More mail

Hey, what's up, dogs?  Hope everyone is staying healthy and safe.  I got some more mail this week from my pal Ajdin...I wonder what's inside.  

Aha...he sent me a birthday card and some travel-themed stickers.

And...what's this?  A passport?...

Nooooooo waaaaaaaaay.  It's my very own passport!  Look, it has all my vital statistics already entered for me...

...plus a stamp for the trip I took to Chichen Itza in Mexico in 2018.  Soooooo coooooooool.

Awesome!  Now I won't be detained by any border agents when I'm traveling.  Thanks, Ajdin!  

Stay healthy and wash your paws, everyone!

Some on-time mail and some very overdue mail.

Hey, what's up, dogs?  I'm back again!  I know, quite unusual for me to post twice in a week, but that's what happens when you're sheltering in place.  

Today I have three pieces of mail to show you.  Two of them are being posted very late, thanks to my human.  Sandy Bear sent me a postcard in January (yes, JANUARY) about his vacation to Mexico.  And Ajdin sent me a postcard in December (yes, DECEMBER) about his visit to the Air Force Academy in Colorado.  Sigh...My human will definitely lose points for "Blog Maintenance" on the end-of-year evaluation.

Happily, I'm posting the last card right on time...actually, a few days early.  It's from Little Fox...a birthday card, "from one canine to another."

Oooo....look at that fancy font.  Thanks, L.F.!  You're a "pawsome" pal.

That's it for now.  Stay safe and healthy, everyone.  See you next time...

Green (or not-so-green) paw update

Hey, what's up, dogs?  Like a whole lot of other households, my human and I are "hunkering and bunkering" to avoid the coronavirus...so I thought I would update you on our progress with the orchids we re-potted last post. 

As you can see, we did the re-potting process again since last time, this time using some (homemade) slotted pots that allow the roots some light and air.  

One of the orchids still has a pretty good root system.  The other orchid lost a lot of its roots to root rot, and it looks a little...well...DROOPY.  Heh heh.  That's my name--don't wear it out!

The droopy orchid is on the upper right.  Not to be confused with the Droopy Dog on the upper left.

So I'm not sure what the chances are for recovery for these orchids.  I guess time will tell...I'll keep you posted.

In other news, my human also decided to try sprouting some avocado pits by suspending them in water.  They've been like this for about 3 weeks, and while the pits have started to split lengthwise, there's not much else to report.  Apparently, sprouting avocados like this can take a long time.  Again, I'll keep you posted.

Well...that's it for this update.  I hope everybody is staying safe and healthy during this outbreak.  Make sure to wash your hands/paws frequently and practice social distancing!  See you next time...

Orchid rehab

Hey, what's up, dogs?  Today my human and I are going to test out our green thumbs....errr, I mean, green paws.  I keep forgetting I don't have thumbs.

Anyway...my human recently received this beautiful orchid arrangement as a gift.  Isn't it gorgeous?  

But there's one problem.  This glass pot, although attractive and sturdy, has absolutely no drainage holes.  And in the last few days, it looks like one of the plants' leaves is yellowing.  

After watching a couple of YouTube videos on orchid care, my human decided we should extract the plants and take a look at the roots.  

(Disclaimer:  For the record, I suggested we consult Jerry, Ben, or Sandy before taking this radical step, but my human didn't listen.  So if this goes south, don't blame me.  Sigh...humans.)

First, we made a run to the garden store.  We've got some orchid potting mix, which mostly consists of bark chips for proper drainage, and some orchid food sticks.  We also have some new moss (not pictured) to pack around the roots, and a new pot, this time with holes for drainage.

Here goes nothing.  First, my human will attempt to pull the plants from the pot.  Hey, careful with that!  Gently....gently...

Oh my.  Looks like the root balls were still encased in their original plastic wrappers, which were packed with moss to retain moisture.  And since my human watered them a few times in the glass pot, that moss never aired out.  I think the roots were suffocating!

We cut the plastic wrappers off and removed the damaged parts of the roots.  Then we repotted the plants.  Fast forward twenty minutes....

Aaaaaaaand here's the finished product.  According to our YouTube education, the flowers may not pull through, but I really hope we can salvage the plants so they can try again next season and continue to give us beautiful blossoms in the future.  

Whew!  Mission accomplished.  I'll keep you posted over the next few months regarding how "green" my paw is...Stay tuned! 

Luggage tag

Hey, what's up, dogs?  Do you remember this photo of my suitcase when I left for Iceland, and how I mentioned that the luggage tag resembled yours truly?...

Well, this is what the suitcase looks like now.  Notice anything?

That's right...the tag is gone.  GONE!  I'm so bummed.  (Whimper...)

I have no idea what happened to it.  All I know is that it was missing when my human picked the bag up off the baggage claim carousel.  Perhaps it fell off?  Or perhaps someone was enchanted by its (my) cuteness and decided to take it?  I don't like to think about the second possibility, but you never know.  Sigh...

Fortunately, my friend Ajdin is looking out for me.  I got this in the mail some time ago:

It says:  "Hi Droopy--I heard you lost your luggage tag on the trip to Iceland  :(  Here is a new one for your future trips!"

And here's what came along with the note!

Wow, that is great!  It looks great on the suitcase.  Thank you, Ajdin...I'll definitely treasure this.  Now I'm all set for my next trip.

Hope everybody has a great week!  See you next time...

More on Iceland....

Hey, what's up, dogs?  Finally getting back around to my posts about Iceland.  This country has many areas of natural beauty.  My human and I saw multiple waterfalls...

 ...River and canyon vistas...

 ...colorful foliage...

...a rugged, frozen glacier....

 ...a bear...

Wait, what?...  

You're kidding me.  It seems we've run into Ajdin again.  That bear sure gets around.

One of the last stops on our tour was Blacksand Beach in Reynisfara in Vik, Iceland.  Anyone who's a fan of the popular TV series Game of Bones may recognize--

(Eh?  What's that?

Oh.  Ahem.  Excuse me, but my human says the title of the show is actually Game of Thrones.  Huh.  That makes much less sense to me.  I know tons of games you can play with bones.  Thrones, not so much.  But anyway...)

After a very long day, Ajdin and I met up back at our hotel to compare notes and photos.  It was a great trip to Iceland, don't you think?

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's celebration!  Here's to 2020...what adventures will I have this year, I wonder?...