It is coming - we are sure - maybe, hopefully - EVENTUALLY

We are woofing about Spring - yes we are ALMOST sure it is just around the corner. Yesterday we had a glorious 73 degrees - it actually felt hot!!!! It is the first time Mom has been able to go outside without a coat on  - even though the wind was blowing up a gale! Any day now the grass will start turning green, the leaves will start appearing and we will all be complaining about how hot it is. It just won't be today because it is back in the 40's and raining - sigh!

The Orbee Ball That Terrifies

Have you joined Blog Paws yet ?  It is a great site with lots of information for dog bloggers and groups you can join with information of training, exercise and all sorts of neat things. They also hold a photo competition each month and in February I won and got to choose a prize from Pet360 up to the value of $25.  Well Mom thought we needed a new puzzle so she picked the Orbee Treat Ball and some stinky Canadian white fish treats to go in it.

Needless to say  the Orbee TERRIFIED the Dweeb and he went into his "stranger danger terrified barking mode" and won't go near it - not even with the most alluring stinkiest treats inside it. Mom had to all but superglue him place just to get a photo of us. As for me - I snuffled it with my nose than gave Mom "THE LOOK" you know - the one that says "I am much too dignified to waste any effort on getting those treats so lets not waste time and just give them me instead" She did  - she is such a pushover :)

All That Fresh Air

Dog oh dog - it is a sunny 60 degrees so guess where we went - MY park!!! So many smells and all that wonderful fresh air!!!

The lake is so full it is overflowing so we went to check out water gushing over the spill way. Mom said it sounded like a waterfall but we were much more interested in all the deer prints all around it. For some reason they smelled extra good today.

Yesterday Dad and our next door neighbor were able to move enough ice to get MY car out of the garage and with today's warm temps and tomorrow going for 74 - the rest of it should melt pretty fast. Mom promised more park time tomorrow  - we are two very happy but tired boys now  and can't until tomorrow :)

The Great Escape !

Mom decided to give Lassie & Benji's idea a try - she hunted through the cupboards until she found the electric kettle and boiled up some water.

Now comes the good part - bbbbaawwwhh  picture this - mom  half in and half out our doggie door... pouring hot water on the ice. (Dog oh Dog I wish I had thumbs so I could of held the flashy beast and took pictures of HER!) It took 4 kettle full of hot water but finally she was able to get the door open about 7" and escape.

YEAH my fellow furbies - Mom was getting THAT stir crazy!!! So for the first time in days she was able to squeeze herself outside - she was so happy she did a little dance on the ice on the deck.

We even managed to fill up the bird feeders - though why she insists on feeding those bird brains is beyond me! Really - we don't know what all the fuss is about - we have been able to go in and out with no problems. The other good news is we have clear blue skies and 53 today and it is supposed to be in the high 60's over the weekend and 73 on Tuesday - woo hoo! Maybe the ice will melt enough for Mom to be able to get MY car out of the garage and take ME to the park!

Help - Mom is Bored!

We are SOOOOOO bored. It hasn't warmed up yet and the ice is still blocking the back door and it so slippery outside Mom can't even go down  to the mail box. She is even starting to get a bit batty herself and has started saying crazy things like "maybe you two should have a bath" and "maybe I should do your nails" I gave her my very best pitiful "SAD" look ....and thank dogness it worked because she sighed and said 'okay maybe we will do it tomorrow' - PHEW !

Anyhoo - here is the view from out doggie door ....we actually have to slide out sideways to get out and that is all the sleet that is piled up - not snow. Mom grabbed a handful to show how pretty it looks (until it made her hand all cold and suddenly the word 'pretty' wasn't being used anymore:) It is supposed to warm up from tomorrow on - so paws crossed Mom will forget the evil thoughts she was having.

We have heat again!

The wonderful repairman was able to come out and repair our heating - it was indeed the blower motor which had shorted out and he said we were very lucky it didn't catch fire.  There was lots of noise up in the roof that scared the Dweeb silly ....but I just took it in my usual stride.

