08/22/12 More news from New Mexico

Hi Pals,

Summer has left New Mexico and it has been raining thus preventing the plumbing pipes from being installed from the main house to the workshop/garage. The storm that came through the other day filled all of the pipe trenches with water and a bigger storm is supposed to hit today. Daddy is in a state of panic because we have to get this done so we can move here, but if it continues to rain things are going to get delayed more. Our visit this time was so momma could drive her car and leave it here thus daddy would not have to tow momma's car on the back of a Uhaul trailer. Daddy will be driving us back in his truck which will have the hauling trailer so the humans will have more room for boxes and furniture.

The framing of the house is almost done but we can't call for an inspection until the plumbing and electrical is installed. Please keep you paws crossed that everything goes well. Daddy is very tired and worn out and wants the house FINISHED!

I have to get off of daddy's computer because he has limited amount of internet time and he doesn't want me to hog it up. We saw a deer yesterday but no Elk or Antalopes. There have been no more reports of bears roaming about (the bear that was seen was captured and killed - that's so sad).

Hugs and kisses,

Coco Rose - looking around for her Thundershirt...

08/20/12 We're in New Mexico

Hi pals,

Daddy is letting momma us his computer to do a diary entry so here goes:

We left California before the sun came up and momma almost went the wrong way in San Bernardino due to some freeway work that was doing on, but luckily she choose the right road in the split and we had no further confusions. Momma has never driven this far on her own and since she was driving her Cruiser she didn't know when she would have to stop and get gas but knew NOT to buy gas in Needles because the gas stations exploit all of the drivers by charging $1.00 more per gallon because they know there will be people like momma, who will need gas and will have no choice but to pay more for it. Anyhow, momma noticed the gas indicator on her car was close to empty and she had no choice but to pull into a gas station that was charging $4.99 a gallon. Momma gave the clerk a twenty dollar bill and when she was done pumping the gas, she discovered the gas meter had put in THIRTY dollars of gas (six gallons). Yup, momma got more gas than she paid for and no she did not offer to pay for the extra gas because she felt they were stealing from the motorists so she hurried up and got out of there.

Since the gas tank was not filled up we drove across the state line into Arizon and now the sunny skies were peppered with big, black and angry storm clouds. It was here that the clouds started sending down rain. Daddy had warned momma that she might encounter rain so she had bought new winshield wipers the day before our trip and replaced the old ones on her car. This was a very good move because the sprinkles turned to rain and when momma pulled into another gas station in Arizona the gas prices were $3.49 a gallon which was more reasonable but by now the storm was in full swing with lots of lighting and thunder, so I was not happy. Puffy and I had to share one crate on the trip so he was trying to comfort me and that helped.

Right before we crossed the Arizon boarder into New Mexico it started raining so hard that people were putting on their hazard lights and pulling onto the emergency lanes of the freeway to wait out the storm. Momma just happened to be behind a big semi-truck that was moving very slowly and it's wheels were clearing water off the road thus making our travel much easier. We stayed behing the semi-truck for about 20 minutes going very slowly on the freeway until the storm passed and the skies cleared up.

We made it to New Mexico around 5:30pm and had no problems finding our development, but we did have issues with driving the Cruiser on the dirt roads. The development is supposed to put loose gravel on the roads but they haven't done this lately so most of the roads were only dirt. The cruiser was sliding all over the place but that wasn't the only problem. The road to our house has a pretty steep hill and since hardly anyone uses this road because of the incline lots of gravel was still on the road. However the wrong type of gravel had been used and the tires on momma's car could not grasp anything and the car kept on sliding backwards. After several attempts of going up the hill we finally made it and found daddy waiting for us in the garage.

After a good nights sleep we got to explore our property the next day and boy did Puffy have fun tinkling on everything he could lift his leg up to - BOL. He realling liked "watering" the corn plants in momma's garden. We didn't see any of the Jackalopes or rabbits that daddy claims have been destroying the garden. Insted, all we saw was rows and rows of WEEDS in between the carrots and other plants that are growing. Daddy did show momma where the hoe is and told her she could take over caring for the garden.

