Mom is using that "D" word again...

Summer time and the living is easy. Problem is, the living appears to be TOO easy for me and Mom is calling me pudgy again. I just don't understand it. All of us got a bit pudgy this Winter, more so than usual.
I personally think it was because it was sooo warm. Our bodies told us it was Winter so we needed more food to produce more body heat, BUT... since it was so warm that extra food produced fat, not heat.
Well, along came the nicer weather and those other guys all started exercising. Crystal even entered a 5K race!! Toto and Riley and Ali and Cryssie all spend their outside time running along the fence between us and the chickens. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, all day long!!
Riley got some extra exercise digging big holes and climbing under the fences. Then, he had to run really fast to keep away from Momsie when she discovered him on the wrong side of the fences, hehehe.
Barney and Harvey shed their Winter jackets so that alone was enough for them to lose some pounds since apparently, their bodies DO burn more fat when they are cold and Spring can be a bit brisk when you have no hair.
They also run around much more when they don't have to plow thru layers and layers of ice and snow. Running around I guess is good for burning off extra pudge.
Zena was too skinny so she doesn't have to exercise, but, even though she runs around chasing EVERYONE, she has still gained a bit of pudge but still has room for more.
Of course, I wouldn't know about that exercise stuff and that running around since I don't do that much. You see, me and Momsie tend to be sitters... we sit and watch the others run and play. Mom sits and watches cuz she needs to take photos of us playing, or so she says.
Me, I sit and watch cuz if I run really fast Toto comes out of nowhere and jumps on me and knocks me to the ground. If Toto isn't around, Barney and/or Riley take over and jump me and knock me to the ground. I have discovered you don't lose too much pudge if you are just lying on the ground!
Mom said she would give me another haircut tomorrow... maybe my pudge is really extra long hair????

Diary Pick!!!

It has come to my attention that I was selected as a Diary Pick for today. Woohooo! I shall celebrate when Mom gets home from work. At least I wasn't banished to my crate last night, Mom knows I would NEVER let raw chicken get in MY mouth, and feathers make me sneeze!!!
Because I am so good I got selected to go to the neighbors and help Mom and them find the missing Guinea Keet... we found him, and he is fine! Mom was happy cuz he was the one with a white feather on each wing tip...she loves him!!!
I think he's smart cuz he headed for the hills when Riley was chasing him!!!
Well, gotta go nap for a while, hopefully Mom will take me upstreet tonight when she goes shopping.
Thanks for your gifts and well wishes!!!

My Gotcha Day!!!!

Hey, pals, thanks for all the gifts and well wishes! Mom has trouble remembering my gotcha day cuz we were rescued by Mom BEFORE she was going to keep me, so she remembers that day instead. Oh well, at least Dogster reminds her!
It was a lovely weekend here...warm enough to go kayaking, I would suspect. I can only suspect cuz Mom was spending the WHOLE WEEKEND messing with those chickens!!! In fact, we only got down in the lab pen for about a half hour...the chickens got down there ALL AFTERNOON today!!!
Mom says she was fixing the fence to keep Riley inside, but we are all convinced it was to keep the chickies inside! Riley has been here since way last Winter and he has been getting out ever since. Why would she pick a lovely Summer day to fix it for him, instead of take us kayaking?
Actually, Mom is trying to heal her shoulder... remember, she was messing with the chickens and dislocated it. It WAS fine, but alas, Mom is a groomer and this is the time of year when EVERYONE wants their dogs groomed. It is impossible to do some stuff with your opposite arm, so it won't heal. So, she claims she might have a serious issue paddling the kayak... frankly, we think she is too lazy to dig them out of the back shed. Julia said she would go with her, so that wasn't an excuse, either.
Anyway, back to me!!! I did have a good day, in spite of not kayaking. I got to hang out by myself in the house most of the day,(well, with Zena, rats!) And, I even got to sleep in MY bedroom without Joey last night cuz Mom left the door open to the Summer kitchen and he was out there, BOL!!!

Trouble for me, too!

As you may know, I have a bit of an issue with Joey the cat. He spends ALL his time in MY bedroom and he is a scaredy cat so he only comes out under cover of darkness. Then, he sits by MY bed and stares at Mom.
I have discovered that he gets really scared if I go after him. Since I am small, I can fit right under the end table he likes to hide under. It is sooo funny when I chase him... he runs as fast as he can, hissing all the while. Silly cat has no idea that all he has to do is turn around and scratch me, BOL!
The other night I discovered something really interesting...Mom is no longer feeding him in MY bedroom so now he has to jump over the baby gate and go into the kitchen to eat his meals. Since he is such a scaredy cat, he only does that when he thinks we are all asleep! NOT ME, I sleep with at least one eye open!
Well, when he is out in the main house I rush the gate with a loud bark. It scares him silly, scaredy cat, and he jumps over the gate to come BACK INTO MY bedroom!!! I merely reach out and grab him as he flies over the gate, HEHEHE!
There is a slight problem... apparently his hair is very, very, very loose so when I saunter back up onto MY bed, Mom always notices that my mouth is FULL of Joey hair. Do you realize how difficult it is to act nonchalant when you have a mouth full of cat hair??? I always end up looking guilty, instead!

