The One Where it Rains

The One with the Chess Nuts

It's that time of year!

The pool has settled in for winter.

And the chess nuts are arriving.

Haha.. not really. The first year this is what I thought and boy was that embarrassing. When mom said they'd be falling out of the tree soon, I was a bit... umm.. freaked. You know how shy I am around people and imagining them falling out of my trees was a bit too much!

Let me show you what really happens. Are you ready?

Okay, this way.

Okay look up.... see that tree?

It's a chestnut tree and is LOADED with nuts packaged in the prickliest of packages.

As fall gets closer, the packages start to turn from green to brown and open up...

Dropping shiny brown chestnuts to the grass below.

My job is to help mom find all of these little treasures.

A lot of times the entire prickly package falls to the grass.
Look at this one... triplets!

Little Phoeny helps too. Even more than I do actually!

Cali mostly supervises. She likes to watch mom collect the chestnuts from the pricklies. Mom will sometimes yelp when she gets poked so Mama Bear Cali wants to be close in case mom needs her. Phoenix and I find it a little silly actually. If it hurts, why are we collecting these things?

My nemesis obviously doesn't mind the pokiness! Here's a half eaten nut.

He will even sit on the edge of my sandbox and chow down... right where he knows we can watch him from the sliding glass door. That little devil.

Look at all of these... and they were just from today!

The One with the Shock

FIRST, a great big happy birthday to PáPá, mom's grandpa. He celebrated his 85th on Saturday!! We all wish we could have been in Arizona to celebrate with him. I've never met him but have heard many, many wonderful stories from the two-leggers and from Ginger and Cali who have had great fun with him in the past! When mom talked to him on Saturday he said he had a problem. The problem was that he didn't know if he should order lobster or the fish of the day for dinner that night. He went on to say that if that's his biggest problem at 85, he's in pretty good shape! We agree and we love you PáPá!

Now... I need to tell you something about my trip to NJ. It's hard for me to say this. I'm still a little spooked.

While we were away, I was stalked.

My nemesis must have hired this copy-cat to spy on me while we were away. Can you see him outside my window?

Let me biggify...

Wait... are you ready? Brace yourselves. It's horrifying.

Here he is still keeping one eye on me.

Everywhere I turned, his beady little eye was on me!

Click play arrow to view this monster in action.
Pardon the blurry video. I was nervous!

When I got home, I was ready to have a word with my nemesis. Why spy on me?? It's common knowledge that I'm only interested in asking him some questions: Where do I order those cheek implants to store more food? Does he have a spare set of suction cups I can borrow to climb trees? What is the view like from up there? Nothing as sinister as, oh, I don't know, "Do you taste like chicken??"

THEN my friend Frogger told me something most shocking.

"Zona, did you hear that Stacey collected
some of your apples for her.... squirrels??"

I turned to Freddy to tell me this is a joke.

"What Frogger says is true, Zona.
And not only that...
I don't know if I should tell you....
Lisa is building an enclosure for
some of them at her place too."

Can you believe this?? Two of my bestest friends have been brainwashed by my nemesis and his crew!!

I knew they both are amazing wildlife rehabilitators but I had no idea that included tree rats. I am shaken.

The One with the Return

Home Sweet Home!

We had a great time visiting with papa's parents but it is always nice to get home too... at least until more Airstreaming next weekend!

For now it's time to look for any changes while I was away.

And check on my toys.

Wally and Stella missed us (Cali mostly) but Stacey was here to keep them company so they're pretty happy.

Hope everyone had a great weekend! I know Remington did!!! Anyone have exciting plans for the week?

The One with the Update

Greetings from Too Hot for September New Jersey! Papa, of course, loves it! Cali and mom wouldn't mind a few degrees shaved off the thermometer but either way it beats snow! Of course, I do love snow... but not when we're traveling with the Airstream.

Which reminds me... some of my newer followers might not be too sure what that means. Well, I am shy. So I feel better traveling with my own home. Click here for a tour I gave in August!

This time we've pulled this home on wheels, complete with my blankie and practice nemesis, all the way to NJ to visit with papa's parents. They have the most beautiful campsite just behind their house. Isn't that convenient?

Last time we pups didn't get to come along because of some two-legger only event that weekend (papa has sworn that won't happen again.... we'll see!). You might remember all of the wildlife that showed up while we were safely 300 miles away. Here's an example.

No, that's not Cali and a friend. It's a mama bear (sporting a beard) and her baby!! We're told they haven't been around for awhile but mom's being extra vigilant. You know how crazy cautious she is. So far we haven't seen too many creatures. Though papa ran into these 87 deer this morning in the driveway!

Uh oh... gotta run. Mom says it's time to get off the computer and have some dinner! I'll report back later!

PeeS: See how calm my face is looking already? Those medicines are working FAST! The extra attention and Thursday night's Big Bang Theory season premier helped a little too. Thanks for all of your advice furends.

The One with Yoccos

I am writing to you from ... :: drum roll :: ... a lovely campsite in New Jersey!

Yep, we're visiting papa's parents! That, of course, meant a stop at Yoccos on the way!!

Tonight the two leggers all went out to dinner. That was just as well, we pups were exhausted from the excitement of travel!

We've settled into bed so I'll be sure to update you tomorrow!

The One After the V-E-T

Today was a full day. We headed into the city to visit Dr. Mitchell.

As you can see, we were anxiously awaiting her arrival.

Watching the door from her post under the bench,
Cali LOVES being under things!

Okay... some of us were anxiously awaiting her arrival.
I won't name names but someone was rather bored.

It was a pretty quick visit.

