Buddy

I'd like for you to meet my new special someone.

This little fawn-colored pompom with legs is Buddy and he is the newest recruit in our household.

He was sold to us as a Maltipoo, the same breed as our sweet girl Millie who we sadly lost after only a week. However the vet seems to think he is half Maltese and half Shitzu. So what does that make him~ a Maltishit?? 

Oh dear! Well, whatever he is, we are smitten with him. 

My Dad wanted to name him Walter, so we would have Walter and Jessie like the two main characters in Breaking Bad, but my Mom vetoed it and we all settled on Buddy.

Jess is 5 months old now and a lot more sensible so she is being very good at tolerating this sassy little guy all up in her personal space. Buddy has a mean case of 'bite worse than his bark'~ he has the girliest little scream/bark but watch out for those piranha teeth- oosh!

I remember Jess was the same at is age, we all loved her best when she was sleepy because that's when you can sneak in a few cuddles before they get all squirmy and want to get to the toys on the floor.

He's proving much easier to train though and homeboy already has a good handle on peeing on the paper.

Does that really justify me making him dance for his supper though??

hee hee!

Buddy says "Happy Friday Loves!"

sunday's child

At 4 months old our Jess is a detergent ball playin', gift wrap helpin', window washer watchin', growlin', teethin', toilet trainin', foot lickin' dose of love.

I've been a forever dog person, long, long before we ever even owned one (I was around 13 when we got our first Westie, Peppy), I've always had an affinity with dogs. 

I think it's because they are capable of displaying and responding to affection and me being a very tactile person, I just adore the love they are capable of giving.

And one look into those deep liquid brown eyes and you can have a whole conversation with your pooch. There's a wealth of understanding in those eyes of theirs, sounds strange but fellow dog owners will agree!

My ultimate breed of choice would be a British bulldog. Named Buddha.

Not that I over-plan or anything ^.^

Yesterday we had some family over to celebrate my Aunt's 80th birthday~ I love this snap of me with my Pops. His belly laugh is one of the best sounds in the world ^.^

I made my speciality dessert; a boozy Bailey's chocolate cheesecake for the event, a sinful indulgence which is made only on special occasions.

  My Mom and I definitely do not orchestrate special occasions just so we can make the cheesecake. Oh no.

I was over the moon when Artful Blogging magazine asked if they could use my blog header in their 'Banners We Love' feature in their Summer issue.

Today I'm reading it curled up with leftover cheesecake and good strong chai tea.

I've been asked a few times about who designed my header, while I came up with the initial design I was helped by the lovely Savannah at Oh So Pretty to tweak it and bring it into fruition. I highly recommend her for anyone looking to design their own blog template~ she was wonderful to work with >.<

a blueberry pancake kind of day

I woke up today with the notion that this was a blueberry pancakes for breakfast kind of a day.

When your notions speak to you in the morning I find it's best you mind them because then the day might finish and no blueberry pancake batter will be chilling in the fridge ready for round two tomorrow!

I'm a sucker for little blueberries, they're like sweet little reminders that Summer is waiting just around the corner.

This little dog of ours is both sweet and irascible depending on which way the wind is blowing.

Here she is giving my feet a good wash...

this is after she pulled both my socks off  and murdered them with her bare teeth ^.^

She's a character, our little fat bellied baby, my favourite is when she's all sleepy from play and she conks out on her back like a human toddler...my heart melts!

Tonight I'm packing my bags for a short trip North to my great grandmother's cottage in Donegal.

I love escaping to this part of Ireland, there's so much of the country's original, untouched landscapes, glens and white sandy beaches to explore.

Except if it rains. Which it probably will. If so an open fire, books and board games are all to be seen in my tea leaves!!

See you in a few days!

⋙⋙⋙currently⋙⋙⋙

⋙⋙⋙ reading⋙⋙⋙

I picked up my Dad's copy of Willie Nelson's 'Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die" and have started  thumbing through it... my old man managed to find a copy signed and doodled by the bandanna man himself which is pretty cool!

The book is full of hilarious anecdotes... my favorite so far is on the art of farting:

"My grandmother slapped a fart out of me one time that whistled like a freight train. It scared both of us really bad.

 She never hit me again."

⋙⋙⋙ planning⋙⋙⋙

Next week I'll be heading back to Gweedore in Donegal for a few days of beach combing~ I plan on filling the car trunk with rocks, shells and driftwood which I can bring home and paint.

⋙⋙⋙ watching⋙⋙⋙

Jess curled up by my feet, asleep.

⋙⋙⋙ eating⋙⋙⋙

Tomato and basil soup with pesto and sun dried tomato wholemeal bread rolls.

I've also just discovered Sage tea~ it has anxiolytic properties which are of great benefit to me as I'm weaning of anti-anxiety medication right now.

⋙⋙⋙ writing⋙⋙⋙

I love to write my blog posts in the twilight of the day...when the sun has kicked it's boots off 'till the morrow and I can hear the birds shooting the breeze through the open window, ringing and chiming from the trees like little bells.

⋙⋙⋙ listening⋙⋙⋙

Lots of Patti Smith, Willie and Tom Waits, also I discovered Camel Heads through the penabranca tumblr which describes it perfectly and thusly:

"Influenced by Dead Man and North African desert blues, these long-form kraut jams will leave your brains baking on a rock in the Global South, drenched in cosmic sweat. Like waves crashing into the shoreline, the ebb and flow of Anoluz will free your mind, bury your toes in pink sand, and orient your lawn chair towards the sunset." 

Listening to this I kind of feel like I've walked into a bar in one of those Western films and I got a tinglin' in my trigger finger.

⋙⋙⋙ learning⋙⋙⋙

I can always learn a little something from John.

puppy breath

{Jess}

Our country house is officially a home.

Two bonnie baby puppies are currently tug tug tugging at our heart-strings, chewing our bare toes and giving us puppy-tongue kisses with a side of puppy breath right in the smacker!

{Millie}

I got a bad case of puppy love!!

First we collected Jess, our baby West Highland Terrier, and yesterday little Millie was introduced to the house of fun. Millie is a two month old cross between a Maltese and a Poodle, a breed known as a 'Maltipoo'.

Both are ridiculously cute and soaking up the newness of our home and family .

Little Jessie has had full run of the house to herself for three days so her nose is still fairly put out of joint at her little fluffy rival, but slowly, slowly the growls and nips are giving way to waggy tails and bottom sniffing (the doggy equivalent of "hello"~~, sorry, I don't make up the doggy rules!!)

It will take a few weeks to get them properly acquainted, Jess is definitely behaving like the more dominant dog because Millie is so timid and submissive, but until then we are making sure to give both lots and lots of love and play.

These are the best shots I could get of them as they are on the move so much that it's hard to capture them in a still position unless they are very sleepy or asleep~~

 but I will keep posting more puppy pics (try and stop me!) ^.^

I can't wait til they bond and become sisters, to each other and to little ol' only child me!

Three cheers for smelly puppy breath!