After being gone for five days, I had lots to catch up on. When Hubby popped into my office for a quick hello, this is what he saw…
Think I was missed?
Look closely and you’ll see that Meg is under my desk, Belle is behind my chair, and K is beside me.
Yes, it’s cute, but it sure made it hard to move around.
Let’s just say I had to be very careful before I moved in any direction.
On the drive home from Philly, I stopped in Baltimore to pick up my mother-in-law. She’d been anxious to see our newly landscaped yard, so we figured this was the perfect opportunity. Hubby could then drive her back home on Saturday.
It was almost dark when we arrived on Wednesday night, so she didn’t get to see anything until Thursday morning.
At one point, Hubby went downstairs to visit with her a bit. He couldn’t find her anywhere inside the house. So he looked outside and saw her relaxing in the hammock.
My mother-in-law enjoying the hammock.
When Hubby went out to say hello, she told him, “I had no intention of staying out here. It just looked so nice, I had to try it out…”
He understood completely.
She didn’t have her book at that point, so he asked, “Want me to bring your book out?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation. “And a pillow.”
Upon hearing this report, I just had to go down and snag a picture (shown above).
Then it was back to work. Which meant more of this…
That’s quite literal as far as the dogs are concerned. The mulch smells so good to them that they are eating it!
Dumb bitches.
I hope the stink wears off soon.
And K has discovered that there’s a Cardinal family living in our honeysuckle.
Our OCD Girl
I posted that pic on Facebook the other day and said something like “those birds don’t stand a chance.”
That statement was more prophetic than I realized.
One baby is now deceased.
Napping
Belle hasn’t gotten much face time lately, so I figured I’d post a picture or two of her for a change. Here she is napping next to Meg. They sure love those beds.
K’s bed was empty because she really is obsessed with those birds.
She looks rather pathetic laying there staring up at them. Every now and then, it gets the best of her and she’ll start to cry.
Hubby decided he’d show her what was in there, hoping maybe to dissuade her from wanting to spend every waking moment staring at that bush.
A Helping HandA Closer Look
It was a solid hypothesis.
A REALLY Close Look
But K is no less obsessed.
When Belle saw Dad holding K up there to see, she was jealous.
Baby Girl Gets a Peek, Too
She was interested, just not as much as K.
"Thanks, Dad. But will you put me down now?"
As much as Belle loves being cuddled, she quickly grew tired of her elevated position.
K just wanted them both out of her way.
Fixation
Think I am exaggerating her degree of obsession?
Obsessed
Think again.
Observing from Afar
Belle is perfectly happy watching from a slight distance. She’s more easily distracted than K.
As for Meg, she could care less. Live critters freak her out. Ever since she went to examine a squirrel she thought Belle had killed a few years back.
The thing was laying belly-up in our backyard when Meg moseyed over for a sniff. Much to her dismay — and our amusement — the squirrel had been faking. It miraculously came back to life, grabbed Meg’s nose, and freaked her the hell out. Meg bolted and Belle returned for the kill.
Ah, life with dogs…
To give Meg something to do, I took her around to the far side of the house to help demonstrate the STUPID positioning of one of our hose bibbs, which I discussed in my previous post about our newly updated yard.
The Hose Bibb
I shot that pic while standing at ground level. Meg is sitting on the edge of the planting bed. See the hose bibb way above and behind her?
Here’s a view from just inside the gate.
Stupid Hose Bibb
See it there on the wall? It’s about 15 feet away from the back corner of the house. And like four feet off of the ground. It’s actually much easier to reach now with the planting bed there. Before, we had to scale a very slippery hill.
Hubby will relocate it one of these days. He’ll have to rip out part of the ceiling in the basement to do it, so he’s in no hurry.
This past weekend was probably the most eclectic I’ve had in a long time.
