Keeping calm....

Hi G-Fans!

Well, we are closing in on another week of summer.  Today was hot and hazy, but we kept our cool inside and only ventured out once or twice.

The concierge came home at a reasonable time and took us to the bog.  Because of the almost-rain conditions it was a quiet venture.  On the way home that yellow dog was trash-talking us as we walked by his house.  Before he started carrying on he was hanging out in his garage avoiding being rained on.

To our credit we only pranced excitedly in response.

No extra barking.

No, no, no.....

HA!

We, in fact, kept our tongues from wagging several times in the last few days.

It has made for a less stressful time with the concierge....

That is ALWAYS a good thing!

So, may you find the things that keep situations cool, calm and collected....

TTFN!

-G

Punks!

Hi G-Fans!

Well, another summer day.  The concierge almost left us exposed to the elements, but better sense prevailed and she left us with all the machines whizzing so we could enjoy cool breezes.

None of us were eager to stay out yesterday or today in the humidity.  Our walks have been comfortable, but school walks, so nothing very taxing....

So, without much in the way of immediate excitement, aside from the odd walker or biker, I was flipping through some photos and thought about what punks the "pups" were in their formative years.

So, enjoy a little memory lane pictures and notice I was putting a few of the punks in place right from the get-go.

So, may your boundaries be firm, fair and consistent....

TTFN!

-G

Izzy, Raoh and my butt....

Setting Jack straight....

Jack checking out a bone...

Harry playing with a Kong toy....

Me setting Tessa straight (I think...) with Jack being inappropriate and taking advantage of the situation....

Raph bounding towards Jack and Bertie steering clear.... my butt and possibly Izzy's head.....

Setting one of the girls straight....

Again, setting one of the girls straight.....

Rock Climbing, Chasing Ducks, and Deep Ponds

Hi G-Fans!

So, again, thoughts from our Sunday walk....

Back to the rock where Tessa, Bertie, Harry and Raphael dispersed from without permission so many years ago.

As I recall the concierge was snapping photos of them trying to climb the rock from the water when the "kids" suddenly realized their leash-less status and took off before either concierge or Harry's human sisters could process what was happening.  Also, from said rock, the concierge (and I think this was on a different occasion...) jumped into the pond and swam out to "save" me from drowning.

I really don't know what the big deal was....

I swam out to chase some ducks and when I got to the middle of the pond I suddenly realized I was swimming and I was in the middle of a pond.  A DEEP pond.  OK, so maybe I dipped under the water once or twice because I will admit I went a little shocky.

OK, so I ignored the concierge when she was yelling for me to come back....

I mean, I was dealing with my own stuff.

So, apparently she stripped down and gave her phone to Harry's concierge and she jumped in after I dipped under the surface a second time.

When I saw her jump in I knew I had best start back towards the shore.

We met each other half-way and we swam the last part back to the shore together.

None the worse for wear, although the concierge looked a little funny.

Yeah, I think that might have been a different day.

Same pond, same rock, different day.

So, may you enjoy your memories with fondness and let go of the unsavory details.....

TTFN!

-G

Scene of the Crime....

Hi G-Fans!

What a strange day.

We were settled down for our usual morning nap and we seemed to be let out every other hour.

Then, once Harry's concierge let us out (but forgot our cookies) a little before the usual lunchtime, we settled in for an afternoon siesta.  But then the concierge came home not even two hours later.  My beauty sleep has been seriously impaired for the day.

The concierge dragged her butt through the door and was a pretty limp rag.  Apparently between her not sleeping last night (and, again, interrupting my beauty sleep), her back pain, her sneezing and her drippy/stuffed nose she was strongly encouraged to call it quits for the day before she infested anyone else with her germs.

Apparently she protested a tad, but not really.

She tried to sleep and did a little, but people knocking on the door and people walking by the house required that we sound the alarms with all we were worth, which interrupted the concierge's sleep.

Oh well.

Hopefully she has a miraculous recovery because we are ALL sick of her being so miserable.

