Emma's first video on YouTube

Here's more on Emma's Christmas 2007. Music by Andi and Steve Wolfe.

Merry Christmas 2007

Emma was on Santa's "naughty" list most of the year, but he brought her some new toys anyway.




Where are my new toys???? I know they're around here somewhere. I can smell them.










Oh boy oh boy oh boy - my favorite!










But wait, there's more!












Nope, still my favorite.











Well, wait a minute - I need to sample this one to make sure.










Hmmmm - this one's pretty good. I still like the other one better, though.









Hey - a rope toy is better than all that stuff. You're missing out.










Hey, there's room for two to play. Give me one of those ends now.










What's this? A new hedgehog? Mine, mine, mine, mine! Give it to me!












Must have hedgehog!, even if I have to fly to catch it.















Sorry, doggy giraffe - this is my actual favorite. It has four squeakers and you only have one.











Mine! Don't you touch it. It's mine!










Mmmmmmm, hedgehog! Now that all those pesky packages are out of the way, I can hide under the tree with all my goodies.










No! Don't come near my hedgehog! It's mine!











MMMMMMMFMMFph - can't talk while chewing, go away!









Merry Christmas from Emma!



Mmmmmmmm - hedgehog!

Sad Dachshund Song

Emma's recording debut was happier than this. . .

I'm not a devil!

I don't know why they thought this Halloween costume was appropriate. I don't fit this stereotype at all.













Not at all!


The kids did think I was adorable, though. And, I have to admit, I was very cute. I even kept Mom's lap warm while she handed out candy.








Th-b-b-b-b-b-b-b!


Ok, so maybe this costume suits me after all.

Miss me?

I'm sorry I've been away for soooooo long. Now that autumn quarter is over, my "mom" will be posting some new pics soon.

Until then, here's a very clever video from YouTube. It's a commercial for a cell phone company. The farmer ordered two hundred oxen.

Leave me alone, I was sleeping!

"What's going on? I was sound asleep and someone made a bright light go off in my eyes!"

















"Who are you looking at? Can't you tell I was trying to get some beauty sleep?"

















"What? Are you still there? Am I going to have to call the police?"














"Well, since I'm awake now, and Mom is right here in the chair, I might as well get a kiss in."
















"Mom's working on my blog, you know."


















"Geez, I must be boring. I'm putting myself back to sleep. . .


zzzzzzz"

Where'd you learn to drive?????

Poor Emma - we've been so busy this summer that she's not been the center of attention 24/7. We have been going to her favorite park for long walks, though, and she really looks forward to each trip. All I have to do is grab my car keys and she thinks it's time for her walk in the park.

While I'm driving, she sits in Steve's lap and watches all the action on the road. Every so often she spots a squirrel or rabbit and goes into hunt mode, and she sniffs the air coming through the vent trying to get the scent.






"Are we there yet?"

Aisling's new CD is done!

Emma's recording debut is now complete. The Pilgrim's Road CD is being released this weekend at the Dublin Irish Festival in Dublin, Ohio.

We have four tracks available for listening at

http://www.myspace.com/aislingtrad

Emma's track is the Beare Island one, but you'll have to download that for 99¢ - sorry, it was too long a track to put on myspace.

Bees are not for eating!

Oooooops! I thought all the critters in the yard were fair game for eating. Little did I know that bees bite back!










Have you ever seen such a fat snoot?











I hope I remember not to do that again.











It's ok - no worries. I only had a swollen snoot for a day. Mom and Dadard called the vet and she told them to give me 10 mg of Benadryl every eight hours until the swelling went down. It worked like a charm.

Emma in the recording studio

Yesterday was my big day with my Irish traditional music band, Aisling. I'm the official mascot of the band, you know.

Aisling has been recording a new CD project since April and I finally had my turn in the studio. I'm the squeaky toy percussionist, in case you're wondering what instrument I play in the band. I always accompany the band while they're rehearsing at my house.




