Playing with big sticks - not a good idea.

As they say, It's all fun and games, until someone looses an eye. Well, for a small dog like Lucy who thinks she's a big dog who likes to chew on large sticks or fallen branches, the phrase should be, It's all fun chewing and fetching, until a big branch swings you in the jaw and knocks out a tooth. Poor thing got a tooth knocked loose late Sunday afternoon. She kept rubbing her paw over her mouth and I figured something was stuck. I looked a few times in her mouth, gently reaching into her mouth to look for a string or piece of bark, but found nothing. A few hours later, Stuart looked again and we saw a small tooth that was very loose. I made a vet appointment to see how we could help her.

Then the strange thing happened. The vet couldn't find anything wrong with Lucy's teeth. Yes, a few of her small teeth are oddly shaped, but there were no signs of damage or problems. I still don't understand what happened, but am thankful that Lucy is alright and pain free.

Hundreds of dogs and thousands of bees....

Last weekend was full of creatures of all sizes. First of all, Stuart and I went to the SPCA of Wake County dog walk in Moore Square in Raleigh...lots of fun.
We saw the biggest dog ever. See photo:



Lucy was just fine around all the other dogs, although too excited to eat the doggie yogurt that I bought for her!

Then, Saturday afternoon, we checked on Stuart's bees (all 20,000 of them). I was a little nervous and agreed to only watch. First, we had to "smoke" the bees with a few puffs of smoke from the mechanical smoking device. This just makes them sleepy and slower. As I stood there a few feet away from the first hive, we saw a large block of honeycomb just fall from one of the frames and he wanted to pick it up to either take out or put on top of the hive for them to dismantle and use on one of the frames. But the only way to do that was to reach into the hive itself. He had to remove one more frame and was already holding one gently resting on it's edge. He replaced the one he was holding and then pulled out the second frame. He needed me to hold the edges. I was afraid, but slowly stepped up and held the edges. The sound of buzzing surrounded us and I think I stop breathing, in a miconcerted effort to seem relaxed around the bees. They just buzzed away, really ignoring us thankfully. I had to look away for a moment or two to try to _not_ think about the thousands of bees within touching distance. I did at least have the protective head gear with net on and long sleeved and pants on. Once we were done with the first beehive, we had to repeat the whole thing at the second one.

After the whole afternoon full of fun and creatures, I was exhausted and found my way to the hammock for an afternoon siesta!

Although we didn't record our bee outing, Stuart recorded the first weekend with his bees. Check it out:

Video-clip of Lucy & Tucker playing

Dog-sitting Tucker meant it was a 2 dog weekend!!!

Last weekend, Stuart and I were "dog-sitting" our friends' dog name Tucker. Lucy was very excited to get to play with her buddy Tucker. The two dogs were almost inseparable all weekend and constantly playing. Whenever there was a quite moment -- they were rare -- both dogs were so tired they'd just pass out, or even cuter, go into their respective crates for naps. Here are a few pics:


Tucker in full play bow and Lucy looking at him:

Lucy's first romp in the snow!!!

It snowed a lot this past weekend in North Carolina and we got to enjoy the snow with Lucy. She was so excited about the snow -- jumping around, licking the snow and just being silly. She knew that the snow was something special. And now in photos, what words could only describe...

Lucy gazing out of the garage at the untouched white landscape:



Lucy loved licking the snow:



Lucy in full play posture in the snow:



Lucy settling into the snowy landscape for a pause:

Lucy's trip to the office - last one at that address

I brought Lucy into the office last Friday. Since our company is moving offices next week, it was the official last time Lucy will be at that office. She was particularly well behaved. In fact, not only did she do her tricks for colleagues that visited, she stayed put near me when I left my office door open the whole afternoon. Perhaps it is just that she's getting a little older and calmer.

Here are some pics.

Lucy in her own office chair, alert:



Lucy snuggled on her blanket:




Lucy hanging out next to my desk, but watching the open door:



I enjoyed being able to take Lucy to the office, even if it was just once in a while. In our upcoming office, most of us have been "cubed", aka. moved to cubes, so I don't think I can bring in Lucy.

Lucy shopping at Phydeaux

Lucy loves going to our local pet boutique, Phydeaux. There, she likes to examine, aka sniff, the latest toys, treats and large bags of dog food.

Exhibit A:



We stocked up on those beef bones she likes to chew on. I've heard that they are healthier than the traditional raw hides and she likes them a lot more too. Yes, they are more expensive, but I give them to her only occasionally as a special treat. It's always an adventure going there!