The Mystery Continues.....

We headed back to MY park today to do some
further investigation regarding the damage to MY trees. Reilly Holmes and Denny Watson are on the trail. We found an additional 3 more trees that have been damaged!!!!

Here are the clues we uncovered so far:
1. Chomped all the way around the trunk
2. No foot or hoof prints
3. Strange smells around the trees
4. Only trees on the waters edge have been chomped
5. See the tree laying in the water - chomped right through!
6. We heard some strange noises to which I listened to intently before going back to check the evidence some more.
7. I had a weird feeling there was something nearby but I couldn't see it?
8. Mom drove us crazy singing "If you go down in the woods tonight you're sure of a big surprise" - what the dog was all that about??????

The chase is afoot....and it is quite elementary dear friends as to just what it is - do you know?

Something strange in MY park?

Mom and Dad took us to MY park today but we saw something strange there.....something has been chomping on MY trees - without MY permission !!!!!!  Back home in Australia they call this 'ring-barking' a bad bad practice some farmers use to kill off trees.

Now we are not sure if it is a beaver or a deer. We have seen deer prints along the lake edge recently and we didn't think there was any beavers around here but recently there was a story on our local TV news about some beavers that have been causing havoc with the trees over at the mall. It appears there is a big drainage ditch over by the mall  (Mom says it is big enough to be called a stream) and some beavers have made their way along there and took up residence near the mall - home and shopping in one we guess :) Anyhoo - we are thinking maybe the beavers have followed the drainage ditches all the way to MY lake and park. We saw 3 trees that have gnawed upon. I gave it a thorough sniffing and there was certainly something strange smelling around the trees.














Thanks Mom and Dad for braving the cold and taking us walkies......it was deceptive - it is so bright and sunny today but it is also on 40 degrees. I know - not as cold as some of you but to Mom is is FREEZING - she was rugged up more than a polar bear.

Merry Christmas 2013

As one grows older your Christmas list gets
smaller and the things you really want for the holidays
can't be bought. Give the things that are free this Christmas -
love, friendship and hugs.

Merry Christmas From Reilly, Denny, Bree & Dave
 
Our Christmas Morning
 We started our Christmas morning with a special breakfast - Mom made us a waffle with whipped cream and bacon on the top - dog oh dog it was good!

 Then we got to open our presents and we want to say a BIG thank you to our buddies Shane and Hokie for the MOST pawsome box of goodies they sent us in the Christmas gift exchange. You can see them opening the box we sent them here. They were totally perfect gifties and we love every single one.....I especially LOVED the treats and Dweeb of coarse LOVED LOVED LOVED the toys which is exactly the way it should be.

 

 Our Final Card Card Count - US - 93 Mom and Dad 1   - Bawaaahhhhhh

 

Christmas Shopping

Mom and Dad took us Christmas shopping today over at PetSmart which in a town about half an hour away. On the way there we stopped at one MY parks to check on things. This is the one that has the swimming lake that they empty each year. Mom just about froze but we loved it.

After our walk we headed to PetSmart we we scored big in the goodies department. Bully sticks, soft treats and some new toys.  All round the perfect way to spend a Sunday and even though it is Christmas time - it was very quiet every where we went.

Card Count

Card Count - Us 86, Mom & Dad 1

We are have a soggy doggie weekend with 5 inches of rain so far and it is still coming down. Mom says we may have to build ourselves an ark!

Looking for green

MY Mom REALLY misses the green in winter so when ever we go to the park she is always on the lookout for a splash of it somewhere.

This time of year the only bit she finds is pine trees and the moss.  Now as much as we HATE sitting for the flashy beast we kinda don't mind sitting on the moss as it soft and doesn't feel as cold on our butts as the ground.

I must admit I am surprised the Dweeb hasn't tried chomping on it though.....during summer he could barely walk past a single plant without taking a nibble on it. Mom says he was a grazing COW-spotdog! She was constantly worried he was going to poison himself but as we can plainly see he is still here.....as dweebish as ever. He didn't even make himself sick once and believe me - he tried EVERY plant he walked past.

