A Sad Tale of Birthday Toys for the Boy(z)!

HOW IT WAS ON JANUARY 1, 2013 (AND HOW IT'S ALWAYS BEEN SINCE THAT FATEFUL DAY IN SEPTEMBER 2005)!

Hey Just Harry, I bet mom and dad got us new toys for my birthday!!!.

 What a cool Christmas Goose! It makes goosey honking sounds!!! Listen!

Gee, you;'re right, Jake. I think I'll just try it...

 Wow, goosey honking sounds....

 I like this!

  

I really like this.I think I'll keep it.

But what's that over there? It's a long-armed monkey!

You're right, Jake. A long-armed monkey!

It doesn't make goosey honking sounds, but it tastes good and it squeaks!!!

I like it, I really like it!!! I think I'll just keep it.

Oh well, there's always next year. Sigh.

 

Happy New Year! and Happy Eleventh Barkday to Me!!!!!!!!

 Yep, it's true. I am eleven years old today (in human terms). Born January 1, 2002.

Mom tells me that I am still the adorable puppy she fell in love with eleven years ago 

but that I seem to like snoozing a lot more than I did before 

and that I sometimes seem a bit, just a bit, grumpy. Dogdad tells me that he knows if I ask him to come see him, I will walk towards him and then turn in a circle and walk away. (So what else is new?)

Last night just before midnight, I wrote to a few of my friends and guess what...they all said they would be coming to visit around noon -- with the Boston Symphony Orchestra! I am sooooo excited! What a cool way to start off the new year!

Over the holidays, Just Harry and I had to spend a week at our favorite camp while the folks went on their annual St. Louis trek. They did take our flat selves, however, so it was kinda as though we were there. They got to see Gussie and Teka. 

And they got to spend a few nights on the Christmas tree.

 

Of course the folks had to visit the Cardinals store! 

The star of their Christmas, however, was none other than an adorable 7-month young lady who captivated everybody with her sparkly blue eyes, engaging smile, and sweet temperament -- our niece, Miss Olivia.   

 

We hope one day our real selves will meet her. 

Until then, Happy Happy New Year everybody!!!! We're hoping that our mom will have made a new year's resolution to help us blog a bit more so that we can stay in touch with all of you who mean so much to us!!!
So sayeth I, Jake, on this first day of 2013! 


(JH says Happy New Year too!)

Benched!

So here I am, trying to blog after a month or so and I discover that NEW BLOGGER has taken over and my mom isn't smart enough to figure out how to use it. Fortunately, she is smart enough to send out an APB to some of our good pals -- Gussie and Dexter and Laciecakes and Asta and Archie and Jake and Fergie and Taffy and Molly -- successful bloggers who don't seem to have any problems with it.  And, thanks to Asta -- the sweetest pupper who ever packed her bags to move to Buda Pest with her mommi and daddi where her mommi is painting up a storm -- and Gussie -- the smartest pupper who ever moved from state to state to state with his fambly but has remained an ardent Red Bird fan -- mom seems to have figured it out. Or not. This morning -- after giving up in frustration last night -- she kind of stumbled onto what was missing yesterday -- but will she find it again? Who knows.

In the meantime, what I want to show you is how my life has deteriorated. See my bench? It's a perfect bench. I can stretch out on it facing west and see what's going on outside. Or I can stretch out on it facing east and see what's going on inside. And it's just a woof away from mom's computer so we can exchange meaningful glances during the day while she's working.

But -- suddenly -- there's STUFF on my bench. Papers. Reports. Mom says it's because she and dad are working on a perfect storm of a project and have run out of flat surfaces to stow the STUFF. All I have to say is it's an intrusion on my property... It's not fair. This is one of my favorite spots...But, oh well, it's time for a nap.

So sayeth Jake! Got that NEW BLOGGER?????

Just Harry's Gotcha' Day!!!!

Time goes so fast, doesn't it? It seems like just yesterday that I met my soon-to-be brother at the home of the Truett's in Orlando. Alle and Jack, who are angels now, were there to meet me too. Once Jake and I had a nose-to-nose encounter, and everything seemed to be copasetic, off we drove to my new home in South Florida. That was then.

