Left Behind

BookGirl used to go away a lot (she called it 'business travel,' whatever that is). I knew she was going to leave because she brought out a big black box (she calls it a suitcase) and put her clothes and other things in it. Then she put it in the car and Steven drove us to a place called the airport. Steven used to take me with him to pick up BG when she came home too. I made a lot of friends there.

This time, Steven went away. I wanted to go with him, so when he wasn't looking, I jumped up on the bed and then into his suitcase. BG thought it was funny, so she took some pictures, but I was serious. I put my chew toy in there too so I'd have something to play with during the trip. Steven wouldn't let me stay, though. But he let me go with him and BG to the airport and held me on his lap instead of making me sit in my car seat in the back. I couldn't go in this time to say goodbye to Steven because BG was in a rush. I really miss Steven when he goes away. I have a lot of friends, but Steven is my very favorite person.

Baby Twiggy

BookGirl says I should ask Steven to carry a camera when he takes me for my morning walk, 'cause I have a lot of adventures in the morning. Yesterday was very exciting, since I saw Sonja. She lives far away now, but she and T.L. are visiting. She was walking with her friends when I saw her. I was so excited that I stood up on my hind legs and walked all around her and wagged my tail. She was happy to see me too. She petted me a lot and rubbed my tummy. She and T.L. don't have a dog -- I feel sorry for them, but they seem to be okay with it. We didn't have a camera, 'though, so you can't see how glad she was to see me.

And we don't have a picture of the fun I had with Shorty this morning when Steven and I ran into Shorty and Lorraine. Usually Mark walks Shorty, or Lorraine and Mark walk him together, but today Shorty and Lorraine were on their own. Shorty's my best pal, you know. We walk together whenever we can, but it's hard to get Steven and Mark out in the mornings at the same time.


But even though I don't have any pictures of my latest adventures, I wanted to write in my blog anyway. All my friends read BookPuppy now, and I don't want to let them down. So BG said I could write about Sonja and Shorty and Lorraine, and she'd put up the pictures of me as a little puppy when I first came to live here. I didn't know then how much fun it would be and how many friends I would have, and how many twigs and leaves I would be able to bring in the house! Here we are on our back porch on a Sunday morning. I'm pretty adorable, as always, but you can tell that I'm a little unsure about things. BG and Steven are smiling, 'though, because I'm here to stay.

Bella

My friend -- well, really, my girlfriend -- Bella lives across the street. BookGirl says she's a Labrador, but to me she's just blond and beautiful. Bella has a big front yard. We love to run and romp and wrestle all over. Bella's mom, Kathie, is really nice too. Sometimes she throws toys for me and Bella to chase. And she always gives me a treat.

Whenever I see Bella , I run up our driveway and across the road and right up to her front yard. BG and Steven don't like it when I do that. They worry that I might get hurt by a car crossing the road. It's true that I don't come when I'm called. I just get too excited. Especially when there's a chance to play with one of my friends. I bet you do the same thing when you see your friends.

Here are some pictures of me and Bella. Isn't she beautiful? There's a nice up-close one of Bella, and you can see me on the side. Kathie is giving me a treat. It's always the best day ever when I see Bella.

P.S. I have another friend named Bella too. She's in another place far away, BG says. I hope I can meet her some day. She's cute and smart and she has a blog too. BG met her mom, Riverlark, at a class at a place called Penland. She likes to do book and art stuff too, like BG. Whatever that is.

Cat Dog

My window seat is my favorite place to hang out. But I have other places too. Tobias, Steven's cat, sits on the back of the sofa in the living room. He always looks very comfortable, and I thought it might be a good spot for me too. So now I sit like this on the sofa and on BookGirl's chair. Steven says that I think I'm a "cat dog." I don't know what that means, but it's fun to sit here. I especially like it when Steven is sitting on the sofa and I can lean over and lick his ear. And it's high up off the ground, so I can look down and all around.

Sometimes I sit with my paws on either side of the sofa back. I sit like that when I'm tired or sleepy. Sometimes Tobias and I sit on the back of the sofa together. When this happens, I'm very still, because I don't want to scare him. If I move, he thinks I'm trying to play with him and he jumps off. Tobias doesn't like to play as much as I do. That's okay. He's my friend anyway.

