My Sweet Spot

We've talked about our favorite spots before, but this winter I discovered a new sweet spot . . .

Daddy LOVES to start building fires in the fireplace as soon as the temperature starts dropping in the fall!  All of us enjoy the crackling sound of the fire in the evenings.  I think the only one who doesn't care for a fire every evening is Mommy.  Somehow Mommy ends up being the one to bring in the firewood.  Daddy doesn't like going out in the cold and snow to gather it.  There's something wrong with that picture, but I just can't quite put my paw on it . . . Anyway, Daddy loves to build fires and I'm grateful.  I enjoy staring at the fire and snoozing on the bed there.  Hopefully, the temps will stay cool enough that Daddy will continue to build me fires for a few more weeks.

If you need me, just look in front of the fireplace!
Dixie


PS: The temps are definitely still a bit on the cool side . . . this was us YESTERDAY!  Happy First Day of Spring to us!

Show Us the Green!

Today is Saint Paddy's Day, but the Luck of the Irish is not with us!  Where's the green????

Good grief!  We had greener grass on New Year's Day! 

If we can't have snow (and thus snow days for Mommy), then we might as well have green grass!!!

Here's hoping we find ourselves a lil' leprechaun to liven things up around here!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to ya!

Hunter, Dixie & Jenna

Smooch the Pooch

For Valentine's Day a few weeks ago, Mimi sent us a cute set of dish towels.  She must have been thinking about her wonderful granddawgs while she was out shopping.  Either that, or she was washing dishes and wished she had an extra set or paws and tongues to help out!

We think the towels are perfect and still have them hanging even though Valentine's Day has passed.  There is something on the towel to represent each of us.  These towels could only be better if they had a chocolate lab on them.   And why shouldn't they?  Isn't chocolate a part of Valentine's Day???

Thank you, Mimi!  We woof you too!
Hunter

Blurred Lines

Mommy used to be a great housekeeper.  Until she added three dawgs.  She was still a good housekeeper when there was only one dawg because for some reason I don't shed as much as my sisters.  Since the addition of two other dawgs, her housekeeping abilities have steadily gone down hill.  Case in point: the sliding glass door leading to the deck!

This door constantly stays slobbery.  We stand there waiting to go out.  We stand waiting to come in.  We bark and make our presence known and the slobber flies in all directions.  Jenna employs a different tactic which Dixie and I do not have in our arsenal and that is her vertical leap.  When Jenna jumps, the slobber travels about four feet higher!

Our door is even nastier in the winter.  Some of our Southern friends may not know this (because you don't really need to think about it where you live), but you can't clean windows and glass doors when it's below freezing!  Mommy learned this the hard way when we lived in Minnesota.  (She must have been absent the day this basic principle was taught in physical science class.)  She needed to clean marks left by the Christmas wreath on our metal front door, so she did what she would normally do and got out the orange spray cleaner . . . DUMB-DE-DUMB-DUMB!  She was left with frozen drops of orange spray cleaner all over the front door!  Needless to say, the wreath went back up.  There is a reason Yankees and Mid-Westerners keep their holiday decorations up for longer than is prudent in the South . . . THEY HAVE TO!

Because we are so messy with our tongues, Mommy doesn't clean the sliding door as often as she should.  As soon as she finishes (and sometimes while she's in mid-clean), we just throw a few more drops up there!

In the winter, she can use the temperature as an excuse, but what's her excuse for the rest of the year?  Hmmmm . . . .
Hunter


PS: I must have made Mommy feel guilty, because before I finished typing she ran down to take care of the door.  Or possibly to take advantage of our temps over freezing.  I think it was the guilt!  Either way, Dixie looks much better don't you think?  At least for the time being . . .

Visit to the Vet

I went back to the vet last weekend.  I was having some difficulties moving around.  I think my arthritis (probably due to two ACL surgeries and general old age) was to blame.   It was so bad, Mommy made an appointment on Saturday so Daddy could tag along and help me in and out of the car.

Since the new owners of our veterinarian office took over last August, it seems there is something new to see every time I'm there.  This week we noticed an "a-dawg-able" glove holder!!!  If Mommy taught elementary school, she might have to have one of these in her classroom to help her clean runny noses and all sorts of other messes those little monsters get into (and she mans that in the nicest possible way).  I don't really think elementary teachers use gloves on a daily basis, but Mommy might have to in that situation.

I was a good boy at the vet.  Mommy said I was even better than usual, and she's sure it was because of Daddy's presence.  He does have a calming influence on me (after all, he's the alpha male around here!).  I tried my best to listen at the door to hear what the vet was saying.  I'm sure she was talking about how handsome I am.  Seriously, how could she not?