We even went over and checked out our favorite Mossy Knoll. This is what it looked like in October.  Mom said it was our own hidden little grotto.....and now in December.....well at least the moss is still there. Mom says she can't wait for spring to arrive. And yes - even though we love snow we are thankful not to have any :)

That will teach you

I HATE Canadian Geese !!!  There I have said it - does that make me a racist dog? Not that I have anything against Canadians in fact Mom says she loved it when her and Dad went there.  It is just the Canadian Geese. I don't mind the white geese even though they honk and hiss even worse than the Canadian geese and I don't mind the ducks...............but for some reason those Canadian Geese have me stomping my boots and wanting to grab their tail feathers. Now I have never had a bad encounter with any of them, none have ever attacked me or tried to peck me....but for some reason I just don't like THEM in particular.

Notice my "tail held high" that is my way of looking even bigger to them.  Of coarse the goose chasing would be much more effective if I didn't have the Dweeb Ball & Chain holding me back. There is just nothing more satisfying than a good goose chasing session - that will teach them for pooping all over MY park!!!!

We have puppies !!!!!!!!!!!!

Our mini-me's arrived from Malaysia yesterday and Mom says they look like little puppies they are so darn cute. Dweeb of coarse thought it was a toy for him and tried running off with it and I of coarse just gave it my best grumpy look and told it "you are not as cute as the REAL thing".

Now for those that don't know, these are made by Miss Diana and you can see more of her work here https://www.facebook.com/MyCrochetPage.  She actually crochets these - can you believe that and look how amazing they are - the colors match perfectly, the spots match perfectly - she even got our ears perfect. She does all breeds of dogs too.

Mom also found some clear acrylic display cases on ebay to keep them in so they stay nice and clean (although really we know it is to keep them out of the jaws of the destuffy monster)

The park at last

It warmed up to 50 degrees yesterday  - so even though she shouldn't have (that is what Dad says - not US) Mom took us to the park for a quick walk and sniff.  It was over a week before Mom could get MY car out the the garage because of the ice storm we had and then it has just been so cold she wouldn't go outside. The paths around the lake were still all icy but the road was clear so we walked along that.  Scrunching in those leaves sure was fun - thank you Mom :)

Musing on Monday #36

Ice isn't as much fun as snow!

Winter is one of those odd times of year for us doggies. There are negatives and positives.

The positives
For one - there is snow zoomies - we were watching our buddies Chewy and Katie having such fun zooming around in a big thick layer of fresh snow- sigh ! wish we had some.
Once you get warmed up from the zoomies you can grab mouthfuls of the lovely cold stuff - it is like doggie snow cones!
It is cold - which we long furs especially like - there is nothing better then feeling that arctic wind blowing through the furs
It is quieter at the parks as not people go out when it is cold
We get to leave lovely soggy footprints all over the floors

The negatives
It is boring !!!! The peeps don't like the cold and are not as inclined to go outside in it
They are constantly waiting with towels to dry us off when we come back inside
They don't want to go to the park because it is cold
They don't want to go to the pet store because it is cold
They don't want to walk around the neighborhood because it's cold
The drabbness of winter makes the Mom sad.

We of coarse think the positives outweigh the negatives - but try convincing the peeps of this.

Just an update on Mom - after having many tests and seeing different doctors they finally rang this morning and told her she has what is called acute pancreatitis. The CT scan showed some fluid around it last week and then her blood tests came back with high readings. She will be off to see another specialist as soon as they can get her appointment as they are not sure what is causing it as she has never been or drinker or smoker which is the common reasons for it. They think maybe the surgeries and infection triggered it.  

It was a cold and blustery night.....

You know with all the cold and ice we have been having the Mom has been closing our sun-room door that leads into the main house ... it is still warm in there as it is heated but the door that leads outside is off that room and it has our doggie door in it - so we can come and go as we please.

The other night the wind was blowing the doggie door open and causing a draft so Mom shut the sun-room door into the main house not realizing the we were outside.....it was around 9.00pm.  Now in her defense she wasn't feeling well and was extremely tired and normally she always give us a bedtime cookie and would notice us not being there but she laid down and fell asleep straight away and didn't realize we were not inside. (PPPPPsssss - Dad didn't notice either and he didn't go to bed early like Mom!)

About 2.00am  my Dad felt my nose nudging his hand...I often do this during the night to both Mom and Dad just to let them know I am there....it kind of makes them stir but not wake up but that night I was being very persistent with my nudging and it finally woke my Dad up....... and then he heard it.......the scratching noises.

Dad got up to see what it was and found me and Dweeb in the sun-room. We weren't cold or anything as the sun-room is heated.....Dweeb was asleep on his bed under Mom's work table and I was at the door scratching.

