True Colors Thursday - Violet

Yeaaaaaaaaa, one of our favorite days has rolled around once again! We just love playing! If you are so inclined, let Blue know!
Today's color is violet!

These are Johnny Jump-ups that are still blooming in our garden! Mom just loves that face!
We were lucky enough to snag the picture of the violet Asters before they were history for this year!Our violet ice cream spoon!
Mom made this scarf a few years back! It has violet yarn in it!
My red hatter collar has violet in it too!
No, Mitch, this is my bed! Go sleep on the other one!
Next week's color is lapis lazuli, which is a bright blue!

So until next time...................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - Airedale Christmas Tree

Hi everybody! It's me, Autumn!I just have to know - who else has their Christmas tree up? Am I the first one?

The Airedale Christmas tree is always the first tree to go up at our house and it's always the last one to come down! We just LOVE our Airedale tree and we wish it could stay up all year!
Mom has made so many of the ornaments on this tree! She's made this felt one with the Airedale face on it a couple of years ago! It's so easy to make ornies with felt because there are no raw edges on the felt to ravel. You just cut out your shape with sissors and use the buttonhole stitch to sew the face to the backing! And if you don't want to sew you can use glue! It's so simple and you have a handmade ornie for your tree!
Mom makes all of the wooden ornies too! It's been a couple of years since she's made a new one though and this year will be no different! The Crump timberframe project is keeping her and dad too busy to have fun in the workshop!The darker wooden Airedale is mahogany and the lighter one just above it is tiger maple. A lot of the ornaments are butternut. It's a very easy wood to work with and it's such a pretty light color!
Now I have to tell you all a secret! See the stocking ornie in this next picture?
Mom has been knitting away and she has 4 stockings similar to this one and Maggie and Mitch are going to be having a Christmas stocking give-away very, very soon so be on the lookout for that and shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, don't tell anyone that I blew the secret, okay?See you all next Wednesday!

Love, Autumn

Chaos Before Dindin

Remember last month when we told you that this picture was most deceiving and that we're really not the little angels that we appear to be when mom is fixing our dindin bowls?

A couple of you asked to see a video of us in action and believe it or not, it's taken mom this long to get that video!
As soon as mom would start to record, Mitch would become a little angel and he wouldn't perform like he normally does and she'd have to stop recording and wait till the next day! It's only dindin time that it happens - not breakie!
HA! She finally wore the little bugger down!
Take a look~

So until next time.......................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Happy Transplant Anniversary, Dad

Today our dad has had his transplanted heart for 5 years! We can't thank his donor family enough for this precious gift and we can't thank dad's "Boston Girl" enough for saving his life! Dad has one strong heart and he never takes it for granted. He takes good care of himself with proper diet (well, there is that occasional pizza) and lots of exercise and he volunteers at the hospital helping and encouraging patients who are waiting for their miracles to happen!

The transplant community believes in celebrating your new heart with a new birth-day so this means that dad actually has 2 birthdays!
The first one happened a couple of weeks ago when he came home from Rhode Island for the night and the second one is today so that means BIGTIME celebrations!

We are grabbing Tinny, the TinMan and our special dindin bag that holds mom and dad's water bottles and our ice cream spoon and we're celebrating!We're heading to Glenwood for burgers and fries and then we'll be off to Wentworth's for celebration ice cream! whooooooooohooooooooo We can't wait!

Happy transplant anniversary and birth-day, dad! And thank you so much, Boston Girl for saving our dad's life! We are so very thankful! We love our dad!

So until next time..................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

True Colors Thursday - Canary Yellow

Welcome to true colors Thursday! Our hostess is Blue! If you'd like to join in the fun, stop by her blog and let her know!Today's color is canary yellow!
These pretty hankies are yellow!
This stained glass lemon in our laundry room window has yellow in it.
These yellow mums that Mitch is about to lift his leg and pee on are yellow!This box of golden raisins is yellow!

No, I didn't get to eat any! Bummer!The handle on this screwdriver is yellow!

The duckie inside this egg is yellow!
No, it's not yours, Mitch!
Next week's color is violet!

So until next time....................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - The Tart Melter

Hi everyone! It's me, Autumn!
We have this most awesome device at our house that mom calls the tart melter! She pretty much puts it away for the spring and summer but when autumn and winter come around and the windows are closed and the heat is on and she wants the house to smell good, the tart melter gets put back into use!

The hardest part is deciding which scent candle to melt on any given day! This one is Cinnamon Coffee Cake and it smells delicious and its fragrance is permeating our entire house!Mom takes a knife and chunks up a candle. She used to use tarts that were designed for the tart melter but it's more expensive that way. She adds a few chunks to the tin basket and turns on the switch and voila!The really nice thing about the tart melter is that there is no open flame so you don't have that worry and the electric light bulb and the melter actually put off a small amount of heat and who doesn't need extra heat when it's cold out! We sure love our tart melter and can't imagine life without one.
Does anyone else have one?

