Miss Bailey Encounters Connecticut's Redneck Destination Shopping Experience and Explores the Farmington River

Miss Bailey Blue, your senior correspondent, reporting on last Sunday afternoon's extraordinary sabbatical with my human lackey, the Dad-servant.

We strapped ourselves into the faithful PT Cruiser and set out for that font of redneck boy-culture, that apotheosis of yee-haw, beerbelly bassfishing mentality, that shrine to the right to chase little animals across the tundra with big sticks, CABELA's!

Seems the boy-child had to exchange his new waders for another size. Apparently the misguided creature could not accept the fact that he was a "medium-stout" rather than a "medium." At any rate, the trout beckoned and the testosterone surged in his little brain.


Some parts of the Civilized World have bronze sculptures of saints. Others have knights on horseback. In the People's Republic of Connecticut, we have Bambi the Dancing Deer and his faithful side-kick, Flapping Turkey!


Oh, the Humanity!

Here is the nave of the cathedral! There's an indoor mountain filled with stuffed animals and, yes, that IS an airplane hanging from the ceiling.

Sorry you had to see this! Yes, that's a real black bear. The mountain goats are just above him.

Bullwinkle looks really happy to be here!

The indoor mountain contains a real trout stream. If you enter the cave inside the mountain, you can see the trout swimming about. The Dad-Lackey has long ago disappeared into the flyfishing area, and he's muttering incomprehensible Latin names of insects. The doctors assure me that this is treatable.

I am SO out of here!


Anyway, without his medication, the Dad-Lackey is helpless and insists that we drive to the Farmington River to start checking out the condition of his favorite trout-pools. Never mind that the river is flooded due to three consecutive days of torrential rains!

The old railroad bridge in Collinsville has been transformed into a "greenway" or bike and hiking path. One can follow the river south for many miles without fear of woodticks or poison ivy. That doesn't sound like very much fun.


Good heavens, these humans are such incorrigible wimps!

If this is the Call of the Wild, I am an echidna.

The river's a bit high--and cold! At all costs, I must prevent this idiot from going fishing--he'll get carried downstream to the Atlantic, and I'll be so embarrassed!


I wonder if there's anything to eat around...like a skunk or an opossum...

We did meet a ten-week-old Bassett Hound with the longest ears I'd ever seen--they trailed behind him for 20,000 leagues. And there was an ENORMOUS Bernese Mountain Dog! I'll have to ask Faya how something that big can be so gentle!

Once you get away from those awful humans, the place is rather beautiful.


There's still snow about, and the path is getting a bit slippery!

Ah...the Lower Collinsville Dam! This one catches many kayakers and canoeists by surprise!

This is where we turn around...maybe I can talk the Dad-Lackey into speeding up the pace and getting some real exercise!

I'll just chase his shadow until he starts panting and holding his heart...


In the distance, two male mergansers are speeding toward some undisclosed rendezvous.


Hmmm.....I think we're getting near the old Ax Factory!


Dickensian Gloom. Dark, Satanic, mills. In a bizarre way, it's rather pretty amid the birches.

They certainly knew how to build chimneys back in those days!

Mom's studio isn't far from here. Maybe she'll rescue me from this lunatic.


Ah....Home Sweet Studio! I love my little hideaway!

I guess that's all for now!

Faithfully yours,

Bailey

Now Revealed: The Muzzle of Mass Destruction

Happy Weekend! Buster at the keyboard with some cool stuff to share, thanks to the humom/archivist/arms-inspector!



As most terrier connoisseurs know, we Kerry Blues were added to the arsenal of Irish nationalists/drunken poets during the early Twentieth Century, mainly 'cuz we're pretty good at tearing things apart!



We particularly like cows--I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because they're gentle, peaceful animals, and we're not.

Mom got me a cool blanket with the Official Colors of Clan Buster!

Don't you think it looks a lot better with the holes?


We herd everything: sheep, pheasants, blue octopi--prior to destroying them. Mom says it's like watching an experienced surgeon at work!

I feel so good when I do my job well! Mom says that proper attitude is everything, and I like to take my time to make sure that the annihilation is complete.

This belly-baby was one of my first attempts at using "smart-weapons" (in this case, two incisors and two canines!). Note the precision of the disembowelment.

