FFF and Nature Friday

Today we join Rosy and the Boyz for Nature Friday and Yamini for Final Friday Fiction.

The book we picked for FFF is the Immortalists. According to our kindle
Line 8 - out
Line 12 - shift
Line 16 - annual


We saw movement out the window and went down stairs to see,
What our friend might be doing when outside it was so gusty.
She watched her for a moment as she sniffed all around,
Then the little red fox, marked up the snowy ground.
Quickly her attention did shift and she was on her way,
She stopped to do some sniffing on this winter like day.
It's the annual time of year, when spring begins to bloom,
And our little friend may be on the hunt for a groom.

Note: I did some research and both male and female foxes mark. They can mark up to 70 times per hour when looking for food!

Contest Update 1

Welcome to our first post updating you on how the snow is leaving or not leaving fast enough.

Here is the list of entries we have and their dates. If you are missing or there is an error, let the Lady know ASAP.

April 9 – Phenny and Nelly

April 10 – Just Mags

April 13 – C.L.W. Step (aka Chester)

April 13 – Matilda

April 20 – Rosy, Arty and Jakey

April 21 – Abby

April 23 – Kinley

April 25 - HiC

April 26 - Yamini

April 27 – Millie and Walter

April 28 – Lightning, Timber and Misty

May 4- Molly

May 18 – Lassiter Chase and Benjamin

May 30 – Sandra


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The following pictures were taken in our yard yesterday around noon.

Next Thursday we will give you the weekly update!

Wordless Wednesday - Lee

SCARED! by Phod

Dear pals,

On Friday night, we were minding our own business, catching up on some TV shows when the power disappeared.  I had been sleeping in my spot in the other room, but quickly came to the couch area so squeeze up next to my people. 

picture taken when the lights were out

A few minutes later (maybe 5 but it felt like 87 million), after we all just sat in the dark for a bit hoping it would come back on, it did. Then I needed to sit on the couch with Lady and make sure we were all ok.

I may look a little happy in the last picture, but I am not really. I am scared.

The power went out for a few minutes on Sunday as well. Lady was her office doing some stuff and I pushed myself right up against her door, willing her to open it and let me in. When it came back on, she had to go to the laundry room to check the machines, and I went with her. I curled up under the clothes drying rack. 

I may be a big strong dog, but Lady says I turn into a suck-a-bear when the power goes out. I don't like the house being silent and in this case very dark.

Does anything scare you?

Trying to be brave, Phod

Mischief Monday - Making it Snow Inside

It may be spring, but there is still a lot of snowing happening both outside and inside. Lee has had a little bit of spring fever and is totally into destroying toys.

Here is what she did Friday morning,  while Lady was busy getting dressed to go to work.

Nature Friday - Frequent Visitors

We join Rosy and the Boyz in Nature Friday. These aren't the best pictures as they were snapped on Lady's phone, but we are sharing 2 of our frequent visitors.

Tim - the lone male turkey who visits almost ever day. 

Lady noted there were some confidential work notes on her desk so she got to scribble

And Felicia the Fox - although we have learned this week there is a Felix . . . so this could be either. The dogs really dislike the foxes. They carry on if they see them. In fairness they are only about 8 feet from the window and they saunter by (they are clearly not bothered by the barking dogs).

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Visit Tuesdays post to find out how to enter our when will the snow be gone contest! 

Truck Trouble

Lady wasn't the only thing that got stuck last week, we had adventures with a delivery truck.

Our driveway is a little long. It has a slight curve in it and a slight hill. Last Thursday, a delivery truck (who was bringing us an envelop that was kind of junk mail) when backing out, appeared to not notice the curve and drove right into the snowbank and got himself really, really stuck.

Then he was really, really mad. There were definitely some HBO words said. He directed some of these toward the Man. He made comments about how he should have shovelled more. The Man said nothing and then spent an hour (when he was to be working) trying to help this guy out. Lady would have probably told him off and left him to figure it out alone. To defend our lane - as mentioned, it has a curve you can't drive it straight; where the guy ended up would have been well into the grass if there was no snow and finally, the UPS truck comes frequently (Lady does most of her shopping via Amazon) and that truck has never gotten stuck.

The stuck truck

In the end, a neighbour drove by (there are only 2 who live past us on our road) and he stopped. He then drove home to get a cable so he could tow the stuck truck out.

The whole thing took about an hour. Lady watched it through the front window using her binoculars. We dogs barked a lot, and then we had to bark at the back door because the fox came. We are sure if this truck has to come again, he won't come up our driveway!

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Have you entered our when will the snow be gone contest? Go to Tuesdays post for details!

Wordless Wednesday - Smooooosh!

Welcome Spring - A Contest

Happy last day of winter! Tomorrow brings the spring! After what felt like a typically harsh winter, we are dreaming of this . . . . 

Taken spring of 2018 when Cousin Emma was living with us

To celebrate the arrival of spring, we are going to have a little contest. We played this game before and it was fun. The question we are asking is "when will the last of the snow be gone from our yard?" 

We are defining our yard as the grass parts in front, beside and behind the house. We are not counting anything in the treed parts. 

