Showing posts with label walk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label walk. Show all posts

Saturday, November 14, 2009

B.R. 11/14/09 -- WPB Green Market

After procrastinating for the past three weeks, Olive and I finally made it to the West Palm Beach Green Market. Here's our route. The market is at Second and Narcissus, i.e. the highlighted square.

We were pleasantly surprised. It was bigger -- about two blocks long -- and more varied than I'd been expecting. There were stands selling farm-fresh produce, as as well as local products from honey (!) and alligator meat (which while intriguing made me sad nonetheless). The B was pleasantly surprised that although there were a lot of people and dogs, the ones that we met were all very well-behaved and generally her size. There's nothing the B likes better than to boss around another small dog. That's just how she is.

While there, the B and I shared a berry smoothie; and although she expressed interest in my conch fritters, I was not inclined to share them. Since I'd skipped breakfast, I'd thought about getting something pastry-ish at the green market, but figured that while in Rome.... The fritters were quite tasty, especially when I added, at the insistence of the vendor, "mama's special secret sauce". I don't know whose mama made that sauce or what made it so special secret but it was special delicious.

On our way home, we stopped over at Meyer Amphitheater where the B tried to sniff out the remaining fritters while I people watched:

Generally, the other animals we see on our walks, besides other people out walking their piaps, are small geckos and stray cats, though we only see the latter when we cross the parking lot of this nearby church. There is this boil of hawks (I think though they could be vultures -- it's hard to tell since they're so far away) that I see circling this one particular building downtown, but that's for another day. Anyway, as I was saying, we generally see only a few types of animals, which is why it was so startling when this bird hopped out of a bush right next to us and flew a few feet away to parking lot:

It looks like a cattle egret, but I'm no expert.

That's one thing I haven't gotten used to down there. There are no pigeons, but rather egrets and hawks (maybe vultures).

Saturday, August 15, 2009

B.R. 8/15/09 -- Nanerbread

It's been a while since the last baby report, but I'm happy to report that both the baby and MisterMister are doing just fine. In fact, the b has just returned from a two-night slumber party at Enn's. While there, the b had a wonderful time getting a full-on lint roll massage that lifted her away her excess hair and left her coat feeling soft and plush. She also enjoyed a relaxing walk that took her around the many sights in the downtown area. The only part of her slumber party that she did not seem to like was when Ames and Enn made nanerbread. For some reason the making of nanerbread was disturbing enough to her that she hid underneath Enn's bed. Maybe she thought that Enn was going to try to feed her all that chocolate like she did with the grapes. Anyway, I'm sure MisterMister would be proud to hear that the b picked up on this littl trick of his.

Speaking of MisterMister, I think he enjoyed not having to compete with the b for attention, or having the b lick his face. Oh well, maybe one day the b will win him over.

Live baby report: The baby is curled up on a pillow with semi-closed eyes. MisterMister is behind my head, resting on the back of the sofa. Max, a puppy who lives down the hallway, is getting his nightly lecture, "Max! Maaax! Maaaax!"

Monday, April 13, 2009

B.R. 4/13/09 -- a fruity day

Thanks to the baby I awoke nice and early this morning. I dunno why but she's taken to waking up with the sun, and then insisting that I wake up shortly thereafter. Lucky she's cute (and I wanted to get up early) or else I'd have chucked something at her. As always she was very excited to see me up and about, and proceeded to jump back onto the bed to lick Memphis in the face so as to share the joy with him. After a rousing game of fetch (baby) and string on a stick (Memphis), we had breaky and then everyone except for me proceeded to nap in the sun. Of course, the baby, being the baby and a dog and therefore always up for some snacking, managed to rouse herself briefly so as to partake in some of my pear; masticated of course. This seemed to be the theme of the day -- eat some fruit with the baby -- because later in the afternoon, the baby insisted on sharing some of my orange, and then tonight, some strawberries. Memphis, however, showed zero interest in anything that's not chicken, fish, beef, or some derivation thereof.

