I’m saving my strength and resting up. MY kid is coming home! She’s on an airplane right now, but she won’t land here until tomorrow. That would be today for her, but tomorrow for me. How can it be today and tomorrow at the same time? But I’m gonna be ready! That silly Sasha went to play with the Sheeps today without me (grumble grumble whine and mutter) and came home smelling soooooooo good I could hardly stand it. I have to grow a little more, so I get to go next time. But I’ll be rested for the kid and she is toasted – so there!
Archive for August, 2008
It’s About Time! by Cricket
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008Just Desserts:>) by Sasha
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008
I got to go see my sheeps again today! I could smell where we were a long ways a way and I was very excited. Mom let me rest my nose on the open window and smell all the sheeps as we pulled in:>) My teacher said I was a different dog!!! (but I think I’m still me?) Anyway, I knew where I was and I knew what we were going to do AND I DID IT! With authority. Those sheeps weren’t gonna pull any wool over these border collie eyes. Mom got a lesson in how to help me circle and turn. And I found their bubble right away and they knew it too:>) When we were done I went and laid down in the water trough – I was hot! and my brain hurt from thinking so hard. And those sheeps were fast – but not as fast as me:>) On the way home I got a huge surprise. Mom stopped at DQ and got an ice cream cone and she got me my own little dish of ice cream!!! Unbelievable!!! I never had ice cream before in my whole life. I’m not allowed to have people food – ever. So she held the little cup for me and we ate ice cream together and she said I was the bestest border collie in the whole world:>>>>))))) Bliss.
Sheep! by Sasha
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008
Woo Hoo!!! I got to herd SHEEP! It was soooooooooo cool and I don’t even know where to start telling you about it. First we (all of us dogs and mom) piled into the car early in the morning and drove a long way in the car. THEN we got to this really cool place called Fido’s Farm (www.fidosfarm.com). There was a big fenced off leash area and we got to go and run and play and wake up and potty after the car ride. There’s a nice agility yard and mom promised I could play there the next time. And there are lots and lots of pastures with SHEEP! Little groups of sheep, big herds of sheep, little corrals, middle sized pastures, BIG areas where dogs have to run and run and run a long ways just to find their sheeps! It was AMAZING. 80 acres of canine bliss:>) The very first thing I did when I got to the pasture was find a pile of numbly smelling sheep poo and throw my body into it and roll and roll and roll. Oh my gosh – it was fabulous. I got a bath a couple of days ago and can’t begin to tell you how stinky I’ve been feeling. At last I felt like a real dog again! Then I met this very nice and funny lady, Chris, who told mom I had absolute amnesty from bad behavior (except for hurting the sheep – which of course I did not do) and she was not to correct me for anything – just let me be. I had so much fun!
We went into a fenced pasture that had 3 big sheeps. They stared at me. I stared back. Then I went and found a stick to play with – I was a little nervous. Then Chris called me up to the sheep and I could feel this bubble around them and started circling it. It was like an electric current. If I went through the bubble I got shocked. But if I stayed right at the edge, the sheep would move. Woo Hoo – moving sheep! What a kick!!! So mom and I played for a long time with the sheeps and their bubble. Sometimes one sheep would break out of the bubble and try to escape! My job was to go round it up and bring it back so all the sheeps would be together again. And then Cricket got to play with the sheeps. And then I got to do some more! And I get to go back pretty soon and see my sheeps again. And mom says I can play on the agility equipment next time and we’ll just hang out on a day pass doing different things and lounging around all day long – just for the fun of it! I CAN’T WAIT!
p.s. We were all so tired from playing so hard that we slept all the way home. The only noise in the car was Cricket snoring in her crate!
A Sweltering Sunday with Nixie, by Nixie
Sunday, August 17th, 2008
Boy, I tell you, a writer’s dog’s life can be tough. First I had to miss two Sundays in a row because Mom was off doing work in San Diego and then writing work in Denver (all without me. She better take me next time she goes away!)
Then, she promises me we’ll get going about 6:30 this morning. This is a really good idea. Its been so hot we’ve been sleeping with three fans at night and everybody on top of the covers. But at 4:30 we get slammed with thunder (like I care) and everybody gets up to go ooohhh at the lightening and comfort the Sash (who didn’t want any comfort from me, or anybody else, nasty girl dog). Then at five the Katester calls, and so everyone gets going really slow. Then mom decides to write a thousand words, and I lay dutifully at her feet.
We finally get going at 10:00. It’s hot. She picks Weowna Park which is shaded, but the air is thick and wet and awful. It’s pretty though – all big trees and ferns and really dusty paths. We meet a whole pack of hotdogs and poodles, and not one of ‘em is leashed. I think they might try to take me down or trip mom, so I snarl at the little buggers. They leave us alone. And we’re not done when we get up to the top – we go on heading for Robinswood. Like we’re taking the long way to the blueberry patch where we parked when we got to the other side of Weowna Park (the side we’re on now). Then we go on another half mile to Spiritridge park. Mom’s pouring sweat and we’re half out of water. I flop down at her feet while she reads a story (she’s packed a book all the way up in the heat). I’m panting. It’s hot. She gives me a lot of water, and she finally stops reading and we retrace our steps. The picture at the bottom of this post is where we ended. She gets a phone call three querters of the way back and stops paying attention to me. Since when do cell phones work in the woods? Oh, wait, that’s what she takes all these pictures with. Still. I’m glad she’s back.
