Berner meetup

It's been really yucky and rainy for the last few days, but luckily it stopped when we went to another meetup with some Berners today. As we pulled up in the Rover, I saw lots of other Berners, and I started crying, "let me out!". After we finally parked, we headed down to meet all the other doggies.

There was so many Berners - I didn't know who to greet first. A lot of them would come running up and sniff, and some were constantly chasing others around in circles. I would stick close to Richie and Christine, as I found that with all of the commotion, I sometimes lost track of where they were.


As you can see, it was kinda muddy at the park, so I decided to go for a swim. Richie wasn't too happy about that, as I don't normally swim in the winter, but no biggie. After we had played for a bit, we all got in a line for a photo:

Anyhow, it was fun meeting up with all those other Berners!

Mischa

Happy Birthday to me!

Apparently, today is my birthday... not even really sure what that means. But Richie keeps telling me that I am fully 8 years old now; which is something of a milestone for us Berners. Toba was still over visiting with us, so Richie made a special doggie birthday cake to celebrate.

He had made me special doggie cookies once before, but they made my tummy upset for some reason. This one was really tasty, and it seemed much more like a muffin (which I have had before). It had peanut butter and banana in it (I can tell, trust me), which I love.

It was so yummy that Richie couldn't even get a picture fast enough after laying down the plates in front of me and Toba. I like this birthday cake idea.

Happy birthday to all my brothers and sisters!

Mischa

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hi everyone,

Sorry, as I know it has been a long time since the last post. It's been busy here in Cambie, as before you know it, Christmas was here. We actually had Toba here for a brief visit before Christmas sometime, and then over the entire holiday break (whatever that means).

We have been having a great time, as this is the time of the year where both Christine and Richie spend the entire day with us. One evening they had a big party with lots of humans - something to do with a big birthday Richie was having, but I don't get it. All I know is that there was lots of great smelling food around, and plenty of unsuspecting visitors to mooch off of. Richie's parents also came down to stay with us too, so for a pawful of days there, it was a pretty busy house.

On what they call Christmas Eve, we all got into the car and drove to Lupin and Humphrey's place. When we got there, Lupin wasn't around - they had just sent her "over the rainbow" recently. Apparently Humphrey was there when they sent her off, and he's been really sad since then... until we showed up! He followed me everywhere that evening, and everytime Toba would come up, he'd get upset with her. He finally settled down, and she was able to hang out beside him later on.

After all of the Christmas presents had been removed from under the tree, there was finally room for me to wriggle under the tree like I used to do. It is always a little sad when the Christmas stuff gets put away, and I have to wait another year to knock off those shiny, fragile ornaments from the tree with my tail.

As I was saying earlier, there is no lack of food being prepared around here during the holidays. Here's a typical afternoon or evening with Toba and I hanging in the kitchen waiting for some fallout. As long as we are patient (and well behaved), we usually get some sort of tasty morsel.

Like this for instance. Richie has been making lots of pizza, now that he is a self-proclaimed pizza crust master. All I know, is that if we stay close, he will break a few bits off the end, and both Toba and I get to experience a taste of Italy!

After the Christmas hubub was over, we went down to Point Roberts again to celebrate New Year. It was actually very nice weather there, and as you an see Toba and I were hard at work at the beach finding sticks that we could chew into bits.

Back in Vancouver, it's been the same, comfortable routine. Off to the coffee shop in the morning, lie on the bed and bark at the silly human who shoves paper things through the slot in the door, nap in Richie's office, afternoon walk, then lazing about the house for the rest of the evening.

Toba is still doing her thing - laying out on the yard for hours on end, sometimes on the grass, sometimes in the garden. She'll even do it when it's raining, and then wonder why she has to get a big "towel-time" when she wants to come in.

"Who goes there?"

But of course, I spend lots of time out there too, and often we'll take turns looking through the slot in the gate that Richie made so that we can see what's happening on the street. However, it would seem that the slot isn't big enough for two Berners at once.

Anyhow, that's it for now - have a great 2015!

Mischa

End of summer update

Hi everyone. Yes, it's that time of year again. Christine and Richie stop hanging out in the backyard all the time, and we migrate indoors. It's not an immediate change - as we did have a great time a while ago at the beach.

We drove to the beach in the convertible, and I was able to turbo-sniff the late summer air all the way there. We set up camp and had a yummy dinner (ok, they did), and then we sat on the grass until the sun went behind the trees, and it got cold, so we left.

When it's cold out, I don't mind getting all cozy with a blanket. Especially in the morning - I'm not a morning doggie to begin with, so when Christine made the bed with me on it, I was happy to stay in there for a while.

Here's another thing that I don't like... when they start packing their luggage up, I sometimes get left behind. So I figured that if I hung out right in the middle of the bags, I couldn't possibly be ignored. Turns out that these bags are for emergencies, and stay packed until there's an earthquake or something. Whew!

As you have probably seen, there's a thing I like to do called, "Cross the bridge", where I get up on the ottoman, then cross over to Christine's lap with my front paws. This time, I didn't make it, but landed with my head between her legs. Another thing I like is to do that, and get head rubs in that position. So here I am - best of both worlds, I guess.

Mischa

I can keep time like a Swiss watch...

One of the things I have been doing for a very long time, is coming up to Richie's office at 2:50 pm every afternoon (at least the ones where he's working upstairs) and I push my way past his door with my tail wagging! It's gotten to the point where he doesn't even need to look at a clock, because when I come through that door, he will know what time it is!

It's my way of telling him that it is time for our afternoon walk. Sometimes it works, and he stops clicking away on that thingy on his desk, and he takes me out right away. Other times, he makes me (or us, as you can see below) wait.

Mischa

Alice Cooper "tears"

Ever notice how some of us Berners have teardrop lines? Kinda like Alice Cooper.

More from Mischa and Toba

It's been hot around here lately, and we've been back down to Point Roberts often. Sometimes it's too hot for us to go out and do the activities that the humans do, so we stay back by the cabin in the shade. One day, Richie decided to brush Toba, and look what happened:

It looks like we have a 3rd Berner with us! One of the activities that those humans do, is go off on "garage sale" hunts, and they come back with all sorts of weird junk.

Rita came back with this crazy item, which apparently is a water fountain - but it works for me as a drinking fountain!

Later in the afternoon, shade gets a little sparse, and so sometimes we end up crammed into what little shade is left.

This last trip, Richie and Christine stopped for hamburgers and fries on the way down. We normally get a few fries if we wait patiently in the back of the Rover... as you can see, Toba was a little more anxious than I was to get her fries!

Here's another example of a mid-afternoon siesta on the lawn in front of the cabin... we have to keep changing spots as the shade from a big tree moves around.

But after these long, hot days, Toba couldn't wait to come home, so as soon as Richie opened the Rover door, she hopped in, and waited for us to load up and leave.

Mischa