Excuses, excuses. . .

Poor Emma - I've been sooooooooooo busy during spring quarter. First I went off for three weeks to Hawaii, Australia, and then Hawaii again. While I was gone Emma gained two whole pounds because no one took her for walks and she found all sorts of goodies the kids left around the house. I had to put Emma through "botany boot camp" when I came home and now she's back to her regular size. I was busy as soon as I came home, serving on a big grant panel, so I didn't have time to work on Emma's blog and then I started teaching again. For the past month I've been working on the Aisling CD, "The Pilgrim's Road." Emma's glad that I've not been ignoring her, but I've really not had time to update the blog. However, I'll correct that now. Sorry for the time lag. . .

Emma Square

Apparently Emma has had a few too many square meals. As you can see in this photograph from her walk today, she has become a square.

Almost Nap Time

I Can't Believe I Ate the Whole Thing!

Happy Easter!

Princess Emmypoo

Honk!

Alright! Who goosed my weblog?

Me Picture of the Day

While Mom is away, Dadard is supposed to post pictures of me everyday. The top picture is the one Dadard likes, and the bottom picture is the one I like. By the way, does anyone have a tissue?

A twin for the other Emma

I have a twin namesake on the other side of the pond named Emma. She looks a lot like this nice doggie Mom saw in Hawaii on March 21st.

I'm much cuter, of course! (At least to my family, that is...)

Alright, Who Squeeked?

Hey! I'm trying to get some sleep here! So please don't squeek my toys unless you mean business.

It's Morning Nap Time

Here I am sitting next to Dadard. As you can probably tell, we're both working. By the way, there's something about Dadard's computer that I really like...not sure what, but something... Why am I sideways, you may ask? How should I know? I'm a dog, not computer engineer.

The End?

Emma has a Coot Butt!

No blogging! Pay attention to me!

Booooorrrrrriiiiinnnnnggggg!!!!! Mom's blogging again and not playing with me. Sigh.














I can fix that. I'll just help her type by putting my toy on the keyboard.












Now will you play with me? No! Don't take it away - it needs to go on the keyboard.










There. That's just where it needs to be.












That's better. You should play with me instead of updating my blog.

Oi! Here's Emma!

Everyone in the family has been soooooo busy this month that I've been spending most of my time curled up on Richard's couch blanket. It's a really comfy place to take a nap and the color matches my fur well enough that sometimes no one can find me if the lights are turned down low. The snow has melted now and the ground is all muddy, but it's still really cold outside and I've not been on many walks lately. I need my exercise, too, because I'm becoming the "Bahama Mama."




What? Do I get to go with you this time? Really??????? Oh Boy!

Mom and Dadders took me birding today! We didn't go very far or stay out for long, but we did get pretty muddy.




Here's one of the birds seen along the river - a Downy Woodpecker. I'm not sure how they see these little birds, but they sure do find a lot of different ones every time they go out.

I saw a bunch of geese that I wanted to chase, but Mom had me clipped into her carabeener. She hooks my leash to her waist so that she can use her binoculars or camera. I just sit and wait, and sniff everything in reach.





These are the usual birds I see each day. We have several feeding stations around the yard and the birds are pretty messy in getting their seed out of the feeders. I like to eat the leftovers on the ground, but I have to fight off the squirrels for these bits. Maybe that's why I'm becoming the "Bahama Mama." Not enough squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits to chase in the yard.




Hey, this is much better. This is Meghan, who received an acoustic fretless bass for her birthday. She crawled into the packing box, because it was about the same size as her and I took advantage to give her a big sloppy kiss. Yum! Leftovers!

The Scioto River Below the Griggs Reservoir Dam

I went on a short birding expedition along the Scioto River this afternoon after work. Other than a few Mallards, a Belted Kingfisher, and a raptor that was too far away to identify, I didn't find many birds. I did find about 130 Canada Geese on the ice above the dam. The water was much higher than last week due to snow melt. I was hoping to find more of the variety of ducks we saw in this same spot last week.

Squeaky toy inspiration

Mom was surfing the web and found a website of an artist who does installation acoustic art. The video she found was of an installation of squeaky toys being squeaked by a couple of kids. (You have to click on "works" and then "acapella" to see the video.) I went bonkers over the squeaky sounds and had to investigate Mom's computer. I couldn't find any toys in her laptop so I found one of my favorite toys to play with. Wow, what great inspiration for playing with toys.




After I grabbed my toy I went looking for the squeaky sounds. Are there more toys in Mom's camera bag????











Nope - I'll grab my toy, though, and make sure no one's going to take it from me. Do I look ferocious?








Oh, sorry! Didn't mean to scare you.











I'll just squeak this toy by myself. I don't need to find those other ones. I still hear them, though.











I wish someone would play with me. . . .

Play ball!

Mom didn't take me for a walk in the snow today, but she did play catch with me, so she's forgiven.

Emma still loves snow!

We had a huge snowfall yesterday - about 7 inches, plus freezing rain. That means that schools were canceled today as was Mom's work.

WOOOOOOHOOOOO! I GET TO PLAY IN THE SNOW AGAIN!

Richard started it by trying to clear the patio. That's my signal to play "catch the snow," my favorite wintertime game.

Come on, Richard. You can pick up more snow than that at a time. . .









Yes!!! My first shovelful of the morning. I love snow!









Here it comes. Get ready to jump!












Score!












Ok, so I wear more of it than I catch, but I still love snow.










Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy - he's getting another shovel of snow.











Hurry up! The anticipation is killing me.













Here it comes. I'm ready. I have my eye on the snow. Be the snow. . . . ohmmmmm.










YES! I'm one with the snow.














Snow, snow, snow, snow - I love snow!










Where's the snow? I want more snow!
















Yippeee! I have my wish!











I'm so glad school was canceled today so Richard could play throw the snow with me.









Darn! Richard had to go clear the sidewalks. Meghan felt sorry for me whining at the gate for Richard to come back, so now she's playing, "throw the snow" with me.









Hmmmmm, this is a different version of the game. There's not much snow on that shovel.











OK, I'll jump. Where's the snow?











I'm still jumping. Where's the snow??? I want some snow!










It's stuck on the shovel! How am I supposed to catch snow if it doesn't fly off the shovel?












Good girl! You figured it out! I love snow!











May I have some more, please?

You know how much I love snow - please give me some more.


Do you think school will be canceled again tomorrow? I sure hope so - I love snow!