Monday Mischief

Hope all of you had a wonderful Independence Day. The only day that the weather was really bad over the long weekend was sadly the day itself, July 4th. The other days were beautiful. Mom missed her parade. They refused to postpone and Mom refused to get soaked in the rain. We won because we had Mom, Dad, and one of our favorite human cousins for the whole day to ourselves. Don't tell Mom, but we were performing a rain dance. However, we were duly punished when the rain came with thunder. We may have to rethink the whole rain dance as a means of preventing the parents from leaving home thing. Those thunder boomers are no fun.

Mom's birthday is this week and we are working hard trying to decide what we should do for her birthday. While Katy and I love bones, treats, and squeaky toys, Mom really isn't into that stuff.

Dog Dad suggested we let Mom sleep in. You see we have this habit of performing health checks on our humans. It is important that if they are in bed after expected times that we check to make sure they are alive and well. We regularly perform this morning duty at no additional charge for our pet parents. In fact we do it for guests, too. Katy found her human cousin asleep over the holiday and decided to do a health check and poked her awake. Once awake, Bailey decided she was available for distributing attention. Dog Dad couldn't possibly mean suspending doing this to Mom for a morning could he? After all, providing safety health checks is a valuable service. By poking humans in bed, we assure they are in fact alive and responding. Stopping this for a day hardly seems like a safe birthday present. However, Dog Dad insists this would be something Mom would truly love.

It can't have annoyed our human cousin too much because Dog Dad says she's coming back to stay with us when the parents have to travel to something called a wedding.

We have a more pressing problem. We really have to find a better gift for Mom.

Welcome to Monday Mischief – The pet blog hop that wraps up the weekend! This Blog Hop is brought to you by Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog, and My Brown Newfies.

Happy Independence Day

Mom is preposting this for us since the holiday is always a busy one. We hope all of you have a fun, safe, and happy day.

As we were writing this, the weather is not looking good for July 4th. Mom is still holding out hope because she loves her day at the parade, but Dog Dad is already making other plans. If the weather cooperates than Mom, Dog Dad, and one of our favorite relatives will be sitting not too far from this historical house in the shade to watch the parade. While we will miss them, we are not doing any rain dances as that will ruin the rest of the day for us, too.

In honor of Friday Flowers, Mom decided to share pictures of what her Mom always called 4th of July lilies, which are actually Day Lilies. The bright orange lilies appear all over the place right around the 4th here. Many people line their property with them and because they spread, it makes a beautiful edge for a few weeks.

Katy's Birthday Treats

It can take the Mama time to take pictures and get them all posted, but she promised she'd get my birthday stuff posted before the July 4th holiday.

It was a great birthday. Dog Dad stopped at the bakery for fresh birthday cookies. We love the yogurt covered dog cookies. Of course, they made us suffer until they finished singing.

As the best party game ever Dog Dad got both of us treat balls. We'd never tried anything that rolled and distributed treats before. I figured out the trick really quickly. I batted it with my paw and magically treats appeared as the ball rolled. Bailey took a bit longer as he was sure he could lick his way into the treats.

Dog Dad even found me a new colored toy in my favorite series. These are the only toys I don't let Bailey steal. For some reason he thinks every toy in this house is his. Well that's fine except for these. Oh, I catch him trying now and again, but even Mom says I should be allowed to have some toys that are mine.

After all look at this guy, not only can you chew and squeak, but you also get a built in pillow. This really is an ideal toy.

Dog Dad also found some new toys that make animal noises. This time he found birds, a cardinal and a blue jay. Mom says the sounds are quite "remarkable" and they seem to be endless very entertaining. We like bringing the birds into the house and you can frequently hear the birds chirping away.

The best thing of all was I got an extra long walk with Dog Dad and Bailey. While we were out, I got to meet up with some friends in the neighborhood. It truly was a wonderful birthday.

Hosted by Ruckus the Eskie and Loved is Being Owned By a Husky

Hosted by Heart Like a Dog and 2 Brown Dawgs

Wordless Wednesday: Beating the Heat

Blog Paws is hosting the Hop here

Tales from the Veggie World

Mom is constantly harping about how much damage we can do if we aren't careful in the garden. Have you seen how big these zucchini plants are Mom? If we stop posting send someone in to check out the zucchini. It might have taken us all. Can you see how it is kind of reaching out towards me?

This is why we normally don't watch the Sci Fi channel with Mom and we stick to watching sports with Dad. Now it has led Bailey to an irrational fear of veggies. I like the shade this one is providing. If it gets a bit bigger, I can sit underneath the whole thing and get a nice break from the heat of the sun.

With blooms appearing on the zucchini plants, Mom is hopeful that she will have some fresh zucchini soon. She and Dog Dad use zucchini in quite a few different recipes. From the look of the plants, they should have a decent crop.

Mom and Dad were very excited to have fresh lettuce and spinach for their salads this weekend. Both are doing quite well this season. Katy did you see the zucchini creeping into the picture, making its presence known? I'm telling you the stuff is taking over. You’ve got to stop turning your back on it. Don’t you remember the The Celery Stalks at Midnight? Veggies can go bad and not in a smelly way either.

What has been most surprising this season is that we still have asparagus in July!!! This has always been a short spring crop. The parents aren't complaining, but they are shocked that they still are getting quite a healthy crop.

As for the rest of the garden, the tomatoes are starting to expand fully into their crates cages and flowers are just starting to appear. Katy has been walking the line on the peppers, much to Dog Dad's dismay. She thinks it keeps critters away. Dog Dad is convinced she's going to step on a plant and kill it. So far, she's done amazingly well at walking the rows.

Mom found out about an edible perennial presentation being offered at the local library this month and she and Dog Dad signed up. They love the asparagus and the chives and would love to learn what else would keep coming back every year without having to be replanted.

Trying Out Crochet

Don't knock it until you try it. That Crochet Dude makes tons of money. Now imagine being a dude and a dog? I could really market myself.

Ok Mom just a little problem I can't read. Was that a DC or a SC at the end of the row?

When I make my own line, I'll have one that has an attachment that helps you hold the hook with your paw. This is really too awkward for the average dog. I've got to get my peeps on this now. Maybe some yarn that doesn't get attached to my nails would be good, too.

Welcome to Monday Mischief – The pet blog hop that wraps up the weekend! This Blog Hop is brought to you by Alfie’s Blog, Snoopy’s Dog Blog, and My Brown Newfies.

Friday Flowers: Lilies

Mom loves Lilies, both the Day and the Oriental. The Oriental Lilies are slowly coming into bloom. The Day Lilies are a bit slow this year. Mom is hoping the ones that were called 4th of July Lilies around here make it for the holiday.

At one point Mom in planning her perennial jungle garden Mom kept picking up just about every color of Lily she came across. She loves the way the bright cheerful colors decorate her garden during the summer.

Mom is rather surprised and excited to find the Lilies doing so well without assistance. It must be the weather because the last few years the Lilies have been under attack by bug critters and if she doesn't treat them in time, they don't even get to the blooms. This year she found them blooming before she even expected them to be ready to bloom. The bug critters must not enjoy the weather we've had this season.