A Message To Our Friends

                                                         Our bloggy friends are the best.

                                                   
                                                        We 'd like to be your Valentines.
                     
                                                                       Morgan
                                                                         Tsar
                                                                        Samba
                                                                        Fudge
                                                                         Tess
                                                                         Sky
                                                                         Lola
                                                                        Bailey
                                                                         Noah
                                                                      Norma Jean                                            
     
                                             

Valentine's Eve

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, so today I've been busy. We woke up to snow on the ground and it's still coming down, so we have some very happy dogs. They were so busy chasing each other thru the snow this morning, they almost missed breakfast. Tomorrow is Fudge's birthday, so we're having a party and I think I'm ready for that.

Today I've been making goodies for my valentine, aware of the big box from Amazon beside his desk. What could that be? First I made a big pot of chili. What's better on a cold winter day?

Next I decide to try something I'd seen on another blog. I started with cupcake mix. Did you know they sell cupcake mix? I thought you just used regular cake mix. I wonder what the difference is.

Following the instructions on the package I mixed the batter, then filled each paper cup 1/3 full.

Next I put a section of a Caramello bar in each cup. Then more batter till the cups are 2/3 full.

Bake.

 Cool and frost.

These are really good with gooey caramel inside each cupcake. Yum!!

MangoMinster

Hi Everybody, this is Fudge.

As everybody in the whole world knows, the fourth annual Mango Minster starts this weekend.  I, Fudge, am a past winner at Mango Minster. I was the voters choice winner in the bad sport category last year, so I know what an honor it is. I thought I should run again this year, but Mom said "No Fudge, it's time to give your kids a turn". I don't completely agree with her, but she's the one who can type. 


My puny little son Noah is entered in the 'Too Darn Cute' category. Yuk!!  Anyway, voting for his group starts on February 12 (that's tomorrow) at 1:00 PM EST and continues till 5:00 PM the next day. That gives your peeps lots of time to figure out how to vote. The instructions are on the MangoMinster site

Yeah, he's grown up now, but Mom says he's still cute.

On February 13 at 1:00 PM EST, my daughter Bailey is competing in the 'Adventure Animal' category. Boy, she sure is an adventure animal. That girl is nuts! She must take after her mother's side of the family. She climbs and digs and races and hunts. Slow down, girl!

She was born to get in trouble.

Be sure to keep checking back and vote in all the categories and also for Best In Show. There are some neat prizes for the winners.

Mom made me do this.

Catch Up Day

 I keep notes stuck here and there of things I mean to post about and every now and then I need a catch up day to let you all know about them. This is one of those posts full of things that don't go together, but are interesting.

First on the list is a new blog called Our Rainbow Friends. This, as you may have guessed, is a place to honor our bloggy friends who cross the bridge each month. It'll be a permanent archive where you can read about them. Be sure to tell your friends and they also have a pretty badge that you can download to your sidebar to remind you. Our friends Jed and Abby are in charge of the site and we think they'll do a great job.

Next up is a giveaway. Who doesn't like a giveaway? This is for a sweet little plush donkey.

 Our little friend Freya is learning all about donkeys, so to celebrate she's giving this fellow away. Hurry over to her Mom's site here and leave a comment. The last day to comment is February 14, so hurry.

Mango Minster starts on Sunday.

We have contestants in two categories. Noah is in the Cutest category and voting starts on Sunday afternoon. Noah would appreciate your vote.

Bailey is in the Adventure Dog category and voting for that starts on Monday afternoon. She would also be most pleased if your would support her with a vote.

Finally, on a very sad note, we just received an email from our dog training club that a lovely woman has died. She was our first instructor when Samba and Tsar took classes and she was so supportive that they both did well. Over the years she has remained a dear friend and always encouraged us with each of our students. We will miss her a lot. Here she is with her two dogs Milo and Mona.

I'm sure I've forgotten something, but it'll have to wait for next catch up day.

I'm Not A Morning Person

I am NOT a morning person. It bears repeating!!! Rob wakes up disgustingly cheerful in the morning and is ready to do active sorts of things. I am not a morning person. I never have been.

Early in our relationship he learned not to try to engage me in conversation before my second cup of coffee. When I have that second steaming mug firmly in hand, my mind starts warming up.

Once Samba's kidney infection was cured I assumed she and I would both sleep thru the night and wake refreshed in the morning. Wrong!! Samba has turned into a star gazer. Now she wakes me once or twice a night to go stand on the porch in my robe and bare feet to observe the beauty of the night sky. I'll admit we've made some neat observations like a lunar eclipse, some meteor showers and the discovery of a bright blue star, but perhaps we could make these trips once or twice a month and not every night.

