Furry dogs

Mistress is getting in my face.

It is quite beyond me why mistress seems to think it is a good idea to take pictures of me when I am sleeping.

If I am asleep that means I do not wish to be disturbed.



It is hard work being a furry dog in summer, as many of you pups know.

I do not want a camera in my face, flashing nastily, or mistress prowling around the place looking for a good angle.



And another thing. It is my right to scratch and remove my own fur for it to flutter round the flat.

It is then mistress's job to clean it up. I do not wish her to pre-empt my fur removal with the Nasty Brush.

Here is some of my fur. This is from our sitting room. I normally manage to scratch at least three loads a day similar to this.

What is that sock doing there? Oh, mistress found it under the chair when she moved it to retrieve more of my nice soft fur.



Just as well she has to sweep up my fur or she probably wouldn't have found the sock for months.

I leave a similar amount of fur in our bedroom too. I say ours, because they sleep in it at night. During the day, mistress moves the thermarests and I flop on the floor in there. Mistress leaves the curtains closed for me so it is nice and cool and I claim it as my daytime bedroom.

Some time ago I added some info to my sidebar about husky/GSD crosses.

But I forgot to mention it. So if you are interested in huskies (of all types), or GSDs, or just big furry doggies, there are some really interesting photos on there.

ETA:
Here is the link as well. I have just made mistress have a looky and there are even more nice pix added since the last time, and yet another one who looks just like me. I am so excited to think that there are other dogs out there like me. It is good not to be alone. Oh and if any pup does look at the site, silly mistress added my photo twice. hahahaha.

Beetle-Pet

No not another Crump-Pet. A real live one. Elfreda Beetle.

You all know what a silly wimp mistress is with a few dead - or live - cockroaches in the bathroom at my finca in Spain?

Well, the other day, she went into the bathroom here in my Gibflat, and spotted one on the floor, on his back and waving one of his antenna at her.

She ran out as usual and when master came home she asked him to "Do Something" with it.

But master told her not to be stupid (as if) and that it was a beetle not a cockroach.

Master turned the beetle over so that she could run around and play.

A bit later on, Elfreda Beetle came into the kitchen to explore. I went over to have a look at her. She wasn't very interesting. She didn't smell interesting and she didn't seem worth eating so I left her alone.

She played climbing up the mop.



And fell on her back again which I thought was rather silly of her.

Then mistress went back to my finca in Spain for the weekend. When she came back master had to give her the sad news that Elfreda Beetle had fallen on her back once too often and was no more.

Before anypup asks, apparently mistress called her Elfreda Beetle because of some film/book with an Elfreda Beetle in, although mistress has forgotten which one it was.

So I didn't have a Beetle-Pet for very long at all. Onto some cheerful news after that short sad story. Some fine friends have given me another nice award.

Charlie and Eva gave me this one.



That is very kind of them, thank you to both Charlie and to beautiful Eva.

And a while ago, Rocky at The Hudson Furkids asked which blogs pups and their people visited when they wanted to laugh and feel less stressful. I was one of the ones Rocky and his family visit to cheer themselves up. I don't mean to be funny but if I make pups and people laugh then that is a good result. Thank you for saying that Rocky, and I am sorry it has taken me (ie mistress) a long time to mention it. I hope my Beetle-Pet story wasn't too sad.

Right, Misery and I are off to eat some grapefruit now and then a snooze will be in order.

Kelsey Ann .... and KuBrin

Well, I got the lazy idle mistress to start writing me a post so that I could put one up less than a week after the last one but she never finished it.

And now we are both too too sad because another of my beautiful girlfriends has gone to the Rainbow Bridge, so it will have to wait for another day.

Bye bye Kelsey Ann from The Kapp Pack. Loved you lots. I'll miss you.

We didn't know Timber but we have visited his blog and he was a very handsome Alaskan Husky and we are sorry that he too has gone to the Bridge. Our sympathies are with the husky world today.

*Update* I am so sorry to say that my fine wolfhound pal KuBrin has gone to the bridge today. It is only two weeks ago since his pack member Megan went there, so they must be a very sorry pack at the moment. Sending lots of love to Blogs From the Dogs - you are having a tough time.

ETA Jake and Just Harry have pointed out that we are all affected by this sadness not just the husky world, and they are quite right. I did not mean to suggest other pups were not upset too and I am sorry if it came across like that.

A reprieve

Well, I suppose it has only taken Misery a week to put up a post and not three weeks, so I should be grateful for small improvements.

Now I would like to thank Rocky, Bear and Angel Lacy for giving me an award. Lots of other doggies had got it and I felt I was missing out, so I was feeling sorry for myself.

But now I have it. Thank you for my Arte-y-Pico award. Happy creative Pippa. In my dreams anyway.



Except I am not feeling very creative at the moment. It is warm here. Well, it is only about 30C but it feels warm to me so I am lying around on my cool floor. And mistress puts on my ceiling fan and opens the window wide for me.



