Christmas in July

The Mom and I decided it would be fun to join in the Christmas in July celebration with some fellow SMS members..... I could tell you about it, but I'd rather show you!

"Hurry Mom! We got a package! From the OP Pack!"

"Hmmmm. Smells like Thunder, Dakota and Phantom. And something else.........."

"I got this one Mom, you open something else!"

"It's a Cuz!! My first GOOD Cuz! I knew I was a good girl!"

"Come on Bandit, there's another one to open!"

"We got a Wubba, we got a wubba!!"

The Mom opened this package! A book about Alaska! Oh I can't wait to curl up and read it!!

We had a really fun time opening all the presents! Then, a couple of days later, another box arrived!!!! The OP Pack sent us some cookies from Maya Marie, Bella and Missy's Mom ! Let me tell you, those cookies were heavenly, just heavenly. I highly recommend the Salmon and Cheddar ones! I wish we had pictures, but we ATE them before The Mom thought to get the camera out!!

Thank you very much OP Pack, and thanks to your Mom too!

"He was heard to exclaim as he mushed out of sight, Merry Christmas to all Huskies and to all Huskies good night!"

Late night post

Well, it's not that late. But later than we usually post. We were just sitting here, reading a few blogs, catching up on things and went to visit our friends Phantom, Dakota and Thunder of the OP Pack.


Imagine our surprise when we saw that they had given us an award! The OP Pack thinks I'm a Cool Cat!

Thank you OP Pack! I think you and your Mom are pretty cool too! I'm not sure yet who I want to pass this along to, but I'll have something soon.

If you haven't done so, make sure you visit the Kapp Pack and Steve, Kat and Wilbur. The Kapp Pack will be blogging for MaPaw Siberian Husky Rescue, and Steve, Kat and Wilbur are blogging for Save our Siberians! Both support Huskies in need, and let me tell you both groups need your money! Please give what you can, and please remember that they would all love to hear from you at 3 o'clock in the morning!

Saturday afternoon snacks on the deck

If you were here with me today, you would have snacked on this delectable little sea creature:

Very tasty! Please note that I was NOT allowed to eat the outside of this sweet little Maryland Blue Crab, I was nibbling off a HUGE chunk of claw meat that The Mom picked especially for me!

Hurry over, there's a few crabs and cold ones left!

Wordless Wednesday

The long delayed Book Meme game!

We won't be honoring Wordless Wednesday this week, I'm still trying to catch up!

OK. About a hundred naps ago, possibly more, the Key West Collies tagged me to play the Book Meme. Essex and Deacon, I apologize for the really long, long, long delay in responding!

Here's the rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people.

So, we picked one of our all time favorites - A Pirate Looks at Fifty by Jimmy Buffett. Now, I know the rules say to pick the nearest book, but I had a whole shelf of books near, and this seemed to be the most fitting. Besides, it's falling apart it's been read so much!

"It has been nearly ten years since I spent the day alone in the cockpit of the beat-up Albatross on Grand Turk, but here I am about to climb aboard my own Albatross. I step back from the nose gear, look up at the giant amphibian, and pat her on the nose like one of my dogs. I am deep into some meaningful thought about yin and yang and things coming full circle when Cameron pops his head out of the window above me and shouts 'Dad, it's time to go.'."

Sigh. Makes you want to just get up and go somewhere, doesn't it? And this is one of the reasons we've read this one LOTS of times. Travel is really big here, The Mom and I really like to explore and have new adventures.

I think everyone has played now, and I'm not going to tag five specific bloggers, I'm going to invite all of you who read to play if you haven't and keep on reading!

I think our next post will be about the new item we purchased for Big Red!!!

Read of the Week!

So, it's been a while. Someday, I may post about why it's been a while, but for now............



It's time for my Read of the Week!



I've got a great one this week. Particularly if you are, like me, a mid-Atlantic dog. Now, that means that you live in this general area. Maryland - like me and Indy. Or Delaware - I don't know that I've ever read a blog from a dog in Delaware! Hey, a new thing to try, where are you Delaware dogs? Or Virginia. Seems to me that I've read about a Virginia dog......... hmmmm...... If I could just remember........ oh well, you get the idea.

This weeks read is for ALL of you pups out there, and your owners! If you are ever in this area, might I suggest that you bring along............