Street Party

BookGirl finally got around to putting the pictures on her computer. I don't understand why it takes her so long, since I'm a lot busier than she is. After all, I have to make sure I see everybody who goes by our house and bark at them.

These are my pals, Trixie and Shorty. Trixie lives next door, but she only lives here half the year. BG says she's in Florida the rest of the time. What's Florida? Trixie used to be very barky when she saw me, and wouldn't play with me, but she's a lot better now. I think she just needed to know me better.

Shorty lives down the road, and he's my best bud. Sometimes we take walks together, with Steven and Mark. Mostly, we like to jump and wrestle. You can see that Trixie doesn't like to wrestle, and when we're all together, she tries to stop me and Shorty from playing rough. I don't think it's because she's a girl, because Bella, who lives across the street (she's my girlfriend) likes to romp and wrestle. I think Trixie is just a quieter pup. And that's okay too.

Busy, Busy

I've been very busy over the past few days, so I haven't had time to write. I've been helping Steven and BookGirl weed the garden and clean up the front yard (they say I'm a good supervisor). I've also been walking around the neighborhood a lot with Steven, and yesterday he took me on a car ride to pick up a pizza (I don't get to eat it, 'though. Sigh.). And I had to guard the house yesterday when both Steven and BG were out. And, of course, I have to spend a lot of time at my usual spot on the window seat to make sure that I see everybody who walks by. It's a big job, and it takes up a big part of my day.

But I had a big adventure this morning, so I had to write about it. When I went on my morning walk, who did we run into but my next door neighbor Trixie and my best buddy Shorty! BG took some pictures and she promised to put them up soon. I can't wait!

In the Movies

BookGirl has a toy that makes these cards. She types stuff into her laptop and this is what comes out. This one is about a movie called Twiggy's Big Adventure, starring... me! I have big adventures all the time, and I like baby turkeys, so I'm ready.

Hangin' Out

Sometimes when BookGirl goes out on the deck with her laptop, I go out too and explore. I look through the railing to see if there are any deer in the back yard. I check to see if there are any squirrels eating the corn that falls from the bird feeder; and sometimes I just sun myself. Life is good.

A Big Adventure

BookGirl (BG) had to return some books to the library this week, and she took me along (I love car rides). When we go in BG's little red two-seater car, I sit in the passenger seat at first, then I climb over into the driver's seat so that I can sit on BG's lap. BG says that's it's dangerous to drive that way, so she puts me back on the passenger seat. (When I'm with BG and Steven together, we take the car that has my car seat hooked up to the back seat. I can see out the window better from there, and it's also comfy for snoozing when I get tired. Car rides can be very tiring).

We had a big adventure on our car ride! We saw two deer and a turkey! Sometimes I see them when I go walking with Steven, but they run away when I chase them. This time they didn't run away -- I think it was because they couldn't see that I was in the car. The turkey was a mama turkey and had some little turkeys with her. I wouldn't have chased them anyway, because even though I can be pretty ferocious, I wouldn't have wanted to scare the baby turkeys.

Our neighborhood is just one big adventure after another. I love living here.

My Pal Toby

When I came to live here, Tobias was already here. He's Steven's cat and he'd lived with Steven for a long time -- even before he met BookGirl. Because Tobias was here first, he gets to be the leader of the pack, and gets to eat his breakfast first from our joint food bowl. Sometimes I'll have a drink out of the water bowl right next to it while he's eating, and he doesn't seem to mind.

Tobias is not a very friendly cat, but I know he likes me. When Steven and I take a walk, he follows us at a distance. Every once in a while he walks with us a little ways. And sometimes, when we're outside, he gives me a little head bump; Steven says that's one of the ways he shows affection. Tobias goes outside by himself whenever he wants, which I'm not allowed to do (and which I wouldn't want to do anyway, because I like staying close to BG and Steven). I like to welcome him back, so I stand right inside the door and wag my tail. Then when he comes in, I chase him around a little bit. He acts like that he doesn't like that, but I know he's just playing hard to get.

BG took this picture. Tobias and I are talking (that's Steven encouraging us to talk). See, Tobias is really close to me! I know he likes me.