The baby had a nice walk today. Though I think I'll need to ease her back into the whole "walking outside" thing as she's super skittish whenever we run into another dog; even more so than she was last year. As soon as we see another piap, her ears go back, her tail tucks, and she slinks behind me -- even if the other piap is across the street (!) I dunno, but we'll definitely have to work on that.

In the meantime, here's the baby looking rather presidential:


Not to be outdone, here's Memphis giving me his best serious face:

Friday, April 10, 2009

Second Walk of '09

I forgot to map our inaugural walk so we're starting coverage for the baby's ambulations with her second walk of '09. Whut.

Here's a pic of our route and a shot of the baby enjoying the outdoors -- click for a larger image:


All in all we covered about 2.25 miles, and revisited many of our favorite blocks. We also managed to make a pit stop on Montague to buy the baby a new harness as she seems to have grown this past winter so that her old harness has become somewhat snug against her expanding ribs. Along the way, the baby's presence elicited many gasps and cooing sounds from passersby, as well as interest of many small children. Re: other piaps? The baby managed to snub the attention of one mystery-doo, one king charles spaniel, and one dachshund who we actually ran into twice during our foray outside. So some things haven't changed.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

B.R. 11/9/08 -- a new addition (possibly)

The baby tried, rather futilely, to wake me up this morning. Not that I was sleeping in late -- 8:30 a.m.; but since she'd been hopping up and down on me for a while, I'm sure she'd been up for hours. Not surprisingly, I was greeted by a nicely formed nugget of yump and a large puddle of sinkle upon my entry to the b-room. I'm so glad that the baby hits the mark these days. I would hate to have to start cleaning as soon as I wake up. Anyway, no doubt the baby had a light night since she'd been EXTREMELY curious about our new guest.

KJ and BP had brought one of their feline foundlings up to us yesterday in the hopes of finding him a forever home. I'd been thinking about getting the baby a four-legged companion, so I thought that we'd give the kitty a try. His name is Memphis and he's a large kitty whose coat is primarily black but has white flecks throughout. Although his weight is only double that of the baby's (he's 12 lbs), size-wise, he's probably 3x as large as the baby. I hope he doesn't mistake her for prey. *worries*

Anyway, I've been staying at home trying to keep an eye on them so that nothing bad happens. So far, not much has happened. The baby is curious and gets very excited upon seeing Memphis. Meanwhile, Memphis has been keeping his distance and hiding out under various pieces of furniture. The few times they've come face to face, Memphis has hissed at the baby. I'm not such a fan of the hissing, and hope that it will end soon if only for the fact that he has horribly wretched breath.

To help Memphis settle in, the baby and I took a couple of walks this morning to leave him to explore his new surroundings. First we dropped off KJ and BP at their car; and then we took a longer walk around the Heights. It was very windy, but the baby didn't seem to notice. I was quite proud of her as she carried on during without seeming to notice the body-buffeting winds (esp. along the Promenade). Maybe one day Memphis can join us on our walks, but first we'll need to get him and the baby to get a little friendlier with each other -- or at least to a state of détente.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

B.R. 8/20/08

I had an early morning call today so the baby and I awoke extra early today -- too early if you ask me. I think the baby must have been surprised that I actually got out of bed upon hearing the alarm as opposed to sleeping right through it (or trying to anyway) as I normally tend to do. Since I knew that I had to leave much earlier than usual today I built in some extra time for feeding and playing so that the baby wouldn't feel ripped off or confused or whatever's going on in that little coconut head of hers. Anyway, it all worked out -- the baby got her playtime, she got her usual fill of treats while I snuck out the door, and I got to work on time.

It had been the plan to be home a little earlier than usual since I'd left so early in the morning, but alas it was not to be so due to a late afternoon assignment. Why do bosses always wait until the end of the day to give out assignments? Anyway, thank goodness for remote desktop cuz despite the late notice I still managed to get away at a decent time.

