A Purrfectly Distracting Photography Session With Buster & Henry

Have you ever noticed, blogger friends, that as soon as you are about to leave the house (in my case, I was headed to the gym) your pets decide to distract you by posing in your dresser drawer? 

Buster knows he's photogenic but he also knows I will take a picture of him, post it on Facebook, and then share his antics on my Daisy's Henry's his blog!

 And wouldn't you know it? As soon as Buster grows tired of distracting me Henry joins in and then another photo is taken and then the downloading begins! Before I know it, the gym seems a little less interesting to me than it was an hour ago!

P.S. Thank you so much for congratulating me for writing my 500th post yesterday! Your kind and humorous comments meant a great deal to me!

After 2 Years & 7 Months, This Is My 500th Post!

When I started blogging on January 18, 2010, the idea of writing 500 posts seemed daunting but with the support of all of my readers, I made it! I truly look forward to reading your informative, humorous, and sensitive posts everyday and I appreciate that you give me the chance to brighten your days and nights in return!

For those who know me well, you are aware that the film, Julie and Julia, inspired me to start blogging and because of both of these women I began writing about my pets, my pet sitting clients, and in return, I gained hundreds of Blogville friends! 

It has been wonderful getting to know you and your pets for the past 2 years and 7 months and I look forward to learning more about you in years to come!

In closing, I will leave you with my first post....

Dear Friends,

I was inspired to start a blog many months ago after watching Julie and Julia at the theater; in fact, I turned to my fiance' and fellow pet sitting partner, Amos, and announced that I was going to start a pet sitting blog that would eventually make me as well-known as Julia Child and Julie Powell.

Of course it would be wonderful to reap financial benefits from blogging about pets but a greater benefit would be to attract an audience of animal lovers who need a break from their busy lives each day. 

Ever since I walked away from 16 years of teaching in the summer of 2006 in order to focus on my business, Teacher's Pet Sitting Service, I've been quite entertained by both the pets and their owners and I feel I have enough wonderful stories to last a lifetime so I will write them down, one day at a time, and I hope you will enjoy them all.

Thanks for reading,

April

Wordless Wednesday

Introducing Calvin and Lucy, My New Cat Sitting Clients!

 

My new 15 year old cat sitting client, Calvin, loves to lounge on the couch but when he gets tired of that he

 

                                        trots upstairs to search for
               

his litter mate, Lucy, who can always be found basking in the sunshine

 or purring on her comfortable, fluffy bed!

Calvin and Lucy were purrfectly happy to have their pet sitter visit them this weekend but even happier when their humans came home, of course!

Dolly Pepper's Redecorating Project

Hi there!

Remember me, Dolly Pepper, the gal who had a "light bulb moment" when I started thinking about redecorating my apartment? And do you remember that I've been a little restless because my humans were away for one year 14 days and I needed a distraction? 

If you don't remember, I'll recap, okay? Well, my pet sitter thought the best distraction would be for her to bring Daisy over for some visits. Now that was really nice of her because walking with a 2-legger is great and all but walking with a fellow coon hound was pawsome!

 But after Daisy left me alone with my thoughts on Saturday morning the light bulb went off again and the redecorating project began and

this is how my pet sitter found me on Saturday night! 

When April walked in she started laughing and then she said, "Dolly! You are silliest girl in the world! What do you call this new bed of yours, anyway?"

I gave her my most professional decorating face I could and said, "It's a Dolly Pepper Nest, don't you like it?"

And then April said, "Of course I love your new nest! Your nest is going to be all the rage once I publish this blog post, Dolly! Are you ready to be a door-to-door redecorator?"

And I said, "Working as a redecorator won't be ruff at all if treats are on the table!"

Hope you enjoyed my new redecorating project and if you need a nest you know who to call, right?

And The Winner Of The Silly Saturday Photo Caption Contest Is....

Thank you so much for pawticipating in the Silly Saturday Photo Caption Contest this weekend! Henry was purrfectly thrilled that his picture brought in 11 contestants and 13 captions!

Of all of the captions I chose, 

" You give Daisy a bath, why not me??",

written by Fern Reed who writes about her dog, Zoie, her cat, Happy, gardening, quilting, and healthy eating on her popular blog, Animal Lover, Quilt Lover!