While we we were waiting I helped Mom cook up a batch of lemon biscotti (it was also a nice way to warm up the house). Here I am in MY cooking corner as I like to call it. I am always in this spot when Mom is cooking (ready to taste test anything she makes - or that falls to the floor.) We even got to have a bit of noggins (the ends you can't use) - it was yummy. Mom is just waiting for them to cool and then the bottom will get dipped in lemon flavored white chocolate. Anyone want to join us for afternoon tea?

Mom's Super Snozz, Fire Engine, Strange People - oh dog!

It went like this....8.00 pm last night Mom and Dad decide to have an early night as Dad has to go to work at 4.30 am. As Mom gets up she notices a burning smell - that awful electrical type burning smell.

She heads to the kitchen with us following her every step.....the smell gets stronger. Checks the humidifier, the oven, the fridge - no not them. She is like a bloodhound - sniffing, her nose a twitching. Dad is not much help as he is still stuffed up from a cold.

Mom says it is like she keeps walking through pockets of the smell. As she passes the thermostat she notices the temp has dropped to 66 degrees. I light bulb pops on over Mom's head  - the heating unit - she kept smelling it as she walked under the vents. Dad heads out in the garage to the access door into the roof. As soon as he opens it EVEN he can smell it...he flips the breaker switch on the heating unit and heads on up into the roof.

The heating unit has scorching on the side (rather like the the Indiana Jones movie where the ark burns its image into the wood) but no sign of fire. Mom says we need to call the fire department to be safe. The big red truck with chains on the wheels arrives within ten minutes and three wonderful firemen go up in the roof and check the unit and vents for us.

I was barking like crazy telling them how happy we were that they could come and make sure it was all safe for us. Dweeb of coarse was hiding in the sun room. So now with the temps still hovering only around 30 degrees we have no heat. Mr Fireman said he thinks our blower motor burnt out.  With all the ice on the roads the chances of getting anyone out to fix it are not good but we have space heaters, lots of blankies and fur coats -  so we are warm.

A whole heap of nothing

Looks like we be doing a whole heap of nothing for the next few days. Our back door is still frozen solid with inches of ices behind it.  Luckily the doggie door is just above it so we have just enough space for us to get out. Mom is a bit worried because both our side gates have feet of ice in front of them which means there is no way for her to get into the back yard and she thinks we may hurt ourselves if we slip. She figured out she could reach us through one of the windows though - which would be a sight seeing Mom climb out the window. We told her we have feet like mountain goats but she still watches us every time we go out - really mom - boys need a bit of privacy you know!

So today we are stuck inside and practicing tricks - which isn't so bad as it means treats. We do think this "leave it" trick is a bit mean though. Making us lay there with a treat on our foots for 87 gazillion minutes when the smell of it is wafting right under our noses.

Oh My Dog

It rained, it sleeted, it iced, there was thunder and lightning and it snowed then the temperatures dropped down to 11 degrees and EVERYTHING froze solid. When we got up this morning our back door was frozen solid and we still can't open it (thankfully Mom was able to gt the doggie flap working) - we have a north facing house and with the wind coming from the north look what we saw when we open the garage door this morning. But do you notice something - in the second picture - I am NOT sinking - this is all solid and frozen hard.

Dad was supposed to be going to Ohio today but there is no way he could get the car out and drive to the airport and to make it worse - we only have 3 snow plows to cover 8 counties and they only do the main roads when and if they can get to them. The good news is the power stayed on for us - many many places around us don't have power.













The wind is still howling so it feels even colder then it is and I even had to hunker down between these shrubs while Mom took a quick photo. Mom is only letting us out if we absolutely have to go because we just slip and slide across the deck and I already went splat and had trouble getting back up again. The big question is how we are ever going to get out - because we just can't move piles of solid ice. They are saying it will be Friday before it warms up enough to start melting this.

