Happy Birthday Freddy!

Today Fred is five! This birthday really snuck up on me. I haven't gotten him anything yet. Do you think he will notice? I'm just pretending I don't know. I will stop after work and pick him up a little something...:-)

 ZZZZZZZZ

 "Trying to sleep here!"

 

Not bad for phone pictures. The top ones were actually taken in total darkness, I wasn't even sure if he was in the frame.

Walking With Fred

Fred loves to go for a walk. I’m sure you’re probably saying to yourself, “what dog doesn’t?” I know Fred is not unique in his feelings about walks. It is that very fun time he gets to go out and catch up on the neighborhood ‘news”. I read somewhere, (I know I've written about this before, sorry for the repeat) that when a dog goes outside and sniffs around, it is similar to us reading the paper. He learns about the current events in his area, get’s to leave a ‘comment’ on said news, and move on to the next story, if you get my drift.  Actually for Fred I think it’s more like giving the article a quick scan, and deciding that the story was his to begin with and needed to be edited…for content.

Fred and I have not been doing very much walking lately, mostly due to the weather, and the Holidays, and whatever the excuse of the day may be for me. My bad.

 "It's cold and crummy out there. I'll be fine right here."

 He always goes with me when I need to run errands, grocery shop and what not. There are a few stores that will let Fred come in with me. Walgreen's (they love him there), Home Depot, stores like that. 

One day before Christmas, I had to go to the mall, 3 stores, and I decided to bring Fred in. I figured the worse they would do was ask us to leave and there weren't any signs saying we couldn't. Well, no one did, and it was so much fun for Fred (sort of). There actually wasn’t anything for him to read, since there hadn’t been anything written before, so he had no need to do any editing (which was a relief to me).  We went into Spencer’s Gifts, I needed to get a tacky birthday card for a friend and Fred was a huge hit in there. From there we went to Bath and Body Works and no one seemed to care. On our ventures through the Mall, there were many children waiting to see Santa so Fred got some attention from the kids, he enjoyed that very much.  At one point, we needed to go upstairs and I realized the escalator was out of the question, I had too many things to carry and I couldn’t hold the handrail and carry him too. So we found an elevator. I pushed the button and we waited, Fred looking up at me wondering why we were staring at a door for no particular reason, then the doors opened up and Fred’s eyes got very big. We walked in, he hesitated at first, but went along. I hit the button and the doors closed. What happened next was nothing short of hilarious. I am pretty sure Fred thought we were having an earthquake or something, because his legs suddenly splayed out beside him, he got as low to the floor as he possibly could and his eyes bugged out (more than usual). 

Poor guy, luckily it was over quickly. Of course, I was laughing hysterically when the doors opened, and Fred v.e.r.y. carefully emerged from what ever that thing was and we went on our way.  He looked back once, maybe twice. I bought whatever it was that I needed to buy upstairs. 

Naturally, we still needed to get to the lower level to get to the car; I decided to take the stairs. That turned out to be a little easier said than done. Fred has no problem getting up and down the stairs here at home, as a matter of fact, it seems to turn in to a race, every time I have the need to go up or down, he has to win, he has to be first. It’s fun. He has his missteps here and there, but we don’t talk about those.

So, there we were at the top of the stairs in front of Sears. These are cement stairs and they have a light colored strip on the edge of each stair, I appreciate that, and it does make them easier to see. However, not for Fred, I question his depth perception, mostly because he can’t catch, and I don’t think he ever looks directly at me, if fact, when he does look at me I am not sure if he’s actually looking at me, his eyes go in different directions, like a lizzard. I guess it is the nature of the breed. I’ve seen some Boston’s that can catch anything at all, Fred just isn’t one of them. So I think when he saw those stairs, he had no idea what he was looking at, an optical illusion of sorts for him. He, very carefully, took a step forward. It was as if he was sticking a toe in the water to test it, and his foot kept going down until it reached the next step, he did this for about 2 or three, probably four stairs, then he got into the rhythm of the steps, and he trotted down, pretty good, a bit unsure, but he was fine. What an ordeal.

I am surprised he even gets into the car with me sometimes. He never knows what kind of and adventure we may go on. It must be weird to be Fred.

I hope everyone  had a nice couple of holidays. Hopefully going forward, I will blog more than I have lately. I just haven't had much to blog about. Maybe writing this will help get me back on track. Thanks so much for stopping by, it means a lot to me. :-) 

Happy Halloween!

Here are a few photos I took of Fred for the occasion. Some are better than others...

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Halloween! 

Caption This!

Honestly, my creative juices just aren't flowing today, but I know this photo could have many captions. To me, it kind of looks like he needs dentures. Trust me, he doesn't...