And here we are now. I'm kind of eightish, we think, and Mr. Jake is ten and three-quarters. We've learned that Dad cannot resist our wirey faces when he is in the kitchen having a snack. It just takes a bit of patience, and some doubling down.

A few barks always help too...

And more patience because we know he can't hold out much longer.

Yep, tonight it's PEANUT BUTTER ON CELERY!!!!

Looking back on the past seven years here, I think I'm a pretty fortunate dog. Jake is still kind of the alpha, but I've learned a lot from him. I've even learned that, when it comes to reminding Mom that it's dinner time, if I put my left ear up... like a mirror image of Jake... the food seems to come even quicker. (No pictures here -- but a few in a post a few below.)

For those of you who haven't been here before, if you click on September 10 posts from years before, you'll see that I've been loved and cherished and that I'm a much more confident dog than when I was rescued that fateful day seven years ago. Why I can even tolerate firecrackers on the fourth of July, when originally they made my legs go limp and my tail touch the ground.

It's all about love!!! LOVE!!!! And that's what we get every single day ... along with full tummies and squeaking toys (what's mine is mine and what's his is mine too), and treats (always equally shared unless it's a chew and I wait until Jakey drops his and then pounce)

Just Harry

PS to my friends in the UK: I was named after a certain prince who said once, when asked how he liked to be called, Harry, Just Harry!

Finally, a word from Jake the Weatherdog!!!

Hi pals!! Remember me? Jake the Weatherdog?

It seems I have been derelict in my duties as a reporter of Hurry Canes, as Isaac has been drifting past our shores without my commenting on it. Fortunately, my good friends, the Key West Collies, reminded me of my responsibilities. And fortunately too, they have escaped direct contact with the center of the storm and are doing fine.

For the most part, the storm here in South Florida has been mild-- so far not reaching Hurry Cane status. We put up shutters anyway on the most prominent of our windows to avoid any projectiles from the wind -- but it was pretty quiet all day Sunday. Today, however, as the storm continues off the west coast of Flori-duh to its destination with the northern Gulf Coast, we are in the dreaded northeast quadrant of the huge storm field and it is windier and wetter than yesterday. Lots of wet fur and paws from our trips outside -- but nothing more serious.

The great irony of Isaac is that most of our radio and TV stations have been dedicating significant programming over the last weeks to commemorating the 20th anniversary of Andrew, which devastated our area on August 24th, 1992. JH and I weren't even born, and Mom and Dad weren't even dating yet, let alone married. She lived on the edge of the storm and lost half her roof and a lot of furniture and other things -- so she hasn't been too into this remembering deal. But along comes Isaac, as if to say, what's with this commemoration stuff? It's my turn! Look at me!

And of course, Katrina hit New Orleans and the northern Gulf Coast seven years to the day tomorrow. (We owe JH to Katrina, so his Gotcha Day will be coming up in September.) So we'll be watching closely and hoping that Mother Nature doesn't repeat herself with Isaac and the Giulf Coast. Keep everyone in your prayers, pals... OK???

That's it from your Weatherdog for the moment.

Giving HEAT new meaning

Yes, like most of the country and elsewhere in the world, temperatures here in South Florida have been in the upper 90s for the better part of the last few months. When is Spring not Spring? When it is more like Summer -- which finally moved in officially a day ago, bringing more of the same.
Or as someone said in 1225:
"Sumer is icumen in.
Lhude sing cuccu!"
But there is Summer Heat and then there is MIAMI HEAT. While as most of you our pals know, our folks are rabid St. Louis Cardinals fans, and baseball lovers, sometimes even they can't help but get excited when the local basketball team makes it to the top. So yes, there we all were last night watching to see that last swish of the ball through the net as the MIAMI HEAT did what they had promised two years go: won the NBA championship -- and did it in five games at home.
During the basketball finals, a Cardinals baseball game was occasionally on TV the same time as a Heat match. It was fun seeing the absolute differences in the two sports which have so many folks preferring one over the other. Chacun a son gout. To each his taste. As for us, we prefer peanut butter, popcorn, cheese, chicken, ice cubes, celery, and wally melon. AND BEISBOL!

Jake and Just Harry