The End of the Rivers' Newsletter

Hi gang, Mike here,

Icy (Christmas in the Rivers Books)

Mary walked Icy (Christmas in our books) across the Rainbow Bridge today. Icy was a good natured, loving and gentle dog. We were very blessed to be her human companions for over 10 years.

In light of Icy's passing, I have decided to shut down the Rivers' Newsletter. Our three remaining dogs, Sky, Tundra and Stormy are “Garage Dogs”, who have decided that napping in the garage is more appealing than running the trails. I really don't blame them. At my age, napping is much more appealing than running!

We continue to work on the new Rivers' book, titled “Rivers Book 4, Destiny”. We hope to have in published by September 2012. Once published and available for sale, we will post notice on Rivers' Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rivers-Books/138344872867257, as well as on our web site at www.riversbooks.com.

Rivers 4 will be the end of the series.

Rivers' Facebook page as well as the Book tour web site, http://www.booktour.com will always be updated to reflect the events that Mary and I will be vendors at. We hope to see you at those.

Thank you for all the years of your friendship.

See ya!

Mike

Rivers News March 10, 2011

Hi,

Sorry that I have not barked at you for a while, but I have been a bit under the weather, and Mike was in the hospital having his left knee replaced. After he came home, we had nothing but windy, very windy weather. While the sun was out, the winds did not make sunbathing enjoyable. Hopefully, with the Iditarod off, Spring will come, and the snow will melt, replaced by sweet tasting grass!

Mike has not received any names of military folks in the war zones that we can pass on to you for you to send cards and notes to them. Mike thinks all of his contacts are out of the loop now and the media's focus is not on the wars as it use to be. However, Mike's Church, St. Michael's has as “Project Soldier” going on right now. They are planning to send boxes of cards, notes, and goodies to our troops. If you want to send a card or note to a military person, just send it to

Solider Project

%Rivers Books

PO Box 876308

Wasilla, Alaska 899687-6308.

Mike will deliver them to the Church to be included in the packages going out. If you want to participate, please send your card(s) before March 23. The Church plans to send the boxes out by the end of March.

Well our good buddy Patty did it again. She presented us with a beautiful painting of Tundra. Really good and such detail!. You can actually see the “hook” in her ear as the result of a “cat fight” with one of her sisters many years ago.

As you can see, Patty is a very accomplished artist. She loves painting dogs. She did our paintings from our pictures of the dogs. Patty also sent us a picture of the painting of her daughter's Horse Dolly. Believe me, while Patty may love doing dog portraits, she is excellent at horses as well. Mike told me that he saw Patty's portfolio of other things she has painted, landscapes, flowers, etc and they are just great. Patty may be reached at pattyh@mtaonline.net.

Well, that is about it for now.

Take care,

Icy

Rivers News 2-09-2011

"Stormy" by P.Hally

Hi,
 
 Our good friend Patty has done it again. She completed paintings of Stormy and me. Wow, she is good.

The painting of Stormy is very detailed, especially since Stormy is mostly black in color. While I know she did not say anything to Sky (remember Sky got a big head after Patty did her painting), I bet she is very happy of the way that Patty captured her good looks.

"Icy" by P. Hally

I am very happy with my painting also. You may wonder why I look so said. That is my gimmick for getting more treats. If I look sad, I get more treats and people make a big fuss over me because people want to make make happy. Now Mike sees through this, but sometimes Mary doesn't. You see, I am the first dog she ever raised from puppy-hood so she considers me special. Nope, I am not going to argue with that or say no to any of the extra TLC, I get from her. Would you? 

Mike told me that my painting in the back room, on a chair waiting is to be framed., The other day, he walked quickly passed the room and stopped short. The painting is so lifelike that Mike  really thought I was in the room.

Well Valentine's Day is next Monday. So don't forget to get your Valentine something special.

We have a moose in the area so when Mike took me down the driveway to get the morning paper, I noticed it and hustled Mike back up to the house. I was not sure where it was since it was still dark. Usually the moose don't bother us, but if you can't see them then you don't know if you are between them and their offspring. Being between them could be dangerous. So, it is best to just leave the area the way you came in.

Don't forget that Fur Rondy starts in Anchorage on Feb 25th and the Iditarod take off from Anchorage on March 5th. With Mike in the hospital during that time for his knee replacement, I don't think he will be getting involved in any of the festivities. But I know Mary will be at the Iditarod taking pictures. So, if you see her laying in a snowbank pointing her camera at a dog team, stop and chat for a while. Don't forget that if you are in Anchorage during the Fur Rondy festivities, wear your Rondy pin or else the "Rondy Keystone Cops" will put you in "Jail"

Time to go.
See ya,
Icy

Rivers News 01-09-2011

Hi
We all hope you had a Merry Christmas and wish you a great New Year.

