An Airplane You Say, Eh?

I got a package in the mail. Kaylee took a shine to the box. 

She was interested in the packing peanuts too. I was happy to find out they were made from corn starch and if they get wet they dissolve completely! Wonderful! 

The girls were interested in those packing peanuts too.....probably because I wouldn't let them have any. 

And they were deeply curious as to what Kaylee was going to do with this interesting package with those equally interesting packing peanuts. 

Nicki never paid this much attention before in her life!

Every once in awhile there would be a glance at Kaylee herself as if to say 'do you even know what you're doing here?'

I told Kaylee when she was a baby I used to put her in a box; tie a string to it and pull her around the house. She would pretend she was on a train. So she had to test this box for size. 

And eventually she created this lovely 'airplane'! You will note there is also a cup holder on one wing there and a cushion for the seat. The girl has her priorities in place. Unfortunately dogs are not allowed in Kaylee's airplane. 

Dogs At Mashapaug Lake

I took both the girls to lake for the first time this summer. It was crazy of me to take both but I never seem to learn the 'two dogs is too much' lesson or I'm plagued with guilt when I know one dog is having fun and the other one is not. Anyway once they played in the water for a little while I think they didn't really know what to do with themselves. Bell stationed herself on the edge of the water waiting for trespassers.

Every so often when someone in a canoe or a kayak paddled by, Nick would join Bell and a joint decision would be made on whether they deserved a duel barking effort or was Bell's surprisingly deep voice enough to meet the occasion. It was no surprise to me that all barking ended up being a two dog effort. They were both convinced that spot was OURS!

Bell felt she had to defend our spot from every direction and embarrassed me to no end when she let loose with a barrage of deep voiced dog smack talk on two very tiny little dogs that had the nerve to come happily bouncing into our area. Their owner was visibly startled; the little dogs were terrified and I was wishing I was somewhere else. The little dogs were on leashes but both ran in different directions; the owner jumped a foot off the ground and got tangled in the leashes and I tried to stop Bell from acting like there was a reward posted for these two little dogs.

  Meanwhile Nicki jumped up and added her two cents worth. The man didn't know there was two dogs with me so he gave a little scream and tried to turn to leave, stumbled in the leash mess he was tangled in and bumped into a tree while stepping on one of his little dogs. The little dogs were now screaming in fright; my two were bellowing at the top of their lungs; I was yelling at my dogs and trying to stop them and the man was just about peeing his pants but couldn't get his leg untangled from the leashes. 

I finally yelled to him that my dogs are not mean, just loud and they are tied...they can't reach you! Of course I'm saying this while both of them are just about foaming at the mouth to get to the little dogs. 

The poor man finally got loose, grabbed one dog and just about dragged the other one away. 

I decided we'd had enough fun for the day and packed up and headed home. 

Nicki slept the sleep of the innocent on the way home....completely wiped out from her day at the lake. 

Bell slept just as peacefully knowing she had successfully defended the integrity of our little spot at the lake. And no little dogs will be showing up all happy and bouncy there again! 

Sleeping Beauty

Against my better judgement, I took the girls hiking together. I'm fully aware that my dogs always misbehave when I take them hiking together. They are under the impression that they must obey commands while walking alone with Mom but when they are together they make their own rules. I know this. It never changes. Yet every once in a while I think to myself....they're going to be good this time. And then I learn that's STILL not true. 

But no matter what kind of trouble they may have gotten into I can't deny that this is by far the cutest picture I have ever taken of Nicki! They were both exhausted on the ride home and fell asleep in the back of the car almost immediately...not unlike human children. I noticed in the rear view mirror that the sheet I had covering the back seat was flapping around because the windows were open. When I saw Nicki sound asleep with just her nose peeking out I had to stop and take this picture. 

Bell had somehow managed to use the sheet as more of a blanket instead of a bonnet. 

Then Nicki woke up and tried to make it look like she had never fallen asleep with the sheet over her head. Nope, never happened...she would never let herself look so foolish!

But after only a very few minutes of pretending there was something very interesting to see out the window....she started a slow melt in her seat. 