Despite fall allergies kicking in, Cali's lungs sound great! We're still keeping her on natural supplements for her mild arthritis, which is also good news! Dr. Mitchell even said that Cali looks amazing and doesn't look her age, which is nine. Mom told her to stop aging and I guess she did! She did get a little lecture on watching her figure. She was nice and trim in the spring (a first!) but the summer heat has had her less active so this fall it will be lots of chase and hiking! It's important for all of us to be within our healthy weight range but especially important for Miss Cali. Not carrying around that extra weight will improve both of her health issues: arthritis (not so much weight on those joints) and asthma (less fat around her lungs and organs). But despite the few extra pounds, her lungs sound perfectly clear!! GREAT news!


Phoenix skated by with a routine exam. She didn't even need any vaccines! Though it was probably the worst for her because she got carsick going there AND coming home. Poor baby. Her picture says it all... "Ughhh...."



I got my Lepto booster. Mom is a bit crazy about not over vaccinating us but this one is a necessity where we live. Then we turned our attention to my muzzle. We've tested for mange a couple of times before and it's always negative. We've done smears to check for bacteria and yeast - negative. We've evicted some hookworm hitchhikers who can cause localized itchiness. Nose - clear. Teeth and mouth - clear. Looking at my chart, I flare up in March and September, like clockwork. Prime pollen time. So.. we're thinking that's the problem. Considering the circumstances and relatively mild nature (compared to Cali), Dr. Mitchell didn't think the allergy panel was necessary.

I have a new allergy medicine regimine for these peak months and some natural solutions for the rest of the year. I came home with a topical spray (I hope she doesn't spray it right on my face!!), special face wash and a new supply of allergy pills.

I also came home with a short dose of steroids. You thought I ran fast before? Now I'll be juiced up and you won't even see me pass you!!! I'll be so---- wait--- mom just told me that's not what they're for - something about my itchies and getting them under control quickly.

WHOOOSH!

This stuff is pretty much all for me! Though I'll share the Panacur. We're going to get quarterly treatments thanks to our penchant for tasting the culinary delights left behind by our various visitors here at The Park.

While mom and Dr. Mitchell got caught up and scheduled a visit and potential hike, I was getting an innocent pedicure and was taken on a nice long walk. I was anxious to get back to mom though so I didn't understand why there was such a long wait outside. When we FINALLY got inside, the rubber glove came out and I realized what they wanted from me but it was too late. I was violated. AND they stole from me. It was a disgrace. Apparently, they HAD to have a sample. I bet they're going to sell it on eBay and make tons of green papers. Isn't that what two leggers do when they get things from famous folks?

Anyhow... it was HOT here today. I had to look twice at the calendar. Take a look at the weather station...

100°! It's Northern Virginia in late September! Crazy! It's supposed to cool off for the weekend. We won't be here but I think Wally & Stella will appreciate the reprieve. Speaking of which, I'm off to make my packing list and get ready for tomorrow. You know what tomorrow is, right???

The One with the Ouchies

This is my muzzle from a random picture in May...

This is my muzzle tonight...

See those ouchies? My antihistamine medicine isn't working anymore. It really wasn't working too well to begin with but now hardly at all. I go see my friend Dr. Mitchell on Wednesday morning. Mom's trying all kinds of anti-itch things in the meantime.

The curious thing is it is ONLY on my face right here. Any furends out there ever experience something like this?

Dr. Mitchell is going to treat me for worms, which we get treated for quarterly thanks to where we live. Evidently a certain type of worm can cause this localized issue but for me this seems to come and go... seasonally-ish. It happened once before to this extent but usually it's not this bad. So we're also going to do allergy testing. Mom is sure the bill will be ginormous since she's determined to get to the bottom of this once and for all but she doesn't care. She starts to cry when I sometimes whine when I itch. I do have to say the extra noms and cuddles sure are nice!

I don't itch that much really, since I do have the medicine, but enough that there are sores and those ouchies hurt when I scratch them with my nails by mistake. The hair loss is probably because my itch method of choice is rubbing on the nobbiness of the berber carpet. That never makes me whine but it feels oh so good sometimes....

We're anxious for Wednesday here. Even me. I love car rides and I love Dr. Mitchell since she visits me at home with her daughter but going to her office is another thing altogether. There are lots of new-to-me two-leggers there and you know how I feel about that.

Any thoughts about this current mystery?

The One with Mango-ness

My furend Mango, as you know, is having an "I Wanna be Like Mango" contest. As Puddles pointed out, we are girls and don't have the... ummm.. well... we're girls and he's a boy so how can we compete?

A couple of days have gone by and I've been thinking about my sister Cali. Now, Puddles, I know she doesn't have the parts Mango has but perhaps she can enter as a She-Mango, as the Great Mango suggested.

He is SO generous that he's donating one green paper for every contest entry to the Tufts School of Doggie Medicines. Isn't that amazing??? He is allowing entries until September 25.

So I present to you... my sister CALI!

How is she like Mango? Well.....

They are both avid gardeners.

And daring athletes.

They are both are known to shun stairs.

And are both patriotic pooches.
.

They are both snappy dressers.

And love the open road.

They are both gentle treat takers.

And helpful assistants.
(Okay so Cali is mostly around
during break time but...)

They are both a bit slobbery.
(Umm.. can you pretend that all of that
ice and snow is slobber in this one? Hehe..)

And LOVE school.

They are both well known
for their immodest poses.

And are both kind to their
pack mates at all times
(for which I am eternally grateful).

They both have remarkably expressive faces.

And are both kind to stuffies.

Not to mention, they both
possess model good looks.

Didn't I tell you they were a lot alike?? Sometimes I call her Mango by mistake! Now I know she's a girl so she isn't TRULY like Mango but there you have it! My entry into the contest. Thank you for your generosity, Mango Man!