Big Food Day!

Every now and again at Janet's "work" (Janet actually does work, she just doesn't get paid for it which is why we use "finger quotes"!) they have special meals.  This past Thursday was the Mother of all special meals!  The most fabulous local moving company, Two Burley Men hosted a food truck extravaganza in the courtyard.  Two Burley Men have grown from a very small company to a huge local success and are very community minded.  Janet thinks everyone on a local level should use them when they need to move as they are also good value for the money.

Janet initially thought Burley meant brawny and strong, but it turns out it is their last name.

Janet made Cobb Salad with chicken.

I've had an upset tummy for a few days, so now we are eating the special "sick doggie meals".  Sick as I am, I can barely manage to inhale the special meal.  A bigger question is how do I manage this thin facade of illness to get the special meal for a few more days?   Cooked rice, cooked ground beef and cottage cheese - it's so yummy!

I am quite afraid of the vacuum as was Rockers, but Noodles doesn't seem to mind.  Janet was putting the hose away right over her whole body and she never flinched!

And look else the people had for dinner:

This was a learning curve for Janet.  She has what is probably the world's most fabulous slow cooker, made by All Clad which is underused.  It was a gift from two of her children.  She has made a decision to make more use of it.  First up was cooking back ribs in the slow cooker with broth until they were tender and then finishing them off on the BBQ, thus cutting down on the heat the oven throws.  All was well, but Janet let them cook too long in the slow cooker.  Better luck next time, Sister!

I was as busy as could be, chewing up some papers:

Do you think these might be important receipts?  Don't you think it's cute how I hold them in my paws?

Talk to ya' later!

If We Could Learn To Type

Sometimes, Janet can be really lame about making posts on our blog.  I'm doing some research to see if I can find a College of Canine Secretarial Skills where I can learn to pype (that's typing with paws instead of fingers).  If there is a seniors discount, I might convince Noodles it's in her best interests to attend.  It might be a tough gig for her though, as mostly she sleeps throughout the day and all night long.

Just so you know,  Janet hasn't been all that busy so I can see precious few reasons for not blogging about our rich and diversified lives!

Last weekend, Janet decided the potted bamboo in our back yard needed to be split.  Truth be known, they should be been split 5 or 6 years ago, but she says time flies by!

Jeremy happened to be here, so he jumped right in the give his 66 1/2 year old father a hand.

I'm pretty sure they picked the hottest day of the year thus far for this really difficult task.

Mr. Brawny ripped off his shirt and got busy!  Too bad he didn't put on any sunscreen and his back was a perfect colour match for our new red lawn chairs.

We also gave support, of the mental variety, but opted for a nice shady spot.

They had a small party!

Based on Janet's photos, you might think the only thing they ate were burger condiments!  They also had Seven Layer Dip with chips, Guacamole and Grilled Shrimp, two salads, hamburgers and smokies (from The Whole Beast - everyone loved them!), buns and cheesecake with fresh local strawberries.

Here is another example of my attempts to keep cool - I went to sleep with my head under the bed.  You do NOT want to know how much dust is located under the bed!

Janet retrieved her runners and socks from the bedroom and them set them down in the kitchen so we could go for a walk.  She looked high and low for the socks a few minutes later and was beginning to think she was losing her marbles.  Turns out Noodles played a trick on her!

Look at the pretty roses from the yard next door!  These were cut off prior to Mr. Deer entering the yard and knocking the rose bush over.  He does love his hostas!

Believe it or not, one day Phil Birthday Forgetter (no, she hasn't let go of it yet!) made lunch with some BBQ pork, veggies and the Japanese soup noodles he loves.

Yummy!

See ya' later!

See, there is the sock again!

Janet Turns 62 Years Old!

Every year, Phil never fails to celebrate Janet's birthday in an unimaginable fashion.  The parties!  The galas!  The extravaganzas!  This year he managed to set the bar at a whole new level - he absolutely and completely forgot!  Janet guesses the only bright spot is the bar can't go any lower!

Meg and Finley facetimed on Janet's birthday at around 6PM which was exactly when Phil remembered and bolted from the house in record fashion.

It appears Janet has moved on and forgiven this oversight.  She's down to telling him to f**k off, Birthday Forgetter a handful of times a day now.

Turns out you can still find a cute and appropriate card really late in the day and under huge pressure.

And, flowers:

After Janet's fabulous birthday, we piled in the car a few days later and drove to Squamish for Mr. Baby's 2nd birthday party.

They went to Sushi Sen for lunch and gift opening.

We also went to a birthday party at Alice Lake.

That's cute little Violet in the foreground, chasing some bubbles.  She is Finley's buddy.

This family just wandered around.  Lots of small children wanted to pet them, but most of the parents' decided Momma Goose might take exception to that.

Noodles had some relaxation at our hotel room.

Noodles slept for so long in the exact same position that Janet went to see if she was breathing.  She couldn't see her chest rising and falling so put her hand on Noodles side.  Still no action and Janet is getting very nervous.  She shook Noodles hard before she finally batted an eyelid!  She gave Janet quite the fright!

Before we went to Squamish, I heard Janet and Phil say they wondered how I would be with Zambo.  What is a Zambo?

Now I know!  I spent my weekend doing this:

and this:

and some more of this:

I might look stupid and sound stupid as I relinquished my breakfast to keep up the sentry, but you should see my stalking skills!  Unmatched in doggie land!  I was as silent as could be.