Katie Update by Toni
Sunday, August 17th, 2008Katie called from a cruise ship on the Yangtze River this morning (about 5 am right after the thunder and lightening caused Sasha to start digging through the floor). She reports Tibet was a military zone with soldiers in trucks and on roof tops everywhere. Very tight security. And she spent much time hanging outside of monasteries and the like because she couldn’t tolerate the incense. They are currently on the 3rd floor of the cruise ship in an outside suite with a deck that they can sit on and watch the river and countryside go by. And a western toilet! She believes this is the “English” deck of the ship since signs and info are printed in English:>) She has a long list of foods she has tried, none of which she cares to repeat. And says she’s been eating a lot of hard boiled eggs. All in all, a very upbeat and enthusiastic report! Her burning question for me – “Has Cricket grown alot?” Duh:)
One Hot Puppy! by Brenda
Saturday, August 16th, 2008
It’s been in the 90’s today. Ugh. We washed dogs (with no new scrapes and scratches this time, on the dogs or us). And when it got too hot to hang anywhere, even under a fan, we put the big dogs in the coolest part of the house and took the Crickster down to Redmond Town Center for a little socializing.
We found a great little table in the shade.
Cricket started out under my chair, looking around, happy as long as I was above her but not venturing out. Then Momma Toni showed up with smoothies to cool the people down, and did some serious training with the pup (we have mentioned Toni is the training mom, I assume).
Cricket got a chance to discover how numbly trash cans smell, and to see a lot of people walk by. Not many stopped – I think it was too hot even to pet puppies. But they had a blast!
Cricket has a Playdate by Toni
Sunday, August 10th, 2008
Cricket had a playdate with her sister this afternoon! It was very fun. Hob Nob Intensity “Ten” is one of the tri-color females and the two of them had a blast cavorting around the yard. Doing things they aren’t supposed to (like being in the garden) – but it was a special occasion. How can you say no to a guest – and aren’t you supposed to show them all the coolest things? When you get to the web album, play the slideshow button on the top left. I tried to embed the slideshow so you could just start it here but…it didn’t work. http://picasaweb.google.com/tonicramer/PlaydateWithTen
The First Katie Report by Toni
Wednesday, August 6th, 2008The Katester has landed! She just called from Xian after many hours of travel. First to Vancouver, then Shanghei and now finally at her first destination. She reports that she slept for much of the plane ride, the the beds in the hotel are as hard as rocks, and that the carpet is just as good as I remember:) Ten years ago the air in China was so pulluted from the use of coal that if you walked around your hotel room in socks, they are instantly black. Sounds like the situation has not improved. But at any rate, she is safely there and ready to begin adventures. Actually, she reports being pooped and ready to go nite nite. Adventures can wait until the morrow:>) Sigh of relief!
Traveling Dogless
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
I saw from Toni’s post that she is feeling a bit bereft. But she has the dogs! I have…my computer. Good thing for a writer to have. Too many sharp edges to cuddle up with, though. And it doesn’t breathe. There is no one else breathing in the room with me.
But I’ve got work done for work, work done for me, and my nails done for Worldcon.
I’ve also been sleuthing. A good way to spend the next vacation? Nix – will you sit that still on a kayak in the middle of Dana Point harbor?
The Incredible Shrinking Household by Toni
Monday, August 4th, 2008
It started last week. Brenda left for California to visit friends, visit family, go to a conference and will end up at the World Science Fiction Convention. Everyone’s dream vacation, I know:>) She’ll be back next Sunday night. Toasted oats times four. Then Katie just departed for China for three weeks. I tried to be stoic but am not being very successful. I will miss her terribly. She is a most wonderful monster.. We spent the day playing with the dogs in various combinations, downloading new music to her iPOD, and printing photos and addresses in a mini-scrapbook so she’d have a bit of home to take with her. And so I wander the house now blubbering at the dogs about being down to me and three dogs and what will we do without the kid for a month? Sasha cocks her head and is always sympathetic. Nix continues sleeping with an occasional ear twitch to let me know she’s listening – well sort of. And the Crickster licks tears from my cheeks and tries to distract me with her alligator teeth. Sigh. I suppose I will have to buck up and take the dogs for a walk. No point in wallowing. I have a long list of things I could and should do — weeding, cleaning the garage, finish painting the laundry room, groom the dogs, fold the laundry and start more loads, pick up all the debris lying around post-Katie departure, set up the new DVD player, figure out my video recorder and how to upload video to the blog and various places. Well, no wonder I’m feeling sorry for myself! Good thing I go to work tomorrow:>)