43 Pounder

Remember in January when I brought home
a sweet little puppy? Seamus Michael had
a vet appointment on Saturday and weighs
43 pounds. That's his official weight at
one week shy of five months.

Nosey and I are waiting with bated breath
to see when he'll stop growing.

Enough!

OK. It’s the day after St. Patrick’s Day. NO
MORE SNOW please. Snow is very pretty. I get
it.








But bastante! Enough!

And while I’m making demands. NO MORE GROWING
Seamus! You are supposed to be a medium sized
dog. I’m beginning to think you are a half great
dane / half giraffe from the Island of Dr. Moreau.

Remember when Seamus looked like this:














Now he looks like this (not really - but I don’t
have a photo handy and this was the closest I could
find. He does have similar coloring)

















The truth is I don’t have to bend
over to pet Seamus anymore and he is only 4.5 months.

By the way - that baby photo of Seamus was taken by
the great photographer over at Three Woofs and a Woo
and she is planning a tour down the West Coast sometime
in May. She'll be available for doggy portraits; if you're
interested check out her website - amazing dog photos
there.

Easter Basket Alternative for Teens

After years of Easter baskets, I decided to try something
new last year for my daughter who is now 15 years old.
I got an over the door shoe holder at Target. This one
was white with 25 pockets. I filled each pocket with
some sort of little goodie and tried to relate each goodie
to Easter or spring. This year I’m just going to refill
the shoe holder which has hung over her door for a year
now and been used for all kinds of things.








One of the things I’m putting in it is homemade Easter
egg maracas. You can make your own with the plastic
eggs available at any drugstore. Here’s a site that gives
detailed instructions.








Also - Shasta Daisy seeds (we are big Mt. Shasta fans),
a slinky, a penny whistle, a stuffed bunny which I’m
going to enhance by sewing a lucky penny in it and other
sundry items. I’m knitting my daughter’s stuffed bunny
myself but if you are looking for a place to buy original
bunnys check out Sonia’s Etsy site here.










I’ll try to take a photo when it’s done. I fill it up
on Saturday night so when she wakes up Easter morning
she sees her surprises first thing.

Hibernating

I now understand why bears hibernate. Apparently
our first three winters in Idaho were uncommonly
mild and this winter is the norm. Good grief. This
place is cold!!

We had a short break today in the storms that are
lined up to reach us for the next seven days. A
little tease of sunshine before the seven expected
straight days of snow start tonight. Despite my
moaning - I still think white snow and blue skies
are a beautiful site.















The photo below is by Susan Mulvihill taken near Spokane.
















Here's a little advice for those thinking of moving
to Idaho: Don't buy a house on a corner! I spend
an hour shoveling snow every morning. Spring is right
around the corner though .....right?

Seamus

After long and careful consideration, including such fine
dog names as Brady, Grady, Yogi, BooBoo, Finnegan, Newton,
Plato, Bruno, Cosmo, Finbar, Hawkeye, Natty Bumpo and Dermot,
we finally settled on the name Seamus which Mike now answers
to just fine.

Seamus attends Kinderpuppy class on Tuesday nights. At the
end of the class, all the pups get recess- we let them off
their leash and they run around and have fun. It's pretty
cute. Last Tuesday was his third class where he learned
"leave it" very quickly. He can sit and lay down pretty
consistently. He's a pretty sharp little guy. Almost as
sharp as his teeth.




















He is still working on potty training and I think moving
to a colder climate (12 degrees at 9 pm last night) has
caused a few setbacks. He does well during the day though
so I think once things warm up a little he'll be more
consistent.

My life right now consists of dogs and work with occasional
breaks for daughter and reading.

Puppyville

We made the trip home from BC without
too much trouble. Mike (who is considering
a name change) did fine in the car, if you
count chewing on the seat, the door handle,
the gear shift and the steering wheel as
doing fine.

Nosey has adjusted well to his new sibling.
Their favorite game is Run Like Mad Through
the Snow Over and Over which they have down
to perfection.



















The only trouble we're having is with his
new name. Nothing seems perfect yet. We
want a name that will suit now and when he's
older too.

New Year's Day

The next two weeks are going to be busy.
Headin to BC to pick up Mr. Mike for one
thing; visiting clients in Boise for
another. Both necessities, after which
I hope to put my new year's resolution
into effect: S-L-O-W down.