Now I've gotta confess that "Sawtooth Sephie" was ahead of me in mass-destruction school for a long time. They say that boys are a little delayed, but once they catch up, they tend to excel! Sephie was legendary: she took out a wall, a linoleum floor, and a metal stove when she was fifteen months old!


Oh--PIGS! Yes, we Kerries have sworn a sacred oath to the Celtic Mother-Goddess to rid the earth of swine! Nothing personal.


Mom tells me that I'm kinda cute when I'm ripping her favorite pillow apart. She says that's the only reason she doesn't pull the stuffing out of me.

Do any of you blogbuddies have a "Raffie?" Mom gave us three of them--one for me, one for Sephie, and one for Bailey! Purple, blue, and orange (not shown in this catalog). Well, I noticed that giraffes have awfully peculiar ears, so I decided that they had to go! Quite an improvement, don't 'cha think?

Mom likes people and animals that can hold up their end of the conversation! It helps to have jaws that go all the way back to one's ears--great for skinning a wolverine or arguing about the Presidential elections!


Sometimes I get a little carried-away...

But my most precious possessions I treat with tender, loving care--like my mom and "my cat" (still possessed of the first of its nine lives, above). My cat is my best buddy, and I carry him everywhere--especially outside in the rain!


Once, Dad decided to play BusterBall with me without the prescribed, regulation #2 yellow Wilson tennis ball. He said the blue, inflatable rubber ball looked soft and supple. He was right.


Once upon a time, the family estate at Cheshire-Upon-Quinnipiac was terrorized by an invading army of chipmunks. They came by night in their longboats, pillaging, looting, and subjecting the countryside to unspeakable horrors. Legend recounts that the Marquess Buster the Ingenious of Puddleston St Droop responded to the cries of the Innocent and vanquished the Evil-Doers in three days! They left in their longboats and were not seen again.


Another one of my sacred responsibilities is upholding certain standards of good taste within the household. Mom got this horrid comforter/blanket that looked like an old leisure-suit. Ugh, I said. In two minutes, it looked like a colander.

When Mom gets mad, I open my brown eyes really wide and look straight at her. She melts!


Then I go chew the eyeballs off a horse.


I tell you, my work means a lot to me! We Kerry Blues have certain professional standards, and a half-hearted work of destruction is not something with which we want to be associated!

I hear that the airedales take similar care. Can't wait to hear stories!

Cheers,

Buster

Sunday Afternoon: Buster goes to WinterFest and Wadsworth Falls

The snow's over and done with, and it's a balmy 41 degrees F! Time to jump into the trusty PT Cruiser and take a Sunday trip with the dad.



First stop: The Lyman Orchards WinterFest in Middlefield! Lots of ducks and geese in the pond, but something else is attracting the crowds...


They call it "Ice Sculpture." Maybe they're making Margaritas?


Nope. Apparently, they're making roosters!


And cows...


Goats?


Okay--I get the farm animals--but a TRACTOR?


This place is weird! We're out of here!

Next stop: Wadsworth Falls!


Dad goes trout fishing here sometimes...it does look a bit fishy!


Nice waterfall...

Best viewed from a distance!

There's a cool rainbow that pops up in the mist every once-in-awhile...

Okay, time to head homeward!

Buster, your faithful correspondent, signing off!

B. T. WunderDawg

Snow Again: Chronicles of Kerry Blue Barbie

Omigod! Look what's outside! Like, Mother-Nature should take a break--talk to the hand--lose the flakes!


Like, how are we supposed to go outside and pee? Do they like expect us to get our feet wet? BUMMER!


There's like, a ZILLION feet of wet snow out there! We'll just disappear when we step off the porch! They gotta be kidding! I'm like calling 911.

Okay, that's a LITTLE better! I knew those humans were good for something!

Buster'll be happy. He got his balls back. (Hah!)


Humans-with-Snowblowers can be worth the grief they give you sometimes--we can get to the garden now! Like, I count on getting to the garden, you know.



And up to our perch at the top of the steps, where we can survey the neighborhood and bark at anything that dares come within shopping range!

ALL RIGHT... This will be satisfactory! But they owe me BIG-TIME for like the anxiety!


Time for my morning workout! A girl MUST keep trim these days, you know.

Mom's gonna give me my manicure now. We'll talk later!

TTFN,

Persephone