Finally on the last day of the weekend, we doggies had Janet send Mikey an email for his birthday!  May sure is a busy month for birthdays!  Noodles and I pooled together our respective allowances to purchase him a gift card at Everybody's Brewing - a restaurant they like in White Salmon.  Noodles is older than I am so she gets more allowance and had to chip in the larger portion.

Janet Has Been Very Lazy!

She has been neglecting our blog.  I finally had a bark or two with her to let my displeasure be known.

While she hasn't been updating our blog, she actually has been very busy.  This is Phil's newest accesory:

Somehow, he managed to hurt his knee so badly he claims can't walk anywhere or do anything.  All day long it's "can you get me this; can you get me that".  It's been going on for more than a week now and Janet, who is as patient and understanding as a person could possibly be is just about at the end of her rope!  We try hard not to envision one crutch wrapped tightly around his neck and the other one shoved.....never mind!  You get the picture!

He has been to see the orthopedic surgeon who said it will take time to heal and has also been to physiotherapy.  The therapist suggested getting a family member to pull down on his leg hard for ten minutes several times a day.  Aside from Noodles and I, the only family member left is Nurse Ratched and even Phil knew better than to go there.

So, he jerry rigged himself an assistant:

Look what our fabulous Mr. Burr brought us -

Janet bundled up a baby size quilt and two bibs to pop into the mail as a gift.

What do you think the chances are that two children in the same family that live in different parts of the country would buy their mother the same Mother's Day card.  Isn't that crazy?

Phil was going to get Janet some flowers, but with his bad leg and all......

See ya' later!

Janet Comes Home To A Super Surprise!

When Janet called Phil to let him know what time she was arriving back in Victoria, he was having a small fit about how she was coming home a day early (not true!) and about how much tidying up he had to do before Janet's arrival.  Mrs. Anal Cleaner thinks to herself (wisely, she doesn't verbalize) that "perhaps if you had tidied throughout the 12 days, it wouldn't be an issue".

Turns out, while Janet was away, Phil arranged to have all the floors in our house refinished, with the exception of the kitchen and spare bedroom.  Bonus!  We even slept downstairs two nights and I had never been downstairs previously.  Janet had no clue this was happening!

As shiny as could be and he sparkled up our doggie beds.

Janet and Phil went to Costco and look what Mr. Tightwad grudgingly purchased me - Wilderness Pals!  I've had my Prairie Pals for some time and they are quite disgusting looking so this was super fun.  Janet picked up 9 toys I had out the other day and put them back in my toy basket.  I do love my toys!

Janet whipped up another baby quilt - this one she actually quilted herself and is grateful that small children are not aware of even stitch length and straight rows.

Remember the quilt back that had to come back from LongArm Arlenes?  Small wonder she sent it back - check out the water colour after Janet treated the batik fabric.

Janet actually knew better, but forgot she had to treat batik fabric.

Bronwyn was able to bring a quilt kit to Maui that Janet ordered.  Check it out - top, back and binding for $100!  What's not to like?

Phil made a super bunch of food - Janet hates dog food making night - even though she has precious little involvement.

Looks yummy, Phil.

t

I found another ball!  I'm up to about 15 now, this spring alone.  Truthfully, it's not nearly the sport it was last year - now I know where to look for them and they are so easy to find.

The adults had home made popcorn - first time in many years.

Dogs Of Maui And Some Lasts

Check out some of these super cute doggies on Maui.  How can I convince Phil and Janet to cash in everything they own down to the last penny so we can purchase a teeny tiny one bedroom condo with "garden" (read parking lot!) views and live on Maui?  Wouldn't that be super?  Not sure how they would feel about living in 600 square feet, but come on - we will be on Maui!

Janet didn't actually see these two guys, but Meg did, twice.  They are the managers of a gardener and go to work with him.  That could be Noodles and I!  Seriously!

And how about this guy ridin' the waves?  They saw these doggies on more than one occasion. 

This doggie was an expert.

This doggie was learning so had a life jacket.

Last morning with Auntie Bronwyn - barista par excellence and don't even mention her appy skills!  Sometime ago, Auntie Bronwyn purchased a small, portable Capresso espresso machine to take to Hawaii.  There was some pumping action involved to create pressure so Janet was quick to become very "lame" at this skill and never had to participate again!    They enjoyed lattes on the lanai every morning.  Her appy skills consisted of spreading Boursin cheese over crackers!  She bought the giant 3 pack of the cheese at Costco and Janet thought she was insane, but they powered through it.  Janet also thought Bronwyn shouldn't buy the bacon 4 pack at Costco.  Are they ashamed to admit they ate all of it in 10 days?  If not, they should be!

Auntie Bronwyn looks pretty happy, but Meg and Janet know she is really sad to leave Maui as that's how they felt the following morning.

Mr. Baby thinks once he gets used to the ocean, he might take up boogie boarding.  First step - trying it out in the living room, but it wouldn't fit in.

Let me in!

Last lattes at Honolulu Coffee.

Last of the Baileys for said lattes.

Last trip to the beach after said lattes.

Meg and Janet were going to try their best to negotiate the Bob up the stairs, but lo and behold there were a bunch of super strong lifeguards on a training exercise.  Two of them volunteered.

 

 

Last lunch at 5 Palms on the beach.

Last minute chaos at the airport.  Someone (we aren't going to mention any names) luggage is
overweight and now there is some major shifting around.

That is actually a look of sheer panic as they can feel the eyes of everyone else in line boring into the back of their skulls!

Last walk on the moving sidewalk.

This is fun!

Good night!