Our Cosy Fireplace

This is our new fireplace.  Actually it is a new gas fire log, the fireplace is old.  I love to lie on the floor in front of it.

The life of a church dog.

Hi everyone.  We've been having a very busy time.  I love going to church.  There are so many nice people and interesting smells.  When we were there Thursday, some people who do organic gardens and stuff were there and they had compost and I escaped from the office to smell everything.  Wonderful.  I also like the people who come into the office to say hello to me.  Some of them take me outside for walks.  One night SHE let me out without a leash and this lady had just parked her car so I went to see her.  I had no idea it was so cold.  My paws started to hurt, but SHE came and picked me up and put me in the car.  I guess I shouldn't do that again. I really don't want to wear mittens on my paws though. It is such a sissy thing to do so I don't stay out too long.

Last Sunday I stayed in the parish hall while everybody else was in the church.  I only barked a little and somebody took me outside to pee.  I like it when people pay attention to me and I love sitting on people's laps. They don't like it when I go grrrr and make noises when SHE talks. I don't understand why I can't sit next to HER. I wouldn't grrr.

It is very cold outside

I really don't feel like going outside.  It's cold.  Also, I had a difficult day yesterday.  I wan't allowed to go to church.  I had to stay with my buddies Penny and Kipper and two cats. One of the cats is new at their house.  Her name is Juliette and she's pretty old.  Julie didn't bother me and I didn't bother her.

SHE not only got to go to church, but also to Portland for a concert. People at the church wanted to know where I was. SHE told me what the people at church said and about the concert when she picked me up.  It was after 5 pm and my dinner was LATE.  I don't like eating dinner late.

SHE said the concert was really nice.  The Choral Art Society sings every year at the Catholic cathedral in Portland and the Portland Brass Quintet played too.  SHE said she liked Daniel Pinkham's Christmas Cantata, although it was all lovely. I guess it's ok, but I want to go everywhere with her, but SHE doesn't agree. SHE says there are places where dogs are not allowed. That is not fair. I am really well behaved and I don't shed and I like people a lot. I just don't understand. SHE says I can go to church next week. YEA!

Our First Day at Church

I had a fun day yesterday. It started out with my human forgetting to put my collar on.  When we got to the church I had a great time running around the parking lot and over piles of snow.  SHE finally got me and made me go inside. It wasn't bad, although SHE figured out that my leash could also work as a collar, so I had to behave inside.  A nice lady took the leash and I sat with her and was very quiet even when SHE got up to talk.  Afterwards I got a bit of a cookie and went outside to pee. By that time the rain was icy, so it wasn't much fun outside.  We sat around for a while then a teen came in who loves dogs so I sat with her for another service.  Mostly I was quiet, but popped my head up when SHE talked.  Some more cookie and a bit of blueberry cake was my treat after that service.  People were happy to have me sit on their laps.  Some even gave me bits of things to eat, but no chocolate.  SHE warned people not to put coffee cups with cream in it anywhere I could get some.  I really do like coffee and cream.  SHE drinks hers black and I don't care for that at all.  Sometimes, though she drinks a nice tea and I will lick up what she doesn't drink.  I don't understand why SHE won't make me my own cup.  But I digress. After the treat hour people sat in a circle and I sat on this very nice lady's lap. Then I sat on her husband's lap.  I listened very carefully to what was being said.  Not sure I know what it was all about, but there was a lot of talking. I had a great day, but both of us were very tired by the time we got home.

My human left me alone last night for a while.  She seems to do that once a week. She says she sings with a group and she told me they worked hard last night.  It was something by Mozart called Misericordias Domini (I had her spell it).  She does a lot of singing around the house, too.  When she starts, I go to my bed for a nap. She insists I put some another group singing that music in here.  The group is about the same size as the one she sings with.  Of course her group isn't ready yet.



Her doctor told her to exercise more, but she won't go out and walk on icy roads, so she dances around the living room to Dixieland music.  She tries to get me to dance with her, but I only stand on my back legs if there is a treat offered.

The plow man came early this morning.  I guess I'm used to him coming because I don't warn my human with barking.  My human opened the garage door so I could go out that way this morning, but I didn't want to.  I like my spot under the deck. It is going to be a nice sunny day.

Maybe we will go for a walk later, or better yet, maybe my human will take me in the car.  That's my favorite thing to do.  I may get to do something interesting, like visit my friends Penny and Skipper.  Their human calls them Luci and Ethel and they call me Fred.  I wonder why they do that?  I should get my human to take their pictures.

My human has asked if I would take over Izzie's blog. It seems like a lot of work and I'm not really the church dog she was. The human has retired and I don't get to go to church very often. We did have a good time last summer in Brownville and Dover-Foxcroft. They like dogs and I felt right at home. 

Don't expect me to have a lot to say. My favorite things to do are to play with other dogs and to get people to scritch me. The other thing I love is to share a chair with my human and to have her hold me with my tummy up and my head in her arm so she can rub my tummy for an hour or so. I also like to nap on my comfy bed in the sun room.

We have had sooo much snow this winter.  It is hard for a dog with short legs, like me to walk in the snow.  But that's ok.  The man who plows our driveway does a good job.