Bored With Winter

 We have been lucky to have a few warm days, days with sunshine, scattered here and there in between the super cold days. Not much snow, but hopefully when springtime shows up the rains will come and save us all.

Naps on the front porch have been mandatory for some of us as we get through winter and wait for the daffodils to pop up and say HELLO.... I am springtime!

  If you lay in the sunshine and close your eyes, you can always imagine that spring is here.

 Valentines day will soon be here as well.... I love it, because I am somewhat of a selfish girl

and love the flowers, cards, and absolutely anything red or pink that arrives on my doorstep that day.

 In the meantime I am hiding in the house playing with phrases on my letterboard.

You really should get one and let your imagination go a bit crazy.

Signed,

just a girl bored with winter.

Izzy's Sweet Toes

This photo was snapped by my husband this morning as he was walking the pups.  Rowdy sometimes puts the leash in his mouth and leads my husband, and today Isabelle joined in and helped Rowdy.  They are the sweetest pups we have ever had the joy of sharing our lives with and they ALWAYS make us laugh.  

 By late morning it was time to take a ride in the Pathfinder, off to the vet's office for updating a shot or two with the hopes of keeping them healthy another year before more shots are due.  Those check-ups on their teeth, eyes, ears and heart are oh so important, and the pups don't mind.... Rowdy does get over-exuberant. but Izzy remains calm throughout the check-up.

 Rowdy simpy wiggles from one end of his body to the other and cannot stay still to save his life.... and Izzy simply keeps an eye on the door, listening for the sounds of people and pups in the lobby as they await their appointments.

 Rowdy gets the okay, but he is in need of having his teeth cleaned, so we hope to schedule that appointment soon, in fact we would have scheduled it for next week, until we got Izzy's news.

 Izzy has a histiocytoma which after an examination/scraping, showed that there are some bad looking cells in it, and it needs to come off ASAP, and hopefully that will be the end of it.  My concern is that the location looks to me as though she could possibly lose a toe.  The vet did not say this, but that is a possibility if you ask me.

 So, this Thursday morning Izzy will undergo surgery to have the tumor removed.  These are fairly common in the boxer breed, as are other tumors that can appear on their body.  

We are hoping for the best with our little girl.

 Here are the two of them, Izzy on the left and Rowdy on the right, as they beg for one more biscuit from B.J., who greets every pet as they enter into the office for their appointments.  She spoils them rotten and these two take complete advantage of her loving heart.

 On arriving home they took to the front yard to keep an eye out for any squirrels or deer who happen to be roaming the property.  It's the job of these two to watch over their domain.

 Please toss some good vibes out into the universe that Izzy's surgery at Valley Animal Hospital on Thursday goes well and that she comes home with all of her sweet little toes in tact.

She's such a sweet girl.

Beating The Heat On A Hot Summer Day

 These two, Rowdy and Isabelle, have been doing a lot of this activity.

 Lying indoors snuggled against one another, looking outside and making small growly sounds at anything that moves.  A butterfly on the porch or a tiny bird in the yard.  A bee buzzing through  clover. Vehicles that pass by on the neighbor's lane just the other side of the Leland Firs.

 Anything to entertain themselves from the inside looking outside on a HOT and humid mid-summer day.

 I don't venture out much either, unless for groceries... like more berries to blend into a refreshing smoothie.  

 The pause that refreshes.

AND

it's heathy and cholesterol lowering too!

Frozen mixed berries

Banana

Fresh ginger

Oatmeal

Protein powder

Almond Milk

Cinnamon

Water

I don't list measurements on these ingredients because it's different every time.

Just wing it.

How To Spend A Chilly Day At Home

Earlier in the week there was nothing but rain.

Cold. Hard. Rain.

 So we killed time indoors and made some chicken broth.

We like chicken broth, and our humans... the best humans in the world we might add...

well, they give it to us daily over our kibble.

While the broth was wafting it's delicious, chicken aroma all over the house, we were busy selecting something to watch on TV.

 It's quite confusing because there is always so much to choose from, and unless it has a canine star in it... well.... we tend to lose interest and our minds wander off elsewhere.

But then we finally chose something,

 but once again it does not hold our attention and we drift off into nap-ville for an hour.... or two....

Since it was such a chilly day we decided to snuggle up, sort of a two dog night afternoon.

 We finally woke up... shook our fur a bit, thought about watching another movie,

but decided we needed to get a move on and do our daily duty of watching for anything that moves in the yard.  THAT holds our attention longer than any canine show will ever be able to.

"How many birds did you count, Izzy?"

"Eleventy seven, Rowdy."

Country Bumpkin

 Just a bit of yard play with the old rag tag rope that they love.

 But they won't be romping outdoors like this today since it's raining, and the forecast is for 1-2 inches,

 which is why I chose to go to town yesterday for groceries...

Thursday is generally the day I set aside to shop, but we knew lots of rain was on the way today.

We country bumpkins who live in the country tend to plan around the weather.

 *watching for deer.....or anything that moves*

It's just what they do.

"But not today", said the country bumpkin.

Have A Sunny Thanksgiving!

 Guess what happened.

I mean... guess what we got.

 Can you see it now?

Take a closer look.

*best rug for disguising boxer colored hair.  LOL*

 Mom got us a new rug for in front of the doorway.

 It's where the sun comes flowing into the house.

 And it's one of our favorite napping places and bird watching locations, and whine at the deer in the yard locations.

Pretty much a great location for everything we dogs love.

 It's the location where we will be spending a good portion of our Thanksgiving Day.

Hope you get a nap in the sunshine on a soft rug too!

Love and stuff,

Rowdy and Izzy in Virginia.

We Each Have Our Limits

Speaking of the best dog ever...

what?

we weren't?

Well, I'm going to.

 You see...

Rowdy, our eldest boxer boy is the best dog ever.

He knows his place, and the extent of his limits where it concerns our property.

We NEVER have to worry about him when we turn our heads away.. not like Izzy.

She can't be trusted out of our sight for even one moment.

Rowdy on the other hand knows.

His dad walked down to the end of our lane, and Rowdy watched, wanting to go see where his dad had gone, but he knows....

 He knows he was not invited along, and so he goes to the end of the driveway....

looks, stands, and waits.

then he turns and looks to me,

and then returns to his girlfriend for some play time until his dad returns.

Yes.

Best dog ever.

Don't EVEN get me started on Izzy!