Lesson Seven - For Phenny

If your peeps leave you outside in a safe backyard while they have people over, so you are out of the way (in this case it was the house cleaner), you can show how you feel by ripping the screen. 

Mischief Monday - Winter

We give the mischief award of the week to the weather.  As we mentioned last week, we had record snow this year.

This week we had some crazy unusual weather (these are Ottawa stats so may be a little off for where we live as we are a little north, but gives you an idea):

• We had the most snow melt in one day in 44 years. We lost 28 cm/11 inches in a day. 
• On the 23rd we had the warmest 23rd on record at almost 12C/54F - this day was the 4th warmest day ever in a February.
• We had a rare February thunderstorm (Lady slept through it, but Hailey was stressed which made Phod stressed). Between 1953-2010 there had only be 3 other February thunderstorms reported. 
• We had the wettest February 25th on record with 16.9 mm/.27inches of rain.

After warm and rain, imagine what things are like when it all froze again yesterday (it was -15C/5F when we went for our walk).  It is a big icy mess.  This week we have rotated between slush and ice.

Our front yard as of yesterday

Our driveway aka accidental skating rink as of yesterday. The ice sure shines under the winter sun! Thank goodness for my icers for my boots

The weather this week looks like a mix of rain and snow and temperatures between 6C/42F and -18C/0F. The joys of being Canadian!

22 days until spring!

Asian Adventure - Part Seven

Today brings us to the end of our trip to Asia. Our cruise ended in Singapore. Unfortunately, about 200 of my pictures of this really cool city were damaged somehow and I haven't taken the time to try and recover them (I was able to recover 100).  

On our last day, we left the cruise ship, took a cab to the airport where we left our bags as our flight was at 1:20 am the following day. Then we took the train back to the city and wandered around. 

I really liked Singapore. It is my best friend's favourite city, and I can see why. I would like to go back. It was clean and easy to get around. My only complaint was it was very, very hot. It was 35C/95F with 100% humidity. A day of walking around at the end of a trip was exhausting.

One of the things I loved about the city was that there was art everywhere. Some of the pictures show this.

This is where we came off the subway from the airport. 

Downtown - near the harbour

Random art

A very British Building

More water front

A reminder that Singapore is 142 km/88 miles from the equator

The bum boat we took the river tour on

Famous Sands Hotel

The Lion Fountain - there is a story about the lion that was seen here

Art I don't understand but similar to a golden piece I saw in Tokyo

I wouldn't suggest copying this piece of art! 

The old restored warehouses. Back in the shipping days, bum boats would bring materials from the big ships into the harbour to these warehouses. Many are restaurants now.

Contrasting the old with the new

We arrived in Singapore the night before we disembarked. Taken from the ship

When I was going through the tour book we brought with us, the one thing I wanted to do, was to go to Raffles Hotel's Long Bar, the home of the original Singapore Sling.

You can still eat peanuts and throw the shells on the floor here! 

A very hot Lady drinking the most expensive drink she has ever had. $30 Canadian or Aussie/$23 US/$22 Euro/$18 British Pound

I hope you all enjoyed our trip to Asia. I enjoyed sharing it with you!

I Need A Bigger Bed

Phod does this all the time, doesn't sleep totally on the bed. Not sure why. I think he would say it is because he needs a bigger bed! 

International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day

We join our fellow pups in celebrating one of the best days of the year, dog biscuit appreciation day.

Phod: I would appreciate that cookie in my mouth now

Lee: I would appreciate if you let go so I didn't have to eat your fingers

Wordless Wednesday - Snowy Faces

Lesson Six - For Phenny

Show your people you deserve only the finest dog dish and destroy any plastic bowl they try to use. If they get mad, remind them it is not healthy for pets to drink out of plastic. 

This was actually the cats which I took, making it extra bad

Mischief Monday - Lady vs. Winter

Well last week the winter won. Lady was a big old cranky mess. She let us visit you all somedays but wasn't good at commenting. Winter, her sore ankle, the end of a cold, sucky work, the Big Guy back in the hospital (he is out again after 5 days) just made her a big old grump. We are hoping these winter blahs are behind her and we can move forward.

