PIX

I've had some folks wanting me to post some pictures of the boys and even though I am a terrible photographer (took these with my cell phone) they still look beautiful to me.
They are the sweetest little guys and I don't know how I managed without them.
e



MONTGOMERY CARSON "GUMMIE"


ZEKE CARSON

BROUGHAN CARSON "BROGIE"

LILY PADS

Last fall I borrowed a few water lilies ............OK, I stole a few water lilies from a lagoon here in town. I rationalized my plundering as being helpful to the town because the water lilies were smothering the pond and needed to be thinned out..........geez I can put a spin on anything, even larceny.
I cut all the foliage off, placed the root balls in fabric baskets, and sunk them to the bottom of my patio pond...........where they quietly enjoyed a winter hiatus.
This Spring we had an explosion of lily pads and beautiful , dazzling white water lilies and they have almost smothered the surface of my little pond!
When I first started the pond Zeke got upset about everything I put in there but after a few weeks he got over it ...........Gummie and Brogie never cared one way or the other..........but when the actual water surface began to shrink Gummie had issues.
There is a water bowl for the boys downstairs and one upstairs and Brogie and Zeke use them...........not Gummie. For some unknown reason, he only drinks from the pond. We had a really big pond at our last house and he drank from that one too.
I noticed that it was getting hard for him to find a spot to have a drink and the other day it all came to a head. I think what happened is that he put his paw on one of the lily pads to move it out of the way and when he actually stepped on it he lost his balance and fell in............it was so funny. I guess he didn't see it that way because his eyes got big and desperate........... he looked like he had been thrown off a pier. I jumped up and helped him scramble out of the pond..... he shook off and we went on with things.
I have started thinning out the lily pads every week or so and Gummie continues to use the pond as a water fountain.
I mean, really, what do you expect when you live at the zoo!!!
e

CHASE

Zeke and our cat, Kissie, have an unusual dynamic going on. Gummie and Brogie never, ever bother Miss Kissie.......they go out of their way to show due respect for the eldest pet, and with good reason.
Kissie likes to go outside, come inside, go back outside, come back inside............all day long. She seems to always be on the wrong side of the door. Often when she comes in she will scoot through the house to the stairs and zip up to my desk where I keep a bowl full of her dry food .... and when she does that, Zeke takes off after her, growling and barking.
I think the natural inclination would be to feel sorry for the sweet little pretty kitty....but don't fall for it. No matter how fast Zeke runs he is never fast enough so when he finally gets upstairs Kissie jumps up on the desk and stares down at him with a look of utter disdain and superiority.........and he waddles back downstairs knowing he's lost one more time.
If Zeke doesn't chase her she will wait at the bottom of the stairs until he can't stand it anymore and off he goes............how many times will he fall for it.
The outcome of this game is totally dependent on Kissie's mood..........yesterday, Kissie was in a very bad mood! As soon as Zeke took off after her, Kissie arched her back and warned him to leave her alone..........well Zeke tried to stop, I think.......but in an instant Kissie slapped him, he yelped so what did she do .......she slapped him some more. She got him on the nose once and it started bleeding and he really cried then. He ran over and jumped in my lap and put his head in my armpit which I guess is now his default position.
I was sitting at the breakfast table trying to comfort him when Kissie jumped up on the table. Poor little Zeke buried himself under my arm again and Kissie looked down at him as if to say.......you are soo easy. She sauntered off, Zeke calmed down and the only one still worried was Gummie. He took turns going over to each of them sniffing and rubbing.
I am hoping Zeke's chase instinct will take a vacation for awhile......Gummie and I would like that.
e

WHO'S YO MAMA? POST SCRIPT

I did a dumb thing shortly before we left the party that hurt Zeke and Brogie ...... I have felt bad about it ever since.
I decided to go out to the car and tidy up a bit before we headed home.....I was going to get the coffee cups etc out of the car. Gummie went with me as he can go without a leash and I planned to only be there a few minutes. Just as I reached the car I got a call from a client and I really needed to talk with them. We were parked at the far end of the play area and Steve was still in there talking and I had left Zeke and Brogie with him. After I had been on the phone for about 5 minutes I saw Zeke and Brogie at the fence in front of the car.
I don't know how to describe the look on their faces..........I think panic might be the best word....and the longer I talked on the phone the sadder it got..........panic turned to resignation. I know they're just dogs but they have feelings and they remember way more than we want to admit. Zeke is 5 years old and I am his 3rd or 4th owner.......Brogie lived his first 10 years in a kennel. They've been with us for almost 2 years now and as much as I love them.......they love me more and I think they thought I was leaving them. I mean really leaving them!
Steve went over and put their leashes on to bring them to me and at first they wouldn't budge.....but being the good boys they are.......they finally followed him and when they got out of the fenced area and turned back toward the car... Zeke went crazy.....crazy happy. Brogie started barking and they drug Steve to the car. Thank goodness dogs don't hold grudges.............if I had done the same thing to our cat I would have had some serious repercussions to deal with. Instead, I was rewarded...... with love and affection and JOY.
e

WHO'S YO MAMA?

