Heron-cam report: I saw them! They were eating oysters!

Well it seems that, even though the weather in Northwest Florida is unusually chilly, our pal, the intrepid Heron-cam, decided to make the flight and check out what the folks were doing. (Having been unemployed for a while, he jumped at the chance!)

So guess what we learned from him: Business, schmissness. They weren't at meetings. They weren't working at their computers. Do you know what they were doing? After driving all day, they were eating oysters!!! Dozens of Apalachicola oysters. Mom says Yum! Dogdad says Yum! We say Yuck! (Heron-cam says, Not too bad at all!!)

Yep, here, for your very own eyes, is incontrovertible proof. (Also, we might add, notice that the very first photos taken with the new camera were not of yours trulies!!! How sad is that?)

While the folks were eating those oysters, Heron-cam checked out some of the local bird population: pelicans, gulls, and a bunch of small brown birds roosting for the night in a tree by the waterfront.

After dinner, the folks continued on to Panama City, but were too late to catch the sunset. In the morning, though, they found beautiful St Andrew Bay at their door -- which leads into the Gulf of Mexico.

More later from our pal the Heron-cam as long as he doesn't freeze his feathers off. (Pretty cool camera, no?)

But since this is still our blog, after all, here we are just so you won't forget what we look like. And we've learned that some of our pals are springing us from camp this Friday so we can go to the Hallowe'en pawty. We figured out how to sneak out and we'll be waiting!!
WOOF Y'ALL!!!

Jake and Just Harry

So we have a new camera -- but we're going to camp for a week...

So yeah, they went out and bought a new camera this afternoon since fixing the old one may be a costly proposition and take lots of time. That's a Yay!!! right?

But then, not so Yay, Mom has three days of meetings in Florida's Panhandle this week and Dogdad decided to drive her since the airlines have cut way back on flights between here and there. It's a pretty place (if you don't mind the pawlitics), so I guess they'll have fun between meetings.

But, you guessed it -- it's off to camp for us. So we can't win for losing. Will our heron-cam be on the job? That depends on how clever the folks are in figuring out the new machine.

We just wanted to let you all know that we'll be woofing our heads off (that's an almost literal statement) for the last days of this campaign season and will catch up as soon as Mom comes home -- or sooner if the heron-cam goes with them.

Stay tuned, as always!!

Jake and Just Harry

The wheelies are restless

While we were reading Ms. Asta's blog today, we discovered a Wheelie Wednesday note from Myrna that she was off to Paris to buy a wedding dress. Thinking we would wish her bon voyage, we started to comment -- but then, what a shock when we found the note below from the two wheelie gentlemen (?) who now inhabit our home.

Zoot alors! Eef we ad zee knoledge zat Mademoiselle Myrna was off to Paree, we woud av gone aussi. You see, we ave been in zees place more zan one mont weet leetle to do. Zee ladee of zee ouse eez full of zee promise but we wait et wait et now we are een zee desespoir. Et plus, zee camera, he eez kaput.

Bon voyage quand meme!!!

M. le professor Jacques Maigret et M. Justin Herkimer Clouseau

A bit whiny are they? A bit cranky? It's true our Mom has turned into a slug and our camera is broken. But there are some things even two wire fox terriers as spunky as we are cannot control.

Judge for yourselves.

Jake and Just Harry

Humans!! Excuses, excuses, excuses!!!

Well, hello everybody.

Wanna' hear a gazillion silly human reasons why we have been out of touch for over a month??? Sick compooter? Lots of catch-up work? "The Days of Awe?" No imagination? Travel to Tampa Bay for a presentation? Tummy bug?
But what about all those evenings when we saw She Who Controls the Keyboard reading mysteries about Hercules Poirot, allegedly to understand the wheelies better??? And all the hours she spent reading pawlitical blogs??? Or evenings listening to MSNBC???

Wanna' know how many times we pleaded with She Who Controls Not Just the Keyboard, but Our Lives to let us have at it if she wasn't going to? Every single dog-gone day! Over and over and over! And then she had the nerve to write about what the DWB means to her!!! Chutzpah, if you ask us.

Wanna' know how much we missed all our pals??? There are no words big enough to express it!


You betcha'


And wanna' know the final insult? She Who Lives with our Dogdad now says the camera got broken when they were at a college football game last weekend to enjoy their son's marching band so we ain't got no pikturs until they get it fixed!!! And who knows how long that will take.

The only positive thing we can report is that we did espy She Who Said We Maybe Could Go to Saint Louis with Them for Christmas making lots of telephone calls to find pet friendly accommodations on the way.

Sigh. Humans. Gotta' love 'em anyway, anyhow!!