Despite her condition she managed enough gumption to take us walking to the bog.

The original plan was to the school, but before we knew it we were bog-bound.  I think she was just as surprised as the rest of us, it sort of just happened.  It worked out too, we had very little in the way of challenges or issues (aside from sort of meeting the new neighbor, it might be a husky, malamute or german shepherd - we aren't sure - we only got a partial view...).  

So, to the benefit of the concierge  - it was drama-free and peaceful.

The sunset was pretty spectacular as they have been for the last few months :)

So, may you allow the adventure to unfold and may you be ready to change directions as needed....

TTFN!

-G

Scene of the Crime.....

Does this look familiar?

It is the rock where the "pups" decided to take on their own adventure....

Their first woods walk with some freedom and they blew it big time!  They took off in five different directions.  Bertie was the easiest to find, and the quickest, Tessa was last to be found and the farthest away.

Harry and Raphael were closer than Tessa and further than Bertie.

Now, we are always tethered.  The concierge says, "never again".  I think she means it.

Huckleberries and Blueberries...

Hi G-Fans!

Well, we had a pretty interesting day.

We had unauthorized visitors.

We had enthusiastic conversational exchanges with a variety of folks.

We picked blueberries and huckleberries.

It has been busy!

The concierge has been busy too.

She came home with colorful flowers after her usual Sunday morning departure.

Then, she left with the unauthorized visitor and the helper, IN OUR ROYAL MOBILE, and returned only with the helper and smelling like lobster and her kind of ice cream and cone!

I think we may be headed towards an intervention in the near future.....!

So, we walked the clear pond walk and did some blueberrying and huckleberry picking along the way.

The concierge and Harry's concierge appreciated Raphael's and Harry's input as they were very engaged in the hunting process.  I enjoyed the picking process, as did Harry and Rapahel.  Bertie wanted to get to the water and Tessa didn't seem to mind either way.

Now, on the way there we did a pretty good job keeping ourselves out of trouble.

But, we have a hard time containing ourselves, and once we saw that lady walking in our woods.  All bets were off.  That was it.  We had to tell everyone, very loudly, all the things on our minds.  The concierge says it is intimidating and embarrassing when we act like that.  I say, can't a person be sociable?  Why, the concierge was telling us about a very friendly driver they encountered on the way home from getting us our food.  She said they were "kissing the bumper" which sounds a little too friendly for a first human encounter in my opinion, but whatever.  And then, after the concierge did a "fake" portrait of that person, they appreciated it so much that they gave Harry's concierge a bird for her trouble!  I would like to know what they did with that bird, because I did not smell any feathers or see any activity of such a creature.....

Oh, and the concierge, helper and Harry's concierge went out late last night to eat their kibble and couldn't stop talking about the waitress.  As far as I could tell, the waitress had social skills people could learn from, and somehow it made the concierge nervous..... something about skits and mania.... a play perhaps?  A play about a restaurant?   I can't figure why that would make the concierge nervous, but apparently there was something about bug eyes, and inebriated behavior and street duds.... I don't know.  I guess you should ask her.  She shrieks with laughter (in a scary sort of way) when she recounts the experience......

Anyway,

May you find activities that engage you wholeheartedly and you get some vittles out of it too!

TTFN!

-G

Me, Harry and his concierge picking away....

Another good spot for picking..... mmmm!

Again with the Cleaning....!

Hi G-Fans!

So, another lovely Saturday.

Or so one would think if they reviewed the weather reports.

But, take it from me, it was NOT a nice Saturday!

NOT!

The concierge foisted her atrocities on me once again.

How long are we going to have a battle of the wills?

She is so annoyingly oblivious to my efforts in keeping the Royal abode inviting and "homey".

Again with the cleaning!

I thought with a back injury we were good for a few more weeks at the very least.

She not only grunted and groaned her way through a bigger than cleaning effort than was planned as Harry's concierge lent a much needed hand.  Harry's concierge is on "the list" now as far as I am concerned. She thought I played hard-to-get before....!  

