Wordless Wednesday - I am this tall!

This is what happens when you live with 2 boys

There's just the three of us at home.  Myself, Mike and Gimli.  I'm outnumbered by males, although Gimli is neutered so what does that make him?

In any event, Mike and Gimli play rough.  Rough and tumble, get on the floor and wrestle and throw toys and generally behave like animals.

Gimli and I are different, where I will throw toys, but I will also squeeze him and kiss him to death and want to snuggle.

Tonight, we had an episode of "wildness".  To explain, this is not the same as frapping.  Corgis possess that innate power to frap in and around obstacles without running into it or hurting themselves.  I call "wildness" the cause of injury to body or item when a person or small furry animal behaves in such a way that one might consider them to be straight out of the wilderness.

Mike and Gimli were playing in the hall, throwing a toy down the hallway and then wrestling.  Mike threw a toy, which bounced off the door jamb.  Gimli went after the toy but was too late and collided with the wood with the front of his mouth.  Thankfully other than getting the wind knocked out of him and lying down next to Mike like a puppy afterwards, Gimli is fine.  The door jamb on the other hand has a nice tooth mark into the wood.

Wildness I tell ya...

Participate in a 5k - Done

One of my goals this year was to participate and complete a 5k.

So, on a very cold and windy morning, I donned a bright yellow shirt and we, (Mike, my mom, my brother and I), stood huddled at the back of the large line that would start the ScotiaBank 5k portion of the Toronto marathon.

We didn't run, we walked.  Albeit at a fast enough pace that it took us an hour to complete the course.

I was very proud of Mike, who wanted to go a bit faster, but was stuck with us slow people.  What can I say, people will make way for a wheelchair, for the rest of his entourage, not so much!  There were some difficult hilly places and he did it alone.  On occasion I have to help him, but I think he wanted to see if he could do it on his own and he was able to.

Next year, we are going to do it again.  Running?  I don't think so, but definitely walking again.  Now that I have proven to myself that I can do it, its going to be about doing it better and a bit faster.  If they hold the Dog Jog again next year, Gimli and I will enter for the 5k walk.  I did miss walking with this little fluffer, but sometimes you have to do things on your own to prove to yourself that you can do it.

How to spell Sleep?

Gimli is a creature of habit.  He knows what happens when we turn off the tv in the living room, he knows what happens when he hears the cheese wrapper crinkle and he knows what happens when the toaster oven beeps.

In the evenings, I head off to bed anywhere between 10 and 11 pm.  When I'm tired, I become grumpy and nothing annoys me more than Gimli barking, which he does whenever you mention the words, "sleep" and "bed".  This dog of mine is so particular about these words that if you mention them, he expects he's actually going to go to his crate for the night and will become very grumpy and barkity bark bark if you either:

- delay in putting him to bed
- attempt to put him to bed when he's not ready.

(who's the pack leader again?)

Often, its late in the evening and Mike and I have been spelling these words.  Its been working quite well, until now...

I spelled S - L - E - E - P to which Gimli piped up and expected to be put to bed.

Aye, I need a new word.  Anyone know how to say 'sleep' in Spanish and/or German?

Blah

I've had a bit of writer's block over the last little while, since we've been back.  Plus with all the rain this week, its put a downer on everything.

There is something going on, but I'm not at liberty to say as its Mike's news not mine.  Not a new corgi, yet, we're not moving, I'm not leaving my job and there's no baby on the way either, as if!

Hopefully this weekend I can get out with Gimli and take some pictures of him in the lovely leaves!

Two Corgis or Not Two Corgis, That is the Question.

Mike and I have been going back and forth trying to decide if a second corgi is in our future.

On the one hand, we (I) am crazy excited at the prospect of another corgi.  A small little puppy that can fit in the crook of my arm as I carry it downstairs.  A small puppy to cuddle with.  A small puppy to take pictures of and track growth like what we did with Gimli.  Lots of training to avoid the mistakes we made with Gimli.  Oh, the fun to be had with a corgi puppy!

On the other hand, we are apprehensive.  How will Gimli behave with a new dog?  How will we be able to give each the attention they deserve?  Will the puppy pick up Gimli's resource guarding and then we have to deal with two possessive little monsters?  What will happen when we have to go away?  Taking care of one is easier than two.

So many questions and the unknown.  And, its unfair to the dog to take it in and then what happens if it doesn't work out?

Another thing that has me a little nervous is that I don't have the feeling yet.  I had the "feeling" with Gimli because there were so many signs pointing to "yes".  This time, there's very little signs and I think that's probably due to the many questions we have.

