Sunday snippets

Time to answer a few questions again in our Sunday Snippits.

Thank you for all the comments of Mom's Raynauds - There isn't really any specific treatment for it but there is medications that helps open up the blood vessels which can help ease to pain. Mom wanted to share this information as many people don't realize they have it and having a name for it lets people seek help for it. People can have very mild cases affecting just one or two fingers or severe cases like Mom which affects all her fingers and toes.

We were asked if the ducks and geese at MY lake fly south for the winter - for some reason ours don't. The vast majority of the ones we see a MY lake have been there for the last three years and they stay there all year long. There is one other elderly gentlemen that we see feeding the ducks everyday - he always give them corn but we thought we would look for proper feed pellets for them.

A few of you asked if the Cadbury chocolate you can find in the USA is the same as Cadbury from Australia or Europe - the answer a BIG NO! Cadbury here in the USA is made by Hersheys and tastes terrible (as does all Hersheys Chocolate in Mom's opinion). Mom says Hersheys chocolate tastes to her like Vegemite would taste to most of you. We guess it is what you grow up and what you are use too :)

Mom also wanted to share that she made her very first made from scratch pumpkin pie for thanksgiving. Now Mom tried some pumpkin pie many years ago when she first came to the USA and  HATED didn't like it all (again it is probably one of those things you have to grow up liking). But Dad loves pumpkin pie so Mom made him one and it must of been good cause he ate the whole thing in just two days! Mom made it with REAL fresh whipped cream (not that canned stuff) and added little candy corn pumpkins for decoration.

We also wanted to thank Frankie and Ernie - we received your Christmas card on Friday - oh boy - how exciting is this months trips to the mail box going to be! And remember you can make some neat things with all the cards you get. Mom turns ours into a photo book every year. Here is a little video Mom made with the instructions on how to make the book.

The beaver boys are gnawing again !

Oh my dog - the beavers are gnawing again !!! We went to MY park yesterday and straight away noticed all the damaged trees - in the same spot where they were damaged before (the park people actually cut all those trees down as they were in danger of being blown over) Mom says she thinks the beavers are actually stuck in the lake as the water level has dropped to the lowest we ever seen it in three years and the little creeks they follow to get in and out of the lake are all dried up. This is a picture of their lodge but now you can actually walk out to it as the water has receded that much and it is much bigger (Mom forget to get a new pic of it) In total we counted 12 trees that have been gnawed on and four that have been completely ring-barked.  (Ring-barked is an Aussie term and it means when an entire ring of bark around the tree has been removed - this causes the tree to die). As much as Mom loves the beavers she also LOVES trees and hates to see this many being damaged.

FFHT - November

It was July 2011 and Mom and Dad said they were going on a quick trip to Kentucky. Little did I know that THINGS would NEVER be the SAME when they got home. That was the day they bought the Denny home. When he was arrived he was a bundle of energy, constantly wanting to play and always in mischief. Mom nic named him the 'honey badger' as he was fearless back then. Sadly just after these photos were taken Denny had a severe neurological reaction to a flea/tic treatment and we knew THINGS would NEVER be the SAME again  - he went from being a fearless little honey badger to being scared of everything. Although we often feel sad that Denny lives his life being scared of everything we also just love him and him adore all the more - because he is after all our Denny Boy - even if he is a total Dweeb :) :) :)

What did I do to deserve this?

Really Mom - you couldn't of got me a new tug rope?

Thanks To Blogville Day

We have a very special ritual at our house - every morning Mom gets up, makes a hot drink and then sits on the big sofa. We jump up next to her - one on each side...... and as we get our morning ear scratches we read about what all of our wonderful buddies have been up too. We smile, chuckle, laugh, ponder and sometimes we cry and are sad, but one thing is for sure --- we absolutely love you ALL and have so much to thank you all for.

Blogville to us is all about sharing and caring, sharing your experiences, adventures and knowledge and caring about not only about our buddies but their peeps too. We are always there for each through good times and bad. It doesn't matter how big or small or what breed, gender or even species our buddies are - because to us - you are just the BEST BUDDIES EVER and we are so thankful we get to share a little bit of your lives every day.

We also want to wish everyone a very happy, safe and yummy thanksgiving - have a wonderful day with all your family and friends.

