It was entrapment!!!

Coco here wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving and I sure hope that all my friends get some castoffs from the table. I find that if you hang around the table, a little stuff will fall on the floor from time to time. This is especially true if there has been a lot of drinking. Also, if there are two tables, by all means stick around the kids table. Not only do the kids drop more, they'll feel sorry for you and give you lots of good stuff right off their plates. Have a great day!






Now let me explain this picture and how I was caught in such a position. When the folks go out, I usually get on the couch and relax. Oh, I've been "caught in the act" a few times, but I was awake and all they actually saw was me slithering off the furniture. OK, so last night Mom and Dad went out ans I jumped on the couch. I laid back and soon I was in dreamland. What I failed to consider was that their son, P.T., was still in the house. I guess he came out while I was asleep and took the picture and showed it to Dad. Fortunately, they got a kick out of it and I didn't get yelled at.

I had another close call a week or so ago when they had a friend over. She sat on the couch and ran her hand over the leather and asked Helen where all the dark hair was coming from. It was the same color hair as their chocolate Lab, me! I hid out in the computer room until things cooled off. I can't complain as I seem to be getting away with murder now that we have Sandy. Hold on, Jodie wants to put her two bones worth in.

Hi, all!! This is some information for some of our friends. Sometimes a couple of our four legged friends will fight over a toy or ball. We don't have that problem, even with Sandy in the pack. I think the reason is that Dad buys tennis balls by the bag full, so there are always a lot of spare yellow balls around, so we never have to fight for one. Also, unlike Riggs and Sadie, who are so different in size, the three of us are all about the same height and weight, so when we rough house, we are evenly matched. When we were over the east coast a few weeks ago, we were not taken to Dad's brother's house. We usually go there and there is a very small Maltese that lives there. Coco and I have played with her in the past, but we don't play rough with such a little dog. Since Mom wasn't sure about Sandy, we were all kept from visiting. I felt bad about it because Paul's brother, Rick, is VERY generous with the cookies, if you know what I mean.

I think Mom worried for nothing. I wouldn't hurt another dog no matter how small it might be. I am a VERY GENTLE dog. Besides, I like cookies too and regret any chance not taken. I'm becoming more accustomed to the Tempesta household. Yesterday I learned how to jump up on Dad's bed. I know how to chase and retrieve a ball, bit I still don't want to give the ball back. Mom has been working with Mom and I'm learning some commands. I know "sit". Well, we've got to run. Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends from all the girls and people here.

A note from Jodie

Hello all. I'm taking on the job of communicating tonight by myself because Coco and Sandy are afraid of Dad. I guess Dad has been having an off day today and we were getting ready to recite our blog to him earlier, but when he posted his blog on our site he kind of went into overload. Enough time has passed that I figured he'd help me out now and I guess I'm right.

Coco Sandy and I are having quite the chuckle behind his back as he looks so pathetic when he's all greased up. A big guy like him greased up in so many areas. I'd take a picture but if I did I might have to look for a new home.

Sandy is sure making herself at home as you can see in the following picture. She has discovered the joy of Dad's bed. Fortunately there's room for all three of us, AND Dad!

You may not believe this, but Coco and I play a lot more since Sandy came. She is always ready to play and doesn't want to become a mattress muffin like us two. Consequently, we're in the pool almost every day and then we play fetch two or three times. I noticed that Dad came home with another bag of tennis balls a few days ago. Sandy loves to play with the tennis balls as much as Coco and I.

You may notice that we're changing the picture at the top of the blog. Actually, we're waiting for Dad or Mom to come up with a good character picture of the three of us to use, but they are coming up short. They got this "Great New Camera" but we get the same old pictures. Between the two of them they should be able to catch the three of us doing SOMETHING!!!

I'm going to stop now. I don't want to push my luck with the old.........er I mean Dad.

A big WOOF to all our four legged friends from all of us.