And before very long big, bad, Nicki has fallen asleep again. 

And then it was Bell's turn to look out the window and pretend there was something interesting to look at out there. 

Mole

I was cleaning up dog poop from the yard when I came across this dead mole. I thought at first that he was poop. Nope...he's dead....he's a dead mole. I have no idea what killed him. I didn't see any marks or blood on him. My neighbor says she's having problems with bees and hasn't done anything with poison. 

His death remains a mystery. 

(Check out those front feet! Crazy!)

At Least They Don't Snore

Bell likes to sleep like this....curled up in a ball. That's pretty normal. I've seen lots of other animals sleep like that. 

On the other hand Nicki likes to sleep like this...with the tip of her tongue sticking out and her eyes slightly open. The eye is kind of creepy but the tongue is the really amazing part. She doesn't even wake up if I touch her tongue. I had to actually grab her tongue to get any reaction out of her. Now that's a pretty deep sleep!

Zack

Zack is the latest addition to the family; seen here with his new Dad, Justin. As Justin and KC's furry baby he is officially the cousin of my two girls. My girls have met him once each. Neither one of them is too crazy about him yet. We're taking a 'wait and see' stance at this point and hoping for the best. 

Zack is being taken everywhere possible to help him adjust to a much more social life then he had previously.  He is a rescued dog....a Cocker Spaniel...and a purebred. But in my book purebred means more trouble. They often have more medical issues than the good old American mutt. 

Zack came with us on our hike to the Indian Council Caves. 

Zack got to take a little swim along the way. Lucky dog!

I caught him in mid shake here. Happy little wet dog that he is! He ended up being the coolest of all of us although Zack insists he's cool all the time. 

A happy family picture with Mom  (KC) and Dad on the way to the caves. 

Another family shot when we reached the caves. I suspect Zack was faking he was tired just to get a bit more attention from Mom and Dad. 

New Trail with The Girls

 It doesn't much matter where they go, the girls love to be out of the house. And if the outing happens to include woods...well that's all the better. 

We took a new trail that shoots off to the right on the linear trail in Enfield. There looks to be a lot of beaver activity in our area lately...or at least I'm finding it lately. I really never see any beavers so I don't know when they might have been on the building spree. It always seems like I find tons of unfinished work belonging to them but never a fully completed home...not even a condo.  


The girls are excited to be in the woods but they'd much rather I'd not stop to take pictures. If they had their way they'd be running loose in the woods raising havoc with the local animals. I wouldn't put it past them to jump in the water and inspect that beaver work up close!

I came across some leaves with what looks like insect eggs on them. Bell and Nicki said it looked like acne. When they got done laughing about that they insisted all the way home that it was leaf acne. They have an odd sense of humor. 

 The trail was skinny and rather close to the river at one point. The girls always want to go first but when I come to an area like this I sometimes get flashes of me falling in the water ....and them laughing at me while I flounder around trying to get out. 
And that's why I always have them walk single file to the side of me or behind me. I have to give them credit for learning to walk single file while on a dual leash. That takes a little finesse. 

This handsome fella was determined not to let me get too close. This was the best picture I could get of him. I tied the girls to a tree so I could sneak up on him but he was watching me the whole time. He was not impressed with my sneaking abilities. The girls never saw him at all. Every time I got close enough to make him uncomfortable he would fly farther up the trail to get away from me. Then he'd sit in a tree and laugh at my frustration. I think he's telling me I need a better camera.  

Catlax Anyone?

 This is the face of a constipated cat. (hard to tell it from her normal face so you'll have to take my word for it). Lily's camp visit was ruined by constipation. I have no prior experience with constipated cats although I did once save the life of a young rabbit by giving it an enema when a stupid neighbor kid had fed it dry dog food. (Just for the record, dry dog food will kill your rabbit because it swells in their little bellies, so don't do it). 















