Introducing....

Kira

Neala

These 2 exquisitely beautiful ladies own my brother Kevin and his wife ( and my favorite sister-in -law ) Kathy

I absolutely love the concept of *Christmas* photos of pets without the fat man in the red suit. He always seems to somehow be the focus, even when he shouldn't be. Pushy fat man!

And the entire pack......

See! No need for a fat man in a red suit! He'd just be in the way, and after all this is a family portrait!

Photography credits:Pawsitive Image Photography - Kat Dueck - Ebonie Klassen

Puppy goes bye bye

I don't have a puppy anymore.

He's a big boy now, a Dog.

It seems that at some point between last weekend and this morning, Henry grew up.

He can center himself on his bed, and sadly, mine as well. He lifted his lip and let out a low growl when Ticket went near his bone. ( while I silently cheered on his confidence I nipped that in the bud. I don't allow arguments over bones here! ) He's acquired the smarts and patience to keep at the milkbone biscuit ball to get all the cookies. He no longer needs his harness on to feel comfortable going down the stairs. And he has learned to wait quietly for his dinner and treats. K, that last line is a big fat lie. I just wish he would. :)

Almost as tall as Watcher!

The day started out with that bloody rain falling again. Then something wonderful happened....snowflakes fell! HUGE ones.

And I imagined a day of this

But within 10 minutes that freakin' rain started hammering down again.

I hope it's snowing where you are! Well, I mean, if you want snow that is.

Centered at Last

You know how some dogs will find the perfect place to lay down and snooze, but beforehand they feel the need to circle around it 3 ( or more ) times? Well, Henry does the same thing but being blind, he never quite mastered the art of laying smack dab in the center of his bed.

He would end up like this


or this


but today, he mastered it.

It's always a good thing when you are centered.

Heater Eats Slipper

This portable heater is lucky to be alive.


Ticket is quite sure it is the devil incarnate. She's never appreciated it. Watcher and Henry love it. They lay within a foot of it and luxuriate in the heat it throws their way. Ticket warily walks past it, giving it the stink eye. And this morning she tried to kill it.

I woke up at a wicked 5a.m. to the sounds of her barking and whimpering and scratching at something. Before I even opened my eyes I smelled it. That putrid smell of rubber burning. My eyes snapped open and I saw a cloud of bluish smoke spread throughout and about 6 inches or so from the ceiling.

Scrambled out of bed, whipped out to where Ticket was and saw her frantically pawing and digging about 2 inches from the heater. The bottom of one of my rubber soled slippers was stuck to the bottom heater grill.

Ran and opened the door, ran back and yanked the slipper off the grill. Went outside with the dogs and watched the smoke quickly rush out.

I looked at Ticket sitting beside me and I swear she telepathically said to me "I told you that thing was the devil".

After the smoke had cleared and we were back inside, I made a tea and thought about it all. I couldn't understand how the one slipper had ended up all the way from beside my bed to the heater on the opposite side of our home! I looked at the slipper, and from the tell tale puncture marks, saw that Henry had decided it made a great chew toy. I guess he snuck away with it, laid in front of the heater, and it at some point it became wedged to the grill.

The devil heater is now safely tucked in a corner, and shall be guarded with a baby gate as soon as I warm up.

*shakes fist at Henry*

But mostly *shaking fist* at the 2 month old fucked up smoke alarm. It was working, because I check it every Sunday morning. ( something I trained myself to do years ago, after a friends house fire scared the crap out of me) But I guess at some point between last Sunday and this morning it died. I'm thinking I better have at a minimum 3 smoke alarms.

Go check your smoke alarms people!

Saving the day is tiring, right Ticket!

Ohhhh Baby!

6 months from now I'm going to be sniffing on and kissing on my first grandbaby!

Kelly and Sumeet are the two most calm and level headed people I know. They ooze with compassion, empathy, consideration and genuine kindness. They will make absolutely wonderful parents, I have not a doubt.

I'm over the moon with giddiness! My jaw is sore from all the smiling and spontaneous outbursts of laughter since they gifted me with this welcome announcement!

Counting down.....

When snow falls, nature listens.

Yesterday I mentioned about Henry and his first time with snow. It's actually his second time with snow, but it's the first time he had to maneuver slippery snowy steps. That's what freaked him out.

The quote in my title to this post was eloquently written by Antoinette van Kleeff.

Yikes....I woke up this morning to no water. It was cold out yesterday, and snowed, so I should have plugged in the extension to the heater tape cord. But stupidly assumed it wasn't THAT cold. Trudged outside, blow dryer in hand, and heated up the house tap and the trailer tap for about 20 minutes each end. Came inside and heard the glorious sound of water trickling. Happy dance!
Hey, I was starting to worry about busted exploding pipes and the like! I better get outside after my lunch and insulate both ends of my water supply a lot better than it was.

I rarely see cats behind my home, actually I have only seen one in the past few months. I guess with the menagerie of dogs they tend to stay clear. But yesterday and this morning I have seen 3. And all 3 are stalking the birds. Poor little birds are so intent on scratching the ground for bugs and what not, they become easier prey for the felines. I don't like to disrupt nature, but I think I will have to unless I want to watch bird murders. :) I'll start feeding the birds in the dog run where it's enclosed and the marauding felines can't get in.

This morning I was reading the entries from friends on Facebook. One friend wrote that she couldn't get into her car because the lock was frozen. A friend of hers said, and I'm quoting, "If you get someone to run their car beside yours and hook up an old vacuum hose from their exhaust you can use it like a blow dryer to thaw your door." Now, is that redneck or what??? I guess that friend doesn't own a blow dryer and an extension cord.