Upon my return, the baby and I played some fetch and then she had some dinner. Then later she and I shared in some popcorn. She tried to be sly and secretly picked up a couple of the kernels that had fallen onto the floor; but luckily for me, she figured out two things w/o doing too much damage to herself: (1) they're not as tastey unpopped, and (2) they seemed to be a bit tough for her teeth. After a rest, and a little Olympics-watching the baby and I headed out for our evening stroll. Nothing too eventful occurred, though the baby did "play" (or at least the closest the baby ever comes to playing) with this largish pup that was also out for a run on Cadman Plaza. That pup must've been 60lbs or so, but I have to say that the baby held her own -- she's quick and fierce!

Monday, August 18, 2008

B.R. 8/18/08

The baby woke me up this morning. What else is new. Hmm. We had a very nice morning with lots of fetch and chasing. She had some chikum with a little kibble and shared a nectarine with me. She had two sinkles -- I think one (the bigger one) was out of necessity and the other (smaller one) was to get me to finally wake up. She also a yump party on her pad and also on the towel that I had on the b-room floor. Unfortunately the pad had all the firm yumps while the towel had the squishy yump. Bleh. Still I can't blame her that she wanted to "wipe" her butz on the towel. I'd want to do the same. Anyway, the rest of the morning was somewhat uneventful after the aforementioned party.

Later in the evening, the baby and I took our usual walk around the Heights to Cadman Plaza. Once there, we played tag and after both of us were sufficiently tired we returned home for some icy drinks. Unbeknownst to us, we had a little stowaway. While messaging the baby, I noticed a little black dot. A jumpy black dot. It was a FLEA! I tried to grab it but the sucker jumped away. I've searched the baby but it hasn't returned to her -- and I'm pretty sure it's not on me. Anyway, I'm not going to rest until I find that sucker (quite literally). B*gger!

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

B.R. 8/12/08 -- Watch the Baby Play!

Thank goodness for the baby. If it wasn't for her I probably wouldn't have gotten out of bed in time for work these past few days. She's usually up an hour before I am, and during that time, she bides her time waiting for me to wake up. If the door to the bedroom is open, she'll head out to play in the living room but will wander in and out of the bedroom to check if I'm awake. If the door is closed, she'll sit and watch and occasionally get up for a close up inspection. And how does the baby inspect? By sniffing and licking my face to see if I'm awake. If I react, she'll jump up and down on my torso while unleashing a torrent of licks all over my face, arms (as I try to protect my face from her tongued assault), and hands. Most of the time I'll play dead just so she'll leave me alone until the next inspection. Anyway, thank goodness for her insistence that I get up cuz my alarm and willpower aren't cutting it.

After she got me up this morning, we played a quick game of fetch and then ate our respective breakies -- chickum and kibble for her, multi-grain Cheerios for me. While she was busy sunning herself, I snuck off for a quick shower. She must've been sun-deprived from yesterday (heavy rainstorm = no sun) cuz she was sun-worshiping with the fervor of a born-again. The only time she got up was when she realized I was leaving. Not that she was that upset, but rather she knows now that my leaving meant that we were about to play "hide the treats".

Speaking of food, the baby ate all her kibbles today. That is, she finished her replenished kibble bowl just a short while ago for her (almost) midnight snack. I don't think it was our walk from tonight since we didn't go for as long as we normally do. Perhaps it was her yump party about an hour ago. The amount she put out makes it possible for one to believe that she pretty much cleaned out her system and was therefore able to take in some additional food.

In any case, a special treat for the baby's fans. Here's a video taken a little earlier this evening after the baby and I returned from our walk -- be ready to be awed by her athleticism:

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Bad Memory = Hungry Baby

So I was sitting at the computer while watching the Olympics and chomping on some cheerios when the baby positions herself directly in front of me and stares with these unblinking eyes. We'd just returned from our walk and romp in the park and I'd already played another 10-15 minutes worth of fetch with her so I doubted that she was seeking attention; could've been, but probably not. Anyway, I thought that she was just begging (silently) for some food. No way was I going to feed her fruity Cheerios what with the sugar and the corn content. "Feed her", for some reason those words stuck in my head. I suppose it was then that the wheels in my head started turning and I wondered if I fed her -- that is since this morning. I thought I did, but...

