Charlie's birthday gift!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHARLIE! Charlie turns 7 months old today! To celebrate this milestone birthday (hee hee) we bought him a nice gate to the sunroom. One that he shouldn't be able to climb over (yet to be determined)! It's nice, stands 41" tall and has a gate for walking through... It seems to have pretty big gaps on each side, but when we tested it last night (I spied on Charlie through the bedroom window that looks onto the sunroom), he attempted to fit through, couldn't... walked away, came back and just sat and waited... so this evening we'll give it a test, maybe walk to EarthFare and back and see if he's still contained (oh pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!)...

Fred and Charlie... working from home...

Fred is working from home today and Charlie thought he would provide a little assistance... he loves when Fred is home... now to just occupy him so that Fred can get his work done! Come on beast! Off we go...!

Crazy Tuesday! Temporary insanity maybe?

Well the beasty one was pretty good all day, we put the gate up and went out in the sunroom and attempted to paint... worked on it for a bit but the phone kept ringing so we ran out of time to paint... maybe one day soon? Charlie seemed perfectly content to sit in the sunroom with me out there... so that's good to know! He especially liked that the sunroom windows had the screens and were opened. We had the6th puppy class last night, he did pretty good, learned more about 'come' using a lead line from a tack shop, so we'll need to try that one day, running up and down the greenway! Got home from class and he temporarily lost his mind, he ran around and around like he was crazy. He got to play with Higgins and Rue and a new dog named Porche/Porcia? So overall he had a big time and was pretty full of himself, then he jumped up on Fred's lap and instantly fell asleep! Thank goodness!

Puppy class #6 this eve!

Well, we hit puppy class number six this evening... one more to go after that and the beast graduates! Will have to take my camera for that one, ha ha... He's done pretty good, and at least we know what to do to get him to do what we want. LEAVE IT has been a big one... I couldn't believe my eyes when we were at the dog park the other day and he had a plastic bottle cap in his mouth, with people around (gutsy of me, oh yeah!) i said LEAVE IT (in my I MEAN IT tone) and he dropped it... I almost fell over, ha ha... Yipeeeeeeee, the beast done good!

Clean-line-Charlie... the yard has had another makeover...

Sweet picture of the beast, right? Until you look closely and you see banana tree juice all over his face. For some reason he's had it in for the banana plants since we brought him home. He likes to shred them with his teeth and pull big strips off... well, he got further along than we realized... we decided to go with his suggestion for clean lines and cut them all down this past weekend... drippy creepy and large they were... they're fine unless the layers of 'skin' are peeled off then they drip juice which was all over his face. The result was much nicer, a nice big wild palm has been growing and is quite nice!

I looooooove Friday!

Charlie is thrilled that it's Friday! This picture was taken last Friday, and he looks like he's laughing... ha ha... Well, we got another load of wood delivered and 20 bales of pine straw so I think we'll be busy... so the big plans for Saturday... get up, have a fire, drink our coffee, then head out to the yard, where we'll load the wood in the garage and work in the yard, get it nice, put out the 20 bales of pine straw so the beast doesn't get muddy every time he goes out in the rain... oh... then a birthday party in Goose Creek... whew... then home, start a fire and no doubt fall asleep! Looking so forward to the weekend!

Morning is all about reflection... from charlie...

Hey there, this is charlie... i'm having a hard time getting going this morning... i'm trying to meditate, after all, morning is all about reflection... i'm trying to take it easy today, that puppy class wore me out last night... and all that playing... whew... then i came home and felt really energized so i ran so many laps around the house that i fell over from exhaustion into a deep sleep... then these people wake me up moving around at 4:45AM... what's the matter with them anyhow? Can't they see that i'm trying to get my rest? The lights are on, they make noise, they TALK TO ME... good grief... I'm trying to SLEEP! My motto is: If it's dark out... leave me alone, I'm getting my beauty rest! Then the one tries to put eye drops in my eyes this morning... yeah, that was fun... crazy broad... no I don't want your treats this early and I don't want you putting drops in my eyes! Hmmmm, I'm sounding a little grumpy... back to sleep for a bit... I run to the bed and jump in and it's so comfy (they finally put an ottoman next to it so I can get in and out, that only took 3 months, jeez!), but then I have to run back to my perch on the sofa so I can see what's going on outside... my next to favorite time of the day is watching people leave for school/work... it's big fun... my favorite time of day is when Fred comes home! I LOVE WHEN HE COMES HOME! He doesn't play like a sissy like some other people we know... she tries, she throws the ball for me (you guessed it, she throws like a girl, but at least she tries!)... I'm happy that it's already Wednesday! Two more days and I can be sitting in front of the fire relaxing! WOOHOO!
Have a good day!

Another wonderful weekend!

We had another wonderful weekend, spent mostly in front of the fire... Thanks Fred for such a good time! I mean whew... we had cake/cookies for the beast, a trip to the grand opening of Petco which was such big fun (and included a photo shoot for charlie!), wonderful food, many long walks and an overall great relaxing time! WOOHOO looking forward to the weekend again! hee hee... Above is a picture of charlie with his very best friend! He is so thrilled when Fred is home!

