Prettier flowers

Now these are some prettier flowers than yesterday.

And I think I'm looking pretty adorable as well.

(If I do say so myself ;-)

Maybe it's time to mow?

Ground level in my yard.  Things are looking a little shaggy.

Our landlord must not realize that I'm just a little pup.

And these flowers are interfering with my walk-abouts.

Doin' the walk-about

So, I have a new "thing" that I'm doin' lately.

It's called the "walk-about".

When I no longer want to snooze, I get up and just ... start ... walking.

I never leave the yard.  But I just keep going around and around.

I will come over to say "hi" when someone else is in the yard, but after that, back to walking.

What can I say -- sometimes old dogs do learn new tricks ;-)

Self portrait

Lounging in the yard.  

Alpha shows up with a camera and sets the self-timer.

Voila!  A self portrait of moi.

Dunno why the other guy is there ;-)

So here's how yesterday's walk started

Yeah, so Alpha carried me this far, and then thought I would start walking with him.

We're still in our own yard (hee, hee)

Such a silly boy.

Doesn't he know I can play a good mule when I want to?

And if needed, I'll just lay down and see if he plans to drag me along on the walk ;-)

Turns out, I made him carry me all the way over the railroad tracks to our hillside walking trail.

Sometimes I'm such a stinker ;-)

Now that's a sunset

Alpha had to pretty much drag me around on this walk.

I was soundly sleeping on the sofa, and apparently he decided I needed some exercise.

Well, lucky for him it was a beautiful evening.

And lucky for you, he made sure I was in this picture (hee, hee).

Happy Independence Day!

How's this for showing off my independence?

I can still outrun Alpha (by a lot) and I'm 84 dog-years old!  Listen to how winded he sounds.

It's been a couple weeks since I ran like this, and truth-be-told I'm facing more health challenges today ...

But that's pretty impressive if I do say so myself.

An indoor runway too

And I don't confine my running to outdoors -- indoor is just fine and dandy for me too!

In fact, this is my new routine after a bath.  I used to go rollin', rollin', rollin' on a towel.

Now I just take off like a banshee and run back and forth, bouncing off one or more sofas.

Alpha has no idea what is going on with me, and I kinda like it that way (hee, hee).

And see how fast I can run

After walking around the garden (Alpha was not quick enough to capture that on film), I decided to run like a banshee.

Ha, ha, no one can catch me!

A better walkway (and runway)

So the 'rents concluded that I was to blame for a couple of broken sunflowers.

Then they figured out it was really their own fault becuase they had blocked my runway with flower pots.

So they finally got the bright idea to move the pots to the corners and edges of the garden wall.

Now I can finally walk around the wall again without having to jump into the garden.

Well, 'duh!

And everything still looks all pretty with the flowers.

Plus you can have me as an added attraction.

Now that's the way to make a good looking picture.

Resting with Alpha

Or more accurately, resting on Alpha.

SO long as he doesn't move around, he can be pretty comfortable.

And that way Mom can get a good close-up of my young-pup hair, but my old-man eyes.

Never too young

I may be "Forever Young", but you are never too young for a nap.

Remember, little kids have the corner on the napping market.

So I am just exploiting my newfound youth.

In fact, I could be the mascot for this club.

Boy, too bad that company didn't think of that before they went belly up.

Kinda like how I'm resting with Alpha -- get it -- "belly up".

Jeez, I crack myself up.

Royal bat ears

And here are Ye Royal Bat Ears that so perfectly compliment my Noble Nose.

Let's hope I don't catch a big wind -- I may take off like Sally Fields (remember, the Flying Nun?)

How about a closer-up.  That's even better than a close-up.

Ye noble nose

The nose knows you are getting quite a close-up.

Just 'cause you're special.

Head rush

Woah -- what a head rush.

Looks like I'm on the slide just a smidgen.

But that's OK, cause I'm very tired.

So long as I don't pass out literally, I'll be fine.

It's kinda like having my own hammock.

Without all that pesky netting that my paws fall through.

Lngng bnth th lptp n th lthr

See, I'm just to tired to use vowels.

Because I'm lounging beneath the laptop on the leather.

Hey, you try making up these pithy comments ;-)

Join the club

Yep, that's the "Forever Young Club".

Alli got this for Alpha when he wasn't acting his age ;-)

Which is pretty much all the time.

And now it's a collector's item, because the company is no longer in business.

So you might have a hard time joining the club.

But don't worry, we'll let you in.

But it's BYOD -- so Bring Your Own Dog (hee, hee).

I've got flare

OK, so maybe it's just lens flare in the photo.

But I can strut my stuff too.

And apparently I can go stealthy when needed.

Can anyone find moi?

Someone's casting a long shadow

Alpha, how come you look so much taller than me?

I mean, really, really tall!

You look like those circus fellas that wear really long peg-leg thingies.

Hey, its a technical term -- cut me some slack.  

Or better yet, cut me long lengths of slacks, so we can get Alpha some new extra-long pants.

It's getting late

Well, it's a late walk tonight.

And the sun is setting in front of me.

So that means I get the golden glow of golden hour.

A photographer's best time for photos.

And guess what -- Alpha has his camera -- big surprise there!

This time with Mom

This time Mom is coming along on the walk.

She always takes good care of moi.

For example, here I am howling at some agressive dogs that want to keep sniffing my butt.

See how she picks me up to protect me.

Little does she realize it is my howling that is protecting her from those annoying doggies.

I'm a trooper

And so we march on in the heat.  

Yes, I'm a trooper.  In fact I look like a Storm Trooper with my leg out straight.

Well, thank goodness for some shade.

Don't move Alpha.  Or rather, keep moving exactly in line with moi.

I wish I were a duck.

This guy doesn't care how hot it gets.

'Tis rather sunny

Sure glad Alpha brought his sun glasses.

I think they look very "Joe Cool" on me, donchu?

You can see just how bright it is without them.

I have to walk with my eyes closed.

Happy Father's Day!

Hey look, it's a blast from the past.  2003 to be exact.

Boy am I cute.  But I digress.  This is about you, isn't it?

Happy Father's Day Alpha.

From one young pup to another.

Grassy trails

Alpha is taking me on a walk by himself.

It's always a little risky, since Mom isn't there to make sure we don't get into trouble.

But this looks like a pretty cool "trail".

As in mowed path through the field.

Good choice Alpha.  Good boy ;-)

Yikes, who's that?

Woah.  Someone's coming up on me from behind.

And they're looking rather tall.

Oh, hi Mom!

I guess I should have figured it was just you, and your shadow.

I feel safer

Well, even though I have my tick medicine, I feel safer with Mom carrying me.

Not to mention the chauffeur aspect of the whole thing.

And I like the view better from up here too.

Drive on, Mom ;-)

Tick heaven

Look where we are.  

So pretty with all the long grasses.

We decided to take a short cut since it was pretty hot out here today.

So we're marching across an unmowed field.

There is a walking path, but still ...

This has got to be tick heaven.  

Fortunately, I have my tick medicine on so I should be safe.

Dragging up the hill

Must be one of those low energy days.

I'm having a hard time just getting up the first hill on our walk.

Mom is going really slowly so as not to "drag" me up the hill.

But I'm OK.  Once I got going, and if it's not too hot, I'm good.