Ahhhhhhh. You have no idea how tired I am tonight. I have had such a busy day, I didn't even get to nap until late this afternoon. 

Let me back up. Sharon had to go away on the weekend (why is everyone in my life going away?), so Stefan came to look after me. I love Stefan so it was fine. I wrote  about it on the weekend - well, I actually dictated it to Stefan and she wrote it down. 

So here is what happened on the weekend. I am calling it 'Weekend With Stefan'.

Such a surprise when Stefan came to visit Sharon. Stefan is another friend of mine, so I greeted her warmly. Kisses and chewing her wrists. I know she likes that so I don't mind. Then to my surprise, Sharon started to take loads of stuff to the car! I thought that meant we were all going on a holiday, but Stefan and I stayed even though I had my rooster all ready to go. I wonder if Stefan was as surprised as I was.

We hung out together and went for lots of walks. But I got tired and sat down. So we didn't walk as far then. My leg was sore and I had a hard time jumping up or down so then Stefan had to put her hands on it and it felt better. I liked that. I slept beside her in my bed. I slept well. Her suppers were very good too, and we went for a ride in the car. I liked that too.

So that's my report about my 'weekend with Stefan'.

The cat - I mean Scooter, remember that is her name like I said before - has come back several times and I always bark  and bark. THAT is why I am so tired today. Wait 'til I tell you.

It was pretty funny in a way. Scooter and I really scared Sharon. She nearly jumped up in the air. She was sorting out her recycle stuff by the back door, and at the same time there was a big thud on the door and I started to bark. Scooter saw me at the door and took a flying leap and landed with all her feet on the door. You have no idea how exciting that was. I barked and barked until finally Scooter left. 

Here's a picture.

After she jumped at the door she just sat there

 

I did not leave that back door ALL morning.

Then Linda Schmidt came for lunch. I have met her before, but not much so she is almost like a stranger. So of course I made a big fuss over her because I really love strangers. 

When she left Sharon said we should go out. So we did, and guess who was right outside the front door! Scooter! Sharon seemed like she wasn't too happy about it. How come? I love to see the cat - Scooter.

Sometimes Scooter would start walking toward us, and Sharon was dragging me along to get away from her. She was telling me "hurry up, hurry up". How can I hurry up with all that going on? I finally did then she actually PICKED ME UP and took me in the house. 

I whined at her a whole lot for while but she didn't pay any attention to me. Imagine! So finally I laid down at the front door and watched, just in case. I KNEW that Scooter was still out there and I was on the job.

So you see, it was impossible for me to get a wink of sleep until late this afternoon. So THAT is why I'm so tired tonight.

Oh - I nearly forgot. One day last week we went for a walk out the front and I wandered up to the fence in front of the front house. Sharon suddenly pulled on the leash, and then I realized that Scooter was right on the other side of the fence. Here's a picture. It was pretty exciting too.

Wow, I have had so many sightings here. You figure I have to go back to Gonzales when you get back? Just hope the squirrels will be around because I'm used to lots of activity. But - maybe a good rest would be good too. So when ARE you coming home? 

So it's really cold out tonight. Sharon kept saying hurry up, hurry up because I was sniffing around alot. Jeez, you know, at least she had shoes on. I was in my bare feet.

So that's it for now. Kind of a long report this time. I'll  write to you again before you come home.

Now is for sleeping.

My Adventures at the Lagoon

I am so tired! Wait 'till you hear what we did today!

So we had some errands to run just after lunch, and somehow, we ended up at Esquimalt Lagoon! We had my leash of course, and Sharon's trusty camera. It's a really good idea to take the camera along because you just never know what we will end up doing and what will happen.

You're probably wanting to see a picture right away so here is one, right below.

This is me, looking down the beach

It was pretty cool down there - almost cold you would say - and it was breezy too. But it sure gave us lots of energy. We walked along beside the water where the sand was wet. Sometimes we had to move out of the way because a wave would come in closer than the others. Once, one touched one of my back paws so I lifted it up and moved quite quickly! 

I was really feeling good, and I would even run out to the end of the leash, then look back to see if Sharon was still there. Take a look and you'll see.

Near the beginning of our walk, another dog came along! It had droopy eyes and really, really long ears. You can't see his ears in the picture. He was a really nice dog.

Too bad you can't see his long ears

So anyway, we walked some more and a woman came along with two dogs - a dark one and a light one. Sharon picked me up because she wasn't sure what they were and if I would be safe. Then she asked the woman what kind of dags they were, and she said they were Labradoodles. Right away, Sharon put me down because they are nice dogs. 

