Tea For Four

Playing tea party is a delicate balance of trying to be polite while being terribly disappointed that it is only pretend food and nothing but air in the fancy cups.

But play I will, when my cousin comes over to visit and gets out the brass tea cups and starts pouring tea and giving me some.

Not just giving, but assisting in lifting the cup to my mouth.

Olive Badger was invited to the party, but she was suspicious of all of it and ran away. I was kind with my clear disinterest after I discovered the cup was empty, and my lack of participation  turned the little guy's attention to Sarah Beagle, who sat there and revealed in all of his attention.

  So, it's tea for two, then?  Sounds good to all involved!

A Tall Tale Of The Downed Tree

The other day Mom led us across the street at a corner where we usually go straight, and around bend we usually don't see, and down a side road that was full of new smells.  The girls and I were so thrilled!  

But as we were heading to an even better smelling field (a local park), a downed tree blocked our way!  Well, maybe it wasn't a whole tree exactly....but it was sizable branch.  Right smack in our path.  At first, Sarah Beagle and I were excited, but as we got closer and smelled it, we were not happy.

Olive Badger came over to sniff it too, but it was really Sarah and me who raised concerns.  Where had it come from?  Why was it here?  And why did it smell so scary?  Our back fur was sticking straight up, and we were stiff legged as we stalked around it.  Mom tried to get us to go, but we weren't budging.  

Something was not right in the land of Beagles.

Then, we heard it.  A weird noise, not quite human, not quite animal, not quite able to pinpoint where it came from, but we all heard it.  Our ears were at attention, and Mom was looking all around.  The noise happened again, and Mom said it was probably just the wind in the trees.  Or maybe a bird.

If anyone knows birds (and hates them with a passion) it is Olive Badger.  She can spot a bird from a mile away.  But right then, she was not hearing a bird.  She was not a raving maniac on the end of the leash, which is usually how she responds to birds.

Not a bird.  All right.  Let's get out of there!  We ran up the steps and out of the park and breathed a huge sigh of relief when we were back on the sidewalks of town we know and smell regularly.  

Was the tree branch and the noise connected?  Mom says no, but I've noticed we haven't been back that way since!

Walking In The Rain

Whose bright idea was this anyway?

Oh, right.  All four of us.  Mom wanted to walk, and we got excited when she put on her shoes, and no one (except Olive Badger and she doesn't count because she loves the rain) had bothered to notice that it was raining.  Pouring.  The old man is snoring.

I was feeling chipper and the rain seemed invigorating, and Mom was feeling like a little bit of rain wasn't going to hurt anyone, so we took off.

Half a block into it, I think we all knew this was going to be a soaking.

Even with cutting our walk to just a mile, it was a long, wet mile.  And cold!  There is such a difference between walking in the rain in August, and walking in the rain in February.  The first three blocks were the best.  Rain hadn't soaked into coats or fur, and it was refreshing!  After the three blocks, we turned a corner, literally, and I don't know if it was the wind or just the realization that we had committed ourselves to a full mile walk and there was no shortcut home, but the joy of walking in the rain disappeared.

It was more like a death march.

Mom has quirked her eyebrows at me, but it was.  She should know.  She was the one dragging me through it all.  My reward once we got home was pretty sweet, though.  Goldfish crackers.

Almost worth a death march just for those cheesy, golden fish!

Someone's Been Reading My Blog

And she's sitting in my cozy spot of warm laundry right now!

Olive Badger, stealing my good idea!

She says she isn't into reading much, but she never got into the clean clothes until after I wrote about it.

Hmmm.

I Should Be Less Discriminating

I should be less discriminating in my garbage eating.  If I wasn't so picky, I'd have gotten all the garbage eaten up and Mom would never have found Sarah Beagle and I gorging ourselves.  The only reason Olive Badger wasn't outside with us is that she was laid up with a tummy full of garbage already.

I would like to point out that thanks to our snow storm last week, it's been two weeks since garbage pick up and the full to overflowing can practically insisted we tip it over and investigate.

Mom says that sort of investigation is not okay, ever, even with delightfully wicked smells that beg to be sorted out.  The girls and I will respectfully disagree with her on this, but Mom laid down the lay and set up a booby trap so we can't get into the garbage again.

Well, we could.  If we wanted to.  That rake laying on top of the can is not that scary.  Just a little scary!

Two Dogs and An Acquaintance

We are a three dog family.  We have three crates lined up in the kitchen, and no, Sarah Beagle and I are not upset that our crates are beige and Olive Badger's crate is pink and pinker.  Our crates are bigger and do not smell like pee.  We have three leashes, three dishes, and three different spots to curl up next to Mom in bed.

But one of us has suddenly decided that she should bark and howl and carry on at 4:30 in the morning.  After our holiday bouts with illness, Mom or Dad jump out of bed to check to make sure all three of us dogs were okay and not sick.  We're fine.  I'm barely awake, but I'm fine.

We've just got an agitator in the midst.

Sarah Beagle might not seem like the sharpest tack, but she's figured out that barking brings Mom and then she's let out of her crate and if she's quick enough, she can get into Mom and Dad's bed and settle in.  It's worked for awhile, but now Mom and Dad are wise to her and have been ignoring her.

Which has only succeeded in making her crank up her howls, making Mom have dark circles under her eyes, and Dad giving Sarah Beagle looks of pure ire.  Luckily Sarah noticed and was silent this morning.  I hope it continues.  We were on the edge of being a two dog and an acquaintance family!

I Had Just Gotten Cozy

One of my favorite days of the week is the day Mom does laundry.  She has this rule about folding laundry as soon as it comes out of the dryer and she never lets a load of clothes sit in the basket.  Often, she dumps it all out on the couch or the chair and folds it while she watches TV.

My favorite part comes when Mom dumps it, then quickly fills that basket with dirty clothes and loads the washing machine.  While she's doing that, I claim my prize spot, right in the middle of the pile of warm, clean clothes.  Or towels.  Or anything fresh from the dryer.  I'm in there in the second Mom isn't looking, and I am making myself the best darn nap spot in the world.  

At least, I am until Mom comes back.  Then she makes me move and I do it as slowly as I can, just in case she feels guilty and changes her mind and lets me stay.   After all, I had just gotten cozy.  A short nap wouldn't have been too much to ask!

Mom says it would.