Shopping trip around the world

We are joining Bacon and Fozzie for a shopping trip around the world. The items this month are :

Popcorn – Now the only popcorn Mom has ever liked is Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs which is an Australian Popcorn but recently she discovered Werther's Caramel popcorn and she says it is awesome - we must admit we have had a few pieces too and love it. Mom buys the small snack packs of Werther's and they cost $1.49, The other good thing - Werther's doesn't have peanuts and Mom likes that as she is not fond of them and always has to pick them out when she eats Lolly Gobble Bliss Bombs  (don't you just love that name!)


Beer/Wine – We don't drink beer or wine - Dad will once in a blue moon have some REAL Scotch whiskey though.

Chocolates – Another Australian thing - you just can't beat Australian Cadbury's chocolate. Not only is it the best tasting but they have so many more flavors (over 200) and are always adding new ones - when was last time you saw a new chocolate flavor here in the USA?

Ice Cream – Dad is a BIG ice-cream lover - and he will eat just about any flavor but his favorite is butter pecan and that costs $3.99. Mom loves frozen custard and luckily we have a little store here that makes it fresh every day - she gets the small kiddie cup for $1 - just plain with nothing added.

Random Item of your choice.We are going with Pasta - now our Dad lived and worked in Italy for 3 years and loves his real Italian pasta so Mom always get him Barilla which cost $1.79 a box.

Poor Hungry Duckies

Yesterday when we went for a quick walk we noticed the duckies came flocking over to us - and Mom said they must be very hungry to come that close to us "big bad wolves". So this morning we took some bread for them. My dogness - they were some happy ducks and geese! Sadly very few people go to our park when it gets cold - in fact we didn't see anyone at all there today and our duckies are year round residents so they are use to being fed. Mom says tomorrow we will go visit the Tractor Supply Store and see if we get some proper duck and geese food for them.

Why does it take so long?

My interpretation of Mom :)

Every winter it is the same thing - Mom takes FOREVER to get ready to go for a walk!!!! She puts on these silly thermal Long John things, double socks and double mittens, fur lined boots, hat, scarf, big old coat and she put these heat pads things in her mittens and boots too - then FINALLY after waiting 87 gazillion years she put our walking harnesses on.

Now we know many of you further up north may think she is crazy - especially when it is a lovely 47 degrees and bright and sunny today but you see there is a another reason she does this - she suffers with something called Raynaud's disease.

Raynaud's (ray-NOHZ) disease causes some areas of your body — such as your fingers and toes — to feel extremely numb and cold in response to cold temperatures. The blood supply to these areas are often constricted which causes poor circulation. Now this is not just a winter thing although it is much worse this time of year - it can include being near freezers or cold displays at a store, being in air conditioned buildings, handling cold items or drinks, taking items out of a freezer..... etc - Mom even needs to wear gloves to go shopping if she getting anything out of the refrigerator/freezer section.

So having Raynaud's  makes it very hard for Mom to take us walkies during winter as it only takes a few minutes for her fingers and toes to get so cold they are painful. Now Mom being the brave soul she is and because she loves us so much...... rugs up as much as she can just so we can get at least a few minutes of exercise and sniffing in. Of coarse us being long furred doggies we LOVE this weather and we give off lots of heat - so we are perfect for Mom cause when we get home she can bury her fingers in our fur and warm up and we quiet enjoy her cold little hands patting us :)

Mystery Solved

Remember we received some Zuke's treats earlier this week but we weren't sure where they came from. Well the lovely "Sara" from the Zukes company contacted us to let us know they were from a competition we entered over on Pepper Paws blog. So a HUGE BIG thank you to Pepper and Zukes - you really made our day. Just as a side note Zukes was the very first treat I ever tried as a wee tiny puppy and Mom has always used them as our go-to training treats as they small and just perfect for that.

Thank You Pepper and Zuke's for our yummy treats

Flashback Friday

Yes - the last couple of vacations have been "With Denny". The first one we took him on was in 2013 when the went to the Crater of Diamond State Park - the only place in the USA where the public can dig for diamonds and it is dog friendly too! And NO - we didn't find any diamonds but we sure had a wonderful time looking for some.