Silly Mom

Mom looked out the window this morning - saw how bright and sunny it was and decided to take us to the park. It was only when we got there and she got out the car that she realized how cold it was - a chilly 30 degrees. MY car lives in the garage when its not taking ME to the park so it was nice  and warm when we got in it. Needless to say - it was a VERY short walk but what was worse was that  Dweeb with his big thick coat kept snuggling over to ME trying to steal MY heat. Baaawwwaaaa Moms teeth rattled all the way home !

Chomp Chomp

Mom got us these new bones to try - they look like rawhide but there are not - they are 100% vegetable and 99% digestible.  They are called Smart Bones and you can see the varieties of them at Chewy.Com here. The only thing we care about is that they were sure tasty and we have a beautiful sunny day to sit outside and chomp on them. But don't be fooled - it looks all nice and warm sunny - but it isn't - it's only 31 degrees out there but that is A LOT warmer then some of our buddies are having at the moment.

Wordless Wednesday - Signs of Spring

Powhaten

After our visit to MY Davidson State park we went to visit Powhaten a teeny town where about 100 people live and site of the Potwhaten Heritage Park. This also use to be the home of the Powhaten Indians and was once a thriving river town. We have been here before and have often pondered on these concrete columns that are on each side of the river. We figured they must of been part of a bridge but were surprised to finally see what the bridge actually looked like back in it's day.
 












At the park there is an old telephone exchange build from back in the days when they had to manually connect people and when we peeked in the window we saw this huge photo leaning up against the wall of the bridge. (They are in the process of restoring the old buildings) After some reading on the internet we found they built this suspension bridge in the hopes of revitalizing the town but they also destroyed half the town in the process. When it didn't help the town they decided they couldn't afford to maintain it and just pulled it down! The old house you see us sitting on the steps of - that was actually lived in until 1988 and when the elderly lady died she left it and the surrounding land and buildings to the park service.



























The other thing we love about this little town is it's beautiful old courthouse which sits on top of a hill overlooking the river. It has been completely restored and is still used as courthouse. If you look in the old photo of the bridge you can also see it on the hill as it was built in 1866.

A morning off exploring

It is another gorgeous day so today Mom took us and Dad off exploring. First we went to one of MY far away parks - which is Davidson State Park. Yet again we had it all to ourselves (what is wrong with people that they don't race out and enjoy such beautiful days). First we followed the trail that leads to one of the cemeteries that is in the park. There are two of them and we visited the Phillips-Reeves one - the other is the Davidson's. Now this park is also part of an archeological dig as many many years (like 150) ago there was a small community here that suddenly just seemed to disappear one day. There are many theories - Indians, disease, starvation, a feud... etc but no one really knows. What is amazing is how perfectly set out the town was complete with a public house, court house, trading post, homes etc. It would appear the community was made up of two main families - hence the 2 cemeteries. The court house was in the middle of the town with all the building surrounding it and paths inter-connecting them all.


Next we followed the river which was the most unusual shade of green. Dad complained it being muddy but we didn't care - and I was having the best time. Here I am smiling up at my Dad.













After finishing our long walk we headed back to the picnic area and guess what - Mom had even made us a picnic. We sat in the warm sun right next to the lake edge and dined on Turkey Salad Sandwiches, apple pie and cookies. We were one pair of happy doggies.

Tomorrow we will tell you about the second part of our adventure.

Blue Skies and Birdies

Yesterday was awful with thunder storms, strong winds, rain and tornado warnings. But today is ABSOLUTELY gorgeous. Clear blue skies, sunny and 60 degrees and today we heard the birds singing their little hearts out !!  It seems so long since we heard the birdies.

We also saw lots of blue jays, bluebirds and cardinals. Surely these are signs on spring right?? ????  Even the Dweeb seemed extra happy to be out and about today. We had the whole lake to ourselves this morning and did not see anyone else enjoying it. Mom thinks that is very strange but it makes us happy.