Donna wanted to arrive on the weekend, but the cabin was already spoken for till Sunday. So they almost missed their chance for a Paws & Reflect getaway, but they were able to delay the arrival (and departure) of their trip by a day. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing photos of Casey and Cookie, but here are som other cocker spaniels that have enjoyed their own time at Paws & Reflect:

Nipper, on the front deck . . . Max, on his first vacation ever (at ~ 4 mos)

Rest in peace, Frosty. When Kooper & Kamden (right, at home, but you can see that) visit the cabin for the first time, they will no doubt recognize your scent as the same one they can pick up at home.

Owner TLC for the Cabin People often ask me if I get to the cabin much, and are surprised that I don't. I usually have too much going on here to just run down the road to relax, and even when I do have time (other than in the off season), it's usually rented on the weekends so I can't. But I just came back from 3 days there -- the longest consecutive time I've been able to spend there in quite a while. I took time to do lots of owner TLC, and am looking forward to my next trip to do some more within the next month. I wonder if I could ever go there without thinking of more I'd like to do and buy for and add to the cabin to make it better. I did go on an enormous shopping spree for the cabin while I was there, which included both the PetSmart and Petco in Harrisonburg. That was fun!

March 15th Weekend

Starting the weekend that includes March 15th, business at the cabin is taking off. The first in a series of bak to back guest reservations is Lisa & her husband, who are celebrating their first anniversary, and of course including their three dogs. Their brood of mixed breed dogs ranges from small to giant, incuding a Boston terrier, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, and a Bernese Mountain Dog. The more the merrier for the hiking they'll be doing!

I'm always interested in getting new dog breeds at Paws & Reflect that I haven't had as guests before, and this time I pick up two - the Boston and the Ridgeback. Never had either one, so far. Now, Tugboat was my first Bernese Mountain puppy, and after his first stay at Paws, his folks picked up a bed for him for Christmas of the same type that he enjoyed at the cabin. Let's see if a trend was started with Tugboat where Christmas gift ideas come to moms & dads during their stays at Paws & Reflect for all Bernese Mountain Dogs!