return of the snackie bottle

It's been a while since the little kielbasa has had any fun with plastic bottles, which probably explains why tiny chumley's tail wagged with blurry delight when he saw the chewy plastic goodness in my hands that I had planned to put in the recycle bin yesterday.

oooooooo, snackie bottle!! his bright eyes declared.  o please may i have it? cuz i really think the man that takes them from our curbside doesn't even play with them and he already has plenty and i have none.



Gee baby dog, for a fella that doesn't even really talk, you sure know how to get your way, don't you? :)

to whom it may concern

attention please, squirrels n bunnies of this forest! my mom says this is a rest stop, but since i never pee or poop at them no matter how long i have been traveling, i will instead use this time to hunt. so please, if u are a bunny or a squirrel, please step forward and prepare to be chased.  

and, to whoever removed the stairsteps to this stump, please return it immediately so that the hunt may begin. thank you.

- baxter, 4.3 years old, the amazing bladder and bowel boy wonder, on making his intentions clear to the squirrel and bunny denizens of  Rest Stop Hill.

homeward bound

dear diary,
today i am writing u from the car cuz mom says we are going home and that will be swell because even though i had lots of fun with auntie robin and her family and kitties, there is nothing like sleeping in one of my many beds. and i cannot wait to show duk duk the super cool souvenir i got him.  it is a ball that honeybear says is made entirely of fur! though it seems a little gooey, so  i have a feeling kitty hairballs are a lot like puppy poopie snakes, only, well, u know, honeybear says it did not come from the treasure box.  so i have no idea how he made it. 

anyhow, i am still hoping that on the way back we can stop by the kibble factory so i am going to rest up while i can in my snoozer so i can be nice n awake for the snackie tour.  cuz, u know, i do not want to miss the part where they give u snackies.

toodley-doo!
b :)

still life

dear diary,
yippee! it turns out i am visiting my auntie robin and her family and u know what that means - kitty treats of a most delicious kind! well, i am hoping so but i see they put the treasure box way up high and boo hoo that means i cannot serve myself. anyhow do not let this picture fool u, i am having a wonderful time.  but mom kinda thought this picture was cool and so it is my picture of the day.  that is kerny, honeybear n sammy's brother, u know, the one that was givin me the stink eye last time i visited.  we get along fine but in a i have to keep my distance sort of way, which is sorta why we do not look at each other.  it works pretty well though i am glad i have pictures of him so i can see what he really looks like.

anyhoo, today i think i am helping everybuddy paint a room! won't that be exciting? mom said i could help paint all the baseboards on accuont of how low i am.

i hope u r having a wonderful sunday!!

toodley-doo,
b :)

little red riderboy

dear diary,
can u believe no sooner than me n duk duk turned off the tv after the royal kiss that mom packed me up for a really long ride?  i know we are going somewhere good cuz there is a lot of stuff in the car including my travel kennel.  where do u think we will be going? i am hoping to the kibble food factory cuz i hear u can sample everything at the end of the tour and u can even go for seconds! or if not there, then maybe mom will be taking me to the smithsonian cuz i hear they have  real dinosaur bones and when nobody is looking maybe i can snitch a lick or two.

well i guess i will find out soon enough, but for now, i suppose i will take me a little nap.  so, if u happen to see anything interesting, take a picture for me, will ya? 

toodley-doo!
b. :)

sleepyhead

oh me got up so early today to watch the royal wedding on tv but it is taking forever. somebuddy please wake me up when the queen's flower dorgis walk down the aisle?

heigh-ho the derry oh!

 be vewwy quiet. i'm hunting dust bunnies!

- baxter, 4.3 years old, on the helping his mom redo part of the family room yesterday.

double posties: larger than life

A little behind the scenes peekypoo at what was going on all the while Baxter enjoyed his doggie pupsicle and subsequent moseying, til finally the scent of the empty pupsicle container lure him back inside and cause him to crash my Etsy photo shoot.

oh pardon me, large dachshund head that looks like me in a modern wire and block sort of way, if u are not going to be needing that delicious smelling plastic tray that has just fallen down behind you, would u mind passing it my way? i seem to be a little tied up at the moment otherwise i would get it myself. :)



Yep, doggie pupsicles? Tummy love <3

pupsicle

dear diary,
yippee skippee! guess what i did yesterday.  well, okay, i am sure u can guess it cuz i am showing u pictures. and as u might imagine the doggie pupsicle that mom gave me was very tasty and just the thing to cool me off before i went on a tiny safari of my very own while mom did some etsy picture stuff in the garage. whoo, what a nice suprise considering how gray and thundery it was in the morning.

anyhoo, with me n duk duk still on spring break, tomorrow i am hoping that we can go go kart racing or at least maybe take my car out for a spin around the block.  it has not been out since last summer cuz it is a convertible and u know, it gets kinda cold when u pedal as fast as we like to go.

well diary, i hope u r having a wonderful wednesday!  

toodley-doo!
b :)

ps - thank u miss hannalei for posting all about how to make your very own pupsicles here on her lovely blog!! 

eat bark sleep

It seems there are three core elements to Baxter's happy go lucky daily agenda.   Eat, which the little kielbasa always hopes to do with much more frequency and bounty is ever afforded him. Bark, at squirrels and bunnies and passersby and every passing cloud that dare invade his space. And Sleep, which is always top on his list after having thoroughly accomplished the first two. 

