Floral Friday ~ May 18, 2018

It’s Friday, one of our favorite days. The weather should be a tad cooler (and if we’re real lucky, there will be a spot of rain in the forecast) after temps have been hovering in the 80’s this week. The garden is really coming to life. Next week we’ll be at the hospital visiting patients and hopefully making folks smile. Till then we plan to stop and smell the flowers as the garden continues to burst into color and bloom. Have a wonderful weekend-have you got any special plans?

Take time to stop and smell the flowers.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Fab Friday ~ May 11, 2018

Yippee…it’s Friday! Seems like we arrived here sooner than some weeks. Anyway, I’m super stoked, how about you?  We hope you find loads of fun things to do this weekend. Sending extra special Mother’s Day wishes to all moms, whether your kid has two or 4 legs or wings. And best birthday wishes to my wonderful sister-in-law. I hope your birthday is as special as you. Love ya!

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Floral Friday


Mom asked if I wanted to do today’s post and I agreed. Well sort of. Elsa here. It’s been raining the past couple of days and the temps have been slightly more than crisp but I’ve been super bored since my pansy brother, Sam doesn’t like walking in the rain much. I, on the other hand, live to go on walks. I tried to remind him that squirrels don’t take time off just because of a little rain but he didn’t care. Can you believe it? Not care about squirrels??? They are in full force 24/7/365 so I must patrol the ‘hood for safety reasons. The beginning of the week heralded such lovely spring weather and mom made me sit-stay walked around our garden taking photos of various plants that were in bloom. I said, sure I’ll do this post…just as soon as I catch 40 winks…okay?

Here’s what’s shakin’ around the Ranch. One of mom’s all-time favorite flowers are Bleeding Hearts. I had to sniff them to see why they swing in the breeze. I thought mom was gonna have a cow. Sheesh, mom, I just wanted to see whether or not they squeaked when squeezed. Those puffy little pillows were fascinating.

Bleeding Hearts – a sure sign spring has arrived.

Last autumn, mom added a bunch of bulbs to the yard, mostly daffodils. In the past she hasn’t had much luck with tulips and was quite thrilled when she came back from vacation and they were blooming. The lupines are ready to bloom and it looks like we’ll have some nice bouquets of peonies. Mom said the bearded irises probably won’t be very good this year since they haven’t been thinned. She said anyone who wants some is free to put dibs on the extra ones.

We have tulips! And I sit and stay nicely these days.

While she’d love for our spring garden to look like this, it probably won’t ever happen since we don’t have a Volkswagen. {BOL} But how cool would an old yellow Bug be full of beautiful flowers?

Not related, but definitely in the pawsome news category, mom said I could share some great  news. Castle Rock, a town in Douglas County, about 35 miles south of Denver finally got its act together and rescinded the longstanding ban on Pit Bulls after 26 years. It had been one of the longest breed specific bans along the Front Range. Some 60 dogs had been expelled from the city over the past decade. This was just too wonderful to NOT to share. Mom has been  giddy and hopes there’s momentum building to rescind other backwater, outdated bans in Denver, Aurora and other cities within the state. We’ll do whatever we can to change opinions of narrow-minded officials and encourage others to do the same. Breed specific bans are shortsighted and unfair to a majority of responsible dog owners. We hope other cities will follow Castle Rock’s lead.

Now that you’ve had nice flowers and great news, we hope you have a super-duper weekend. I’ll be practicing more sit-stay commands. Are you doing anything exciting?

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Finally Friday

Is it just me or has this been an extra long week? Winter made a brief appearance this week but it’s little cousin, spring arrived again. What a joy to see tulips, daffodils, grape hyacinths and flowering trees shouting out…”I’m baaacckk.”! Such beautiful colors and a welcomed departure from dreary winter brown. Got any special plans for the weekend?

Live, love, bark! 🐾

Non-Stereotypical Pitstops

Before mom abandoned us went on vacation, one of our daily walkabouts included a decidedly non-stereotypical stop for girl dogs. Hi, it’s me, Sam. My sister always makes a pit stop in pretty much the same spot every day and nowhere near this spot. But on that day, look where she chose to ‘leave a message.’ In front of a hydrant! My favorite bulletin board. Hey Ninja…not. cool. one. bit. That’s my spot. Now that you’ve erased watered down my message, I’m going to have to find a new place. Can you say cooties?! Don’cha know…none of the boy dogs will bother replying to me over a sister’s text? Ugh…how embarrassing. How in the world will I ever be able to show my snout in the neighborhood now?

