Our Dads

Today is Father's Day, so we want to wish our fathers, both the canine one and the human one a wonderful day. We have a couple of terrific fathers.


Fudge is our doggy dad.


He's a very handsome fellow.


He likes to do a lot of the same things we like. He likes to sleep on the big bed.


He likes to cruise on the boat.


He likes to swim in the lake.


He likes to eat watermelon on hot summer days.


He likes to play tug.


He likes to find a good stick to chew on.


He likes to eat treats.


He even likes to do that obedience stuff with Mom.


Happy Father's Day Fudge. You're a pretty good dad, even if you do steal our toys and push us around sometimes.


We also have a human dad. He says we're all a bunch of pains in the butt, but we know he really loves us.


We love to help him with whatever he does, like lying in the hammock


We love when he brushes us.


We like to join him when he sits on the swing.


Happy Father's Day Dad.

Planning Ahead

I'm seeing small but significant improvements in my vision almost daily. I'm still not working on any craft projects yet, but I can hardly wait for the next two weeks to go by so that I can dig in. It's been months since I did a cross stitch or picked up my knitting needles and I'm thinking ahead to which projects to do first.


This afghan is going to be one of the first. It's a Christmas gift for my friend who is a breast cancer survivor. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to make it for her. I think from the size, I'll wait till cooler weather to get it started.


I've had this tunic for myself on my mind for a very long time and I think the time has come. I'm trying to decide what colors I want to use on it. I keep changing my mind.

I love knitting toys and I just found these bunnies online. I have a thing about pirates lately. I think it's leftover from Bandana Day. These two little fellows are on my short list of projects.



There are several cross stitch pieces I want to tackle soon, too. One is a special surprise for one of my blogging buddies, so I can't show a picture of it. But here are a couple that I'm looking forward to.


I love things Russian and my very favorite place in Moscow was St. Basil's Cathedral. I spent almost a whole day there. It was fabulous and I've been wanting to do it in cross stitch for a very long time. Now is the time.

The other is obvious, it's Morgan. Doesn't that face just ask to be captured, framed and hung in a special place?


Oh yes, there's another big project waiting for me. I can read Sky's mind. He's thinking, " It's getting hot outside, isn't it time for us to get summer haircuts?" He's right, all my pups are looking shaggy and warm. As soon as possible I have to shave them down and make them feel more streamlined.

There are so many things I'm looking forward to doing and I'm adding more every day.

Unity In Diversity

Unless you live in a cave ( and it's OK if you do) you've probably heard that the World Cup Football (soccer to us in the USA) tournament is going on. It's being hosted by South Africa and Maxmom in South Africa is hosting a wonderful event Unity in Diversity.



I'm afraid that in our household the sports we follow most closely are chasing glow balls, competitive stick chewing, tug of war and of course water retrieving and who can splash the most water on the floor.

We wanted to take part in this worthwhile event but not having a favorite in the competition we needed to choose a country to root for. We are, after all, The Portuguese Water Blog and we have eight Portuguese Water Dogs in the household, so we chose PORTUGAL.



Portugal is located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It's bordered by the Atlantic Ocean on the west and south and by Spain on the north and east. The islands of Madeira and The Azores are part of Portugal.



Portuguese Water Dogs were used on the fishing boats until they were replaced by technology. Portugal is still one of the countries with the highest fish consumption per capita.



I've chosen to offer a Portuguese recipe for you today.

These delicious Portuguese-American muffins are served at the Cafe Sintra, a Portuguese restaurant in Oregon. The owner of the cafe named them Bom Dia. "good morning" in Portuguese, because his customers love to order them with their morning coffee. This recipe was published in the Los Angeles Times, reader request column, on October 1, 2003.



Bom Dia Muffins

2 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups grated carrots (about 3 medium)
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 cup coconut, shredded
1 cup granny smith apple, grated skin on (about 2 small)
3 eggs
1 cup oil
2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix together the flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.
Add the carrots, walnuts, coconut and apple. Mix together.

In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, oil and vanilla.
Add the egg mixture to the large bowl and stir until just combined.

Bake in muffin tins greased or lined with paper liners, in a 350 degree F oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.



Enjoy !


GO PORTUGAL !!!!

Samba's Eyes

Samba spent last Friday with Dr B. The facial paralysis has affected her vision a little and we wanted to know how much of a problem it is and if there has been any permanent damage. We dropped her off early in the morning to spend the day at the clinic.


