Showing posts with label Abby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abby. Show all posts

July 18, 2013

Mirth Watch Thursday: A Quick Laugh for Today

This is gonna be a quick one, cuz I'm cranking on getting my next novel ready. I've been making myself nuts/blind trying to come up with a title and cover. But I finally have both! Maybe I'll do a cover reveal soon!

As I said before, the cover includes this gorgeous girl! (The dog - not me!)

May 9, 2013

Mirth Watch Thursday: Best Dog Body Part

What's the best part of a dog? Is it his/her tail, since that's how your pup shows love? Is it the nose - so perfect for planting kisses on? While those dog-parts are pretty great, I personally think the best part of a dog is it's ears!

Whether floppy...
Rita enjoying a cinnamon roll treat

March 25, 2013

Monday Mischief: Some Bunny Loves You

I can't resist a dog in bunny ears. You? (I've been known to "friend" total strangers on Goodreads simply because their avatar is a photo of his/her dog in bunny ears. It happens more than you'd think.)

January 10, 2013

Pet-Blogger-Challenge Virgin No More

Today I'm participating in the Third Annual Pet Blogger Challenge. I've never participated before, so I'll be answering the first timers' questions. This "challenge" is brought to us by Go Pet Friendly (check them out if you like to travel with your dogs or guinea pigs or whatever) and the point is for pet bloggers to "get to know each other a bit better, share tips for making our blogs better, and generally commiserate, inspire, and support each other." I'm in! So here goes...
Pet Blogger Challenge Jan. 10  

October 4, 2012

Strange Bedfellows

Sleeping with the Furry Kids
I got an email from my sister this morning, saying that her back was hurting, from her bed and "from having a dog invade my space. She is so twitchy in her sleep that I'm practically on the edge of the bed trying to keep away from her. What's wrong with this picture?"   

It got me thinking about this picture that I'd seen all over Facebook lately:
"Sleeping with Pets: Expectations vs. Reality"
[Photo from: http://9laughs.com/sleeping-with-pets-expectations-vs-reality/]


I think those of us who let our dogs sleep in the bed start out thinking, "Won't this be nice!? Won't it be cozy!" But the reality is usually anything but.

October 1, 2012

Monday Mischief: Not So Much

Poor Rita! Her Pop had meniscus surgery on both knees on Thursday, so she has not been getting her usual amount of attention. She's been a very good girl through it all, although not shy about letting us know how bored she is. (A lotta heavy sighing going on around here!)

We gave her a bone to try to keep her entertained this afternoon. You can see how put-out she is. (Those are the hubby's knees strapped up to his super-duper ice machine in the foreground.)
"Most boring weekend, evar!"

September 7, 2012

Sleepovers are Exhausting

Recently, Rita went for a trial sleepover at my sister's house (aka The Gulag - where they have actual rules that dogs must abide by!).

It's a dilemma, isn't it? Wondering and worrying about what you're going to do with your pup if you go away on vacation or for work.

My sis and I have been trading dog-sitting duties for a long time now, which used to be no big deal back when we had Bailey, who was close in age and temperament to their corgi, Lou. But now that we keep insisting on getting these darn puppies, and since Lou has become a distinguished older gentleman, well, it's a little more complicated.

Abby used to pester Lou relentlessly trying to get him to play with her - and driving him into a state of...let's call it extreme dismay. So we decided on a trial run with Rita, so see if she'd be an improvement in Lou's books over Abby.

This was the first time since we got Rita back in January that we'd be away from her for a night. And she looked a little concerned when Momma left.
"Wh-where are you going, Momma?"

September 1, 2012

Update on a Limping Puppy

I don't normally blog on the weekends, but we just got back from the vet, and I figured this was the easiest way to update everyone at once who loves little Senorita Rita. Don't worry - it's not scary news. But it does involve the words "bone disease."

As many of you know, Rita has been limping on off for about a month now. We'd been taking it easy on and off - skipping trips to the beach and foregoing our usual long walks - and then the limp would go away so we'd go back to normal.

This past Monday after a particularly crazed wrestling match at Fiesta Island, she started limping really badly. We took it easy all week (no walks on Tues or Wed, and only short trips around the block on Thur and Fri), and she seemed fine again. But then last night she was definitely limping again, seemingly for no reason. So, this morning we were off to the vet.

August 20, 2012

Monday Mischief: UnbreakOBall & Monkeybutts

It's Monday Mischief time again, so this week we've got a video of Rita being mischievous with another little something that we won. Yes, we won something again! We've been so lucky lately! Remember a while back I posted about the UnbreakOBall contest and encouraged folks to enter? And remember I included the link to my entry for Abby versus Barney, which Liz from the Indestructible Dog Gear blog turned into: "The Tale of Abby & Barney: A Love Story"? Well, Abby was named the "Indestructible Dog of the Month" for July (whoohoo!) so Rita received an UnbreakOBall in Abby's memory.

