splish, splash, spelunk

Little helper boy was tentative at first about the idea of joining his dad deep down in the yucky dungeon that is the crawl space under our house this past rainy weekend. But in no time did tiny chumley decide that this low dark location was exactly his cup of tea, the kind of thing his little stubby legs were meant to help him explore. And so after a brief check on his dad to make sure he didn't need any help reconnecting the dryer vent, the little kielbasa wandered off, trotting here and there for a good sniff and jumping over pipes and shimmying under other pipes.  All because he could, and all because his little legs let him. 

ooooh, i really like it down there. may we go back again sometime? asked my little happy friend when he emerged back into daylight.

"Well, I daresay we may need to again sometime, and when we do, you can be the lucky boy who brings dad his flashlight next time," said I as we walked away from the entrance so Big Boyfriend could finish the job in peace. "Deal?"


yip yip hooray! his eyes did glint as we shook paws on it, and bounded off into the backyard in search of another adventure.

sunday moment of zen: a grazin in the sun

It's supposed to be cold and wet again today, so yes, it's time to break out another Sunday Moment of Zen, courtesy of the little kielbasa, made earlier in the week. Called A Grazin in the Sun, but really, it could easily be called What I Like to Do Every Spring. I'm not sure what it is about grass and springtime, but for tiny chumley no spring is complete without a nice nibbleypoo of the tall green stuff, all while being serenaded by returning songbirds.

a moment of spring

No sooner did I think it was finally time to put the sweaters away did Mother Nature decide to tell me otherwise.  The weather we have been having has been fickle lately, taking us from spring to summer to spring and back to winter again, all in the course of a week.

I suspect tiny chumley knew all along that this would happen, which is why he happily snoozed in my lap all covered in blankies yesterday, after having taken full advantage of our perfect springlike weather only the day before. Lounging contentedly in the long tall grass of our neighbor's yard, absorbing the sun's warmth, and enjoying this taste of spring.

my special thank u :)

hello world! i have never sung before so i hope u will forgive me if i am a little out of tune and my moves aren't exactly right.  but i really wanted to do something special to thank u all your support and if u like it maybe me and duk duk will make more, cuz we totally had fun makin it.  so with further ado - oh wait,  duk duk thinks u should watch this in full screen and so before u hit play,  click on the little arrowy thing over on the lower right of the video - okay, without further ado, here is my special performance 4 you.   :) b

baxter's words of wisdom #54

besides finding goodies on the kitchen floor, sometimes the best surprises are the ones u find on the stairwell.

 - words of wisdom from baxter, 4.3 years old, on running across the bowl of snackies meant for his tomodachi doxie n bunny block print photo shoot.






ps -  my mom and i want to thank u for all your help in spreading the word and your interest in my happy dog n bunny prints. so far thanks to u, we have raised $60 to help the people of devastated japan but i hope we can raise so much more. because without people, who will love and take care of the dogs of japan ? i hope things get better soon. tomorrow, i will sing u a song as a very special thank u. :)

owl eyes

dear diary,
hee hee, checky checky the super cool vintage cookie jar owl that my mom and uncle dana found at the vintage store! no silly, the owl is on the right and i am on the left, though i must admit i did try to sorta dress up like that owl eye guy the big kids at the school playground have been tellin me about in that book they are reading called the great gatsby.  the kids haven't gotten very far in the book so all i know about him is that he liked to read and  had big owl eye spectacles. so, i kinda took it from there.

anyhoo-hoo-hoo, my uncle dana took the cookie jar home with him and i kinda wish that he left it cuz i am pretty sure if i kept my snackies in there, there is no way duk duk would ever mess with it cuz duks are afraid of owls.  or at least this one is.  so maybe one day mom can find me an owl snackie jar and that way i won't ever have to worry about duk duk messin with my snackies again.  not that i might deserve it or anythin like that, ;)

well diary, since i am dressed like an owl 2day, duk duk suggested that i should ask my mom if she would take me to hooters for lunch.  that would be swell, wouldn't it? cuz we totally could meet other cool owls there!

