Welcome to the Family - Tibby!

Last Monday I added a puppy to my animal family.

This is Tibbet the Tibetan Terrier. I call her Tibby.

She is the sweetest dog I have ever met.

She loves to play, but is also calm and laid back.

Nothing phases her - we've jumped off docks, swung in a swing, slid down slides, walked near whistling trains, had cars honk at us, ect.

In a week she has learned how to - sit (100% on this command), lie down and fetch.

However, we are still working on potty training.

I'm keeping a log of when she's gone and when she should be ready to go again, so I don't have to guess when/if she's about to pee on the carpet.

She is doing much, much better.

After all, it's only been a week.

And she is a baby.

She will be 4 months old on the 28th. She weighs 12 pounds right now. Last Monday she weighed 11 pounds.

If she keeps gaining a pound every week..........she will be a big dog!

~

I have to say, in a week we have come a long way. This is the post I wrote last Wed. Notice the hint of desperation.

I have never had a puppy before. I've always adopted older dogs.

Puppies are exhausting.

I'm really tired.

I have spent hours and hours outside with her, only to come inside and have her poop on the floor!

She hates going in her crate for bedtime. It's the only time she barks, but she barks and barks and barks when she is in her crate.If I go into a different room where she can't see me (I have pet gates between the kitchen and living room and the kitchen and hallway/bedrooms) she whines and yips.The good things: She is very, very sweet. She wraps her paws around my arm when I pick her up. She learned how to sit, walk on a leash and climb stairs in 2 days. She doesn't pull on the leash. She isn't scared of anything. I took her swimming yesterday and she jumped off of the dock into the water all by herself.I'm happy that she loves me - I just wish she didn't love me quite so much!Unfortunately, I can't take her everywhere with me!I just keep telling myself - she's missing all her siblings and this is only day 3 of a 20 year relationship.

Well, things are much better now. If things keep getting better and better every week........life will be perfect!

New Bunny!

Do you remember in Anne of Green Gables when Matthew Cuthburt goes to the General Store to buy Anne a dress with puffy sleeves?

He ends up buying a rake, 50 lbs of brown sugar, ect.

Well, today I went to the "General Store" looking for straw.

I thought the Ladies might like some straw to dig in. I gave them a couple bales last Spring, they had fun digging through them and then I composted the straw.

I didn't find any straw.

It couldn't hurt to take a peek at the baby chicks - right?

Awwwww - there was one baby bunny all alone.

It came right up to my hand and let me pet it.

Awwwww - it fit perfectly in my hand.

It was so cute!

No.

I bought some canning jars, a magazine, some more canning lids and went home.

.

.

.

Then three hours later I went back to the store and bought her!

I think she is a she, because she was in the bin marked female, but of course she might turn out to be a he.

Only time will tell.

Now I need to name her.

She was only sniffing.


Catty says, "Whaz that!"



"Lemme out! I chew you big fur ball!"

Update: She has a name! - Tansy Tweed.

Best Road Trip

A post on Points of Review about a road trip I took with my Mom 5 years ago in November.

It was the best trip ever!

We went to New Zealand, rented a car and drove around the North Island for a couple weeks.

This was the route of our trip.

We started out in Auckland.

My Grandma was born and raised in New Zealand.

And as a little girl my Mom lived in New Zealand for a while.

This is Mom and the car we rented.

She had never driven on the left side of the road, but she did a great job throughout the trip.

There were just a couple times when I thought she was going to run into the side of a mountain!

We loved the little self serve stands they had on the side of the road selling vegetables.



We went at the end of November - Avocado season, I guess.
There were avocados every where!
We even rented a cottage in an avocado orchard.




I shot a gun!
On a boat!
And I didn't hit anything.



This is our automatic clothes dryer.
We stayed over night in a hostel.
It was really nice.
We stayed in a lot of hostels.
Anyway, we washed our clothes, but didn't have time to dry them, so for a day we drove around with a backseat full of wet clothes.
Thankfully, they dried pretty fast!
And you could never do that in Minnesota in November!



The cows didn't seem to mind our car clothes dryer.


We saw dolphins!

And more cows!

This is Mom and Moana.

She is kind of an aunt.

We stayed in a really nice Bed and Breakfast in Auckland.

Breakfast.

Mom and me at another hostel.

Mom cooking at the hostel.

We cooked and ate our way across New Zealand!
The food and spending time with Mom were the best parts of our trip.

We tried to buy local (side of the road) food and try everything that we didn't recognize.

Like canned rice pudding, canned spaghetti, Lamb and Mint flavor chips (crisps), Burger Rings, freeze dried veg. and lots of candy.

Eating dinner al fresco.

In November!

We went to the New Zealand flower show.

Mom with another yummy meal of fresh fish.

Isn't that beautiful?