So, congratulations, Fern! You have been inducted into the Silly Saturday Hall Of Fame and are the envy of all of Blogville! Your gifts and certificate will be arriving soon!

Silly Saturday Photo Caption Contest

 Henry needs you to shower him with lots of silly captions for this weekend's Silly Saturday Photo Caption Contest! Can you help? Can you figure out what he's thinking about? He looks like he's got a lot to say and needs your purrfect caption!

If you are feeling silly and wish to pawticipate, the rules of the contest are as follows:

1) You must be a blog follower to enter this contest!

2) When captioning, please tell me if you are following me via GFC, e-mail, or RSS. I will, of course, return the favor by becoming your newest follower.

3) Caption the silly photo. Enter as many times as you wish!

4) Not creative with captions? Vote for your favorite caption!

5) Submit your entries until noon (EST) tomorrow, August 26th! Sorry, late entries will not be accepted.

The winner of the contest will be announced on Sunday evening, August 26th, and will:

1) Receive a silly gift via USPS along with a  Silly Saturday Certificate of Recognition!

2) Be added to the Silly Saturday Hall Of Fame located on my sidebar!

   

Good luck, everyone, and have fun!

Everything I Need To Know In Life I Learned From My Dog

 

Ever since I adopted Daisy three years ago I gained a friend who taught me to look at life from her point of view and I can say that I'm a better person because of her. 

What about you? What have you learned from your dog(s)? And for those dog bloggers out there, what words of wisdom has helped your human's life be better than ever? 

Have a great Friday, everyone!

Dolly's New Distraction --- Daisy!

Notice the rearranged cushion behind me? Yup, I'm officially getting restless, my friends, because my humans have been away for 12 days so far and I've been redecorating the apartment when my pet sitter isn't looking. 

 As you can see from the look on my face, I'm pretty proud of what I've done to spiff up the place but my pet sitter thought I needed a break from my duties

 so she brought her coon hound, Daisy, over to distract me for a bit. 

You would think that two coon hounds would become close friends right away but

that didn't happen until we started walking  

and talking!

By the time the visit was over I almost forgot about redecorating the apartment but then a light bulb went on and another idea came to mind! Can you guess what I will do next?

Wordless Wednesday

Daisy's New Feeding Station Is The Cat's Meow!

 

When  I bought this charming dog feeding station at a yard sale on Sunday I was sure my coon hound, Daisy, would appreciate my bargain find but as soon as I brought it home Henry was the only one who showed any interest. 

While Daisy and Buster hung back in the bedroom, Henry walked into the kitchen to sniff it, rub against it, and then he stood tall on top of it and

as soon as I removed one of the bowls he hopped in the box and watched as I

filled the bowl with water and happily started drinking!

Whenever a dog related item arrives in my apartment Henry doesn't get offended but instead thinks it is purrfect for him! 

I have to wonder, though, if Daisy will ever eat and drink from from her new feeding station or if she will continue to eat in the living room as she has been doing for months?

Time Flies For Dolly Pepper When She's Having Fun!

 

Remember me? It's Dolly Pepper, my pet sitter's only 3-legged coon hound client! April has been taking care of me for 8 days so far and I've got 6 more days to go and then my humans will be home furever!

You would think that time has gone by slowly since my humans have been gone but you know what they say,

"Time flies when you're having fun!"

Let me show you how much fun I've been having, okay?

For starters, I ran through the fields

and made several pit stops when something smelled particularly sweet

and then I looked at squirrels and wondered how they would taste for dinner

but after trying really hard to catch the squirrels I decided begging for treats 

would be so much easier!

And that, my friends, is how time flies when you're having fun in Dolly Pepper's world! I hope you are having as much fun as I am today! 

Your friend, 

Dolly Pepper

Daisy Announces The Winner Of The "Silly Saturday Photo Caption Contest"!

Hello again!

It's me, Daisy, and I've got to tell you that I had so much fun hosting this Silly Saturday Photo Caption Contest that I want to host this event furever (if my mom lets me, that is)!


Thank you for reminding me of all the words that came out of my big mouth and for making me laugh while I read all of your captions! I wish I could give the Silly Saturday Hall of Fame award to everyone but my mom says she can't afford to do that so I chose Catherine Anne's caption ---

"I TOLD YOU! THE JUMBONES ARE HALF OFF AT WALMART!! Why won't you listen?"