Trying to show how much snow is out front

Winter has not been easy here. It has not been as cold as many years, but as of February 16, 2017 - it was the forth snowiest to that date in history - only the winters of 1970/71, 2007/8 and 1886/7 had more snow. As of February 16 the major city near us (Ottawa) had 244 cm of snow. That is 96 inches or 8 feet. That is a crazy amount of snow. Of course it wasn't all on the ground. As of Saturday only about 72 cm/28 inches were on the ground and because the weekend has been well above 0 (like 10 C/50 F - a huge jump from Monday's -20C/-4F) it is melting. Saturday about 11 cm/4 inches disappeared. Now there is a lot of snow and slush.

There was so much snow on the roof, Lady and Man hired someone to shovel it off!

That is the mischief of this week. We are hoping for a better, happier week.

Phoddy digging for chuck in all the snow

Welcome Teddy

Today we are joining our pals welcoming another spoiled cat - Teddy to Blogville.  We never lived with a young cat. Our angel cats were both in their mid/late-teens when we joined the family, so we can't be sure if the advice we would give would be helpful. We suggest Teddy checks out the Lessons for Phenny to see if he gets ideas.

Welcome to Blogville Teddy. We look forward to getting to know you and sharing your adventures. We also look forward to our 87 millionth consecutive greenie from the Tuesday Teaser!

Asian Adventure - Part 6

Answer to a question: Our trip took place on the Norwegian Star. While we had some technical difficulties and missed ports, it was nothing compared to the most recent Star cruise off of Australia. The second engine died and they had to be towed to shore. While we had technical problems, it was our 3rd Norwegian cruise and it won't be our last - in fact we have another one in November!

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We spent New Year's Day in Pattaya Thailand. The Man kept forgetting the name of the place and called it Papaya. We lovingly call it Papaya now:)

Pattaya is a beach resort town. It became popular as a retreat for American soldiers during the Vietnam war. Today, it is known for clubs that cater to all tastes and the Lady Boy shows. As we were there during the day, we didn't see the Lady Boy shows, but the Man was invited into several massage establishments. It is the sort of town that gives Thailand its reputation. 

Post New Year's Eve Streets

A side street that may illustrate some of what Pattaya is known for and some crazy unsafe wiring

Our interest in Pattaya was true relaxation. We spent several hours sitting under an umbrella (you can rent them for about $1 US per day). We were amused by the locals who found it cold but went swimming in jeans. 

While I didn't go swimming, I did take the opportunity to stand in the Gulf of Thailand.

I also played a little in the sand.

We were greatly amused by the sellers on the beach. Of course their was food like meat and ice cream. There were sand toys. There were clothing. There were bobble head dogs, and my very favourite, toilet paper. 

One of the sellers

I have never seen so many para-sailers in my life

After a few hours on the beach, we had lunch and walked around a high end mall before heading back to the ship.

While many things are different in South-East Asia, we see things that are very familiar:

Next week we have a short visit to Singapore (short as I lost most of my pictures from there) as we end our Asian Adventure. 

Must Be Good

Hailey is a food addict. You would think we never fed her the way she acts around food. She needs a slow bowl or eats so fast she throws up. She is always in our way in the kitchen. She counter surfs.

Phoddy on the other hand, rarely enters the kitchen. He is very picky about what he eats. So imagine my surprise last weekend when I was stirring some risotto and looked over and he was standing there (sorry for the poor quality of picture, it was on my phone and I was stirring).

Only something very special would call our boy into the kitchen. On this evening, it was duck breast. His cuteness was rewarded after dinner when he received a little bit of duck.

Lesson Five - For Phenny

                                        

Don't believe the packaging when they say a crate is indestructible. A good dog can ruin it in a couple days. 

Look at how the wire is bend by the door

I learned not to worry so much about the bottom but to work on the frame

Crates are expensive so I found that after 2, crate training was done.