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

That silly Toba...

A little while ago, Toba showed up again - apparently she is here for a month! Anyhow, it didn't take long for her to get re-accustomed to being here, and took up her usual spots in the garden:

This is on the side of the yard, and you can see she's really tucked herself under the bushes over there. If it weren't for her big white blaze, you'd never know she was there!

And then there's this spot at the end of the yard by the garage... as you can see, Toba lies there till it's bedtime. When Richie goes out to get her to come in, she reluctantly rolls out of her den, and proceeds to wriggle around on her back on the cool grass.

When she's not hanging out in the garden, she's never very far from where I am or go. We've been spending a lot of time on the deck and patio, and Toba is content to hang out with me. Everything I do, she does... like this:

Here's we are sharing a morning ritual - getting a few slurps of milk from either Christine or Richie's cereal bowl. There's barely enough room in the bowl for one of us, let alone two!

Mischa

Dog, is it ever hot!

This last week or so, it's been really hot here. I mean, so hot, that I don't like to walk very far. Even in the morning, we go for our walk to Starbucks, but instead of the "circle route" back home, we stay in the shade on Cambie street. I spend almost all day in the basement, sleeping on the cool floor down there, or outside on the concrete patio.

In the afternoons, we don't go out, at least not until later, and when we do, we keep to the tree-lined street so we can stay in the shade. I like that anyways, as that's where all the squirrels hang out. Just the other day, two of them were chasing each other around the tree trunk, only a few feet away from me!

Yesterday however, after the sun went down, I got a bit of energy, and decided it was time for some barky barky keep away. Notice at around 0:06 how I like to "swivel" around on my elbows before taking off:

What fun! But I can't wait for things to cool down a bit... I think Richie would like that too.

Mischa

Family get-togethers

It has been great fun over the last couple of weekends; we went down to Point Roberts first to catch up with the Johnsons. We were up to all of the regular activities that we normally do, like going for a walk to the beach, having big dinner events, and playing this silly beanbag game.

 It seems that I'm getting a bit better at being off-leash at the cabin, as I'm rarely tethered anymore (I've learned my lesson with the yucky water in the ditches). So when there's nothing going on at the Johnson cabin, I'll sometimes wander around the fence over to Rita's and hang out with them (and get treats, of course!).

 We drove down in the little car too, but one thing I've found, is that it doesn't give me nearly as much shade as the Rover does! While I like the turbo-sniffing in the back of this car, I prefer the shady area under the Rover, as I can scootch under it, unlike this car.

 Here's a typical afternoon - Richie sitting the "gravity lounger" eating an ice cream cone, and me, patiently waiting for some remnants.

A few days later, Richie's parents showed up back at home, and we went for a visit with the Chins. There was a whole bunch of humans, most of whom I've smelled before, eating and drinking. After they had a big meal, we all went out to the front lawn while the small humans played. I found one of Chelsea's toys, a squeaky one! I had a great time with it, but let Chelsea have it back when she wanted it.

 I didn't play too hard with Chelsea, as she's getting old and can't get around as fast as me. I was just happy to hang out on the lawn in the middle of all of the action.

Mischa

Mischa vs. the box

I have been waging battle with cardboard boxes for as long as I can remember... ok, since I can only remember what I did 2 minutes ago, let's say I've been playing with boxes since I was a puppy.

Here's an old video of me taking on a vicious cardboard box...


This one was too big for me:

And another one where I won:

Mischa - cardboard warrior