Really Itchy today!!!

Boy, yesterday was great - a big prime rib bone for dinner - num! I crunched down the whole thing in one sitting! But today I'm really itchy - Mom even gave me some Benadryl.

Here are some pictures of me (of course) and Mom cross country skiing in the yard, and some pictures of the house.

Have a happy and safe New Years!

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas everyone! It's a really white Christmas here - we've got about 2 feet of snow on the ground, and more coming - yeah, I love rolling and running around in the snow! Mom and Dad miss everyone, but they're really happy to be here in this beautiful place. Mom will try to upload some pictures later - we can't get through on the slow connection!

Mom made a little cross country ski track right around our yard - it's really fun to bark at her and try to bite her skis on the downhill part - I want her to go faster, but I guess she's just slow. She says it's because I run ahead of her on the track, so my paws mess up the track, but I know she's just slow. Of course, everybody's slow in comparison to me - I'm fast!

We still don't have a fence - yeah! - but a guy came out to look at the yard and the posts and said he could do it after the first of the year if it warms up just a bit. Of course, with all the snow out there, that might be tough. But Dad and Mom are going to do everything they can to get a fence in soon - it's really hard to do things in town and get back in time to let me out.

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends - and a Happy New Year!

Fence 1, Matt & AM 0

Well, Dad and Mom rented a tow-behind fence post pole pounder this week to try and get a fence up for me – I keep telling them I don’t need a fence, I always come right back – but it didn’t go so well. The fence post pounder worked fine – but Mom’s driving, well, not so much. She said there are just too many trees and stumps in the way to be able to get a trailer to back up straight, but I’m pretty sure she’s just not very good at driving trailers. It was a pretty rough ride in the truck bed! They decided to admit defeat when the clutch started smelling funny - to them, I tried to tell them it smelled funny a long time before that. They called somebody to come out and put the posts in this next week, but it’s supposed to be pretty cold starting Sunday, so I’m not sure they’ll be able to get them in before Spring – yeah! More deer chasing for me!

They also tried to get the garage all fixed up before the snow hit. Last night, Mom replaced the “logic card” on the non-working garage door opener, but when they tried to get it to work, it made horrible noises, a big ‘bang’ and then smoked – Mom unplugged it pretty quick. But they got all three vehicles in the garage before the snow started last night, so that’s good I guess. I like the snow, don’t know what their problem is!

One ‘win’ – Dad managed to get a hitch attached to the truck and last night he got the wiring harness all hooked up – and everything still works like it’s supposed to! The hitch was hard – it didn’t want to fit over the frame rails, so Dad and Mom jury rigged a press with a floor jack, and did a lot of bench presses. Dad finally got it up in the right place after Mom went inside to warm up – I guess all that engineering book work isn’t very helpful!

Mom’s been gone a lot in the evenings, which is good, because then I get Dad all to myself. She’s been practicing for Christmas Mass – she’s singing alto and second soprano for Midnight Mass with the big choir, and alto for Christmas morning with a different choir – she’s going to be tired! She also sang with smaller groups for three other services. I don’t know why she doesn’t take me, I sing really good! Some stupid rule about no ‘animals’ in Church – what about the first Christmas??? There were animals with Baby Jesus!

Anyway, it's time to go roll in the snow - I LOVE to roll in the snow!

Been so busy!

Sorry it's been a while since I updated my blog - we've been really busy, and it's been hard to log on from home, especially since keyboards are not meant for paws! I keep bugging Mom to buy bark recognition software, but she says it doesn't really exist, which I find hard to believe, but she has thumbs and I don't.

Anyway, on Monday we finally did what I thought we moved here for - we went hiking!!! And I hardly had to ride at all in the stupid car, the trailhead was really close. We went about 2.5 miles before getting to a stream that was too difficult for the two-foots to cross in the wet cold - Dad wouldn't let me get on the tree to cross the creek because he said it was too slippery, but it wouldn't be too slippery for me - I have four-paw drive! Anyway, it was really pretty, with a small waterfall along the way and an area with a natural waterslide that will be fun in the summer.