To enter is free and simple - send us an email to leeandphodATbellDOTnet or you can put it in the comments with your guess for the day. You can pick any day from tomorrow until hopefully before June 1st (but if you want to guess later go for it!). It has to be a day in the remaining calendar days of 2019.  If you pick a date that has already been picked (it will be a first come, first served sort of deal) Lady will let you know and you can pick another date. There will be some sort of prize for the person who is the closest (defined as the closest date before the last of the snow disappears, not after). Lady will figure that out. 

To help you with your guessing, here are pictures of our yard from Saturday . . . . (and it was well below freezing on Sunday)

We will give you weekly updates on the snow progress.

Thanks for playing along with us! 

Mischief Monday - Going For a Wander

First, we will start this post by saying whatever was up with Phod seems to have passed (knock on wood), confirming it was a food issue. We are all happy about this.

Now this weeks story . . . . it is something!

"I refuse to confirm my part in this adventure"

On Saturday, Lee asked to go out. The Man made the choice to just put her out in the yard, without a leash. Our yard is still covered in several feet of snow and it is impossible to walk on for those with much weight (like Phod),  so he assumed she would not be able to go far. However, Hailey was light enough that she didn't sink too much and decided to wander into the bush behind the house.

The Man's return strategy was to stand and yell at her, which never works. I decided I would put on my snowshoes and go after her. I suggested to the yelling Man, he do the same, but we never discussed it. I threw on my snowshoes and I headed out.

Just to help you picture this - I was wearing my spring pj bottoms that are a capris which caused a gap of bare skin between my pants and boots (and it was below freezing), my winter coat, gloves and hat and snowshoes. Because the snow has been freezing and melting and freezing and melting, even in my snowshoes I was sinking. I got down the hill toward the edge of the property and not only stepped out of my right snowshoe, but stepped forward so my right leg was hip deep in snow without a snowshoe, and the left was behind me on the snow.

Dramatic Re-creation . . . . .

I was stuck, and mildly hurt, and I had no idea where the Man was. I called for him, no answer. Then I heard Lee barking so I called for her while trying to figure out how to get my right snowshoe that was behind me, get my right leg out of the hole,  get the snowshoe back on my foot and get my dog.

At the same time, Man who is in the house (he had gone in to turn off the stove and put Phod in), had opened the window, and heard Lee barking and me calling her. He then jumped in the car and headed up to the road (as she was near it) so he could grab her if she made it that far.

Somehow, I managed to get myself and my twisted knee (made worse by the fact I have been having IT band problems) out of the hole, into the snowshoe, and I was limping toward Lee on the path at the bottom of the hill. She has had enough fun and I could see her making her way back toward the house at the top of the hill. So I turned around and started limping home. 

I got to the house and Lee was in the backyard under the feeders eating seed. I limped up to the front door, and call for the Man (I don't know where he is). He doesn't answer. I took off my snowshoes and headed through the house to the backdoor (which is downstairs) to get Lee. She was not there. I head back to the front door and there she was standing waiting impatiently for me to let her in. The Man arrived home a few minutes later. 

My lessons from this - take the 30 seconds needed to grab your phone, put on snow pants and discuss a coordinated strategy for getting the dog back (when historically they have both come back). 

In the end, my girl was safe and my knee will be ok and I get to say I went snowshoeing again! 

Nature Friday - More Tropics

We join our dear friends Rosy and the Boyz for Nature Friday.

While we are days away from the official end of winter, we still feel like we are in the throws of it. The first 2 weeks of March were unseasonably cold for the most part, with morning temperatures below -20C/-4F meaning morning walks were out. While this week has been nice for walking, it started with a  good dumping of snow (somewhere between 10-15 cms or 4 to 6 inches. So because we are over it at this point (we have had snow on the ground for 4 months now), we are sharing a picture Lady took on her trip earlier this year.

Some day spring will come! 

Sharing a Bed with Hailey

As Phod's mischief has gotten all the attention, I thought I would focus on a habit of Lee's I don't love. I don't love where she likes to sleep. We have a king sized bed - there is no reason she couldn't sleep between the Man and I, especially since Phod sleeps on the floor 99% of the time. However, in the winter, when it is cold, she likes to sleep 'at my feet'. This means I have to sleep in weird, uncomfortable positions, because she is a complete lump in the bed you can't move! (My physiotherapist would say to kick her out but the amount of effort that would take and the amount of sleep I would lose is not worth it for me at this time!)

I have created this wonderful drawing to explain them:

Having the leg room back is another thing I look forward to with the warmer weather! 

Do you get to 'share' your bed with a lump?

Wordless Wednesday - Bright

Just Saying

Who would have thought I would be the good dog?

(photo taken while sitting on Lady)

Mischief Monday - The Battle Continues

As posted last week, Phod spent some time in the crate while we sort out his poop issues. After a successful day in the crate Tuesday, I, the Lady worked from home on Wednesday. This meant Phod had to be in the crate on Thursday.

To further prove no good came from a Thursday, he managed to open the crate (cutting his nose in the process) and get out. Then he used the games room as his bathroom. (I am grateful I am not the first one home). The Man was very upset to say the least. To quote him "your dog is going to drive me to drink!"