It is warmer at my finca in Spain, it is about 35C there, but I can lie outside on my terrace there and it is nice and shady. But I am not there, I am in my Gibflat and we have no outside space. So I have to make do with my fan and my cool floor.



Now. An update on my miserable restricted diet. Mistress came back from a wander down the high street yesterday with a cross auntie for us to share. I think she thought she was going to eat it all herself but I soon put her right. I like cross aunties. I have written about them before. I think they are almost on a par with Toast.

And she was feeling very greedy and fat so she bought something else. They are called Crum-Pets. But I don't think they are pets like dogs are. And there weren't any crumbs either.

She had to put two in the toaster as it will only take two items as a minimum. Naturally, we always need at least two items. One for them and one for me. Or two for me. When they were done she put some yummy butter on them and managed to drop half a Crum-Pet on the floor. hehehehe.



Then she decided she was feeling very full after her cross auntie and so I ended up with most of the second one as well.



Master had one today too. I howled at him so he knew that I expected My Share. Mistress said "Pippa likes Crum-Pets. You need to give him some." Kind mistress (for once).

So things are improving on the tasties score. Perhaps there may even be Pizza for Pippa on the horizon.

Back again

Firstly I want to say that another friend has gone to the Bridge. Regal deerhound Megan, of Blogs from the Dogs went this week. We have written about it on DWB News, but here is a link to their site. Bye bye Megan.

Mistress had a break from blogging (and everything else) for their birthweek. Then she got carried away and had another week off, and another..... but here I am. Finally. Although I note she managed to stick a few posts on her blog. Selfish mistress. Lazy too.

Now, what to tell you all? Well, I have been a poorly Pippadog this last week so maybe she was a bit worried about me. I had a poorly tummy when I went out for my walks, then it seemed to clear up. But then it came back again and one night I walked into master and mistress and whimpered to go out Right Now. I don't know what time it was and neither do they but they were asleep.

Kind master jumped out of bed much more quickly than usual and managed to find all his clothes in the dark and out we went. I couldn't have waited for long I can tell you. Even mistress took me out one day which she hasn't done since the day of the famed cat-chasing incident when I pulled her over and she hurt her arm and hand and fingers. I lay around looking very sorry for myself.

I am feeling a bit better now though and I am back eating my normal amounts of food. BUT, Misery and master have decided that it must have been something I ate that gave me a bad tummy. I don't see why because I ate just the same things as master, although apparently he has a cast-iron stomach whatever one of those is. So now I am not allowed to have tasty titbits with my food. How boring. And even worse, master is not giving me any TOAST. Everydog knows that toast, especially slightly burnt, is very good for poorly tummies.

Only this morning I sat patiently next to mistress while she was eating our grapefruit. I poked out my little pink tongue a tiny bit so I looked very cute. Next I tried to do shake a paw but she was too busy getting the grapefruit down her neck. And then it was gone. With not a teeny little sliver for me. I checked out her chair and the floor but she hadn't dropped anything anywhere.

And we have stopped going out for dinner too. This is nothing to do with my tummy. This apparently is called an Economy Drive. Although we haven't been driving anywhere.

So I will finish with the story of the pizza place as I don't think I will be doing any more restaurant reviews in the near future. My career has been abruptly ended. Back to the film project methinks.

Remember when I went to Jumpers? a few posts back. Well, the Italian restaurant is just before the bastion. We had been before but Misery had forgotten her camera, so she made sure to take it this time.




They had ....

Salad....


And olives....


...for Pippa


She had aubergine/eggplant/berenjena/melanzana - hehe - multi-lingual me. She didn't give me any. Greedy mistress. No wonder she has put on weight.



Master ordered pizza. Pizza romana, sin anchoas. When the pizza arrived, mistress took a bite and master looked at it puzzled.

Mistress said it was very salty, and then master realised that it had anchovies on after all, even though he had asked for it without.

So it got taken back and a new one was made. Now, wouldn't the sensible thing have been to give the unwanted anchovy pizza to me? Even if it was salty? Would I have cared? If I didn't like the anchovies I could always have spat them out.

Hungry


My pizza


It is mine, I tell you


Then another couple turned up while we were eating there so I got to eat some of his tasty toast. Yum yum.

Good food all round for Pippa. Paws up. And the pizza was cool for breakfast too, because this was before my poorly tummy episode.

But then we went again for mistress's birthday. They had a salad to start with, master had a pizza as usual and mistress had a pasta dish. They both kindly left a little bit of their main course to be taken home in a doggy bag for my breakfast.

Pizza


And pasta


And then the waiter came out and said they had made a mistake - and thrown my breakfast IN THE TRASH!

Big paws down from Pippa and I decided we would not go there any more. Irrelevant really as Meany and master decided to go on the Economy Drive and curtail my promising new career. Perhaps one day I will get to eat pizza again. I must remind master I have not been poorly when I have eaten pizza.

Looking at the view while waiting for the non-appearance of my food.


I will try and get round my pals and I am sorry I have not been allowed out to play.

For Baby Love

Sorry you had to go too early.

You were such a top dog and overcame so many problems.

Thinking of you.