The dark one did not come close so she missed being in the picture. 

Nice, eh?

So we walked some more and I will tell you there are so many interesting smells at that place. I need to go back. Even the LOGS smelled good. Sometimes I had to leave a drop or two beside one that smelled especially good.

Well near the end of the walk I have to tell you it was not that great. I love other dogs. DOGS I said. NOT PUPPIES!  Puppies are a pain I've discovered! 

We're almost back to the car and there is a woman and a little kid, and a puppy. Sharon's going on about oh how cute the puppy is. Cute????? Ya, cute to look at. 

This 'cute' little thing started barking at me. The woman was on her phone so not really a whole lot of help. The darn thing was barking and coming up close to me and jumping around. I was trying to get away and Sharon was twizzling me around on the leash to try to get away from it.

THEN you know what Sharon said? I can't believe what she said. She said, "it used to be her bugging the other dogs". WHAT?????????? She was talking about me. I think you should know what she was saying behind your backs. 

Take a look at the little rotter. 

 In the picture she looks so innocent

Then the woman came and picked up the puppy and we went to the car. 

It was sure a great adventure (except for 'cute' puppies). As soon as we got home, I went straight to the couch and had a really good nap.

See, we have a beach too.

 

 

Well -THAT was a shock! I think my friends should know what happened! And I can prove it all.

So the suitcases came out, you two are busy packing and arranging this and arranging that, and I'm thinking, "OK - are we going to the Oregon Coast (I love it there)? Are we going camping with Mei Ling and what's their names? Oh -are they going somewhere without me? Is Aunty Marilyn coming to stay with me?" You would not believe what went through my mind.

Then Monday morning came, and I found out that MY bag was packed too! Yayyyyyyyyyy! Where are we going, and will there be squirrels or cats, and will there be another dog?

The bags are at the door, and what do you know? Here comes Sharon. Now I'm confused again. So we load it all into the car, and next thing I know Aunty Marilyn is in the car too! I love this so far. A few minutes later, Pam gets in the car. It keeps getting better.

The trip started and it's great that I have so many of my fans with me. They will walk with me, talk to me, and tell me I'm cute (which of course I am). 

The very NEXT thing I know, everybody gets out of the van - except me. The four of you, all but Sharon are lined up - WITH your suitcases, ready to go somewhere! What about me?

This is where I can PROVE it. Just look below. I got my paws on the picture to show EVERYONE.

You see? It's all true.

Well I just want you to know that you're not the only ones having a good time. I don't really NEED you to have fun you know.

I was a bit down after dropping you off and slept until we were almost at Sharon's. Then I recognized the streets and started to get excited again. The 'sightings' are pretty good at her house.

PRETTY good? Wow, we JUST got into the house and I went to look out the back door and BINGO, there's the next door cat! She was right off the deck by the cedar trees. So of course I barked and barked and barked and get this. The cat jumped up ONTO THE DECK and came to the door.

Now what do I do? The only thing I could think of was to keep barking. Sharon did not know what to do because the cat, I guess, wanted to play with me, because she just stood right at the glass door looking at me. So she closed the blinds to make the cat go away. But I was so excited I just kept pawing at the blinds, so she had to open them again. But now the cat was gone.

Remember in the last blog (when once again, you left me behind - not that I'm counting) I had a cat sighting but it was not the 'actual' cat in the picture? Well, this time it IS the actual cat! Look below.

This morning when I got up - yes, I got up at the same time as Sharon - I spotted the cat again, in the same place. I barked and barked, but Sharon kept telling me uh-uh (why did you ever teach her that?), and I actually did slow it down. Then she closed the blinds and kept me away from them until the cat went away.

Oh - the cat's name is Scooter she says. I do not have to keep saying 'the cat', 'the cat'. Sharon says I can just say 'Scooter' and you will know who I mean.

Now I am having a rest.

Tuesday, April 24

Holy smokes! I just heard you were coming home soon and I still have another entry to post to my blog! I have a nice new picture or two of myself, and I think you would like to see them.

Sharon finally got her act together and figured out the harness (took long enough).Yesterday she wanted to go to some garden shop near Brentwood and I got to go too. So I rode there and back in my new car seat and I had an excellent view. I love the van because there is a really good view all around - especially from my basket. Here's the picture!

She took this one at a stoplight

Nice pics eh?

So we get to this place and pull into the parking lot. The sun would be shining on me if we parked where we originally went in, so Sharon was backing the van up so she could change positions, and we heard a man calling "Gracie, Gracie". The we heard him saying (frantically) "there's a dog behind you". He's running up behind the van and scoops up the little dog (it's smaller than me). 

