Mitch's Gotcha Day

Today is one year since dad walked into the workshop with Mitch and suprised me and mom! And we do mean SURPRISED!!!!


Mom and my hooman sister, Missy had seen Mitch in a pet store when they were shopping for her mother-of-the-bride dress. Mom went home and told dad that there was a 4 month old Airedale puppy in the pet store and the rest is history. Little did she know that dad was on the phone finding out everything he could about Mitch and making arrangements for our new family member!

Looking back now it was sure tough! I was an "only" furchild for 8 1/2 years and I liked it that way! It was quite a change for me to have a new frisky puppy brother! Today Mitch is almost 16 months old and I wouldn't send him back for all the money in the world! I love my brother!


Yes, we have our differences and our squabbles but what siblings don't, right? He's the best thing that ever happened to me! I have a best friend for life!

This is one of the first pictures taken of my new baby brother! awwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Thinking back though, that first month was very difficult for me! Those needle teeth are sure sharp! I kept waiting for Mitch to leave and go back to where he came from! But he didn't! He stuck it out with us!

My toys have never been the same since he arrived! He's destroyed so much and he's STILL destroying them!

He was a garbage boy then and he's still a trash collector! He'll pick up anything he finds on the side of the road and bring it home!

By the way, his alcohol problem has become a lot worse in one years' time!

He sure did settle in quite nicely! He's only been here one week in this picture!

As I said, Mitch, you're one of the very best things that's ever happened to me! I love you, bro! Happy Gotcha day!

Life would never be the same without you! And mom and dad totally agree! That's daddy's boy!

Yesterday a package came in the mail with both of our names on it! It was from Keeley! Mom helped us open the box and there were treats in there! OMG - fishy training treats and cheesy liver treats! Mom opened the fishy training treat package and we got to try them!

They are absolutely the yummiest things we've ever eaten, Keeley! Even mom took a sniff and wanted to try one out! She didn't though - don't worry! Keeley also put a note in there that reads: "Guess what?! I'm 2 years old now! I wish you didn't live so far away so that you could be here to celebrate my birthday with me! I asked my grandpa to make some of his special dog biscuits for you so that you could still be in on the festivites. Hope you like them!

We LOVE them Keeley and we wish that we could have come to your birthday pawty! We were with you in spirit though - you can be sure of that! Thank you so much! That was sure sweet of you to think of us!

We're off to celebrate Mitch's gotcha day!

So until next time........

Love ya lots,

Maggie

Koobie's Easter Bonnet Contest

We read about Koobie's Easter bonnet contest she's having to welcome spring and we couldn't wait to put our thinking caps on and see what we could come up with!

This morning mom grabbed the hat that she wears to the beach when we go to Nantucket and she grabbed some silk flowers and started to "create". This is my Easter bonnet to welcome spring! Do you think you could have fit a few more flowers on there, mom?! It looks like the entire garden is on my head!

Mitch saw my hat and he wanted to get in on the action too! Mom and I both thought that he should be wearing a baseball cap and seeing as spring is all about flowers, this is what we came up with! He thinks he looks too girly!

Mitch wanted to see his hat on my head so I was only too happy to please him!

Mom was at Michael's craft store a couple of days ago and she saw these really nifty bunny ears and she just couldn't resist so here we are modeling bunny ears too!


Mom only bought one pair of ears so we have to take turns! Maybe we can both have a pair for next year mom??!!

Only one more week till the Easter bunny comes and just a few more days till the official start of spring!

So until next time................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Huskee Loves Baby

We have been invited to the wedding of the year - Huskee Boy and Baby Yeo!

What a scare Baby gave us a couple of weeks ago! OMG! We're so glad she's back and is safe and home where she belongs! So onto the wedding! whoooooooohoooooooo

The bride and groom have chosen a "Once upon a time" theme!

Mitch and I put our heads together and decided that I will go as Maggie had a little lamb. You know the nursery rhyme - Mary had a little lamb, its fleece was white as snow......... Yup, that's the one!

Mitch thought that Little boy Blue would suit him perfectly. Remember Little boy blue come blow your horn, the sheep's in the meadow, the cow's in the corn? That's Mitch! By the way, Mitch's horn is a moo tube!

Just a minute here, Mitch! You're scaring my lamb! Leave her alone! She's part of my costume for the wedding!

No you can't have her! She goes with Maggie had a little lamb, not Little Boy Blue! You can't change the story, Mitch! It's been like that for a zillion years!

We are so excited about this wedding! It was postponed because of Baby's mishap and now that she's safe once again we feel certain that Huskee and Baby are beside themselves with happiness!

Time to pawty! See you all at the wedding!

I see AireRuby! We're down here, Ruby! We'll be outside to greet you when you land! Watch out for the ponds!

So until next time..............

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

A Sad Day

Remember back before Christmas some of us did postings about the towns we live in?

Sunday night, just about the time mom and dad were heading to bed we heard fire engines!