It was then that I recalled how she kinda hoovered the treats that Ric the concierge had given her. Hmm. But I must've fed her, no? It was already 10:30 p.m. which was waaaay past her usual dinner-time. I thought hard, and could envision myself feeding her. Or was I just remembering this morning???

Slowly, I started to doubt myself and had a sick feeling that I'd forgotten. For a final confirmation I went to the kitchen to check on the amount of chickum I had left in the 'fridge, and sure enough everything was as I'd left it THIS MORNING. Oops. No wonder she was looking at me stuffing my face with Cheerios as if I was holding out on her, cuz I was! Yet another instance of where it'd have been really helpful if she could've just vocalized the reason for her discontent. Aiya.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Midnight Snack

It's a couple of hours after the baby and I finished our walk. I was feeling a bit peckish so I made myself some popcorn with butter, salt and sugar. Of course the baby wanted some, so I made a little ramekin-ful of unsalted and unsugared popcorn from which I fed the baby. That must've goten her stummy juices going cuz then a little while later she went around to her kibble bowl and finished off all the kibbles that were in there. This isn't too unusual since she often likes to enjoy a little midnight snack, but what I didn't expect was that a little while after she cleaned out her kibble bowl she'd go back to check to see if some kibbles magically appeared while she wasn't looking. Since she seemed hungry still (and the vet did say to me once that I should feed her as much as she wanted to eat cuz she was a bit underweight -- now, I don't know if she's still underweight but since she's always hovered around 5 lbs ever since I've gotten her I'm going to assume that if anything she's not overweight) I fished out the remnants of her chickum that she would've gotten as her breaky (along with some add'l chickum cuz there really wasn't enough left for a meal) and fed it to her.

I'm getting ready for a yump party either tomorrow morning, or more likely, while I'm at work. Better paper the bathroom.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

B.R. 8/6/08 -- muchos mosquitos

Nothing too unusual this morning -- we woke up at our usual time, played fetch, ate breaky, and then I left while the baby played "find the treats".

The real news, or at least the item of note, is that there were ALOT of skeeters around tonight. Maybe they're always there but the baby and I are always moving too quickly for them to bite, cuz I've never been bitten on a walk before, but tonight's walk was a different story altogether. While the baby and I were in Cadman Plaza I got bitten three times on my right leg, one time on my left, and once on the back of my left hand. I didn't see any welts on the baby, which can only mean two things: (1) she did get bitten but doesn't have the same reaction as I do, i.e. huge azz welts, or (2) they left her completely alone while they chowed down on me. In any case, at least one of us (if not both of us) will be itching our way through tonight. Stupid bugs.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

B.R. 8/5/08

A day of normality after last night's emotional turn... and sadly for the baby that meant I had to run off right after feeding her some breaky and playing some fetch. However, she didn't seem to mind as we've started a new game of "finding treats when mommy leaves for work". This game is played by me cutting up some jerky treats and hiding the cut up slices of jerky around the apartment with one hand while I hold the baby in the other (so she can't see where I'm hiding the treats). I don't make it too hard for her because if I do she won't be able to find it, but it's I don't leave things out in the open either. From a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the easiest and 10 the hardest, I'd say that most treats are hidden with a difficulty level of a 5 while some are 7 or maybe 8. Anyway, we've been doing this for about a week now, so she knows that me leaving = treat finding time.

Upon my return she greeted me as she always does, which was with lots of jumps and licks and jumps and some nuzzling and some more licks -- then run to the bone so we can play fetch. After some dinner and fetch, the baby took our evening walk. I had expected to carry her into the elevator since she seemed somewhat traumatized by it last night, but she seemed ok with getting on and off by herself. One thing of note during our walk is that we saw some cray man running after his pug up Pierrepont and then down Willow. The baby was very much interested by this cray pair (probably because she's a nosy little girl) and insisted on following the two in a brisk, but dignified manner. She's such a rubbernecker.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Near Death Experience!

