25th is Silver,

and apparently 30th is pearl but is turns out 29th is hounds.

In the last week,

DTE and I have taken Miss Sadie Rose Dog to the vet for her to be diagnosed with an infected and burst sebaceous cyst that will be removed this week; I have filled out tons of paperwork and signed my name to it all for someone else; we/I have moved my father into a memory-care facility; I was given the official diagnosis I was suspecting of an outbreak of shingles on my personage; Mr. Simon Peter Dog was very, very sick yesterday so Hubband and DTE took him to the emergency vet clinic, and it was determined that he had too many things going on to be able to make it, so the decision was made to help him not be in the pain that had been getting worse for him all day.

Since I have already distracted you

with pictures of sunshine and a cat, and still don't have any hat pictures to show you; I shall continue to distract you with some dog pictures.

 

(If you need more, I would strongly recommend going here for another dog fix.)

Dogs in Seattle

for Dogs on Thursday. Gaylen and JB have two bloodhounds, Beau and Lucy, aka "the big dogs" and two bassets, Dudley and Abigail, aka, "the little dogs." Of course they were all happy to have me come visit (and bring special cookies just for them), happy to have me scratch their ears and show me their tongues (though you only get Mr. Dudley's), happy to rub all over me and leave their smells and slobber for my dogs to find in a couple of days, and naturally the little dogs were more than happy to show me their bellies. I think they were even happier to find out that I know exactly what to do with a up-side-down basset.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They were much more interested in being touched than photographed, but they were very happy to share their beautiful singing voices with me.

When the dogs' laundry

is being done, sleeping quarters can get kind of tight.

Outtakes

Oh look! Here it is Thursday and I have pictures of dogs! Well, pictures that didn't make my personal cut for Blue Bandanna Day yesterday. You know the kind, ones with missing noses, missing heads, the one after the dog gets tired of being messed with and takes the bandanna off her head and you put it back on; you know the kind I'm sure. etc. Anyhoos, for those of you that like looking at dog pictures, here you go!

 

 

Some days are just perfect

for hanging out. Sunny and warm without being too hot and muggy, little or no wind (that has been rare this week with our high wind warnings), and no rain in sight (unlike yesterday with a downpour of an inch in 45 minutes).

 

So perfect that there was no knitting being done, just hanging out relaxing with the camera and the animals.

 

Sadie wasn't quite as relaxed as Simon though, she was busy working under that bench.

 

 

She was busy being "The World's Best Babysitter" or just keeping track of the rest of her pack (a rose is a rose by any other name after all), but at least she wasn't whining about how far afield Oribel was. (You'll need to biggify to see what Sadie and I saw.)

 

 

Simon was way to busy enjoying the sun to be worried about a silly cat.

 

Though it is a known fact that sunshine makes bassets fall over.

No, this isn't marshmallows,

it is Bassets on Thursday. (Opposed to Dogs on Thursday, which you might remember that I have stated before I am just not sure my dogs are exciting enough to make it worth signing up for. I am sure a moderator will weigh in on that subject.) Anyhow, this post is about the dogs, as it were.
One night a couple of weeks ago a rather unusual thing had happened; Sadie went to bed without me! Really, this is not normal behavior for her. Simon will always go to bed when Hubband does, but Sadie usually hangs out on the stair landing if I am in the kitchen, or in the family room with me until I head upstairs. Sometimes she decides she want to go to bed and will fuss and whine at me to finish what I am doing and go to bed, just so she can!
Anyway, this was what I saw when I went in the bedroom. Sadie, all tucked in and fast asleep, without me having to tell her it was time to wake up to go to bed.

 

Of course Simon had gone to bed as well, but that was a given, since Hubband was fast asleep and didn't notice the flash going off near him. (Actually, the dogs were oblivious to it as well. And while we are speaking parenthetically, please ignore the dried slobber on Simon.)

 

Do you see this beautiful ear? There is a sad tale about this ear, and the other one. They used to let him know when our car or truck was coming down the road when he was outside (he could tell the difference between them based on sound), told him when the garage door opened and someone was home, or when food was falling into their dishes, even when he was fast asleep. Now these ears have failed him terribly. He can't hear the doorbell to let him know the mailman has come to visit, he can't hear us call him to dinner or inside the house, the garage open or Hubband's voice when he comes home, he can't hear any of us walk up to him, so is always startled when we reach out gently to wake him up for something or someone walks up behind him. It is rather sad for him, and it means we need to be extra careful that he doesn't get loose since he would never hear us calling him or a car coming.
There is one upside though. He has always hated baths and went to great lengths to avoid going near the bathroom or coming back inside when he heard the bathtub running. A week ago the weather was warm enough for the dogs to get baths and Simon didn't hear a thing and Hubband was able to run the water and lead him right into the bathroom before he realized what was happening.
Unfortunately, the route to the vet's office is not based on sound. I need to take both of those Sleeping Cuties to get their claws clipped and there is only one thing in life Simon hates more than a bath, and that is to have his feet touched/claws clipped. He hates it enough to make a huge fuss, whining and howling about it. In fact, when I call to make the appointment, the receptionist often says something about they will prepare themselves and make sure the techs doing his have their ear plugs handy.

A romantic Valentine's afternoon

starts with dosing Sadie with Rimadyl before noon, bundling up for 25° weather, leashing the dogs, and heading out down the hill in the backyard.


From there you enjoy an afternoon together,

 

wandering about in the valleys

 

and on the hills around your neighborhood.

 

You get to see dogs enjoying the snow and their outing,

 

sunflower farms,

 

awesome ice formations

 

bassets snuffling stuff like bassets do,

 

geese overhead,

 

baby trees safe from deer,

 

and the water holding ponds you are grateful for.

 

Then you go out to the road to head home, enjoying your favorite tree in the cow field,

 

tell Sadie she has done an amazing job hiking and she is almost home,

 

and you are thankful that Simon will wait for her so patiently.

 

The last little bit of the afternoon outing includes telling the neighbor dogs hello, even though the beagle/basset mix Paco dog has taught Miss Louie Basset the bad habit of barking at everything and everyone.

 

Then you finish the afternoon off with a Valentine's day gift of a hand knit sock. (With the promise of the other one being done in plenty of time for their poker game on Sunday afternoon.)