All I can say about my little terrier is that she will never be an Instagram star. She views posing for the camera a personal insult to all dogs. All I can say is she is much better than my Maltese was. Poor Olive thought she was being punished and she would look away when I tried taking a picture. But Olive loved to dress up. But to Penny, dressing up is the worst punishment out there.

So I made her a patriotic bandana for the 250th celebration. I was sure I could get one quick photo and be done.

50 photos later and I got ONE that was doable.

The cute bandana was double sided and very fashionable.

All I can say is I tried.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

I was scrolling in the TJ Maxx website looking for Halloween mugs and came across some Halloween Jewelry. I have no idea who Betsy Johnson is, but boy she makes cute jewelry. I decided to go into the store to see what she had to offer. Oh boy the goodies they had. I immediately bought this cute necklace. And some cute pumpkin earrings.

There were other designers with equally cute designs.

Nothing like spiders to say Happy Halloween

I decided to see what cute (and cheap) stuff I could find on Temu.

Most of these items were less than three dollars. The bracelet is pretty great quality with enamels charms for 3.21. Obviously there were not as nice as the Betsy Johnson designs but pretty darn good for a few dollars.

I bought the spider brooch to add to a Halloween themed needle case that is yet to be made so I may wear it before it goes on my craft project.

I have worn a few items already and have received nice compliments so far. I even got a compliment from someone on my pumpkin purse today.

Even Target had cute earrings.

I needed earrings to match the spider necklaces.

Temu even had a few Halloween T Shirts for me to wear for a few dollars. Love the nostalgic nod to The Great Pumpkin.

Cute T-shirts. Not top quality but great to wear during the season. I even got this sweater for less than $7.00. It is very soft and seems good quality. If only it would get cool enough to wear it.

Now that I got enough goodies to wear for the season I can bring in the Halloween Sprit.

Even Eli has gotten into the spirit. Enjoy the season.

Thanks for checking out my blog.

It seems this year Winter has been dragging its feet. Here we are mid April and we still have random rain storms and cold spells. Today was a nice, warmish day, but I am not convinced that Spring is here.

I do see some of the trees in the neighborhood are starting to bloom, so maybe it is being shy. Let’s bring on Spring by posting some beautiful Spring pictures.

I like to think of Spring as green gardens with blooming flowers. Sitting outside reading a book and wearing a feminine flouncy dress with a light cardigan on a picnic quilt, maybe a puppy or kitty playing in the grass. All things new and fresh. The scent of flowers filling the air.

Somehow Spring does make me want to sip some delicious Spring tea blends, dainty cups on lace doilies. Of course there would be baskets filled with warm muffins or scones next to crystal glasses and china plates. I long to have a set of mismatched plates and tea cups for such an occasion. Makes me want to pull out my Mothers vintage snack sets which were so popular in the 40’s-60’s. I do not recall the pattern I have as it has been a few years but this looks familiar. I think I have a few different sets.

My puppies are not blog/instagram stars and so I post this random cute puppy. I did find a photo of Penny enjoying the spring grass.

Just a little words of Spring to bring in the season.

Thanks for viewing my blog. Happy Spring.

Christmas morning was a nice lazy morning. Unlike children, the dogs do not care it is Christmas Morning….until they see the toys.

Miss Olive heard the squeak of a toy and went crazy digging into the bag. I have long since given up on wrapping the dogs gifts. A) they don’t appreciate it B) saves me money.

Miss Olive received two toys. A squirrel log with three squeaky squirrels. And a hot cocoa mug with three squeaky marshmallows.

As of today, I have no clue where the toys ended up. Probably under the bed.

Miss Penny received a new fluffy bed and a new red blanket. I need to sneak the old ones away and toss in the traash. They are so old and dirty, even after many washings.

Penny was not sure, but then she got into it and relaxed. Her little face says it all.

Well after the painful photo shoot with the dogs and their scarfs, I decided to get creative and Photoshop the spoiled little goobers into autumn scenes.

Here they are hanging out with some crows and a scarecrow.

Sitting in the middle of a beautiful Autumn Road.

The girls on some Autumn steps.

The girls seem to get around.

And finally individual shots in a pumpkin patch.

and Olive.

