by Anura Guruge
on April 4, 2024
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This is WILD. We have had this chainlink fence, a huge (house-size) pen for (dear) ‘Rowen‘ since 2021. Never seen it like this. WOW.
We have had close to 20″ of snow since yesterday evening. Still snowing. I have plowed twice and I still have more. Crazy. You can see the build up on top of the fence.
But this was COOL. Snow blown up against the chainlink. COOL.
by Anura Guruge
on March 22, 2024
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THIS is ALL I can post. SMILE. She is a very private person. I am NOT allowed to post pictures NOT explicitly approved by her. And, of course, I honor her wishes. That is what I do. SMILE.
Now that she has her own car, she went shopping for a cake ON HER OWN. First time she could do that. So, she picked this. It is over 5 lbs! She doesn’t plan to have anyone come around. She, as I said, tends to be very private. So basically this is for the 3 of us — & I try not to eat too much cake.
We are off to Ft. Williams (Maine) shortly — in her car, her driving &, of course, with HER DOG, ‘Rowen‘ (though Rowen thinks she is ‘my girl’). She has driven to Ft. Williams before (since getting her car last September), but this will be her first time driving there on HER BIRTHDAY. We have been going to Ft. Williams on her birthday since 2021 — when we first got Rowen. Dogs are allowed at the Park & that is why we go there. My 2nd time to Ft. Williams this year. It will be her third.
Photos of Ft. Williams LATER — of course. SMILE.
by Anura Guruge
on January 29, 2024
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She has LOVED snow, unconditionally, from DAY 1. There was a LOT of snow on the ground, in Iowa, the day we got her — 3 years ago. That day, was the first time she had been outside. So, her first encounter with the outside world was one filled with snow. Took to it like a duck to water. Has loved snow ever since then.
Love to LIE in the snow. Though her belly is SHAVED (& exposed), the cold does not seem to bother her. She will stay out, in the snow, as long as we will.
The snow does NOT penetrate her coat (as you can see). It sits on top. She can shake it off, BUT she prefers for us to towel her. SMILE.
by Anura Guruge
on January 27, 2024
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Tieschan, whose dog she THINKS it is, calls this Rowen’s ‘adoption day’. Not sure if that is the right word. It, however, sure was the day she came into our lives and changed it, profoundly, for the better.
Teischan decided she wanted a Newfie & she found her on the Web — in Iowa, 1,350-miles from here. We drove, during the height of COVID, in mid-winter, to go get her — in a rented SUV. Proved to be an amazing road trip. Lucked out with the weather in what was a 6-day trip. We were either ahead or behind a snowstorm. It turned out to be a 2,700-mile trip with a slight detour to Niagara Falls.
So, that is where we are. THIRD ANNIVERSARY of the dog that changed my life. Not the first I have had. Probably the fifteenth or so, & my first Newfie. I was into Goldens and had had 7 goldens in a row.
by Anura Guruge
on November 30, 2023
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She didn’t, this year, get to go to her favorite place, outside of here, i.e., ‘Fort Williams‘. We had some important commitments that could not be moved around.
Instead she got a special Doggie Birthday Cake, from Boston, plus the traditional burgers. This year she got 2.5. Also a few new squeaky toys.
Oh, she also got to go in her NEWEST car to McDonald’s to get the burgers. She loves her rides and looking around the McDonald’s parking lot.
So, she had a good time & good day. Braxton lucked out too. So a good day for the dogs.
Last year. Her 2nd birthday.
by Anura Guruge
on October 22, 2023
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The black Newfie lives down the road. The two are friends. They don’t bark. Just quietly socialize.
The black one is 10 months younger but weighs 30 pounds more than Rowen.
by Anura Guruge
on September 4, 2023
She expects to go to the ocean on holidays, birthdays & special occasions. She has been going to ‘Fort Williams‘, in ‘Portland‘, Maine, since she was a baby. She likes it there. She knows the paths & the routine. BUT, she is getting driven around by a STUDENT DRIVER & she can’t drive out of State! So, she can’t be driven to Maine. We have to stay in New Hampshire. So, of late, we go to ‘Fort Stark‘ — which is NOT a bad compromise. Not as expansive & grand as Fort Williams, but still on the ocean & NICE. So, here she is. All set for her trip.
by Anura Guruge
on July 20, 2023
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(Left) The day we got him in 2013. (Right) His FIRST birthday (2014) & he is having a McDonald’s cheeseburger.