talk to u again soon! 

toodley-doo!
b.

ooo dats good

dear diary,
can u keep a secret?  cuz even though i am four now, i like it when mom skritches me all over, and especially my good spots.  u know, like under my collar and on top of my head and under my chin and all those places that make my hind legs go thump thump thump. and sometimes, i lean into the skritch so hard that i almost fall over. cuz yep, it's that good. but please don't tell anybody.  cuz i got a reputation to maintain.

toodley-doo!
b.

etsy fresh: tomodachi japan relief doxie & bunny block print

A special run of happy block prints to share today, pressed from an image I carved this past weekend of the little kielbasa and his buddy bunnito bunnalini, and posted fresh to Etsy to join other friends in helping with tsunami relief. Aptly titled, "tomodachi", the japanese word for friends.

oooh, mom i hope these sell out so i can help u make more, squeed the little kielbasa when he sniffed at the cheery display of all the prints, cuz i really want to help the dachshunds and bunnies and duks and everybuddy in japan!

 

snoozing is fundamental

dear diary,
so friday night me n duk duk decided to play who could stay up the longest and yippee, i won! but boo hoo that also meant i was kinda too pooped to do much of anything yesterday other than catch up on my beauty sleep, so i really don't have much to tell u other than, um, i hung out in dad's lap while he did stuff. which really was nice cuz his lap is nice n big n cozy.  mom says it is good that i caught up on my sleep cuz today she says she needs me help on a really big project.  super cool, right?  hopefully tomorrow i can tell u all about it but for now, this is me, baxter, saying...toodley-doo!

luv,
:) b

strawberry delight

dear diary,
soon it will be the time when strawberries are very plentiful but for now, i am so happy cuz guess what -  i got my first strawberry of the year! yep, this is me, nibbling at the strawberry that i have been nursing for a couple of days now, cuz mom says i should not eat it all at one time.  which i do not completely understand, though duk duk thinks it has something to do with the fact that it is not sunday and i think he might be right because u never hear about strawberry fridays or saturdays or strawberry any day except sunday.

anyhow, i hope u r having a wonderful saturday and i hope i do too!

toodley-doo!
b.   :)

wakey wakey

 




Of all the guilty pleasures I hold in my repertoire, there is nothing more guilty or satisfying than that of disturbing my poor sleepy little boyfriend when he is burrowed deep under cover of blankie.  Peeling back the covers as if opening a much anticipated Christmas present, and finding my toasty little sleepy sausage dog inside. Watching tiny chumley blink blink blink as his eyes adjust to the bright light, and giving him a big fat kiss on his warm furry cheek before returning him to his peace. 

Most of the time, when the little kielbasa finds himself so rudely disturbed, he groggily puts up with the fuss and waits til his blankies are replaced so he can go back to sleepy slumberland.  But some days like yesterday, he slowly rouses himself with a stretch and a yawn, and a very very hopeful gaze.

gee mom, did u maybe wake me up for a little snackie or sumptin?

pyrex love

I have gone through many a collection obsession in my life.  Soap, as best I can remember, seemed to be the start of things for me when I was little.  Bars of every shape and size and the pretty papers they were often wrapped in were fascinating to me, and as a kid I remember receiving it as souvenirs from trips that the adults that inhabited my childhood world had taken.  Tiny blocks of airline soap, coveted the same as the prettiest of wrapped french lavender soaps, were an easy gift to mollify my youthful gimme gimme ways. 

Through the years, soap transitioned to Cinderella-esque little shoes, transitioned to miniature and regular sized perfume bottles, transitioned to pottery & crafts, transitioned to contemporary japanese iron teapots.  Transitioned to vintage dachshund goodies and carved mother of pearl buttons, turquoise McCoy ware, more dachshund goodies, wooden shoe forms, and tiny dutch wooden shoes. And nowadays, whatever else catches my eye.