Mommy and Daddy met a new vet today.  I met Dr. Clark back in September when she removed the growth in my mouth.  Mommy spoke to her on the phone then (both using their Southern accents) but not face-to-face.  I think all three of us were pleased to have Dr. Clark check me out today.  She is a graduate of the vet school at UGA and that makes all of us happy!  She also gave me two new medicines to try out for pain relief.  So far, they seem to be working well.

I did have a moment of slight stress when I heard Mommy and Daddy talking about me being their first born.  Gee, no pressure there!  Mommy made me feel better by snuggling me and whispering sweet words of encouragements in my ears.  Lately, she's also been praying in my ears . . .

All in all, it was a successful visit to the vet!  Here's to successful meds as well!
Hunter

Snow Comment on Our Snow Days

From our lips, to God's ears . . . the BIG ONE has finally arrived!

Off to enjoy snow day #2!!  Whoo-hoo!

Hunter, Dixie, Jenna

How Cold is It?

Mommy and Poppa have a morning competition in the winter.  They call each other to compare the temperature.  Most of the time our temps beat out Poppa's but not all the time.  It's too bad they didn't have this competition when we lived in Minnesota.  We would have beaten Poppa EVERY morning paws down!  I think the hour time difference may have been the reason they didn't call each other early during those three years.  That and the fact that Poppa was still working then.  He's living the laid back retired life now, so Mommy feels the need to jump start his day with an early morning phone call!  I'm sure Poppa appreciates knowing that Mommy is thinking about him so early in the day.

Last week the temperature was going to be so low that school was called off!  As you can imagine, Mommy was THRILLED!!!!!  So were we.  That we could enjoy having Mommy home and could play in the snow.  Since Mommy lived in Minnesota, she has plenty of clothes which allow her to go outside and play with us in those frigid temps and not suffer for a moment.  My sisters and I just wear our fur coats.

Besides playing in the snow, can you tell what else Mommy did on her day off?  (And I'm not referring to the usual round of torture involved with selfies!)

So, how cold is it where YOU are?
Hunter

Still Hoping . . .

Although February is pretty much over, Mommy is still hoping against hope that she will have another snow day this school year.  Some people grow weary of winter (like Daddy), but not Mommy!  She can never have too much snow.  The weather experts predicted just as BIG a winter this year as we had last year, but that's only becoming a reality for those who live in New England!  There's a chance Mommy might not like the snow as much if she lived there and had to go to school until the end of June.  We did enjoy having Mommy home for a couple days, but we would certainly welcome more!

Mommy still has her snow decorations up just in case.  She hangs her silver snowflakes on the chandeliers in the kitchen and dining room.  I guess they'll stay in place until March officially arrives.

She still has winter decorations in the powder room too!

And in other places in the house . . . Dixie doesn't count as a decoration, but she's still a cutie isn't she?

Of course, there's always the chance a snow storm could arrive in March too! Crossing our paws . . .
Hunter

Whole Latte Mischief

Recently I told you about my sister Dixie getting into the Girl Scout cookies.  Today, I'm back to my usual food subject, Jenna.  Mommy likes to relax in bed with a good book and a cup of coffee early on Saturday mornings.  Dixie and Jenna like to join her when they can.  Mommy got out of bed to tend to me when she heard a lapping sound.  She is nice enough to keep a bowl of water upstairs for her four-legged children, but knew the sound wasn't coming from that direction . . .

Suddenly Mommy remembered her delicious cup of coffee on the nightstand.  Jenna was lapping up all of that goodness!  Mommy screeched and ran over to the scene of the crime.  There was coffee splattered EVERYWHERE!  It was on the book, the nightstand, the bed sheets, the pillows, EVERYWHERE!

You should know Jenna is the messiest of the three of us.  We have to keep a beach towel on the floor in front of the kitchen water bowl to catch all of her spills.  Mommy does not like "the look" of this towel, but she really has no choice.  The mats sold by pet stores for water bowls are no where near big enough for Jenna's mess.  Even with this precaution, there have a been a few times when Mommy and Daddy have slipped on the water and taken their own spills!

Several hours later, when Mommy was dusting down the hall she heard the lapping noise a second time.  She ran into the bedroom to see Jenna at it once again.  (Why didn't Mommy remove the mug after the first incident??  There's no telling what goes on in the minds of the females in this house!)  Mommy ran into the bedroom to see Jenna standing on the bed again and the mug was literally standing on its edge as Jenna used her tongue to clean out the last drops of coffee.  Mommy froze and for a split second, she actually considered looking for the camera to see if she could capture this image.  Then sanity took back over and she grabbed the cup from Jenna's jowls!

It's a good thing Mommy has a whole latte love for not only her coffee, but for Jenna as well!
Hunter


PS: You may notice those tissues are looking a little bedraggled.  Jenna was snacking on those too!  Apparently the morning paper goes well with coffee!  I could have told her that!