This morning Samba decided at 2:16 that we should go look at the sky. I look at the sky, she seems to prefer to sniff the grass. About four minutes later I crawled back into bed.

It seemed like I'd just shut my eyes when I heard Tess calling me. A glance at the clock told me it was 6:30. I staggered downstairs, let the girls out for a quick pee, gave them each a cookie and again went back to bed. Then at 8 they were all at the side of the bed staring at me. I could feel their stare, so I got up, threw on some clothes and went to feed them.

After they ate, I let them outside to run while I checked on Morgan and Tsar who eat upstairs. Everything was under control there, so I went back down to let the others in. All came in except Lola and Tess. I called, but they didn't come. I walked out into the yard and Lola was standing there watching Tess roll. Tess looked up, saw me and they both came running. As they walked past me into the garage I smelled something horrible. I checked their back ends, ( those of you with long haired dogs will know what I'm talking about) but didn't find anything. I put all the others in and kept Lola and Tess in the garage. Then I called Rob for help. We separated the two to see who was the offender. It was Tess. Rob walked around the yard to see if he could find what she'd rolled in. Remember, we get night visitors, but he didn't find anything.

So, before I'd had even one sip of coffee, we were busy washing Tess. We soaped her a couple times and trimmed away straggly hair from her legs and tail area. Then I rubbed her with a towel and we put her in her crate to dry. Then we did a load of dog blankets and towels in the washer.

I finally got my coffee, but my mood was not good as the telemarketer that called here at 9:15 this morning will confirm. If my husband could learn not to rile me before coffee, why can't these dogs learn?

Late Bloomer

Portuguese Water Dogs are well know for their counter surfing. It seems to be a trait passed down from parents to their offspring over the centuries. Most breeders warn new puppy owners to watch for the habit showing up early and do your best to control it.

In our household Samba and Fudge both had the gene for counter surfing. Fudge stopped after an incident involving a ceramic vase that was drying on the counter. When he pulled the towel it was lying on and it smashed into a hundred pieces, he gave up the habit. Good boy!

Samba, on the other hand is a very accomplished surfer. She learned early that if something tasty was too far back on the counter to reach, she could push a chair over and make it easier to grab a taste. She taught her pups that food left on the counter was 'in play'. The trick to successful counter surfing is to leave the box or plate untouched, just grab the food.

Then there are the pups. Norma Jean checks the counters several times a day just in case something was forgotten. I don't think she's had any major scores.

Bailey checks the counters every few minutes. She has a regular routine of circling the kitchen and eyeing the counters. I seldom let Bailey out of my sight and have managed to limit her surfing successes.

At Thanksgiving Noah grabbed a whole piece of lasagna off Rob's plate right in front of him. Rob and I were both standing less than three feet away from the plate when Noah did a 'fly-by' and disappeared with his prize. I wish I'd gotten a picture of Rob's face.

Samba has been our most successful surfer. She managed to score an entire roast turkey fresh from the oven. She reached up, grabbed the bird and was heading out of the room. I grabbed the bird back and with some minor repairs, served it for dinner.

Then there is Sky.

Sky has always been a good boy. Except for some barking issues, Sky has never been in trouble. He never tried to get on the furniture till a couple years ago, he never stole or chewed on shoes or remotes or other items. He seemed to have an innate sense of boundaries. He never counter surfed.....until last night..

Rob and I were watching the news about 10:30 last night when we heard a noise in the kitchen. I had started the dishwasher a little bit earlier and I thought it sounded like two dog dishes clicking against each other, but I went to check. Imagine my surprise when I found Sky standing up at the counter scarfing down frosted sugar cookies. Rob had moved the package earlier when he wiped down the counter and he forgot to push it back against the wall. Apparently Sky had noticed this.

It looks like Sky managed to eat between eleven and fifteen cookies plus the two in the photo with bites taken. I caught him in the act, but I would have figured it out because he had pink frosting all over his face.

I carried a roll of paper towels to bed last night expecting to have a sick dog during the night, but Sky slept peacefully with a smile on his face. Dreaming, no doubt, of frosted sugar cookies.

Super Bowl

We like to play football.

But last night we overheard Mom and Dad talking about  the Super Bowl. That got us all excited because we know all about the Super Bowl. It's one of our very favorite things in the whole world.

Here is comes, the Super Bowl.

We wonder what special treats are in it this time.

In the summer we get watermelon in the Super Bowl, but this time we know Mom bought some Pupcorn.

Tsar prefers his less than Super Bowl.

We hope your family enjoys a Super Bowl Sunday as much as we are. Mom and Dad don't care much for football so we're all watching a movie tonight.

We hope there's a dog in it.