Will the Real Jake and Just Harry Stand Up. Please.

Uh, Barkalot Mom here. It's gotten kind of lonely with my two Boyz off in Scotland through the Fourth -- and Dogdad off to Southern California on business next week (at least he's not "Hiking the Appalachian Trail!!!")

Thanks to the Boyz' incredibly creative and imaginative buddy, Petey, I've been able to follow all their adventures across the pond -- and am just as enamored as the Boyz are of all their UK pals -- the Dughallmor Beagles, the Basset Sisters (recently discovered to be of royal lineage), Eric the Square Dog and his red zoomer, Hamish, and the others.

But what befuddles me is discovering that the Barkalots their Dogdad and I know here in South Florida may not really be who they are.

As evidence I submit the following:

THIS??

OR THIS???
THIS??

OR THIS??? Who knew??? It's a puzzlement!!! But we're happy they're having such a grand time -- and can only guess how they'll be celebrating Gabbi's birthday on the July 3rd...

Bonnie Banks and Bonnie Braes

If you haven't already noticed that I'm over in Scotland for a wee visit to celebrate my girl, Gabbi's, birthday, then hie yourself over to Petey's Playhouse for a look see.

http://peteysplayhouse.blogspot.com-

And here are the words to a song I'll be singing when we all pull up to Beagle Land!!! It's kind of a sad song for broken-hearted lovers -- but since Gabbi and I live so far apart, there's always a bit of nostalgia in our hearts.

By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes,
Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomond.
Where me and my true love were ever wont to gae
On the bonnie, bonnie banks O' Loch Lomond.

O ye'll tak' the high road and I'll tak' the low road,
An' I'll be in Scotland afore ye;
But me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie, bonnie banks O' Loch Lomond.

'Twas there that we parted in yon shady glen,
On the steep, steep side O' Ben Lomon',
Where in purple hue the Hieland hills we view,
An' the moon comin' out in the gloamin'

The wee birdies sing and the wild flow'rs spring,
And in sunshine the waters are sleepin';
But the broken heart it kens nae second spring,
Tho' the waefu' may cease frae their greetin'.

A Theory about the Wheelie-Napping READ BELOW FOR OUR BLOGAVERSARY POST

This is just a theory -- but recently some greedy developers here in Florida have tried to remove the wood stork from the endangered list. H-C. Bird was wondering if it's possible that the wood storks have sent out one of their own to wheelie-nap a newborn to hold as leverage???

Just a thought. We don't want to point the paw at an innocent creature -- but Joe Stains asked what is the motivation, and this came to mind.

Jake

Our Second Blogaversary!!!!!

While our Heron Cam, H.C. Bird, is out trying to find Myrna and Gilbert's wheelie-napped newborn, we decided to take a moment to celebrate our second blogaversary!! Yep, that's right, two years. In scrolling through our older posts, we can't believe that much time has gone by. All the memories -- both happy and sad -- are so fresh.

By way of an introduction to those who may not know us, below is our very first post:

June 20, 2007

Hello Everybody,

I'm Jake, a 5 and a half year old wire fox terrier of a rather philosophical nature. My brother, Just Harry, who Mom and Dad rescued after Katrina hit South Florida in 2005 before moving off to devastate the Gulf Coast, is about 2 and a half. He's like the kid who sits in the back of the classroom and says "who me?" when the teacher calls on him.

We're very very different, even though we're of the same breed. But what we do like to do together is run back and forth from the front of the house to the back and bark our heads off whenever we hear a funny noise. Sometimes it's just Dad pounding something on the kitchen counter; sometimes it's the noise the fax machine makes to say it's done faxing. And sometimes, it's our neighbors parking their cars in their driveway. Imagine that!! Whatever, we're there!!

Mom works from home, so this barking is not always a good thing, especially when she's on the phone with a client. But she too is pretty philosophical and keeps trying to teach us what QUIET! means (often it means a treat if we do quiet down).

So that's it for this first blog. We don't really know what to expect, but we look forward to meeting cool dogs and their folks, and perhaps even a cat or too.

We were ecstatic when we got immediate comments from pups who have since become such a big big part of our lives: Gussie, Jackson, Butchy and Snickers, Lenny, Asta from Up Over, Asta from Down Under, Maggie (that was before Mitch), Bussie, and Ruby Bleu!!!