Friday, the Man arranged to work from home so that Phod would have access to the great outdoors when nature called. 

Now, unfortunately, we can't work from home every day. This week, Lady is home Tuesday and Wednesday, but that is it as she has to see clients in the city and attend a conference. In effort to finally sort this out, as clearly it is not safe to keep him in the crate, we have finished totally transferring him to the new food. We have reduced the amount of food he is getting in the morning (having researched in general it takes 10 hours for a dog to process food) and increased his evening meal a bit. We also hope now that hopefully the very, very cold mornings are behind us and we can get back to walks (which it was too cold to do for 2 weeks) this will help. If we don't see improvement in another week, we will have to consult a V-E-T. 

If anyone has suggestions on how to break the using the floor as a toilet we are all ears. We know he can hold it from 7:30-5 because with the exception of Friday, when we have been home, he hasn't had to poop during this time.  

Nature Friday - Miss Felicia Fox

We join Rosy and the Boyz for Nature Friday.  Facebook friends have seen this picture but it was so exciting to Lady she thought she would share it here as well. Last week during a work at home day. Lady was on a call, when out of the corner of her eye she saw something bounding up the yard. It was Miss Felicia Fox! Always, the professional, Lady actually paused her call to snap a really quick picture of this, very healthy looking fox, using her phone. She only stayed a few minutes and then she was on her way! We pups were sound asleep in other parts of the house and missed it!

Lady hopes Felicia stops by again soon! 

Send a Rescue - By Phod

Dear Blogville Pals,

As you know I am a very good boy. However, as Lady was kind enough to share with the world, I had a bit of a stomach issue and could not hold my poop. I had some accidents in the house. Well last Thursday the new food came and almost immediately the excess pooping stopped. Since my peeps weren't going to know if I was ok,  last Friday Man was able to arrange working from home to make sure I was ok.

On the weekend, the peeps were out for most of Saturday and I was a very good boy. On Monday, they blocked the basement but I  had an accident  upstairs in the dining room. Lady and Man think it has become a habit now, so the most terrible thing happened on Tuesday. I was left in a cage.

I went in fine. But when Man came home he found the following:

I had moved the cage way over and knocked stuff off the shelf.

I also had pulled some of the blankets from on top in (that will teach Man and Lady for not following the KonMari method of tidying up). 

Lee says I am not as good as her, as she has ruined crates in the past.

Yesterday Lady worked from home so there was no torture, but as you are likely reading this, I am going back into the cage for the day. Lady says I have to do it for the rest of the week and we will see about next week! Let's see if Lady can get me down the stairs and into it today.  

Please send help!

your pal, Phod, the best boy ever (Even if I ran after that guy who had the nerve to walk down the road yesterday)

Wordless Wednesday - Princess and The Pea

Not So Tasty Tuesday

Lady was going through her camera roll and came across these pictures from New Years she had not shared. At the SafePet Ottawa gala, Lady had purchased a big basket of the dog treats. In it was puppy champaign, which she saved for New Years. Lady didn't take a picture of the back, but it was a fish blend. 

Let's be honest, it looks a little like pee

When Lady put it down, we were both very unsure of this.

Lee got brave and did drink a little. Lady kept it out for a bit and she went back to it a couple times, but you could tell she didn't love it. As you all know, Lee loves most food, so this was very unexpected! 

Phod, who is in general very picky, would not even try this. Lady put some on food, on her fingers etc. but he would only sniff it. 

Puppy champaign is clearly not a treat we enjoy, but Lady is glad we got to try it.  Do you like champaign?

Mischief Monday - Traitor!

Lady and Man left us for 87 million hours on Saturday and came home smelling like cat! We went through Lady's phone and found not only had she come home smelling bad, she had photos of her snuggling a cat!

Here she is with our cat cousin Panda. You can see Lady is stretched out and Panda is on her lap. 

Then, even worse was a selfie with Panda. There are no recent selfies with us! 

Lady says Panda's nickname is Girl Nin after our angel cat Nin. Panda and Nine are a lot a like. They both love to sit on you and purr and if you don't want them to and keep pushing them off, somehow they will eventually end up on your lap and you won't even know how that happened. When pushed, Lady confessed while she had a little nap on the couch (she was babysitting our human cousin and it was his quiet time), Panda napped on her the whole time. 

She sure has some sucking up to do!

Dr. Seuss Day

Today we join all our pals in Blogville to celebrate Dr. Seuss Day!

Winter, winter, go away,

We have had enough of you today,

We miss the green and we miss the grass,

Snow and cold is a pain in the a$$.

We want to sniff the warm fresh air,

We want to tan our puppy hair,

We want the snow to be done.

So outside is much more fun.

We don't want the snow to freeze our paws,

Or make us swear and hurt our jaws,

We want it warm, and fresh as well,

We are sick of winter if you can't tell!

Winter, winter go away,

We have had enough of you today,

See you later in the year,

Spring will fill our hearts with cheer!

Nature Friday - More Tropics

Will March come in like a lamb or a lion?

As we are still well into winter, we are going to break up our white world with a little colour. This picture was taken on a private island in the Bahamas.