Feathers, Fur and Fins

Hi, Bella here again. Mom started back to school yesterday and she's been really tired. I thought I would post for her tonight. She'll get back to posting when she adjusts to the school schedule again. I liked it better when she was around all day. If Lola and Axl wouldn't play tug of war with me, I could usually get Mom to play. Mom got us a new tug of war toy the other day. Here's a picture of me with it.

It's an angry bird. The bird is on one end and a pig is on the other end. I really liked it. As I was laying here with it, Lola was staring at me because she wanted it:


She tries to intimidate me but it doesn't work. Now if she tried to bribe me that would be a different story. I would gladly trade it for something good to eat. But Lola likes food too. She would probably try to give me banana republic coupons, but since I don't have legs to put pants on, it really wouldn't do much good.

Anyway, not much else going on around here. Mom's back to work and we're alone all day again. Of course, Dad gets home pretty early so we really aren't alone that much. Oh well, time for dinner.

When I was leading nature tours about 12-14 years ago, I discovered this bird. This bird, the White Rumped Shama, lives in low forest areas, the foothills, so we would see it a lot when leading hikes into the foothills. This is the bird that the Chinese would put in cages and have singing contests with. This bird is an amazing singer. As you walk through the forest you will hear, what seems to be, 3 or 4 different birds. They are all this bird. It can sing many different songs and it's just amazing to listen to. Well, I fell in love with this bird. I got so I would look for this bird every hike and 9 times out of 10 I found one. This bird became a symbol to me. I love this bird.

When we bought this house, I heard one of these birds outside on one of our visits here. On our first morning here I woke to find one sitting on the wire out my kitchen window. I took this as a sign things were right and as they should be. Over time I stopped looking for them but every once in a while, usually when things were going bad, I would notice one. I always took it as a sign things were going to get better. And they did.

Well, things have been tough around here lately. There is all kinds of things going on, money problems, neighbor problems, etc. But on Thursday when I was walking Bella, for the first time in a long time I saw one. It was sitting on a wire singing away and I know it was an omen that things are going to be okay. Because they are. So, call me crazy, but that bird always symbolizes hope to me.

Now, what will the new year bring? Who knows. Hopefully it will bring peace and tranquility. With any luck it will bring prosperity and stability. Hopefully Charlie and I will get decent raises this year. I'm hoping that my niece will find Licensed Nurse Jobs in her area. She graduates in a couple of weeks. According to the Mayans it may well bring the end of the world. I don't think so. It's possible something large and possibly catastrophic may occur but I doubt it will be the end of the world. Or even civilization. I'm holding out hope that it will be a good year and even be kind of boring. I can live with boring if it means things are going smoothly.

My dogs love ice. Love. It. In my freezer I have an ice maker, not that it's actually hooked up and used but I do store ice in the tray for the ice maker. Whenever I open the freezer and pull out the ice tray all the dogs come running. They then sit there until I give each one of them a piece of ice. They crunch it and leave. Weird.  I have very strange dogs.

Hi, Bella again. Mom is working out and I thought I'd post again since she never does. Mom is on something called Christmas break. I don't know what Christmas is, though everyone is talking about it lately, but I like having Mom around all day. Even Axl and Lola like having Mom around all day. I don't know how long she's going to stay home but it's the best thing ever and I hope she does it a lot.

Yesterday Axl had a run-in with a neighbor dog. Mom and Dad were walking Axl and Lola when the neighbors little dog got loose and went after Axl. Now Axl is a good sized dog, not as big as me but not small, and this dog was just a little chihuahua type. It ran straight for Axl and started biting his legs. Axl got the dog in his mouth. Dad got the little dog out of Axl's mouth and tried to chase it away but the dog came right back for more!! Axl got him again, then Axl slipped his collar. Dad had to pin him to the driveway so he wouldn't get away and attack the little dog. It was crazy. I was at home but could hear all the yelling and I wanted to go help but I couldn't get out. Finally the owner came and got the little dog and took it away. Mom and Dad got Axl and Lola home and things calmed down. Dad ended up the only one with any injuries and he got his from holding Axl down so he wouldn't go after the little dog. Mom is worried about the little dog. It's old and she's afraid the whole episode may cause it to die. Hopefully the little guy is okay. Mom and I went for a walk after that and it was completely uneventful.