As the blog continued, and Mom figured out how to post photos, our world expanded and today we're so happy to have friends from all over the globe -- those closest to us, the Key West Collies (JH and Essex have a budding "relationship" and may get to meet if our folks ever decide to travel south instead of north or west) and Madison and Joey and Moose; and those farther away in Australia and Malaysia and Singapore and Mexico and India and Holland and Gibraltar/Spain and Canada and Switzerland and Britain and Scotland -- including our newest friends, the Basset Sisters and the Dughallmor Beagles (especially Jakey's adorable girlfriend Gabbi). And not to forget our pals in Massachusetts and Kentucky and Iowa and Arizona and Oklahoma and Kansas and Georgia and Delaware and Pennsylvania and elsewhere. Whew!!!

That first blog, who knew that we'd have girlfriends??? And who knew that we'd have two wheelie look-alikes -- Professor Jacques Maigret and Inspector Justin Herkimer Clouseau (currently off helping H.C. Bird look for the stolen wheelie baby). Indeed, who knew we'd have H.C. Bird???

We don't get to blog as much as we'd like -- in two years, we have only 237 posts to our name. But our wirey hearts are always concerned about what's going on with all our pals and their human families -- both their joyful moments and their sad ones. And just the daily routine of pee-mail and barks and walkies and stuffie destruction and car rides and treats and barkdays and gotcha days and, like today, blogaversaries!!!

So here's two years of wirey love to you all!!!

Jake and Just Harry (and Mom and Dogdad!) [Photo from our Christmas in St. Louis, notice the once-a-year sweaters and the boots on she who controls our lives!]

Message from the Heron-Cam

Our pal, the Heron-Cam just left a note on Asta's blog and wanted us to repeat it here. He is beyond distressed that a B I R D could do such a dastardly thing and is leaving immediately to search for the perp. We know our Heron-Cam well and cannot imagine that he is in any way responsible for the kidnapping. Birds of a feather do not always flock together. And, in any case, these two do not seem to be of a feather.

Jake

Dear Friends,

This is Jake and Just Harry's Heron-Cam. I just learned of the terrible tragedy perpetuated by a sinister and evil-looking B I R D. Please, please, please realize that, although we are both of the avian group, I was in no way involved and wish only the quickest recovery for Myrna and Gilbert's baby son.

I was enjoying a little bit of down time, but in light of this terrible emergency, I have decided that I will do my best to search the skies and the favorite watering holes of similar long-legged birds and see what I can find.

After that eerie ransom note, there is no doubt that this was a malicious act, and not a simple misguided stork delivery.

I have also asked Jake and Just Harry's wheelie look alikes, Maigret and Clouseau, to put their thinking caps on and see what they can come up with.

Your saddened friend,
Heron-Cam

A Rainbow, A Turtle, and a Quick Woof!!!

I know many of you have the same problems we do: unreliable help. It's happened to us before -- but this time was pretty egregious. Almost a month since we've been able to woof it up with our pals.

Mom's been traveling and working hard, and trying to make sense of some sad things that have happened -- but that's no excuse for neglecting what really matters -- keeping up with all of our friends. So we apologize and hope you all remember us. We did see that our fellow Floridians, the Key West Collies, just celebrated their second blogaversary -- and we joined the DWB just a few days after them, on June 20th, 2007. So maybe, if she who controls our lives remembers -- we'll be back to celebrate.

In the meantime, it's been raining and raining here -- which is actually a very good thing because Lake Okeechobee -- the big hole in the map when you look down at an aerial -- which is critical to our water supply -- was getting pretty low. And now, after all the rains, it's just a few feet away from normal. Rain on a spring afternoon often brings rainbows -- and we saw this one a few days ago.We also had some excitement one evening when we discovered a lost turtle on the edge of the golf course. Perhap you remember that we had sniffed out a turtle a few weeks ago, but when we went back to help move him back to the lake, he had disappeared. We don't know if this was the same one -- but Dogdad took us home and then went back and carried him over to the lake so he wouldn't get hurt by any of the cars that speed along the roadways. And then, OK, and then -- there is us. We have been freshly "plucked," once again revealing wirey ears and polka dot bodies. We each lost about two pounds of fur in the process and Mom discovered that we weren't the roly poly porky dogs she thought.

Last night we were watching the Cardinals get beaten by Cleveland (we know someone -- not us -- is happy about that). I was on the couch with the folks -- but we didn't know where Just Harry was. And then we spied a little black nose.
Yep, that's my brother. If the name doofus wasn't already taken, we might apply it to His Silliness.
And that's all for now.

Jake of Florida