What Happened To Janet?

Janet has been a very bad blogger lately!  But, bad good news, we are back baby!

This is going to be a short, lame post.  Better than nothing, right?

Janet finished up her Watty Man visit in real style.  Relaxing in bed with the "news" on the lap top, Watty Man for a companion and a Baileys coffee.  What's not to like?

 

Mr. Watson has a new bed that he thinks is super!

It looks like Minky fabric on top...so soft for a puppy dogs tummy!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch in Oak Bay, Briana and Ted came to visit.  They had pizza lunch!

Briana was immediately pressed into hard work and was forced to decorate the Christmas tree.  In truth, Briana really likes to decorate the tree.

Janet could likely reach the top of the tree from the floor as she has freakishly long arms and legs.  Half of her children and her husband are short asses!

Phil and Briana took me down to Firepersons Park for a walk and lo and behold, we came across two pals that were free stylin' it.  No leashes or person in sight.  We lassoed up the new guys , took them home and embarked on a mission to find their owners.  This even included a call to England!

Turns out, they live just a couple of blocks away and their people were so glad Phil tracked them down, they dropped off a really nice bottle of wine for Janet Phil.

Janet and Phil were invited to visit our super next door neighbours, Amber, Kris and Wolf as it was Wolf's birthday.  Amber had mentioned to Janet previously that she was going to make a felt Christmas Tree for Wolf that she anticipated would take an afternoon.  It actually took Amber 5 days, but check out this awesome display!

The tree is at least 5 feet tall.

Janet and Phil gave Wolfie a starter set for Magna Tiles.  Hottest toy in town, so Phil ordered it online and had it shipped to PDX whilst Janet was there.

Phil has lost his Fitbit several times.  The first time he lost it, we were on the deck of the Coho Ferry.  Janet picked it up and never said a word.  At least a couple days go by before Phil notices he no longer has the Fitbit.  Janet let him sweat a bit before she fessed up to having retrieved it.  Janet suggests he change bracelets, but he opts not to.

Again Phil loses his bracelet, except this time Janet has no involvement.  Turns out she found it on the basement floor while Phil was in Lethbridge and Janet was on her Super. At. Home. Staycation!!

Good night from Watty Man.

Janet Goes To Visit Watson!

Watty Man was so happy to see Janet!  He does a real tight sit and little tap dance when you come into the house.  He has the same cute smile he had as a puppy.

This is how it rolls in the dinner department when Janet is left to her own devices:

U.S. Thanksgiving - fried chicken and potato nuggets from Safeway.  That is correct, folks, Safeway!  Safeway the grocery store, not some local boutique restaurant with the same name.

Next night up - popcorn!  Not even real popcorn, but the microwave super salty shit that was on hand.

The really sad part is Janet loves salt, but said this was over the top.  Highly recommended for those whose body sodium levels are lacking!

Finally, something that resembles real food - an omelette!

Close by, is a really fabulous park with lots of trails.  Janet and Watty Man have been three times.  There is a creek, tons of mossy logs and lots of trails with bridges.

The aftermath of the park - huge mess!

Janet says there is a very large and annoying tree outside that is the gift that refuses to quit giving.  Two or three months of needles in the winter and two or three months of pine cones in the summer.  Believe it or not, Janet swept the step the day prior.

Guess what they have in PDX?  Doggy play dates at Lexi Dog.  Bronwyn told Janet that she took me in the summer with Watty Man, but because I'm old, I wasn't much of a participant.  Truth be known, I think she only took me because she discovered it was $2/household, not $2/dog.  Today, at first Janet was standing and watching the action but that proves to be a very dangerous job as you have a really good chance of being bowled down!

Apparently, the bigger Golden is the famous Scout who has tons of followers on Instragram.

Watty Man does his best to help around the house - "I've got this mail to open for you, so no worries!"

Guess where Janet and Phil are going???  It's true, albeit a small fortune!

Sleep tight!  This post marks 5 years of Janets' not so engaging and barely riveting view on our puppy dog worlds!

Watson loves his crocodile/alligator.

A Tiny Visitor Pops Over!

Finn Man and his handlers came for a quick visit on the 11 November long weekend.

Janet and I went for a big walk that took us around the front of the Oak Bay Cenotaph.  There were a ton of people and puppy dogs there.

Now that Finley is more than three years old, Janet says he is super helpful.

He grocery shops:

He scans the groceries at the self check out.

Phil and Finley went to the grocery store by themselves one morning and Phil was shocked that Finely knew how to scan the groceries.  He asked Meg, but she said she had never shown him.

He gives me cookies.  I really, really wish I could get him alone in the kitchen without any troublesome adults around.  I know he wouldn't limit me to one cookie!  Phil thinks I should be slim and trim, but I'm OK with what Briana calls the dump truck look.

He even washes lettuce!

All these chores were tuckering out a little guy, so we had some down time as well.

Meg likes the slide as she knows that unlike the Bouncy Castle, it won't collapse!