See you all next Wednesday!

Love, Autumn

Blame It On Mitch

Guess what happened?
I poo'd in the kitchen Friday night after everyone went to bed! I left a real goody right in front of the back door and I went all over the kitchen rug and it wasn't a pretty sight! Mom wasn't too happy when she got up the next morning!

Later on morning walkies, mom thought about how this possibly could have happened and then it dawned on her - it wasn't my fault - it was clearly Mitch's fault!
When mom takes me out to poo after dindin, lots of times Mitch comes along with us. He almost never has to poo but he always pees and then because he hates being bored waiting for me to decide where the best spot is for me to go, he creates distractions to entertain himself!

A motorcycle went by just as I was about to assume the position and Mitch hates motorcycles so he took the opportunity at that moment to lunge forward and try to let the motorcyclist know that it was totally unacceptable to be riding on OUR street in front of OUR house! And naturally I had to forget about what was most important at that moment and back Mitch up, right?
I never got back on track so it's clearly Mitch's fault that I poo'd in the kitchen! Mom has let me off the hook completely and she even hugged and kissed me and apologized to me!
Wow - who would have thought!

I was thinking that if any of you ever need your moms to forgive and forget for any trouble that you might have gotten yourself into, I can mail Mitch to your house and he can take the blame for whatever you've done wrong and all will be forgiven and you'll be GOLD!
Does this sound like a plan?I think this box looks like the perfect fit for you, Mitch!
Get your hiney in there! We want to make sure that you have at least a little bit of breathing room!
The box even says FRAGILE on it, so you're all set! In you go!Is this a great idea, or what?
I'm sitting by the phone! My phone number is area code (BLA)-ME M-ITCH!
I hope to hear from someone soon!

So until next time...................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Happy Halloween

We want to wish everyone out there a happy Halloween! Luckily for us, our mom doesn't make us wear all of those nutty embarrassing costumes! We can get away with just bandanas!
Thanks, mom!

Autumn, Deirdre and Farley are all planning on going out trick or treating tonight together! Mom says that furkids need to go in groups to stay safe!
For us doggies - remember to JUST SAY NO to any candy, and especially chocolate!
Stay safe, everyone!

So until next time..................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

EyeWatch Friday - Dad Returns

Welcome to Norwood's eyewatch Friday!
It's been so boring while dad's been away!
But guess what?He's coming home this afternoon and for good! yipppeeeeeee
No more weeks to spend in Rhode Island!
We can't wait!

Have a great Friday everyone!

So until next time...................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

True Colors Thursday - Black

Yeaaaaaaaaaaa, it's true colors Thursday again! If you want to play, leave our hostess, Blue, a message and she'll sign you up!
Today's color is black!

One of Mitch's favorite toys, and mom's too, is this indestructible udder tug toy! Mom and Mitch love playing together and I get very jealous and barge in on their fun and tell them both off! Hey, I wanna play too!Dad let me wear one of his Indian motorcycle caps!This is mom's black mammy doll! It used to be nanny's but when she passed away mom inherited her! She lives in our kitchen!
My nose is black!
Our gram made this bunny when she was in ceramics class years ago! She calls the white tooling on him scrafitto!
OOPS! We missed the witch's green face from last week's true colors but she's wearing black so we're safe to use her this week!Anytime we see this black lunchbag come out of hiding we know we're going out to dindin with mom and dad! Their water bottles are in there and so is our purple ice cream spoon!
Hurry up, dad! We're starving!We would like to wish our friend Kodiak a very happy birthday! He is 12 years old today! Kodiak is Falcon's grandpa! They live together with their mom, Faye, in Michigan!
We hope you have the best birthday ever, Kodiak, with a hamburger and some ice cream!
Next week's color is canary yellow!

So until next time................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Wheelie Wednesday - Barktoberfest Lemon Bars