Doggin' Maryland by Doug Gelbert (Illustrations by Andrew Chesworth)



This book is choc full of great places to take your humans! 100, yes 100, places to take your dog in the state of Maryland. It lists TONS of places. Some of them, in fact, the #1 place to hike with your dog, are just a few minutes from me! Catoctin Mountain Park!!! Oh, and I've been there!!! There's short trails, for those times where you just want a bit of a walk. And long trails, for a day long hike. Oh, and so much to sniff and see! Really, you must visit!



Also in the top 10 is one of The Mom's very favorite places in the world, Swallow Falls State Park! I've never been there, although I should have tagged along the last time that The Mom and Momma B went. They did take this great picture though - check it out!



This book ranks the best parks in the state. It tells you all about beach regulations for humans. It tells you how to outfit your human for hikes, and even gives you some beginner hikes. You know, those for smaller pups or humans who haven't hiked in a while.

And, this guy wrote a few more books about the best places to hike with your dog too! You must check out Amazon. com and see if there's a place close to you!

You know what? I'm so excited about this book that we're packing it up and going to go hiking!
Come on!!!

Wordless Wednesday

I'm baaaacccckkkkk................

And ready to do a Read of the Week! School's done for now, and that work stuff got settled and The Mom and I did what we do best and have been curling up with some cool books.
For now though, I'll put my thoughts on those books aside.

It's an important weekend. It's the first weekend of summer! Memorial Day weekend. Cook out weekend! (We dined on grilled Haddock here!) But more importantly, tomorrow is Memorial Day. It's the day to honor our men and women who have served our United States military groups. You know, those people who keep us safe and who make sure that our right to have fish is protected. So I got to thinking, and I thought:

Who better to honor as the Read of the Week then our very own 'Army'? I'm a trooper, and I'll bet you are a trooper too! I wait for the Supreme Commander to bark out orders! I listen when the Drill Sgt woos! And I fall in line when the other two members of this pack share their worldly wisdom! Yup, you guessed it, this weeks Read of the Week is a blog by these four Siberian Huskies, the leaders in our Siberian support of the troops! This weeks Read of the Week is:

Army of Four Digest - Stormy, Amber, Zim and Dave!

The Mom and I were particularly touched when we read today's blog entry by the Army of Four. Their Sunday Salute honored all of the military persons in the United States. It's important for us all to remember how much these people give so we can have fish! Go on over, and give them a read! If you are one of their many regular readers, stop by and comment to let them know that you support our troops (both biped and Husky!).

Happy Mother's Day

To all The Moms everywhere, an open wish from Dakota:

May all of The Moms enjoy this special centennial celebration of Mother's Day. There is nothing more special in the world than a Mom, and nothing better than giving kisses to the person that you know as Mom!

To my Chili's Mom, I'm sending you some special Husky hugs and kisses! Can you share them with my red hot hunk o' Husky?

To all of the SMS Moms and the Moms from Dogs With Blogs - a very special Husky hug from me and Lab lick from Bandit!

WE LOVE OUR MOMS!!!!

The working dog

Boy, oh boy! Who knew nursing would be this hard? You gotta help with fixing meals, you gotta help with making the bed. You have to stay out of the way, that walker thing HURTS! (I should know, my fluffy tail is a bit less fluffy...), pick up your toys. But.......
Momma B is better! She's walking now, less with the walker and more with a cane. Um, the cane thing isn't much better than the walker in terms of getting out of it's way, but it is much nicer than the walker. It's purple and black!
To all the pups that suggested livergreat would be good for Momma B - you were right! She had to have something called iron pills, and it turns out that livergreat is a good source of that iron stuff. I shared as much of mine as I could.
Things will be busy for a few more weeks, while The Mom finishes her classes for this semester. And she is trying to get a new job so she can buy us more yummies! At least I would think that's the motivation for the new job.
So, we haven't been reading much........... which I don't like, because I feel like I am way behind on my Read of the Week. Stay tuned, I promise we will have one out to you soon!

A quick post

To let everyone know that the new knee has been attached to Momma Bev. She is at some special vets that doesn't allow DOGS!!!!!!!!! I'm not sure about this, but The Mom says everything is fine, and she is doing well.
Bandit is sad his momma isn't here, but he ate livergreat this morning, and was better after that.

Do you think livergreat would make Momma Bev feel better?

I will post more, pics as promised and answer some questions as soon as I can.

