Fog

Fog flowing over the hills behind us:

 

Fog flowing out of someone's mouth:

 

It is chilly and damp outside this morning!

P.S.  Look for the quality of photographs to improve somewhat over the coming months.  I just purchased a digital SLR and once I figure out how to use it and remember what I learned in the photography classes I took 29 years ago, maybe this blog will start looking a little better!

Play fighting

I wish I had a photo of Darby and Bonnie play fighting.   It sounds HORRIBLE, involves the showing of major teeth, and lots of rolling, tumbling and bumping into furniture.  

When it takes place outside, it involves Darby breaking away and running like a mad man around the backyard, swooping in now and then just close enough for Bonnie to lunge at her.

Bonnie makes ALL the noise, until she gets tired and stops playing.  Then Darby starts barking at her, asking her to play again.

It's fun to watch!

But, Glenn doesn't appreciate it when they decide to do it in the bedroom while he is still asleep! 

What they do all day

During the day, they must do a lot of this:

...because after eating their dinners, they do a lot of this:

Finally! Someone is sleeping in the cute little bed!

Erika and Darby's breeder, Leda, convinced me to have Darby sleep in a crate rather than in the cute little dog bed I purchased and lovingly placed under the little desk I use as a night stand on my side of the bed.

Of course, they were right. A crate is the right place for a puppy.

But a cute little dog bed is just the right place for a very well behaved, very reliably house-trained, six year old dog:

P.S. Check out the December 28 post here.    Cute dog; cute tags.
P.P.S.(Erika and Leda, I mentioned Bonnie and Arkansas/Coedwig in my write up; but the blog owner chose what to include in the post.) 

Short stuff

How can this be comfortable?

Just take it!

When Erika was a baby she HATED mall Santa Clauses.  The first couple of times we took her for Christmas photos she screamed the whole time, while I stood there perspiring with my blood pressure mounting as the poor photographer tried every trick in the book to get her to stop.  I remember finally saying "JUST TAKE IT!"  So, Erika's very few photos with Santa show a screaming, red-faced baby!

I thought of that this morning while I tried, single handedly--Glenn is still in bed--to get the girls to pose for a photo outside where the light is good enough at the moment for my iPhone camera.

They were in NO mood to pose;  I could not get both of them to sit and stay sitting long enough to snap a shot. 

I took LOTS of shots and these are the best!  Oh, well. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

 

P.S. No Christmas stockings were harmed during the production of these photos. Cute stocking provided by, guess who?  Aunt Kathy! 

She's grown a bit, hasn't she?

She's grown a bit, hasn't she?

Erika took this photo the first time she saw Darby, when Darby was about three months old:

She took this photo this past weekend:

 

P.S. Bonnie seems to be settling in well. She is sleeping in the cute little dog bed I originally planned for Darby to sleep in, under the little desk I use for a night stand. Darby's crate is right next to her.

While I was at work

While I was at work yesterday, Bonnie and Darby must have done a lot of this:

because after I fed them their dinner they spent the rest of the evening doing this:

then they went to bed and slept until I woke them up at 5:15!

They're both mine now

Well, here we are--all of us missing Erika. All of us except her husband, that is, who I'm sure was very happy to retrieve her from the airport this morning.

Both of these girls are mine for the next six months!

I hope Erika doesn't miss Bonnie too much, and vice-versa!

Awwww

After a lot of this: (note the ball in Bonnie's mouth)

...they did this:

 

Awwww!

My girls

It's nice to have my three favorite girls with me. Wish the oldest one had brought her husband along.

 

I was wondering if Darby and Bonnie would need a reacquainting period, but not at all.

 

They are playing just fine AND happily sharing the sofa together with Erika and me.

Bonnie is here!

Bonnie is here! Photos later.

P.S. Oh, yeah. Erika is here, too! (smile)

Hey, Bonnie!

Hey, Bonnie.

We're waiting for you!

We can't wait to see you!

Make sure your human drives you down here safely!

Love, Darby

Look what Darby does to her crate pad

Look what Darby does to her crate pad:

She likes to wad it up so that when she lays on it, her head is resting on the piled up part--sort of like a bolster. She does the same thing with her fleece floor pad, and our towels and sheets if we leave them on the floor long enough!

With the crate pad, more times than not, she manages to create these two nice folds.

Being neat like this almost makes up for stealing paper towels out of the bathroom trash can and tearing them apart in the middle of the living room!

P.S.  Erika and Bonnie will be here in two more days!!

Every morning

Every morning when I open the shower door, this is what I see:

If I let her, Darby jumps into the shower and starts licking up the water. 

But her FAVORITE thing is to try to lick water off our legs and feet!

Playing in the bathroom before bedtime

Oh, no! Two Darbys?

 

I'm glad our trainer doesn't read Darby's Daily.  She would never approve of this:

 

Sunday Afternoon

Darby spent a large part of Sunday afternoon snoozing in her dog bed under the computer desk.   Glenn was using the computer (some of you will find that hard to believe, but he has become an expert eBay user!) and I was at the work table wrapping presents.

I tried to catch Darby while she was snoozing, but every time I picked up the camera, she seemed to realize I was about to get a photo and she woke up.

The rain is gone for at least a few days, but the afternoon was still a little dreary and cool.  It was a good afternoon to be inside with a snoozing dog.

I got help

My dear friend Betsy pulled me out of my short-lived blog slump by suggesting I write about a book.