Charlie does Meals on Wheels...

I really wanted these photos to show Fred and Charlie... they're the troopers that helped me do Meals on Wheels today, the nice lady I usually do it with was under the weather. Fred was off today for President's Day, so we packed up the beast and off we went... I don't believe I mentioned WHY we had to bring Charlie...? We were about to leave after putting him in the sunroom with treats, his Kong with peanut butter, carrots, etc. etc. and he looked at us and climbed the gate... we both stood there with our mouth open, absolutely couldn't believe our eyes! So now we need to get hardware to put the gate Fred's dad made us back up, one that can't be climbed, or so we hope! So the three of us delivered meals... Charlie was great! He stayed in the backseat without whining... Fred knew the route because he always does Meals on Wheels with me whenever he has a day off. Charlie was very excited! ha ha...

Happy Valentine's Day Charlie!

Happy Valentine's Day to Charlie! We had a wonderful Valentine's Day... spent it in front of the fire all day and most of the night! We did take a break to swing by Sugar Bakeshop for a caramel cake (for us) and for a few specially baked treats for Charlie! What a delight! You see him sniff it first... hmmm, not sure what this weird smell is (ginger molasses), then he was crazy playing with it, swatting it around, licking it half to death until finally... he ate it! It was too funny to watch! He makes everything so much fun, no matter how trivial... I think we should learn a lesson from dogs... they're happy, no matter what you do or say, they love you... be happy and love unconditionally... our motto for this Valentine's Day! Hope your Valentine's Day was happy too!

BOING... BOING... BOING...!!!

So we determined the other day that the beast can fly... after leaving for a short period of time and coming back home to him being free as a bird and the gate untouched, of course he must have sprouted wings and flew right on over the 32" gate (+3" step down into sunroom)... that's ok... I have my eyes on a new 41" gate... that should fix things... I hope!

Well, yesterday I saw it with my own eyes... the little angel wings (HA HA) pop up and WHOOSH there he goes... he was sitting at my feet one second and the next second he was on top of the bed (oh no... it's where I put things I don't want him to get to!). Our bed is high, I mean really high... 37" to be exact! I need to grab Fred's arm to get into it! I think maybe Charlie should be in the Canine-Olympics?

I won't even get into the worm eating situation... but he can detect them a mile underground... I wish I could warn them! It's a frightening sight for sure!

It's official: THE BEAST CAN FLY!

Yesterday I ran a few errands... I came home and looked to the sunroom window where charlie is always looking back at me wagging his tail, excited that I'm home... this time, no charlie... UH OH... my first thought... OMG, he choked on the carrots or green beans I left for him! Then as I got to the door, he was standing with his paws on the window as if to greet me... wagging his tail happy as could be... I looked to the sunroom, the gate was still up, hadn't been moved an inch... as you can see in this picture, the floor is some sort of terra cotta, there is probably about a 3" step down into the sunroom... I had a baby gate up in the opening you see in the picture... so I guess it's official, the beast CAN fly! I guess now we need to double gate?! Ugh...

Yipeeeeeeeeeeee another place for charlie to shop!

Someone was thrilled that Petco opened up near us yesterday! We walked with the promise of shopping if he did well... it was ugly in the beginning, but got much better, so shopping we did... we walked around Petco for about 30 minutes, he especially liked the pebbled feeling floor where the fish/reptiles were... he also found the cages of cats waiting to be adopted (omg)... bought him an orange ball and he was thrilled!

Puppy class #4 (already???) is tonight... we're doing good with sit, stay, down... mediocre with 'come' and 'leave it' only works if it's a treat or toy, not if it's an actual item like a shoe, blanket, etc... he still runs through the house grabbing things he shouldn't then dragging them to his 'play pen' (underneath a large coffee table, he knows we can't get to him) or under the dining room table... It's starting to rain right now UGH, not supposed to rain until noon... so I guess we will run out and walk now before it's pouring... got to get the exercise in or we'll all go crazy!

Charlie's picture for Home Again Pet Recovery database!

This is Charlie's picture for the Home Again Pet Recovery database. We had Charlie microchipped when we had him neutered. If he were to get lost (*GASP*) we call Home Again, they send out an email to vets/shelters/people who are registered as Pet Rescuers (go to their website, you'll receive an email when there is a lost dog/cat in your neighborhood, if you fiind it you just call them and they contact the owner). I tried to select a picture that showed his overall look... so hopefully this is a good one, will try to get a side shot from the other side where there is a big spot, then I can change photos...

He's baaaaaayyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaack!

So happy that the beast is back! When we picked him up he was so pitiful... after 24 hours he seemed much better and now, he's running, jumping, running through the house with things he shouldn't... back to his beasty self... whew, we missed that!

I think you can see the energy in his eyes... this dog is full of it, so when they say to keep him calm for several days and then slowly work back up to normal activities within a week, OMG... that's nearly impossible! He's doing great and we all celebrated by spending the weekend in front of the fire with wonderful food, good books and music from Pandora...