Sunday, September 3, 2017

Happy Birthday Sophie!

Our little darling Sophie (the Old English Bull) turned 3 on Thursday. Wow...how can that be? It seems we've only recently had her come into our family. And tomorrow (Labor Day) our little MONSTER Abbey turns 7 months! How can THAT be? We got her at only 2 months, so we've had her 5 months already! (And she's turned our lives upside down for sure!)

I think we believe that every puppy is a monster...but Abbey is breaking the monster-mold. She's insanely stubborn, totally refusing to bow down to Sophie in any way, shape or form (who outweighs her by over 2 to 1). She is ready to go toe to toe with her at the drop of a hat, which happens several times a day/night (yes, we frequently get aroused from our sleep by a 'fight'...somebody encroached on somebody elses turf, or touched a bone that wasn't theirs, or whatever other tiny infringement of the rules as an excuse to go at it). Abbey ALWAYS gets the short end of the stick so to speak, typically ending up on her back with Sophie standing over her ready to seriously chomp down if she doesn't stop fighting. It's almost hilarious except that Abbey never seems to learn NOT do that. She is constantly starting fights. And then the next moment they are best buds again. There are no grudges or anything like that...one moment they're best friends and the next they're all in over whatever the 'next' thing that happened was.

So anyway, here are a few pics from the last few months.

 This pic is from way back in maybe June...Abbey is definitely bigger that this now.


Who says there are no such things as Monsters in the cupboards?
 Abbey LOVES to crawl into things.

She was actually napping in here (the other side of the pantry) 
until I opened the door and took the picture.

 Ol' scarface. The marks on her nose are from her recent fights with Sophie.

 Here she's in the dryer, and you can clearly see another nice scar-to-be right between her eyes.

 Here's Abbey trying (unsuccessfully) to play with PG. When she gets anywhere NEAR PG, she (PG) starts barking and barking, saying "come and get the MONSTER away from me please!"

 Another pantry shot. She gets in there and the door closes and she naps, 
and we don't know where she is until she peeks out.

And finally here's Sophie's birthday party last Thursday evening. Jeannie made the cake from peanut butter and some other doggie friendly stuff, and it has cream cheese frosting. 
They both love it of course. PG not so much.

And so much for August...can you believe it's September/Labor Day Weekend already? WE are currently in the midst of a HEAT WAVE...our annual short-period when the winds shift and we suffer dearly. It's been over 100 the last few days...yesterday was 104 (right here in town, much hotter out of town). I should know...I was on a group road bike ride yesterday morning, and my Garmin showed it hit 118 down on Foxen Canyon Road as we were headed back towards town. It was STUPID HOT! By the time I got back to my house I was so dizzy and had to sit in the shade for a bit before I put my bike away and came inside. Today was only supposed to be 92, but it was hotter than that by about 9am. No idea what it will top out at. Tomorrow (Labor Day) is only SUPPOSED to be in the 80's...yeah right....we can hope! 

Hopefully you aren't suffering in the heat like we are (being as we have no AC in the house)! 

Happy Labor Day and stay cool!

Cheers!


4 comments:

  1. LOVE the pics! Sophie & Abbey are both so darn CUTE! And that top photo kills me - I keep imaging "captions" that express Sophie's mindset- "Look, there to my right, SEE what I have to put up with?" :)

    Did your other doggies fight/make-up as much as Abbey & Sophie when they were young? Hopefully, Abbey will grow out of her aggressive stage. Have you talked to other Bull Terrier owners? I'm guessing it's probably normal for that breed? And my, she has grown! Is she at full size now? Also, does she shed a lot? It LOOKS like she'd be pretty easy for coat maintenance but I know appearances CAN be deceiving.

    And wow, Sophie is 3?! Seems like yesterday when you got her!

