Happy Howlidays

We signed up for the Daily Drool Holiday Card Exchange this year and it is so much fun. I am actually looking forward to opening the mail box and pulling out stacks of cards! Last night we opened cards from as far away as France and Alaska. We have a heroes list and send cards to soldiers, veternarians who have donated their time, seniors or families that cannot have or has lost their hound, even my grandkids who are sending Daddy off to war for the 5th or 6th time. So many tours I am loosing count. Have a safe holiday season everyone and I love hearing from our internet friends. AND~HoneyBelle weighed in at 49.5 pounds at 8 months. My baby is getting there!

In Charge of Decorations

It is not me. I am here to keep baby proofing everything. Honeybelle inpects everything that is brought in. The tree is decorated from my waist up. Keep her from eating lights. There are no hooks, ribbons are used to hang everything. I need to get home and get their fleece blankie coats made tonight-we are expecting snow here tomorrow! We get dusted about once every ten years. Poor Ruby will not be pleased when she discovers it is a form of moisture!

HoneyBelle Bakes a Pumpkin Pie

I am a good helper. I brought mama some gloves I found.


Then I licked the pumpkin bowl clean.


Then I cleaned it again.

Mama put the pie in the oven. Would not let me help do this...says I am nothing more than a two year old. Whatever that means.


I was tired after all this cooking. Whew.


Have a safe holiday season and send prayers to our troops and their families that cannot be together this season.

Christmas Claws

She waits for me to turn my back or leave the room and she turns into HellishBelle. So I stood at the stove like I was cooking and heard her bear claws hit the table and I snapped a shot of her snatching the pile of garland. Naughty girl! I have some good photos of the parade she walked in Saturday. She was wearing the garland. Will post those next, lunch break has ended.

Working the Gravy and Bisquits Off

Here we are early Saturday morning watching the 5K run go by with a collective "aaaawwwww-look how cute they are!" I saw how well Tina's tandem lead worked with HoneyDew and Sampson. Or it looked like it did! I made a red one and bought a flasher for it. The girls go CRAZY when we take off. HoneyBelle's coat is gorgeous, it shimmers gold and she jiggles! Now that it isn't 100 degrees outside we are able to walk in the morning and evening. And my thighs aren't trying to catch fire anymore. Sorry...ha!

Sausage Gravy and Bisquits

Baby LOVES for me to cook. I am making her keep a safe distance from the stove so I don't fall and pull something hot on top of all of us. So here is her supine position she keeps after I push her away. Sunday morning breakfasts usually include the side of sausage gravy and homemade bisquits. My family covets this southern-made-from-scratch specialty. HoneyBelle loves to clean the skillet. Sorry if I gross some out-I really do sanitize the dishes after all this. And I need to get a snood made for HoneyBelle. Her poor ears are nasty after her gravy fest. That is okay, I swab/squeegee her ears clean and she is ready for a quick nap in her chair.

Veterans Day

I want to thank all of our veterans, soldiers, and their families for serving our country. It is a sacrifice that many do not or cannot understand. Sadly, or country is still not giving our veterans the level of care they deserve. It took almost 2 years and the congressman's office to finally get my son his disability payments so he could support himself. After serving 3 long tours and 4 years as a Marine, he was discharged with 0% disability. Truth was—he had 7 serious concussions, severe migraines, broken teeth, damage to both of his knees, intestinal damage, the list goes on. I took off work and took his medical package to the Regional Director of the Veterans Administration. He read the medical records and agreed the 0% rating was grossly incorrect. He filed the protest and the dance with the government began. And this is so minor in what many other veterans and families are going through. We are so lucky and blessed. He made it back home alive, along with his sister and brother-in-law.

The best medicine for PTSD. Squishy hugs from HoneyBelle.

Angel

I love this photo. She is gorgeous. And naughty. I walked in and found her posed, grabbed the camera and took these. Then I thought, "hmmmm." What has moved in here? My eyeglasses. Her new coveted item. I found the frames under her belly and one lense behind the chair. You can see the carpet has been removed. I knew a basset puppy would be the final straw for it, wood laminate is coming in.

Howlloween Party

HoneyBelle and Ruby participated in the 1 mile walk for Paws. Proceeds went to the Montgomery County rescue shelters. Due to the rains right before the event, I opted out of costumes for the girls. Good thing because HoneyBelle had mud rivulets running off her legs and belly. Ruby is actually getting better about moisture touching her. Hard thing to avoid with a basset buddy. Ruby will have an area of hair that has dried standing up, and I will try to smooth it back into place. Almost impossible because it was made with basset mouse. I wonder if the French really used the hounds for saliva coiffures.