We saw a big five point Elk in a field with his two girlfriends. You should have seen the larger female Elk run because she was so graceful and pretty. She kind of hops as she runs and it's hard to believe something as big as she was could move with such ease.

Puffy had runny poops on daddy's new bed last nigth. He pottied all over the blanket and momma stuck her foot in it when she turned over. She woke daddy up and told him to turn on the light and boy was the bed a mess. Daddy let us go outside for a bit and momma stripped the bed down. When we were allowed back inside daddy put us in the crate to sleep.

Anyhow, that's it for now. I will try to bark at you all again later.

Hugs and kisses,

Coco Rose

08/17/12 Last bark for a while

Well pals, Puffy, momma and I will be on an adventure tomorrow early in the morning. While it is still dark outside we will hit the road and hopefully head to New Mexico, but since momma is sort of “direction challenged” we may end up someplace else. For those smart pups who are sitting there shaking their heads wondering why momma doesn’t use the GPS system that is in the car there are several reasons: First momma is severely hearing impaired so she would not be able to understand what the voice is instructing her to do and therefore she would get flustered and irritated, which believe me isn’t a good thing. Second, since she wouldn’t be able to hear the voice on the GPS, momma would be taking her eyes off the road while trying to read the map displayed on the GPS which probably isn’t a good idea either. But the biggest reason is momma has had her car for seven years and NEVER learned how to even turn the GPS on and doesn’t feel like struggling to do so now at the last minute, so please keep your paws cross that we don’t end up in Mexico with momma sitting along some stretch of beach kicking back a few Margaritas and chomping on some tacos, although eating some tacos sounds pretty yummy to me.

I hope when we get back Dogster resolved some of the flea problems that they are having. When we tried to do our tributes to pups that have recently crossed the rainbow bridge ERROR 4 messages occurred while downloading their pictures. In one instance momma tried and tried to post a photo until we wore Dogster out and they finally accepted it without momma actually doing anything different, so why we received the error messages remains a mystery.

Another flea we are encountering is one we experienced months ago where Dogster refuses to REMEMBER ME after we leave the site and yes, we have the REMEMBER ME box checked but alas, apparently I am a stranger to Dogster so each time we return we have to log in again.

I’ll bark at you in a couple of weeks. Stay happy, healthy and with lots of cookies to fill your tummies. I love you all!

Hugs and kisses,

Coco Rose

08/15/12 Road trip

Hi pals,

Guess what?! We’re going on a road trip to New Mexico this week. Momma made the mistake of telling daddy that she was feeling left out because she doesn’t get to see what all is happening in New Mexico so tonight when daddy was talking to momma he suggested that she load up the car with Puffy and me and come to New Mexico for two weeks.

We will be leaving early Saturday morning and driving straight through unless momma’s car breaks down or we get lost. When we come back home, daddy will be with us.

Anyhow, momma is not going to take her computer with her on this trip because she is going to pack the car with pictures and plants that she wants to take so please forgive us if we miss any special occasions.

Stay well, happy and with lots of cookies in your bed.

Coco Rose

08/14/12 Thank you Dogster

Momma says I’m supposed to thank Dogster for selecting my diary as one of the featured diaries of the day so here goes…

Coco takes a deep breath and says in a very monotone voice “Thank you, but I want to know how come my diary was the last one picked?” “I’m the Princess therefore I should always be FIRST, FIRST, FIRST, FIRST.”

Coco adjust the crown on her head, stamps her pretty little feet and walks away with a cookie in her mouth.

PS - Please save your zealies: Christmas will be here before you know it and I've been a very good girl so I expect lots of pressies then.

Hugs and kisses,

Coco Rose

08/12/12 More news from New Mexico

Hi pals,

Today all the heat and humid conditions returned so it was another day with all windows and doors shut with the air conditioner running. Puffy and I got to play bunny tag for a little bit but since Arleenton is still not grasping the concept of no peeing on the floor, we don’t get to play too long. Just enough to let Arleenton hop around and stretch out her legs then she has to go back into her house.

