Bell's Day at Stratton Brook State Park

Bell was hoping for a stroll in the water but I wasn't up for a wet and muddy back seat.


But it was a very beautiful place.

Nick's View From the Top

Nick's view from the top of Talcott Mountain today.

Bell's Wild Adventure

I just have to tell you this story:

Bell and Nicki were playing a crazy game of catch me and Bell came tearing through the kitchen with Nicki hot on her tail. Well as she flew by one of the kitchen chairs at the speed of light she somehow got the loop of KC's pocketbook (hanging on the chair) around her neck. The pocketbook didn't stop her, instead it also flew off the chair and became part of the game. Now we have Bell running like a maniac with a pocketbook attached to her neck and bunched under her belly, only she's moving so fast I couldn't tell it was a pocketbook. She made a wild spin turn on the throw rug and I thought she somehow got the rug bunched on the side of her. Off she goes tearing back and forth spinning crazily in the kitchen...now trying to get this thing off of her.

It took several turns before I recognized what it was that was stuck on her and then I couldn't stop laughing. I finally stopped her long enough to get the pocketbook off of her. Bell was much relieved but I was much amused!

Ok, Bell's adventure with pocketbooks has nothing to do with the video but it was all about Bell. Her and I took a hike at Soapstone Mountain in Somers. It was a first time there for Bell. These are some of the pictures I took on our hike.

Nicki's Day Out

Nicki got her day out with Mom too!

Bell's Day Out

Both my girls need a day out with Mom once in awhile. Unfortunately I don't have a good time when the two of them are together. So I take them one at a time. They both complain bitterly when being left behind but never complain if it's their turn for an outing.
This time it was Bell's turn. She had a great time and so did I!

I've decided Bell is best suited to being outside doing doggy type things...sniffing that; digging over here; checking out various trees and bushes with the occasional encounter of an unknown bug or animal. When she's unsure of the situation she always turns to look at me as if to say...what is this Mom? or Is this thing ok to touch?
I've never had a dog look at me for information/reassurance like Bell does. I think I like it.

Santa-Bell

This is not my house. This is not my dog...and I'm quite thankful for that.


This one looks like Bell a little bit but thankfully it's not my dog either.

However that is not to say that Bell hasn't been a bad girl this Christmas...she certainly has! No presents were left under our tree. No stockings were placed out to be filled by Santa. Bell was not to be trusted!

What did Bell do that was so bad? Well she dragged the tree skirt out and chewed on the middle of it. I found it on the bookcase where someone had taken it away from her. A few days later she did it again. Now it had a jagged hole chewed through the center so into the garbage it goes.

A day or so later she chewed the heck out of a plastic squeaky toy and tried to pin it on Nicki. Later that same day she somehow got a stick in the house and left that chewed up in pieces all over the dining room floor.

But the grand finale was when I carefully placed a soft stuffed kitten in the center part of the Christmas tree for Kaylee to find...only to see that toy being used as the center of a tug of war between the two dogs not 5 minutes later!!

The scream that came out of my mouth was ear splitting but only Nicki let go and ran for her pen. Bell stood there with the toy in her mouth like everything was just fine! What could possibly be wrong?? Now there's proof that Bell is dumb as a rock because I never stopped screaming and still she just stood there wagging her tail! It wasn't until I took the toy from her while yelling NO NO NO and BAD DOG over and over again that the light finally went on in Bells head. Luckily for her she got to her pen real quick and I just locked her inside...still yelling BAD DOG over and over again.

I honestly don't think that dog will ever figure out the rules. *sigh* She's a dumb-bell for sure.

Freeloaders

In the past couple of weeks I've found three (yes, three!) ticks on Nicki. The first on an ear...the second on her belly...and the third on her back. I've found nothing on Bell.....nothing at all. Apparently Nick tastes better than Bell and she doesn't object to freeloaders!

So the dogs have both been dosed with Advantix...something I don't like to use but these days it seems to be impossible to live without it. I used to just worry about ticks when we hike but now they seem to be everywhere all the time!

I had been using an organic spray on the dogs when I took them hiking with me. That worked fine for them but I forgot to use it on myself. I ended up with a deer tick embedded in my neck; an allergic reaction to the bite; an extremely swollen and painful neck and a trip to the ambulatory center on a Sunday. I'm looking forward to a really good snow fall.

Meanwhile I've found a different kind of freeloader in my house. Ladybugs. A few seem to show up every year but there have been some years when I've had a bumper crop in the house. I don't mind them really. They don't seem to hurt anything and I do find it interesting to see where they'll turn up. This guy was boldly hanging on to the kitchen curtain..