The concierge and Harry's concierge took us for a walk and we sampled a few blueberries and Huckleberries.

We also tried to gather scents more appealing to us and the concierge was not letting us gather...!

She was not giving us the opportunity to neck dive on some pretty neat smells.... :(

SO annoying!

So, it will take some more conveniently placed vomit and other little shortcut tricks I know to re-scentlayer the Royal abode!

(The concierge found the vomit we left in the kitchen for a few days ripening... she washed both beds that were involved and removed the odor!)

Soooo annoying!  Ugh!

SO, may you keep your spirits up despite set backs in your progress in the world....!

TTFN!

-G

Oh - Memories from the good ol' days.....

"Grrrr~aaaaaa~cccccce"

Hi G-Fans!

So, what I want to know is, "Whose walk is this anyway?"

I mean, I think the concierge should understand by now that the walk is for me, oh, I mean "us".

I mean, the Royal "We".

The concierge is there to make sure we are safe and taken care of in case of an emergency.

You know, A CONCIERGE-type responsibility!

I think it is high time she gets the MEMO!

The  '411'.

The drill.

The 'dilio'!

Because her attitude more than suggests that she thinks SHE is in CHARGE!?!?!?

Like today, I was enjoying our walk to the bog, as I am want to do, and I like to sniff here and there to find out who has traipsed and traversed ahead of us....

Every few minutes the concierge would, in an annoyed and high-pitched sing-songy voice, say, "Grace", like she can't believe I am "doing it again"....

I say, "What?"

She tells me to knock it off.

I say, "What?"

She tells me to move over.

I say, "What?"

It is something about me wrapping the leash around her from behind.

Honestly, the solution is so obvious and simple I find it hard to believe she can't figure it out.

Release me from the confines!

Untether me!

Oh, and she seems to be irritated by me crossing in front and stopping to sniff something.

She says I am jolting her back.

I say, "Make up your mind already!" (And, "Really?"  "Jolting your back???!")

She seems to be under the misconception that I should be walking in keeping with her rhythm and not the other way around.  

I say, "RIdiculous!"

She says."Grrrr~aaaaaa~cccccce"

It is usually "Grace" when she is being short-tempered, it is "Gracie" when she is relaxed or teasing me and sometimes in other situations....

So, I say, "Get over yourself and get with the program, THIS IS MY WALK!!"

But, I will say it to her after our last outs and the new bedtime yummy chicken jerky treat strips, since I want to make sure I get my full share....!

Anyway, May you be in rhythm with your loved ones so that you dance the dance of joy :)

TTFN!

-G

Tessa Chillaxin'

Huckleberry Hounds

Blueberries....

Hi G-Fans!

Until a few minutes ago the concierge did not know the difference between a huckleberry and a blueberry.  

She knows now.

Why is this pertinent you ask?

Well, tonight we went for a walk and ended up learning how to pick blueberries.

All of us, except Bertie, joined in helping ourselves to the bounty of exploding bushes with the little blue berries....

My, I did not know what I had been missing!  Raphael and Tessa found them particularly delightful.

Harry led the way in taking on the picking, but he enjoyed even more when his concierge pick them for him so he could gobble several up at the same time.

I don't think any of us knew we were missing out on such a fine treat!

Oh, back to the huckleberries...

There were berries that looked a lot like the blueberries, but sparser and darker in color and the leaves were not quite the same and the bushes were taller than most of the blueberries.

Apparently, according to the concierge's research, those were the elusive and untamed huckleberries.  We will be sure to seek them out on our next walk and compare them to the low bush wild blueberries we have been delighted with the last week on our forest walks....

By the way, it was another lovely summer day with low humidity, so we were quite comfortable.

So, tomorrow is Friday and I don't know if we will get a good walk or not....

So, may you always remain open to learning new skills on your road to adventure....!

TTFN!

-G

Tonight's sunset 

Weasels, Sticks and Deer Flies.....

Hi G-Fans!

Well that nasty humidity broke and we could breathe fresh air again!

