Always something

Dad asked Mom why she loves to go to the beach everyday - "it is just the same old thing day in and day out" he said.  Ha!!!! little does he know. First of all - Mom takes ME us to the beach everyday so we can do our Bark Ranger Patrols - which is VERY important. It is also good exercise for her us. But you know there are always lots of little things we notice - like seeing the Ocearch Ship still sitting just off my beach - or finding these tracks in the sand amongst the rocks of MY breakwater - they smelled very interesting and Mom is pretty sure they are raccoon prints - who knew they loved the beach too? And then there was this strange thing on the beach that suddenly caught the wind and flew off high in the sky. What is even crazier is the guy holding on for dear life and running along trying to control this odd sky monster.  There is always something new happening at MY beach - you just have to take the time to notice it :)

Sharks and Bombs

Remember the other day we showed you the Ocearch - a research vessel that tracks and tags shark. Well yesterday and today they were back right there off MY beach and guess what - yesterday they caught and tagged a tiger shark who they have named Viper and today they caught and tagged another tiger shark that they called Duval. They have also received a report from local fisherman that there is a great white nearby so have been hoping to catch and tag it - but so far it is proving to be pretty illusive. I think they should call it Reilly is they do catch it :)

Now personally we have no idea why there would be ANY sharks in the area as it is SOOOOOO noisy out on the waves at the moment. Why you ask ? Well  there we were enjoying a nice stroll along the beach when "BOOM' it sounded like a big clap of thunder - which was odd as the skies were all bright blue and there wasn't a cloud to be seen. We continued on and "BOOM again ...followed by another "BOOM" and then even more "BOOMS" Even the Mom stopped at looked and it was then she noticed all the Navy ships on the horizon. We are guessing they are doing some target practicing or something.

Dweeb being the Dweeb he is though.....was all a panic "what if they shoot us, what if a bomb drops on us, what if they attack us ........what if..........and so it went ALL THE WAY down the beach. Both Mom and I told him he was being silly but then he found "IT"

Oh my dog - a bomb right there in MY beach!  I must admit I had to sit and scratch my ears and head at his one - as it could only be described as one "teeny tiny little bomb". Personally I think it is those Dwarf Druids are at play again but Dweeb of coarse was convinced it was unexploded ordinance and we were going to be blown up at any second - needless to say we weren't :)

The Results for Mr Reilly

The Oncologist Vet called last night with the results of the tests they did.  The biopsy on the lump on my foot didn't show any kinds of cancer cells but it did have indications of inflammation. Xrays of my front feet showed severe arthritis (which we already know) - the left foot is the worse. Chest  Xrays were all normal and no masse could be seen anywhere else. Blood tests were all normal and I have a strong athletic heartbeat. The notes on the report said I was very relaxed, calm and handsome doggie who all the staff adored :)

So what now - the recommendation is to go and see a special doggie surgeon to determine if the lump can removed - we have to consider though that surgery on doggies feet can be very tricky (especially when involves the pads) as it can be very difficult for this area to heal properly. We also have to find out what are the chances of lump growing back and whether having it removed will really make it easier for me to walk as the vets tend to think the limping is more a result of the arthritis rather than the lump. We have an appointment to see the surgeon in 2 weeks and will know what we are going to do then - in the meantime I am just happy to go galumping (that is the sound my boots make when I run on the sand). Thank you everyone for all the Power of Paw - it means so much.

The vet was waiting for ME to arrive with my name on the sign!

Mystery SOLVED !

The Kitty Cartel

Yes - we have FINALLY solved the "mystery of the missing sand" and caught the culprits red pawed! We have mentioned before that in one area of the Navy Base there are quite a lot of cats but today we saw them on the road to MY beach - look at them all - just laying around all nonchalant.... pretending to look totally innocent - but we knew differently. But then we saw HIM -  the ring leader of this Kitty Cartel  "Sir Slink-A-Lot" digging up MY sand and after  quick chase around the break water rocks we finally cornered him. He was one smooth purring dude for sure and brazenly stood his ground but after integrating him thoroughly we found out it is this band of furry thieves have been responsible for stealing MY sand to use in kitty litter boxes!!!!!!!!!  The NERVE of them! After a lot of negotiating we finally came to an understanding - the Kitty Cartel must NEVER steal my sand again, never come on MY beach again and in return we will not chase them and ask the fisherman to leave them some fish on the rocks. "Sir Slink-A-Lot" wanted to shake paws on the deal but there was NO WAY I was getting to get cat cooties on me - so we drew a line in the sand and signed that :)

"Sir Slink-A-Lot"

We have you corned "Sir Slink-A-Lot"

Strange and unusual things

As Internationally Renowned Consultant Detectives we leave no stone unturned and no beach unexplored - so today we headed off to a different beach to see if that is where MY sand had been moved too and what we found was puzzling to say the least.  First we found these strange armchairs dug in the sand - what manner of creature would use these we pondered?  As we wandered down the beach we found more strange things - were these the hideouts of these strange creatures? We are not sure we like this new beach even though it did have a lot of nice sand on it.