ToadMama the Motorcyclist
Friday was International Female Ride Day (IFRD). That may sound hokey to you non-riders. But fellow female motorcyclists are few. Our population is growing, but there are still lots of women who think they shouldn’t/can’t ride because it’s a “guy” thing. So IFRD (this was the 6th annual by the way) is about getting out there en masse and showing everyone, especially non-riding women, that we can do it, too!
Hubby and I did manage to get out for a sort ride. But then it rained, so we cut things short.
Take a look at the shot of me and you might notice how threatening the skies look.
It wasn’t an empty threat.
We have rain gear and are fully capable of riding in the rain if we have to. But it’s no fun. And it’s dangerous. Slippery roads and two-wheeled vehicles are not a happy mix.
After returning home, we decided to walk up to Molly’s Irish Pub for dinner. They’ve got really good burgers and fries. And the beer on tap is always cold and refreshing.
It was on our way to the restaurant that we discovered it was the first “Warrenton First Friday” of 2012.
Stroll Historic Main Street Warrenton beginning in May, the First Friday night of each month. Main Street will be closed to traffic while shops remain open late with open houses and specials. There will be music, artists, entertainment for the children and dinner specials at our award winning restaurants. Main Street will be bustling with shoppers, diners and fun.
It’s a cool thing to do.
First "First Friday" of 2012
I shot the picture above after dinner while walking the dogs.
Dogs Just Before Our Walk
Speaking of dogs, Saturday was the 2012 annual American Brittany Rescue (ABR) picnic. That’s a nationwide event, which is usually held in the Midwest or somewhere else far away. Although I have been affiliated with ABR since late 2003, I’ve never been to one of their annual events.
I thought it would be fun to see some of the folks I hadn’t seen for a while, meet others I knew of but had never met, and see all the dogs.
There were a lot of dogs there.
Gatekeepers
I have no idea how many dogs, but it seemed like about 100! That lady in the royal blue shirt, is one of the organizers. At the moment I took this picture, she was acting as a gatekeeper. She is actually a regular follower of this blog, too. Her name is Michelle Falkinburg. She was Belle’s foster Mom.
Sorry I didn’t get a better picture to share here, Michelle! I was too busy taking dog pics as you requested.
The picnic was lots of fun. Hubby didn’t go, but the girls and I enjoyed it. We all had to wear name tags, which was especially helpful for the dogs.
Eating Was a Challenge
It was very cool seeing so many Brittanys in one place. There were dogs there of all shapes, sizes, and colors.
Big Shirley's Dogs
Big Shirley, who is not big at all, brought her own dog Brittany (the liver and white female pictured sitting), and two fosters, Cooper (barely visible in the background) and Sam.
Meg was Having a Blast
Here's my girl's with Ranger, Michelle's dog (and Belle's former foster brother).K showing off her name tag.Belle cooling off in the pool.
Abby happily posed for me. Literally. How cute is that face?
This next image is my favorite. You have to look closely to “get” the humor.
My Favorite Shot of the Day
How many times have you been at a picnic on a hot day, running around getting all sweaty, looking longingly at the cooler full of ice and beverages wishing you could climb in and cool off? That’s just what that big guy did!
I told you it was fun. If you’d like to see all of the pictures from the picnic, they are on my Flickr site.
Sunday morning I ran some errands. Hubby finished washing the windows, which he’d already spent lots of time on Saturday doing while we were away.
When I got home, I made a huge pot of pasta sauce and some sangria. Then I planted a few flowers.
I didn’t manage to get all of them into the ground. Maybe this afternoon?
First, there was Saturday’s wine tour. It was a great time. Then on Sunday, for the first time in a long time, we got to visit the WV Place.
Spring in West Virginia
Our little house in the woods has been neglected of late. There’s just so much stuff to do and/or discover here at the new place. Honestly, the only reason we went on Sunday was because we had to. My car has been parked there, in that very spot you see pictured, for a couple of months.
