Monday Dog Blog: Gardening with Mommy!

Oh, hello there faithful readers!

Boy, do we ever have some fun news to share this week. 

One of my very favorite things is to help with the gardening.

I started out enjoying the shade of the burning bush.

But once Mom and Mommy got started with the planting, I needed to be in on the action.

I've already squished some of the marigolds Mommy planted.

Can you tell by all of that dirt on my face that I really enjoyed helping?

What made this year so different and exciting?

Well, Mommy was able to plant a bunch of marigolds and several dahlia bulbs. She spent 2 hours digging and planting!

As you can see from the photo above, Tovah and I are supervising the whole thing.

It makes us both so very happy to be outside with Mom and Mommy, and to see that Mommy can garden now too!

While I kept busy helping with the planting, Tovah discovered another new hobby.

She dug a nice hole for herself.

Then, settled in to the cool soil for a rest.

She must have learned this at the beach where she settled into the sandy holes!

Mommy was kinda like, um, what do I do with Tovah Rose now?!

What a mess she was!

We may have been quite dirty, but we had lots of fun, and Mommy was so joyful and happy that she could do more gardening and planting.

We remember when she reclined in the zero gravity chair, while watching Mom out in the yard.

In other news, Spring is great!

We still love our spot under the Kousa Dogwood tree where we can patrol a large portion of the yard.

Mommy rarely catches a shot of us on the opposite end of the yard, but here we are patrolling the far end. We wanted to say hi to Marge and Dessa who were passing by.

But then I saw this volunteer pansy and thought it looked tasty.

I thought the petal I tried was pretty good.

And doesn't my sister look so pretty next to the dandelions?

Mommy really enjoyed her gardening, and we love how much more we get to be with her outside in the yard, going for walks or training for our Dog Therapy Class.

We worked pretty hard today, and now Tovah Rose is snoring in her crate!

I need to finish this post so I can go to bed too!

Happy Monday!

Blessings,

Gershwin

Head Gardener

Monday Dog Blog: Settling In

We've had a pretty uneventful week here, so Mommy seems to be short on cute pics of us.

Mommy went to visit our Congressman on Tuesday to do some #resisting.

That evening we celebrated Passover.

She had book club today.

Otherwise, we've been settling back into a routine here at home, hoping that we can stay put for a while, enjoy our yard, walks, dog training class, and visitors. 

I enjoyed snuggling with this big toy in my bed!

Mommy caught this pic of me looking out the window when she was outside. I really love the sofas and have kind of taken them over.

Happy Monday!

Blessings,

Tovah Rose

Monday Dog Blog: Oh, Hello There Spring!

Happy Spring! Happy Passover! Happy Easter!

It's Lieutenant Tovah Rose here to report that Spring is officially here, and we've been enjoying lots of time outside in the yard watching everything bloom. 

Too bad Mommy didn't take any good pics of us.

All she's got for you is this pic of me hoarding her shoes. 

She would like to interject that I DO have toys, I just prefer shoes.

In other news, Mommy and Mom headed down to Hopkins for a great trip to visit with Dr. Rowe, meet with the development folks, and have a photo shoot for an article that will be in the next magazine.

Dad and Abbie took great care of us and we behaved very well. We enjoyed sleeping with them in their king sized bed and the views from the deck.

We continue to take our beginning Dog Therapy training class, and all four of us are enjoying it a lot. 

And that's a quick update!

We hope you had a blessed holiday and are enjoying all of the blooming trees and flowers.

Happy Monday!

Blessings,

Tovah Rose

Monday Dog Blog: So Much Unpacking and Packing!

We've been home for a week now. 

The birds are singing, the grass is as high as my knees (although Mom did mow today!), the daffodils and forsythia are in bloom, the buds are popping on the dappled willow, the weeping cherry tree is blooming, the sun is shining, and all of our neighborhood friends (both two and four-legged are out and about). 

I've rearranged the pillows on the sofa just the way I like them and drive Mom and Mommy crazy because they have to cover the pretty sofa from my muddy paws.

