the Buster & ms. sephie give thanks.....

So here's the "little bitty turkey" the humans got ...
with LOTS of the stuff they call stuffing...
We get the turkey (of course ) and they get the stuffing...and the squash, and we get broccoli trees,and more turkey, and they get the pies...
What is wrong with this picture?
Exactly what are these pies they speak of?
Talking about giving thanks....


I, ME, the BUSTER, would like to give thanks to my best family, humans & dogs,
I'm thankful for all my best buddies here
in cyber-space too!
for balls,
I mean....my WILSONS, squeakers, and penns balls!
Also...
MORE thanks,
to my very special humans, who bring BALLS
from the
store!
THANKS!



They have to go to the store so much
BECAUSE...
talking about all things
BLUE.... (was I doing that?)
My very special BLUE squeaker BALLS just don't seem to make it
to long around here now that it's cold....
my humomm says,
"jack frost got 'em".
LOOOOKIEEEE at what that
jack frost did to my squeaker!

it's got a
big old HOLEY HOLE...!
looks like it's crying out HOLEY MOLEY I GOT A TOOTH!


Here's ms. sephie
we call it: "comtemplating on the BLUE chair....."
we don't
exactly
know exactly what she is
exactly contemplating
but if you knew sephie, she's very exact....
it's gotta be that turkey she's waiting for

Just an example of what happens after eating turkey...
ms. blue shows us how she
takes her "turkey snooze" very seriously...
HAH!
and she has
no idea
what is happening outside
right now!
Psssst...check it out.


I told her to go watch what the silly humans were doing...
and then stole the pillow-- HEE HEE HO HO HO..
(oopsy... we're not supposed to say HO HO HO it's not p.c.)







So this is what they did...
in the flowerless garden.
You see that big RED bag????
The humans said it was a "santa paws bag".
They also said that it will be full of WILSONS!!!
I can't wait.. I can't wait...when's
he coming??????????
Guess I've got to wait -- until December 25th.....
I'm waiting........
•••






waiting.....still.


I'M still WAITING....
It's getting a little chilly
&
DARK OUT HERE......
this is when the badgers and bears come out......ooooooo
WHERE ARE YOU?????????
gotta go----------->
signing off for now,
the BUSTER!

Bailey's Great Expedition to Hubbard Park

A sunny and cold Saturday afternoon. Bailey, our four-legged mom sets off in Dad's little PT cruiser for West Peak, a small mountain down the road. Hubbard Park was bequeathed to the town of Meriden, Connecticut by Walter Hubbard, president of the Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Company, many years ago. Hubbard had built a castle (which he called "Castle Craig") on the property and laid out the estate, which occupied most of the mountain, with the help of the architect, Frederick Law Olmstead.




In November, the place looks a bit spooky, with howling winds and bleak ledges of orange-black basalt. Then, there is also the disturbing legend of the BLACK DOG. Bailey did NOT want to meet the black dog!




Well, this is as good a place to start as any.




First stop: Mirror Lake. The late Monsieur Hubbard's minions have decked the place out with lighted swans and a full panoply of Christmas decorations. I wonder what this will look like at night?



Voila!

(We're cheating! Dad and Mom returned later to check out the lights.)






Maybe there are truffles buried here.




Okay, it's time to do some serious walking.

We'll head up toward Lake Merimere! Yes, it's pretty, but it's really a desolate glacial basin without vegetation or life, giving it an eery aquamarine color.



West Peak marks the terminus of the glacier 25,000 years ago, but it was also once a volcano! That goes back a bit in time...about 200 million years, when Connecticut was attached to the continent of Africa. Bailey was wondering if there may be a wandering Giraffasaurus Rex around...



Well, time for some more exercise...there's a golden retriever ahead, at least!




That ocre-colored basalt is everywhere, but there's also...



Vesicular lava! Not exactly what the Romans saw at Pompeii when Mount Vesuvius erupted, but lava nevertheless. This stuff sort of seeped and oozed all over the place, forming the "hanging hills" of Meriden.




There's Castle Craig! Seems a little bit out of place, here--maybe Bonny Prince Charlie's Connecticut legions are lurking up in those hills waiting to bring the throne back to Edinborough.



Stone crags everywhere! We Kerry Blues love to leap on top of things, perch for awhile, and bark commands.



You've got to admit...this place has a little bit of everything. Wetlands, grasses, even a weird sort of bamboo...




The trees appear to have been carved by elves.




What a cool place for a swim! Except that it's just about zero degrees centigrade, and the wind is kicking up.





Hmmmm..... I wonder what this is...




Oh!

(Dad's cheating again!)



Are these supposed to be beaver?



It's a good thing that we Irish dogs have a vivid imagination. Otherwise, nothing would make sense!