Well that was pretty exciting! So Sharon was eating a sandwich on the way there, and she saved some of the ham for me. She comes around and opens the side door to give me the ham, and here comes Gracie. She was right outside the door of the van! I got soooooooooo excited I did not even want the ham if you can believe that! Sharon draped it over the side of my basket for me and shut the door. That part was a bit disappointing because I really wanted to play with Gracie. Anyway, there was nothing to do but eat the ham.

Sharon and Gracie went inside and I just had to watch from the van. It's just amazing that you  can set off to do a simple thing like go off to a garden shop and end up having such and exciting time.

After all this, she didn't even buy anything! We ended up getting what she wanted at Gardenworks, five minutes away from home.

So you will be home in a couple of days. That's good, I will be glad to see you. But I have been having a good time as you probably can tell by my blog.  So, come when you want, I am fine (and I'll tell you that my intuition is telling me that Sharon has had a pretty good time too). 

So be careful coming home and I will see you soon.

Woof!

Sunday, April 22

So you two and Aunt Marilyn are on the move again. The tulips are sure colourful - and I think I would have really enjoyed the ferry ride. As soon as I saw all the trees around there I knew there would be lots of squirrels.

Yesterday was good and bad. The good part was that Julie and Sue, a stranger, (you know how I love strangers) came for dinner. But I was looking forward to meeting Bijoux, Sue's dog, and they didn't bring her with them. That was the bad part. Sue thought we might play too much and trip her or something (she just had a hip replacement). It was nice they came though and of course they commented quite a few times about how cute I am. I do like that.

Today we went next door to see Carol and Nick and the other Abby. Sharon had some gossip for them so of course we had to go right over and tell them about it. The other Abby was a little calmer this time. I guess she knows me a little bit now and I suppose we are soon moving into the 'old friends' category. Here's a picture of Nick and I.

Funniest thing. Sharon always jokes around with Nick and sometimes she even calls him 'Mr. Wilson' (of Dennis the Menace). So when we went into their front yard when we were leaving Nick was with us, and Sharon said 'Abby just do your business here on Nick's lawn'. So I did. Boom. Right then! I was just doing what I was told. I even did it in three places! Ha ha ha ha ha. So funny. So they put flower pots beside each one so Sharon could find them when she came back with the bag.  That's a good one, eh?

Oops gotta go. Sharon is calling me because we have to go outside now.

Thursday, April 19

It was a pretty lazy day today. it was cloudy all day, then it started to rain. Good thing I can lock up my bladder when I want to. I went out this morning, then later this afternoon Sharon carried me across the deck and put me on the grass so I could do what I needed to. I spent most of the day sleeping.

Every evening after dinner, we go out to the front and I have a really good sniff around and deposit my treasures (that's what Sharon calls them) - usually 2 or 3 times. Well, it is really raining out there but I have the feeling she is go to drag me out there anyway.

Yesterday we went out to do a couple of errands. It's the first time we've been out in the car since Sunday. After we were finished, we drove down to the lagoon but it was raining so we didn't get out of the car, but we did look at the water for a bit. Here's a picture of me before we left.

Ya, I wasn't in my new car bed (come closer - I'm whispering - Sharon is not too swift at doing up the harness. Hopefully she'll try again). Anyway, the seats in the van are nice and I can put me feet up when I want to see out.

So hey - we're having some company on Saturday with a dog! Her name is Bijoux and she looks like Corbett. Her mom is a friend of Julie's and Julie is coming to visit her. Cool, eh?

I saw your new pictures. Nice. I love the Oregon Coast. But Langford is pretty good too.

Tuesday, April 17

Yahoo!

At exactly 9:07 this morning I had my first cat sighting. Finally! OK, here's the story. I'm sitting on my perch on the couch, and the orange cat came walking along. There he was. Just walking along. Well I'm telling you that was so exciting. I ran to the back door woofing, then back to the couch. It's really hard to know what to do when I'm in and the cat's out. 

Sharon was just too slow with the camera (though she HAD seen the cat walk through the back yard before me but did not bother to tell me), so anyway I got her to find a picture of a cat just like the one I saw. I even had her label it, 'Not the Actual Cat' just so you'd know.

You likely remember the orange cat - he and his mother were under the deck three or four years ago and I am still sniffing at that spot.

So anyway, that's all I have to report today.

Oh - I nearly forgot. The other Abby came to the fence a few minutes ago and we got a snap of that. I was barking at her, then she ran to the house to tell Nick.

Can you see her at the fence?

Just finished my blog entry

So it's been quite a day. It has been worth all the hours of being on watch.