A very late Read of the Week

Hello everypuppy!
I'm sorry we haven't been around much the past few weeks. The Mom could explain it better, but it has to do with work and school and Momma Bev getting a new knee. They keep running around here moving stuff, and then leaving us and coming home smelling all clean and funky. Ugh. They told us this morning that Momma Bev would be gone for a few days, then she would come back and we had to be really, really careful around her. No ball, no stuffies, no nothing!!!! I don't know what this new knee stuff is, but I can tell you that I don't like it one bit.

So, with all this going on, The Mom has been S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D. I thought I'd pick out a funny book for us to read this week, and sure enough, we laughed and we licked our chops when we read some of the recipes. Magdalina Yoder is the proprietress of the Penn Dutch Inn, an Amish Bed and Breakfast in fictional Hernia, Pennsylvania (by woo Khyra!!!). Magdalina is quite different, she's Amish at heart, but a totally now lady everywhere else. Now, I didn't really break my rules here......... there is a dog in the story line, but, well, the dog has an unusual home....... he lives in his Mom's, well, lets see, overtheshoulderboulderholder. Must be one small dog! They don't ever give his name!!! The poor thing gets wrapped in yards and yards of fabric - probably NOT picked out by Dave, Guide Dog For The Color Blind, and barks every now and then to let them know he's there. Not much dog in this book, but some good sounding recipes - all appeared to be possibly dog safe, thank Dogness! - and lots of laughs.
If you like cozy mysteries, food, and a funny mystery to solve, try:

Custard's Last Stand - by Tamar Myers

Our read of the week!

Now they are filling out forms in the kitchen. Sigh. I sure wish they were cooking in the kitchen. I'm going to go curl up with a warm dinner and a good book!

PS - Bandit got CAKE on his birthday! And we got a package from the Ao4 ! Next post, pictures, I promise!

Proposal

I don't know what the humans do at 'work', but I don't like it. I've barely seen The Mom for two weeks. She had the laptop off and the door closed!!! How am I supposed to blog? How am I supposed to keep up with my friends?!
And more important, how am I supposed to know if he said YES??????

See, I've been single a long time. Oh, it's not a bad life, travel, playing with The Mom, foot loose and fancy free. And I do have a big brother, Bandit, so it's not like I lack canine company. But I wanted more. You know, someone special to share those tropical nights with, walking paw in paw on the sand under the stars. So I answered a personal ad. And I waited. Just when I thought that I'd be single forever, spending my days walking on the beach looking for delectable delights on my own..........

Chili offered his paw in puppy love!!!!!

I had barely dared to hope! So handsome! So cuddly! And did you see that picture? He's already in the sand waiting for me! My very own red hot hunk of Husky!

Chili, my honey, let me just say this.............

YES, YES, YES, YES, YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I accept your paw in puppy love! Don't you worry in the least about that diet thing. I think you are fabulous the way you are! We can take those long walks together, and I can live without Pina Coladas. We'll just switch to Cruzan and diet! You are OK with walking in the rain though, right?

Read of the Week

Well, I apologize for being late. Between being Bandit's nursemaid, and keeping The Mom from having a nervous breakdown about work, I couldn't get to the computer!
Which is a shame, because the Iditarod started!!!!!

Yup, you guessed it. This week's Read of the Week is THREE websites we go to to see and hear things about the Iditarod. I'm not going to go in to the history of 'The Last Great Race', I'm going to jump right in and show you how we're following.

Of course, the best coverage is the official website, Iditarod.com. This covers the Mushers. The dogs. Hey, I think I even saw that a HUSKY has his own official blog on this site!

We also like to visit the site for North Wapiti Kennels. Did you know that these folks run an ALL Siberian Husky team at the Iditarod? Yup! It's the home of 'Pretty Sled Dogs'. Nothing but Huskies! The Musher, Karen Ramstead, is a veteran of many Iditarod races and is a very nice lady. The Mom got to hear her speak a few months ago - she was funny and honest about the race and some of the challenges she faced in the past.

For the past few years, we've also followed a blog, Zoya's Kennel Journal. These folks rescue dogs, and have a kennel (and a sled dog team!) that features rescued dogs! 2008 is Zoya's rookie year, and we've been following her thoughts and challenges.

Race on over to these web sites for the Read(s) of the Week!

Iditarod.com, the Official website of The Last Great Race

North Wapiti Kennels - Home of the 'Pretty Sled Dogs'

Zoya's Kennel Journal

There's one other site this week, one we've been reading for just a little bit. It's not really a 'Read of the Week', but it's sort of cool.................. these guys aren't Sibes, and well, they just aren't what you expect, mon!