I got my tushie wet

There we were having a nice stroll along the beach when Mom decided it would be fun to have a picture of us next to sea foam but she forgot the tide was coming in and just as Dweeb looked over his shoulder - the wave and sea foam got us. Luckily I was quick enough to barely get my toes wet - but Dweeb not only got his toes wet but his tushie too and he got sea foam all over his back that left yucky yellow streaks in his fur.  Baaaaa Waaahhh - not only did he get a sea bath but when we got home - he had to have another bath to get the salt and sea foam out of his fur. He was not very happy with the Mom :)

Oh oh - we are going to get swamped!

Sea Foam on the Tushie

Dwarf Druids, Stonehenge and Sharks !

So there we were doing a little more sleuthing today because we are Internationally Renowned Consultant Detectives after all and the "Case of the Disappearing Sand" has yet to be solved. We were busy following some unusual tracks when we came across this ----->>

"EGADS" Reilly Holmes said to Denny Watson - "it's the beginning a mini Stonehenge"

Denny Watson then asked " but who could be building it and why?"

"Well that is elementary dear Watson.... it is Dwarf Druids because only Dwarf Druids would built something so small - and look they even left one of their digging apparatuses." "I do believe Denny Watson that they may have something to do with MY missing sand - it is probably some pagan moon ritual in which they worship MY sand!"

Denny Watson just shook his head and wondered to himself if Reilly Holmes had been sneaking sips of Mom's dragonfruit juice again! "I think we need to investigate this clue some more Reilly Holmes" Denny Watson finally said.

Reilly Holmes grumbled a bit but decided that we should continue on our walk.... that was until he spied a small ship just off HIS beach. We had noticed it for the last couple of days and we were wondering why it was just moored there  - was it in cahoots with the sand thieves? 

It had some big old cranes on it, odd looking platforms and looked mighty suspicious. Today Mom was finally able to get a photo of it so we could see the name and it turns out this the Ocearch boat and what may you ask is the Ocearch boat - It is a SHARK tracking vessel. They capture great white sharks, measure them, take blood samples and tag them - all within 15 minutes and then they released. They have a cool web site and phone app that lets you track the sharks that have been tagged. It turns out we have our own very special great white shark named Lydia who is 14 feet long. She was caught for the first time last year right here at Jacksonville (makes us even more glad we don't like the water :)

You can read about what they do here and then here is where you can track the sharks and see where they are - yikes there are actually two tagged ones right off our coast at this very moment!

Reilly Holmes sighed and looked out across the water - trying to link all these clues together, empty container ships, sand pipers, someone switching shell grit for sand, hidden lairs and tanks that aren't tanks and now a shark boat. Pondering was making his head hurt so he decided to go chase a seagull to relieve the tension :) Will he EVER solve this mystery?

Need some good thoughts

We are taking Mr Reilly to an Oncologist Vet today and could use some power of the paw and good thoughts. Back in 2012 he had a strange growth on the big pad on this left front paw - it kind of looked like a toe nail growing out of it. We had heavy snow that year and the cold seem to freeze it off - one day it was there and then it was gone. Over the years though some kind a growth started growing in the same spot - it was like a hard callous. We have been having it checked every few months since 2012 and just recently noticed the lump has started getting a lot bigger and has now grown through to the top of his foot too. It has also gone from being dark and hard like his pad to this now softer squishy pink lump. Our regular vet did a biopsy and it didn't show anything and he can touch it and squeeze it and Mr Reilly shows no pain. He thinks it is just his own body's reaction to the arthritis he has in his toes - kind of like the swelling we get in our knuckles - it is like he is growing an extra pad to help cushion his foot. To be on the safe side though we are getting a second opinion. It will be a few days before we have any results but we are hoping it isn't anything bad.

You worry too much Mom

The growth in 2012

Starting to grow on the top of the foot

The growth on his pad

Wandering Wednesday

Mom went over to Little Talbot State Park (a place I may add that doesn't allow dogs on the beach) As you will see - it's not as if anyone would of seen us :) How odd is that - it was a beautiful sunny day - only 67 degrees and Mom had the place all to herself! Mom did also get a whole bucket of shells - so at least she was happy. Sit back, relax and enjoy the sounds of the ocean.

Click here is you can't see the video

Ships Ahoy !