Okay, I'm thoroughly exhausted. Time to get in the car and go home!



What a day...

There's only one honorable thing to do!

Buster's Dog-Human Look-Alike Contest: Today's Subject--The Tongue

It's Sephie, the eternal observer of dog-human nature, checking in with another ephiphany.

I submit for your consideration, my beloved brother, Bozo, a.k.a. Buster, the orally-endowed:



Yeah, he's really vain about his beard--but that's not the thing he flaunts constantly! Next to his eight hundred and twenty six yellow tennis balls, his most prized possession is his tongue. He takes it everywhere. It multi-tasks. It cleans Bailey's ears, it wakes up his mom in the morning, it kisses everything that moves.

Where does he get it? Does it reflect some sort of higher intelligence?




Buster just confessed. He has been trying to correct Einstein's embarrassing error in that nasty cosmological constant that jeopardized the general theory of relativity. He's convinced that the secret lies in what he calls the "coefficient of salivated mass." I think he's been licking too much tequila, but one must admit a growing resemblance with the old guy!

I wonder if there are any other dog-human tongue-look-alikes out there...

Cheers,

Persephone

Buster's Dog-Human Beard Look-Alike Contest

Hey, it's Sephie, the perceptive observer of male vanity at the keyboard...I was wondering if anyone else was noticing similarities between bearded dogs and bearded people. And are these resemblances meaningful?

I submit, for your consideration, one such coincidence:




Exhibit A: Buster the Alleged Wonderdog. Venture Capitalist. Conservative Consumer of Dog Toys and Treats. Definitely not a revolutionary.



Exhibit B: Karl Marx. German Economic Philosopher. Author of Das Kapital and co-author of the Communist Manifesto. Definite revolutionary.

Are there any other dog-human look-alikes out there? I'd like to know!

Persephone

Memories of Summer

The Last Refuge of the Scoundrel:

When the days become short, and night falls at 4:30 p.m., it's time for a road-trip into the magic land of summer memories!



The Pond awaits!




My old buddy, Loon, cruises around, diving occasionally for a tasty trout...




My trusty Squeaker Ball is always on the front porch!



Actually, there are several squeaker balls, 'cuz they get de-squeaked so easily.



Ms. Chicadee is never shy--she loves the sunflower seeds and chatters incessantly.




Lavender pickerel weed lines the shoreline.




"Little Toot" (my Mom, Bailey!) loves the water! She'll head off over the horizon and just keep going. The humans have to swim out and turn her around!

It won't be long...Summer's just around the corner. Right?

Luv,

Buster

Ennui 101, Fall Semester

Hard frost tonight! The wolfpack is preparing for its midterm exam in the art of slowing down...



Bailey is by far the most advanced, with several years of assiduous study in the finer points of napping...



Buster contemplates the metaphysics of scent. There's an entire Universe to be explored in the smell of fresh, hot macaroni and cheese!



Persephone seems a little remote...literally. "Dancing With the Stars" beckons!

The world revolves slowly about its axis, and all's well. Time for a nap.

When the leaves fly...It's time for DECK HOCKEY !!

Yes, sports fans, it's Buster and Bailey on the back deck, playing their favorite autumn game--Deck Hockey!



The game begins with the careful--and somewhat fickle--choosing of balls. This ritual is ALWAYS performed by Buster, who almost ALWAYS has second thoughts about which ball "feels just right."



The next part is the initial scrimmage--a toss-out by Dad, careful footwork by Bailey, and loud posturing by the opposing team. Buster does know how to bark!




Finally, the game begins in earnest!




No one really "wins" a game of deck-hockey. The players normally retire after one participant (usually Bailey) disappears from the playing field with the ball in her mouth.




But Buster LOVES this game, and he'll play it again and again. And again. Bailey thinks he's a little crazy.




Now it's half-time, and the entertainment is an itinerant local citizen running for Town Council. The poor man has no idea what awaits him!

Cheers,

Persephone

Persephone's Garden has Frosted Over!

Persephone, the Dark Goddess of the Underworld and harbinger of Spring has taken to stern reflection and now can be found reading Gerard Manley Hopkins:

Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?



We terriers just don't DO the mortality-thing!

Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;

Gimme a break! No wonder you humans get so morbid in the fall!



Still, Persephone's Garden has been touched by the breath of Hades.



Little has been left untouched!



Perhaps the best response to the incipient presence of Winter is to nap through it...



Sephie sure loved her flowers. This is most regrettable!



You can feel the presence of cold things everywhere. New England is going to sleep.



Wow--no wonder those girls get so depressed! It's time to play with my squeaky-football and lick a few humans. Oh, the joy!

Cheers,

Buster