Fred Climbs A Rock!

The other day, my room mate and I decided to take a hike. The beauty of living in the Pacific Northwest is there are plenty of places to go and enjoy the outdoors, the only hitch is getting the weather to cooperate.

Beacon Rock (click on the link to learn more about it) is a hike I have been wanting to do for quite some time. I have a terrible fear of heights and quite a few years ago, my daughter and I attempted it, and, well, we got about half way up and I could go no further. There was a lot more people that day and it is very narrow, passing was a challenge and my paralyzing fear crept in, I had to get off the "Rock"...

On this day, I grabbed my courage determined to make it to the top and off we went. It is less than an hours drive to get there and well worth it.

Of course, Fred went with, he is such a great dog to take along.

"C'mon Mom! Put the darn camera down and let's go!"

The trail is pretty much on an incline all the way to the top, it didn't take long for me to start feeling the "burn". I tried to hide it though, my room mate runs in crazy marathon type runs, up mountains, through creeks, mud and all kinds of treacherous crazy conditions, he's in shape, I'm not...but I found my rhythm and marched steadily on. As a matter of fact, I only had to stop once at about the halfway mark to catch my breath, so I feel pretty good about that. 

I let those two go ahead of me, I didn't want to be the one holding them back. To get to the top, the trail literally switches back and forth up the side of the "Rock". It was really a beautiful day and there were plenty of opportunities for photos, but my camera was in the back pack, that was ahead of me and I didn't want to waste energy calling out for the camera...I did manage to get a few though.

Some how I mange to screw up the settings on my camera and this one is a little washed out, I was trying to show how far down it is, and we aren't even half way there yet. The thing that gets my stomach in knots about this trail is that it is narrow, and drops straight down, yikes. I manged to keep going. 

Up and up we trekked. Until we finally reached the top. 

The view was spectacular, in the distance, in the middle of the River is Bonneville Dam it is a fairly impressive dam. It generates a lot of electricity for us around here.

"Um, may I please have some water?"

When you get to the top, there is a very small spot (maybe 10 feet square) that is railed off so you can look all around, it really is breathtaking. There were about 6 or so other folks up there and we had to jockey for positions in order to get  to see the view, but it was fine. I was happy to sit for a bit. My photos don't really do it justice, you will find some better views from the link at the top of this post.

This is proof that I made it to the top. The shoulder is someone who was hogging that spot for quite some time, and I couldn't get a full shot of the message (sorry) but you get the gist of it.

After we drank some water and sat for a bit, we headed back down.

"Well, I've seen enough, let's head down."

Going down was much easier than going up (obviously) and I was able to snap a few more pictures.

It's a very long way down, on the right you can see railroad tracks.

This is a quick video looking down at the trail.

"Hello, where do you hail from" sniff, sniff, sniff...

Fred met a friend, this is the only dog we saw that day. Just a quick hello and down we continued.

 Looking up, this is where we came from...

 

Back and forth, back and forth. Down, down, down we went.

We still have quite a ways to go to get to the bottom.

This is at about the half way mark. I searched for more info on Henry Biddle. He bought the "Rock" for a buck and decided to build a trail to the top. Apparently, he had money to burn. That's about all there is to it. I wanted to know more about who worked on it, how they got the materials up there, and quite frankly the logistics involved in building the trail, but I couldn't locate much info. This sign pretty much sums it up. bummer

This is at the entrance to the trail, we stopped to look at it on our way back.

There is a lot of Volcanic history around here. It's kind of creepy if you think about it too much. Still very interesting though.

After the hike we found a little picnic area, had some snacks and gazed upon the "Rock" we just climbed.

 Beacon Rock

The trail we hiked is on the right side of the rock, just out of view from here.

All in all, it was a very nice day for Fred and me!

 This is Fred's very best begging face, it is almost impossible to resist.  I wish I could say he was gazing lovingly at me, but it's all about the food. Actually, my room mate couldn't take it anymore and Fred did get a cracker, maybe two.

We Are Still Here

"Trying to rest here Mom..."

We've had some ups and downs but we're still kicking! Hopefully soon, I can put thoughts to "paper" and write something. We have had a few adventures. Some planned and some, well, not so much.

I hope everyone is enjoying the lazy days of summer.

I Just Love My Boys!

Right before I took this photo, Fred and Buddy were having a sweet little moment. I think they were discussing how beautiful it was outside. Then I had to go and ruin it by taking this picture. I still think it turned out pretty good. Soon after, they went back to discussing current events and what not.