Jodie

A busy time is November

Usually, November is NOT such a busy time, but this year is going to be the exception. I mentioned the rash that I got, thinking that it was a reaction to medicine I was taken, but the doctor who prescribed it didn't think so. He sent me to my dermatologist to determine if it was an allergic reaction, eczema, or related to my lymphoma. I didn't like the talk about being related to my lymphoma, but if it's true, this is a very early sign and according to the internet it "will not have any effect on longevity". The dermatologist didn't want to do a biopsy at this time as he thinks it's just a rash, but he wouldn't tell me what he thought caused it. My treatment is to "slather" my rash with a mixture of steroid cream and moisturizing. Think of covering much of your body with lard and you'll have a good idea of what it's like. Now I know what a greased pig feels like. I'm supposed to see a big change in a short time. Yeah, right!

On a brighter note, my granddaughter, Kristin, and my great granddaughter Kimberly were over Thursday. Helen had made arrangements to take Kristin to our dentist. Seeing Kimmy was just a bonus. Pictures below.

It's amazing how pretty the females in the family are and how homely..........never mind.

My projects for the weekend are to clean out the clothes dryer vent and find the coolant leak in Helen's car. I use a leaf blower to blow out the vent and that works pretty good, normally. Today the blower was having problems and was sparking something fierce. New brushes were in order. Knowing that ACE Hardware stocks motor brushes, I drove down to pick up a pair. Of course they did not have the ones I needed for my Black and Decker leaf blower. The best I could do was a set of Makita brushes that were as close as I could get. A little sanding and soldering and I was ready to go. Nope, now the dryer is in use, so I'll go on to something else.

I jacked up the Lincoln. It's "Helen's" car, a 1996 that looks and drives like new. Mostly garaged so it shows very little wear. There has been a persistent minor coolant leak that's been driving me crazy. Today I pressurized the system to 16 psi and waited to see what I'd find. Oh, boy, I found three small leaks. Two are from the radiator where the PLASTIC end caps clamp onto the ALUMINUM cooling core. Remember when they were copper and brass and could be soldered fairly easily? No such luck. Fortunately there is one waiting for me at Autozone and for what you get I think the price is reasonable. Of course, I still have that third leak and it's coming from the upper rear of the engine under 1000 tubes and wires, so I can't see. From below, I can see the coolant as it runs down the side of the engine and drips on my face.

I shouldn't complain. Working under a car in the snow as I did in Massachusetts is as bad as it gets. Working in a garage with the weather cool and having the power tools is a great change.

Helen is working around the pool and cabana and wanted me to fix the light in the cabana. I took off the globe and I could hear the filament moving in the bulb. Easy fix! I put in a new bulb. Sorry me, that didn't fix the problem. I tried another bulb and a third, all to no avail. In the cabana we have electronic switches that can be operated remotely from a console in the house as well as directly from the switch. I will have to replace the switch,

In a few minutes I'll be on my way to Autozone and Radio Shack to get the items I'll need to complete my jobs for now.

I can rest during the week.

Lucy, I'm home!

Hello, I'm Sandy and that's my picture above. I am now officially part of the Tempesta home and I wanted everyone to know. I used that line from "I LOVE LUCY" as a gimmick to get your attention. Actually, I'm WAY to young to have caught the original show, but I do see it occasionally as a rerun of a rerun.

Now, Jodie tries to write in blue, and Coco writes in chocolate. However, sometimes all the colors just become black when it's posted on the web. I didn't like the bright red and thought that this color is more befitting a lass like me. The picture above was taken a while ago and I have to mention that I am well on my way to getting my girlish figure back. I'm getting a LOT more exercise and I play with Jodie and Coco a lot. The exercise is better for all of us.