As you can see from the recent pictures of her, my little girl who used to love the camera, no longer wants to look directly at it. Her eyes look quite strange. They are wide open and she has lost her blink reflex.


The left eye seems to be improving and her blink is starting to come back on that side, but the right eye is getting worse. It's open very wide, giving her a surprised look most of the time. I think she's embarrassed about it. OK, I know some of you will say dogs don't feel embarrassment, but I've known and lived with enough dogs to know that they can feel and display embarrassment. Try telling someone about their bad behavior in front of them and watch them either try to hide or to get your attention and change the subject.


First Samba had a blood test to check her thyroid level. We recently adjusted it and want to make sure it's where it should be. Then Dr B dilated her eyes and checked for any retinal damage. When we picked her up in the afternoon, we had a little meeting and learned that there doesn't appear to be any permanent damage to the retinas and with good care and some luck, Samba's paralysis may reverse itself in the coming months. The statistics are with us. About 60% of these cases do get better. The problem is that most of them don't also have MMM to deal with.

We're going to choose to be optimistic and look for signs of improvement. She and I will celebrate our better vision together. I'm convinced of it.

Can You See What I See?

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone, I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright, bright Sun-Shiny day.

I think I can make it now, the pain is gone
All of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is the rainbow I've been prayin for
It's gonna be a bright, bright Sun-Shiny day.

Look all around, there's nothin but blue skies
Look straight ahead, nothin but blue skies.

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone, I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright, bright Sun-Shiny day

Lyrics by Johnny Nash


I'm back with my new bionic eyes. I had surgery on June 1 and June 8. Both operations were easy and totally painless. The surgical staff was wonderful, offering lots of encouragement and always cheerful.

For several years I've been aware that I was losing my vision. That's a really scary thing for anyone, but to me it meant that I was having difficulty reading, I could no longer comfortably cross stitch or knit and I couldn't trim the beards on my dogs. I asked my eye doctor several times if I could get them fixed and he kept telling me I wasn't ready. He said I'd know when I was ready.

Earlier this year I realized as I was sitting across the table from Rob, that he was blurry. I could see the buttons on his shirt, but not the little holes in the buttons. It had become almost impossible to differentiate colors, navy from black and shading for my stitching. I had to turn on lights in rooms even during the daytime. To read or work at the computer, I needed a light on either side.

I saw my eye doctor at the end of April and I told him I was ready. He did a few tests and agreed. Two weeks later I met with my surgeon for a whole day of tests and consultations about what I like to do and how important certain things were to me. My surgery dates were set.


Now I am in a three week recovery period. It takes that time for my eyes to heal and my brain to adjust to the changes in my vision. I have very few restrictions, don't rub my eyes. Duh!!

Don't get water in my eyes, just like any other incision.
Use my assortment of eye drops every few hours. They include anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, steroids and artificial tears. I've gotten pretty good at doing the eye drop thing. At first I sent them down my face, but now I usually get them in the eye.


I also have these fashionable sunglasses to wear when I'm in bright sun. The Missouri weather has cooperated with me and there has been very little bright sun, mostly dark overcast days.

At the end of the recovery period I'll be getting some reading glasses for my close up work, but for now the novelty of not wearing glasses is pretty neat. The world looks lighter and brighter.

What A Day!!

Wow, our Bandana Day celebration was a smash!! You guys all sent in great pictures and we had a big crowd to help us celebrate.


We had 126 dogs, 12 cats, a goat and a goose all join us wearing red.


I know it wasn't always easy getting the animals to pose. The cats, especially didn't care much for the bandanas, but you all looked great.


We hope you go introduce yourselves to some of the other blogs. We've met some wonderful new friends thru our Bandana Days.


Here are some shots of us getting ready for our bandana pictures. Everyone was very excited about getting dressed up.


We appreciate the response from all of you and especially those of you who mentioned Bandana Day on your blogs. Some of your friends joined in from reading about it on your sites.


Our first two Bandana Days have been so successful that we plan to do it again next year.


We've been thinking about a color for next year. Since the whole world seems to be thinking green these day, we'll go green, too.


Think of all the possibilities! There are so many shades of green and there are flowers and leaves and green grass.


You can even send a picture of you doing your part to go green and show us how you recycle or garden or any sort of way you help the environment.


Well, there's the challenge. You have a full year to think about it and use you imagination.


You're all so creative, I'm sure we'll get some great pictures of the dog world going GREEN.


Thanks to everybody who joined us this year. You made it a special day for us.