"More mail for me??"

August 1, 2012

One Word Wednesday: WINNER!

OK, it's supposed to be Wordless Wed., and I'm changing it to One Word Wed, but of course I can't limit myself to just one word... But the main word for today is Winner!

Without further ado, the winner of the big giveaway is (do you hear the drum roll??): Baba HooHoo!! (Isn't that the cutest login name?)
Here's how she won... I used Randomizer.org to generate a random winning number which was 23. (I like #23 since it's my birth date.) Baba Hoohoo had the 23rd comment slot, so she's our winner! And now a signed copy of the book, Smooches treats, The Honest Kitchen cookbook, and an adorable pink & brown bookmark hook all tucked up in a cheery pink tote bag will be winging their way to her!

July 11, 2012

The Post I Wasn't Planning To Write

The first half of this post, I wasn't planning to write. But then I did write it. And it's long. But there's lots of pictures. :)

The Six Months Point
Yesterday was the six month anniversary of the day we lost Abby. (Or the day we helped her get fitted for her wings, as I like to think of it.)

I really didn't plan to make a big deal about it. I'd kind of been dreading it, which is silly because why is 5 months and 29 days after we lost her any different than 6 months after? Anyway, I'd planned to get through the day without spending much time dwelling on it.

But Abby had other ideas. She put many little signs in front of me all day yesterday!

Here are a few:

In the morning when Rita and I were heading out for our walk, I pulled Rita's leash and harness out of the drawer - only somehow Abby's old harness came out instead of Rita's walking harness. Of course Rita was very interested in it since it smelled like Abby. (Sometimes I wonder if Rita is thinking, "Where is that other dog that lives here?" since she plays with Abby's old toys and sleeps in Abby's old bed.)

Giggling in the daisies
Pouncing on bugs.
Later in the day I went to leave a comment on someone's blog, and I had to sign in to my Google profile. I've changed my profile pics in almost all of my various social media places to be me/me & Rita now. (It was sad, changing them over, but some folks on Twitter commented on what a pretty dog I had, and I had to explain that she's an angel pup now, and that we have a new dog. I figured it was time for Rita to have the spot light.) Anyway, when I logged in to leave my comment, somehow my old profile pic of Abby's face came up instead of my new pic (the one in the upper right corner here) of me & Rita. Just a little surprise of her face saying hello.

In the afternoon I finally got around to going to Michael's to buy frames for some pictures/paintings I've had sitting in the closet for months. Of course, one of them was the 8X10 of the pic below of our little familial unit, so I was carrying that around the store with me for a long time, looking at my gorgeous girl.

"Let's play!!"

"I'm ready for my close up, Ms. DeMille. I mean, Mama"
Running like a maniac

There were at least three other things too last night, so finally I was, like "Ok, I get it! You want me to pay attention to you and make a fuss!"

All hail the Princess
"Mmmm. Frosty Paws...."
Our girl always was really good at demanding attention! She did it pretty much every night! In the words of that crazy skank from "Fatal Attraction," she was not going to be ignored. No, never. (Carrying on with that "Fatal Attraction" thought for a moment... both Abby and Rita would also probably be really into some bunny stew... But they are not crazy skanks. Ok, they're crazy. But they're not skanks.)
Sparkly girl


"This. Place. Is. Awesome!"

So, that's why I've plastered some of my favorite pics throughout today's post: to remember (and make a fuss over) what a special girl she was.

"Nom nom nom"










And Now For Something Completely Different
"That looks good..."
When we last left Elmo & his Boy, George (hehe, see what I did there?), they were enjoying their spa day. Things got a little hairier on the Fourth. It started out fine during the day, when we enjoyed typical Fourth-type foods, including some watermelon, which George bogarted.

That night, we decided we needed to be home in case Rita was afraid of the fire works. Since this is her first Fourth of July, we weren't really sure how she'd react. You may have seen in the news about the "Big Bay Boom/Bust."

From our living room, it sounded like a rocket ship launching into space. And Rita was OK with that. But not Elmo and George. Nope, they hid under the guest bed and covered their eyes. (Or "eye" in Elmo's case. Notice, though, that he covered the space where his other eye used to be. Old habits...)
They really did have something to fear when Rita came along...


Rita would love it if they could stay forever. ("Forever" meaning until she's done killing them.)

"I'll take this! Thank you."

"I'm going to kill you, Elmo!"

"No, Mama! Must. Kill." "But, Rita, he has another Tour stop!"
Rita in the "MonkeyButt Bunnies - It's All About the Ears" cape
She got a treat for enduring that!
It's time for the boys to get back in their box and head to their next stop. By-bye, Boys. It's been fun. 