I felt that I was becoming part of the family for a while, at least as far as Jodie, Coco, and Helen was concerned but I think Paul was very reluctant to take on another dog. Heck, I came from a house of 60 or more dogs, so three is nothing! The camping trip in the motorhome was the final hurdle. See, the Tempestas are a camping family and spend vacations in the motorhome, so if I couldn't handle travel in the motorhome it would be difficult for me to fit in. Well, traveling is a piece of cake! I can lay on a bed on the floor or look out the windows. The motion of the camper doesn't bother me at all and I heard them say that I travel better than Jodie or Coco.

There was one minor problem in that I never had to do my business while attached to a leash before, so it was impossible for me to go, at first. However, because Helen.....er....Mom was patient with me, I passed that hurdle as well. When I got the news that I was here to stay I was thrilled to the max.

OK, that's enough for now. I wanted to say Hello, but I don't intend to take the blog away from Jodie and Coco.

Woof with you later,

Sandy

The New Dog in the Family

Coco and I want to let you know that we now have a new PERMANENT addition to the pack. Sandy, who has been with us for a couple of months now has been adopted by Dad and Mom and will reside with us forever.

Jodie and I felt that this would be the case for quite a while as she quickly became more like a sister than a guest and though we were ready to let the puppies go, we really wanted Sandy to stay.

And I couldn't be happier with the arrangement. This is the best place I've been in my life and I was afraid that I might have to go back to the life I once knew. Mom was all for it for a long time, but it took a while for Dad to agree. I learned to play catch and come when I'm called. We're working on sitting down and I will try the pool someday......perhaps. Mostly I try to give at least as much affection as I am given.

Well, that's it from Coco, Sandy and me. We will all be making comments on this blog as long as we can get Dad to transcribe our work.

Hello from Palm Bay

Hello all! Barking out to Riggs, Annie, Lady, Max, Tucker, and........and......Dodi. I know there are more, but I can't remember any more names. Coco, Sandy and I came over to Palm Bay on Friday with the folks. We're staying at a campground across the street from water, but the folks don't let us get there.

And the ground bites, Jodie. Don't forget to tell them that.

Coco's correct. The ground has some nasty burrs that stick in our feet and drive us crazy. To be honest, it was a problem at first because the folks didn't know about it. At the first sign of a burr, Dad would look at my foot and take it out. Now he walks us another way so we don't get the burrs.

Hi, I'm Sandy, and I really like the dog park we got to every day. I like living in the moving house. I like my bed in the moving house. I even like the long ride in the moving house last Friday.

Sandy hasn't had to endure the drive to Alaska and back, so she has no idea what a long drive is. The ride to Palm bay was 140 miles or so. The Alaska trip was over 11,000 miles.

That may be true, but I like the ride anyway. How about the dog park? We take a short drive out of town and we get to a really neat park with a free dog park. We can run and run with no rope or leash. We can play with other dogs and sniff a million different smells. It's the greatest place I've ever been.

Yes, but you have led a sheltered life. Jodie and I spent a day with Riggs in a park in Missouri. Now that was a park. it was also a free park, without leashes or ropes, but what it did have was a POND. Do you have any idea how fantastic a pond is to a Lab?

Coco and Sandy, you're both right. How about if we add a few pictures to the blog?

I'll second that!

Me, too.

Here's one reason I like the moving house. I get to share the big bed with Jodie, Coco, and Dad.

One of our pals at the dog park enjoying the water feature. It was better than nothing, but it was not a pond.

Here's Coco strutting along the back fence. It keeps her from getting in the mud that you can't see behind the fence.

Here I'm getting a drink from the water bowl. I could just as easily have taken a drink from the fountain you see on the left.

This is on the way back. I can tell because my tongue is hanging out. I'm doing the job as navigator, showing Dad the way back to the motorhome. I keep explaining to Sandy that it's a motorhome and she still calls it a moving house.

Jodie and Coco on the prowl, and I'll call the thing a motorhome from now on. Jodie can be so picky.

This beauty wandering the range is ME!!!!

Intent on something?

Sandy has found a treasure, perhaps.