Last Friday we drove and drove and drove, and Dad drove home a new truck! Well, almost new - doesn't matter, I LIKE trucks! It's a black 4x4 2008 Toyota Tacoma with just under 10,ooo miles on it. Dad and Mom are happy because now they don't have to ask everyone they buy big things from if they deliver, and I'm happy because I like to ride in the back!

And then the boring stuff - Dad and Mom struggled to put up garage door openers this week. They FINALLY got them both up, but only one of them works! Something's wrong with one of them, which means Dad will have to get on the phone and be put on hold a lot and he'll be in a bad mood and yell at me for making noise while he's on the phone. But if he's on hold, why can't he play chase the stick with me?

We also got a bunch of fencing stuff delivered - I don't need a fence, I like going around the whole neighborhood! But Mom says I might get shot at for chasing the deer, so they're going to put one up anyway. Anyway Dad and Mom spread all the posts out around where the fence will go, and then once they get a hitch for the truck, they're going to rent a pole pounder and put up the posts. They'd better hurry - we got 3 inches of snow last night, and the ground's going to freeze pretty soon!

Last night Dad and Mom went over to the neighbors up the street for dinner - how come I wasn't invited? Anyway, they said the neighbors were all really nice, and they have a pretty good network to help each other out with things and keep everybody in the loop as to what's going on. And there's a women's newcomer's network that Mom's going to join - they have a book club, and a sewing club and a bunch of other clubs. Which is good, because when Mom's gone, I get Dad all to myself!

Got to go wake up Dad by whining now!

Life in Montana so far is great!

Sorry it's been a while since I updated my blog - Mom says it's really hard to log on with these slow speeds. I don't know what she's talking about - I'm just as fast as always! Which I proved to Mom and Dad when we were on our daily walk up the street - I chased a Momma and Calf moose! Dad and Mom were upset - they kept talking about me getting stomped - but I'm too fast for that, nobody's going to stomp on me!

Anyway, we go for a long walk everyday up the road, and I almost always see another dog or a deer or a turkey or something - this place is fun! Mom and Dad saw a whole herd of elk near our house, but they were in the car without me :-(

Dad and Mom have been working hard - the front porch is full of broken down boxes and paper and yesterday they moved a bunch of boxes and all the stuff out of the big garage and Dad spent hours and hours power washing the garage floor. Dad says the concrete is crumbling and we'll have to get it resurfaced. They've also laid out a fence so I can go outside on my own - like I'm not perfectly capable of being outside all by myself - but I know it's there so I can't chase the deer and it sucks! But Dad said the neighbors shoot dogs that harass deer, so maybe I should stay closer to home. Anyway, it's going to take a while for the fence, because we have to get the stuff, and digging post holes in this rocky soil is going to be hard. I'm not very good at digging - I'm much better at running!

Mom joined the Church choir, and Dad's put in some job applications. I guard the house just like always - although Mom and Dad are upset that I've scratched the window sills already. I don't want Dad to get a job - he's my hero and I want to stay right by his side all the time!

Anyway, we all love it here - time to go for a walk now!

New Den!

We've moved to a new den in Montana! At first, I thought we were just visiting like we've done before, but all our stuff got boxed up at our old den and it all arrived here somehow, with nice people who scratched me to unload it. Mom and Dad have been busy unpacking all the boxes - I'm so happy they finally found my dog bed!

Mom says it's going to be challenging to update my blog on a regular basis - we only get dial up internet at the house right now, so uploading pictures will be difficult. Mom can do it every now and then from the Hamilton library (which doesn't allow dogs - grrr), but most of the time it will be words only - that's too bad, because I'm beautiful, and everyone should see more of me!