We live close to a very busy street and there are accidents every once in awhile. Mom and dad assumed that there had been another accident and the fire truck was going to hose the gasoline off the road. NOPE! The next morning, mom was heading out to run errands and she heard on the radio - not more than 30 seconds before she witnessed it - that our beloved Northford Store had burned! Thank goodness for the radio warning or mom would have run off the road in shock!

This is our cute little country grocery store in the autumn and now it's burned to the ground! We are devastated to say the least!

Mom and dad have lived in Northford for over 30 years! They moved to this town when mom was 9 months pregnant with my sister, Missy, so this store has been a part of our lives for many years and now it's gone - forever gone!

The taller portion of the building that you can see in the back was built 138 years ago and when mom and dad first moved to town, the addition in the front hadn't been built yet and you actually shopped in the old portion of the store and walked on wooden floors! It was like an old time general store and it was so awesome!

So a part of Northford's history has also been destroyed and this is so sad! The owner says that the store will be rebuilt but it can never be the same - you can't replace history! The cause of the fire hasn't been determined yet. The fire marshall is still hard at work on the case!

On a happier note~

Dad and his buddies left on a 4 day mini-vacation this morning and we're hoping that mom has lots of fun adventures planned for us! You already know that mom eats stoopid stuff when dad is away so we're hoping that she will be preparing all sorts of junk food meals and sharing with us bigtime!

We're in luck tonight! Guess what's for dinner?

While mom was busy preparing the waffles, we were scootching around!

And as promised, mom did share with us! You stay over there, Mitch! This forkfull is mine!

Awesome dinner, mom! Wonder what's for dinner tomorrow?!

So until next time...............

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Our First Painting Together

Mom commissioned Miss Barbara to do a painting of us together. This is a first! We already have one painting of Mitch - but we didn't have one of us together!

We have quite a few of me! These are paintings, not prints! I seem to be all over the house!

Are you sick of seeing me yet?! These are just a few! We have Airedale art all over our house! Mom is just a wee bit obsessed to put it mildly!

So back to the "us" painting! You all saw this posting of Mitch and I posing with Kipper, our Airedale stuffie friend. The posting even tied for post of the month with Penny and Poppie's posting, which we thought was AWESOME!

Anyway, mom thought that one of the photos in this posting would make an awesome painting, so she and Miss Barbara worked together and they chose this one for her to paint from.

And here is the masterpiece!

Isn't it just awesome?! It's a Valentine theme and that's why there are hearts everywhere! We just love all of the bright cheerful colors! We're going to hang it in our hallway near the Amish quilt that mom made in 1986! The colors in the quilt and the colors in this painting blend very well together plus it will brighten up our hallway even more!

Here's the quilt and mom has temporarily hung the painting in front of the quilt so you can see how well the colors blend!

Mom is very happy to finally have a painting of both of us together! We sure think Miss Barbara is one of the best painters ever!

So until next time.........

Love ya lots,

Maggie & Mitch

Company!

We're having company tonight for dinner and mom told me that we needed to clean the house and bake a cake! Okay, mom, I'll help out!

Mom HATES to dust! She thinks it a big waste of her precious time because no sooner do you get the house dusted, it's back the next day! So I volunteered to do the dusting while mom got the cake started!

I'll do a bang up job for you mom! You can count on me!

I could hear the cake mixer running while I was dusting away. All of a sudden dusting wasn't so much fun! I'd rather be in the kitchen with the FOOD!

This is the batter for the coffee cake. One of our guests is allergic to nuts so no nuts in this cake!

I am SO glad I ditched the dusting chore or I would have missed licking the mixer beaters! What a tragedy that would be!

OMG, but this is good! This is going to be one rich cake with both butter and sour cream in here! I don't think this is a dieter's cake, mom!



It's looking good! That's brown sugar and cinnamon topping on there! YUM! Into the oven it goes!


It looks awesome, mom and it smells even better than it looks! When do we cut into it and EAT it?

I was a good helper and deserve a small piece, right? Thanks, mom - I knew you'd say yes!

So until next time...............

Love ya lots,

Maggie

Pegetables and Nonna

Awhile back we noticed that Joey and Tanner's mom had found this new treat that looked so yummy and intriguing to us so we asked mom if she couldn't look for these Pegetables next time she went to Petco. Mom did check - actually she checked several places and she always came home empty handed.

Last week we got a CareALot catalog in the mail and mom was flipping through it looking for a new clipper blade to groom us when she came across the treats that we've been asking for like FOREVER!

The CareALot box arrived in the mail and guess what? We got to try Pegetables and long last!

These are the neatest looking little treats! Mom got us the corn cob ones and boy, they sure do look just like little ears of corn! They don't last long but they sure do taste good!

Today would have been my Nonna's 103 birthday! She passed away a few years ago. Nonna is my grandpa's mom and you're probably wondering why I'm telling you this. One of my nicknames is Nonna! Yup, dad calls me Nonna when I hold my mouth a certain way! He thinks I look like a sweet old lady! Can you imagine? Who are you calling OLD?!

See the way I'm holding my lips? Does it look like I'm toothless? My Nonna sure wasn't!

Do I look like a Nonna to you?

So until next time................

