What a life!

Thank you all so much for your wonderful comments, stars and hearts on my blip yesterday. It meant so much to know that you all liked the shot. It was a brilliant sunrise! Thank you again!

The pups had a “spa” day today.

Shampoo, blow dry, fluff, comb out, mani and pedi! What a tough life! All done by Mom and Dad.

As we gave the pups their baths, I began to reminisce about my first dog, Chester. I’ve talked about Chester before. He was my first Cavalier. He was a tri-color – black, tan and white. We got him when he was little more than a nose and “butt”. But he had flown all the way from Portland to Reno all by himself! (I would never, ever subject an animal to that again today!).

He was extraordinarily smart, and definitely mischievous. No, we didn’t train him, although he was very trainable. He figured things out, generally when we weren’t looking.

One of the fondest memories I have of Chester regarded him and my daughter’s sandwich. My daughter had made herself a wonderful turkey and cheese sandwich. Turkey was Chester’s favorite food. She made this wonderful sandwich, put it on the bar, then went upstairs to get her book. About this time, I had quietly come into the room where I could see Chester sitting, looking up at the sandwich on the bar. He didn't realize that I stood there. I watched as he jumped up on the kitchen chair. But he couldn’t reach the sandwich. He jumped down. Then he jumped up again. He jumped down. Then he jumped up again. He did this multiple times. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing until I realized that by jumping up again and again, he was slowly moving the chair closer to the bar. After at least a dozen times, he finally succeeded in moving the chair close enough to the bar to crawl up the rungs of the chair to reach the sandwich. By this time, I am about ready to “bust a gut” with laughter. About the time he got the sandwich, my daughter started down the stairs. I stopped her and told her what had transpired. She was really annoyed but ended up laughing with me about it. It is one of our favorite memories of Chester.

This shot is inspired by paulabanks and by Arwen and Soleil in the Muskoka chair. I laughingly told her that my three could fit into a dining room chair. Well, while they did fit in the dining room chair, they weren't really happy about it. So, I moved them to my family room chair - which is just a little wider. They didn't seem to mind staying for the multiple photos I took.

Right now, Iggins is asleep at my feet. Peri is asleep on the rug in front of Jon’s chair, and Wally is asleep in my chair. Such a dog’s life!