Unfortunately, I've only just ordered the book so I can't say much about it beyond that I've ordered it and that it is about a Cardigan Welsh Corgi and FOOD.  Specifically a cookie, hanging on a Christmas tree. 

I've found there are a good number of books about Corgis--many by the wonderful author/illustrator Tasha Tudor.  But, most of the stories feature the more popular Pembroke corgi.   So, when I saw Floyd was a cardi, I had to order the book.

The author, Kristine Daniels, lives in Fairhaven, MA where Betsy grew up (and her father was Postmaster for many years.)  Betsy is asking her sisters who still live in/near Fairhaven if they know Kristine.  That would be a fun coincidence, wouldn't it?

Thanks for the inspiration, Betsy!

You can find the book here on Amazon's website.

Why Daily?

Why did I go and name this blog "Darby's Daily?"

It doesn't happen often, but I have no blog fodder.

See you tomorrow!

A week from today

A week from today, guess who will be here?

Erika and Bonnie!

 

Erika will be staying only a couple of days, then she will head home to spend Christmas with her husband then prepare for her great internship adventure at Bethesda Naval Hospital.

And, Bonnie will stay with us!

Darby would be so excited if she only knew!

The trouble with these short days

There is a period of a couple of weeks when I leave the house when it is just getting light and come home when it is getting dark.  The trouble with these short days is that the lack of daylight makes it real hard to see dog poop on the grass.

Aren't you glad I shared that with you?

The lack of daylight makes it hard to see Darby and her ball, too.  

Montana Wool/Chicago Design

So, it is in the low 40's in my backyard this morning. As I stand out there throwing the darned ball for my sweet Darby-girl, I'm glad I'm protected by Montana wool.

When I purchased the lovely gray wool yarn from Beaverslide Dry Goods at Dupuyer Cache September a year ago, a little voice told me "You'll never have reason to wear a sweater knit from heavy worsted weight wool yarn." But, I loved the color and couldn't resist. (My iPhone photo doesn't capture the color well at all.)

I knit the sweater from a Chic Knits pattern and LOVED it but only wore it once or twice until this fall and Darby and her ball. 

Now, I wear the sweater every morning and every night!  Thank goodness for Montana wool!  And, even though no one but Darby and an occasional coyote ever sees, it feels good to be stylish in my Chicago-designed hoodie! 

Papa Bear Said

Papa Bear said, "Who's been sitting in my chair?"

Only last week did Darby figure out she can jump up on the furniture. Now, I need to teach her she can do so only when invited.

News Update! Obsession Dampened by Weather!

The rain--real rain, not drizzle--has officially dampened Darby's obsession with the ball!

I threw the ball to get her to go out for a potty break.  After which she turned around--without the ball--and headed straight for the house!

Rain doesn't dampen (ahem!) the obsession

 

 

 

And, back out after the ball again...

 

This is Darby's first experience with real rain--we've only had drizzles or short cloud bursts since she came to live with us last May.  This morning, she trotted right out and "did her business" only once or twice looking upward seemingly wondering at the wet stuff falling on her.

Then, she ran to the potting bench and waited until I threw the ball.  I stood inside the back door and under the patio cover and threw for a good half hour.  She was a little slower than normal coming back--stopping lots of times to smell the ground.  Maybe the rain is releasing old, good smells. But, she was still ready for more when I got tired of it and brought her in.

So, the rain hasn't dampened her obsession with the ball.  If the weather people are right and this El Nino will bring us lots of rain, looks like I'm going to have to stock up on Sham Wows!  

Visiting Santa

Here she comes!

Here she comes...

...there she goes.

Fritos

I have something in common with Ree Drummond--The Pioneer Woman whose phenomenally popular blog you can read here.

Ree writes that her family's beloved Basset Hound, Charlie's feet smell like Fritos. While I am one to get my face down next to Darby and nuzzle her, it never occurred to me to smell her feet, so I always wondered how Ree discovered the Frito smell.

Maybe Ree has a sister with a nose like my sister's!

The other day, Kathy and I were playing with Darby and Kathy said "Her feet smell like corn chips!" Kathy had been close to Darby, but hadn't had her nose right there ON her feet. But, sure enough! She was right! Darby's feet did--and still do as of this morning!--smell like corn chips!(My nose isn't quite as good as Kathy's--hers is younger--so I do have to get pretty close to notice the smell.)

Boy! Does it feel good to have something in common with someone as famous as The Pioneer Woman! (wink)

P.S.  The photo is of Darby's baby toes, shortly after she came to live with us.  They are MUCH bigger now and usually dirty!
P.P.S.  Another thing I have in common with the Pioneer Woman is that both of our husbands LOVE her chicken fried steak recipe.  In fact, my husband LOVES every single recipe I've made from her new book.  Too bad we don't work on a cattle ranch where we can work off the calories in those recipes!
P.P.P.S  Nico's feet do NOT smell like Fritos--we checked.  It remains to be seen--err, smelled--if Bonnie's do.

Will the ornaments survive?

By now you know that I consider Bonnie to be near-on perfect, so it won't surprise you to know that even as a puppy she never bothered a single ornament on a Christmas tree.

I wonder if we'll be as lucky with Darby.  Those shiny ornaments are ball shaped...

P.S.  Bonnie's one failing is food.  Among other things, she has consumed an entire package of lentils--bag and all, and on a different occasion, a  large-sized package of chocolate pudding which she proceeded to throw up all over Erika's bedroom carpet.  Thankfully for Bonnie--unfortunately for human consumers--the pudding did not contain enough real chocolate to make her sick.  

In the light at the end of the tunnel