This place is really cool! I got to herd a flock of turkeys (I'm smart enough to know they fly - no point in trying to catch them) and I tried to catch a couple of white tail deer, but they're really fast - faster than me even! And there's some other nice dogs in the neighborhood too which we met when we went out walking today. It's really beautiful here!

Mom's Retired!

Mom retired on 31 Oct after 20 years in the AF - see how happy she looks! Mom says we'll have more pictures here soon.

But I'm a little puzzled; Mom and Dad are packing things in bags, and fixing the window sill I scraped with my nails protecting the house, and taking things off walls - it seems strange. They keep talking about moving to a new den in Montana - I'm not sure where that is, but as long as there's stuff to chase I'm happy!

Mom's Retirement

To everyone who's attending Mom's Retirement on 31 Oct at 1:30pm - you'll have to stop at the Visitor's Center to pick up your Base Pass. Unfortunately, we didn't get them in time to mail them out. If you didn't RSVP, please do so, or you won't be on the access list!

Take Exit 125 from the Freeway (the signs say "McChord AFB") on to Bridgeport (if you're coming from the North, take a left over the Freeway) and get in the left-hand lane. Go straight through the next stop light and you'll be headed into the base. Take a left into the parking lot and park - someone will be there with a Base Pass for you. You'll also need some form of Government issued ID, such as a Driver's License, for everyone in the car. Once you get your base pass, you'll follow the map that was sent - we'll have extras there.

Of course, I, Daphne the Itchy Dog, the most important person in this pack, won't be there, because "pets" aren't allowed in government buildings. I'm not a pet, I'm a pack member! Stupid rules!

Hiking in the North Cascades

Mom said she's been trying to get up to the North Cascades since we got here, but we just haven't had the time - I have plenty of time, I don't know what she does all day - so we went for a couple of days this last week. We stayed in this tiny little den at a place called Clark's Skagit River Resort in Marblemount - they had bunnies everywhere, but Mom and Dad wouldn't let me chase them :-(

We went hiking - we were supposed to hike the Pacific Crest Trail at Rainy Pass, but there was about 6 inches of snow there, so we backtracked to Easy Pass instead - and we hit the snow just before the treeline. We didn't make it all the way to the Pass, which is just to the left of Dad's head in the picture, because we've never hiked there before and we weren't exactly sure where the trail was. Well, Mom and Dad weren't - I know where it is, but I have four-paw traction and they don't.

On the next day, we drove and drove and drove - Mom said it was the eastern half of the Cascade Highway loop - and finally made it back to our den. Mom and Dad said it was really pretty with the all the leaves turning colors, but I slept pretty much the whole day.

Dad's home all the time!

Mom & Dad keep talking about new dens. They said we sold the den in Colorado, and bought one in Montana, and that we'd be moving there pretty soon. I've never been to Colorado, but I liked Montana when we stayed in a little cabin and I got to play with the pack there. Mom and Dad also keep going through all the boxes of papers and putting them in piles, and going through their removable furs and putting those in bags and taking them all away someplace.

Dad's now at home with me all day - which is great, 'cause Dad's my hero - and today Mom stayed home too, and took me running this morning. Running is almost as much fun as the dog park, but more tiring - Mom's gotten faster over the last year. Dad says Mom is retiring soon, and she won't be wearing the funny one-piece fur with the patches that make ripping sounds anymore. Mom says she's tired and ready to retire - the "politics" are too much. I don't know what that means, but if she takes me running, I don't care!

Big Changes Coming for our Pack!

The rest of the pack keeps talking about changing our den location. I don't understand where all these den locations are, but I guess they've been bought and sold, and we may be moving to a new one soon. I hope the other packs in the neighborhood are as nice as the pack next door is now. Helen and Bruce pet me and scratch me, and don't get mad when I break through our rotten fence into their yard. Maybe there will be more things to chase! And maybe we'll have a dog park right next door! And what about more hiking trips! This might be fun!