Well, another weekend flew by with record speed. We had beautiful, warm, sunny weather, unlike most of my friends back east, who were enjoying (or not) plenty of snow and/or sleet.

I think this is going to be a Randon Monday post….

Thanks to whoever it was that added a vote for Misty and a vote for Sasha to those my family placed at MangoMinster. We never really entertained any idea of winning, so the girls are not devestated by the results. They enjoyed the opportunity to compete and to meet some new friends, so mission accomplished!
*
*

*
*

We got the results of Misty’s biospy back; it was indeed a concerous growth. They took out the whole thing, so we don’t currently plan to do any other treatment, for which we all are most greatful. We will, however, be keeping a closer watch on the old girl from now, so that any re-occurence can be caught early on and dealt with quickly.

We had some real excitement on Thursday night/Friday morning….Daniel casually mentioned Thursday evening that there was water dripping onto my car…in the garage. As it was raining at the time, we thought it was a leak in the roof. NOT! Several hours later ( wee hours of Friday) Jim went to check on the water and discovered….lots of water on the floor of garage and a burst hot water pipe just above the water heater. Sigh. Only fix possible was to turn off all water to the house, and wait until morning to phone a plumber….and the insurance company.

Long story made short, over $500 to plumber to replace pipes, and as yet undetermined amounts of other damage. We’re still in the “drying it out” phase…but we do know a bit of sheet rock will need replaced for sure. I have to do some digging around to figure what the water on the floor damaged…

Knitting, reading, and watching….yes, I’ve been doing all three. I owe a knitting report…and will have it up soon, I promise.

Reading: January beat all my expectations for number of books read! I finished five books, which is three more than I had planned on. Two qualified for the Flashback Challenge. Little Women, which I’ve already reported on, and The White Dragon, by Anne McCafferey, which counts double. Once for the Flashback Challenge, and once for the Shelfari group read-along.

I also read two Darkover books by Marion Zimmer Bradely, (sci-fi) and the first two Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich. I know that adds up to six, but I didn’t finish the second Stephanie Plum until after the 1st of February. I’ll try to write some reviews later….

Watching: I want to save this for a seperate post, too, so I’ll just say this; lots of variety, no football!

Help! With both Sasha and Misty competing in the Cracker Dog Insane Terrier category, and me with only one vote, I need help! Please, please hop on over to MangoMinster’s viewing ring and give one of the girls a vote, okay?

If you don’t like fluffy dogs, and who doesn’t? You could give your vote to our friend Gretchen, but……if you do that, don’t tell the girls!

*
Misty Says, Vote for me, I’m cute! (and now I should get the pity vote, too, since I just had surgery, right?)
*
*

*
Sasha says…..Vote For Me, or I’ll, I’ll, I’ll…..do something! You know I will…. Bark! Bark!
*
*

Misty is home and doing well. We won’t get the biopsy results till next week, probably. She has to be quiet for a few days ( right, with a CDIT!) and she will have to wear the ” cone of shame” whenever mom can’t be right there with her. Thanks for all the prayers and good thoughts!

Barks, Sasha (and Ruth)

Sigh. Misty here. Mom made me go to the Dr. today. She got that stupid piece of paper that says I gotta pay the county money for being their dog, and that I gotta get shots! To say that I wasn’t excited about this would be a total under-statement.
*
*

*
*

So, this afternoon we all piled into the car (Sasha “got” to come along) and drove off to the Dr’s office. Sasha got all whiney and worried, but heck, all she had to do was get on the scale! She’s not as light as she used to be, heh heh, tipping the scale at 13 pounds this time. I remain in good form, holding firm at a little less than 15 1/2 pounds. Pretty good for an old lady, eh?

We sent Sasha back to the car with the boy because she just couldn’t calm down, and mom and I waited in the little room.(forever) I may have been a bit nervous, myself. Mom kept petting me and saying it was going to be fine, but I wasn’t so sure about that!

The nice lady Dr. came in and looked at my eyes, (yes, I have small cataracts, I know) and my teeth (darn good) and then started poking around in more personal places. Ahem…there’s a reason they call them privates! That’s when they found “it”. I’ve got a nodule in one of my mammaries. It’s just a little thing and doesn’t bother me at all….but they both said I HAD to have it out.

Worse still, they’re going to do it tomorrow, so I don’t really have time to recover from all the stress of today’s visit. I am NOT looking forward to this. I’d better get treats and walkies tonight to make up for what I’ll be missing the next couple of days!

Oh hey, on the lighter side, wanna see a funny picture we took of Sasha? Tee heee….she doesn’t know what dad was doing…..Woof!
*
*

The topic for 1/30/10 is….Water.

That makes sense after the last challene, which was “fire”. Two of the traditional four Classical Elements. I wonder if “earth” and “air” will be coming?

*

*

*
*
*
I had two photos I really liked for this challenge and I couldn’t decide between them, so…
First, water in motion
*
*

Surf at South Point, Big Island, Hawaii

*
*
Second, water which is still-looking, and restful or reflective…
*
*

Rowboat in the Irish Fjiord

*
*
Don’t forget to go visit the other Round Robin photos, too.