And, surprise, surprise, we went on an evening walk in the forest:)

Double whammy on the good stuff today!

That is, except, for the humiliation factor.

We had to walk with the concierge and Harry's concierge looking like lunatics.

They walked the entire walk with sticks stuck into their buns.

They said it was to ward off evil deer flies.

I think they did it because they thought they were funny.

I didn't have a stick wound into my topknot and the flies didn't bother me.

The helper wouldn't even be able to make a bunnette or some such thing and the flies didn't bother him except for a few hundred feet on the last part of the trail....

SO, I ask you, did they carry on for the silly factor?  Or, did it work?

The concierge was slapping herself throughout the walk and complained that the flies kept flinging themselves at her eyes, ears, neck and nose....

So, imagine what that must have looked like with a bush attached to the top of her head?!?!?

RIdiculous to be polite!

Oh, on another note, the concierge swears she saw a black footed weasel.  The helper argues that they are too rare for her to have seen one.

She contends that it was a weasel of some kind, and it was at 12:3O in broad daylight, so it was not going to be mistaken for a cat, dog, raccoon, opossum. or other similar critters.  It was long and short-legged and slinked across the street ....

If I was in the car I would have helped in identifying it.  Then there would have been no aspersions cast upon the declarations of the concierge!

So, I can't remember what I had planned to write earlier, I had written several sentences in my head... but I can't remember what it was.... oh well... literary history will have to await my next masterpiece.....

May you stay firm in your convictions while maintaining an open mind....

TTFN!

-G

Another Humid One....

Hi G- Fans!

Well, it was another sultry summer day.  We were glad to have the filtered and cooled air inside so we could chillax completely and get our beauty rest throughout the day.

We did a dusk walk to the bog tonight!

It was a bit steamy, but we had some exciting smells and we mixed it up by going a different way to get there.

It was pretty exciting.

We had to go in stealth mode for some of it... I noticed the concierge was clucking and not talking for a portion of it.

I'm not sure if she was guiding us through some illicit passageway or what...

We had some near misses in excitement, Harry tried to justify in getting wiggy, but he was really stretching it.

So, may you find your excitement in the small things in life and not require a lot of drama to get it....

Just sayin'...

TTFN!

-G

WooWee it was a BURNER today!!

Hi G-Fans!

WooWee - It was  BURNER today!

The concierge saw that it was 102 degrees at one point, or two, today.

It hovered between 98 and a hundred for the afternoon.

The humidity was up there too.

We stayed cool in the Royal Retreat and only went out to sample the outside air a few times.

We were happy to relax and chill indoors today.

Our walk was limited and we didn't have one until late because it was so oppressive out.

We didn't complain about that really.

Raphael was panting like a mad-dog even on the short walk.

He sounded a lot like Harry does on every walk.

Something like a Wildebeest on the warpath.....

So, even though the concierge was home fairly early, and left fairly late, we didn't get to enjoy the unexpected together-time to its fullest extent because of the weather....

Someday we will own our own island and roam the shores freely and romp and play in the water.

Ahhh.

How lovely would that be?

So, may you find the time to daydream a little every day.....

TTFN!

-G

Minus the people and this would be nice......

Again, unless there are snacks under that umbrella, I could do without the human interaction on my island.....

That is better.... I like the lighthouse too..... there are probably snacks in there....

Nice view from my island perch, Martha Smartha - it is Grace's Grounds from now on...

Another acceptable view from my Island....

The ducks would add a little zip to the splashing.....

Imagine the snorting and grunting he could do, then think Harry (and occasionally Raphael.....!)...

Another lovely view from my Island perch.....

And more....

And more....

This would be ok for a re-stocking station.... we need to keep a steady supply of cookies on my Island....

Another view of the re-stocking station....

Bertie demonstrating pool etiquette.....

Checking out some floaty stuff......

Still tasty.....

Izzy would probably not visit our island or share our island enthusiasm....

Jack would be on board!

He loves to swim....

And play water games....

Looks like something I would steal......!