Before you know it, they will be in Paris.  LOL

It has been cold here.  Which is a bit surprising since we are in the middle of wildfires.

In fact it rained last night.  I was so excited to hear the rain, a true surprise.

The cold inspired me to jump into bed, pull up the quilts, blankets, pillow and dogs.

I grabbed a book I just started that felt like autumn.

Penny loves to get on the bed with me.   She loves sleeping next to me as she may get a belly rub.

However I do not think she likes my book of choice as there is no pictures of dogs on the cover

Olive decided to sleep on my book.

Makes it a tad bit hard to read.

I picked up this book because it had an autumn cover.

 

THE BRUTAL TELLING by Louise Penny

Chaos is coming, old son. 

With those words the peace of Three Pines is shattered. As families prepare to head back to the city and children say goodbye to summer, a stranger is found murdered in the village bistro and antiques store. Once again, Chief Inspector Gamache and his team are called in to strip back layers of lies, exposing both treasures and rancid secrets buried in the wilderness.

No one admits to knowing the murdered man, but as secrets are revealed, chaos begins to close in on the beloved bistro owner, Olivier. How did he make such a spectacular success of his business? What past did he leave behind and why has he buried himself in this tiny village? And why does every lead in the investigation find its way back to him?

As Olivier grows more frantic, a trail of clues and treasures— from first editions of Charlotte’s Web and Jane Eyre to a spider web with the word “WOE” woven in it—lead the Chief Inspector deep into the woods and across the continent in search of the truth, and finally back to Three Pines as the little village braces for the truth and the final, brutal telling.

 

Getting this book had no correlation of the name Penny on the book and my dog.   Just a coincidence.

Of course Olive got in the mood and started to snore and roll onto her back.

SSSSSSSSNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEE.

Glad she can sleep anywhere.

I think it is time to curl up under the covers with the fur kids.

I watched this video on making little dog scarfs.  I was excited to see something for a small dog.  Most patterns out there were for large dogs, and this pattern was great for Penny and Olive, but she also gave instructions on how to make it larger just on case.

 

For the written instructions, she also put it out on her blog.

https://poshpoochdesignsdogclothes.blogspot.com/2010/11/12-collars-of-christmas-8-button-dog.html

 

I found some cute yarn at Michael’s Craft Store in Pantene color palettes which intrigued me.   It was enough yarn to make several but I figured the pooched only needed one.

It was quick and easy to make.

 

I got some props to make it look more autumn.   Since I live in Southern California there is rarely any Autumn scenes naturally.  Work with what you have.

 

Penny was up first and she has no patience for Mom’s silliness.  Fortunately Penny does follow commands and actually sat there when I told her to.

I know my dog, and I read in her eyes “What did I do wrong Mom”

Nothing Baby….. you are a good girl.

Thanks Mom!  Here is a little tongue action for your camera.

I wish I could be over there, by the grass and look for squirrels.

Not so fast little one.   Must wear the pumpkin hat now.

Ummmm Mom, I dont think this is cool.  My friends will laugh at me.

Penny, you don’t have friends….you bark at every dog you meet.

Mom…..PLLLLLEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

OK baby, I will let you go……  So where is Olive.

When ever I tell Olive to “stay” she thinks she is in trouble.   She has to look at the sky and avoid eye contact.

La-dee-da….. I don’t see you…..

Olive look at me…..please Olive baby……

You are almost there Olive…. you are not in trouble.

 

Show us your pretty face and new fancy collar.

Thank you Miss Olive…. you are free to go.

Every year I try to dress up the girls in Halloween outfits

Olive usually loves it

Penny thinks she is being punished

 

I have come to the conclusion that Olive will never be an instagram star.

The minute I put the costume on, she takes off.

This unicorn took off immediately.

Then things went south

Olive apparently could not keep her horn on straight.

It just kept getting worst.

Sorry I Failed you MOMMY

I just could not UNICORN today

 

Penny clearly hates the clothes I put on her.  She is clearly a dog.  A real dog.  Not a little fluffy pocket pet.

Once the outfit goes on, Penny thinks she is being punished.

Such defeat!

Her poor little mind is probably whirling, thinking what did I do wrong.

Penny reluctantly looks at me with sadness in her eyes.