Daddy informed momma that the electrician did not show up for work on Friday so once again things with the New Mexico home are not coming along as needed. He also couldn’t get anyone to come out and fix the grading between the two buildings so tomorrow he is going to go to town and rent a BIG trencher and install the trench for the water line to the house, then after the trench is done, he will take the trencher back and rent a small Bobcat and do the required grading and fill trench after the plumber installs the water line.

Aside from daddy having problems getting people who he hires to do the required jobs, there have been several big rain, lighting and thunder storms where daddy is and because he is staying in that terrible trailer that leaks, he is not having fun. He sprayed the top of the trailer with LEAK ENDER that you see advertised on TV, but the trailer is well over 20 years old and wasn’t taken care of. The top of the trailer has all kinds of leaks and although it’s not leaking as much as it did when he initially purchased the trailer, it still leaks, so he put a tarp across the top of it and tied it to the bottom of the trailer. Problem solved? NOPE! Along with the monsoon rains come strong winds that have ripped out the rivets in the tarp so daddy has had to zip tie the tarp to various areas of the trailer to keep it from blowing away, but with each new storm come more winds and they in turn rip out the zip ties so it is a constant battle – BOL. Daddy told us that sometimes the winds blow the rain under the tarp so even though the roof of the trailer is covered he still manages to get wet. Poor daddy!

When daddy was home he showed momma pictures of the house and garage/workshop that he took with his camera and downloaded onto his laptop but he neglected to send any of the pictures to momma’s computer to we still don’t have any photos to post. Apparently most of the framing of the house is done and this coming week it should be finished and daddy and his helper will start on the wall boarding. He is still saying that he wants to come back and get everyone at the end of this month but without the electricity and plumbing done the house can not be signed off for occupancy so we will just have to wait and see what happens. We’re just hoping daddy comes back and gets us before the snows and ice hit the roads because we certainly don’t want to find black ice again that was too scary.

Daddy did tell momma that there are all kinds of plants coming up in the garden that he planted but he has yet to know what anything is except for the carrots that the wild bunnies have been enjoying and some onions. He said there is something with big yellow flowers on it he thinks it might be watermelon or cantaloupe but since he didn’t mark where he planted anything nor did he keep the empty seed packages, he isn’t sure what anything really is except for the carrots – BOL. This problem hasn’t bothered the wild rabbits because they are making themselves right at home in the garden and have even stopped running from daddy when he tries to chase them away. The only rabbit that has not invaded the garden is the huge rabbit that daddy at first thought was a lost dog until he saw the ears on it. It is some type of wild rabbit but due to its size it hasn’t figured out how to get into the yard yet since the yard is fenced.

There have been no sightings of deer, antelope or elk lately because they are busy elsewhere. Also the bear that was seen roaming close by has apparently gone back into the forest. The only thing that daddy sees regularly is the hawk that lives in a dead tree on our property and swoops down once in a while to snag some tasty mouse or other small mammal for a snack. We still don’t know if there are owls about so momma will do some research to see if they are common to the New Mexico area because some of the owl species is large enough that they could feasibly capture Puffy or me and turn us into dinner if the humans were not careful.

Sorry we still don’t have any photos to post but we will have some eventually. Our front door is really pretty and momma can’t wait to post a photo of it.

Hugs and kisses,

Coco Rose

08/11/12 Rain, thunder and lighting

Hi pals,

It has been triple digit hot in Southern California all week long. Today was no exception but along with the hot, muggy day we got thunder, lighting and rain. I don’t mind the rain even though it tends to make my feet uncomfortable and messes up my pretty hairdo. However, I turn into a panting, whining mess when thunder and lighting play in the sky. I was so scared that I left ”pressies” on the floor in the big bedroom. Of course after that I no longer had to worry about having to go potty outside in the elements so I’m not going to apologize for my actions – BOL. Also, my “accident” helped momma get some motivation to finally mop the bedroom floor so she should actually be thanking me, don’t you think? Puffy of course had to copy me and he too left momma “pressies” but he isn’t afraid of thunder and lighting – Bol, BOL.