But Dad said it was REALLY weird  cause he felt me nudging and nudging his hand and waking him up...even though I was out in the sun-room.  So yes we doggies can have more then a special connections with our peeps - especially if they learn to 'listen' to us.

Pssss - Dad felt sooooo bad we got extra cuddles and cookies even at 2.00am :) The reason he didn't notice was because we have a habit of sleeping all over the house - only the bedrooms are carpeted the rest of the house is tiles and wood floors so we move about a lot because we like to be cool  but always end up by their bed in the morning.  We are in and out their room all night - mom says it is like living with doggies who suffer hot flashes...... always going from hot to cold......bawaaaahhhh bawaaaahhh :)

Card Count

Reilly & Denny - 59

Mom and Dad - 1

Bow tie winners

We have some winners in our bow tie giveaway with many thanks to Tail Trends who donated the prizes.



The blue one goes to Stellaroselong for Gussie (who we hear is wanting to wear it when he asks someone special out on a date)

The pink one goes to Linda and Cinnamon.

Thank you to everyone who entered......we wish we had more to give away. Winners - Please email us your mailing address so we can send these to you ASAP - our email link is over there on the right hand side--------------------------------------------------->

Christmas Greeting From Blish

Greetings fellow aquatics  types and Bar Humbug to the rest of you!

Really it has been soooo long since I have been "allowed" to blog and LOOK AT ME - am I not the MAGNIFICENT one in this household. I blame "The Hand" of coarse - she simply isn't doing my bidding.

As for those none aquatic furballs that live here...well let me tell you a thing or two about them. The smallest one - they call it 'The Dweeb' a perfectly fitting name I think.....well ......IT has taken a liking to playing this thing called BALL. 'The Hand' throws this yellow round thing called a ball and IT and the OTHER hairy furball go galumping past my tank at great speed barking their heads off and causing almost tsunami like tidal wave vibrations in my tank. I swear  - even for a fish I feel sea sick with all that swishing back and forth!  And they do it for hours and hours!

And see those nommy foodables floating above my head - one of my favorite feasties....well 'The Stupid Hand' knocked my container over the other day and they spread all over the floor and you know what those furry hairballs did - you know what they did - they vacuumed them up in their big hairy mouths is what they did. All my lovely shrimp pellets and they scarfed the lot before 'The Hand' could even say 'leave it' !!!!

REALLY !!!  The things I have to put up with. I can at least forgive 'The Hand' for she did go out and buy me lots of yummy new foodables for me for Christmas.....but those other non scaley things.....I am sure they are the cause for earthquakes with all that galumping about.

A Tail Trends Giveaway - woo hoo !!!!

Remember we did a review (which you can read about here) recently for Tail Trends Bow Ties and how dapper we looked wearing them even though we don't normally do the whole clothes thing.....well now you can look dapper too !!!  Miss Amy has given us two bow ties to give away - YES - to give away !!!!  They are valued at $7.50 each.

We have a large blue for the boys (which will work on medium and large sized doggies  and a small pink for the girls which will work on small and medium doggies. I was wearing the large and the Dweeb was wearing the small. Of coarse - if the boys or girls want to swap the colors they can...us boys can look dapper in pink too and girls look gorgeous in blue :)













Now this is one easy peasy giveaway - the only thing you have to do is go on over to the Tail Trends web page, click on hairs bows and tell us HOW MUCH the squirrel hair bow costs.  Come back here, tell us what you find and whether you want to pink or blue bow tie and we will pick two winners on Friday  13th December 2013. You know Sarge is hosting the Blogville Bash for  New Year and this would be a great way to look snazzy for the event !

And it gets even better because with each bow tie there is a coupon for an extra 10% off if you want to order something later or even send it to that some doggie special to wear :) Well what you waiting for......?????

WE GOT LOTS OF MAIL!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Mail Lady was finally able to deliver the mail today and we got 22 cards !!!!! Added to the other cards we already have,  it makes:

44 - for us
5 - email cards for us
0 - for Mom and Dad

Thank you ...thank you to every doggie and their peeps - you made us feel so special today :) 

For Pippen

We were saddened to read of the passing of Pippin (or Pip) as her Mom called her and we are sending big hugs across the seas to Molly (Pips protector) and her Mom.