This is one of the things you can use for your plugged up cat after she's had her emergency ride to the vet; an enema; fluids for dehydration; x-rays; a kitty spa day which is really just a day at the vets office and  a few glasses of water. Ok, even Lily won't drink from a glass...she insists I put it in a shot glass for her. (and she carries her own little umbrella's because she thinks it looks cool.)

This is the enormous bill you pay after the vet has unplugged your cat; called you with tons of common sense information and suggestions; listed every thing they've done for your cat and told you they are open until 8pm and you can pick her up on the way home from work. An extra hour is probably spent laughing after the phone call has ended....but that part at least is free. 

Lily lodged a formal complaint against the camp; it's counselors; my dogs (for being stupid) and the American Catnip Association for not being in her corner in her time of need. We settled out of court. 
Lily will not be coming back to Camp Henderson next year. 

Finicky Cat

Some of us remember going to camp when we were young. Sometimes it was a fun week full of the exciting company of other kids (now viewed as new best friends), tons of fun activities to enjoy, lots of laughs and even the assigned chores somehow ended up being fun to do. 

And sometimes it was a long dragged out week in the company of a lot of kids you don't know; doing chores that the other kids somehow knew better than to get stuck doing; trying to learn the camp schedule so you'd be in the right place at the right time and hopefully not miss a meal or earn yourself some kind of camp punishment. 

Well for Lily, Camp Henderson seems to be turning out to be more of the latter rather than the former. And a disgruntled kitty is a verbal kitty. While she still will allow me to pet her for a specific amount of time, with the  appropriate amount of pressure and speed; and of course only when she is in the mood for it.....I'm still somehow getting the impression she's not having the type of camp experience we all hope for. 

Here are some of the little tid bits I'm hearing from our furry disgruntled camper:

Which one of you is supposed to be my camp counselor anyway?

Do I get a choice at ALL about the food?

Why are those retarded hounds allowed free range on my turf?

Do you provide treatment for the carpal tunnel I’m getting from swatting those retarded hounds in the face?

Why is there no mirror in my room? Are you jealous of my immense beauty?

You didn’t just say ‘diet’ did you??!! Is this FAT CAMP??!!

Who do I see to lodge a formal complaint about this place?

When do I get the arts and crafts class? I was promised arts and crafts!

For future reference I prefer to have my ‘alone time’ actually alone….on the screened in porch…with a mai tai.  

FYI: the decision to pet or brush me is mine and mine alone. I will signal my desire for you to stop by scratching and/or biting your hand. Try not to take it personal.

My decision to brush against you and make appropriate cat-like noises while you are on the human potty should in no way be construed as affection for yourself. I do it to mess with your head.

When are my parents coming to get me?

Pass the catnip please. I’m bored.

Lily: At Camp Henderson

Lily seems to think her 1 week stay at my house while her parents are on a cruise, is somehow the same as being away at camp. 

She arrived with a suitcase of cat foods.

Is free to arrange all her 'stuff' in any way she likes in Justin's old bedroom. 

But I absolutely draw the line at grilling mice for her! And she is not so happy a camper because of it!

Being Invisible

Bell: Lily told me if I close my eyes I'm invisible. 

Ahhhh crap! 

Nicki: I TOLD you Lily lies! And they call ME the dumb one. 

Another Snow Storm

 When I went out to shovel snow yet again today (and many thanks to those that help me with the snow removal!) I thought the dogs might appreciate playing in the snow for awhile. They seem to enjoy the snow so much.
While I was busy they discovered my small boxed area of dirt that I plant flowers in every summer. It was buried under quite a bit of snow but they had time on their paws.

This is what I found when I came back from tidying up areas of the driveway. At first I was shocked and then I remembered THIS is why I don't tie them out much in the summer. But really...I never thought they'd STILL have a desire to dig to China even in the winter! (And I'm very glad that only the first couple of inches isn't frozen).

 And then of course they were tired and decided to take a nap once they were back in the house. That cloth next to Nicki is a rag toy they destroyed prior to going outside for the big dig.

She's a Rebel

When I took Bell to Stratton Brook State Park she insisted I take a nice picture of her for the blog.

 

 

But she just can't hide her true nature sometimes!!