Anyway. HoneyBelle did really well for this being her first big event out in public (our record heat this year kept us indoors). She had oodles of precious little girls giving her hugs and squishy pets. And big girls had to fondle her gorgeous coat and compliment her on her mahogany coloring. And conformation. And feet. She went flat basset only a few times. I had to cup her face in my hands and tell her we were on the way home and she had to be a big girl and walk out of there. She obliged me.

The activity was led by a man and a proudly trained Lab named Prophet. The man kept chunking Prophet's retrieve bumpers by HoneyBelle, then ordering Prophet to retrieve only on command. I am proud to say HoneyBelle could give-a-shit-less about touching Prophet's toy. The border collies were going nuts. I love this photo here. The blur in the far left corner is Prophet's butt as he bolts to grab his toy. The basset in the background is studying a scent trail (of dribbled candy probably). It was a good time.


HoneyBelle helping a fellow dog get her antennae back on.


A sweet butterfly resting.

Long Red Eyelashes

HoneyBelle is almost cartoon like with her thick red eyelashes. She has the ability to enlarge her eyes and go "blink-blink" with lashes that will melt your heart. Even when she standing on the kitchen table with a roll of Bounty towels in her mouth. Blink-Blink. Love you my big doll.

HoneyBelle is back in the House-er Blog!

Awwww, she is being so sweet with Shrek. Wait until I get you caught up with what she has been doing. Isn't she a big girl? From the age of 5 to 6 months she lost her puppy look. Her hound odor kicked in a few weeks ago. I thought I may have had a non-odiferous hound. Silly me. She be stanky!

Honeybelle: I show you stanky! I am eyeballing that 3rd pair of prescription eyeglasses, momma. bbwwhhaaahhhaahaaa!

Life Gets in the Way

My beloved baby. It woes me to not have the camera yet and fall behind on posting. She is too wonderful to keep just to myself. But damned if the rising cost of insurances, home ownership, medical bills, taxes, and more has taken its toll. I am appalled that I have managed to keep my job through multiple lay-offs and am still struggling to stay out of the red. It gets me down. I rally myself to keep going and find my happiness in coming home to Ruby and HoneyBelle. Hang in there with us and my spoiled baby can continue to share her antics.

Love and wuffles from HoneyBelle.

Mother's Little Helper

She hovers by my legs and I feel random pats and nose pokes. She is a doll. I should have a camera back in action before the end of the month. You will be shocked at how big she is now. HoneyBelle looks just like her mother. So between the age of 4 and 5 months is when she turned from rubbery puppy to boneless big girl.

Prefer Charmin

HoneyBelle: hhhmmmppphhh! Not sure I like these as much as what I find in the bathroom. It'll do in a pinch though. Uh-oh, I hear the door opening....


Getting the heck out of dodge! Move Ruby! Move Jack! Ruunnnn!!!

The Sonic

For 20 years I have been walking down to the Sonic for an evening out, a stroll with my dogs, a nice way to intake a little hot fudge sunday and walk the calories off (I tell myself that). So HoneyBelle and I saddled up last night and walked down. Bless my fat baby's heart, she lathers at the mouth so bad she could pass as an extra on Old Yeller. I have to bring a bottle of water and wrag to keep watering and wiping her down. She loves to meet-n-greet through our little old fashioned town, and gets plain giddy if a child is outside. The teenage girls on skates love to come out and shower her with hugs and kisses. She is just that squishy. Then I saw the small note taped to the Sonic kiosk. Sonic closing September 1st. What?! It seems that the new Sonic built over by the new mall is taking the place of our drive-in hang out. There is no way to walk to the new one—at the risk of getting ran over by speeding vehicles. The Dairy Queen shut down as well. So much for the revitalization plans for our historic town.

Mind Control (or loosing it...)

Press Agent/momma: I was doing the late night shopping for the house supplies. As I stood in front of the wall of toilet paper selection I actually had this thought pop into my head "hmmmm, I wonder which paper HoneyBelle would prefer." Gasp! I am too young to be going crazy. I have no excuse.

HoneyBelle: Does the term "basset slave" ring home now? bbwwahhhaaahhhaaa!

Baby Jack

I picked up a 5 month old basset mix last night to foster until he is adopted. He is long, but without the basset girth. And no flabber jabbers (flews). And he barks the arf arf bark. My baby does a deep "roorfff" when she sounds off. HoneyBelle is easily twice his size, but they are missing the same baby teeth. It did not take long for him to get a long 5" drool wringer wrapped across the top of his head, kind of like marking her territory in a girl basset sort of way.

HoneyBelle: Girls rule!

Paper Products

HoneyBelle: I love them! I score big when I see the bathroom door is left cracked open. I do my black panther stealth moves and climb the toilet to heist rolls out of the basket. Sometimes I play outside with them, if it is too hot outside then I play in the living room.

