Buddy 75% Buddy 25% Buddy 2 1/2%

Usually Buddy is 75% wonderful. Does no wrong and he's the best dog in the world. Then there are the days that he is 25% not so wonderful. This is when he chews, barks and isn't polite to man or dog. And then there was yesterday. He reached an all time low. Two and one half percent. That's all I'll give him. He was out of control. At 11 am I was ready to leave for church and took him outside to potty. He did. When he came back in the house he knew I was leaving and for 25 minutes he ran from me. I tried all my favorite techniques to get him to come. I was sweating, out of breath, and miserable. After 20 minutes I started crying and decided I was either not going to church or I was going to be very late. I had one other option--just leave him in the house to wander and chew and destroy who knows what. Since he is always crated when we are gone I didn't think that would be wise. I wouldn't put it past him to chew some electrical chords and get fried. After about 5 minutes of me crying and being totally frustrated, Buddy heard something out front--ran to the couch--jumped up to his favorite place--started barking and I think forgot I was trying to get him. He let me pick him up--I did not give him a treat for this behavior--put him in the crate and left for church. I was 15 minutes late but finally made it and sat by Dewey. He thought the whole thing was hysterical. I thought there would be an ad in the newspaper this morning saying "Cute Maltese FREE TO WHOEVER WANTS HIM". When I got home I didn't talk to him for awhile. He is Buddy 100 this morning. By the way, I never had that much grief getting 5 children ready for church. After yesterday I think back and 5 kids was a piece of cake.

One other little incident yesterday. Dewey went home teaching and one of the families he visits has a brand new Shiatsu. It's a little bitty thing that sat on Dewey's lap and licked his hand for 30 minutes. When Dewey walked in the door Buddy was right there to get his loves from Dewey. Then he smelled his hand--he growled and backed away. Dewey washed his hands, went to Buddy and he backed away from him again. So he washed his hands again, put lotion on them, and still Buddy wanted no part of him. A little jealousy??????????????Interesting.

Buddy's New "DO"

It's Tuesday and Buddy's day for Pets R Precious. It was also a new do over day for him. We took a before and after picture.

This is Buddy before:

This is Buddy after:

When I went to pick him up I had to ask--to make sure it was Buddy. He is so cute and looks much younger now. The ladies who take care of him said that he wasn't sure if this was okay with mama. He was worried that this isn't want I wanted but they assured him that it was okay. I guess he kept looking and nudging at them like they weren't suppose to be doing what they were doing. I was so excited about how good he looked that we had to drive right out to base to show daddy. Daddy approved. He will feel cooler when he gets to run around with Ella in Utah.

Buddy and the "Ball"

Buddy's favorite toy is his yellow ball. It's really a cat toy that belongs to Kitty, but Buddy has made it his.

It's about the size of a golfball, but it has something inside so it rattles. Sometimes late at night he'll start barking for seemingly no reason. When I finally pay attention to him, I'll find that the ball has gone under the couch or the ottoman, and he wants it back!

Elvis is still in the house.

Today marks the 31st anniversary of Elvis' death. To commemorate Buddy had his pictures taken with "Elvis". He was a very good dog and took some pretty good pictures. He was a little scared while waiting in line because we were standing between a Great Dane in front of us and three big dogs behind us (I'm really not sure what they were but they were big). The Dane and one of the three behind us decided they didn't like each other and the barking and growling started and the trying to get to each other. It happened a couple of times and poor little Buddy didn't know what to make of it so I held him. It's not like Buddy to want to be held when there are dogs in the area but he liked it today. The store gave out a huge bag of samples so Ella's going to get a lot of treats. I think it would be great if they planned Halloween and Thanksgiving pictures too. I know Santa is coming the second week in December. Well, that was Buddy's picture day. He was very happy because he knew we were down by the park so, of course, Dewey, Buddy and I took a stroll through the farmers market. We bought a delicious watermelon and some peaches. Hooray for summertime fruit.

Blueberry Jam

I just finished making my very first batch of blueberry freezer jam. If it comes out as good as my strawberry jam I will be happy. I picked the blueberries myself so the whole experience has been a lot of fun for me. Maybe next year I'll get enough blueberries off our own bushes to make some. That would be great. It's hot here. I guess we do need some hot weather so we can say we had a real summer.

Blogg Tagged

We've been blog tagged by our darling daughter. It's fun to be included. The only problem is we have no one to tag except our daughter and Brian so Brian you are tagged if you read this. Spencer, Paul , Jeffrey, Tommy, Kandy and Ann are tagged too but they only like to read and not comment---hey join the fun you are tagged. Just take a picture of the following at your house and send them on. We challenge you! You can't clean up just take the pictures as soon as you get this.

1. Our fridge--my least favorite thing to clean in the entire house but my most favorite thing to explore.

2. Our closet--Dewey gets more space than me.

3. Self portrait----a raving beauty.

4. Favorite room--if the bed is not made as soon as I get up I jump back in as soon as I can.

5. Kitchen sink--pretty clean for a change.

6. Laundry room--I love doing the laundry--really--that is the truth.

7 .Toilet--a great place to spend some quite time.

8. What the kids are doing--aren't they pretty?

9. Dream vacation--Any cruise any place.

10. Favorite shoes(Buddy's favorites too)

Blueberry Time

Yesterday I finally made it to the blueberry patch better known as Linbo Blueberry Farm, twice. I went yesterday morning with my activity day girls from church and we picked and then came back and made blueberry muffins--delicious. Later in the afternoon--actually 5:30 I went back myself and picked some more. Yum Yum Yum----blueberries. I just had a bowl of cereal and blueberries. I feel so healthy now--all those antioxidants in my system. I wish I could have taken Buddy. He loves blueberries and he would have been a good eater of the ones that I dropped, but NO DOGS ALLOWED there. He can pick and eat the ones we have on our little bushes in the back yard. He's very good at that. I'll probably go back again with Paul and/ or Dewey or both. It is really nice and peaceful there. The owner plays classical music over loud speakers and it is just relaxing for me. Little Spencer and Little Connor love going there when they are here during blueberry season but this year they came in June--too early for those berries. I can hardly wait to take Hayden. She'll have a ball. Carl and Devin--make sure she loves blueberries by then. we had a couple of warm days in the upper 80's but it is suppose to be back into the 70's today. I love Washington.

Is it Fall yet?

It's 7:30am August 1st and it's raining and 56 degrees. Doesn't that sound like Fall to you? I feel as if I need to get my fall decorations out and go buy some pumpkins. This is weird but I'm not complaining. I LOVE FALL. It is my favorite. With this weather I don't think we are going to get many tomatoes this year. Dewey wore clothes to work this morning that he only starts wearing in the fall. I guess I should start a fireplace and make a cup of hot chocolate. I know that probably doesn't sound appealing to my California and Utah children but I am a little bit chilly. This could be a good day to go out and buy a fall/winter outfit. Buddy doesn't care what time of the year it is--he just goes outside and has fun no matter what and does his thing. Have a happy day.