Puppies

While trying to clean up my photo file I came across some puppy pics that have never been published. I think a hot summer afternoon is just the time to look at puppies. They were about four weeks old in these shots and just adjusting to their new big pen in the kitchen.

First is Tessie with Lola on the edge.

 

Next are Bailey and Noah with Lola in front .

These two are Norma Jean and Sky. I think That's Lola yawning in the corner.

Here are Tess, Gracie and Norma Jean. You can see mama Samba's leg just outside the pen. She stayed close by.

 

Finally Sky, Lola and Gracie. Noah is in the background.

See why we couldn't part with them?

We're In A Hurry

Hi Everybody,

We'd like to chat with all of you but today's a big day around here. Today is our Dad's birthday. Mom says we have to all be on good behavior today, so we're trying.

Mom is taking Dad out to dinner tonight so that means we'll watch for those nice little white boxes when they get home.

Mom says she'll have a new post tomorrow, so till then....

Your pal, Fudge

MIce, Rats and Alien Feet

What do mice, rats and alien feet all have in common? They all exist here at our house.

See this? At first glance one would think mouse.

Here's another one.

These aren't actually rodents. These are clumps of Sebastian's coat. He's leaving these 'mice' behind everywhere he goes. The more we comb him and pull out the clumps, the more he seems to produce. You people with heavy coated dogs such as Huskies and Saints know exactly what I'm talking about. Smooth dogs like Syd and Mac don't blow their coats, they just shed all year round. The Porties shed hair like humans, only instead of leaving it in the brush or the shower, they leave it on the floor in little drifts.

Now, on to rats.
Last month I told you about the new white bear that I gave Bailey to replace her worn out pink bear. Well, I'll admit I made a big mistake. Bailey loved the bear and immediately started carrying it everywhere with her.

One morning as she was trying to sneak it past me at the door, I grabbed the bear by the butt and got a big surprise. While most of the bear was filled with fiber stuffing, his butt was filled with styrofoam pellets.  Have any of you every tried to clean up styrofoam pellets from a carpet or a long haired dog? It's impossible.

When Morgan was a puppy I left the dogs in the house  one day when I went shopping. When I returned, Monty met me at the door to report on Morgan's bad behavior. Monty always was a tattle tale. Morgan had found Rob's lap desk that was filled with pellets and had ripped the fabric open. Then I guess she shook it and rolled around with it. The living room was filled with tiny styro pellets. That was the day I learned that those things are impossible to vacuum or broom sweep. They just float around and cling to everything. Morgan was covered in them and I carried her outside and shook her, then hand picked them out of her coat. We were picking up pellets for weeks. Just when we thought they were all gone, we'd move something and there they were again.

After that experience, I've been very careful about what the dogs get to play with. I was really surprised that the new bear had gotten by my inspection. Unfortunately, I had to dispose of him. Bailey looked all over for her friend, so I went to the dollar store that afternoon and found a cute little dog toy. It was a bright color and squishy. It had a couple squeakers and also made a crinkling sound. I put it in Bailey's crate at bedtime as a surprise. She sniffed it, but has never picked it up. It's still in the corner of her crate. She doesn't like it.

I went to my library closet where I keep a big bag of toys in reserve  and sorted thru. Bailey likes toys of a certain size and weight. She likes them to be fuzzy and have dangling legs. I found a gray Christmas rat that fit the bill. He was wearing a Santa hat and carried a candy cane. I snipped both of those off to save Bailey the trouble of removing them.

I put Ratty in her crate at bedtime. The next morning she came out carrying him and he's now her constant companion. It was love at first sight. I had planned to snap a picture of them last week and I wish I had because a couple days ago Ratty stuck his nose where it didn't belong and Bailey punished him by removing his nose.

She also brought me this rat tail the other day.

I'll keep it with the eyeball that Tsar brought me one morning as I was having breakfast. He wanted to trade it for a piece of my bagel. He had removed it very carefully from one of Monty's toys. Monty didn't seem to miss it.

Now about those alien feet.

These are Sebastian's feet. I love the long hair that grows up between his toes. I know I should trim his feet to make them look more like normal dog feet, but they amuse me and so I just stroke them and tell him how pretty he is.

 I may not have the neatest house, but it's never boring.

Check Point

Guess what! There are 157 days left till Christmas.

Oh boy, I can hear the groans from here. I didn't mean to ruin your day, but you crafters know exactly what I'm talking about.

Most crafts people start think about Christmas, or whatever holiday they choose to celebrate, as soon as the last one is put away.

Christmas in July is a familiar term to them because it's a time to make lists or check off existing lists. It's a time to check on supplies and refill those running low.

July is the time to get started if you haven't already because those last few months go by fast.

I'm plugging away on my projects. There are several finished and waiting in the closet for wrapping and shipping time. There are some still on the needles.

There are some in line for finishing touches.

A big box of supplies arrived this week for several others.

So don't panic, there's still plenty of time, but stay aware that there are only 157 days left.

Just Like Home

We took the week off because we've been under the influence of a 'polar thingy'. Ok, I know that's not the official name of it, but it was several day and nights of unseasonably cool weather. It felt wonderful!!! Instead of day in the high 90s or 100s and nights in the high 80s, we had days in the 70s and night in the 50s. It was just like the summers I remember in Central New York where we could actually go outside during the day and enjoy it. Sadly, it's coming to an end and miserable high temps are expected starting this weekend, but it was sure great while it lasted.

We'll show you how we spent our week. First there were ball games with the new ball and our soccer ball. Mom couldn't find it during the big soccer tourney because I had hidden it, but it showed up this week.

 It was the perfect time to try out the new ball that Chewy sent us. Now how did Mr Andrew know that we love Glow Balls?

 Dad decided to throw the frisbee for us and Mackey really got into  action.  Look at her run!

She even brought it back to be thrown again, which is a new development. She usually just plays 'keep away' with it.

Mom says Mac is too fat and needs to lose a few pounds, so this was really good exercise  for her.

We took a look at the few remaining flowers in the yard. The butterfly bush has a lot of visitors. 

Mom keeps telling Norma Jean not to go crashing thru the bush and Dad tells her not to chew on his dwarf tree. Gee, a girl can't have any fun.

 These are pretty flowers, Mom, if Norma Jean doesn't sit on them.

We all ran around the yard just because it felt good.

Sometimes we just relaxed in the grass and enjoyed the sunshine.

Then we had the most fun of all. Mom turned on the hose. 

She filled the pool and we couldn't wait to jump in. We can't all fit in the pool at the same time so we have to take turns.

Next..

Where's Sebastian during this? He's staying as far away from the water as he can get. He's hugging the door.

What a great week it was!

 Your pal, Fudge