Press Agent: Black panther stealth move, huh. I have a clear image of her crying in the bathroom stuck upright between the toilet and sink cabinet, standing on her two back feet. My little warrior princess.

Guard Dog

This photo was taken only last month and she looks so small! I need to walk her down to the vets office this weekend and get her weighed at 5 months. Can't wait to see, I am guessing 45+ pounds. She is getting to be a big girl! She got her big girl fangies this week too. I keep giving her ice cubes and frozen things to chew (instead of my walls...)

Velvet Whiskers

I had minor leg surgery yesterday and cannot shower for 24 hours. So this morning before work I took a bath, keeping my leg out of the water. I was laying flat in the tub, eyes shut, letting my hair soak when I felt a velvet tickle on my nose. I opened my eyes to HoneyBelle's face directly above mine, snuffling me. Instantly, a pink tongue jetted out and squeegied my forehead and eye. Anyone who has been owned by a basset is familiar with how their flesh slides around their head. To be underneath and looking up into this is quite commical, because their face turns into nothing but rolls of flesh. I read that the folds of skin and long ears trap and force the scent molecules towards the nose, making them extraordinary scent hounds. And babysitters. All the children I have raised have loved to spend hours playing with basset ears, noses, lips, big moon pie feet, and velvet rolls of skin. What a wonderful breed to be in love with.


Grandaughter and big girl KayDee Belle in 2001. She learned to walk by holding onto her basset and toddling beside her.

Ice Vapours

HoneyBelle loves her ice cubes. She will run anyone over when she hears the freezer door open, and do a sit pretty at your feet, waiting for her cube. My sister was unfamiliar with this routine and was squalled at by HoneyBelle when she shut the door and sat down. "Oh dear-what did I do to her?!" You did not give her the cube. Now.

Yesterday was a rough day for me, problem jobs at work, bad doctor results, traffic. I was beaten by the time I made it home. I made a fresh iced tea, and gave my baby her ice cube. Instead of running off with it, she sat there and looked at me with the ice cube in the front of her mouth, breathing. She literally had ice steam curling out of her lips and around her nose. Her nose steamed up. My miserable day disappeared and I laughed until I had tears running. It is impossible to be depressed when you share your life with a basset.

Motorolla Razor

Last night I sat in the rocker and read while the girls ran circles in the living room. I sat a glass of iced tea on a coaster on the coffee table and went to the restroom. I could hear the coffee table being compromised. Me screaming from the bathroom: "HoneyBelle, you get off that table right NOW!" I run back in there, cursing my lapse of foresight thinking that tea will now be spilled everywhere. The glass had not moved. In fact, I could not figure out what was missing, but I knew I had heard her on the table. Then the cell phone rang. Muffled. Coming from HoneyBelle. I looked directly at her face and the only indication that something was in her mouth (my cell phone) was her lips went out square instead of draping down. She had a perfectly square mouth. I lifted a ringing lip and pulled the phone from her mouth. I don't think I will ever forget these antics. She is perfectly beautiful. I wish you could have seen that square mouth ringing!

Kodak Moments

—have came to a halt! The camera died. I am sorry, due to the budget constraints of bills, a new camera is not at the top of the list. Oh, the past couple of days have been ripe material for our beloved HoneyBelle. Read below:

1. I caught her playing with something in her mouth, it was her molar! So I bagged her baby tooth for the basset tooth fairy. She is getting big girl teeth.

2. I made a large batch of chocolate/chocolate iced cupcakes. Placed on decorative tray in middle of kitchen table. Was gone 20 minutes, came back to vestiges of chocolate icing on floor in 3 rooms. It must have been a feeding frenzy. She has figured out to pull the tablecloth with her teeth and all the good stuff comes down to her. I watched her all night to make sure she did not get sick from copious amounts of chocolate. If anything, she acted like a hyperactive child that had just ate 2 pounds of JellyBellies.

3. No foster at the house yet. We tried, and sadly, she did not get along with the fat spoiled baby. Michelle, you are great! We will try again.

4. My sister's metro-sexual miniature poodle has the serious hots for the curves of HoneyBelle. He gets neutered this week. That'll teach him.

Many great photo ops we missed out on. I will try to replace the camera ASAP, until then I will continue to relay her adventures via story line. Thank you for reading!

Homeless

But not for long! This young lady will come over tomorrow morning for a meet-n-greet with Ruby and HoneyBelle. We passed the foster exam (I even had dried drool stuck to the side of my head at the time) and the sweetest rescue will be coming to stay with us while she gets better. From her picture, it looks like her spine is showing through her thin coat. I have already drafted a grocery list for making homemade dog food supplement used by foster families on the Daily Drool. I have been quite the foster failure in the past (by adopting them!) so I will have to try a little harder this time. We have so many bassets being turned in from families that can no longer care for them. Will let you know how this turns out!