As I have grown older, though, I realize that my days of dedicated collecting are over.  Sure I still pick up the random dachshund sumptin and even a tiny little perfume bottle if the price is right and I feel it needs to be rescued, but rarely am I on the time consuming hunt, unless I need something for a grand endeavor like growing the little kielbasa's selection of super cool eyewear.  I want space, I need space, for all my crafty endeavors. And I need the time to make, and time to hang with my big and little boyfriends.  If it is meant to be, most things, I figure, will have a way of finding me.

Which is what I reminded myself yesterday when we spread out tiny chumley's Uncle Dana's new collection of mostly pyrex coolness that he has amassed from his recent thrift store and flea market adventures down south, that had still been going on these past few days as I took him from thrift store to thrift store, all the while tiny chumley patiently waited for us to come back home.

pyrex schmyrex, the little kielbasa did declare as we set things out on the table to ooh and ahh, don't u know there are squirrels out there that need chasin?

In the grand scheme of things, I'm pretty sure Baxter is right.  But for the moment, I will bask in the temporary glow of vintage pyrex love, and dream of pretty pyrex displays.

kitty ball

o short stubby legs,

how i love to bat my ball

just like a kitty!

- baxter, 4.3 years old, on playing  a game of kitty ball in the kitchen yesterday evening.

upstairs downstairs

The stairs, I think, must be every doxie's little Mount Everest. Something to be feared yet respected, and something that often ends up playing a role in every dachshund's story at one time or another in his or her life.

Stairs for our first dachshund Digger weren't particularly a problem in the time that I knew him,  but one ill timed jump while playing at the top of the stairs, and we watched him slide down the entire run of carpeted steps in our townhome like a little log being sent downriver.  Our hearts skipped many a beat watching him slide helplessly away from us, but luckily, pride was the only thing that was hurt that day.  It was that very event that helped us recognize the benefits of having a stairwell landing in our next home, so even if a doxie tumbled, they would never have very far to fall.

Stairs were something very new to pups Kep and Padua when we brought them home to our apartment.  Barely long enough to reach the top of each step on their tiny tippy toed paws, both boys quickly learned how to climb up the outdoor stairs to our second floor temporary abode, but downstairs was a different matter.  Fearless Kep learned how to galump downstairs as quickly as he did up, but sweet Padua needed a little guidance from Big Boyfriend, who taught him step by step, paw by paw, til finally puppy Padua built up the courage and rhythm needed to conquer the big scary stairs.  And soon, by the time we moved into the house we now live in, the boys would race up and down the stairs, often skipping a step or two in their never ending quest to best one another.

Baxter, knock on wood, has yet to make his own stair story.  Going up and down the stairs by himself is something we usually discourage tiny chumley from doing, but sometimes the little kielbasa is just too fast for us to catch and carry, especially after he's been home alone and he's anxious to account for everyone's return.   Darting out of the bedroom and blasting down like a porpoising rocket to greet everyone, and then rounding back up to get his kong toy to finish up the last of its peanut buttery goodness.  Even skipping a step or two in the process, like his brothers before him. sorry, no time to waste. can i take a raincheck for the stair rideys? cuz i've totally got places to go and things to do!

redbud

Although there are many things that the little kielbasa can sniff and explore down at the level in which his little world normally revolves,  it seems only fair that tiny chumley should also get to enjoy the signs of spring that us taller beings take for granted.  Like gettting up close and personal with the pretty flowers of the redbud tree, thanks to a little help from his Uncle Dana.











ooh so pretty, and they smell so wonderful! Baxter's squinting eyes and wiggling nose proclaimed has he inhaled deeply into the purply pink flowers, detecting scent molecules imperceptible to the two legged members of his pack.  i wish uncle dana could carry me the rest of our walkies, cuz there's so much i wanna sniff up here!
 

spring forward

spring forward, mom said.
so i started to run but
ended up floating!

