Love is in the air

From me, Lexie, Duchess and our people ... HAPPY HEART DAY!

Top dog

The AKC has released its list of popular dog breeds. You would think the Golden Retriever would top the list, but no, it's another kind of retriever that made it to No 1, yet again.

Here's the list:

1. Labrador Retriever

2. German Shepherd

3. Yorkshire Terrier

4. Golden Retriever

5. Beagle

6. Boxer

7. Bulldog

8. Dachshund

9. Poodle

10. Shih Tu

Here's what State Point Media says about Goldens: "With their friendly temperament, intelligence and eagerness to please, Golden Retrievers are popular as family companions. This active and energetic sporting breed can adapt to many different living situations but requires daily exercise in order to thrive."
While the statement is true, I would like to add that we also never meet a stranger, are good hunters, are great diggers, enjoy collecting sticks, eat blueberries right off the bushes, can catch tennis balls, and I could go on and on. The only bad quality I can think of when it comes to Goldens is we get a little crazy when it storms. But other than that, what do labs have that we don't?

Snowday

Monday. Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. Snowday. Saturday. Sunday. I'm circulating a petition to rename the day formerly known as Friday to Snowday. What is this, the third Friday in a row it has snowed? At least it makes for some good photos. BTW, the one of Duchess is her stealing bread meant for the birds.

Say Ahhhhhh

Protein losing enteropathy. Albumin. Anechoic free abdominal fluid. A few weeks ago we had never heard of these terms. We're still not sure how to spell them or say them. But as my little sister Duchess has been taxied to and fro vets’ offices over the past few weeks, we’ve learned more and more about them. The terms have to do with proteins and Duchess losing them. Why she’s losing them, we don’t yet know. You may remember back in October she had a bout with the runs. In early January they came back with a vengeance. This week our people finally took the poor little white fluffy thing to a specialty vet. The vet and his people shaved her belly. Took x-rays. Did an ultrasound. Poked. And prodded. To hear Duchess tell it, that wasn’t the most torturous parts. The worst part was our people leaving her there all day by herself, knowing she suffers from SSFMDAD (severe separation from my daddy anxiety disorder). The worst part for our people was getting the bill. (So far the tally toward a diagnosis is $800+ ). We could spend another $700 for more tests to find out exactly what she has or we could try diet and medicine to see if she gets any better. My guess is the folks will go for the latter. Otherwise we’ll all be eating beans and rice. Duchess, please get better soon. Lexie misses her cat fights with you.

Making snow angels

When life hands you snow ...

Make snow cream!
That’s what we did today. Although it would have been much better if we’d had something besides fat-free, skim milk in the fridge. Who am I to complain? We didn’t get as much snow this time around, about 5.5 inches according to the moose statue with the yard stick in the front yard, but it’s enough to play in. Cheryl was supposed to go into work today, but thanks to modern technology, she was able to stay in her pjs until late afternoon and file stories, edit obits and upload the newspaper’s Web site all from home. We’re trying to encourage her to work from home everyday. She did take a break from sitting in front of the computer to shovel the driveway. And she had us to cheer her on. “Keep digging,” we’d tell her. “Don’ stop. Imagine how many calories you’re burning.” She also had to shovel Duchess a few places to do her business. Otherwise she just wanders and wanders around looking for grass. She has been a bit under the weather lately so we kept her out of the weather most of the day. Enjoy our snow photos and video. I’m going to polish off the snow cream.

Woodrow the woodpecker

This guy lives around our yard and makes a lot of noise. He doesn't just peck into wood, he squawks a lot, too. He's pretty to look at though. We call him Woodrow.