We stayed at a little place called Diamond Jacks, where we rented a cabin and it was on the edge of a river and just behind the State Park. Diamond Jack was awesome and said it was okay for us to run around leash free because it was a slow week and there wasn't any other people staying there. He has the most beautiful peacocks that run around free (and boy did we have chasing them) he also has fainting goats - which are the funniest ever things to watch and this adorable little pony who is the live in lawn mower. Diamond Jack has a couple of cabins and also has these huge teepees which can sleep up to 12.

Peacocks run around free

One of the Cabins at Diamonds Jack

Running free with Diamonds Jack's Pup

Resting by the river

Tee Pee Accommodation

The Lazy River

2008 BD

In 2008 BD (Before Denny) Mom, Dad and I went on our first ever vacation together. We rented a cabin high up in the Rockie Mountains in Colorado. The scenery was breathtaking and so was the lack or air - or so Mom and Dad said. The high altitudes really took a toll on them - but not me - I was a Rocky Mountain explorer dog and LOVED it. We would go adventuring in the mornings with me wearing my Outward Hound Back Pack and then spend the afteroons just snoozing by the fire. Our cabin overlooked the lake and just a few minutes down the road was a little town that looked like a little bit of Switzerland. There was little Swiss chalets and the stores and restaurants all had that Swiss vibe going on.

Wordless Wednesday

Mom's bad memory and a Thank you

Our favorite mail lady came to the door with a box for us which we were surprised about because we weren't expecting anything. When we opened it  we found we had won some yummy Zukes treats - one of our most favorites BUT - we don't know who we won them from. We blame Mom - she is supposed to keep a track of such things but alas she let us down. So who ever we won these wonderful treats from - a very big THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

Snow and Shopping

The weatherman said we would get between 1 and 2 inches of snow last night - he LIED ! What we really got was 1 or 2 FLAKES. It was so disappointing when we went to check out  our winter wonderland this morning only to find sad brown grass as usual.

Mom said she would make us feel better though by taking us the pet stores to do our Christmas Shopping for our Christmas Gift Exchange. We had so much fun sniffing around although we were a bit disappointed as even though I barked and barked to tell them we were there and waiting for our treats - we didn't get a single one at either store - what gives with that????  But check out what we found at Petco a new product called "Good Lovin" and they have real Australian Kangaroo treats and Crocodile treats - how cool is that? We told Mom they would make some great stocking stuffers for us and she agreed :)

What gives?

Every year around this time we start seeing Scottie Christmas EVERYTHING (cards, statues, cookies, ornaments and so on - you would be AMAZED to see what Amazon has if you search Scottie Christmas) and we wondered WHEN and WHY the Scottie became the "Christmas dogs?"  We are thinking it is because Scotties are also associated with Tartan and Tartan has a Christmas feel to it.

This year we have also noticed white Scotties or Westies and also this little brown terrier type and yes - even pugs (that is them in the red sweaters but Mom didn't get a good pic of them  front on. We searched all over the intermutts but didn't find any real answer. If you like these guys (and who doesn't) they are available at Hobby Lobby Stores and they are $14.99 - less if you use their 40% off coupon which you can online or you get it on your phone.

Go Away Winter !

Mom says she is sooooooo not ready for winter and is already hating the cold more than usual this year. She did at least manage to get all her plants in off the deck so our sun room does look like a tropical oasis again and you will be seeing A LOT of it over the coming months.

We really don't know what is wrong with Mom - I mean to say we LOVE the cold and would be quite happy if it snowed. Mom says it is something to do with science and that people that live and grow up in hot climates have thinner blood which allows for it to move around the body faster to help keeps them cooler - but in cold climates they lose heat too fast and are always cold. The reverse is said to happen to people who grow up in cold climates.

I must admit  we have been spending much more time than normal sitting out on MY deck enjoying this cold blast - Mom worries that I will get cold as my fur isn't as thick as it use to be but trust me - I am very warm under what I do have. Even the Dweeb seems to be enjoying the cooler temps. Stay warm to the two thirds of the country that are being chilled at the moment and to the rest of you - bah humbug :) :)

Memorizing stares - hand over the treats .....hand over the treats....hand over the treats.

A cold bear

Come on Mom - I know its cold but we need a walkie. From 70 degrees on Monday to 36 degrees today....bbbbbrrrrr it was a sudden change. But Mom being the brave old soul she is - she bundle up like an Eskimo and off we went to MY park. We were loving the cold wind blowing through our furs but Mom said we could only have a short walkies today.

