A year on

It's a year to the day that I set paws on US soil; well actually it was tarmac but you know what I mean.  What I have learnt in that year: everything is much bigger than back home.  The cars I've been driven around in are huge and need to be because the drivers are mad.  I've spent more time in kennels this year than in all my previous 8 put together - and I've loved it.  The weather is more extreme than back home.  Thunderstorms are still horrible: tornado warnings are scary.  I've sniffed snakes and turtles and seen more snow than you can ever imagine.  My boyish good looks and English woof made me an instant hit in the neighbourhood which, to be honest, is more like a film set than a village.

If I had to name three things that I miss from back home they would have to be: bacon, being let off the lead to run as free as a 9 year old black lab can and custard creams.  And 3 that I like the most about living in America: hot dogs, hot dogs and hot dogs....  hmmmmm sausages!  

Ah Bless

I just had to share this article with you - a lab went up a mountain and had to be carried back down.  I can sympathise with him.  It's so hot I can barely make it round the block without passing out. 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/wales/north_west_wales/10307426.stm

Abandond

It's amazing how one's day can change in the wag of a tail.  Take today for example, we were out in the car and stopped at a petrol station.  While my human was struggling to figure out how the pump worked I noticed the woman at the pump in front duck down behind her car; then the guy next to us got out of his car and ran behind the shop.  It wasn't until someone told my human to get down that I noticed a guy about 30 feet away with a hand gun.  Being the brave soldier that I am I ducked behind the front seats just as my human ran behind the shop abandoning me all alone in the car.  No sense drawing attention to myself, he might not have been a dog lover, so I kept my head down until the police arrived.  Thankfully they were there really quickly and the drama was over in a matter of minutes.  I've no idea what was going on; whether the guy was trying to rob the place or what but I was a little bit scared.  It was the reaction of the people around us ducking for cover that scared me - my doggie years flashed before my eyes.  One thing is for sure we'll have to change the rental car because I don't think we'll ever get the smell out of the leather!

It's all pants

I'll get to that in a minute, first an apology for the lack of posts recently.  I've been on vacation, not the whole time but a few weeks.  My human took off to California earthquake hunting or something like that.  I'm not going to tell you about her holiday because this is my blog - she can get her own.

So what's pants then?  Or maybe that should be who's pants?  Remember soon after I first moved here a single sock appeared in the middle of the bedroom carpet?  It wasn't mine or my human's although I did use it to cover my sore paw during the winter.  After any vacation there's a certain amount of washing to do.  Imagine the quizzical looks when my human went to the laundry room and found a pair of ladies pants sitting atop the washer.  They're definitely not mine and far too small to be hers.  The apartment was shut up for two weeks so the mystery is where did they come from?  Maybe our laundry room is a star gate to someone else's laundry room.  So if you've lost a sock or a pair of pants drop me a line.  

Birthday treats

Look at all the treats I bought with my birthday money. We went to the pet store and I got to choose whatever I wanted. I felt like a, like a.... dog in a pet store - it was brilliant.

I feel a bit bloated after pigging out on the T-Bonz. Or maybe it's the hot weather that's making me sluggish.

Movie stars

We had a visitor tonight, the woman from next door. Well I think she is our neighbour because she smelt of cats - not in a nasty way, just to my supersensitive nose. She seems quite nice but can't half talk. She used to work in the movies with Lauren Bacall, Bing Crosby, Tony Curtis, John Wayne and knew some bloke called Elvis, she even showed me a photo of her with him. I've no idea who these people are but she seemed to be very pleased to talk about them. She was a stand in most of the time but did appear in some old film called Stagecoach. It must be old as colour hadn't even been invented; the whole world was black and white!

Happy Birthday to me

Yep, another day older but now I’m 9 not 8.
Am I too old for a mid life crisis? Of course I am, 9 is 63 in your human years isn’t it? If I were a working dog I’d be making retirement plans now. Endless days with my paws up on the sofa watching the weather channel. But I already do that so I guess no change there.

Not like it!

