Free to patient home:

one over-exuberant

pant-leg-grabbing

hole-digging

truffle-hunting

flower-bud-eating

bog-trolling

Bella.

P.S. Just kidding ya know. With all her

faults

charms we love her dearly.

Never fear, oh lovely heirloom iris! I will protect you from the naughty one!

Sigh. It turns out that Bella likes gardening just as much as she likes knitting. Becky, be warned, you might not want to read any further.

My heirloom iris from Becky that I planted back in October have been happily and cozily snoozing away under their blanket of autumn leaves and winter snow. Several weeks ago when the snow finally left I noticed that several of them seemed to be heaving out of the ground with their roots showing. I tucked more dirt around them and reseated a few of them and didn’t think too much of it. I asked Becky’s advice and she said it was pretty normal.

I was outside this afternoon raking leftover leaves and debris out of the flower bed and when I turned around I saw this. My gardening help had decided to pull up and relocate my precious iris!

While I was putting the camera back down before picking them up to plant them again, she grabbed iris #1 and started off with it. See the roots sticking out of her mouth?

[me] BELLA,  nooooooo, drop it!

[bella] uh oh. mom sounds mad. did I do something wrong?
[me] PUT THAT DOWN .... NOW!!!

[bella] geez, okay. like this?

[me] Good girl!

[bella] gee mom, i was just trying to help ...

Just in case you are wondering, no, I did not stage this. I didn’t have to. Bella was just being Bella and my camera goes everywhere with me. She has done this a couple of times and I haven’t caught her in the act. Each time she did it I was convinced after strict scoldings that it would be her last. I was wrong. She doesn’t chew them, just carries them around. I think because their flags are sticking up and they are not rooted yet they are easy targets. Problem is, my nice little map (see above heirloom iris link) of which iris was planted where is of no use anymore. I think I need a fence.

Did I mention she starts obedience class tonight? She’s a naughty girl.

First of all, this photo of Bella. She is living up to her name don’t you think?

Yesterday the dogs had a great time playing and romping in the snow and I had an equally great time photographing them. See for yourself!

Here is Bella being herself.

Bella says “Look at me! I can be a rearing horse.” And I am just thinking stay in the frame Bella, please.

Hailey says to Bella “I can roar snow at you, look out!”

“Catch me if you can Bella,” says Hailey!

Hailey makes her getaway.

The snow has stopped, the sun is out and we have gorgeous blue skies this morning. But, we also have 9 inches of fresh, fluffy snow (not snowman-making snow!) and a temperature of 11 degrees F at 9:00 a.m. With the wind that’s blowing the wind chill factor is probably close to zero. Not very nice outside right now. I must admit, I do love winter but even I am getting just a tad bit tired of bitterly cold temperatures and yes, snow. I can’t believe I just admitted to being tired of snow. Me? The ultimate “I Love Snow” Girl? But there you have it.

Bella, on the other hand, thinks the snow and cold are just normal. She doesn’t really know any different. Look out, mom, here I come!