Flat Corgi Friday - Mini Cruisers

Possibly the only "corgis" to have been on a Disney Cruise.

Fox in the hen house

There are a couple homeowners in our subdivision that keep chickens, ducks, and geese. We've only recently come across the houses, which means Gimli's only recently learned about them.

To say he's interested in the birds is an understatement. I'm pretty sure he wants to grab hold of them and squeeze them until they squawk, at which time he'll squeeze them again.

Gimli knows the location of one of the houses and each time we pass by, he has to stop and look through the fence at the ducks.

Gimli's selfie

I was playing around with the camera and managed to take Gimli's first selfie. (Apologies for the crummy quality.)

We were cuddling and sharing kisses, while Merida was otherwise distracted.

I so love this little fluff.

5 things - November edition

I realize I haven't done this sort of post in a while, so here goes:

1. Mike has lost 20 lbs. Yes, that's right, 20! His pants are falling off of him and some of his shirts are now too big.

He still has more weight to lose, but he's quite thrilled with his results. I think I'm going to buy him a belt for Christmas.

2. I am run/walking up to 8k now. Provided I keep up this pace of adding half a kilometer each week, I'll be up to 10k in time for our race in January.

It still doesn't feel like we have less than 60 days to go, it's quite surreal.

3. It's beginning to look like Christmas in our house. Nearly all of the decorations are up, and most of the Christmas cards are addressed. I haven't started my baking yet, but I plan to start next week.

4. Gimli visited the vet on Saturday for his yearly checkup. He's healthy as can be - his coat is good, his weight and heart are good, and his teeth are in good shape for a 6 year old. He didn't like the thermometer in the ear, but other than that, he was his usual grumpy/happy-for-cookies self.

5. We have our first real snow of the season and Merida is beside herself with joy. All she wants to do is romp and pounce in the snow, regardless of the sub-zero temperatures!  She criss-crosses the yard with her tracks and digs her head into drifts looking for something to play with.

She reminds me of this panda: 

Bath day

We gave Merida a bath the other day. Gimli had gone for his grooming appointment, but we decided to keep Merida home this time around. Her coat isn't as unruly as his and she doesn't need as intense a session.

Instead, she got a turn in the tub.

Why am I standing in the water?

Oh, now I get it.

All clean and fuzzy!

Merida didn't make a fuss, she let me do whatever I needed to do. After her bath session, I dried her off as well as I could and let her go find Gimli. She took off frapping through the bedrooms and under the bed. I think it's a corgi thing to do. Gimli does it as well, even when we just wash his feet.

She smelled so good, it was all I could do not to sniff her like in the Gain commercials.

Flat Corgi Friday - Rusty Corgis

This spot is called Mount Rustmore.

I think if the real corgis were there, Gimli would pee on every buoy.

Bacon-ny Goodness

It should come as no surprise to you that I love bacon. If I could eat it at every meal, I would.

It should also come as no surprise that I have a good friend, Salar Madadi of MeatVentures, who makes his own bacon. Yes, that's right, he makes his own bacon. That and he won this year's Canadian National Bacon Championship, so he knows what he's talking about!

He makes all sorts of dishes with said bacon - like Tocino sliders, and a Bacon Fatty, which is bacon wrapped around meatloaf. Both of these are excellent, but the best thing he makes is a bacon creme brulee. I kid you not, all sorts of goodness - a nice slice of bacon in it, creamy goodness in the middle and bacon bits at the bottom.

I begrudgingly share it with Mike. Even Gimli gets in on the action.

He got some because it was his birthday.

He is competing today in Las Vegas at the World Food Championships and we wish him well!

Don't forget to check out his Food Truck IndieGoGo campaign too!

Wordless Wednesday - Peek a Boo

5 things about my corgis

Gwendolyn Rose Corgi challenged us to post 5 things about Gimli and Merida, so here we are:

Gimli

Gimli was named years before he was born. We are LOTR fans and I knew I wanted to name a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Gimli. We didn't know if we'd get a girl or a boy, but even if it was a girl, we'd stash away "Gimli" for future use.

To get our attention, Gimli lies on his back and paws at the air. Every time he does this, I pounce on him for belly rubs.

People often mistake Gimli for a girl. We think it's because of his fluffy hair and eyelashes.

He does not like to be surprised. If you sneak up on him, he will bark at you and then "complain" in a very corgi speaking voice.

Him and I carry on conversations on a regular basis. I talk to him and he responds in his corgi voice. It's quite funny and I'm sure you think I'm crazy, but it's what we do.

Merida

She's Gimli's half-niece. Gimli's half-sister by the same father is Merida's mother. As a result, they both have the same tiny patch of white hair between their shoulder blades.

She's a snow/cold weather girl. In the Summer, she wants to be inside where it's cool. Now that the weather has cooled down, she wants to be outside.

She does not like anyone wearing a mask or balaclava etc. We were checking out our winter accessories and I tried on my face mask. She lost it! She barked and tried to jump on my head. The second I took it off, she covered me in kisses and was back to normal.

She loves to snuggle. One day, I will sleep a full night with her in bed, though Mike doesn't know it yet.

She is patient and likes to know what you're doing, especially if you are in the kitchen.

Saturday Smiler - To a T

This sums up their personalities so well.

Flat Corgi Friday - Edible pirates

GIMLI: I wonder if we can eat these?

MERIDA: I'm going to eat him before he eats me!

Wordless Wednesday - On a mission

I guess I'm a runner now?

It's finally happened. I thought it would take much longer, but nope, it happened today.

Mike and I went for a run this evening. I didn't feel well today - I thought I might have been coming down with a cold/flu and then a migraine hit in the morning. It was just one of those days, coupled with it being a Monday.

I was aiming for 6.5 km, but I did 5 and stopped. I didn't want to push myself, considering how crummy I felt in the morning.

Then, in the car on the way home, I complained that I only did 5 km.

I guess I'm a runner now.

Who needs a scarecrow?

Corgis are herding dogs. They were bred to drive livestock based on the farmer's commands. Somewhere along the line, those corgis who weren't good at herding stayed home and watched the farmhouse. They took care of rodents and kept things in order.

My dogs seem to have inherited the "keep things in order" trait.

As I've mentioned before, our backyard backs onto a farmer's field that's covered in corn. The local crows have started eating the corn and two of them decided to eat the corn that's right in line with our backyard.

I first noticed the crows the other day and of course, whenever one stands at the backdoor for any length of time, the corgis suspect you're looking at a "critter". They scampered over and saw two crows busily eating the corn.

I opened the door and off they went to scare off the crows.

Merida sounding the alarm and Gimli bringing up the rear. Now, every time they walk by the sliding door, they sneak a peek to see if the crows have returned. Those crows have wised up too, they moved down the row so they are in line with the neighbor's backyard - no pesky little barky dogs live there.

Saturday Smiler - Spoonful of cream cheese?

Nevermind what Mary Poppins says about a spoonful of sugar to help the medicine go down, my dogs like a spoonful of cream cheese to help the heartworm medicine go down.

Anytime the cream cheese comes out, they come running because they know they get a large drop of it.