Summer Days

[Mommy should be more elated about the Korean World Cup football team making it to the 16, but honestly, H. sees it as another day of nail-biting, blood-drying, nerve-wracking frazzle, in which little will be done but refresh screen, as she doesn't have the guts to see them lose. Badly. This is not the spirit of WIN talking here.]


Emily's summer is started, now that Mommy's running after her with the buzzing clippers. Bad Puppy-cuts to follow, soon.

[Emily Contemplating Ice Cube]

H. also picked up 3 bunches of peonies that bloomed marvelously. Emily reenacts Ellen Terry:

[I Actresses]

see?:
[Choosing, G.F. Watts]

ETA: Uncle Shaggy alerts us to this DOGGY DANGER: Peonies.
Luckily, Emily's moment was brief and staged. whew!

More on Poisonous plants for dogs.

You're not famous until you get a drink named after you...

H&M are plotting about putting up a fence, so Emily doesn't bark down the neighborhood. Which is a bit sad. Bummy loves looking out at dogs and kids going by.

[The grass really is greener...]

To make up for it, not that it'll do her any good, Mommy will name her new drinkie after Emily. Also, because this is Emily's blog:

[The Emily]

3 ice cubes
180 ml tonic
2 strawberries, quartered
a splash of Cointreau

Add cubes, tonic, Cointreau, and strawberries in glass, then crush strawberries with fork. Tastes fresh and sweet and fun, like a funfair, but with all classy ingredients. Just like our Bumily.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

[Yay! Kiss kiss kiss]

Yay! Daddy's coming home!

[Ol' Underbite Em Strikes Again]

Emily's taken to throwing up hairnets (not dense enough to be hairballs), which is getting mildly worrisome. Mommy thinks you shouldn't lick the floor, Bunny.

In happy news, YAY! Daddy's coming home tomorrow!

Hello Spring, You're Looking Good.

Some afternoons, Emily Puppy is the posterdog for that quote from Buffy:

Either way I'm bored, constricted, I never get to shop, and my hair and fingernails still continue to grow. So really, when you think about it, what's the diff?

(BtVS Season 1, ep 01)

[What are you saying about my hair, Mommy?]

We try to keep her mat and tangle free. M. found that mink oil spray works. Emily hates it, and runs away whenever we start squirting. So, H. squirts it directly into the brush instead. As soon as it's properly warm, Bummy's getting a massive shave.

[But I'm a Natural Beauty]

Emily prefers to lick Olay Complete Moisturizer (with SPF) off my arms.

But, nothing keeps the Bumster down for long.

[You're not really done with that icecream, are you Mommy?]

* * *

In related life news, M. is at a conference in Philadelphia, so last night H. polished off a pint of Nut Explosion coffee ice-cream for dinner.

Goes to show, the ol' metabolism is firmly whipped into shape when I can still lose weight after that.

Lazy Sunday Sunny Puppy

Sunday at noon, H&M are taking it easy with coffee and muffins, and Emily's over in the living room, sunning herself on the mattress.

[Li'l Patch o' Sun][What's photosynthesis, Mommy?]

Happy Birthday Bundley!!!

[A little fuzzy, a little shaggy, Emily is a whole 1 year old today!]

--
(more to follow)

Heat Wave Strikes Europe

or so I hear. Emily and I are chilling in our living room. She's been pretty barky lately, especially late at night when she doesn't want to go to bed and is wondering why Mommy and Daddy think 1-2 am is sleepy time.

[Seriously, inquiring puppy minds want to know]

Emily's recovering nicely from her sick-time. Still, her nose is a little pinkish, instead of full black, so I let her hang out on the patio.

[Emily Puppy, Spy Dog]

[Grass, you can't let your guard down on them for a second.]

On the gardening front, our rose 'experiments' are coming along nicely. It's been 5 weeks since we planted the cuttings. At 6-8 weeks, we'll move them to roomier pots.
[Snipped and potted, June 28, 2009]
[See? New shoots]

Emily's climbing on my lap -- No! -- on the coffee table -- No! -- on the sofa -- No! -- to get a sip of my mocha cappucino. No, puppy!

Birthday Beach

It was my 9 month birthday, so Mommy and Daddy took me to the beach!

[I'm the best puppy ever!]

I ran around and chased all the other puppies. They weren't that much bigger than me. Just German Shepherds and Boxers. No biggie.

[I also found all the secret Nucwear Vepons]

[And a Jellyfish!]

[Daddy needs someone to show him around. Lucky he has me]

[And I fell in a puddle]

[But it was way fun]

[And the sea was so pretty]

[You should see the other guy.]

[Then I brought home some take-out]

Daddy dropped me in the bath as soon as we got home.

[Sleepy now]

People Stuff

Emily's recovering nicely, and has been perfectly wonderful for the past few days, but H. just wants to say, after 3 days of having Emily's Aunt Kat staying with us, and bumming around Amsterdam and the Hague and Leiden together, it's really kind of lonely, now. *sniff*

It was fun, we drank too much, talked too much, got lost everywhere, and I'm really missing the company something serious.

Kat's off to Paris now.