This is now an entrenched yearly tradition for both dogs. We missed one year because of COVID. Both dogs know McDonald’s. I take them to the Alton McDonald’s outside of their birthdays too. We brought the cheeseburgers home because it was too hot to eat in the car park.
‘Braxton’, our ‘Harrier’ (who was supposed to be Beagle Mix), is a rescue that we got (from the deep South (transported up here in a bus)) on September 28, 2013. They did not know his birthday. He was supposed to be 11 or 12 weeks old. So, ‘July 20‘ was designated as his birthday. He seems to be ‘OK’ with that. I have not heard him complain.
Taking the dogs to McDonald’s for cheeseburgers on their birthdays is a family tradition now stretching back 16-years (maybe 17). When we lived in ‘Gilford‘ (N.H.) prior to that it used to be ice-cream cake. But, in ‘Alton’ there was a McDonald’s nearby & the tradition started. Braxton missed McDonald’s in 2020 because of COVID — but we were back in 2021. And today was McDonald’s again BUT we brought the 4 cheeseburgers home. It was too hot (& such oppressive) to feed them in the car park. They were quite literally cool to come home to the A/C & the burgers.
This was from 2018.
by Anura Guruge
on May 8, 2023
The garter snake & the hawk were during my daily, 4-mile morning amble. I encountered both within a few hundred yards of each other — on (or just off) ‘Prospect Mountain Road‘. Much of Prospect Mountain Road & the roads leading off it are unpaved (i.e., dirt). It is also pretty rural. I live, on another dirt road off Prospect. So, much of my ambling revolves around this road. That was indeed the case this morning.
Garter snakes are pretty common, especially around this time of the year, in this neck of the wood. ‘Rowen‘, our 2-year old Newfie, stepped over it. Did NOT notice it. Just walked straight over — just missing it, TWICE, with its front paws. That is Rowen. Not the most observant dog in the world. Too busy looking around, but not down at its feet.
We have a KETTLE of hawks near the top of the mountain.
Yes, a KETTLE.
I did NOT know that that was the term. I had to look it up. Over the weekend I saw about 4 circling around. Today, it was just this one & it was darting all around us. Came sweeping directly at us. I was not quick enough to get a shot.
The TR8 was later on in the day. In town. Nice looking car. I had a TR7 in the U.K. It was my last car there. I should have brought it over. It was the 3rd from last TR7 built! Its registration was ‘MGM 327X‘. I did NOT lust after the TR8 as I would have earlier in my life. I am in the process of parting with the TWO British cars I still have, i.e., the 1989 Jaguar V12 XJS & the 1969 MGB. But, I checked it over. Seemed to be in great shape. Bravo.
by Anura Guruge
on May 8, 2023
It, alas, is that time of year. The ticks are back & they are back with a vengeance. Started encountering them last week.
Today I, by & large, I kept to the (dirt) road to avoid running into too many ticks. While I stick to the road the dogs do roam as I let them off leash since we basically are walking in the woods. As far as we can tell there were no ticks on I. I was even ROLLED OVER with a lint-roller. No ticks.
Not so with ‘Braxton‘ our Harrier. He is mainly white & has short hair. You can see ticks on him. That is how we managed to pick off 10.
‘Rowen‘, our 2-year old Newfie probably has a lot on her too BUT it is impossible to see given her long, thick, shaggy coat. She will be dropping off ticks all over the house!
Both dogs are on ‘Simparica‘ — & have been for the last 2+ years. Simparica seems to work. Certainly a damn sight better than ‘Frontline Plus‘. Ticks don’t attach or IF THEY do they die. That is what we have found so far. We do keep a very close eye on the dogs & do check them.
But that is the story as of today. The ticks are here. Glad we have the dogs on medication. I WISH I COULD TAKE SOMETHING TOO FOR THE DAMN TICKS!
So, a heads up. Be on the lookout for ticks.