Well, our good fiend Patty H. displayed her artistic talents  when she painted this stunning picture of Sky from a photo that our buddy Kelly M. took several years ago. Mary liked it so much that she offered to buy it from Patty.  I hear that Patty may do a painting of me next. Of course, once Sky saw the painting, which Mike calls "Sky in Pastels", she got a big fat head over it and teased her twin sister Tunny and Stormy that she was better looking. The twins did not take too kindly to Sky's remark and well, Sky maybe cute, but she needs to back off saying things to her twin sisters who tend to stand up for each other. Know what I mean?

Anyway, No harm done. As you can see Patty is an exceptional artist. Rusty's restaurant in Palmer is displaying many of her works in their dining room. Please contact me privately if you wish to contact Patty regarding her works or if you wish the location of Rusty's restaurant.

Finally it is here, a training Video humans on selecting dogs form the animal shelter. This is a must see even if you are not considering adopting. I have embedded the video in this posting. Just click on the picture that is below my picture Enjoy.

Oops the girls are back at it. I wonder if they will ever grow up!

Gotta to run.
See ya,
Icy

Rivers News October 14, 2010

Hi,

While it has been brilliantly sunny here, the temperatures are in the mid 20s and there is plenty of frost on the ground. Yesterday I was napping in the yard and the girls were keeping an eye on Mike who was at the bottom of the driveway cleaning up the debris from a tree that was blown down in the last wind storm we had. This tree had blocked the street, but the borough crew cut it up and moved it to the side of the street. Mike was moving the salvageable wood to our yard and cutting up the branches for kindling.

All of a sudden Stormy started to bark. She was facing the sliding door which leads to the dinning room. I thought Stormy was barking at Mary or maybe that nasty Raven I told you all about who killed that little finch a while back.. When I looked up, I saw a beautiful Willow Ptarmigan on the roof. The bird was pretty and regal looking down on Stormy, Sky, and Tundra as they were barking at it. I tried to get the girls to simmer down and just enjoy the beautiful day and this gorgeous bird. To me it was a real treat, to the girls the bird was an intruder in their yard.

After chow, Mike came outside with us. He let Tundra run in the front, but Tundra found the bird hiding under one of the vehicles in the front yard. The bird flew to the roof top again and assumed her looking at us at below. I overheard Mary tell Mike that she thinks there is a nest of them in our lower lot.

I hope it comes back. It sure was pretty to watch it strut back and forth on the roof. Mary took the pictures of the bird that I have included in this newsletter.

  

Mike's recovery from hip surgery is coming alone very well. We are walking down the driveway to get the morning paper. We actually go a bit further down the street each day. Sometimes we take a second walk around the yard at night, and he lets me munch on the wild grass that is still green and sweet.

Well, I have to go. The way the temperature is falling,we may have a snowy Halloween.!!

See ya,

Icy

Rivers News August 25, 2010

Hi, Mike here, I gave Icy the night off since she was napping.

I just wanted to thank all of you who sent cards, prayers and e-mail to us while I was in the hospital last week. There were some complications that required a longer stay than envisioned. But all is well. Thank you.

My friend Jerry of Wiggy's will be at the Anchorage Wiggy's store (north of Dimond, south side of Old Seward just before the Pink Elephant Car wash) from 11 AM to probably closing on Saturday September 4th. If you are in the area and into outdoor adventures, you may want to chat with Jerry. Jerry personally tests all of the items his company manufactures such as sleeping bags, parkas, bibs and his famous Joe Redington boots. I may be there depending how much I can travel after the surgery. Why not take a look at Wiggy's web site at http://wiggys.com/index.cfm?aff=35739

The cover for Rivers' Book 2 was changed. Here is what the new cover looks like. Please do not mistake it for Book 4, which will not be released until 2011/12. We changed the cover due to the many comments we received that the covers for Book 1 and 2 were too similar. Our many thanks to Donna of Husky Production for the wonderful picture of Rivers that she allowed us to use.

Well the surgeon told me to take it easy so I better go.

See Ya

Mike Dillingham

Author/Owner

Rivers Books

www.riversbooks.com

Rivers News July 10, 2010

Hi,

 Hope you all had a nice 4th of July. Ours was nice and cool, but noisy with a lot of fireworks. We got to meet Claire, Mike and Mary's new granddaughter. We all gave her kisses but I think Sky was particularity fond of keeping her nose clean!

Oh, by the way, here is a picture of our new logo.  Let us know what you think. 

The great strawberry eating caper has be solved. It was Stormy. Mike caught her stashing one in her dog crate in the garage. That plus her "Strawberry Breath", was a dead give-a-way.

Mike will be signing books at Pandemonium Books and Cafe on July 24th from 11 to 4. If you are in the area, stop in, visit and enjoy a great coffee drink or super desert at the Cafe. 
Well I better keep this short so you can get back to you summer activities.

See ya
Icy