In addition to getting settled in at home, we got to go to a new dog training class and it was lots of fun!

We are taking a beginning Dog Therapy training class.

Mommy says that if we could just combine our skill sets we would be a perfect therapy dog. Ha!

So, why the long face you ask?

Well, what is the deal with all of this packing and unpacking going on here?

I mean, we're happy about *this* particular box because it was full of goodies from Chewy.com.

But, Mommy and Mom aren't even finished unpacking from the beach yet, and they are heading to Hopkins for an overnight this week.

Mommy is SO excited because she will get to meet with the development folks, have a photo shoot with Dr. Rowe to be featured in the next issue in the Hopkins Children's Hospital magazine, and have an appointment with Dr. Rowe.

We are pretty excited because we will get to stay with Dad and Abbie! We haven't gotten to do that for a long time and know that they will take good care of us.

Hopefully Mommy won't pack us in this box to take us over there?!

She wouldn't do that, would she?!

Happy Monday!

Have a paw-tastic day! 

Blessings,

Tovah Rose

Monday Dog Blog: Our Last Week + HOME

Hey folks! 

We're home now, but we wanted to share a little bit about our last week at the beach.

We just got home on Saturday evening. Mommy was so very tired that she slept until 3 PM on Sunday!

Early in the week we spent an afternoon down at the far end of the island where there was SO. MUCH. TO. EXPLORE.

Mommy loves this end of the island at low tide. The beach seems endless, the sand is full of dips and ripples, tide pools are filled with warm water, and the intra-coastal waterway can be seen. 

This is the first year Mommy has been able to really explore this end of the island and walk around!

Tovah Rose really loves to be off leash and she waded in and out of the tide pools, which was very brave of her. I was a pretty proud big brother because Tovah Rose doesn't really like the water very much.

As you can see, all that exploring wore her out!

After the walk, we were both very, very wet!

It was definitely the most wet and dirty we have gotten at the beach this year, but oh so worth it!

We BOTH found a way to sit on Mom's lap and, as you can see, Tovah really sacked out!

We really got into a routine of going to the beach a lot! We had quite a bit of nice weather. Even when it wasn't warm, Mom and Mommy bundled up and headed to the beach anyways.

Tovah Rose enjoyed the screened in porch again this year.

She happily spent many hours out there.

As you can see, my sore paw didn't slow me down from working hard!

Mommy took me to the vet on Tuesday and got some medicine for me. I can happily report that I am feeling all better now. AND, we now have a vet down at the beach that we like and know we can trust if we ever have an issue again!

Mommy couldn't believe how we snuggled up to each other like this on the way to the beach!

On Wednesday--our last day at the beach--we headed to our favorite part of the beach--Bird Island, where it is completely undeveloped.

Tovah practiced her new hobby of chasing birds.

She's getting pretty good at it!

I practiced joyfully running back and forth between Mom who was walking in the dry sand, and Mommy who was wading in the water.

Mommy got an email from Shutterfly asking her if she remembered 8 years ago. It was filled with these precious pics of her beloved Asher. It was also a reminder of how, 8 years ago, Mommy was just happy to be out on the PORCH at her OWN house. That was considered an 'outing'. She knows Asher came into her life when she needed him the most, and left when he knew he had done his job. 

Mommy feels that Asher would be so excited to see her walking instead of StRolling and he'd love to walk next to her at the beach.

On the way home from the beach, Facebook notified Mommy that the above picture was taken 3 years ago to the day.

She looked behind her to discover that I'm still sleeping with my same favorite 'baby' and he makes my car trips so much better.

I really like my 'babies' on the car ride!

We were both super duper travelers and did well both in the hotel and the car, except that I kinda sorta puked on the way home. 

Anyways...

We were all sad to leave the beach, but we also know it's time to be back HOME where we belong, hanging out in our yard, going for walks and seeing all of our doggy and human friends and neighbors that we've missed.

We are so grateful to have the opportunity to spend time at the beach each year. In turn, we are grateful for the community we return home to each year.

Blessings,

Gershwin