To those pups everywhere who are racing........ stay safe and I'm sending Sibe Vibes to you for good luck!

Now, I'm going to go turn on Jimmy Buffett and curl up with a good book!

Husky Home Decor

Apparently, somepuppy got 'muddy paw prints' on the usual ugly green thing on the bed. Now, nopuppy in particular was blamed for said infraction - it's not like CSI came in or anything like that, and hey, it could have been the cat. I'm just sayin'.

So, while The Mom's back was turned, I thought I'd redecorate. What do you think?

Unfinished business - part deux

So, I've done some surfing. In the spirit of 'funky', I nominate the following blogs for the 'Funky Blog' award!

A Siberian View of the 'verse - we love the funky new redesign! Aren't Lee Lee, Thor, Smokey and Bandit cute?

Beware the Bamonster - we love the funky 'Husky Dog' song! Have fun with Chili, Cracker, Mikki and Bama

Got Chocolate? - Frankie and Maddie, those funky girls from SoCal!


You guys are all funky! And you make me smile! Enjoy! And don't forget to spread the smiles..........

Unfinished business

In our haste this week, we almost missed a comment left by our friends, Essex and Deacon, the Key West Collies. They think we are funky!

We think the collies are funky too! I've got a few blogs in mind that I want to tag with this award, and I'll be visiting them soon!

Read of the Week!

It's been a very busy week here. The Mom has been doing school work and doing something called 'working from home'. I can't say that I much care for either of these activities - the school books are, well, B-O-R-I-N-G and that stuff from work? Eeewwwww. The only really good thing there was I got to lay all over her papers........tee hee hee.

This type of a week has us thinking of 'short' reads. You know, reads that don't take that long or don't interfere with walkies or dinner or other important and necessary things. For us, that means.......... blogs!

We LOVE blogs. We love learning about other places and keeping up with our cyber (and our siber) friends. In our 'Favorites', there's a long, long list of blogs we stop by to catch up. Some of them, we only visit every now and then. We read, and sometimes say 'Hi'. But, some of them, we check every time we log on to make sure that everything is ok and to share the latest with them. Today's Read of the Week is one of those blogs, one that we check all the time (perhaps it's time to have Google Reader installed?), and one that I know is a favorite in the blogging community.

If you haven't met Tucker, Dot, Samantha and Bear or their human assistant Maryann - you are missing out on one of the best blogs on the web and one of our favorites. Our Read of the Week this week is...........

Tucker, Dot, Samantha and (the handsome) Bear - The Brat Pack!

Head on over and be prepared to smile, laugh, cry and be totally enthralled! Oh, and did I mention great pictures? They need to send their photographer over here!

I'm going to go have a long talk with The Mom about the widget thing...... honestly, she's no further now than she was a few weeks ago........ and after that........

We're going to curl up with a good (not a crappy school) book!

Read of the Week!

This week's Read of the Week is a work of fiction by one of our favorite authors.

We are huge mystery fans, and when we find a book or a series that features dogs, we get very excited. But when we found this series, one that features a musher and sled dogs, well, we were totally enthralled!

We're tickled with the choice this week - we're enjoying the 25th running of the Yukon Quest . One thousand miles between Fairbanks, Alaska and Whitehorse in Canada's Yukon Territory. (Have you seen the Yukon Territory flag? Check it out if you are a Husky lover!) So, we thought what better time to feature one of our favorite books from author Sue Henry........... This week's Read of the Week is:

'MURDER ON THE YUKON QUEST' BY SUE HENRY

For you young pups, the title might be very scary. If so, remember to make sure your humans or your parents approve of you reading this book The story follows heroine Jessie Arnold and her team of dogs as they face danger while they run the Quest. A young musher is kidnapped and Jessie does what she does best to help try to solve the crime and return the young musher safely. Will she be successful? Well, we're not going to spoil the ending!

Here's one of our favorite parts of the book, which helps us to picture Jessie's run in to Dawson City, hot on the trail of the kidnappers!:

"The area they crossed seemed an unending series of mines, hills, mountains, valleys, and creeks - of going up one ridge only to come down the other side and start up again, ceaselessly, for hours."

Doesn't that just take you there!! Tank in the lead!!!! Oh, I just love Tank!!!

I hope you enjoy this book and the rest of the Jessie Arnold books from Ms. Henry.

We're going to go curl up with a good book!

Snow pictures

A very busy week for us, but we did take some time to play in the snow.........