Despite the consistency with which these three things occur every day for the little kielbasa, tiny chumley often finds ways to shake things up.  Like Easter Sunday, when Sleep meant a lazy doze on the sofa alongside his mom and dad. And yesterday, when Sleep was all about soaking in the sun.






















I do believe there is a secret that all doxies seem to know when it comes to living simply and living well. Eat, so one may bark. Bark, so that one may sing. And Sleep, so that it can all happen again tomorrow. :)

return of the pink tongue

hot from my walkie,
whatever happened to spring -
maybe i missed it?

- baxter, 4.3 years old, after coming home hot n panty from his midmorning walkie on Easter Sunday, before temps hit the predicted ninety degree mark.

happy easter!

dear diary,
yippee! it's easter, and u know what that means, it is time for my easter party! i sure hope the easter bunny does not fill up on jelly beans cuz i so made him a plate of carrots for when he comes to my party this year. and, i sure hope he comes soon before i get hungry, cuz who knows how many carrots will be left then.  and, if all those carrots don't fill my tummy and the easter bunny shows up? well, let's just hope he gets here soon so we don't even have to worry about that.

anyhow, i am so excited about my new bonnet and bowtie that mom made me cuz mom says after easter she will take the bunny ears off and then me n duk duk can play charlie and the chocolate factory!  only this time, with my new hat and all,  i can be willie wonka and duk duk will have to be the oompah loompah.   hee hee, i can hear him now - oopmah loompah, quackety quack!

well diary, i must get the crumpets out of the easy bake oven and help duk duk with making the tea before my guests start arriving.  i hope u have a happy easter!

toodley-doo,
b. :)

stir crazy

Yesterday's cooler weather and gentle rain were a welcome change for most of us in our pack, but for the little kielbasa, the gray cloudy day meant there would be hardly anything outside worth watching from his kitty perch. 

Baxter's tags jingled as my bored little boy jumped down from his tuffet.  Soon, I thought, tiny chumley will settle down under cover of blankie and snooze the afternoon away.  Funny though, that he decided to trundle all the way over to the family room to do it, considering I was in the dining room and his dad was upstairs. 

Minutes passed. I had no sooner tidied up my workspace  and started a new project than I heard from a distance more jingling.  Oh Baxterrrr, what are u dooo-ing? I called out on our subaural communication network.

My question was met with a pause, then more jingling, and occasional tiny thud.  rawr! um. i mean, uh, nuffin mom.

Hm, nuffin.Which is always code for sumptin. Okay, let's have a looksy.


why hello mom how r u doin?  me n duk duk totally r not playing hungry lions of africa today. um, is there anything i can help u with??




Why yes, baby dog, I said as I looked about the fluff strewn family room.  How about you snooze in my lap while I write today's post? And maybe after you can help me clean up those giant dust bunnies. :)

double posties: guess who

dear diary,
hee hee hee, so me n duk duk have been playin retro video games this week and guess what one we are playing now.  i'll give u a hint - it looks a lot like the picture below, only well, namewise, the real one has an e and an r in it, and mine replaces it with a u and a t. if  u think u know it, tell me what the actual name is and the name of my character. and i hope u figure it out, cuz if u do diary, u are so an honorary member of me n duk duk's new cultured club! and u know what that means, more snackies for everybody!  

toodley-doo ,
b. :) 

dapper doxie duds: isabella and anna

Sometimes it's hard for me to boil down a story to its most interesting and relevant elements.  Especially when things take an unexpected turn.  Like these dapper doxie duds, which were a long time in the making if you consider I met Isabella and Anna's mom back in August of last year at Bucktown.  As neither of us were in a hurry, the similarly sized Izzy and Anna's fittings and fabric choices weren't really finalized til earlier this year.  And since it was still cold and snowy up in Chicago, Izzy and Anna weren't going to need their cheery duds until, well, nowish.  Which how I ended up emailing Izzy and Anna's mom with the happy news that I was going to work on the duds soon and then finished them up this past weekend .  Before finding out that sixteen year old Anna had gone blind since last we spoke, and worse, that Anna had been diagnosed with bladder cancer. 

My heart went out to Isabella and Anna and their mom, and I told her as much.  If this wasn't a good time, she needed not worry about duds of any sort and I was more than okay and able to find an alternate home for any dud she did not want. 

But it would turn out that Izzy and Anna's mom still wanted both duds.  Anna would still need her dud,  not in a walkies sort of way, but to help as a sturdy garment onto which her mom could safety pin straps from Anna's diaper, as the tee she had been using stretched too much to help keep Anna's diaper in place.

