We've been REALLY busy!

Hi everybuddy! It's me, Patches! Penny, Poppy and I have been really bored, lately! It's too cold to spend much time outside and our mom has been too busy to play with us very much. Of course, that doesn't stop us from playing with EACH OTHER! Penny is going to be 10 years old in less than a month and she is starting to have a little bit of trouble getting up after she has been lying down. Mom and Dad were giving her some hip and joint pills that they got from Whole Foods, but they seemed to make her worse instead of better. Now, they are giving her the same pills that Poppy gets. They bought them at PetCo. Penny is doing better, but our pawrents can't figure out what the deal is. In the mornings and afternoons, Penny does zoomies around the living room with me and Poppy, but at night when it's time for our last trip outside, Penny acts like she can hardly make it to get up and go. Oh yeah, and she still does the stand-up thing when Mom carries her food bowl to her feeding station. Poppy and I think she's just trolling for more attention!

This is me, Patches, in Dad's workshop. Our mom has been making many trips, down here, to get shelving that will go into her antique booth. All the shelves were covered with sawdust and paint over spray, so she has been taking everything upstairs to the bathtub. She would rather take all the shelves outside and hose them off, but she doesn't want ice sickles all over everything. We think she just doesn't want ice sickles all over HER.

Every time Mom goes to the basement, I just HAVE to go with her! She keeps saying I'm in the way, but I think I'm helping! Anyway, I have to protect her from whatever evil might be down here and of course, I have to make sure she doesn't sneak out the basement door and LEAVE me!

Don't I look like a big fuzzy teddy bear? We don't get Aire-cuts in the winter time, but Mom is thinking she might reconsider that rule. She's kind of tired of the kitchen and bathroom floors looking like there are tumble weeds rolling across them all the time!

Mom has been really busy with cleaning shelves and writing price tags for all the antique booth stuff and now that most of that is done, she has been going with Aunt Wendy to some storage unit place. We don't know exactly what they do there, but they always come home all dirty and smelling like mildew! Oh yeah, and our mom always comes home smelling like Ezzy Rider and Jagger! That is sooooo unfair...we can always smell them, but we can't SEE them!

Mom moves into the antique booth on Monday and of course, the weather jerks say it is going to rain in the morning and SNOW in the afternoon! What a great day to move in! Today, she's going to load all the stuff into the back of the Aire-mobile and she's really hoping to get it all in one trip. WE don't think so, Mom! We've seen all that stuff out in the garage and we'll be really surprised if it all goes in one trip! Yeah, we KNOW the Aire-mobile is a Chevy Tahoe with the back seats folded down, but we think maybe you better borrow the neighbor's ginormous pick-up truck!

Well, everybuddy, it's about time for our first zoomie session of the day, so we will catch up with you all later!

Aire-hugs,

Patches (and Poppy & Penny too)

Mom's new job...sort of.

Hello to all our furry and not-so-furry friends! It's me, Patches! No, that isn't us in the picture above, although we do have the same standy-uppy ears! It's a picture that our hooman cousin, Jennifer, pee-mailed to our mom. Above the picture, it said, "Spring is on the way...we can see the deer moving around." It doesn't look like they are moving too fast! We just wanted to share it because we thought it was funny. We're wondering if they live near Butchy and Snickers!

I, Patches got a new collar for Christmas. My red hat lady collar has been retired and now, I have a shiny new Martingale collar. It is red with white stitching and every time I get my picture taken, it looks like the collar has big white dots along the edges. The stitching is actually reflective! This picture was taken right before I got my new one.

We want to tell you about our mom's new job. Okay, it isn't a REAL job, but right now, she sure feels like it is! She is going to rent a booth in a new antique mall that opened about 6 miles from our house. As most of you know, our pawrents sell stuff on Ebay. Well, unfortunately, not everything sells, so a lot of it ends up going to the Goodwill at the end of each year. Our mom figures that at least SOME of the stuff might sell in an antique mall. She has been really busy making tags for everything! She also hopes to sell some of Dad's ink pad caddies and some of her felties.

She has had booths in antique malls before, but she says the only one who made any money was the guy who owned the building. She's hoping this one will be different. The mall is much smaller than where she had booths before, so there shouldn't be so much theft. Also, the security is much better at the new place! AND if she works there, one day a month, they will reduce her rent by $40 per month. Woohoo! We think she should spend that $40 on treats for US!

Ezzy and Jagger's mom (aka Aunt Wendy) is going to help Mom with the booth and she is even going to put some of her stuff in there too. On Thursday, Mom and Aunt Wendy spent the day checking out antique malls in our area. They didn't find very many and we think it was just an excuse for them to run away for the day. They even went out to lunch and didn't bring us back even one single bite! What's up with that? Mom did bring home a lot of interesting smells on her clothes, though. She smelled just like Ezzy Rider and Jagger! We're wishing spring would hurry up and get here so all 5 of us can play in our back yard! We'll drive the neighbor dogs crazy!...and maybe the neighbor PEEPS too!

Oh, I almost forgot! Mom finally got Dad's oxygen situation straightened out. After 2 days of phone calls, she finally found someone who said they would take care of it. It took them another week to get it done, but it finally happened! Thanks to everyone who made suggestions...especially Angel LacyLuLu and Rocky's mom, Claudette!

It's raining, today, so Penny, Poppy and I are having a contest to see who can bring in the most mud. So far, I'm winning! I guess my feets are just fluffier than everydoggie else's!

Aire-hugs,

Patches (and Poppy & Penny too)

New wheelie...and Poppy's feeling better!

Hi everybuddy! It's me, Poppy! First, I want to introduce you to our mom's latest feltie. Her name is Bailey and she's a black Schnauzer wheelie. Right now, she's up for sale on that Ebay kennel. We sure hope she finds a great furever home!

Now...about ME! Well, I finished up all my antibiotics, but I had to take a break before my very last one. About 4 days ago, I started vomiting and didn't want to eat. At that time, I had just one more pill to take, but since I wasn't eating, my peeps couldn't figure out how to get it into me. They tried EVERYTHING! I even passed up turkey and rice. Finally, about 2 days later, I began to eat again so Mom gave me the pill. Sneaky Mom that she is, she hid it in some yogurt. Well, by the next morning, I was sick again. I drank about a gallon of water and proceeded to throw it up all over the floor. That was the only time I threw up that day, but for the rest of the day, all I wanted to do was stand around looking pitiful. At one point, my whole body was shaking and Mom was afraid she was going to have to take me to the emergency vet and empty her wallet, since it was Sunday (yesterday).

For some strange reason, Patches decided to attack me when I was throwing up. She looks very innocent doesn't she? Well, let me tell you...she's not very innocent when one of us is sick. As soon as I started throwing up, she went into attack mode and jumped right on my back. She was biting me and growling and Mom had to pull her off of me! She got in HUGE trouble, but I didn't throw up anymore. Maybe she scared it all out of me! Anyway, by last night, I was starting to feel a little better and I snagged a potato chip that Mom dropped on the floor. She noticed, right away, that I ate the chip, so she gave me some cottage cheese. Yummy! This morning, I am feeling a little better than last night, so I ate some more cottage cheese and a little of my breakfast. I'm still not 100%, but I'm getting there. This morning, I even had a short bitey-face session with the attacker (aka Patches). Mom is starting to think, now, that it was the antibiotics that were making me sick. It's weird, though, how I didn't get sick until after the 27th pill and then again after the 28th.

I've been doing a lot of this for the last few days, but we think that's all over now. In a week or two, I have to go back to the vet to get that "thickening" checked in my anal gland. Mom can't feel it anymore, so we're hoping it's gone for good. Our pawrents blame the whole thing on a bunch of groomers that weren't expressing my anal glands. We all used to go to our v-e-t's office for grooming and they always did it, but when her prices went up so high, Mom started trying to find someone else to groom us for less money. Well, we've been to several different places and none of us looked quite right. Now, after the episode with my anal gland getting infected, Mom knows that no one has done it since our vet's groomer did it. I guess we'll be going back to the expensive place from now on!

Our dad has been home from the hospital since last Tuesday and he hasn't had anymore pains in his chest. Yippee! Also, our mom thinks she has the oxygen situation fixed. She says she THINKS so because she hasn't seen anyone come through the door with a new oxygen concentrater yet! She knows it takes time to get all the paperwork done, so she's going to give them a couple more days before she starts raising hell!

Well, everybuddy, I'm off to have another nap. I think I'll go sleep on the living room floor where Mom just cleaned the carpet. She's such a wuss that all she got done was the walk-way behind the couch that goes from the kitchen to the bedrooms. She washed it 3 times and rinsed it twice, but there is still red clay-colored water coming out of it. We did a really good job of bring the back yard into the house!

Aire-hugs,

Poppy, Penny & Patches

Our dad is home from the hospital!

Hello to all our furry and not-so-furry friends! It's me, Patches! As some of you already know, our dad was in the hospital. He woke up, on Monday morning, with pains in his chest that were radiating down his arms. Now, our mom knows that isn't a good thing, so she took him to the Emergency Room. She wanted to call an ambulance, but Dad wouldn't let her! Anyway, they admitted him to the hospital and checked him out for about 24 hours. They found NOTHING! He came home yesterday afternoon. He's feeling somewhat better, but not great. If it happens again, Mom says he may have to go to a different hospital!

As some of you may remember, Poppy likes to perform secret rituals on our big stuffies. Well, now, I, Patches have started performing the same rituals on my blind frog! Mom actually caught me right in mid-hump. Can you believe it?

Poppy was trying to get in on the act too, but I told her to back off. My poor frog had already had two eye-ectomies so he can't see a thing! Somehow, that doesn't stop him from taunting me, though! He just keeps asking for it until I can't keep myself from performing that secret ritual!

Once I have him convinced that I am the boss, then I have to take a little snooze with my head resting on him.

This was supposed to be a close-up of Poppy's beautimous face, but she turned away just as the camera flashed. That seems to be the story of our mom's life...thanks to the darn delay on the camera!

A few days ago, our beautiful Kerry Blue friend, Jade gave us this great award. We are very honored! Thank you very much, Jade.

The award states: "This blog invests and believes in PROXIMITY -- nearness in space, time and relationships!" In other words, blogs that receive this award "are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

We are supposed to pass it along to 8 other bloggers, but we will have to do that later. Right now, our pawrents are having a nightmare of trying to find an oxygen supplier for our dad. Every time they call one, first they say they take his insurance and then they say the don't. The insurance company gave them a list, but it must be like a 100 year old list! Every single one they call, says they don't take that insurance! Right now, they are waiting on return calls from a few companies. We sure hope they get it straightened out soon...we're kind of tired of all the HBO words that are flying around here!

Thanks to all of you doggies that have sent Aire-zen, crossed paws and GooberSmootches for our dad! We sure hope he feels better really quick! Mom says he can't go in the hospital anymore because she has a hard time keeping up with our water bowls and feeding times!

See you all next time!

Aire-hugs,

Patches (and Poppy & Penny too)

Awards...and we have no excuse for not blogging!

Hi everybuddy! Sorry we haven't been blogging lately. Actually, we don't even have an excuse! Our mom has just been busy doing stupid stuff like cleaning the house. Since she doesn't have a real job anymore, we no longer have a housekeeper, so she has to do it herself. We try to help, but she says that spreading our fur around and de-stuffing stuffies doesn't really help! Who knew?