We had a slight incident on the way back from our walk this evening.

We'd just entered the elevator when the baby, frightened by the closing doors, ran back out. While I was still holding onto her leash!!! It was like a bad movie. I let go of the leash and watched it slide lower and lower down the crevice of between the elevator doors as the elevator rose higher and higher.

I tried shoving the leash through the crack but it wouldn't go.

I heard a high pitched yelp and imagined the baby getting lifted up and getting her little breath squeezed out of her.

I started jamming all the buttons and pulled the elevator alarm and stop buttons, but by the time that the elevator had stopped I was already on the 5th floor. At least by then I noticed that the leash had been sucked away, though in what state I knew not. I quickly got out my cellphone and tried dialing the front desk -- though in my panic I misdialed several times before actually getting the correct number. I must've sounded like a crazy person as I blurted out "I'm in the elevator but my dog got stuck outside, could you take a look at the elevator to see if she's ok???" All the while I imagined that the baby had been the victim of either strangulation or a gruesome death of getting turned into puppy jam. I was prepared for a lifetime of regrets... but luckily the front desk replied that he had her and she was safe if a bit freaked out. She did not enjoy getting on the elevator to get back home but I hoped the hug and the treat when get got home helped.

I need a sedative now.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

B.R. 8/3/07

The baby can't nelieve it's Sunday already. The weekend came and went so quickly -- Saturday was kinda of bust what with the torrential rainstorm; but today was a just gorgeous. Too bad for the baby I had a horrible headache for most of the day. Still, we managed to head back out for a vigorous run in the park and a leisurely walk in the cool summer evening. I think I did good cuz now she's passed out cold:

Friday, August 1, 2008

B.R. 8/1/08

Very briefly, here is the route to today's walk: la la (look where we went).

Now that's out of the way, I'd like to take this opportunity to highlight the baby's sometimes ridic poses. I know she likes to be comfortable, but sometimes she takes it a bit far and can be a bit precious with her poses. Here's one from today -- the leg cross is just too ridic:

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

B.R. 7/30/08

Once again the baby tried to wake me up. Sadly for both of us it was at 6:34 a.m. Needless to say I did not get up, despite the baby's best efforts -- jumping on me, licking my face, doing a dig-dig by my armpit, etc. It's a good thing that she gives up after a few minutes. *And* that she had a big sinkle the night before so none of the little sinkle shenanigans of the previous day.

When I did finally get up, she was of course overjoyed. However, because I think I may be unintentionally spoiling her by playing with her immediately upon entering the living room I waited a few minutes before playing fetch -- and by "a few minutes" I meant as long as it took me to wander around looking for my glasses. I think she was absolutely confused by this little bit of delay. Not to mention, I probably looked a little crazed and aimless as I was still sleepy and couldn't really see anything since I didn't have my glasses on.

Later in the evening -- after getting back from work -- the baby and I took our usual walk around the Heights. After running around Cadman Plaza like a crazy person, the baby very nicely followed me around the running path while being off-leash. She really is very good about being off-leash as her attention did not sway even when we passed a group of annoyingly juvenile construction workers who tried to get her attention by whistling and beckoning in high, sing-song voices.

Live baby report: Digging around her blankie on the floor, perhaps in search of a treat (since I sometimes hide treats there to encourage her foraging skills).

Sunday, July 27, 2008

B.R. 7/27/08 -- Weekend Wrapup

The baby had a very busy weekend with KJ and BP. The pair had come up for the weekend on Thurs, and the baby had her paws full playing hostess.

On Friday, she showed KJ and BP the Promenade, as well as her athletic prowess as she dared those two to catch her in a game of tag on Cadman Plaza -- they couldn't! While at Cadman Plaza, the baby also met two piaps -- Brownie the dachshund and Collin the bichon frise. Although the baby seemed initially frightened by these two piaps, she soon settled down. She even tried to sneak a sniff or two at both Brownie and Collin -- that is, as each walked away from her. The baby doesn't seem to get that the play pose only works if one is doing it to someone else's face, and not their bum. And what happened when one of these piaps would turn around when the baby got into a play pose behind their respective back? The baby would turn tail and run away. Even still, I think her socialization skills have improved a great deal within the past couple of months. Hopefully by the end of the summer she'll be comfortable enough other dogs that she may even play pose them to their face and not their butz.