Pippa

Party, party, party on

It is party time for Pippa.

Well actually it is party time for master and mistress as it was his birthday yesterday and hers today.

This morning I discovered a new treat. Mistress came back from a wander down the high street with a thing called a cross auntie. That's what they call them in Spain anyway, although I think they say it a bit differently here. Kwa-song or something. Anyway it is crescent-shaped, and buttery and crispy. I love it as much as toast and I hope she buys some more.

Last night we went to the Indian restaurant (again!) for master's birthday but as I have reviewed that already I will just post a few pix and write about one of the other restaurants.

Here is a good picture of our pippadoms.



Here are our vegetable rolls. Yum.



Patient Pippa waiting for my scran.



Oooh. Look. The nice man is bringing some food.



Vegetable Jal something or yummy other. And mushroom pillao. And our naan and salad and pickles and all tasties.



Remember my last post when I went off to Jumpers bastion? Well, the same afternoon we went for another walk down to the marina and master and mistress decided they would eat out.

So we ate at the Waterfront restaurant. Here is a clicky linky thingy for anyone who wants to see the yummy menu.

I lay down as usual by the railings and master and mistress discussed what to eat. Last time master got the scrummy Vegetable Wellington, and mistress had the Tarte Tatin, and there was lots of food left to take home for my breakfast. Well this time, they both had the Vegetable Wellington and a salad to share. Master had chips with his and mistress had vegetables as she doesn't want to get any fatter.

And they ate it all. Every single pesky bit. Fortunately as I have tried the veg wellington before I can report that it is good. And my greedy co-reviewers tell me the chips, veg and salad were good too.

In my usual spot. Er, I hope the no parking is not referring to me.



Here is master's starter, his cheese stuff.



Look, greedy mistress couldn't wait to get stuck into her food.



Master's food and his fine chips too.



Sitting nicely for my food - but wait - it has all gone.



And, as there were lots of cool comments following my last foodie post I thought I would mention a few of them.

Rosemary from Forgetsitandstay suggested Photographing Pippa's Parties is a good job for Mistress. I liked that idea.

Peanut said I was a saint for putting up with mistress because she thinks chasing cats is a disturbance and she didn't order enough food for me. Thank you Peanut. I appreciate your kind thoughts and your solidarity (not saying you are fat there, I might add quickly).

Asta reminded me that when I am making my film I will need to wine and dine with the stars. Very well remembered Asta.

JB's Big World asked if cats are allowed at the Indian restaurant and if cats like pippadoms. I don't know. I think they should be allowed although I suppose it would distract me from my food. I don't want them eating my pippadoms though.

Jackson asked if I am posh because I go to posh restaurants. I don't think I am but perhaps I need to work on it. Master and misery will probably let me down though because they are not remotely posh.

Momo & Pinot want me to hire them as my assistants. I think that is a cool idea, although I think you will have to wait until the tips and titbits start flowing in because right now I can't afford to share the measly portions I get. I assume you do want to be paid in food?

Marvin from the UK said he has been away at the Dog Hotel for ten days, so reading my critique of the local eateries has made him and "she who must never be obeyed", very, very, hungry indeed.



He thinks my Blog should be retitled 
"Pippa's Perfect Life".



Thank you Marvin, I like your idea for a new title. I need to work out how to incorporate it. I am sorry you have been to the dog hotel though, and hope you have had lots of biscuits and treats and soup and allsorts (not liquorice) to make up for it.

Wally said he thought Pippa's Palate Pleasers was a wonderful idea and that I would be a wonderful critic.

 And he asked if mistress was a vegetarian? and said his ma ape was quite fond of those poppadum pickles.

Yes master and mistress are vegetarian and have been for too many years that they can remember. Pippadom pickles are very yummy although I don't get to eat the hot ones.



Next up pizza review - where at least I got to eat something.

Pippa goes to Jumpers

I took master and mistress out for a walk the other day.

I thought we could do a reconstruction of the Italian where we ate the other night and I could add it to my repertoire of reviewed restaurants. (I am going in for alliteration at the moment as well).

Anyway it was shut and all the tables and chairs were piled away. So we wandered up and down the nice promenade and I did lots of sniffs, and then we explored the bastion.

Then I realised I didn't know what a bastion was.

Here we are:

a projecting part of a fortification built at an angle to the line of a wall, so as to allow defensive fire in several directions.

Yes, that describes it well.

Here are master and I practising not looking at the camera after taking our lessons from Ao4. Ammy, I hope you think we are doing ok here.



And again. I think we are learning quite fast.



We had a fine walk around Jumpers Bastion. And then we went back along the promenade.

Exploring the wall on the promenade.



Hmmm. I see a little dog.



See the peep-oo holes for the guns to poke through when people were trying to attack Gibraltar?



Happy Pippa.



There is always something interesting to look at.



No, it's not my tongue (at least I don't think it is), it's a flower.



Having a good sniff, lots of interesting smells and pee-mails.



I see mistress has snuck in a naughty flower shot for my last picture. Thought I had cured her of that habit.