On the plus side, we managed to survive the past week without our mom. She is supposed to come home tomorrow afternoon. Yay…color us both happy-go-lucky pups. Here’s hoping you have a weekend full of tail wags and face licks.

Umm, a little privacy, please.

Live, love, bark! 🐾

And she’s off…

Hi guys, it’s Elsa. I’ve been a busy girl this morning getting under foot while mom is running around putting things in a box with a handle and wheels. She keeps muttering to her self…”don’t forget to bring…” I’m not sure what’s going on but I think it’s something epic. My brother is rolling his eyes at me just as he steps in front of mom. He says we need to keep doing this because I won’t like what this means. I’m not sure if he’s on the level with me or trying to psyche me out. Brothers are kind of like that, always trying to get in your head and freak you out about something. I heard him say mom was leaving us but I don’t know what that means. I mean we are the bestest poodles in the world…how (but more importantly, WHY) is she leaving us?

Anyway, it remains to be seen what this all means but hopefully it’s nothing serious or permanent. Have a great weekend. We’ll catch you on the flip side!

Lie, love, bark 🐾

It’s Here!!!

Elsa is ready to paw-ty before she gets groomed. Here’s wishing you loads of good times this weekend.

Live, love, bark 🐾

Fab Friday ~ March 16, 2018

It’s been a busy, busy week what with us at the hospital three times. That’s why we’re ordering up an extra large weekend of goodness at the drive-thru. Got any plans?

Live, love, bark❣

Finally…It’s Friday

After working at the hospital this week, we managed to reach Friday mostly unscathed. It’s another cold morning around the Ranch and we’re all dog-tired after some pretty intense experiences at West Pines, hospice and the hospital. This level of tiredness requires coffee for me to be a functioning upright. This level of tiredness usually produces something similar to this.

Looks like a lot of you may be receive some moisture this weekend so we hope you are able to stay safe and dry as much as possible. Whatever Mother Nature throws at you, hope you make the most of it with your favorite beverage of choice in hand accompanied with your best friend, be they two or four-legged. Happy weekend, campers. Any special plans for the last weekend of February?

Live, love, bark❣

Happy New Year 狗

Happy New Year! Today marks the start of the Chinese Year of the Dog. Here at the Ranch, we celebrate dogs all year long but starting today it’ll have extra meaning. 

Even the Post Office got into celebrating which is quite remarkable considering how many dogs tend to be…ahem…less than hospitable with mail deliveries [yeah, I’m talking ’bout you, Sam!]. Look at the beautiful new stamp they created in honor of {wo}man’s best fur-iend.

We know that dogs are loyal, friendly, and kind but did you know that those born under the sign of the dog are said to have some of those same traits? Honest, easygoing, and helpful to others, uprights born under the sign of the dog are less likely to seek money and power and more likely to try to make the world a better place.

A dog’s lucky numbers are 3, 4, and 9, and unlucky numbers are 1, 6, and 7, so keep those in mind when you buy Lotto tickets. Lucky colors are red, green, and purple while blue, white, and gold are unlucky. Those born on the 1st, 6th, 7th, 17th, 21st, 24th, 26th, 28th or the 30th day of the month in the Chinese lunar calendar are said to be the luckiest. Though I’m not very well versed in Chinese horoscopes, the three links here provide a lot of info for those interested and provide the basis of material for this post.

So what’s in store for 2018?

2018 is said to be an unlucky year for people born under the sign of the dog. Thank goodness I’m glad to have been here a while. I have enough bad luck without tempting  Chinese astrology. It appears that years that share your birth sign are thought to bring bad luck and recommendations are for dogs to stay calm and try to relax. How do you get a pogo stick to relax for a whole year? Just wondering out loud.

New industrial projects or energy developments for 2018 are predicted to be successful, while endeavors based on greed and individual drive will likely be rejected. Familial relationships will be of significance this year. This could be seen as a year of hope that’s filled with the kind of dialogue that helps cultures achieve solidarity and reject indifference. We can only hope that rings true in 2018.

Got any thoughts on the Year of the Dog? Do you follow horoscopes in general? Not to sound creepy, but what’s your year/sign? For the record, I’m an Ox, something my family has suggested over the years.

On a separate note, our friend Friday is here which means the weekend is just waiting for us. Any plans for ringing in the Chinese New Year?

Live, love, bark❣