Shopping with Fred

More often than not, Fred goes to the grocery store or shopping in general for that matter, with me. Unless of course, I plan on shopping for a long time, which is very rare, or if it's really sunny and warm, which is also very rare. Sometimes he even gets to come into the store with me, like at Home Depot, or Petco, stores like that. He gets lot of attention and he loves every minute of it. People get such a kick out of him. I think I may have mentioned this before, but there just aren't very many Boston's in this part of the country. I've actually brought him into Walgreen's and no one seems to mind.  So there is always that moment when we pull into the parking lot when Fred's not sure if he gets to actually go into the store or if he's going to be waiting in the car. Even if I tell him he won't be coming in, he still gives it the old college try to convince me otherwise. On this particular day, my daughter and I were searching far and wide for a parking space at Costco, which if you aren't familiar, it is like a humongous warehouse type store. I think back east they are called Sam's Club, anyway you get the idea, parking is an ordeal. It was a very exciting time for Fred while we were searching for a spot. He wasn't sure if he would be coming with or staying in the car. It was almost too much for him.  Molly was able to get this little peek into Fred's world on video.

Poor guy, he's such a worrier.

He didn't get to go inside this time, and he survived. (barely)

Happy Birthday Freddy!

Fred is 4 years old today!

As cliche' as it sounds, it really seems like it was just yesterday when we first met. 

You are my little ray of sushine! 

Happy Birthday big guy!

Flea Market Style Givaway!

My friend Misha From My Front Porch In the Mountains has a neat give away going on, on her blog. I spoke about her in my last post. She truly has the magic touch when it comes to decorating on a budget.  Tell her Freddy's Mom sent ya. 

Fred's Wrath, Or How To Entertain A Boston On A Budget

Hmmmm, what on earth is Fred doing...

I was perusing one of my many favorite blogs From my front porch in the mountains. (Neat blog by the way, you should visit) In this particular post Misha talks about the never ending task of inspecting and sorting through the myriad of dog toys that she has. She mentioned that she goes to thrift stores to get some of the toys for her furry friends and I thought to myself, "what a great idea". I hate spending incredible amounts of cash on toys that Fred will destroy in mere minutes. So last week I headed out searching for toys for Fred that wouldn't break the bank. It didn't take long until I found the mother lode. I knew I didn't want plush toys that had those bean things in them, I just wanted plain old stuffing. I narrowed my purchase on two.Total cost, $2.00, even I can afford that.

 The first of many "victims"

 This is after Fred has had his way with them for a while...They are actually holding up better than I thought. He made quick work of the eyes though. I don't blame him, I really don't like to be watched by my food either. (why do some people leave the heads on trout when they serve it to you?)

Fred was in dog heaven! He immediately got to work...

"Nrr grr grr nrrr..snort"

"I need to get both of these guys at the same time, they are goin' down!"

 I think he is in a trance. Somehow my socks got in the mix too...

The following week I took another trip to the thrift store. Just one this time. $1.00

Deeno the Dino?
Fred had already got to this one before I could take a picture.

This poor guy didn't have a chance, the velour covering was no match for Fred. Which leads me to that noise your heard earlier...

He's really going to town.

Here is a little clearer video, oh, what I wouldn't give for a decent video camera.

The good thing is Fred won't eat the stuffing, he just enjoys the destruction. Well, at least he doesn't actually try to swallow any. I was cleaning up the yard the other day and I did see some bits of white here and there, which is really a bummer for Fred. When that happens, he usually ends up with some "hangers on", or what I like to call them, "danglers" after he does his "business". This is a problem for Fred, he doesn't know what to do about it and he ends up staring up at me with big wide eyes shivering pathetically, and won't move, seriously, like a statue. At least not until I figure out what the problem is and deal with it...then it's completely my problem.

Any hoo... Back to the fun stuff. It is really amazing how much stuffing can get stuffed into one of these things. It's like it grows after he pulls it out. It just keeps coming and coming endlessly.

He went right for the jugular

" Um, do you mind? I'm kinda busy right now"

 So for the last few weeks, I've been picking up the "entrails" but you know, I really don't mind. It fun to see Fred have so much fun tearing it up. He's in heaven. and it's easy to scoop up and toss in the trash.

 Ahhh, my little carnivore...So precious!

I bought this one at Petco quite a while back. I'm pretty sure it set me back $14.00 bucks. "Guaranteed" indestructible. I am so gullible. This one had three different squeaky thingy's in it. Fred made quick work of those and I really had to watch him when he was tearing it up too. I think I have finally learned my lesson.

The aftermath

Total Carnage

There's still some stuffing left in the feet, well, 3 anyway. Now it's really fun for him to just shake the crap out of it. I mean, he shakes it so hard he actually comes off the ground while shaking and twirling and snarling! I have never seen him do this so vigorously, cracks me up every time. He's really having a blast with his new friends.

The Master!