The recording studio is a long ways from home and I was pretty interested in the new scents coming through the air vents on the car ride up there. I didn't know where my folks were taking me. We were in the car a very long time.

When we got to Lone Raven studio I had to check out all the new smells and sites. There were a lot of drums, cables, chairs, and interesting stuff in the room where I spent the morning with Mom.





When you're recording tracks for the CD you have to wear earphones so you can hear the previous tracks and play along with them and the click track.

Ummmmm, there's only one small problem. The ear phones are made for big, fat heads.













Ok, that's better, but you're really crimping my style. I need to feel the music to play my instrument. I need to be able to dance, too.












Mom brought along some new toys to keep me entertained while Dadard was recording his flute tracks. She had to take my collar off a couple of times as I was so enthusiastic about playing that my tags were making too much noise and Craig Markley, our recording engineer, was worried that the sound would carry over onto the recording.








Yummmmmmmm, stuffed hedgehog. What a treat!









Good idea, Mom, but you know it only takes a few minutes for me to completely destroy one of these toys. You have to start with the eyes, and then you can rip open the head and destuff the toy and find the noise box inside.















Bwaaaaaahahahahahah..........










This is Craig, our recording engineer. He does a lot of magic stuff with his computer software.

Actually, I'm more interested in the bagel box, but I thought I should show some interest in the recording process, too.







We already did the photo shoot for the band CD, but I think I should work on my "look" for the press releases. How about a simple comb-over?











Oooooh - this is a much more sultry look, don't you think?
















Hey, it's finally my turn! I'm an expert at playing squeaky toy percussion.

Give me the toy! I want it!










Mine!











Let go! I want the toy! Squeak, squeak, squeak, whine, whine, whine, bark!












Hey! They recorded it in stereo. . .















I'm not sure what I did that was so special, but Mom seemed pretty happy with the result. You'll have to buy the CD, "The Pilgrim's Road" to hear my recording debut. The CD will be released in early August at the Dublin Irish Festival (Dublin, Ohio).

Botany boot camp (or how to lose weight through walking)

Ok, so I gained a couple of pounds while Mom was away. Two pounds - that's not so much. . . (except when it's a fifth of one's body weight, I suppose it looks pretty obvious that one has become a tub-o-lard. . .).

What's botany bootcamp? It's what Mom calls, "getting back into shape before the next field season." She has to do a lot of hiking and climbing when she's doing her botanical fieldwork and she always trains for it before she goes away from home.




You know what? I LIKE botany boot camp! It means I get to go on lots of long walks and find interesting animal burrows.
















I always try to go down the hole, but this stupid leash is attached and Mom won't let me off the lead. Stupid leash!








On one of my long walks I found some new friends. They were all running around in a field, playing catch and fetch and none of them had leashes on. This one wasn't a dachsie, but my other three new friends were just like me - well, sort of. . .






This one was a smooth-coat who totally ignored me. "Throw the frisbee! Come on! Throw it!"










This was a full-size standard, long hair.












"Really, who's your stylist? How do I get my coat to look so full?"









"Hmmm, maybe you could stand a bath next time you go see your stylist. . ."











"Ok, you're really wearing a mop wig, right?"










This was another smooth coat - a black and tan. Why is it that we always have to sniff each others' ears?








These are cows on the OSU experimental farm. We walked over there to do some birding and we ended up walking about 3 1/2 miles altogether. For some reason the cows thought we were very interesting and they followed us all along the fence line.








They wanted me to come closer, I could tell. Mom wouldn't let me. She was afraid I'd get stepped on.






I wanted to sniff them, but that fence was electrified and Mom kept me out of harms way. I sniffed as hard as I could, though.


We're still going on lots of walks and I'm back to my old self now. I'm now so fit that the squirrels, chipmunks and birds have to watch out in my back yard. The kids had to have a funeral last weekend for "Dead slow squirrel." That probably tells you that I'm a pretty ferocious predator even though I look so sweet and I'm so nice to people.