Coveting Skeins

It happened. She pulled the big bag of yarn off the work table and had a blistering hayday with it. Silly me, I thought putting it up on the table was putting it out of reach. Well, just like a toddler, she is now climbing. She must have been watching me and thought "hmmm, that looks mighty interesting—it is bulging with something..." Honestly, when I came home and saw the studio and the yarn explosion, I went right to the kitchen and made myself a cocktail. Trails of yarn went out the doggie door and into the back yard. And for extra measure, an 18" patch of vinyl flooring was removed. Now, my floors do need to be replaced, but I am thinking "how did she do that?" I took pictures of the carnage but really, I can't bear to see it again. I did find an intact skein of wool in the backyard with minor dirt and a large trademark basset drool left on it. I did learn this, she is not fond of wool. Her favorite skeins are the mohair/silk. Found that still in her jowls.

Favorite Brush

Is the toilet brush. Gasp you say? Well me too. After many attempts I discovered she was not going to relinquish the potty brush willingly. So I bought her her own, non-toileted brush. She loves it (along with many other non-doggie items). It is like a tickly massage on her when we rub her with it. She even takes it on hikes (inside/outside doggie door) and I keep washing it clean. It is quite odd to see her piles of favorites, ie. pottie brush, my bras, and nylabones.

Infatuation

HoneyBelle's Press Agent: She met my son for the first time this weekend. And as you can see by the photo she became gelatinous, just a pool of basset around him. He kept trying to play with her and she would go flatbasset, with her tail spinning. He finally had to scoop her up to pet her. Silly girl, she acted like a pubescent teen around a cute boy.

HoneyBelle: You blind woman, he is cute.

Attack!

I have been mauled by a precocious 5 year old girl with long blonde curls. I should have caught the note of sarcasm when I heard momma say "why of course you can play with the puppies!" That's alright, I have my eye on her first edition Dick and Jane.

Ruby finally got with the program and jumped in to clean her clock, er, ears.

Here we are tag teaming her. She's a tough little booger. Just wait, she has no idea I will be 65+ pounds when I grow up. bbwwhhhhaaahhhaaaa!

James Fenimore Cooper Vol 3 pub 1889

My press agent has noted that my indian name is "Princess Run-a-Mucka". Waving my pedigree papers around saying she will register my name as such. I said "you will not". She is always saying a woman needs to educate herself. So I tried to teach myself to read. Press agent/momma has a lot of books, even old ones she calls "collectable first editions". Whatever that means. Art books, coffee table books, children's books. Just too many. What happens? She comes home and has another fit. Really, I think she is wound too tight. Saying things like "baby gate" and "how did you manage...?" So I blind her with my beauty and she acquiesces. I learned that word in one of those books.

Basset Patrol

Momma hauled hounds from Houston to our basset rescue house this week. A big handsome guy that had some impressive foam. He kept cleaning momma's ear as she drove. His girlfriend Mandy was a tub. Momma had fun lifting big assed bassets out of my truck in a dress. What was she thinking? That'll teach her to try and clean up. Momma loves us. She says she is going to make herself a dress out of her Duluth Truck Seat Cover. Can't wait to see that one...

Mud Puppy

"Sweet Jesus!" momma hollers. "What happened to my floor!" Here she goes carrying on about her floors again. I shaking my head no (see my ear flopping) and the next thing I know she has me spun upside down like a turtle on a highway. Taking pictures no less. Okay, so I am a little damp. The sprinkler felt good on me. She points to the mud coming out of my flabber jabbers. Honestly, I don't know how it got there. Then prissy Ruby gets in on my humility. She says I slimed her. Momma says Ruby jumps like a gazelle if her toe touches dew. Well I say she has to hit the ground some time, and I will be waiting! bbwwwaaaahhhhhaaahhaaaa!

My Hiding Spot

It is really great, no one can see me! I like to take my treats here and play with them.

*Note from mother/personal assistant: She has no idea her whole hiney is sticking out for us to step over...

Okra

Momma makes her own compost. I love to play in it. It has all kinds of great smells and I love to pull out veggies and play with them. Today was okra. She said it was left too long on the stalk and she can't cook it long enough to make it soft. I don't care, I just want to play with it. Even prissy Ruby carried an okra pod out. Momma says it looks like okra exploded in the yard. More toys for me.

It's All About Me

Well, I have arrived! Most kids get a cell phone now days, I get my own blog. I have a pretty good personal assistant and press manager (she calls herself my "momma"). She keeps saying the same thing over and over right now and I just don't get it—"go potty outside!", what is that all about anyway? Momma waited quite a while for me to arrive. A real sweet lady named Bonnie took good care of me before I moved in with momma. Bonnie says I am a real mahogany and white basset. I just know I am pretty. Everyone says so. Momma says "pretty is as pretty does". Whatever that means!