Takes after her Mommy

[It's the Magic Doorway, Mommy!]

...
in other news, Uncle Shaggy is made of win! (maybe accidental win, but win). Mommy hasn't laughed this hard about the 'economy' (*wink wink*) in, well, ever.

and also Mommy really dislikes the odor of fail! in some English departments. They seriously need more jellybeans, plus a kick in the pants.

Emily Puppy has been busy

[Happy things first]
Emily the super busy puppy's been

... picking up slack for Mommy.

Mostly she's been barking. This is what she looks like when she does that:

[I call her Ol' UnderBite Em]

Mommy's always staring at the evil flat thingy -- with squiggly things on it. So Emily wanted to do it too. It didn't taste so good.

[Whatever. It couldn't have been that bad.]

H: [Emily pulled 6 keys off my computer and ate two. We now have replaced "I" and "9" with "Alt Gr" and some key with a weird picture on it. I'm running out of useless keys fast]

She also ran into our bedroom and ate my earplugs. I know because they were gone from the bedside table. Also, two nights later, I found them in her poo.

H. has gotten a lot better at stuffing the Kong. 'Cause Emily can't get her goodies out. Sometimes she barks at it:

[Then she just whines at the food to come out]

She also tore a hole in her new beddy, and is bent on spilling its innards around the house. But they're okay.

[Still a cutey. But kind of hairy.]

[I can see you right there, Daddy!]

Ducklings

This is all about Mommy. Emily is so not into ducklings, not even to bark at.

[grassy]

[swimmy]

-------------------------------
Emily Notes

This week Emily could go on walks without barking at people passing by. She still barks at other dogs and at bicyclists.

Sunday Beach Trips

[Hindsight]

[Bobbing]
--
Right now, Emily is rolling in a patch of sun, chomping on Bunny's butt and looking up to bark at leaves drifting in the patio.

Brushes with people remind me how much I love being a hermit.

Sea Legs

H. being done with more of her inburgeringsverplicht (deel van het NT2-II), we took the afternoon off, and went to the beach.[Windy!]

[Dirt! Dirt!]
[Treasure Everywhere!]

Not that she stood in one place for long.

[Sea Puppy!]
[Grace Mommy with a Grin]
[I'm Actually Hunting Black Birds]

Yes. H&M had fun too.
videos coming soon.

Island

It was gorgeous out, sunny and warm, if windy. Emily went walking in a park in the morning, and this afternoon, we set her loose on the tiny island in the middle of our local canal. A lovely time was had by all.

Except maybe the poor brown dog who barked at us jealously from a nearby terrace.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Emily notes: From week 13 - week 17
- excellent walks on loose leash
- housetrained - knows to stand on box at door to go outside
- immediately obeys sit, come, watch, and off.
- sleeps for 8 hours at night
- stays nearby when off leash and outdoors

Lazy Lessons

[Sat in a Patch of Sun]
--

H. is moving on and leaving things, might-have-beens, and waspish persons behind.

It's been a long time coming, and though I make this resolution again and again every week, the external force making it stick is realizing that ejecting these toxins from my mental space is as important to Emily and M. as it is for me.

Sunday in the Park with Emily

Getting up at the crack of dawn means breakfast, potties, playing fetch, e-mail, newspapers, and first round of chocolates(for us) are over by 8 am. H&M are sitting around with puppy going, hmm, what now?

So we started off Sunday with a drive to the nearest large park (not teeny dog park).

[Prisoner Transport 1124]

And hey, there were black swans! Like effing Swan Lake!

And first signs of spring. Crocuses coming up under dead leaves, and all that. Of course, while H. is thinking, oh pretty! lilies of the valley! M. goes "Woo hoo! Alien Pod Plants!"

[Too much Star Trek on the brain]

Then again, he is right on with: "this park sure looks weird."
Straight out of a Guillermo del Toro film.

All the while, Emily was on her happy walk. We bribed her with treats not to bark at joggers.

Of course, some of you might have noticed the sharp drop in Emily pictures (or posting of obscured ones). Yes, you're right on. Mommy went scissor happy on her face, and now Emily looks like Max Headroom.

- Puppy Walks: must not be too strenuous or will strain growing joints and muscles. 5x number of months old, and adjust for energy level.

- Thursday (2/26), H. walked out the door without her keys, and so she and Emily had to walk 55 minutes to M.'s department and get him to drive us home. H. tried to carry Emily part of the way, but the puppy would have none of that.

I get up at 6 and wait for the sun to rise

After a few days goofing off on Facebook, H. is back to Emily's blog, ready to commit to taking better pictures, ala figuring out how the camera works.

[Dawn of Poo]

On the second potty round this morning, I went out to the patio a little early to catch the last part of the sunrise, and Emily followed me out and did her business without having to be asked. Freebies!

FRAP is never easy to film

There's never a camera with a memory card when you need one. If you have trouble seeing the little white blur, so do we. So do we. *trips*

[FRAP, at a full 11 weeks, 1.6 kg]
--
Been itching to take a sunrise pic, too, but when I don't have camera handy, it's foggy out.