They also went for a hair cut.  Phil says this is a pretty cool place as they have a "Treat Wall"!  Finley is a little dodgy on the "first" of anything.  For instance, you could say "Finely, would you like...."  Answer is "No", even though he doesn't know what you are offering.  It could be a bag of candy, could be a large plate of broccoli.  The first offer of the "Treat Wall" was also greeted with a resounding no, but second time around, he didn't hesitate.

He is thinking "does this cut suit the shape of my face?"

Oh, yeah!  It works.  Bring on the Treat Wall!

As Janet and Phil are going to Spain in December, they felt it prudent to do some research and went to Chorizo for tapas on Friday night.

Shrimp, Potatoes and Broccoli with Ham and Chorizo sausage with honey.

The star of the meal - Clams with White Beans and Slow Cooked Pork.  Gone in a heartbeat!

I'm getting a little worried as I heard the "P" word mentioned yesterday.  Could this mean something adorable, cute, fluffy and troublesome will be coming to our house?  They better not be passing this off as a gesture of kindness by acquiring a companion for me.  I, for sure, will give any newcomers the cold shoulder.  Until I crack and break down to be nice.

Nestling up with a hard plastic dump truck does not have the same cachet as my teddy bear.

That's better.  Good night and thanks for stopping by.

Eve of Hallows

Every year, assuming there is enough rain to prevent a fire hazard (which is to say, every year!) there is a huge bonfire at Fireman's Fireperson's Park.  Back in the day, when Janet and Phil's children were small they would go to the Bonfire, eat hotdogs and listen to live accordion music (it's true!).

Bonfire 101:  Start with sand on the grass and stack it high with pallets.

Phil purchased a huge amount of Halloween candy in the USA, so they were delighted that at least 83 little bodies came by!  Our super neighbours were all dressed up and even Bean decided she had to be in on the action!

Whilst Bean couldn't express her true feelings, she might have been a reluctant participant!

Janet made enough Fried Noodles to feed a small army, but it turned out OK in the end because Phil was going to Lethbridge, so took the leftovers with him.

What happens when Phil goes to Lethbridge?  Janet is despondent and lonely, but it speaks to the strength of her personality that she turns a sad situation in to a positive and has the time of her life!  Yes!  A staycation!  Livin' the dream!  Whoops...too much enthusiasm?  A huge highlight, in Janet's eyes is the dishwasher will remain fingerprint free for the duration of his absence.  We won't even touch on the frig, which Phil insists is a "poor design".  This is how little Janet has going on in her "life"!

As will the microwave.

A tale of two trees.  The first one started out as a $19.99 Banana Tree from Costco that Jeremy planted in front of his house 4 or 5 years ago.  It is now bordering on turning into a plantation and actually had some small bananas on it.

This poor guy was along Beach Drive and was unfortunately uprooted.

It's open!

New in Victoria and does the unimaginable....makes Sobeys look cheap!

This photo doesn't have any bearing on anything current, but Janet loves it.

Sweet little Watty Man when he was just a pup.

Good night!

By golly, is that Janet's finger on the top right hand corner of the photo??

Trip Snippets!

The peeps wound up their trip and are now so broke after 4 days in Iceland, they may take all meals at Janet's volunteer job!

The end result of their last week in the U.K.  70 miles walking!  Janet was delighted, but her feet were dead!  Now she has fancy pants "hiking" boots.  She likes to put quotation marks around hiking because all of Janet's hiking criteria cannot involve cliffs, heights, sheer drop offs or anything scary.  "Rambling" through the British countryside is perfect - now that she can walk as one with the cows!

After cycling in Spain, next up is a walking tour in the Scottish Lowlands.  Walk, eat at a pub, walk some more, sleep at a pub.  Repeat for 7 days!

Some last shots of beautiful Iceland.  Good thing the views are free!

Part of the famed Golden Circle.

So much of the lava is covered with moss.

This geyser erupts about every 8-10 minutes.

Who wouldn't want to tour Iceland in this bad ass bus?

Their tours are super expensive.  However, Janet says now that she has "hiking" boots, perhaps she could be a participant.

We had to pack up and leave PDX to head home.  Watty Man and I are pretty good buds now.  Janet couldn't decide if she should leave me there or toss Watty Man in the back of our car and take him home.

He did seem pretty interested in helping with the packing up.

Can I come with you?

Please, Phil?  I promise to be a good boy!

Janet had to say no because she knew Bronwyn would be super sad if Watson had gone to Canada.  OK, bye bye little buddy!

Bye, Janet.  Bye, Phil.  Bye, Pashy.

I am a pretty good doggie, so I get to go on the people deck on the Coho Ferry.  I really like to move out from under the table and into the aisle so that people are forced to stop and say hello to me.

And, I like to whip out the needy card.

Are we almost home, Janet?  I'm exhausted from our hotel stay in Port Angeles - much against Janet's better judgement, Phil lets me run loose along the waterfront in the evening.

Back to the real world - they are making about 600 pieces of Naan Bread at Janet's volunteer job.