Dog days of summer

As the mercury continues to climb, I thought I’d send you a cool reminder of what it's like to play in the snow.

An update on Duchess

Duchess’ health is improving and her hair was growing back, until the people took her to get it shaved off. “She just needed to be evened up all the way around,” Cheryl said. It’s not one of her best dos, but the groomer didn’t have much to work with. At least the hair on Duchess’ tail is growing back and she’s slowly losing the ’Possum Tail nickname.

Are we in the right kitchen?

Every once in a while Cheryl gets the urge to redecorate. If you ask me, it’s that HGTV’s fault. She’s addicted to that channel. If we are not watching it, we’re watching the cooking channel. (Rachael Ray’s yapping about yum-o salmon as I blog). Cheryl recently got a hankering to re-arrange the kitchen/dinning room. She wanted the table closer to the kitchen in hopes the family would eat more meals around it instead of on TV trays. This is what we ended up with. Although it looks good, function is important, too. For me and Lexie, it doesn’t function as well. When we come in to escape the storms (I think one’s brewing in Knoxville right now and will be here soon) there’s less room to hide from the scary thunder. The redesign took place 10 days ago. How many meals have been served at the table? 0.

Your cheat’n heart

I found these photos on the camera when I went to update my blog yesterday. Seems like the family has been hanging around other pets. I know the Old English Sheep dog in the photos is Buck. After some hound-dog investigative digging, Lexie and I learned the kittens are Fitz and Floyd. Then we remembered the people spent a weekend on Lake James at Buck’s grandma’s house. The frisky kitties are hers (but I can’t remember which one is which.)

Made in the shade

We spent the weekend with our Grams and Gramps Moose. Gramps just returned from a 7-week business trip to Vietnam and Thailand so we had a weekend of celebrating his homecoming and his and Cheryl’s birthdays. Though we had it made in the shade on this hot-dog-day-of-summer weekend, we were still pretty hot dogs. How could you not be when it’s 115 in the shade? While we chilled out under umbrellas and with fans blowing on us Sunday afternoon, the people took a dip in Mamaw’s pool. These pics are of our cousins Loch and Grier.

We've treed a coon and a opossum. Loved playing to death with a rabbit and countless birds and moles. Stayed out of the way of a few black snakes. Heard the never-ending pecks of woodpeckers. But this week we saw a first around our homeplace - a slow poking turtle. Also a first - a birds nest with just-hatched baby birds in our car wash supply bucket. Now our people really do have an excuse to go to the drive-thru car wash to clean the vehicles. Alison named the momma bird Belle. We've been calling the turtle Junebug (after Dale Earnhardt Jr. because he's so slow.)

Girls weekend out

Cheryl, Alison and Kathy recently took at 2-legged girls' only trip to San Antonio, Texas (Duchess and Lexie were not invited). Remember the Alamo? It's in San Antonio. So is the River Walk. And the St. Anthony hotel where they stayed. I've never stayed in a hotel myself, but the girls came back bragging on this one. Apparently their room had 2 queen-size beds, 2 walk-in closets and 2, count 'em 2, full size bathrooms. It had a rooftop pool and old-world charm. They visited a hat store and the nice hat maker had Alison try on a Johnny Cash hat. They say everything is bigger in Texas and apparently that was true for Cheryl's hair, too. As it turns out Duchess maybe could have gone on this trip. On the flight home the girls sat beside a couple that had a little dog in their carry-on luggage. "Would I fit in a bag under an airplane seat?" Lexie asked. "Absolutely not," was Cheryl's response. Which is just as well. I'd rather keep my paws on the ground.

Happy July 12

So I'm a week and a few days late wishing everyone a Happy Birthday America Day. Lexie and I spent the 4th like we always do hiding out in the kitchen with our heads buried under the table and paws over our ears to drown out the scary sounds of all of those firecrackers. Our people spent the 3rd at a reunion with Cheryl's college buddies. (That's Linda, Cheryl, Stacy, Heather and Kendra in the photo.) A couple of kids and a couple of dogs later and the girls haven't changed at all in the 98 dog years they've been out of college.

Blue berries and red melons

Around the Shuffler household, summer is one of our favorite seasons. Not for the heat or humidity of North Carolina, but for the fruit and veggies. Our blueberries are finally turning blue (we picked 3 cups tonight - how many bushels is that?) And there's many a night when tomato sandwiches are on the supper menu. The fruit we've enjoyed the most this summer is the watermelon. Must be all of that snow and rainwater we had this winter and spring. Austin really likes the watermelon, too. (He's Cheryl's college roommate's son.) Yum. Yum.

A pack for your poop

In my previous post I blogged about our walk in the park and the bags of goodies that Cheryl had to carry around with her. Today the mailperson brought us a package that is supposed to help solve that problem. It's a doggie backpack. After measuring my girth and Lexie's girth to see what size we are, Cheryl ordered it online a few days ago. We tried it on for size today. Cheryl says it's a good color on me and makes me look all outdoorsie and handsome. "But none of the other dogs are wearing them," I said. To sell me on it, Cheryl pointed out all of the pockets for water bottles and her keys and places to store doggie business. "Don't forget the treats," Lexie chimed in. "Plus, you can start a fashion trend, Bax," Cheryl said. "Soon all of the dogs will be wearing one." Thankfully it was too late to try it out tonight, but I'm sure we'll get a chance soon. If you notice dogs walking around with backpacks on at a park near you, you know who started it.