Black and white Sunday

Well, gray and white. I just can't follow directions.

Ruby made me do it!

Ruby's mom wrote about a post-Halloween costume sale. Instead of going to the store, I ordered costumes online, along with dog treats. We went through quite a few treats this afternoon.

She's laughing at me.

Please send help!

I'm coming up with a plan. Just give me a minute.

Beginning to engineer my escape from the Frog of Shame.

Gotcha! I will have my revenge!

Not a good day for a walk

Saturday's wind storm turned out to be worse than expected. I'm amazed there are still leaves left on the trees, especially considering the number of branches that came down in my yard, branches from the neighbors' trees. During a pause in the wind, we went outside to view the new carpet on the patio.

 Just a couple of the many branches.

 

Back to normal.

 

Miro watches the work with interest but does not volunteer to help.

 

Yet to be cleaned.

Miro disguised as a chicken pot pie

A lament from the costume-impaired

Miró has been invited to a multitude of Halloween parties. I was invited to be the costume judge at one Sheltie party to which Miró was especially invited.

 For my costume I had the clever idea of wearing a vintage trench coat and fedora and calling myself Sammie Spade. I’d need a toy pistol for my pocket. I’d also need to paint my fingernails 1940’s red. Who has time? I got as far as trench coat removing the trench coat from the closet. I gave up.

 I thought what a great idea if I could find a small trench coat for Miró for the next party. Probably at any other time of year I’d find one at Value Village or Salvation Army. Not now, of course. Costume stores offer sharks, elves, hot dogs, pirates, super heroes, and infinite variations of Harry Potter. You can even disguise your dog as a football. But a private eye? Nope.

I thought of putting Miró in a white shirt and black vest (mine) and pretending he’s—what? Sam Spade’s assistant? Paint him black and declare that he’s the Maltese Falcon? Or do what I did on Sunday and tell everyone he’s a Sheltie dressed up as an Airedale? Except that he wouldn’t behave like a Sheltie for even one second, as the photos below illustrate.

 

 Shelties stand around obediently, sit to watch the action, or parade when asked. 

  

 

 

They do not head out for the fountain.

 

 

Shelties especially do not flash thirty people and their dogs.

 

Nobody believed me when I said Miro was in a costume.

 

Vote for Charlie!

An Airedale named Charlie is one of six finalists for Pets as Therapy Dog of the Year. That's a therapy dog in the UK. Charlie's rugged good looks and happy smile are sure to make him a favorite, but he needs your vote, too.

You can vote by sending an email to win@yours.co.uk with "Charlie" in the subject line.  Or go to the PAT voting page here, scroll down until you see Charlie's photo and bio. There's a link where you can vote. You'll also be entered in a drawing for pet food, nice if you live in the UK or know someone who does. Visit Crafting with Dogs for Charlie's photo and more information.

Circus dog

Miro and his servant I went to a trick training class a few nights ago. The dogs learned to plant their feet on a marker, stand on a box, jump through a hoop, and turn a tight circle around a traffic cone. Miro has jumped through hoops many times. This time, however, he did not want to jump, walk, or otherwise move through the hoop because I was holding it. He cheerfully trotted around it, not looking at it, pretending it wasn't there.

Feet on the box? Turn in a circle? No problem. And no photos from the evening because I had hands full with treats, clicker, leash, and gestures. Here we have reproduced one of the activities.

Treats incoming!

I do not acknowledge the existence of a hoop.

Inspiration

Inspired by a work of his namesake at the Tate Modern in London which seemed to speak directly to him, Miro tried some work in collage today.

 Notice how he has chosen to repeat the blue and gold/brown tones of the painting by Joan Miro

He believes his work to be a success. And the paper, which had wrapped a bag of Murchie's tea, was tasty.

Editor's note: I may have dogs too much on the brain, but I could form only one conclusion when I saw this particular installation at the same museum. Called "Trap" by Pino Pascali, it's made of braided steel wool and is meant to represent the ropes used to hunt and trap animals. I thought it represented a very different kind of statement made by animals. I do like humor in art.

AARRRR, Matey!

Be afraid?

 

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

 

Say "Hi" to your cousins in Dublin

What, were you expecting photos of a bunch of guys emerging from a pub?

We share 98.8% of our DNA with chimpanzees. The lady in the top photo was very interested in something in the water but dared not go any closer on the steep bank. Unlike us, chimpanzees are not swimmers. The ones in the last photo are youngsters.

The zoo also has lowland gorillas and orangutans. Watching the orangutan family--mother munching on weeds, father  playing with the two children--I stood next to a young woman in boots, patterned leggings, green hair and a nose ring who said softly, "They're just like us."