Next time...
Stay tuned for lots of news about the book (in print!!! It's HERE - but only available for purchase direct from CreateSpace so far; it'll be at Amazon soon!), and some links to guest posts and whatnot. 

July 6, 2012

What the Dog Destroyed?

"Stop doing weights, Momma!"
Calling All Destructo-Dogs! 
We have been really lucky with Rita not being a destructo-dog. Of course, we were a bit worried since her foster mom said she "ate" a love seat, but, honestly, other than attacking my 5-lb weight the other day, this is the most destruction she's ever caused.
Puppies will chew...



So, when we were approached by Liz of the Indestructible Dog Gear blog to participate in and help spread the word about her contest to win an UnbreakOBall, well, I entered Abby instead. Click HERE to submit your own destructo-dog story, and be sure to scroll down to read "The Tale of Abby & Barney: A Love Story."

This is really a cute contest - you submit pictures of your pup as well as the destruction, and write up a little description of what happened, and Liz embellishes it to highlight "The Culprit" (in this case Abby), "The Victim" (Barney) and "The Verdict" (you'll have to link over to see Abby's verdict!).


The contest runs through the end of July, and you can win an UnbreakOBall for your pup. Liz said that depending on the response, she and the makers of the UnbreakOBall might turn this into a running monthly "Indestructibility Contest"! Liz hopes to build up the biggest collection of doggie destruction evidence on the Internet, so get out there with your destructo-dog stories and help be part of the fun!

In other news...
We'll return to the final installment of the Monkey Me Elmo Tour next time, so stay tuned for news on how the Fourth went for Elmo & George, and also to find out where they are going next.

As for book news, I got the "proof" copy of What the Dog Ate today. It looks like a real book! My photo of it is not great and the title looks a bit blurry, but in real life it looks good and Charley (aka "Kona") looks extremely handsome on the cover!! Now I have to go through it carefully this weekend and make sure there's nothing funny with the formatting, but it should be for sale very soon(ish), as long as I don't find anything to change.




February 24, 2012

Three Little Birds

You might recognize the title of this post as a cheery Bob Marley song in which the titular (isn't that a funny word?) birds on his doorstep sing sweet songs and tell him not to worry, "cuz every little thing's gonna be all right."

Sadly, the three little birds I'm thinking of didn't do so well on my doorstep - or not in our backyard anyway. Every little thing was not all right. In fact, every little birdy thing was most definitely B*A*D.

First, a few years ago, there was the teenage-looking (all skinny and dorky) mourning dove that Bailey pounced on when it tried to leave the nest. (Mike had to put it in a bag and bop it one to put it out of it's misery, poor thing! And by that, I mean poor Mike, cuz he was very traumatized by the experience, what with being known as Mike of Assisi after all... Maybe not so much after me telling that story.) The mourning doves were aptly named that day.

Then, last year, there was the little birdie of some sort that Abby plucked out of a bush in our yard and promptly ate--feet, beak, feathers and all. (Amazingly, she suffered no ill side effects!) A bird in the bush may be worth half a bird in the hand (right? cuz a bird in the hand equals two in the bush...), but a bird in the mouth trumps all!

Finally, we come to this morning, when a sparrow made the mistake of flying in our slightly open sliding glass door. I was brushing my teeth when I heard a commotion in motion in our sunroom. The bird zoomed across the sunroom, with Rita in hot pursuit and smacked right into the far window. Stunned, it fell to the floor, and she pounced on it. I was trying to yell, "Leave it!", but that's not easy when your mouth is full of toothpaste! Rita tried to bring it to me. (Um, no thank you!) so I pointed outside and she took it out in the backyard where she tossed it around like a hackysack. Luckily it was an ex-bird by then! I was afraid she'd eat it, but she dug a hole and buried it. Nice of her to give it a proper burial. (Unfortunately, I had the fun task of beating her back out to the hole when we got home from Fiesta Island and digging up and disposing of the bird before she could toss it around some more!)

Today I also took Rita with me to PetSmart. She loves to go in there and look at all the colorful little song birds hopping around in their glass enclosures in the center of the store. She was sitting there, staring at them, fascinated, when she leapt straight up in the air about three feet - about to the same height as the little birdies on their perch. Luckily the glass kept the birdies safe, although they did look concerned. We got out of there after that because I didn't want to find out if PetSmart has a "you eat it, you buy it" policy.

It's a dog eat bird world out there.

Since no post is complete without a photo, here's a pic John took of Rita last week when she met up with Bernie bin Laden and Linda. She LOVES to ride with her head out the window. (We need to teach her to wear Abby's old doggles.)

And here's our latest felting endeavor - a little wooly Cass in his "gladiator suit":