Spring is springing out all over...

After our record heat spell a few weeks ago I wasn't sure what Spring was going to do. Me and Mom were worried about all the daffodils and tulips and other bulbs. While they got growing REALLY early, they were very short and there weren't very many buds on them. Mom planted 250 more bulbs last Fall and they were hardly showing at all.
Mom and I have been going down into the lower garden to keep an eye on stuff. The big lenten roses (notice them in my profile photo?), were looking just like normal, but pretty early! The daffodils and snowdrops that were budded all blossomed and died, in about three days!!! So did the little crocuses (croci?) We were more worried than before.
Well, a couple of weeks ago it got "normal", around 45 degrees each day and around 25 each night. Suddenly, we noticed TONS and TONS of buds popping up in the already dead clumps of daffodils and other bulbs. And, this week all the new ones we planted started coming up, too.
Today there were hundreds of blooms in the garden in front of the kennels, along with many more buds ready to open. Still not too many down by the pond, but more than we expected. Me and Mom are VERY happy again, and I suspect if it doesn't rain tomorrow I will be getting some new photos in the phlowers, or fotos in the flowers, whichever!!!

A New Look for Summer???

Today, much to my surprise since it is Wednesday and Mom's get out of work early day, she took me along to work for a haircut. I didn't think my hair was that long, but... Mother knows best, I guess.
I LOVE Wednesdays at work. Laurie is there and it is pretty relaxing over all. Mom goes in later, just in time for breakfast, and doesn't even stay long enough to clean up the hair and mess after she grooms a few dogs...she leaves it ALL for Laurie.
Today appeared to be poodle day. There were a couple of mini's including Drama, my old friend who has a new home now, and me and another toy and a lab for Tonya to bathe. First, I was invited to breakfast, of course, then off to the break room for an after breakfast break.
Next, Mom did the precut on the other toy since he was badly matted while Tonya bathed the other mini and the lab. Next, it was MY turn for my preclip. Mom did my face and my feet. Would you believe she shaved off my mousietashe??? Yup, I was surprised, too! She also cut the fringe off my ears and decided she was gonna grow them back out. Okay, we will see how long that last, BOL!
After my preclip it was time for another break. Those ladies take LOTS of breaks on Wednesday, that's for sure! After that break it was MY bath time. After that, I could relax a bit since, to me, the bath is the absolute worst!!!
Mom finished the one mini while I was being bathed, and then Tonya bathed Drama while Mom finished the toy. Next, it was me again, and I only had to have my feet and face smoothed out, my topknot trimmed a bit and my nails cut.
After Mom did paint my nails. She and Skye went up to Wally's world last night and Skye talked her into getting some glitter polish just for me and Toto. Skye did Toto's before she went home last night, but mine had too much hair covering them so I got them done today.
When I was finished I hung out with Thomas and Hilda outside while Mom finished everyone else, then we came home. It was only 12:10!!!!!!
Just in case you were worried cuz I didn't mention the chickens or the hens, I want you to know that Mom and I stopped and collected the two eggs on the way home, BOL!

Overtaken by Chickens!

Today Momsie cut a hole in the hen's fence so they can go down in OUR lab yard. She decided that is where all the ticks hang out and it is all nice, fresh grass down there so the hens might as well go down there and eat the ticks and the fresh grass.
Yes, MOTHER, but that is OUR running pen!!!! Mom's response was that we are only down there when she is with us, like maybe Wednesday afternoons, Saturdays or Sundays or some nights after work. The hens can go down there all the times that we are not down there.
Toto and I just sighed, and then we sat on the porch with Mom and watched the hens discover the hole in the fence and head on down. I must admit, they really, really seemed to enjoy themselves down there! They ate and ate and ate and scratched up all the grass and leaves and generally had a great time.
Mom was extremely happy with them because, first of all, one needed to lay an egg so she hustled right back thru the hole and climbed into the hen house and laid her egg in the nest box. Then, she went right back down to join her friend. Better even was that they BOTH came back up to the hen house when it started raining. Mom made a "gate" that she hooked over the hole so when we go down there the hens can be shut into their own pen. She will also shut the hole up at night so no predators sneak in and get them cuz Mom doesn't shut up their hen house at night.
I personally cannot wait until those babies over at work are old enough to come into the pen, too. Mom says they have enough feathers now but it is still way too cold for them outside. She is also worried because they are still small enough to walk right thru the mesh in the chain link fence. In fact, she said one of the Guinea keets walked thru the bars in the crate she has them in now. Fortunately, no dog or cat harmed it before Mom caught it and put it back.
I saw them the other day...those leghorn pullets are downright UGLY!!! But, the Guineas are really cute. They have their feathers now so they have HUGE bodies and tiny little heads. They are also now dark gray with their white spots instead of brown and black striped. Mom says they are only three weeks old now so still need to grow more.