I escaped getting in trouble by shaking, whining and acting like the world was going to come to an end. When momma picked me up to comfort me I shivered in her arms and made soft groaning noises that I know my momma can’t resist (see Cleo, this is how you are supposed to work it)! Not only did I not get in trouble, but I scored a cookie too: It works every time.

Hugs and kisses,

Coco Rose

08/06/12 More packing and stuff

Hi pals,

Do I need to tell you that momma is still busy packing up the California house? Since the humans have decided not to take the aquarium to New Mexico with them, momma listed it and everything that goes with it on Craigslist and had two people interested. The one guy she had a “funny” feeling about so she refused to give out her cell phone number to him and told him he would have to do all communications on E-mail if he needed additional information. He never E-mailed momma back so that took care of that. Then she had a woman inquire about it and she seemed to really be interested and asked some very good questions regarding the condition, etc. The lady then emailed momma her phone number and requested that momma text her back on her phone. By this time, momma moved all the guppies into small breeding tanks, cleaned out the aquarium and got it nice and sparkling plus she moved it outside onto the front patio so she wouldn’t have to have people that she didn’t know inside the house. However, momma did not recognize the area code on the ladies phone so she texted a message back asking where she was located at and got a response that she was in WEST HOLLYWOOD. That’s not close to where we are so momma text the lady back informing her that the posted add clearly stated what location the aquarium was at and that momma thought the lady should continue her search for an aquarium closer to her location. So now the empty aquarium is sitting on our front porch – LOL. Momma tried to disguise the it by putting several silk plants on top so when the housing association does it’s monthly inspection she doesn’t get written up but it is very big and momma said she doesn’t want to carry it back into the house and then outside again should someone want to see it so she is going to leave it right where it is, for now.

Daddy hired the electrician who had originally submitted that outrageous bid on the New Mexico project to take over all electrical requirements on the New Mexico house. He agreed to lower his rate and has a helper with him so daddy is hoping they get the work done soon. Daddy said he was very upset today because the electrician that he fired had cut a three inch hole in both the house and the garage up by the ceilings to run electrical wires through but the code inspection person told daddy today that the way the guy was planning on doing the electrical wires was not permitted so now daddy has to repair two holes in our buildings. The new electrician suggested he install two outside lights which is a really good save and that is probably what daddy will end up having to do. It's too bad the lights won't be in an area that lights would actually be needed but it's still much better than having 3 inch holes through the building. Needless to say daddy was very upset with the fired electrician. And to make matters even worse the fired electrician continues to call daddy and daddy finally told the guy not to bother him anymore and that he was going to report him to the CDI (I’m not sure who these people are but they issue and control all of the electrical licenses and getting a complaint can result in having them revoke your license).

It continues to rain hard off and on at our New Mexico property. The guy helping daddy had a prior commitment today so he didn’t show up for work and daddy used this time to go into town and do his laundry and some grocery shopping. He is still trying to find someone to come out to the property and correct the water drainage problem because the land between the two buildings wasn’t graded right. This is of major importance because if it rains or snows a great deal, excess water can steep under the building pads and cause major problems. Also, if daddy doesn’t get someone to come out and grade our driveway again and put gravel down, any more rain might make the driveway impossible to navigate the truck on.

Hugs and kisses,

Coco Rose

08/02/12 The electrical work failed

Hi pals,

Here is the latest on what is going on at our New Mexico property. The code inspector came out yesterday and failed the electrical work that has been done thus far. Daddy had already fired the electrician so when the inspector wrote up several items that needed to be fixed before he would sign off on the inspection, daddy called the fired electrician and informed him what occurred and his response was that daddy could fix everything. Daddy requested that the electrician come out and fix everything and then he (the electrician) needed to pay the $85 dollar fee to have the code enforcer come back and do a re-inspection as it was his errors that caused the failure and he needed to be responsible for his mistakes. Needless to say the electrician disagreed so now daddy is scrambling to find another electrician who can fix everything and finish the work that is needed to be done.