Though I wish the news were different, I am grateful that something I've made can help bring comfort Anna during this difficult time.  So today, a peekpoo at both duds, packed and ready to go with plenty of sunshine.  To Anna, Isabella, and their mom, my warmest of hugs. <3

the tushie man cometh

Tiny chumley's ever twinkly halo of lucky charms and green clovers took a temporary tumble off his head yesterday, falling to the ground with a giant thud the moment he saw the big white van pull up and stop.
  
nooooooooooooooooooooo, the little kielbasa barked in protest as he sensed this familiar impending doom. it is only april and i do not see the tushie man and his lady for another six months!

Baxter, of course, was right.  He wasn't due for his annual checkup til October.  But yesterday was special.  Yesterday was rabies shot day. And despite the fact that everything went quickly, and no tushie invasion was required, and friends were made again all around, the little kielbasa still decided to voice his discontent one last time after left the van and reached the top of our driveway.   Barking, in no uncertain terms, that it was time for this unwelcome disruption to his day to come to an end.  And guarding his precious tushie all the while.


it's been great, come back again - when pigs fly.  hasta poop-ego. don't call me, i'll call u.  uh-reeve-uh-poopies! smell ya later!

shake

Shake was one of the first tricks that Baxter ever learned when we adopted him. Something I suppose that all dogs must learn, and something he still does to this day with the all the endearing earnestness his little four year old body can muster.

I know in time that his soft little paws will give way to rough and gnarled pads, but even still, when he is old and I am older, the shake we share will always be special. A reminder of sorts, of all that is happy in the world.

this land is my land

All the frenzied hubbubbery from the little kielbasa as I was getting ready to leave the house yesterday morning made me wonder if I had made an appointment that I forgot about.  Hmm, maybe it's the floor guy, who also happens to be our paint guy, and maybe he's here to collect his check or something.

I walked over to the window where Baxter was taking his mighty stand and looked straight out.  Nothing.  Little Mister Muffet, who picked a fine day to try and look menacing from sittin atop the tiniest of his tuffets, must be barking at clouds again.

"It's okay baby dog, I'm sure you scared it away," I told him as I petted him on the head and started to put my shoes on.



Little Mister Muffet continued with his machine gun barking assault, all whilst perched atop his tiny tuffet.
intruder alert this land is my land it's not yours what r u doin get out of there stay away interuder alert this land is my land it's not yours and u r intruding can't u see i won't stop til your gone this land is my la-

"Baby dog WHAT is going on out there?," I asked as I renewed my search for signs of sinister wrongdoings.

over there can't u see he's in our space it's over there it's over there he's in our space the big white truck it's over there can't u see he's in our  space over there he's in our space the big white truck hey stay in your truck get off our grass hey stay in your truck get off our grass...

My eyes settled on a truck to the left of us,  parked in clearly front of our neighbor's home, there to apparently start replacing windows for the day. The only thing worth barking at, I realized. The only thing Baxter could be barking at.

intruder alert don't make me come out there i'm rough n tough and yeah don't dis me that way u better be scared hey look at me yeah it's me barkin at u intruder alert this land is my land i may be small and i may be cute but watch out homes, i'm givin u da boot so get off my land this land is mine...

How bout that, I thought to myself.  Sometime in these past couple of weeks since all the housework hubbub began between our two houses, our little menace 2 society boldly expanded his gangland territory, annexing our neighbor's yard and putting it under his watchful gaze along with our own. Forming, I guess, the beginnings of his own little United States of Baxter.  One nation, under dog, indivisible, with barkery and snackies for all.

tushie talk

Despite all the blooming wonders of spring around him, the little kielbasa took as his mission yesterday the primary objective of digging a hole in the rain softened soil, flinging dirt as carelessly about as Mother Nature did the bits of insulation and building materials she stirred up from Saturday afternoon's tornadoes. 

tornadoes? exclaimed Baxter's only body part with a hole in it that was visible from where I stood on the deck.  exsqueeze me? i thought u said mother nature was bringing us tomatoes.   so much for diggin then.  guess i'll get back to lookin for bunnies!

invisible me

On the rare occasions like yesterday when we must leave him home alone, the little kielbasa quickly senses his impending doom and tries to make himself scarce.  Hiding in the shadows and blending into the background canvas of brown that is our sofa and soon will be our new family room flooring, and hoping he is obscured by the growing clutter of boxes left over from our recent mumbolarkical purchases.

psssst! i'm over here. nobody tell anybody where i am okay? cuz i do not like it when mom and dad leave and if they cannot find me then they cannot leave, right? oh, and if i am still here in a couple of hours will somebody bring me a snackie? but do it quietly so nobody notices. oh and tell duk duk where i am so he does not worry.   okay, i have to be quiet now so shhhh!







Sorry baby dog.  Maybe someday you will be a better hider but for now, how bout we take you and your peanut buttered kong toy upstairs to the bedroom so you can enjoy a little snooze and look out the window for us?