Catherine Anne lives in the United Kingdom and is a model, blogger, bookkeeper, photographer, painter, planner, and momma to a little white German Shepherd named Nanook. 

Congratulations to Catherine Anne for figuring out what I was barking to all of my friends at the park and for pawticipating in this fun contest! 

XOXO-

Daisy

Daisy Hosts The "Silly Saturday Photo Caption Contest" For The Weekend!

Hi!

It's me, Daisy, and I'm hosting this Saturday's Photo Caption Contest because, let's face it, I've got a big mouth and I think I can use it to spread the word about this pawsome contest better than my mom can but don't tell my mom I said so, okay?

See the problem with this photo is that I can't remember why my mouth is wide open in this picture and I thought maybe you could jog (get it? jog?) my memory with a funny caption. Do you think I'm barking an order? Carrying a tune? Reminding my friends that my name is D-A-I-S-Y?  

If you can come up with a caption you are not only helping me remember what I said to my friends but you're also making my mom really happy because this contest thing was her idea and all.

If you are feeling silly and wish to pawticipate, the rules of the contest are as follows:

1) You must be a blog follower to enter this contest!  

2) When captioning, please tell me if you are following me via GFC, e-mail, or RSS. I will, of course, return the favor by becoming your newest follower.

3) Caption the silly photo. Enter as many times as you wish!

4) Not creative with captions? Vote for your favorite caption!

5) Submit your entries until noon (EST) tomorrow, August 19th! Sorry, late entries will not be accepted.

The winner of the contest will be announced on Sunday night, August 19th, and will:

1) Receive a silly gift via USPS along with a  Silly Saturday Certificate of Recognition!

2) Be added to the Silly Saturday Hall Of Fame located on my sidebar!
   
Good luck!

Daisy 

Devo Announces Mitt Romney Dog Song "Don't Roof Rack Me, Bro! (Remember Seamus)"

In case you haven't heard, New Wave band, Devo, will be releasing the single, "Don't Roof Rack Me, Bro! (Remember Seamus)", a track about Republican candidate Mitt Romney’s infamous 1983 road trip in which he transported the family dog from Massachusetts to Ontario in a kennel strapped to the roof of the family station wagon.

The song comes as Devo founder and commercial director Gerald V. Casale launches the Remember Seamus campaign, which is designed to help “make 2012 the year where animals like Seamus are valued and honesty is praised.” The band also is backing Dogs Against Romney.

Casale also appears to be involved in “The Crate Escape: Seamus Unleashed,” a new mobile app/game for smartphones that, according to its Facebook page, “lets Seamus get revenge against his arch enemy Mitt Romney” and which is set for release on Aug. 26 — National Dog Day.

Casale told the The Rolling Stone: “This isn’t a red-state thing or Devo stumping for Obama,” he says. “But I think any animal lover that hears the story will learn so much about the character flaw of Romney. It’s just a deal-breaker about the man. My God, the world is a scary place with seven billion people. What you want in a leader is a guy with some humanity at his core. I just don’t feel that Mitt does.”

Whether you are a supporter of Mitt Romney or not I would like 2012 to be the year that animals like Seamus are valued and praised and I'm sure you we can all agree to that, right? 

Happy 100th Birthday To Late Bloomer, Julia Child!

I didn't realize until today that yesterday was Julia Child's 100th birthday but I figure it is better to be late to honor her birthday today than never, right? 

My introduction to Julia Child came via the 2009 movie, Julie and Julia, a film that I could identify with because she was what one would consider a late bloomer.

Julia didn't discover her passion for cooking until she was 36 while attending the world famous Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris, France, while I didn't discover my passion for pets until I adopted my black and gray tabby, Henry, when I was 34.

Julia's love of cooking blossomed into the publication of Mastering The Art Of French Cooking and at 50 she was the star of her own show,The French Chef.

After adopting Henry and then Buster three years later I realized I had another passion, pet sitting, and at the age of 36, Teacher's Pet Sitting Service came to life.

Julia Child's motivation to co-author Mastering The Art Of French Cooking inspired me to start blogging about Henry, Buster, Daisy, and my pet sitting business at the age of 44 and I will forever be indebted to her for causing a late bloomer to realize my true passion! 

Happy birthday, Julia Child! You will forever be an inspiration!