Hi everyone! It's me, Autumn!
You all know that this past Sunday, Maggie and Mitch went to Barktoberfest in Kent, Connecticut. They always take a dessert to share and Maggie and I helped mom make Lemon Bars to share!
Maggie wasn't too happy to hear that mom chose to make something lemon flavored seeing as that's her worst nightmare!We mixed the whole box of cake mix plus 1 egg and 1/2 cup of vegetable oil together very well. It's a very dry mixture so you have to stomp it into a 13" X 9" pan. It's impossible to be neat about spreading this mixture out so I used my paws! Yes, I washed them first - and we reserved 1 cup of this mixture to be sprinkled on the top later.
This pan goes into a 350 degree oven for 15 minutes. When 15 minutes is up you take it out of the oven and set it on top of the stove to cool.
Meanwhile, you mix 8 ounces of cream cheese with 1/3 cup sugar and 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice together! This gets spread on top of the cookie crust after it's cooled off!
Holy cow, mom! Maggie is eating lemon! You got a picture for evidence, right?!
Here the cream cheese mixture has been spread on top of the baked crust and then we've sprinkled the remaining crumbly batter on top! It's ready for the oven again and it bakes for another 15 minutes!
All done and it's looking and smelling soooooooo yummy!
Maggie told me that this picture was taken early on and that by the time they left Barktoberfest there wasn't a crumb left! I guess the Lemon Bars were a hit!

See you all next Wednesday!

Love, Autumn

Goodies from Barktoberfest

As promised, we'll share the must-have goodies that mom bought Sunday at Barktoberfest.
First off - mom says that it is literally impossible to stand in front of Carol Usher's Wooliedales and not drool all over yourself! Her work is fabulous to see in person and you want to buy everything you see!

You can't imagine how large these two Dales in this chair are and how cute and how tempting. Mom was secretly planning on where she'd put it in the house if she came home with it?!
So far mom has behaved herself on this issue but she did purchase this guy!
Macintosh Mitch is not at all happy that this thief has come to live with us!
Of course all of those apples are for him but this boy has other ideas! Geez, he needs a name! Any thoughts, you guys?
He is very regal and very handsome but very cagey!
And you'll probably want to know why Mitch is looking so depressed. Dad left yesterday morning to go back to Rhode Island for the whole week. Mitch started to miss dad before his truck even got to the end of the driveway! That boy sure loves hanging with his dad!The second goodie that mom purchased was made by artist Lynda Pleet! Mom used to see these on ebay a couple of years ago and always thought of bidding on one but was never quite sure! And now that she saw it in person - SOLD! And the money goes to Airedale Rescue so you can't go wrong!
We were outside yesterday afternoon while mom vacuumed the car and washed the windows! She wondered how all of those new snool marks got there seeing as she had just washed the windows the morning before we left for Barktoberfest!
Sheesh - how should we know? *wink wink*
This is our burning bush in its autumn glory~
So until next time.................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

Barktoberfest

We pulled up alongside Barbara Curtiss's house yesterday morning and this is the first sight we saw! This is my 7th year visiting NEAR and each year brings so many smiles! We just love coming here for Barktoberfest!
Denis's sculptures are awesome! They're fabulous to see in person!
Mitch wanted to know if that was Janie! She had a lot of fur but no pretty bow!
Is that Dexter we see?!
I met a 15-year old Welshie named Reilly. He's Barbara Curtiss' doggie and he was the oldest doggie at the event!
Carol Usher was there with her dogs, Jessie and Scuffer, and she did demonstrate the art of needle felting! Mom would have liked to stand there all day and watch her poke away! She's a master with that barbed needle!
And she brought goodies to sell and yes, mom did buy one of them! We'll save that post for tomorrow.
There was a Dale dressed as a witch~And a Wire Fox Terrier dressed as a lobster.
That's Mitch with his tongue hanging out and a very interested dad right beside him! hehehe
Check out that huge bumble bee! He's standing on a table so he's really not as big as a horse!
I tried to catch a hotdog - and missed! That's Barbara Curtiss that's hanging onto my leash!And Mitch did worse at the hotdog toss than I did!We got treats! Thanks, dad!
And we had a great time!
And we were anxious to get home for dindin!
It was an exhausting day~
But so much fun and we wouldn't trade any part of it!
We'll be back tomorrow to show you the goodies that mom bought!

So until next time...............

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch

An Instant Replay of Wednesday

Guess what we had for dindin again tonight? PIZZA!!!!!!!!!
You all know that October is National Pizza Month, right? Mom and dad are going for the record! This makes two fresh tomato pies in less than one week!We always get more than crumbs out of an empty box! I'm ready and waiting, mom!
And I have my tongue curled right around that yummy pizza crust!
And you already know that we didn't get pictures of dad opening his pressie on his birthday, which was this past Wednesday; but we did get a picture of dad wearing his new birthday t-shirt with his favorite boy!
You might be his favorite boy, Mitch, but I'm his favorite girl so we're equal!Tomorrow is going to be a super fun day for us! We're going to Northwestern Connecticut for Barktoberfest! Word has it that Carol Usher will be there and she will be demonstrating the art of needle felting! Mom can't wait and neither can we!
Don't forget our water cooler mom! You know how I hate sharing water bowls with other doggies! DoG forbid we get cooties, right?!

So until next time.....................

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch