Emma's Turn

It's finally my turn to get Janet to post a blog for us.  Noodles always hogs the limelight, but I am here and so is Janet!

Janet has a routine when she comes to PDX to dog sit us.  She always takes Ruby and I for a spin round the 'hood in the morning and in the evening.  On alternate days, I get to go for an hour long walk around Fairview Lake. Rubs is really old now and sleeps away most of the day, so she doesn't get to go.  On the other days, Janet walks to one of three restaurants in Fairview for lunch.  As soon as we get back from our little spin round the 'hood, I bolt back for the door, hoping she will have forgotten that we did that yesterday.  She NEVER forgets!  She is also off her lunches out as two days in a row, she stayed home with us.

Bacon and Tomato Sandwish

Oddly enough, she has grown tired of eating sandwiches for supper.  Janet was going to make Red Lentil Carrot Soup, but apparently red lentils are a scarce commodity in this neck of the woods.  Instead, she made Split Pea Soup with Ham in Brownyn's slow cooker.  She had never made this before and thought it turned out pretty good.

Ready to go - just push the button!

Topped with the croutons she made that weren't burned to a crisp!

Today was one of our Fairview Lake days and it was really nice out!  Everyday up until now has been freezing cold with bitter winds or freezing cold with bitter winds and rain.  Move over, Maui - it's all about Fairview today this morning.  Guess what?  The weather party was short lived!

This was the really nice part of the day.

Here I am getting into the back of the car.  This is the beginning and end of my effort.  I always have to be lifted in. Seriously, why bust my butt jumping in if one of the people will help me?  It also gives me some "cute helpless puppy" cred.

While it looks like I am not wearing a collar or leash, I actually am and Janet is holding onto the leash.  She says I have selective hearing, so can't go off leash.

Somehow, Mrs. Good Housekeeping  managed to turn a perfectly white bath mat into a soft mauve colour.  As we speak, it's in the washing machine with bleach!

I'm doing my best to have a relaxing visit with Janet.  She's not the taskmaster everyone says she is!

One Whole Year

It has been one year and two days since Janet started to make posts on our blog.  Time sure does fly by!  We doggies live a rich and fulfilling life and here is some of what we did over the last year.  Suffice it to say, we weren't invited on all outings!

It snowed!  We had so much fun.

Janet started yoga and riding her bike, both in the same year!  She isn't nearly as lame at yoga as she used to be, but she's still not lululemon material. 

These yoga togs are from Costco.

 They went for sushi a couple of times in the last year.  Who is dumb enough to believe they only went a couple of times?!?  Should Janet and Phil be rendered mute, they could still enjoy their sushi as they eat the same things everytime they go.  If the restaurant gets a new sushi chef, they will be screwed!

Janet is in Portland right now and she says she is getting super hungry just looking at the photo.

 Phil got a new car, so that meant there was no way Janet wasn't getting her new oven.

Janet had her last stove for 17 years and Phil had the Volvo for only 5 years.  Doesn't seem fair that he resisted the new stove for so long.  Phil says it has cost about $250 to run the new Leaf for the whole year!

 One of our "dots" got married.

 And then another one got married.

The youngest "dot" made 90 jars of jam in ONE day and thought she was going to die from heat stroke.  Our favourite son went up north to work.

Point in case about the sushi - this photo was taken at Shizen Sushi!

Janet and Phil went to Hawaii and on a trip to the U.K.  We were only allowed to go on one vacation at Hood River, but we loved it!  Hot weather, fruit orchards, Mexican food - what's not to like?

Bring on the Tortilla chips and Pico de Gallo!

Phil had surgery and Rockers had surgery.  Rockers was forced to stay in his "man cave" while Phil could roam freely during his recovery.

Here's to another great year of blogging!

We Went, We Left

Yes sir, we hoppped into the good old Volvo, got on the ferry and drove to Portland on Tuesday.  Noodles was on her best behaviour, which is always a relief for Janet and Phil, but they did have back up anti-crazy dog pills if it went sideways.

It turns out Don and Rose arrive the next day.  Something is going down as we can see flippers, swimsuits and can smell coconut body lotion.  They must be going to Hawaii and we really, really want to frolic on the beautiful beaches.  Janet says doggies have to be crate trained to go on the plane, so that sadly leaves us out.

Here we are, looking and feeling very needy:

See how much we love each other?

Rockers know something is up because he never sits like this.

Rockers needs some hugs.

Janet and Phil were indeed, living the high life.  They drove to Hood River and had lunch at our favourite - The Taqueira.  They said the food was delicious, as always, but the ambience inside in the winter can't touch the summer patio.  It also wasn't the same without the rest of our family members taking up the whole picnic table outside.

Truth be known, Janet said she was freezing her *** off inside and we think everyone knows Janet's tolerance for a cold room is pretty high!

They drove past our first vacation rental that we all loved so much, especially Mr. D.  It looks like a family lives there year round.  We loved that house - doggies get to roam free in cherry orchards and chat with nice horsies. 

This road was just around the corner from the house we loved.  It has been blocked off so they can extend the runway at the airport.

Meg reminded Janet that they rode their bikes past this area last summer and a lot of fruit trees were burned and piled up.

There were a few sad, lonely looking pears on some trees.

To add insult to injury, they went downtown for Italian lunch not once, but twice!

Linquine with clams

Delicious!

 This morning, Phil packed us back up in the Volvo and we said "too  bad, so sad
  Sister" to Janet.  We didn't want to leave her, but a doggie has to do what a doggie has to do!

Now, Janet is all lonely.  Or, on the other hand, we guess she can do whatever she wants!  Here is what people in lonely land eat for dinner:

Grilled Mozzarella Cheese with Carmelized Onions on bread from LoveJoy Bakery.  They just discovered LoveJoy Bakery on Saturday.  It's the bakery that supplies the bread to Piazza Italia  the restaurant where they had lunch.

17 Days

Janet received her new oven range on 02 November and it was hooked up by about 6PM.  The next day, we started in a frenzy panic baking for the SPCA bake sale.  We creamed, stirred, beat, separated eggs and way, way more!  Actually, Janet did all of it while Noodles lay at her feet, hoping for some fall out.  One of the major problems with the new dishwasher is that it has two handles that stick out, so now all of her cooking drops on the handles instead of the floor.  Noodles does not like the new dishwasher.
Here is what we did:

17 days = 35 cake loaves, 25 bags of cookies and 81 jars of preserves.  OK, OK..some of the preserves were jam that we made in the summer, but we made tons of applesauce, curry apple chutney and more.

It has been storming here like crazy.  High winds and lots of rain.  We don't like it, but Janet says because we weren't crate trained, we can't move to Hawaii.  Bummer!  We wonder if it's too late to be crate trained and learn how to go on an aircraft.  I think I'm kind of OK, but Noodles can barely cope with a car ride.  I'm not seeing Aloha or eating Spam in our future.

We think this guy should have paid moorage fees at the Marina.  This happens a few times through the winter season.  Lots of people anchor their boats in the bay, as you can see in the background, and when a storm hits, they are subject to being tossed around.

The boat above was on our way home.  We were soaked.  Noodles hates having her head wet, so she tries to wipe it off on the towels.

Noodles is wearing her "pirate eye" on the left hand side.    Speaking of which, do you know how much a pirate pays to have his ears pierced?  A buck an ear!!

She does, however, like to lick the water off my back.

A last minute addition to the SPCA Bake Sale, Janet made 12 jars of red pepper jelly.  Yes!  Now we have 93 jars of preserves.  We are saving the world, one doggie at at time!  We are lucky that we live in a nice home and want to make sure all the doggies, kitties, bunnies, etc at the SPCA also find nice homes.  We think they will!

Judi Dench

Janet knew she had a hair appointment one day after they returned home, but forgot to factor in that they arrived home a day late, so missed her appointment.  As a result, she had to wait one more week to get her hair cut.  After watching "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" on her iPad on the plane, Janet decided she loved Judi Dench's short haircut and wanted the same look.

Well, she still doesn't look like Judi Dench, or have her money, or get to be called Dame Janet.  However, Janet said she got tons of compliments on her shorter haircut and she really likes it.  Does Janet need some makeup?  She looks pale (or old!) to us.

Phil brought up our cookie box and Noodles went nuts taking cookie after cookie.  I don't want to be a bad doggie, so I didn't take any.  I am such a good boy!  Or am I lacking in the smarts department - lets go with good boy.   Both Janet and Phil think I walk really slow after my surgery and today, Phil discovered one of the pads on one of my back paws is really swollen.  Now, they are sad that they tried to make me walk faster.

Little Piggie Noodles with me looking on with envy.

This is really cool, but not a good photo.  Janet and Phil were having lunch at Passeros, when a pink "For The Cure" firetruck went by.

On Wednesday, Janet cut up about 20 pizzas at work and then had a huge craving for pizza for dinner.  They went to Ottavio and purchased the goods and Janet made a nice pizza.  Sadly, she said it was too salty.

On a super crazy cleaning binge, Janet tossed our pizza stone to the curb.  Bronwyn reminded her that she and Jeremy had purchased the stone as a gift.  Guilt laden Janet hauled the pizza stone back inside and is so glad she did.  She had never made pizza on a regular basis before, so didn't think she needed the stone.  Now, they (we mean Janet) make pizza all the time.

Tonight, she made her favourite - stew with beef short ribs.  Janet loves, loves, loves short ribs!  Janet must be fully entrenched in her winter menu, even though calendar doesn't officially acknowledge it's winter yet.

Good night, everyone!  We love you!

Our "Free" Dishwasher

When we purchased our new range, it came with a "free" dishwasher, that is actually two dish drawers.  You could decline the dishwasher, but there was not a price reduction.  Janet thinks it looks really pretty, but she says the jury is out on the big picture.  First time she used it, she complained, but it turns out Crazy Lady forgot to put in the dish soap - a major dishwashing factor!  It, also took the service man 3 1/2 hours to install, so it's likely Janet will have to start liking it fast.

We hate this new dish system - how are we supposed to pre-rinse?

Janet is still busy Saving The World One Dog At A Time with the SPCA bake sale.  Yesterday, she made our Aunt T's Banana Bread with instant espresso.  Some random guy that rode by on his bike with a rake and raked the front lawn for $5 told Janet it smelled delicious!

The people that write recipes suggest butter should be at room temperature for baking.  They have never been in our kitchen in the winter when room temperature is almost the same as the frig.  Even Crazy Lady and even Crazier Man are complaining about how cold it is and are multi layering!

Our Aunt T's Banana Bread recipe.

 Here I am, deep in sleep.  Last night, Phil let us off leash in the park at the end of our block.  Noodles started to chase a deer, who turned on her and changed Noodles mind big time!  She might be able to counter a kitty, but a deer - much to big to mess with.

Here is Noodles with one upside down ear!  Why does she sleep with her head on the floor?

                                       
 Janet is using up the last of the apples from our big tree.  She made some applesauce in the  microwave and then preserved it in the canner.  Neither she or Phil could figure out Jeremy's apple peeler, so she had to do it the old school way.

A Very Faithful Friend

Janet has had the same oven range for more than 17 years.  This very hard working buddy has seen Janet through many, many family dinners, block get togethers, canning jam and salsa and much, much more.  Without complaining, - unlike Janet!  Our good buddy, however ,was starting to wear out and Janet wanted to get a new range before she was too old too cook (which is almost around the corner!).

Janet's good old buddy has found a new home at Jeremy's house.  Jeremy is working up north in Kitimat, so for the moment our, whoops, we mean his, Five Star is parked in his foyer.  Still looks pretty good, we think!

Here is our new replacement:

Very pretty!

Janet is under huge pressure for the SPCA Christmas Bake Sale due a late start, so the new range arrived just in time.  She normally starts early October, but was getting ready to go to the UK.   She has been super busy doing as much baking as possible and is really happy at how well the new range works.

We really wanted to help Janet bake today, but were forced to go to the Doggie Beauty Parlour.  We should have known better when Phil loaded us up into the back of the Volvo.  He never drives the Volvo!  We did get to go the Uplands Park though and this was Rockers first time off leash in many weeks.  He was really happy!

A start on the bake sale.

Janet says we look and smell really nice!

Yay! They Came Home!

We were starting to get really worried.  Dean packed up all his stuff and left.  No Janet or Phil, and now it's dark outside.   Next thing we know, Dean is back.

This is a bittersweet photo of Janet at Heathrow:

She doesn't want to leave; she wishes they could have stayed longer; she wishes they had gone earlier, etc, etc.  However, she says she  still wants to come home and see us.  We believe her; we know Janet loves us.  Janet said she had mixed feelings, but little did she know the worst was yet to come!

Due to the storm in the east, the flight was fully sold out and Janet had the pleasure of the middle seat.  They arrive in San Francisco 11 hours later and now their flight to Victoria is delayed by more than half and hour.  They board and nearly reach home when they are advised it's too foggy to land and they need to turn back to Seattle.  Three hours later, they are now in their hotel room at 2AM.  Up early the next day, they go back to the airport to take the flight to Victoria, which is also more than an hour late.

There is no photographic evidence of any of this because Miss Congeniality forgot to be congenial, not to mention patient, understanding, accepting and a whole host of other pleasant personality traits.  She did refrain from using bad language, however - at least with the airline employees.   Fortunately, there wasn't anyone around to remove her crown! The retired travel agent in her wanted to jump behind the counter and help the hapless United employees do ticket exchanges! They were tossing around all kinds of travel lingo that the average person doesn't know, but Janet knew exactly what they were complaining about.  It appears that after 27 hours of being awake, Janet is not at her best in the being pleasant department.

The other reason there isn't any photographic evidence is that by the next day in Seattle, Janet thought she had lost her camera.  See above Harrod's bag - she tucked it in there and forgot about it and put it in her checked luggage.

We were jealous about the lucky visit they had with Ming and Molly, but did our best to give them the good ole' fashioned greeting they like.

At this point, Janet's camera is still lost.  Rockers wants to get up close and personal with Phil.  Not sure why Phil is holding his nose, because Rockers does not smell bad!

This is in the "please say it isn't so"department:

Departures level, Heathrow Airport 31 October.  Don't you think it's a bit early?