Such sadness.

I had to take the costume off.

Maybe next year.

Hi!  Its Olive and Penny hacking into Mom’s blog again.   It is hard to believe the 4 days of Parks Palooza is over.  (to be honest, we were getting a little tired).

We wanted to post this yesterday but there was a thing called “internet not working”.   It was frustrating  to blog and Mom was upset because she could not use her IPad.

But today it seems to be working, and since Mom is photographing stuff for Ebay (whatever that is) it is a good time for us to hack into this blog.

Park Four – Circle J Ranch

The park on Friday was the best, simply because NO ONE was there and we were able to run free.  FREEEEEEEEE   Mom did not hold our leashes.  We ran away so fast.

While Mom was getting her phone out to take pictures….. we RANNNNNN AWAY.

Can you see us under the tree in shady part?

Maybe a close up will help.  Olive is by the tree and I (Penny) am in the grass.

Mom is always looking left and right for people and dogs and danger while we sniff away happy as can be.

Tree sniffing is very important.

The park itself was a big open green space with trees around the edges.

We really enjoyed our freedom.  Running around and sniffing.  Mommy rarely lets go of our leash but we love it when she does.  We run from sniff to sniff.  Trying to get as much in as possible.

Mom even found some keys someone left on the bench

Mom called the sheriff to let them know and they did not care.   Mom was disappointed in them.  She tried to be a good citizen.

Well, onto the rating….

Grass and Trees

There was a lot of grass and several trees.  Not a ton of trees but at least the walkway had trees so it had patches of shade.

Crowds and Hoomans

Even thou we meet a little dog and her hooman on the way out, we basically had the park to ourselves.   Yahoo!  My kind of day.  The Hooman Mom met said on Friday evening all the dogs come and play on the field without leashes.  Sounds kinda scary.

Places for Mom to sit and Rest

There were a few benches along the walkway.  But like most parks, it was without trees.  Not sure why they don’t put benches in the shade.   But overall a good amount for the park size.

Poop Bags Available

Yup, at the front of the park the poop bags were waiting for us.  Except I did not poop.  Or I did without Mom noticing because I was FFFFFRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Mom Stuff, Like easy to get to, parking, Nice view (she does not care about sniffs)

There was no one in the parking lot.  A little far but not bad and the park was pretty.

Overall Rating

We give it a 5 because we were FFFFFRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Rating of the Over Park Palooza

Penny here, Olive and I discussed the parks and decided the order of preference

1. Circle J Rank Park
2. Dr. Richard H. Rioux Park
3. Central Park
4. Iron Horse Trail

Mom agrees.   She has agreed that we will go back to the top three parks.

Overall both Olive and I are happy that Mommy added Park Palooza into her vacation!

Signing Off!

Penny the Smoocher  

and Ollie Doodle  

Olive and Penny here.  Hacking the blog again.

Mom got up real late today as she went to the movies with a friend.   She saw Crazy, Rich Asians.   She said it was very funny!

Mom wanted to sight see instead of walking around a park.  So we went to a local landmark instead.

Park Three – Iron Horse Trailhead

This was not much of a dog adventure but more of a Mom adventure.

She has always wanted to walk across the Iron Horse Bridge.

First thing we saw was this cool sign post that pointed to all the historical places in Santa Clarita.

 

From the signpost you can see the iron bridge.

Mom kept trying to get us to walk on the cedar side of the walk way and not to walk on the asphalt, but we never listen to her.

Fortunately the bridge walkway was all wood.

Mom was concerned that Olive was way to close to the edge.  She kept thinking that Olive would slip down a hole and fall to her death.   Her harness is not that tight and she could fall if she did something dumb.

Olive:  I was just looking, I am not that stupid.

Mom:  You don’t pay attention and there are big holes on the side.

Olive:  Ha!  Moms worry for no reason at all

Mom: (thinking) “get me off this damn bridge”

The river view….what river…..this is Southern California, we do not know rain here.

Overall we, as dogs were not impressed.  It was hot, there was no good sniffs.

The things we do for Mom!

Overall it was a bad rating!

The low rating was because this was not a park.  No good sniffs.  No poops.   No shade.  No trees.

Tomorrow better be good Mom!