Birthday greetings from my brothers!

Last year, some of my litter mates reached out on our birthday to say "Hi!'

This year, when we all turned 4, I got e-mails and pictures from a couple of my brothers.

This is my brother, Dudley.

Here is what his people have to say....

Dudley is very happy, healthy and big. Big Dudley, big 'tude. We always remind him that we are in charge. We love him, he makes us laugh all the time.

This is my brother, Archie.

Here is what his people say...

ARCHIE, is the best friend Robyn and I could have. A “City Dog” so there’s not as much free running as we would like. Needs a haircut now , wonderful coat. Archie is 45lbs and all muscle. A great watch dog but loves everyone.

Yup, those are my Bros.

Gosh, good looks and charm really grow on my family tree!

Wyatt

Big Dog Coffee

There is a new coffee shop in town!

Big Dog Coffee

Guess what!

They like big dogs!

They have a biscuit window.

Or, you can get a Nutella Frappacino with coconut milk, like my mom did.

My mom is super happy right now.

Stanzie is thinking of a new flavor for dogs...

'Milkbone Chicken Frappacino with Whip Cream'

Mmmmm, she might be onto something good!

Wyatt

Our littlest neighbors...

Meet our littlest next door neighbors,

the Japanese Chins

Benny and Katie had a family of 5!

2 Vanilla-White Chocolate boys and 3 Vanilla-Dark Chocolate girls.

Yum Yum

We call this little fella, Dale Jr.

He is looking for a forever home.

He likes camping, music, walks on the beach and tie dye!

(Just a fun poke at our animal loving, but dog-less neighbors that live on the same block)

He is pretty darn cute.......

Hee Hee,

Wyatt and Stanzie

Dahlia Dogs

We went to Swan Island Dahlias in Canby, Or.

Dogs can't go into the display gardens, so we just looked in from the road.

....And took lots of pictures.

"My brother is such a ham...."

"Look Stanzie, this one is my favorite!"

Swan Island Dahlias have a catalog too!

Happy Gardening!

Wyatt and Stanzie

The new Berry Queen

With dirt on her nose and stickers in her fur,

We proclaim Constanza Marie......

BERRY QUEEN 2012

  She is always busy, rototiling the berry patch with 4 paws and 1 nose.

She has spent hours trying to teach us all how to pick at the peak of ripeness.

Hail the Berry Queen!

Being a queen is exhausting.

My birthday plans.

It's my 4th Birthday! August 23rd! 

Mom told me I was getting a new roof for my birthday, but she was just pulling my leg.

We are going to the beach to see Cuzin Cate!

So, I'm packing my bags!

Bowl, check

Biscuits, check

Beach towel, check

Toys.....

Mother, we need some more toys. Not enuff in here to last one day.

And what is up with these biscuits?

This box is almost empty!

What? We aren't leaving until next week!

Yes, we will need more toys!

Now that I'm 4, I have to plan for my future.

Wyatt

Going Batty at Wyatt's Place

Home improvements always bring surprises...some good, some bat.

Bats have always been around our hood. 

We love them, they eat lots of bugs. 

And they love us too, we built them a bat house, but they want to live with us.

They keep turning up in our roofing project. We have the perfect bat environment. Lots of organic green space, a warm cozy log house, cozy roof and a pond with insects.

The bats have worked their way between the roof on the outside and the tongue and groove on the inside. During recent construction, one bat found it's way into our living space a few nights ago and sent us all screaming like little school girls!  It didn't help that it was at midnight and there was thunder and lightning on the same night.....scary movie time!

SO,

We are working on bat exclusion with the Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife.

Many species of bats are protected by state law.

We might have Little Brown Myotis or California Myotis? Whatever the species, they are having babies now and would like to have their maternity ward under our roof. Okay, we can deal with that.

One of our renters, did not survive the construction.

He looks scary and menacing, but he was little and wounded. RIP little fella.

See more about bats here.

The Blogville Halloween Party is here!

We have all the decorations in place...Ha

Wyatt's family

Smart phone, dumb parents....

C'mon mom and dad they won't bite...

It's okay, get in here....you need an upgrade!

Can you PLEEZE help my people?

They need to work smarter, not harder!

Wyatt

Fab Friday!

What's this place?

Gotta take care of bizness before I go in there.

It's The Grooming Barn!

A few hours later......

I smell nice and no more weeds in my fur...for now.

Back at the ranch.....

Our banana tree has been fun to watch. The petals fall off the bloom and there's a small bunch of bananas behind each petal.

Go Bananas, our Oregon Tropical Surprise!!

The roof project is progressing. Each day a new surprise...Today, when a piece of plywood was lifted, a BAT flew out. We love bats and encourage them, they eat all the mosquitoes. But, they need to start paying rent if they want to live under our roof! 

Buh Bye, Mr. Bat

Wyatt

Ramblin' Wyatt

It's been the most unusual week.

First we went down to the Willamette River...and we forgot to bring my boat.

But no worries...

We found a big boat that could float our truck to the other side!

Bridges are boring.

I've done some snooping around the shops this week.

Need to revisit the 60's?....The Lounge Lizard on Hawthorne.

The best stop was the Willamette General Store. It has it all: Hardware, Plants, Wine, Cigars, Coffee and my favorite...OUTDOOR BARBECUE!

But, Paws down, the craziest news of the week....Our Banana Tree is Fruiting!

I know, you are thinking that it's like the time that I duct taped some bananas on my tree...but not this time!

(We had to look it up online, because we didn't know what the tree was doing...ha ha)

This is kind of a big deal, because we live in Oregon in a USDA zone 8. People here grow hardy banana trees for the big foliage, but they never have fruit unless they are planted permanently in a greenhouse and even that would be kind of a big deal for our climate. 

When the freezing temperatures come, the banana dies down to the ground, but the roots remain and it pops back to life in the spring. 

We always wrap our stems about 4' up so they don't freeze to the ground. Anywho, it seems to be really happy this year and is giving it's all. :D

We are getting out the recipes for banana smoothies!

Aloha,

Wyatt