Hey remember the other day we let you know how the little town of Oil Trough got it's name (from the trough they used to melt down bear fat) and we said they must of wiped out all the bears around this area because they hadn't been seen around here for a long time - well last night a truck hit a big brown bear just north of us and when we say big we mean BIG - this guy was 600 pounds of bear !!!!!  Sadly his battle with the truck didn't end well and Mr Bear is headed to the happy hunting grounds over the bridge -  but we thought it was interesting that there are still bears around here and it has Mom double thinking about where we go walking.

Wordless Wednesday

We salute all the veterans

Very Proud of our Dad

Today we salute all the veterans who bravely and unselfishly

gave their time and often their lives to protect and keep us safe. Our Dad is a veteran - he was a Commander in the Navy for 20 years and flew P3 planes - he loves this country with a passion and was honored to serve. Dad's Dad was also in the military and in keeping with family tradition Dad's nephew is in the Air Force and is currently serving in Italy. To all the veterans currant, past and future - we honor and thank you for your service.

On Mom's side - her Dad was in the second world war and served in the British Army. This is one of the very special memento's Mom has of her Dad and Mom. This postcard was made by a funny little guy at the base of the pyramids - he used a photo of Mom's Mom that Dad carried with him and took of photo of Mom's Dad - combined them with a postcard and came up with this wonderful keepsake. Mom chuckles at this being one of the first versions on photo shopping :)

B & W Sunday Snippets

We thought we would catch up on some questions asked during the week - the first one was about the pet UN-friendly Greer Ferry Lake we visited on Tuesday and the town of Oil Trough we stopped at on the way. We did some research and found the town is believed to have acquired its name in the early 19th century from a trough used to render bear fat, which was sold to customers in New Orleans. We guess they must of killed a lot of bears cause there hasn't been any bears around here for a very long time.

The funky RV we saw on Wednesday had many of you dreaming like our Mom - Mom dreams of visiting all our buddies and seeing all the great things to see around the USA and Dad dreams of being of able to go to every Penn State Football game. This weekend he drove 6 hours to go and see them play in Bloomington Indiana and then drove 6 hours all the way back. We figure we could combine both things - sight seeing and tail gating ........we just need to win the lotto :) :)

Some of you asked what the Kangaroo treats taste like....kangaroo is very close to venison - it is deep red meat,  is extremely lean and high in protein. Many people say it tastes just like venison. Because their meat is very muscular it needs to marinated and tenderized well for people to be able to eat it and NO - Mom has never tried it - she grew up looking after baby kangaroos and just couldn't even think of ever eating one. One of the most popular dishes back home is kangaroo tail soup and it is very similar to osso buco.

Chewy.com Review - Natural Balance Venison Burgar Bites

8th November 2014

Here's the Basics

• Today thanks to Chewy.com we are reviewing Natural Balance Venison Burger Bites.  Mr Denny will be doing the review because sadly when Mom checked the ingredients she found the second ingredient is turkey which I the Reilly dog can't have - so not fair !

Key Benefits

• Made with high-quality venison (and turkey)
• No corn, wheat, artificial flavors or colors
• Suitable for all breeds
• Great for puppies and adult dogs
• Made in the USA

Taste Test

• I the Denny thought these were totally delicious. They are soft, moist and chewy which is exactly my most favorite kind of treat.

 Ingredients

• Venison, Turkey, Barley Flour, Brown Rice Flour, Vegetable Glycerin, Rice, Sucrose, Dried Sweet Potatoes, Gelatin, Water, Cane Molasses, Salt, Sorbic Acid (preservative), Caramel Color, Citric Acid (preservative), Mixed Tocopherols (preservative), Natural Smoke Flavor, Rosemary Extract

Negatives - Kind of - Sort of - Maybe - Not Really

• I the Denny totally loved these as I prefers soft treats - the treats are about 1.5 " in diameter and can be easily broken into smaller pieces but Mom let me try a whole one!
• Note from Mom - the bag gives the impression that these are venison only treats - they should really be called venison and turkey burger bites

Rating Definitely a 4 paw rating from Mr Denny but 0 paws from Mr Reilly

Disclaimer : Chewy.com sent us a packet of Natural Balance Venison Burger Bites in return for an honest review. We were not paid or compensated for our review in any other way and our opinion is purely our own.