Cap Andreas

It has been awhile since we showed you any of the ships we see on our daily beach patrol. Many of them are repeat visitors which is to be expected as we are on their normal shipping routes  (just as a side note - they are still prime suspects in the removal of MY sand - I mean to say - what else could be in all those containers - right?)

We have in the past week seen the Cap Andreas, Ilsa Bella, Venezia, the tug boat Judy Moran and the Perla Del Caribe. The Ilsa Bella and Venezia we have seen many times before - but did you know some 20-40 ships enter or leave Jacksonville every day !!!

We love going on Vesselfinder.com to read about the size of the ships and to see where they come from and Mom has joined up as a "ship spotter" - she uploads the photos she takes to their website. By checking the  Perla Del Caribe on Vesselfinder.com for example - we found that in recent weeks it visited the Panama Canal, San Diego, Puerto Rico and finally Jacksonville.

Ilsa Bella

Tug Boat - Judy Moran

Perla Del Caribe

Venezia

Deceipt and Decoy !

We are still no closer to solving the case of "The Disappearing Sand" but as Internationally Renowned Consultant Detectives we are still on the case and the chase is still afoot!  Today however - we discovered MY sand has been replaced with shell grit (smashed up and tiny shells). If who ever STOLE my sand thinks this will appease us - they are sadly mistaken as shell grit is NOT nice soft sand and it is yucky to walk on!  In fact -  Dweeb doesn't like the feel of it one little bit on his delicate tootsies.  (Check out the "oh so sad" look his was giving - just click on the photo to see it bigger)













Now if it wasn't bad enough that the thief tried deceiving us with the "old switch-a-roo" (shell grit for sand) we also found out Commander Tank was deceiving us - in fact there is something VERY strange going on. We had to go the long way around the navy base today (due to some roadwork) and saw not 1, not 2 but 3 Commander Tanks !!!! And when we went over to say hi - being really brave and getting up close and personal - we discovered Commander Tank and his subordinates are not even real -  they are just DECOYS - pretend tanks!!!!!!  What is the world coming too????  Trust me - Commander Tank got NO respect from us today - no sireeeeee no respect !!!

Scardy Dog

All this talk of sand thieves and strange happenings has the Dweeb trembling in his paw prints - so much so that when he saw someone walking along the beach towards us today - he hid in a little cave that has been formed amongst the big rocks of the breakwater.

He watched them out of the corner of his eye when they walked past making sure not to make eye contact with them .....even though they stopped and said how cute he looked. Then he watched as they walked away and only when they were out of sight did he feel safe enough to come out.  Seriously - I really wonder about that boy sometimes :) In the meantime I am going to give Dweeb the weekend off from our sleuthing but I shall still be ever vigilant to see if I can find any more suspects :)

Clue #4 in "The Mysterious Disappearance of the Beach" case

As internationally recognized consultant detectives - Reilly Holmes and Denny Watson we are on the trail of the great sand thief and I do believe we are getting closer to finding our culprit.

Our day began with a stake out - first we hid and observed from the sand dunes where of coarse NO-ONE could see us. Then we hid amongst the rocks of the breakwater - where again NO-ONE could see us because we are after all masters of disguise.

Then out of the corner of my eye I saw something and the chase was truly afoot.  I ran like the wind to catch up with the suspect who was as it turns out..... a SAND PIPER!

When Denny Watson finally caught up he asked why we were chasing this bird - "it is elementary Dear Watson" I said "The name was a dead give away - "SAND PIPER"

Was this indeed the very criminal master mind we had been hunting for - was he like the pied piper and luring MY sand away with a melodic tune or was he more like a sand baron and using huge underwater pipes to pipe away my sand before putting it in all those empty cargo containers we had seen on the ships.

Yes indeed Denny Watson - this could well be our culprit! - but can you believe what Denny Watson said next - "Erm I think Holmes - that this might be considered a bit of circumstantial evidence  - just because it's name is Sand Piper - it doesn't mean it is piping our sand away."

"Ba Humbug Dweeb" - was my only response - I KNOW my great deductive reasoning  was irrefutable - I am the GREAT Reilly Holmes after all!

What do you think? Should the hunt go on - or have we indeed found our culprit?

Clue #3 in "The Mysterious Disappearance of the Beach" case

Off we went again today - internationally recognized consultant detectives - Reilly Holmes and Denny Watson on the trail of the great sand thief.

As we sat on the big rocks of MY beach pondering over what the next clue would be - we heard a loud thunderous noise - like the heavy groaning of some giant sea monster and indeed when we looked up - that is exactly what we saw!

Now "I" being the super sleuth that I am - noticed that this beastie was riding high the water even though it had lots of containers on it. Denny Watson being the Dweeb he is - questioned why this was significant.