When we were on vacation at the end of September, I dreamt of a corgi puppy.  A cute little red headed tri-color puppy with a little spot on its head, perfect for kisses.  This puppy was for me.  I don't know what this means, but I told Mike that if Gimli's breeder, (who has a litter on the way), has a puppy that fits that description, I won't be able to help myself.

Here's what a red headed tri-color corgi looks like.

Wordless Wednesday - Last Weekend of Summer

Flat Gimli

In the weeks leading up to our vacation, I was feeling a little sad to leave Gimli behind, since we're together almost every day.  But, I also wanted to take him on vacation with us.  Seeing as its Disney, we couldn't, unless of course he becomes a certified therapy dog... hmmmmmm

Anyway, seeing as he isn't and he'd be more likely to run around and pester people for food and look cute and then want to go jump on Pluto and Goofy and the rest of them, we had to come up with a solution.

Thus, Flat Gimli was born... er made!  We took the story of Flat Stanley and improvised to ensure our little fluff could come with us.

You will need:
- A headshot of your dog/cat/rabbit/basilisk/owl/dragon etc
- Some thick paper, I'm not crafty so I don't know what its called, but it was thicker than regular paper, but not as thick as poster board.  (I'm so helpful, I know.)
- A stick of some kind on which to mount the picture.  Luckily since it was so close to Halloween, we found a wooden cat mask already affixed to a wooden stake, which we adapted for our use.

1. First, I chose a picture of Gimli's head.  Make sure its a close up one so that it can capture the spirit and personality of your dog.  A full dog's body doesn't do so well.

 

2. Take the mask and trace out a stencil onto the paper backing.

3. Cut out the shape from the paper backing and set aside.  Take the picture and arrange it around the mask to ensure the best fit.  Once satisfied, cut the picture so it can fit onto the mask.

4. Glue the picture to the paper backing.  I used Elmer's white glue and lightly covered the surface of the picture with glue.  You'll end up with something like this.

5. Once the picture and paper have dried, glue it onto the mask so that it covers the cat's features.

  

6. Tada!  You're done!

Now you can take your favorite creature with you wherever you go and take pictures like...

This one on the Go Carts

Or this one just next to the train.

We have a great deal more on both of our cameras so I'll be featuring them over the next little while.

Mike and I enjoyed taking "Gimli" with us and we enjoyed immensely the reactions of the passersby and the children.  For all the days we were there, there was ONE person who recognized him as a Pembroke Welsh Corgi.  And only because her daughter has one.  I guess Disney goers aren't corgi people, hrmph...

Green fuzzy feet

This weekend was the Thanksgiving weekend here in Canada and it also marked a good weekend to cut the grass, one of the few weekends left before it becomes very cold and the grass starts to hibernate.

Our very old tree had been dropping leaves like crazy, which we mulched to help feed the grass to choke out the weeds.  I'm glad to say our ugly weed population is on the decline, but there's far too much that still remains for my liking.

Gimli had a good time romping around outside, rolling around in the grass and playing with the squirting hose.

I think he's decided he's no longer a Welshman and he's going to try to be an Irishman...

Still cute, even if they are green.

Getting ready for Christmas?  Red & Green?

 

Wet little doggie

Remember when... vacations and diets

Remember when you booked a vacation to Disney and you knew you'd be walking around a great deal so you figured it would offset what you ate and so you didn't really worry that much, until you were getting ready to fly home and the pants you wore flying down were suddenly tighter and then when you stepped on the scale at home, you had gained about 10 lbs?

Yeah, me too.

Friends, the other day I was about 133 lbs.  I have since lost 2.  (I know that's not a great deal of weight, but for me, if it was that easy to gain 10, then its just as easy to gain another 10 and then all of a sudden I'm at 143 lbs... and Christmas is just around the corner.)

I'm tired of this dance and this game with food so Mike and I have decided to investigate a Bowflex Treadclimber.  I'm one of those people that will exercise, but when I get lazy to go to the gym, guess what happens next?  I stay home.  I just bought a few pairs of pants/jeans before we left and I'm not going to go out and buy them again in the next size up, I refuse to.

We will see how this goes.

Gimli's dog of the day on The Daily Corgi!

We returned from our trip last night and all went well, more on this in a few days, but enough about us!

Guess which little puff made dog of the day at The Daily Corgi?

 

Gimli!  That's who!  Today was especially lovely because it marks 3 years since this little fluff came to live with us.

You can check it out here: Gimli of Ontario, Canada.  Thanks to Laurie Eno, eternal corgi lover who puts all these pages together for each corgi each day!