It's been raining a lot here and the yard gets really muddy. When we dogs go out in the yard we track mud into the house. Mom is not pleased about that. She keeps telling Dad to do something about the muddy spots. She says it's not like when we lived in rentals and had to worry about an owner. We are the owners and can do whatever we want. So she want's him to fix it. I hope he doesn't. Mud is the best thing ever. When I play in mud I get all goofy and silly. I love playing in mud.

Mom wants here computer back so I guess I should say goodbye for now. That picture is me next to Dad's 49er rug.  The 49ers are doing really good and that makes Dad really happy. We were watching the game last night and he took that picture.

Hi,Bella here. My mom never blogs here anymore. She keeps saying she's too busy. Right now she's cleaning the room the birds live in so I thought I would post something.

Today was a good day. I love days when both Mom & Dad are home. I keep bugging them to let me out to see Daddy then to let me back in to see Mom, it's fun. Also when they are both home we usually get morning walks. I love morning walks they are the best thing ever. Axl & Lola always go first because they are a little crazy. Mom puts me in the computer room and gives me a biscuit. I like that, it's the best thing ever. When they come back we usually hang in the backyard for a while and then it's my turn. Going on a walk is the best thing ever.

Today we walked down to the big road. That road has lots of cars and lots of noise and I don't really like it much. Last Saturday that noisy parade went down the big road. When we were headed towards it I kept looking at Mom because I was afraid there was another parade there. But there wasn't so it was okay. We walked along the big road to the place Mom calls the vets. I don't know what she means by that, I've been to the vets and we did not go there, so I'm a little confused, but whatever. We went into this vets office, at first I did not want to go. I could smell other dogs and I did not like it. But Mom said it would be okay so I went in. Mom asked the girl behind the desk if she could weigh me, I didn't know what that meant but the lady came out from behind the desk and petted me, so I guess it's a good thing. Then Mom tried to get me up on this box in the floor and I wouldn't go. No. Way. But then Mom pulled out some treats and I jumped on that thing and sat down so fast. Treats are the best thing ever. Mom had me sit there for a minute while these numbers kept flashing. I couldn't read the numbers because, well, I don't read. But I sat there. After a few seconds Mom said 95 and let me get off the box. Then we left that vets place.

As we were walking home Mom told me I weighed 95 pounds. She also said that in 2 days I will be 13 months old so 95 pounds is probably the weight I will be for the rest of my life. I guess that's okay. When we got home Mom asked Dad to guess but he couldn't. When she told him 95 he said, woo hoo. I'm not sure what that means but I like that noise.

Okay, I guess that's about it for now. Mom is almost done with the bird room and I don't want her to catch me on here. Good night everyone.

We are back on track with the walks. I've had to take it easy and we've only been taking them on short walks because my back is still sore. If I walk too much my low back starts to hurt. But the walks are back and all is well with the world. At least for the dogs. We were talking that we should get them presents because it's Bella's first Christmas, well she was alive last Christmas but only 6 weeks old. So I was thinking we should get them presents. We don't have a lot of money but they are dogs, they don't need much. It's not like they want titanium pendants or anything, though it would be cute hanging from their collars. Maybe we'll buy them some special treats.

The thing I hate about winter, even in Hawaii, is that the dogs don't get baths as much. We don't bathe the dogs that much, just when they start to smell. Well, they are starting to smell but it's too cold to bathe them outside. They will get a chill and the last thing I need is a sick dog. Bella especially needs a bath. Her fur is just long enough to hold smells. Yuck. Hopefully it will warm up this weekend and we can get them washed up. If not we may have to look into getting some joop fragrance to use on them. That way they will at least be huggable :)