sugarspay

our favorite little dumptruck went under the knife yesterday.

she went through one heat in august, and that was plenty. there are no sugarpuppies in our future.

she did great in her surgery, and was doing okay once we came home, though she was pacing around whimpering until she settled in this spot to watch the game with her dad.



she is expected to make a full recovery, and will have stitches for the next two weeks, during which time she is to be kept dry and calm. all we can do is try on that one!

way to go sugarsnickers!

happy birthday, sugarhoney!

today is the day our little sugarsnickers turns 1. it's also the day nachodoggy would have turned 12.

we were kind of hoping for a mini-nacho, and she has kind of delivered.

she does a couple things that nacho did, that the other dogs do not do.

she runs right down to the river and swims in circles in the exact same spot nacho used to do it. 

(see nacho swim in circles)

the other dogs wait on the bank until we throw something. nacho and sugar really seem to enjoy swimming, and get in for the joy of swimming.

if she is too hot on a hike, she lies down.

(nacho did the same thing)

of course, she is her own dog. she is so round, it's like she's made out of beach balls. i don't know if it's a female dog thing, but to me she is the shape of the olympic rings.

she is in love with pouncey. she follows him everywhere. she is constantly thinking of new and creative ways to vie for his attention. 

she gets herself uphill from him and lets loose.

she is not afraid to jump on the couch for a snuggle.

she is calm and gentle, she wags her tail when she meets new dogs and people, and she will come, sit, and lie down when she feels like it.

mainly she is just a little skunk who fits in riiiiight there.

happy birthday, sugarchunks! today you will celebrate with a meatball! 

eli is eleven!

happy 11th birthday to eli! aka scoobs, brownie brown brown, and fats brownino.

a more dignified animal you'd be hard-pressed to find.



he will be having sauceless meatballs to celebrate. 



happy birthday you lovable knucklehead!

SNOWDAY!

They called for 5 inches, and we got 5 inches.  The dogs love it!



This is a different kinda snowball.

 
Sunrise on the snowy Swannanoa river.

 
I always dreamed of becoming a white lab.

 
Pouncey will get the ball, no matter what. 

 
Sugarhoney will stalk him on the bank, no matter what. 

 
Something on your nose, E.

 
Snow pounce!

Sugar heart tongue. 

Stay warm, amigos!

addicted to power

once again this year, we gleefully celebrated valentine's day with arby's. 



power went out during a wild windstorm saturday at 830 pm, and it was restored at 5pm on sunday. generally i spent the outage railing against humanity, researching generators, calling duke power for updates every 15 minutes, scampering through neighbors' yards looking for signs of progress, rage-cleaning the stovetop, and going to creekside taphouse for many dranks.

sugarhoney spent the outage sitting like a human.



i hope everybody stays safe, snuggly, and warm during the forecasted ice storm!

pinwheel of labradors

plus, tennis ball

plus, sugarchunks

widespread puppy

if you ever want to be popular, walk a puppy through the lobby of a westin hotel at 1 AM on new years eve.

we went to charlotte for widepsread panic on wednesday and sugarhoney came with us. she was the star of the city.

while walking her past the nascar hall of fame, a cop drove by, leaned her full torso out the window, gave a thumbs up, and yelled "that is the best dog ever!"

kevin carried her on the elevator to avoid her scaring people in their fancy clothes.  a cop in the lobby saw this and said, "uh oh, is that dog too drunk to walk?"

dozens of people passing by stopped, turned around, and squealed "PUPPY!!!" to each other, asking to pet her. she just wagged her tail, cool as a cucumber.

one kind young man flyyyiiiiiing high on new years spirit on the full elevator grabbed her ears (lovingly), got nose to nose with her and yelled "YOU ARE JUST THE CUTEST LITTLE FUCKER!!!!!!"

the show was excellent, the band sounded great, the setlist was thoughtful, uplifting, and everybody was having a good time...



it was an awesome way to ring in the new year. 

best wishes for a healthy and happy 2015 to all! 

dogs at play

fully spring loaded



post swimming puppy frenzy!



whirlwind of dog



sugarfangs



action



and scene.

easy like sunday morning

levitating eli

 

levitating sugarhoney (tongue out as far as it goes)

and then there's pouncey

 

take this sunday and grab it by the ballz!

daily sugarhoney: happy 6 month birthday!

sugarhoney turns 6 months old today.

she weighs 42 lbs. these pictures were taken this morning.

she gets frisky on occasion.

and she forms the keystone in our rainbow of labradors.

happy birthday snugglechunks!

daily sugarhoney: sugarturkey

frosty early walking.

and a sugarshadow.

 

eli made it to the top of the world

the snuggliest.

it was a lovely thanksgiving, complete with delicious turkey.

daily sugarhoney: sugarsnow

2 days ago it was 80 degrees.

this morning it's 30 with 5 inches of snow.

sugarhoney says that's okay!



she has already peed on the deck and learned how to make snowballs.

good night, henry

a little spark of joy in this world was snuffed yesterday as my parents had to say goodbye to their almost 9 year old cavalier king charles spaniel, Henry.



henry was my fluffy little brother.

he loved to ride in the car.



he loved to eat cookies.



he loved to sit on laps.



he loved to prewash dishes.



he came to visit asheville and had a ball strolling down kimberly ave.



he loved going to the bank.



mostly he loved sitting around looking regal and sweet.



he was a happy go lucky puppy and we will all miss him.