(HO)^3

Hey, what's up, dogs?  Er....I mean....HO, HO, HO! 

I'm getting ready to make the rounds and deliver some Christmas presents.  Just waiting for my transportation.

Ah, here it comes now.  Heh.  Heh heh. 
 

("You owe me big time," Patch grumbled.)

Anyway, we want to wish all of you a very healthy, safe, and happy holiday season, no matter what you celebrate.  We'll see you in the New Year with more canine adventures! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas card

Hey, what's up, dogs?  

Can you believe it's December already?  Uh-huh, that's right!  And that means the holidays are right around the corner.  I've been hearing Christmas music everywhere I go...and, as further evidence that the season is upon us, we have this:

Our first holiday card!  Thanks, Little Fox, for ringing in the season.

That reminds me...we have some correspondence of our own to send out shortly.  My human and I will be traveling next week and throughout the holidays, so the blog may be a little quiet this month. Busy busy busy!  Thanks for stopping by!

 

Happy Turkey Day to all!

Mail!

Hey, what's up, dogs?  We got a postcard in the mail recently from Sandy and Little Fox's trip to London.  It's a night view of the Houses of Parliament.  Very fancy looking!  

I heard the trip was a great success.  Well done, Tour Guide Sandy!

TWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!

HEY!  YOU!  

Yeah, you!  Whatcha doin' still asleep, you lazy dog?  Get your bum out of bed!

 ...Whaddaya mean, who am I?  I'm Drill Sergeant Droopy and you just heard my military-grade ultrasonic whistle.  THERE ARE MANY LIKE IT, BUT THIS ONE IS MINE!

Aww...so I hurt your little eardrums with that whistle blast, huh?  Well, TOUGH LUCK, PUP! Out of bed, right now!  On the double!  We've got something really important to do today.

....Fsssh.  You're a disgrace to the regiment.  Your posture is terrible!  Shoulders back!  Suck in the gut! 

...That's better.  Now...I got some very simple instructions for you to follow.  You think you can handle it, pup?  

Here's what you're going to do.  You're going to take the biggest, deepest breath possible...and then you're going to yell out these words as loudly as you can:

THANK YOU TO ALL U.S. 

MILITARY VETERANS--

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE!

Election Day...and post #100!

Hey, what's up, dogs?  Today is Election Day in the U.S. and I'm in line bright and early to vote.

And coincidentally, it also happens to be my 100th BLOG POST!  

Wow!  I think this calls for a celebration.  After we vote, we're all going out for a nice breakfast...something involving lots of bacon.  

Don't forget to vote today if you live in the U.S.A.!  See you next time...

 

Toga! Toga! Toga!...

Hey, what's up, dogs?  Yesterday was Halloween, and my human forgot to post a picture of my costume.  Bad human--bad!  No bacon for you.

...Ahem.  Anyway, let's get to the big reveal: 

(*trumpet fanfare*)

It is I, Emperor DOGUSTUS CAESAR of the Canine Empire.

As Shakespeare wrote: 

Friends, Romans, countrydogs...lend me your ears.

The evil that men do lives after them;

the good is oft interred with their bones.  

----Wait...what?  BONES?  Where??  Somebody buried some bones and didn't tell me about it?? How dare they!... 

You may have heard of my human counterpart, Augustus, who was the first emperor of the Roman empire many many moons ago.  He had quite an eventful life.  I hope my reign will be less stressful.

And here's some more detail of my costume:

 

Thanks to Jerry and Ben for hosting their annual Halloween Stuffie Costume and Pumpkin Carving Contest!  It's always great to see the creative outfits every year.  Happy belated Halloween, everyone...

Looking smug!

We gonna pump(kin) you up.

Mail from a mouse.

Hey, what's up, dogs?  Short post today to say thanks to Beanie Mouse, who sent me a packet of handmade cards for participating in the Traveling Sketchbook project!  

Thanks Beanie!  Now I definitely need to catch up on my correspondence....

An apple a day...

Hey, what's (yawn) up, dogs?  Today my human (yawn) woke me up early--way too doggone early--to go on another field trip.  She said the place could get crowded if we didn't go first thing in the morning.  

So, she bundled me into the car and we drove for about half an hour.  

Well, she drove...I napped.  And when I woke up, we were here...

It's an apple orchard!  Are we picking apples today? 

Here comes the wagon...

The staff gave us a crash course on picking apples. 

 "Redder is better!" they said.

 

Hmm.  I guess I'll have to ask my human for help with the "red" part, since dogs don't have the best color vision...

Oh hey, that looks like a really red apple, way up there.  Gonna need a ladder to reach it, though.

Here we go.  My human will hold the ladder steady while I climb up.  Kids, always make sure you have an adult to help you with this!

Oops.  Looks like that's not such a good apple after all.  Yecch!

We'll leave that one alone.  You know what they say..."One bad apple spoils the whole bin."

But that's okay...there are plenty more apples to choose from.  I mean, look at this tree.  It's just LOADED with fruit...

Here's a nice one!

I think we've got a nice little haul here.  An apple a day keeps the Dogtor away, so we should be set for  roughly 2 weeks!

Have you picked your own fruit before?  What kind was it?

 

Mail call.

Hey, what's up, dogs?  Today we got a couple of pieces of mail from our friend Ajdin.  First up, a postcard from his recent road trip to Chincoteague Island, Virginia.  I hear that place is famous for its wild ponies.  Nice!

The second piece of mail is a package that bears a postmark from Singapore.  What??  Singapore?  When did he visit there?...  

Oh, I see now.  He sent us a prize for our Stuffie Olympics bronze medal finish...and it looks like it was mail-ordered from Singapore.  



It's a little notebook that says, "The best therapist has fur and four legs."

I couldn't agree more!  I know a certain furry,  four-legged psychotherapist who could use this book to record his patient notes.... 

Anyway, thanks for the mail, Ajdin!  See you next time, everyone!

Just milling around, part 2

Hey, what's up, dogs?  We're back to our explorations of the historic Red Mill Village.  Last time, we saw the inner workings of the mill itself...this time, we're moving on to some other buildings in the complex.  

Here's an old tenant house that stands on the property.  People who worked in the complex would have lived here.  It's pretty small, but cozy.

No running water in those days, of course.  There's a washstand and basin in the corner behind me.      

There's a storage shed here with some historic modes of transportation:  an old buggy and an old wagon.  No horses nearby though!  

The next building down the road is a one-room schoolhouse...

Wow, they had to pack students of all ages in the same room.  And the desks were all tiny.  Must have been a tight fit.  At least they had a stove in the middle of the room to keep warm in the winter.

Up here is the teacher's desk, with a hand bell, globe of the world, and...uh-oh!  That white cone-shaped hat is the dunce cap.  If you didn't answer the teacher's questions correctly, you had to wear it for a while. 

 And here's a copy of the student rules, as written in 1872:

How do you think these rules compare to school rules now, readers?  Are they more strict or less strict?  And are students better or worse at following rules now than they used to be?  Something to think about.

Well, that's it for this post.  Thanks for following along with me on this outing, and I'll see you next time!  Cheers!