Ahh, those chickens!!

Well, Mother decided that a hen coop for 4 chickens was going to be WAY SMALL for EIGHT chickens!! Sooo, since the one she bought was on sale this week she decided to get another one and hitch them together for a double sized one.
The first problem was when she took the wire off the end that was going to meet the other end. Being Mom, she took that wire off first before she put it together. Once together, she realized she had taken the wire off the WRONG END, BOL!!
So, still being Mom, she made lemonade and took some solid boards and covered that end since it would be to the North and would be colder for them if it was wire instead of solid. Leave it to our Mom to make everyone think she did that on purpose!!!
From that point on it went quite well. She was pleasantly surprised to find the roof issue wasn't an issue at all...because she offset one, the two roofs met right over a board so they won't even leak at the joint. She took another board and put it at the joint on the floor so all is nice and comfy!
Mom and I went along upstreet to the store...first she went to my fav, Wally's world, and I watched tons and tons of people while she shopped. Next we went to Tractor Supply and, low and behold, she let ME go in the store, I even got to ride in the shopping cart!!!! Even better, TWO people that Mom knows and that know me were working there and they BOTH gave me a dog cookie!! TWO cookies in one afternoon!
We picked up another nest box there, and some oyster shells and some more regular food for the hens.
Mom figures those eggs are already costing us about $20 a dozen!!!
Finally, we got home and next thing I knew, Julia and her Mom were there bringing Toto back home. Gee, I was hoping he was gonna stay even longer! It is very quiet and peaceful here when he is gone, I must say.
Mom put the nest box into the chicken coop and that silly Riley dug under the gate and came and helped her. He wouldn't have been able to get in with the hens if Mom had shut THEIR gate, BOL! We all watched while he checked out the hens and they checked out him. Would you believe they aren't even scared of him anymore!
Finally, it was time for our supper. For some reason, I wasn't too hungry tonight, hehehe!

BUSY Day!!

OMD, it was in the 70's ALL DAY today!!! It is March, for goodness sakes! Not to worry, we all took advantage of it. First of all, when Mom got home from work she fixed the fence for the chickens so that Riley can't get in there anymore. Poor Riley, he was MAD!
Then, Mom had to clean the whole house and she made us all stay outside. We were HOT!!! Mom was complaining again...this time she dislocated her shoulder, of all things!!! Yup, she tripped over the snow fence at the kennel yesterday and grabbed the fence and POP, her shoulder was out! She grabbed the fence again and popped it back without even thinking!!
She said it was VERY sore all night and she was very worried about grooming dogs and other stuff, especially since it was her right arm and she is right handed. But, she was pleasantly surprised today when it really wasn't nearly as bad as she expected. WHEW!!!
Finally, the house was cleaned and she started working outside in OUR pens. First, we convinced her to let us run in the lab pen for a while. It was nice down there, fresh grass is popping right out of the ground so fast you can watch it grow!!!
Then, she collected up all the dead toys and stuff from the Winter and also moved Crystal's Igloo into our biggest pen. Crystal was most happy to have it back!!!
And, last but not least, it was time for dinner. Mom had FRESH EGGS, bacon and toast! The hens laid another egg today so she had two! She said they were excellent and she didn't even save any for us!
Now, we are all very tired and I suspect as soon as it's dark enough, we will go to bed. We have to wait for dark so Mom can shut the hens into their coop. They don't go in by themselves, yet.

New Chickens...

Well, I didn't get to ride up to get the chickens BUT, I did get to go to the store to get the stuff for the nesting box. When we got home Mom fixed it all up and stuffed it with hay.
Then, she did feed us, finally! After that, she let us all out again and was working in the house when she decided to check on the hens. She discovered that Riley red dog had dug under their fence and he was in their pen!!! Mom didn't see the hens anywhere so she was having a HUGE panic!! She grabbed Riley, put him in the house (and us, too), and rushed out to find the hens.
Fortunately, she had left Crystal's igloo in the pen and BOTH hens were under it. They were a bit scared, but not hurt and not even missing any feathers. Riley was innocently eating their food!!!
Mom put them in the coop for the night and put Riley in his crate for the night!!!
Tomorrow morning she will have to make sure she fills all the holes Riley dug and put some chicken wire over them so he can't dig anymore. Now, she is happy that she got some BIG hens first to get us used to them and to find the flaws in the system!!
Meanwhile, we have not seen the babies yet. Mom put them in the kennel and she said they are still scared and hiding. Fortunately, it's a weekend so it will be quieter in there for them tonight and tomorrow.
I hope I get to see them tomorrow. She said the little leghorns are all white with quite a bit of feathers already growing in. The little Guinea keets are brown and black striped and are really, really CUTE, says Mom!! Maybe she will have a photo of them tomorrow?