Then on Saturday, the baby led the three of us to Aunt Ephanie's for some Bon Chon chicken (and sushi for me) and cupcakes -- all in the name of Enn's B-Day celebration. The baby is amazed that Enn is able to move as well as she does for being as old as she is, but I guess as compared with her 16 months Enn's 384 months must seem quite ancient. And although the baby had a terrific time at the party, she was quite sad that no one wanted to share knuckles with her. That said, she did get to have an extra large piece of chickum in honor of her old muhmuh.

I think the baby must've been tuckered out by the activities of the past several days, because she was -- quite frankly -- a little slow in getting up this morning. Although she got out of bed when I did, I noticed that she deposited herself upon BP's aerobed promptly upon entering the living room. Then later, as I returned to the bedroom after my shower, she took the opportunity to sneak herself back into the bedroom and onto the bed. All day long she's been somewhat lackadaisical in play. She was even a bit slow as we started out on our walk today; though she did put some zing into her steps when we ran around Cadman Plaza like crazy people.

Live baby report -- passed the s out.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

B.R. 8/23/08

Thank goodness for the baby. If it wasn't for her I probably wouldn't have gotten out of bed until well after what was acceptable for work. Turns out that I forgot to set my alarm last night, and with the noise machine on it wasn't like I was going to hear the traffic or anything else that would've woken me up. But never fear, there's the baby. Twice she came into the room to jump on my body/face. I thought she was just getting antsy, since she settled down after the first time and curled up for a little while (I think -- can't be sure cuz you know, I drifted back to sleep). When she did it the second time, I thought that I might as well check the time cuz it seemed as if I'd been asleep for a while. Also, I wanted to check if the baby had sinkled or anything else. As it turned out, she did -- twice! Some bell should've gone off in my head cuz she only acts "pesty" when she wants me to come with her to the b-room so that she'd get praise for going no. 1 or no. 2. She's good that way.

Well, once I check the time I got a little freaked out because it was late!

After a quick breaky for the baby and a little breaky for me -- and a quick game of fetch as a reward cuz she did wake my azz up -- I got to work.

Knowing that it was going to rain today -- supposedly all day though as it turned out it was only early this morning and then again in the evening -- I took the baby out a little earlier than usual for our daily walk. Since it was still daylight out, quite unlike our usual walks, I brought along a camera in case the baby was feeling like posing. She did! Here's the baby on the Promenade (a little Vertigo, dontcha think, that is if vertigo was horizontal and not vertical, well whatever, you get the point) ------>

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

B.R. 7/22/08

The baby is recovering from a weekend of heat and humidity. However, ever the trooper, she was up for a leisurely stroll this evening. I don't know what the weather people are complaining about, I thought it was perfectly nice out even if the temp was around 85 degrees. There was a nice breeze, esp. by the Promenade.

The baby had a pretty good time I think. We ran into a little fawn colored chi who looked like her mini-me -- a little smaller and a little squatter. Well, actually a lot squatter. Mini-me's muhmuh even said, pointing to the baby, "see, that's what you'd look like if you exercised"; oh, snap. Then later we ran into some other pups from our building: a pit bull named "socks", a great dane named "pansy" and a futz lab whose name I did not catch. The baby did not play with these pups, but rather hid behind my legs. Oh well. At least she didn't growl and snap.

Now the baby is passed the s out. Sometimes when she does this her face gets all smooshed like this:

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Two Walks

Yesterday.

Today.

Different routes, similar items of note:

(1) The baby ran like a crazy person in Cadman Plaza.

(2) The baby has a penchant for jumping off of the curb in search of edible or potable garbee.

(3) The baby is still not interested in other dogs except in circumstances where she can sneak up behind him for a stealth sniff.