Happy Halloween - Hat Tax 2023

 Hi pals,

Lady is very proud of her creativity this year. We present . . . . .

The Money Pit!

It has been a very expensive year for our people (deck, car) and we have not helped with the whole ear problem and arthritis for Phod and the neurological stuff for Lee. Lady thinks she is very funny with this. You can imagine how we feel . . . At least there were a lot of treats. 

Mischief Monday - Hat Tax - Years Past

 Hi pals,

As most of you know, our Lady makes us pay the hat tax more times than should be allowed every year. She said if we aren't going to contribute financially to the household we are going to pay this tax.

As we get ready for the big reveal tomorrow of the 2023 Halloween hat tax, here is the Halloween hat taxes from every year we have had our blog.  

2010- Angel Gemini and Hailey - Our bugs

2011- Hailey - an only dog - As a clown

2012 - Zaphod, Angels Nin and Bagheera and Hailey

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2021

2022

Stop by tomorrow to see this year's tax. Lady is very proud of it. 

FFF and Nature Friday - The Difference of a Few Days

 It is that very special day of the week when Aunty-Yam's FFF and Rosy and Sunny's Nature Friday coverage.

We are sticking with our theme of autumn as we see that white stuff we are pretending is not a thing is not in the forecast in the coming days.

October 14

October 19

We must admit we were surprised,

how quickly autumn has arrived. 

Our posing tree started green,

rapidly red then yellow were seen.

The biggest change happened in five days, 

soon all the leaves will be gone away,

But we will have these pictures you see,

to remember this autumn with Phod and Lee.

Spooky Times

As we mentioned Monday, last weekend was a big one. It was the second annual haunted walk in the forest behind our house. Last year Lady missed it as she already had tickets to the ballet when it was planned. This year, she was around and spent as much extra time as she could helping prepare for it. She and Man did things like fill body bags and make dummies. On Saturday, while Man was at pickleball (Lady is nursing an injury so is taking a little time off), Lady helped Callie's people in the bush doing some of the last minute things. 

We got to go for a walk through it Saturday during the day, and for some reason, Lady stopped taking pictures about halfway through. Then she took 0 pictures in the evening. We had Aunt C and Maggie and Troy here. They stayed over night. We all had pancakes together and Hailey only barked a little.

Now back to some of the spooky woods.

Fancy entrance on Callie's lawn

Graveyard behind our house

Bodybags - there was a butcher set up near here

Another cemetery - how many bodies are back here?

While some more had fallen, Callie's Man had been out leaf blowing the path

It says danger, should we even go in?

Man why are you leaving our pumpkin out here?

Phod was a bit scared of one of the decorations

He really didn't like this one

The night of, there were between 20-30 kids and some adults who went through. Lady, covered in a camouflage netting she purchased at Amazon (as the idea of gluing leaves to sheets was not her dream), laid down in a gully for an hour, sitting up and yelling as people passed. The Man, had turned the sugar shake into a room with a mirror and he told the story of Bloody Mary. The kids would then go stand in front of the mirror and say Bloody Mary 3 times before she would appear in the mirror.  Fun was had by all, although some of us may have eaten a little too much candy. 

Now we are sure the hat tax is around the corner and Lady has been working extra hard on our very special costume for this year. 

Wordless Wednesday - When Lady Surprises You on the Road

 

Travel Tuesday - North To Alaska - Days 9 and 10 - Sea to Home

Today, we wrap up my trip with my mom to Alaska this summer. 

Before we jump into the last 2 days, let's look at night 8. We had dinner in the main dining room. While dinner was great, they did not have a chocolate dessert I could have (most chocolate has soy, which I cannot eat). The only safe chocolate on the ship, was at the French restaurant, Le Bistro, so I treated myself to this rather pricey indulgence and greatly enjoyed moment. 

With a view a a wonderful sunset. 

After my dessert, I met up with mom and we went to the show (we went to the show most nights) before making the briefest appearance at the glow party. We went for like one song so we could say we went! 

Our last full day on the ship was a sea day as we cruised the inside passage before ending in Vancouver. While maybe a bit windy, it was a beautiful day. 

Because there had been no safe chocolate for me the day before, the food allergy guy saved me 3 pieces of cake for the next day. One I ate for dessert at lunch and 2 I had with dinner.

Before departing, it was one last night at the martini bar, where all the waitstaff knew our names. 

all inclusive beverage package for the win! 

Our last day started early, with a taxi to the Vancouver airport, where we sat for a long time before boarding our direct flight home. Then it was the 40 minute drive in the pouring rain to my parents. I had thought I would stay over, but my body was 4 hours behind the time, so I drove home, arriving home around 12:15 am. I realize when preparing this post there are no pictures, but really, they would not be very exciting - just an annoyed Lady sitting around lol. 

That brings us to the end of this trip.  Thanks for joining us on our non-dog adventures the past number of weeks. It has been fun to share them with you!

Mischief Monday - Too Much Going On - by Lee

 Dear pals,

Lady is sorry for not being around much, life has been something. Nothing really bad, normal life things and Lady has been extra busy. 

The people may be extra busy, but we are still getting a lot of love

Let us catch you up on a few things.

It would be like 2 weeks ago, we hosted a Halloween movie night for Callie's kids and they brought 2 friends. So for the first bit we had 5 kids and then the 2 little ones (aged 6 and 7) wanted to leave so there were 3.

They watched Episode 307 of the Muppet Show with Alice Cooper and then Lady and Man's Halloween go to, Van Helsing. 

There were a lot of treats consumed - 2 huge bowls of popcorn, a bag of chips, a bag of cookies and a container of gummy worms. There was not enough sharing.

I need more treats

Mostly, as you can see by these pictures, it was a lot of guarding on our part. Keeping all those people in line is hard work!

Then the next week, things got really spooky around here . . . come back Thursday to hear more about it. 

Nature Friday - Autumn Week 4

Thanks to our great pals Rosy and Sunny for hosting Nature Friday.

We have been looking at the changes in colours. The following are pictures taken over the past 4 Saturdays.

Week 1

 

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

To compare how the warm October and other weather events of this year have impacted the colours, we compare the above to the same time last year.

2022

Looking toward the lake. 

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

We will see if there are any colours next week to report.

In the mean time, enjoy our favourite neighbour.