    I truly wish you had the Olympic Channel as the Vuelta has been a hoot! After a dominating win in the TT on Tuesday, it looked like Froome had the whole thing wrapped up & at the check-out counter just waiting to pay but THEN came yesterday & Froome STRUGGLED! He lost time! In fact, without so many of his teammates with him he could have lost the entire race. The final mt was STEEP, as in 20-22%! Parts of the road were concrete with these huge scoring marks across them to give vehicles traction! Never seen a stage quite like it. And CONTADOR just won't give up! He attacked AGAIN yesterday & almost won the stage (2nd) and did put time into all the GCers. I swear, I know he's not close to his once dominating self, but I am MORE impressed with how he just keeps going for it, day after day in his final race. Especially after he was in 30th place (!) after the 1st little mt-top finish stage the 1st week & he's been clawing back ever since. He's now in 5th! Saturday's stage is the Angliru (sp?) & he won there in 2008, another soooper steeeeep finish. If he were to win that stage &/or put enough time into #2-#4 (I think 1 min 20 or so) & get himself onto the podium, damn what a way to go out! In your HOME country!

    If there's a way you can watch the stage online Saturday, you should try! Right around 8am-10am YOUR time is when you should click in & you'll see all the fireworks!

    Alrighty, got a run. If you have any relatives in FL or SC (maybe GA too), I'll keep my fingers crossed for them.

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  2. Hey Susie...they are surely something and keep us on our toes. We also REALLY hope Abbey grows out of the stage she's in...but honestly I doubt it...I think it goes w/ the bull terrier breed. But other than being EXTREMELY defensive over whatever it is at the moment, they get along GREAT! (immedietly after the fight they are back to BFF's...it's just that NEITHER will back down). She's at about 26lbs, not sure how much more she will grow..maybe another few lbs...she is only 7 months. I'm still guessing around 30lbs. Also, she doesn't shed at all (or very little). We've always had short hair dogs...and our environment here isn't hot/cold enough to make them shed a ton.

    I've been following the Vuelta on Velo News daily...and WOW did it turn back into a race! Sure wish I was able to watch it, but just can't afford another package upgrade (we're already getting ready to cancel our DTV as it's just TOO expensive). Love that Alberto just goes and goes...and also a fan of Nibbles again...he's really fighting for this. As you say, if Sky didn't have the SUPER TEAM I don't think Froome would be able to hang on...as it is, we will see...the sooper steep climbs seem to be Froomes achilles-heel. His ONLY weak spot. And how about Nieve (Sp)? He was AMAZING in the Tour, and he's doing it AGAIN! And NEXT year he WON'T be w/ Sky! I hope his new team builds around him, giving HIM good helpers, and we will see what HE can do against the best! I think he's got a shot!

    Also watching THE hurricane...my sister-site is at the Cape (Canaveral)...have friends there, and they are battening down the hatches and such, ready for a BIG one! I have a timesahre on Antigua AND on St. Martin...they were both clobbered yesterday, haven't heard much other than HUGE damage to all the islands it's hitting. Waiting for reports/pics to start coming in...Barbuda (close to Antigua) lost all communication...NOT good. I'm guessing a lot of people lost a LOT/Everything in this one. Like an F5 tornado that hangs over your house for an hour (or more) instead of a minute. Can't imagine.

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  3. GREAT NEWS TODAY! Saw on Velo news that Cannondale Drapac has found it's needed sponsor for 2018, so the team won't be folding and all rider contracts will be upheld!! AWESOME!!!!

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  4. Yay for Slipstream! So glad they will survive -- although it sounds like they may be losing some valuable riders. And YAY for Alberto!!! if only there were some chance of gaining 20 sec on Sakarin (yes I've misspelled his name, because that key has stopped working on my laptop!) And, have you noticed, TJ van Garderen is in 10th place -- yes, way back, but still top ten -- and Michael Woods (Cannondale) is in 7th...
    My cousin is in Tampa and as of this afternoon STILL had not evacuated. He texted that he was leaving soon... praying he will find fuel and not be stuck in traffic jams. I don't know WHAT he was thinking. Maybe trying to find ways to keep his medical office equipment safe.

    Hope you had a great birthday ride, Matt!

    Rae

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