I’ve been blogging for three years now and have been honored to receive a blog award now and then, but I’m not sure any make me as happy as this Sweet Friend award from Grace does.
*
*

*
*
The blog has been a great way to meet new friends, and I truly appreciate the title of friend from Grace!

The rules are as follows:

1. Copy and paste the award on your blog. (check)
2. List who gave the award to you and use a link to her blog (or hyperlink). (check)
3. List 10 things that make you happy. (check)
4. Pass the award on to other bloggers and visit their blog to let them know!

Okay, so ten things that make me happy (mostly random order. Hubs is first on purpose)
1. Hubby Dearest
2. spending time with my boys
3. my pups
4. tea
5. my friends
6. Scrabble
7. reading/books
8. knitting
9. travelling, seeing new things
10. music/singing

Passin the award on:

1. Ellen
2. Holly
3. Monica
4. Amy
5. Lisa
6. Alison

I have many other sweet bloggy friends, including Grace, whoc gave the award, and Chan, who has already received it from Grace as well. I just don’t know what I’d do without my friends! Thanks to all.

*
Greetings to all you doggies out there in blog land! (and the humans, too)
Today, I, Sasha, Queen of the House, will explain How To Take Your Humans On Walkies!

Pay close attention now, you’ll want to make sure you get this down for future reference.
1. First, when the time is right for walkies, make sure you have the proper humans around. (I make sure mom or dad are here to either do the walkie or make the boys go out with us)

2. Sit nicely on the couch, or whatever throne you like best, and look really, really interested anytime someone says something or makes any kind of movement at all.
*
*

*
*
3. When they get up off their tails, jump up and bark like mad. Then jump all over your nearest dog friend and growl and snarl and act like you’re fighting. (Humans think this is cute)
*
*

*
*
4. If they move toward the stairs, hurry over to help them up to the room where they keep their skin coverings (poor things have very little fur) and make lots of noise to encourage them to hurry it up already!

5. Submit to the indignity of collars, harnasses, and leashes. I know it’s hard to sit still through all of that, but some things you just have to do.
*
*

*
*
6. Smile, since they are finally ready to do your bidding. Then escort them out the door and around the neighborhood, or where ever you favorite place for walkies is ! (Don’t let them forget the stupid bags, or else the other humans in the area get really ticked off)

Follow these simple steps for walkie success! Good sniffing to you. Now get out there and walk!

Barks, Sasha***

*
My apologies to any of you who been coming here expecting to see beautiful photos of myself (Misty) or possibly you were wishing to see Sasha (though I can’t imagine why). Mom has been going on about her computer being in the shop again, and not having my (our) pictures on any of the other computers. Aren’t humans silly? I mean, why aren’t my photos on ALL of the computers around here?!

Let me tell you a little bit about me. I was born way back in December of 1998 right here in this very house. There were three of us pups, all girls, all black. I was the most special pup of all, so I got to stay here and live with my doggie mommy, while the other two girls had to go away to other homes. I wanted to show you one of my baby pictures, but mom said they didn’t have digital cameras back then, so it’s not possible. I asked about scanned pictures, but she said, “do you know hard it is to take pictures of all black puppies?”

So, I have to settle for the oldest picture mom has of me, when I’m hardly a pup at all! I’m the slender, shiny, black dog and the pretty (but chunky) brownish one is my doggy mommy, Wee Bonnie Lassie.
*
*

*
*
When I was young I was quite a guard dog. I never let a bird, or a cat, or any other creature come into my yard. If any of them tried to come in, I’d run at them, barking my head off and showing my teeth, and they would run or fly away in a big hurry. Once, I actually caught a bird! I was so excited, and ran in to tell mom. She came out to see and was not nearly as excited as I expected her to be. Humans! Who can understand them? I got that stupid cat from next door once, too. I caught her in the garden when she thought I couldn’t get to her because of the gate being closed. Tee hee heee…..only downside to that was, crazy cat clawed me prety good. But I tell ya, she didn’t try to sneak into my yard for a long time after that!

I had a favorite toy back in the old days, too. It had been a Barney, which belonged to the smallest boy. Of course, after it became mine, it didn’t look the same…heh….no stuffing makes a really big difference. I carried it everywhere with me, and freaked out if I didn’t know where it was, especially if I wasn’t feeling very happy or good.
*
*

*
*
I used to be a very slim, active dog. I got to go places with the people all the time. Now, I stay home most of the time, except for walkies. I’m still in really good shape, but I like to fake the humans out and pretend I can’t jump up on the couch. Heh heh…make them help me up, and make a fuss over me. I have to keep them well-trained, and let them know who is in charge here, you know!

I’ll be happy to tell you some more about magnifecent me some other time. For now, I gotta go nap, so I’ll be ready for crazy barking at the door, the window, and anything that moves in my sight in the morning.

Woofs, Misty