Last week, our pals Maggie and Mitch gave us this really cool award. They said it was because Poppy needed a smile after her v-e-t visit. They were soooo right! Thank you very much, M & M! I, Poppy still have a few antibiotics yet to take and then, in a couple weeks, I go back to the v-e-t for the follow-up to see if the "thickening" is gone. Mom can't feel it anymore, so we're hoping it's all gone!

A few weeks ago, Kess and her mama gave us this great award. Sorry it took us so long to post about it. Thank you sooooo much, Kess and your mama!

Oh yeah, and back when we were switching to the new computer, Mango and Dexter gave us this cool award. Again...sorry it took us so long to post about it. Mom finally figured out how to get it into the new computer. Thank you very much Mango and Dexter! We also remember getting an award from Mason Dixie, but our mom hasn't been able to find it in the computer yet! She's going to keep looking, though. Thanks, Mason!

We keep hearing on the news and reading on some of your blogs about the bad weather that a lot of our pals are having. We sure hope all you doggies, kitties, hammies and hoomans are staying safe! We don't have any snow or ice, here in Georgia. Just kind of cold and we've had a lot of rain. The rain has finally stopped so maybe, now, our mom will go out and rescue one of our toys from the back yard. She keeps telling us to bring it in, but what fun would that be? Then we wouldn't get to see her put her rubber shoes on and maybe get stuck in the mud!

When I, Poppy, went the the v-e-t last week, we found out that I have lost some weight. Don't I look skinnier? Okay, my standy-uppy ears aren't any skinnier, but my butt isn't quite as big and I actually have somewhat of a waist! My peeple still aren't giving me as many treats as the other 2 girls get. Mom says I said that wrong...she says I get just as MANY, but my treats are smaller! I think that stinks!

Congratulations to all the doggies that won in the 2nd annual Gooberstanian beard contest! We didn't enter since our beards were cut really short the day before the competition started. The Kerry Blues seem to have us all beat! Maybe, next year, we will: #1. Not get our beards cut and #2. Try out some of that apple juice that Mitch uses to make his beard grow! Somehow, I don't think that will help us catch up with Persephone and Miss Bailey, but we'll give it a try.

Well, everybuddy, I guess that's it for now. We promise to bite our personal secretary in the butt if she doesn't help us blog more often!

Aire-hugs,

Poppy, Penny & Patches

Our blogaversary...and Poppy went to the v-e-t!

Hi everydoggie, kitty, hammie, bear and hooman! It's me, Poppy! Today is our first blogaversary! It was one year ago today, that Aunt Wendy came over and helped our personal secretary (aka Mom) start our very own blog! Some of you have said that it seems like we have been blogging more than a year. Well, our mom read blogs to us looooooong before we started our own. She made comments on everydoggie else's blog so some of you have actually know us for much more than a year!

I had to go to the v-e-t this morning! I don't mind GOING...it's once we GET there that I object to. The very first thing they did was stick that awful thermometer in my fuzzbutt. How humiliating! For a few days, now, I have had a bump on my fuzzbutt that was oozing blood mixed with clear liquid. Mom has been putting hot compresses on it and Neosporin, but this morning, it seemed to be even more swollen.

Off we went to see Dr. Hardee. I LOVE Dr. Hardee! He's always sooooo nice to me! Unfortunately, this time, all he wanted to look at was my fuzzbutt. It seems that I have an infection in one of my anal glands. He expressed both glands and I was a really good girl while he worked on me.

Now I have to take antibiotics twice a day for 14 days and then I have to go back to be re-checked. He felt a thickening by one of my anal glands and he wants to make sure it isn't something more serious...like a tumor! The whole thing isn't bothering me, one bit, but my mom was kind of freaking out! I told her to chill out...I'm still eating, doing zoomies and playing bitey-face. I told her that if I quit doing any of those things, THEN she can freak out!

Well, everybuddy, it's time for my afternoon nap. See you all next time! Happy New Y-aire!

Aire-hugs,

Poppy, Penny & Patches