Storm season has arrived! The weather people weren’t kidding when they issued the strong thunderstorm warning. It was a cracker, if you like that sort of thing. I don’t and that’s why I hid in the closet all night. Don’t laugh I wasn’t the only one! At the height of the storm when the hail was lashing down and the wind was trying to blow the windows in and the thunder was shaking the apartment and the lightening was so bright it hurt my eyes, my human came to join me. She tried to make out it was to comfort me but I could smell her fear –the people in the next apartment could probably smell it as well.

Thunder and lightening

Yep, looks like I spoke too soon.  Just had a severe thunderstorm alert flashed up on the TV.  This alert issued by the weather people...

... STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT WASHINGTON... CARROLL... FREDERICK... MONTGOMERY... NORTHERN FAUQUIER... WARREN... CLARKE... LOUDOUN... JEFFERSON... PRINCE WILLIAM/MANASSAS/MANASSAS PARK AND SOUTHERN FAUQUIER COUNTIES...

AT 911 PM EDT... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM MYERSVILLE TO ROSEMONT TO 2 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LOVETTSVILLE TO 3 MILES NORTHWEST OF PARIS... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

PENNY-SIZE TO NICKEL-SIZE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.

Where did I put my Valium???

Oh I do....

Like to be beside the sea side.  No brass bands playing but there were a couple of folk bands in St Michaels.  Another road trip, this time to the ocean with a couple of stops on the way.  Ok so it wasn't really beach weather but it was the last weekend I was allowed on the beach so we had to go and, to be honest, I prefer the 'off season' as I get more of the beach to myself.

We headed to Ocean City which meant a trip across the 4.3 mile long Chesapeake Bay Bridge which was really cool.  We stumbled across a quaint little town called St Michaels which was having a wine festival or something.   I think the Wikipedia description is a little harsh - there weren't that many old people there. [Wikipedia: Currently the town attracts old people that are looking for somewhere more boring than death and an eternity of nothingness to make sweet release seem that much better by comparison]  There were plenty of interesting little shops, although I thought it a bit odd that Flying Fred's gifts for pets didn't allow dogs in!  

Chesapeake Bay is an impossibly beautiful place.  There are hundreds of nooks and inlets with magnificent houses with huge boats tied up at the dock.  Goodness knows how much they cost, certainly more than a lifetime's pocket money that's for sure.  I definitely need to explore the Bay more, although most of the shoreline seems to be privately owned.

Another stop on the way was at Assateague Island National Seashore.  It's an amazing spit of land south of Ocean City with the Atlantic on one side and Chincoteague Bay on the other.  Wild ponies roam the island and you can camp right on the beach.  And best of all dogs are allowed all year round, oh and it was free when we arrived.  By the way, it wasn't as cold as it looks in the photos.

Overdeveloped is the best way to describe Ocean City.  Being the closest ocean development to DC I expected it to be built up but I wasn't prepared for just how built up and what an odd layout.  Most British sea side towns have the beach, the promenade, the main road then the hotels.  OC had beach, boardwalk (dogs not allowed in summer), huge hotels, then road.  The beach was beautiful; it's been a long time since I've had sand under my paws but soft, deep sand is hard work.  The boardwalk was fun and much easier to walk on.  At the far end was a fun fair but we stayed up the quiet end.

Sadly the weather didn't hold out so Sunday we headed back earlier than planned.  We took the coast highway towards Dover which looked great on the map but due to the beach, hotel, road layout they have it was a pretty dull journey.  Still, at least the thunder storms didn't arrive as promised.

The bridges of Frederick county

As you can see from the remnants of snow this road trip happened a while ago.  For such a high-tech country it's nice to see something old, simple and functional.  And no, I didn't pee on them.

Quick update on Stan and Hilda the squatters - hey look if we are sharing the apartment I can't keep calling them bird squatters can I?  No flutter of tiny wings yet but based on the squabbling that goes on all day I'd say Hilda is definitely 'with egg'.

Snake talk

I did a huge poop next to a snake yesterday, not because he was there it was just such a good spot.  My human wouldn't pick it up (the poop, not the snake) so we had to go back later in the day to pick up once the little fella had moved on.  I don't see what she's so afraid of.  They don't bother me and considering the list of things I am frightened of, that means they must be ok.