One of Those Days

She's having one of those days...

 Daddy wouldn't stay home and play hookie to play. If I lay on Mom's foot she won't be able to leave me and she'll have to play with me sooner or later.

*sigh*

Poor baby. She had to stay home and pout alone...again...because we got up and went to work anyway. ;)

The Return of Winter Stealth Dog

"You can't see me. I'm not here..."

This is when she really cracks me up. At the moment she's pouting in the basement because I made her come in out of the snow. I had to!

"That spot was getting hot. Is it okay if I lay here awhile?"

She kept getting up and moving because the ground would get "too warm" under her! 
I let her stay out a while longer after this, but when I called her to finally come in, she thought it was going to be okay to just run right past me and into the house - hahahaha!

 ...and then came skidding to a stop when I blocked the doorway with a towel to dry her off! Joke's on her ;)

New Leash

I have plans this summer for lots of early morning walks to the park (Storm does NOT ride in my Mustang!) for leisurely writing/photography time. I mentioned that plan to my husband and he purchased a new leash, extra long, so Storm can explore a little bit while I'm parked on a bench/rock/patch of grass for an hour or two. Alli came home, so we decided to try it out.

Now, understanding that Storm has had the winter to enjoy free run of the campsites, she's a little put out to be on a leash at all. The length doesn't matter much. But since there were several campers this weekend enjoying the first nice weather weekend of spring (OK, it rained Saturday and didn't really turn warm and nice until Sunday), she had to start dealing with life as she used to know it.
On top of that, Alli and I took advantage of the lovely weather to go farther than usual.

We started out with the usual lap around the campground, but when we got back to the car Alli suggested we keep going. It was getting late, but not that dark yet. Thank you Daylight Savings Time! So we kept going down to the Lake Buteo Area.

There was a family fishing in the lake and Storm wanted to meet their three dogs. We declined to bother them ;) But we got some nice pictures of the dam. Alli went down beyond the dam, but it was too muddy for Storm and me. I was in flip-flops and Storm doesn't need to get muddy feet before she gets back in the wagon.

By the time we finished, Storm and I were feeling the hour. Alli? Well, she had been driving home from Ohio so she needed the chance to stretch her legs...not to mention she's just plain younger. Just for my own benefit, I drove the path afterward. It was roughly a mile and a quarter. We're going to get fit this summer. Walking from our house to this part of the park is roughly a mile and a half and then we'll have to walk back again. *whew* OK, nice weather, bring it on! :)

Tigger & Patches

We've had a lot of snow days this year. Storm, the Snow Dog, has thoroughly enjoyed having me home more this winter as well as having more and more snow to play in. However, all those days home took away a lot of days I would have had spread across the remainder of the school year. Consequently, when we still had a day off for Presidents Day in February, I took advantage of the 3-day weekend and my loving husband's generosity to drive out to Ohio and visit our daughter, Alli.

Alli is a photography major. You can catch up with her at her own blog: Diary of a Photo major. We had a busy weekend together. One of the many activities we shared was a photo session in the park.  

She had an assignment to photograph things in motion. 

I immediately wished there had been some way to bring Storm along, as she would have LOVED to play in the park and have her picture taken repeatedly! (as evidenced in previous posts ;)


As luck would have it, when we got to the park there were a pair of friendly dogs available. Meet Tigger and Patches. 

They were out having a lovely day in the cold with their owner, a nice man who offered to let Alli photograph them in motion doing their favorite park activity: going down the slide. I wanted to go for it, but Alli (to my total bafflement) declined his generous offer. That didn't stop me from snapping a few of them playing with the ducks in the pond ;)

They actually got into that frigid water a few times...just to their toes...maybe up to the knees a little. The ducks didn't stay by them too long. They preferred our side of the pond for a bit...then realized we weren't carrying food. But I guess they were happy at least that we didn't have any dogs with us ;)

Rainy Day Games

So there I sat, minding my own business, folding laundry, when a hopeful face appeared through the holes in the basket. I peaked around it to find the rest of the face. She was remembering a game she loved as a puppy. I guess she took me seriously when I told her I was running out of blog material ;)

 This is how the game goes: you take Storm's favorite ball and "hide" it under the basket. Then Storm chases it around until she remembers how to tip the basket over and retrieve her toy. The catch: she isn't allowed to bite or chew the basket. Hey, that's my good laundry basket!
  


Today's basket wasn't as much fun as the one I had yesterday. Yes, that's right. Not only do you have to play the game with the right toys, you have to use her favorite basket, too. This one doesn't slide as well.

It just depressed her and she quit. But I got pretty cute video of the game yesterday. Enjoy :)

Dog's Life II

The problem with having a snow dog during a heavy winter is the aftermath. I missed so much work she got used to having me home a lot more than normal. I noticed the difference Friday when she leaned on my knee and sat on my foot in the morning before I left. Any other morning she watches TV when I leave. Friday she didn't want me to go.

This morning, however, she was particularly disappointed. First Lexi left before we even got out of bed. Then Daddy left...but he left behind his bandana that he had used on Sunday when he was working outside. Mmmmm, warm feelings - the smell of Daddy and outdoors! If she was going to have to face another day alone, that could surely help her feel OK. She just had to borrow it.
And I just had to let her.