Dogs

Meet Digby. Digby is an almost 6 month old West Highland White ( Westie) owned by my friend Della. Digby was born in Nova Scotia and, being a terrier, loves to dig. Hence his name...Digby.


Like Garfield the cat, Cali just can't resist a sunbeam.

Tucker all tuckered out on our pipeline walk.

He huffed and he puffed!

It was quite windy last night!!! Nothing blew away or got knocked down on my property but my neighbours were not so lucky. 4 doors up a huge maple blew over, just brushing against the house next to it. Luckily nobody and nothing was damaged except for the tree of course, and a concrete light pole.

How I Spent My Summer Holidays- part 2

Well it was a very busy summer indeed. After my trip to Ireland ( and yes Sara and Kelly you should go to Ireland if you go to England next year) I was busy playing with my friend Paula, who was home for a month visiting her mother. We did a bit of hiking in Gros Morne Park.


Paula enjoying a break during our hike of Trout River Pond



But we also took time to relax a bit.


Me...relaxing with Harry Potter and a cold one on the deck of the Jesseau's cottage in Woody Point

We were lucky enough to see an American Bald Eagle, just before we got to Rocky Harbour. It was on the top of a tree that was on an embakement by the road. It was an awsome sight.




Elaine came to visit the middle of August. She and I went to the Writer's at Woody Point festival. These pictures are compliments of Elaine and are published with her permission.


Shelagh Rogers was the emcee for the writers festival. She laughs a lot!!



Elaine and I raising a toast on the 17th of August. The 17th of every month is our official "Red Hat" day. August 17 was the 2nd anniversary of our Red Hat club. Our Friends Inge and Marilyn are the other members.

Me, assuming my superwoman pose on the Coastal Trail ( near Baker's Brook)

A view of the Table Lands from the Table Lands Trail

The north end of a grouse heading south

It wasn't all fun this summer. Tucker learned to drive.

Cali wanted out......




And I did some babysitting which was definitely fun.

How I spent My Summer Holidays

Its been a busy, fun summer.....which is my excuse for failing to keep up on the blog. But I'm back now and I am going to share some of the highlights.

In June I took a trip to Ireland with my sister Sonia a.ka.a Tone. We had a great trip but my digital pictures do not do it justice. Nonetheless here are a few highlights.

We spent the first 5 days in Dublin. Dublin is crazy with people and activity and has an old and new feeling to it..

This is me braving the rain outside a pub in the Temple Bar area.....a pedestrian area of cobblestone streets lined with shops and pubs...South of the River Liffey.

......of course we didn't just stand outside the bar. We went in for a drink and a taste of Irish music. The old geezer with the beard is actually from the USA but from the accent I'm guessing he's been in Ireland a while.
We took a commuter train to a seaside community just outside of Dublin. It was called Howth...rhyming with "both" when pronounced properly. It reminded me a little of St. Pierre.

We also took a bus tour through the Wicklow mountains. Very beautiful. We couldn't resist the photo op.
Of course afternoon tea (okay its latte!) ...we are daughters of Daisy and nieces of Sophie after all.

A picture of a peat bog, taken from the bus window. You could actully see where the farmer had cut a set of stairs in the bog.

We also visited many of the famous Landmarks of Dublin including Trinity College, Christchuch Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral. Of all the beautiful things there were to take a picture of, what do I have to share? a picture of a mummified Cat and Mouse supposedly found in the bellows of the pipeorgan in Christchurch......ewwwwww

How touristy is this....Molly Malone ( also known as the "Tart with the Cart". Molly is the one with the ample bust......

From Dublin we went by train to Waterford.

Of course we had to visit the Waterford Crystal factory.

and we took a bus to a seaside community called Dunmore East ...a fishing and recreational village with lots of thatched roof cottages.

The next leg of our adventure was Cork. This is a view of the River Lee which runs through the city. The buildings were interesting, the river was yucky.

This building was right behind our hotel. Its part of a butter factory. A "Firkin" is a butter barrel and this building stored the butter barrels. I roared when I saw the name because it reminded me of the word "ferkin" which my mother used all the time. Ferkin menas rooting aound, like a hen ferks around the ground for seed. I looked ticked off but I wasn't. this building is now converted to a dancwe studio and theatre.

While in Cork we did a bus tour of the city which also took us out to Blarney Castle, very pretty despite being so touristy. this picture was taken from inside the castle, just before I had a panic attact and had to find the next exit out without going to the top! Castle stairways are very narrow!!!!!! and claustophobic. so I didn't get to kiss the Blarney stone. some would say it wasn't necessary anyway.

Me enjoying a Smithwick's ( smiddicks) at a very modern restaurant called Luigi Mallones!!!

Our trip finished in Limerick. By the time we got there the weather had turned rainy again. We were getting a bit tired and we had read so much about street gang violence in Limerick that we were getting a little skitty. However, we spent a full day doing a beautiful bus tour that took us across the Burrens ( reminded me of Bonnavist Bay!!!)

This is an ancient burrial site. This was called a portal tomb.

We also visited the Cliffs of Moher. Lots of tourists there. It poured rain but it was quite breathtaking.



Ireland is very beautiful. I would love to go back and do a walking tour.

Critters and more critters

The Princess In Her Tiara



Psycho-Dog Dreams of the Tennis Ball that Got Away

Meet the cats in our extended critter family. This is Max, Jennifers cat. Max a.k.a. Mr. Magoo has an eye condition that makes him light sensitive, hence the squinting. He is very friendly and likes to smell your mouth and chew your hair.

Max likes to dress up in his spare time.

This is Salem, also Jennifer's cat. Salem is much too dignified for a nickname and when asked to play dress-up hides under a blanket. Max and Salem together can open cupboards, bi-fold doors and can get water from a water cooler. They once shared 1/2 a pack of birth control pills but suffered no ill effects, though Jennifer felt it brought out their feminine side.

Here it goes

I have succumbed to cousin pressure and am venturing into the world of blogging. Be patient and don't expect anything witty or wildly interesting until I get the hang of this.

Since I've named my blog "Gone to the dogs" I should start with the dogs.

Here is my current critter family:

They enjoy looking out the window and protecting the house from intruders....they are really good at getting rid of mailcarriers. Cali has no idea that she is 1/3 Tucker's size.

This is Cali a.k.a "The Princess". She loves to cuddle in my good duvet, sleeps on my bed and insits upon being carried up stairs that have no carpet. She's a picky eater and weighs around 10.5 lbs.

This is Tucker a.k.a. "Psycho Dog". He likes to chew anything with a plastic or wooden handle, he sleeps wherever he feels like and loves to hunt for squirrels and tennis balls (in the woods behind the tennis courts). He loves Timbits. His nickname at the Tim's driverthrough is 'drooler'. He's been known to eat plastic, wood, and moose fur. Tucker weighs around 38 lbs. Though he's not on the Wanted list, his picture has appeared on other blogs.