Last month we took the boys to a doggie party ...I guess you would call it a play date. There were 22 absolutely wonderful, beautiful Cavalier King Charles spaniels in attendance.........15 or 16 females, 6 or 7 males.........1 black and tan, 3 rubies, 6 tri-color, and 12 blenheims and a partridge in a pear tree. It was fascinating. And by the way, all the owners were great.........most of them are as crazy as I am about their dogs...........and they all have cute stories to tell.
Initially, I was concerned about how Zeke would handle the situation.......I knew Brogie and Gummie would be having a ball because they both love people and dogs. As soon as we went in the gate and took off the leashes the boys were into it. Gummie and Brogie visited all the owners and all the dogs and kept running back to me to check in.
Zeke had some visiting to do also.....remember he was a stud dog........and there were many, many little ladies in attendance. I watched him sniffing around each and every bitch there ......he would start on one side, then the butt and end up on the other side..........it kept him very busy and very happy.
There was an Easter egg hunt and Gummie and Brogie walked along with me but weren't into it so much. Brogie stepped on one and pawed at it so I picked that one up and Gummie sniffed at one and I got that one also. Zeke was too busy to play so we only got two eggs.
The last game of the day was called "Who's Yo Mama?" All the dogs were herded into the first fenced area with the gate closed.......then all the owners walked down to the far end of the play area...............lined up facing the dogs......the winner would be the dog that went to his mama first. When they opened the gate I saw Gummie take off ............the others took off too but they went left and right and all around. Gummie had me in his sights and he ran straight to me and at the last second a precious little blenheim female jumped in front of him but she came to me not her mama who was at the far end so Gummie was the winner and Brogie was second!!!!!!!!! Zeke was a little too busy to join us.
The ladies who organized the event did a super job...........they had doggie cake and ice cream and human cake too.....they even had doggie goodie bags to take home............but the best thing was giving all of us a chance to meet and greet folks of like mind and enjoy 22 fabulous dogs. I guess we were there for about 3 hours and during that time I never heard one growl or whine or any sign of any aggression from the dogs .....or the humans.....good times.
I wish all of you could have heard the sounds inside my car on the way home.........Steve and the boys took snoring to a new level ......I turned the radio up but there was no drowning it out.
All of it left a smile on my face.
e

ROYALTY

My friends have all come around to the fact that I have " gone to the dogs". Almost none of them pick on me anymore about having 3 dogs........ they have come a long way. So have I........for awhile I actually wondered if they were right....maybe I was nuts.
Truth is... I really didn't change........they did. In the last few years several of them have either gotten their first dog or have gotten a second one. My dearest friend who adores the boys and is over here four times a week............ opted to adopt a kitten about 6 months ago and the two of them are as happy as can be.
Once a month we all go out to lunch and every few months one of them seems to have some pictures to show. It used to be all about grandchildren.......but nowadays it's more likely to be a puppy picture with the occasional grandchild thrown in. Most of the grandchildren have been fairly cute but the puppies have been absolutely precious. My favorite was an English bulldog named ......are you ready......PRINCESS. She is mostly white with a brown spot on her butt. .... not exactly princess material in the traditional sense. Now I will never have anything other than a cavalier .........cavaliers are perfect for me..........but PRINCESS is perfect for her owner (who is one of my favorite people)......they both have bodies shaped like a barrel and their idea of exercise is a brisk walk from the house to the garage and they really don't like to over do that. The boys have met Princess and they really like her....especially Zeke. At one point they were all laying in the driveway and Princess was in the middle and Zeke had his head on her front paw. Evidently he appreciates the fuller figure silhouette.
Just goes to show you ......it's all in the eye of the beholder.....even a bulldog can be a princess.
e

REUNION

Last month I went to my high school reunion........we've only had one before and it was 20 years ago and I missed it. This time around I started getting emails from classmates that I hadn't heard from in years and eventually decided to go. We had activities all weekend and it was a riot. I must say ...........on the first night when I walked into the room I thought I was in the wrong spot because..........there were a bunch of OLD PEOPLE in there!!! Anyhow it was a great weekend and when I got home Sunday afternoon I was pooped.
The boys ran out to the car and helped me get my luggage...........Zeke really wanted to pee on my garment bag but I saved it at the last second. After hugs and kisses and rubbing we plopped down on the bed and I was looking forward to a nap......the boys were ok with it but they weren't going to take any chances about me getting up any time soon. Brogie draped himself over my right leg.........Gummie was on top of my stomach...........and Zeke was on my pillow with his face on my head.........funny thing is, we actually slept.
It was good to be home.
e

BREAKFAST

I've been having some issues with my back lately..............Bending over to do anything is challenging............and the number of times a person has to bend over each day is astronomical. I can do it but it has to be in super slow motion. One morning I was trying to put Zeke's bowl down for breakfast and he was super ready...........but I was super slow so he decided to help!!!
You can just imagine the chaos that ensued ....as soon as he jumped up his bowl slipped out of my hand and flipped over........hundreds of petite orbs of crunchy processed dog food hit the kitchen floor and bounced all over the place........I let out a little yelp because when I straightened up so fast my back bit me pretty hard.....and Gummie and Brogie were beyond confused. Gummie was so worried about me but there was a lot of free food on the floor..... so he took turns grabbing a little food and coming over to comfort me...........he was sooooo conflicted........but, hey ,there was free food so it couldn't be all that bad, right? Brogie sat in the middle of the kibble and stared at me and poor little Zeke was mortified. I sat down at the table and he immediately jumped in my lap and put his head in my armpit. When I caught my breath and my back eased up a bit I looked down at Brogie and he was laying down in a sea of kibble and Gummie was eating all around him................I had to laugh and that made Zeke come out from under my pit.........so I took some meds and we started over. What a morning!!!
e