- baxter, 4.3 years old, on discovering the magical floating properties of daylight saving time whilst skipping along on his walkies to the park.

waiting for godzilla

I'll be the first to admit I live a very filtered life.  For the most part, I remain politically ignorant and ever hopeful that in the great see-saw of life, one side will very much balance the other over time.   I am slightly aware of world tensions and  precarious economies, but never so much so that I feel I could effectively debate with a person of strong opinion. My filters are an armor that keep my mind free to do what it seems to do naturally, which is of course to create.  But disasters, the kind of stuff where people are humming along one minute and mother nature or a doofus or group of doofuses just completely turns your world upside down the next?  Yeah, my filters don't always seem to work with that.

I have been to Japan once, on a business trip.  It was an experience that was in many ways as one might expect, with the language barrier and rather small sized everything serving as constant reminders that I was a foreigner in a foreign land.  That this was not home.  Yet Japan and I still managed to find common ground, mostly because of what seems to be our profound love of craft, and of course, shopping.  Back then I didn't have time to be as much of a maker as I am now, but I still left Japan with a suitcase full of coolness and a burning desire to go back again. 

Fast forward ten or so years to yesterday, and I'm sitting on the sofa, watching in disbelief at the photographs and scenes I saw on television. The earthquake and tsunami and the havoc it is still causing.  With cars being tossed in the waters like little toys, and houses being turned into floating driftwood, I was hoping that at any moment Godzilla would appear, and by default, that would mean that none of it was real. But of course, that never happened.  It is all too real.  And I feel a little guilty that I can sit here and tell you that my day, tiny chumley's day, was blissfully uneventful. But I am also very very thankful.

Today, taxes are on the agenda for our tiny little pack.  And as I sit with Big Boyfriend and grunt and groan over the numbers with our tax preparer while tiny boyfriend is curled up in his bed, I will remind myself that it could most definitely be worse. That my life could be turned upside down in an instant.  That I could be the one waiting for Godzilla.

anatomy of a roll

dear diary,
well wouldn't u know mom said if me n duk duk have all this time to pull pranks on each other, then we have too much free time on our hands.  so she made us join the after school photography club.  which sorta stinks cuz me n duk duk were really gonna give the wii a workout since we haven't had new batteries for our nunchuks in like, forever. but on the other paw, we are learning all sorts of cool stuff.  like, this guy, eadweard muybridge?  he took pictures like before any of us were born, but they were special ones, cuz they captured motion like never before.  and it showed all sorts of things people had never seen, like proving that all four of a horse's hooves leave the ground when it is galloping.  his work was so cool that duk duk and i thought we might try to capture some animal motion of our own.  so this is me, doing a roll.  but i'm not sure if we learned anything, cuz, well we both knew already that my tummy's pretty pink this time of year.

but anyhow, duk duk and i still think it's a cool idea so we are going to experiment more.  like, wouldn't it be so cool to photograph making, um, bubbles in the bathtub?  i sure hope mom's camera is waterproof!

well got to run and do my chores for the day so i can play!

toodley-doo!
b.

nuttin honey / revenge of the duk!

 

dear diary,
boy with mom getting ready for taxes and dad workin, it was really a slow day today, except for when i got to bark at the postlady for bringing a package for duk duk.  which he took straight to the toybox, come to think of it. boy i wonder what was in there, they way he was laughing and giggling.  oh well, if it weren't so cold n cloudy out i might have followed him, but i was so cozy sleepin on my lambskin woolie that i decided to stay put.

anyhoo, methinks i will go to bed early tonight and maybe tomorrow on thursday i will get to see what duk duk got.  i am sure it is something really cool.

toodley-doo!
b.


  




MWAH HA HA HA HA HA. it's after midnight and some dogs should really remember to logoff the computer before they go to bed. that package? totally super cool predator vision night goggle cam. yeah u know why i got 'em, my friend. consider yourself duk dukked!!





ps - good luck tryin to mess with my iphone cuz i totally hid it.

pps - hey guess what, we can totally play super mario kart on the wii after school 2day cuz I found us some new batteries for the controllers!   your pal, d.

tiny adventurer

Not every day can be full of grand and giant adventures for the little kielbasa, yet I have a feeling that Baxter is more than happy about that.  Because some days, it's not about how far you go or how much you do, but what you do that really counts.  Tiny adventures and all.  :)