"Well it's elementary Dear Watson" I replied - "those containers are empty - and WHY would they be empty - if not for the fact that  they are coming to be filled up with sand from MY beach!!!!!!!

"Amazing Reilly Holmes!!!" - Denny Watson replied "but why did it float on right by YOUR beach?"

"Well that is obvious isn't it - they sneak in during the middle of the night and steal my sand so as not to get caught!"  "Come Dear Watson - the chase is a foot again and I think we need to go have a chat with Commander Tank!!!!"

Denny Watson shook his head - "oh oh - I am not liking the sound of this - I really think we need to gather more proof before going to see BIG SCARY Commander Tank again"

Clue #2 in "The Mysterious Disappearance of the Beach" case

So there we were back on the job this morning - still hot on the trail of the sand thief. As internationally recognized consultant detectives - Reilly Holmes and Denny Watson we leave no sniff unsniffed, no pee-mail unread and no square inch of MY beach unchecked.

We had wandered far and were way down the other end of MY beach when we noticed some strange drag marks - "AH HAH" - I said to Denny Watson "what do we have here - come on - lets follow it"

With noses to the sand we did our best blood hound interpretation and followed the strange marks until we came across IT'S lair!!!!  Oh my dog - not only is this thing stealing MY sand - it is living on MY beach!!!!!!

It was alas a cleverly disguised decoy though and MY tingly detective senses told me this was indeed a cunning foe we were on the trail of.

Denny Watson seemed confused and asked how I knew that the foe wasn't living here "Elementary dear Watson I responded - there is no door into this cleverly disguised abode.

Clue #1 in "The Mysterious Disappearance of the Beach" case

As internationally recognized consultant detectives - Reilly Holmes and Denny Watson - we have decided to take on the case of the "The Mysterious Disappearance of the Beach" You may remember yesterday we mentioned that over 6 feet of sand has just disappeared from MY beach. Today we began our investigation with a 2 hour walk of the beach sniffing for clues. Our suspect is one crafty character though - he tried hiding his footprints under a layer of shell grit today but he couldn't outwit us - the chase was a foot!  We followed our suspects footprints all the way to MY little park near MY beach and it was here we caught sight of suspect number 1. He was a giant brute of a beast that scared the bee-gee-bees out of Denny Watson but I was not to be deterred and confronted this monster. I began the interview and it went like this:

Reilly - State your name
Suspect 1 - Commander Tank to you sonny
Reilly - What were you doing on MY beach Commander Tank?
Suspect 1 - It's top secret and I would have to blow you up if a told you
Reilly - GULP!
Reilly - Erm - Mr Commander Tank Sir - Did you steal MY sand?
Suspect 1 - Why would I do such a fool thing like that - I need it to roll on?
Reilly - Mr Commander Tank - have you seen anyone else looking suspicious on MY beach?
Suspect - Just you and your Dweeb partner - I saw you weaving all over the place sniffing at everything - what is up with that?
Reilly - Erm thank you Mr Commander Tank Sir - I will let you get back to what ever you were doing.
Suspect 1 - Well just let me know if you need the sand thief blowing up when you find them - I am just the tank for that job :)

Someone is stealing MY beach!

This past week we have had really high tides - coming much further up on MY beach than normal and now I find someone has been stealing my sand!!!!!! Mom says the beach level has dropped by nearly 6 feet and that it is the waves taking the sand away - but I know differently - there is a sand thief out there and they had better return it or I am going to sniff them out and bite them on the butt! In the first picture we are sitting on the top of the ledge the sand thief has left and then in the second picture you can see what a difference it is - Mom is only standing 20 feet away and look how much lower she is.

Sunday Selfie

A Gift For Mom

Mom and Dad went to breakfast at Cracker Barrel this morning and for all those of you that don't live in the USA - let me explain. Cracker Barrel is a restaurant and store. They have an old country time theme and sell all kinds of old fashioned candies as well as nick knacks, clothing and many other neat things that tempt you into having a much more expensive breakfast :).

After they finished their breakfast Mom and Dad stopped to look around the store and Dad saw this tucked away behind some other things and knew straight away Mom would LOVE it. It is about a 12 inches tall and is a wonderful little water fountain. The water trickles from the top out of the shell, then into the next two shells before falling into a large clam shell and over flowing into the large clam shell base. The photos really don't do it justice - there are little tiny shells embedded through out it as well as the bigger shells and all kinds of little corals. Dad was right - Mom totally loves it and couldn't wait to get it home set it up and plug it in. It is now gently tinkling away on the corner of the cupboard in the kitchen. Mom says it will also help some moisture into the air - Dad says the noise makes him want to pee :)