Before we sign off, we do want to send our condolences to our pal, Booker's H-Mom and Dad for the sad decision they had to make. They live not too far from us and we had always intended to go visit -- but procrastination got the better of us, and now Booker is at the Rainbow Bridge and we never got to meet that unique gentleman coonhound.

Jake and Just Harry

Breaking News

Last night, we overheard a conversation between our Mom and Dogdad and his Mom, who lives in St. Loulis. Every year around this time, Mom and Dogdad discuss whether they should fly or drive to St. Louilis for the Christmas holidays. And every year -- except for two years before we were born -- they decide to fly and off we go to spend the holidays with our favorite vet and his staff. We love them too, but hey, as someone was heard to say recently -- Enough is enough!!!

But last night,the conversation we overheard included the big question to our Grandma. "What do you think about our bringing Jake and Just Harry?" She knows us because she visited here for a few weeks a year or so ago. When we heard her say, "That would be fine!" we jumped for joy.

We've also seen a few e-mails between Mom and some of our pals along the way -- so our trip may include some up-close-and-pawsonal get togethers.

As far as we know, last night, Mom and Dogdad said yes to driving with us, unless they discover any flaws in their plan. And Mom said she'd research the pet-friendly accommodations along the itinerary.

Before Just Harry came along, I went on a longish car trip to North Florida, and I loved it. I did bark all night at the first place we stayed though -- the ice machine, the air conditioning, the doors closing -- and no one slept. The second night, at a different place, I slept through the night. So this time Mom will be more careful about where we stop. And Just Harry and I both love car rides. So we are ready!!!

But stay tuned!!! And keep your paws crossed that they don't change their minds!!!



WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF WOOF!!!



Jake and Just Harry

Drumroll Please

Just Harry and I are pleased to introduce two new members of our household.

Professor Jacques Maigret (pronounced May gray) And his young partner,

Justin Herkimer Clouseau (pronounced Clues oh). Professor Jacques is the unsung younger brother of the famous French detective, Inspector Maigret, made famous by George Simenon. After years of being unappreciated, despite his PhD in underbush research, the Professor decided to leave the Continent and make his way to America to explore the mysteries of life.

Justin Herkimer is also the younger brother of a famous detective, the beloved Inspector Clouseau, renowned for his unusual, some might say bumbling, approach to crime-solving. Like the Professor, young Justin Herkimer felt unappreciated in the shadow of his famous brother -- and he too decided to seek fame and fortune in America. In a wondrous stroke of serendipity, these two curious lads met in a little town in Georgia and decided a partnership was in order. Answering an ad that we Barkalots ran for two gentlemen to share our home and take some of the pressure off, with free room and board, the Professor and Justin Herkimer traveled from Georgia to Florida. With their professional sleuthing DNA, we anticipated they would uncover many mysteries of life in these parts and perhaps come up with some good alibis for the things we are always being accused of.

When they arrived, we were shocked to discover that they looked just like us!!! What an amazing coincidence.

And, like us, never ones to shy from expressing their feelings, both the Professor and young Justin Herkimer consented to an interview with our Mom.

Mom: Professor, Justin Herkimer, what are your first impressions about your new digs?

Justin Herkimer: Digs? We luhve, luhve, luhve to dig!!! Where, where, where can we dig?

Mom: No, no, no, Justin Herkimer. Digs, that’s slang for your residence, your place, your new home. There will be no digging.

Justin Herkimer: Oh. Well, rien n’est parfait. (Nothing is perfect!!)

Professor: Don’t mind him. He still has a lot to learn. But these digs are very fine. I notice you have excellent bushes around the property. And, as you must have heard, I am an expert in underbush research. Justin Herkimer: But we see you have much stuhff inside these digs.


Mom: Stuhff?

Professor: Yes. Stuff. Birds. Camels. Seahorses. Lighthouses. Books. Paper. Photographs. Paintings. And lots of what some might call tchotchkes. And, oh yes -- more stuffed creatures that look much like us. What does it all mean?

Mom: Well, gentlemen, I've been wondering the same thing myself. How about using those professional snooping genes to explore all that stuhff, I mean stuff, and tell us what it all means. OK?

Professor: OK. Give us one week and we will make our first report.

Justin Herkimer: Oui, oui, oui!!! I luhve, luhve, luhve to make reports. Is that a nice rug over there?

September 11

We were going to write a few words to commemorate today's seventh anniversary of the unimaginable horrors that took place on September 11, 2001. But then we visited Asta's blog http://astasworld.blogspot.com/ and found a moving tribute to the canine heroes of that terrible event. Go see for yourselves, if you haven't already, but be prepared for that leaky-eye syndrome and lump-in-the throat to take over.

And there are people in this world who mistreat dogs? How could they with all this evidence of what we do for our humans when they do such terrible things to their own?

Jake and Just Harry