Over the weekend Mom watched a TV show where an artist was talking about his work and he mentioned how he always paints the eyes last as he says when the painting has eyes it can look back into your soul. A light bulb went ping above Mom's head when she heard that as she too ALWAYS paints the eyes last and spends the most time on them trying to capture that 'certain look'. When the eyes are finished Mom feels a special connection with the doggie - she says it is hard to explain but it is there and she feels it especially strongly in angel doggies she has painted and ones that become angels. Run free over the rainbow bridge Pip.....and watch out for the other Pip...we hear he still hasn't got the hang of his wings yet :) Please call on by Molly's page and leave a hug.

No Snow !!!!!!!!

Can you believe it.......with all that storming we had yesterday we got no snow......but our entire yard is covered in frozen sleet. In fact on MY deck it is piled up nearly two foot high. This morning Mom had to take a hammer out and bang on the letter box just to get the ice off it so she could open it.  Even though we didn't get any snow we are still loving the cold.  Check out some pawsome photos Mom got...you have to see them bigger to really see how cool they are. Ahhhh that freezing wind blowing through the furs feels sooooooo good. It is 24 degrees at the moment and the wind chill is making it feel like 8 degrees - perfect sheltie weather.













And then check out these cool icicle pics Mom took - "Fall meets Winter" The first one gives a whole new meaning to frozen Blueberries - this is one of our blueberry bushes and the second one is some of the last red maple leaves on MY tree which are coated in ice.  Mom thought they were artsy looking....yeah what ever - just leave me to my icicle chomping. We are very happy to say our power stayed on so the house is still cozy and warm.  Be safe everyone and if you are in a cold place - stay warm.

PS: we hope you like our Christmas page - sorry if you are reading on a I-pad or tablet...for some reason it doesn't look good on those.

Let it sleet - let it sleet - let it sleet

It looks likes it is snowing but this is just sleet. It still tastes very good though!!! We have been out munching on it and Mom has been grumbling because she has to stand waiting with a towel every time we come back in so she can dry us off. She just checked and there is about a half an inch of ice on the ground already...so far the power is holding is steady although it is getting very windy and that can cause problem with frozen lines.  Luckily all of our neighborhood has underground lines so hopefully we will be okay. It is supposed to switch to snow about 2.00 pm and we can't wait - one thing we LOVE is playing in and eating the snow.

Getting Ready

We are expecting an ice-storm stating tomorrow
and lasting through to Sunday so Mom has been busy getting ready as the last one that had in our area knocked out the power for up to a month in places.....we are expecting maybe a day or two (paws crossed).  Sadly for us our house is all electric so Dad went out and got us a gas heater (we actually have a gas fireplace but can't get it to work) and we got a little gas cooker so we can have hot food and drinks.  The temperature has already dropped from 72 degrees yesterday to 40 right now and it is still going down. We have plenty of food both human and doggie and plenty of all the essentials so hopefully we are all set to go. Mom also got candles and new batteries for the torches. Mom had to cancel her doctors appointment for tomorrow as they are forecasting one and half inches of ice on the road by 6 am and there is no way Mom was going to risk driving on that. So today we are stuck inside mostly as Mom closed our doggie door to help keep the house warm - instead we have been helping mom put up some Christmas decorations and hang our stockings. Please stay warm and safe where ever you live and drive extra extra careful if you have to go anywhere.

We are pleased to say our card count now stands at :

22 - for us

0 - for mom and dad

This and that

Mom finished another painting of a sweet angel who recently crossed the rainbow bridge- This is Shawn and she was a pretty little sheltie girl. Mom says she looked liked a little Teddy Bear.

Mom was off having a CT scan today....for the last week she been having terrible pain around the wound site of her surgery. She thinks she has torn some muscle but Dad thinks she may have cracked a rib (Mom has brittle bones so it can  happen when she sneezes). We will wait and see what the scan shows but paws crossed there is not another abscess there causing the pain.


Mom has also caught up on all her paintings now so is is twiddling her paws and complaining about being bored. We told her she can take us for walkies but she isn't up to doing that at the moment. Remember to check our store  http://cowspotdogs.com/ and remember too we now have gift certificates as well. We got some printed through vista-print and they are very professional looking.

We also want to say a HUGE thank you to Hoke and Shane for our Christmas Gift Exchange. We sent ours to you yesterday so you should get it by the end of the week.  Mean Mean MEAN OLD Mom won't let us open it until Christmas which is TOTALLY sooooooo not fair! At least I got to give it a good sniffing over - Dweeb was just too scared to go near it and stood behind the chair barking at it!

Christmas Card Count

Us - 11

Mom & Dad - 0