Being a one-car family has been different. It’s not like we don’t have other modes of transport available. If I take off with the truck for a weekend, Hubby still has the bikes at his disposal. But cargo space is pretty limited.
So now we got the car back. I am happy. I’ve missed my car.
The dogs were happy, too. They really enjoyed the visit, however brief.
K and Belle, soon after arrival.
See how nice and clean they both look in that image I posted above? That did NOT last long at all.
Hunting
Meg went off to visit the neighbors while the younguns set out for a hunt.
Hunting
This wood pile sits at the bottom of the hill near the turn in our driveway. It’s a very boggy area.
And More Hunting
Can you see K in the last shot? You have to look closely as she blends in and there’s not much to be seen.
I swear K is part mountain goat.
Part mountain goat?
She is the most sure-footed dog I have ever seen.
Belle
Belle did her share of climbing, too. But K’s climbing abilities are unsurpassed. At least among our three.
Bog Dogs
When they weren’t on the woodpile, they were running around it. Through the bog.
Belle may be our little princess, but she loves her some mud.
Happy as a Pig in Mud
Really. The ground where’s she is laying is a spongy, muddy mess. She was happy as could be. Click on that image of Belle to get a close look at her back feet.
Speaking of happy… check out the smile on Meg’s face.
Happy Meg
Yes, dogs can smile. The WV place is her favorite place in the whole world.
I guess you could say she’s a country dog at heart.
Trees are still not quite full.
I was surprised to see that the trees are still rather bare. I guess most are about half filled-out? Quite a few others still have a ways to go.
Sparse Canopy
See what I mean? There just aren’t many leaves yet. Maybe it’s because of the weird, cold weather we’ve had. Last weekend, it snowed a bit at the WV place!
Meg was pooped.
Meg is a bit out of shape, I guess. She hadn’t been out long, but looked exhausted.
The young girls were still raring to go. K, especially, was still showing some spunk.
Our dogs are pretty popular here in town. I can’t decide if it’s because they’re cute (well, they are), because they look so happy when we are out walking, or just because there are three of them, which is sort of rare.
I often get comments like “boy, you have your hands full!” And more than once I’ve been asked if I am a professional dog walker, if I work for animal control, why I have three dogs…
It’s funny.
Because I have been walking them for a while now, observing the different reactions from folks we encounter, I have learned to spot the people who just aren’t “dog people.” They’re the ones who don’t even glance at us or crack a smile.
They don’t know what they are missing.
Our dogs are a never-ending source of entertainment.
Sometimes, I think they do stuff just to make us laugh.
Other times, I think they are just being dogs.
I came across a cool dog-cartoon site as I was looking for some interesting clip art to add to this post.
Every time I thought to myself, “Okay, this is the last one I’ll share…” I saw another I just had to include.
The site, a blog, I think, is FunnyFidos.com. I think there’s more than just cartoons there. But I’ll have to check it out further some other time. Because I already wasted enough time scrolling through the cartoons.
What I really wanted to do was share some recent shots of our girls. Because I know at least one of my followers really looks forward to dog pictures.
Remember what I said about them being entertaining? Like kids, sometimes these dogs do the darnedest things.
Belle
Hubby was playing with Belle the other night. She plopped into her bed at one point and he put one of the other beds on top of her. She likes being in and under things, so she stayed like that for a while.
Hubby and Belle
After Hubby left, K and Belle were knocking the beds around (they are very light). One ended up, upside-down in the doorway of my office. I was on the phone, so I just left it that way. A little while later, I noticed the bed was occupied.
K on the Upside-Down Bed
Belle and K are really funny together. They love to wrestle and play. One of these days I’ll have to get a video of them playing in what seems to have become the wrastling room.
Oh, and I can’t forget to mention Meg. She doesn’t enjoy playing as much as the younguns, but she’s still funny.
Meg
That’s one of Meg’s favorite sleeping positions.
And that concludes my dog post for the day.
Almost.
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