Finally - walkies!

It's time to get back into shape after all the moping around while Mom was galavanting all over the world.











Look! I'm taking my mom for a walk!

When is Mom coming home?

Mom was gone for three weeks last month on that trip to Nepal. Sigh.

Mom went to Connecticut earlier in the month to help John Whelan celebrate his birthday. Sigh.

Mom went to Albuquerque this weekend to be a demonstrator at the AAW symposium. Sigh.

Life is lonely without my mom.

Mom's been very busy!

What to do, what to do? My mom's been away a lot this past six months and I'm stuck at home wondering when she's going to come back to play with me again.

I miss my mom when she's away, but I always forgive her - after spending about 30 minutes letting her have it right in the kisser.

How can she leave me for weeks at a time? I'm so adorable!




Oh well, there's nothing to do for it except nap, snooze and dream of that next squeaky toy.

You can surf on over to Mom's blog to see the pictures from her trek to the Himalayas. I'm much sweeter than a smelly yak - I don't know why she wanted to go over there.

Emma wants to swim . . .

after ducks, that is. We were out walking after some of the pond ice thawed and Emma spotted some ducks out on the water.














If she hadn't been on a leash, I'm sure she would have been swimming after them. She waded out to where she would have had to start swimming, but I didn't feel like plunging in after her.








"Ok, Mom, but can I go in the mud and try that route???"

Emma loves snow - Part II

More snow is more fun for Emma. . .

Emma loves snow - Part I

Emma's Christmas 2008

Chaos on Christmas morning, but Emma likes it.

Walkies!

Emma has a new winter jacket, and she loves to put it on in cold weather for walks. This morning we went on a three mile walk. Steve took a short video clip on the home stretch.

Thanksgiving 2008 pics

We're a little behind the times, but here are some pics from Thanksgiving 2008. Meghan probably doesn't want to be identified, so concentrate on the cute doxie, please.










"I'm ready for my close-up. . . ."











"There's a lot of tasty food there; may I have some, please????'


















"Pretty please?"

"How can you resist my charms?"

Update on my band!

Emma's band, Aisling, has a new portrait.

L to R: Andi (Mom) and Emma, Steve (Dadderd), Carol, Craig.

Emma participates in every band rehearsal. Woof!

Santa Paws is coming to town.

Mom's been very busy, so here's a video from last Christmas season. Enjoy!

Halloweiner dog

Oh no, here we go again. It's that time of year when Mom makes me dress up in a costume.




"Oh, Emma, it won't be that bad. You'll survive."




I can't believe it! She does this every year!





I'm not happy, but I'll go along with it.





This is what I think about it, though.




Sigh.





I'd rather be chasing bunnies.





"Just wait - you'll get a treat before the evening is over."





What are you doing? There's nothing to see beneath the cape!





Can you believe what a doxie has to suffer through on Halloween?





Beggar's night is almost over. I can smell the doggie treat from here.





This is so, so against my character. I'm always an angel! Why couldn't I have angel wings and a halo costume?





I hope everyone else had a fun Halloween. I'm a Halloweiner dog!

Emma learns to swim - by accident!

We took Emma kayaking on Hoover Reservoir, putting in at the boat launch at Oxbow. Last weekend she was very good about sitting in my lap and just taking in the sights and smells of the lake. This evening she wanted to touch the water and was really restless. I finally stopped paddling to see what she would do. She tried to lean over the side, but wouldn't jump in so I dangled her feet in the water while holding onto the handle of her harness. Then she crawled out onto the bow and walked around a bit until she slipped off. What a splashy surprise. She came up sputtering a bit. It was a good thing she was hooked into me by leash. I was able to reel her back to the kayak and scoop her back into my lap.







Of course, you know what happens when a dog is wet. I got several showers.










Emma ended up going into the lake three times. The first couple of times she seemed a bit scared. The last time she was pretty calm and just swam back to where I could pick her up and put her back in the boat. We know her PFD works, though. That last time she ended up doing a back flip and was completely submerged. She popped right back to the surface like a cork bobbing in the water.

Emma's first kayaking experience!

Look! Mom got a new kayak and she took me out with her to see how I would like it.

I have my very own PFD (personal floatation device), too! Mom hooked a leash to my PFD and attached it to herself so I couldn't get lost if I jumped overboard.








I was really interested in everything! I sat in Mom's lap, but moved from side to side to see everything there was to see. I wanted to catch the birds that were out on the water. We saw ducks, gulls, and cormorants on the water and an osprey, kingfisher, and shorebirds.







Mom told me to sit still and I did, but when I saw the package of Doritos on the water, I just about made it overboard. I got dribbled on from the water dripping off the paddles, but otherwise I stayed dry. What a fun way to spend an evening!

Mom's Solo CD is released!

Mom started working on a solo CD project last February and finished the recording in May. Add a few weeks for processing and printing, and the project is finally done. The CD's have arrived and will make their official debut at the Dublin Irish Festival (DIF) next week. You can hear some of the tracks at Mom's MySpace Page. There are 14 tracks and 76+ minutes of music on this CD.


(Emma's contributions were in chewing up the bodhran tipper prior to recording, plus looking so adorable on the liner notes portrait.)



Also, you can be among the elite pre-DIF CD release recipients by using PayPal:

Musicians: Andi Wolfe, Craig Caldwell, Stuart Brand, Steve Wolfe, Mary Bertke, Sid Omasta, Rick Nelson.

From the liner notes: "I’ve appreciated the music of Turlough O’Carolan (1670-1738) ever since I began to play traditional Irish music. He was a blind harper and composer who lived in Ireland during the Baroque era. His music shows influence from the harper tradition, the dance music of his time, and snatches and phrases from the Baroque music that would have been played in the Great Houses of Ireland where he entertained and gave lessons. O’Carolan’s music translates very nicely to the hammer dulcimer and I very much enjoyed arranging his tunes to go with traditional Irish dance music as well as original, contemporary Celtic music."

Here's what people have been saying about An Obair:

". . . Got the CD today and put it in my computer immediately! It's great! I can't wait to take it home and share it with others."

"The first day I had mine, I played it while I fixed supper. I know it made the food taste better."

"I am so taken with the music on An Obair; it is just lovely. I like it as much as my Handel and Bach. . . Now that I have the music on my computer and Shuffle I will let my husband have the CD for a little while. Congratulations on such an outstanding CD."

"The music is lovely!"

Emma - the centerfold picture

Ok, Mom - it's been too long since you updated my blog. Here's a pose for you - now get back to letting my friends know all about me!

Puzzle me!

Create your own puzzles at PuzzleBee.com!

Snow Dog '08!

This weekend is the big blizzard of 2008! We had 20 inches of snow fall today, and it was wonderful!

I'm a SNOW DOG today!

The tricky part is to get my owners to throw snow at me so I can catch it and be covered up in it from head to toe!





Daddard is outside the fence using the snow blower. He can't hear me whining for snow when that machine is running.










All I can do is watch him blowing snow. I have to wait for him to fetch the shovel.












I love snow!











Yay! The shovel is back and here's my snow!













Caught it!












Ahhhhhh ---- that's better!










Can I have some more snow, please????











More, please?












I love snow!












Really, I do!











I'm a snow dog!

What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon

Ahhhhhh- now this is the life of leisure.

Ok - so, here's the dancing doxie!

Thanks to "Dog Lady and Publisher" for pointing me to this YouTube video!