Also, the talked about monsoon rains have been occurring off and on and since the other contractor that was supposed to correct the grading and put gravel on the dirt roads has disappeared daddy might get stuck on the property with no way of leaving – he said that the skies are currently loaded with very dark clouds and he suspects it will rain sometime tonight and tomorrow so he is not going to be able to go to town and do his laundry. Momma might be forced to send him some clean underwear if this occurs – BOL, BOL. At this time, daddy is not having fun in New Mexico and wants this project to be FINISHED!

Last night momma bought a faucet for her new kitchen sink on the internet because had she left that for daddy to do, he would have bough the cheapest thing he could find and momma is determined that this kitchen is going to be her dream kitchen. As momma was searching for her faucet she discovered that some of them a very, very pricy. The first one that momma really liked cost over $600 dollars – YIKES! Needless to say momma used lots of restraint and chose a much cheaper one, but one that daddy never would have bought because it cost more than $40 dollars – BOL, BOL. She was going to tell daddy that she bought the faucet but since he is all bummed out about the electrical problem she decided not to tell him anything just yet and that was probably a very smart move on her part too.

On the home front here in California, there still remains much packing that needs to be done. She has decided NOT to take the fish aquarium and is going to post it for sale on Craigslist. Momma said it would be one less thing she would have to move.

My paws and gums have healed nicely and I am back to being my bossy self after having been tortured by the vet. Puffy and I got to play bunny tag for a tiny bit today and boy was it fun. Puffy and I make pretty good bunny herders if I do say so myself.

Hugs and kisses,

Coco Rose

08/01/12 Bacon and chicken puppy cake recipe

Hi pals,

Thank you for the very tasty cakes that have been sent to Puffy and me. I'm currently finishing up some of Puffy's that he so foolishly let unattended - BOL.

Anyhow, momma searched the internet and found the below recipe at http://www.dogtreatkitchen.com/puppy-cake.html

It sounded pretty tasty so we are sharing the recipe with you. This site has some other recipes that you might want to try out also. We have never tried any of them so we can't say if they are good but it does have chicken and bacon in it so how could it not be?

Bacon and Chicken Puppy Cake

This bacon and chicken puppy cake has layers that will make a great presentation for the human guests at your next dog party. But with two types of meat on this dog cake, your dog guests will be just as impressed!

You can customize this recipe in so many ways. For example, try mixing bacon into the yogurt filling for some extra bacon flavor. Or try spelling a fun message on the cake with the bacon crumbles.

You can also personalize this dog cake recipe by adding shredded plain cooked chicken into the filling or as part of the decoration on top of the dog cake.

Be sure to cut slices of this bacon and chicken puppy cake small as this recipe is not low in fat!

Ingredients:
• 3 strips of bacon
• 3 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup corn oil
• 2 jars chicken baby food (organic is best)
• 2 cups finely shredded carrots
• plain yogurt (use less or more depending on how thick you want the dog treat icing and filling)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 325° F
2. Grease and flour two 8" round cake pans.
3. Fry the bacon until crisp. Let drain and then crumble.
4. Whisk together the flour and baking powder.
5. In a large bowl, beat the butter or margarine until smooth.
6. Beat in the eggs and corn oil.
7. Stir in the chicken baby food and carrots until well incorporated.
8. Add the flour mixture and mix thoroughly.
9. Pour the batter into the two 8" round cake pans.
10. Bake for 60 minutes.
11. Let cool for five minutes in the pan.
12. Remove from pans and cool completely on wire racks before decorating.

Decorating:
• Place the first layer on a serving plate.
• Spread the yogurt on top for the filling.
• Place the second layer on top of the filling. Next spread the yogurt dog treat icing on the top and sides of the entire dog cake.
• Sprinkle the crumbled bacon on top.

http://www.dogtreatkitchen.com/puppy-cake.html