Love ya lots,

Maggie

A Book Meme

Jonna tagged us for a book meme. Jonna is Sam, Zorra and Katie's mom! Our mom is not normally reading books - she's more into reading blogs these days - but because we're reading Patience's book, "Mama Pajama Tells A Story" - we're safe and can do this tag!

Here are the rules:

1. Grab the nearest book of 123 pages or more.

2. Open it to page 123.

3. Find the first 5 sentences and write them down.

4. Then invite 5 friends to do the same.

We are currently on page 101 of Mama Pajama's book so page 123 is still a surprise to us! We have been enjoying this book immensely! We smile and we laugh out loud and we sniffle and we sob! This book doesn't have chapters - it has short stories all throughout the book. We like this because we can read a short story and put the book down and think about what we read and savor it!

The short story that has so far gotten to mom like no other is the one about the puppy auction! Mom just sobbed and sobbed after reading this and for days she couldn't stop thinking about it! It forever made an impact on her! We think because Mitch came from a pet store and prior to that a puppy mill, it really hit close to home!

So back to page 123:

This short story is titled, Show me the money!

Entries were down a little bit for our first race meet of 2001. Did this represent some impending doom for Whippet racing in Maryland? Nope.

The drop could be explained simple: every bitch in the world came in season during the first week of April! Lordy be, as Terrie would say. But we had twenty-tree adults on Saturday , and twenty-eight adults on Sunday, and five puppies both days, and I enjoyed the slower pace that the lower entry afforded the beleaguered and ineffectual Race Secretary.

We're actually cheating by reading ahead at this point and now our interest is piqued! No more cheating!

We're not going to tag anyone because we don't know who reads books and who doesn't but if you'd like to play along then consider yourself tagged!

We also want to thank Lucy for the Sweet as Sugar award! Thank you so much, Lucy! We are so honored! We happily pass this award onto our M&M racing buddy Kaos! Here's hoping that Kyle comes in first next week!


So until next time...............

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Whippet Challenge

Patience and her Whippets have challenged all of us and we are totally up for it! Mom loves to create and she loves to work with wood so this was a pretty easy challenge for us!

Here is her challenge:

I'm challenging bloggers to make something, anything, and post about it. Let's see what you creative people come up with! Here are the rules:

1. Make something, anything. It doesn't have to be complicated or artsy. Make a list, take an interesting picture, make some one's day, make dinner, make a doodle, make fun of yourself, make a poem, make your bed (OK, that last one is lame).
2. Write a blog about it. With pictures for extra brownie points.
3. Link to this blog and challenge six other bloggers to do the same.

Mom loves to carve spoons! Dad is a woodworker and has TONS of wood scraps available all the time and mom loves to put them to good use~

She carves small dishes too! This one is made out of tiger maple. See the tiger stripes in the wood?

Most of you know that mom sews for the Airedale quilting bee and that she makes a quilt block every year and contributes this block to many other blocks and the end result is a beautiful quilt to be raffled off and the monies go to Airedale rescue. Well, mom also knits and she loves knitting and felting purses and then needlefelting on them. This purse is called the buttonhole bag. BTW, I'm pooped! We had a really fun-filled day yesterday and I didn't get all my naps in!

Mom knits a lot of these purses and donates them to Airedale rescue as an incentive for people to buy raffle tickets! This is mom's Christmas purs. See that angel to the right of my head? Mom made that too, years ago!

She has also tried her hand at needle felting small stuffies too but she finds it much more tricky than just needle felting flat on a purse. The Dale and the Wire are both "jointed" with dental floss so their arms and legs move!

So we're supposed to challange 6 other bloggers! hummmmmmmm How about Asta and Amber and how about Butchy and Snickers and Poppy and Penny and how about Ruby and Joey and Tanner. We know all of you doggies are super talented! We can't wait to see your posts!

So until next time..............

Love ya lots,

Maggie

Soggy Snow and He Stole My Bone

Last night before we went to bed the snow started to fall! I couldn't wait to get up this morning to see how many inches we got!

Bummer - we didn't get much - only about 2 inches and then it started to rain on top of it so now all we have is sloppy, yucky slush!

Mom wanted to check on our swan, Dauby, so she hooked me up to my flexi leash and off we went for a short walkie!

Mom has been so jealous of all the flower pictures that everyone is posting and she's so longing for spring this year! Our witch hazel is finally beginning to come into bloom! Yeaaaaa - color at long last! This Airedale weathervane is right at the entrance to our back door. You can see the yellow witch hazel over the top of the Dale.

Yesterday everything was going along just fine! Mom was preparing dindin and I had a nice Nylabone to chew on to keep me occupied and Mitch was busy playing tug with mom while she was stirring the clam chowder and setting the table!

All of a sudden this little PIA decides that he wants MY bone! Can you even believe the nerve of him?! That's our clock going tick tock, tick tock in the background.

Check out this next picture! Can you see my paw reaching underneath his elbow to reclaim MY bone! I'll fix him yet!

When will my little brother ever learn to share?!

So until next time..............

Love ya lots,

Maggie