dad and i reading up on things we both need to know.

hey, dad—some of this stuff is really funny!

hi, it’s me again, bella. this is my second day in my new home. let me show you what i did today.

i discovered the woods beyond the yard. it was fun. i played “mountain” dog. i ran straight for the rocks.

mommy says i’m hard to take photos of cuz i don’t hold still. i’m always in motion.

when i do hold still i’m told i’m very cute.

i got to meet the kitties better today. here i am with sam and vincent.

i like the kitties. i’m good too, i don’t chase them. well ... not much. i’ve never had kitties before. mommy was surprised this morning when i walked right up to pookie and she didn’t hiss or claw me or nothing. mommy says since that cat (she belonged to my grandma i never met) doesn’t even like the other cats she was really surprised. i must be good.

the kitty called ebay decided she liked me and welcomed me royally into the house by giving me head bumps and rubs. i wasn’t sure at all what to do about this. it’s a good thing daddy had that black thing that they are always pointing at me with. what is that thing anyway?

i hung out in the yard with my sister hailey.

i chewed on a bone.

i put both my paws in the water bucket outside when i got a drink. mom said uh oh we got a water dog here. i have no idea what she meant.

i played ‘bite the broom’ while helping dad sweep some leaves.

i also went to a store where i met two dogs much bigger than me and a few people and what mom said was a ferret. i was adamant about which bone i wanted and grabbed it and carried it around the store until they bought it for me.

right now i’m down for my nap which is allowing mom to post what i wrote about. she says it’s hard to get anything done when i’m awake. i don’t understand. i get lots done when i’m awake.

oh, i almost forgot to tell you. mom said i could have my very own blog so i don’t have to bore people with my life that don’t want to follow it on mom’s normal blog. coming soon! i hope you’ll visit. so far i really like making new friends.

oh! i forgot to tell you maybe that i am 10 weeks old and weigh 27 pounds. mom says i am probably going to be a big girl some day.

bye ... gotta go!

my new mom promised a surprise this weekend. it’s me!! well, here I am in my new home in new jersey. i just arrived yesterday and still don’t quite know where i am or why. i had quite the journey to get here. first nanny nancy and shannon picked me up in montana where i was born, then we drove for a long time and then i stayed with nanny nancy for a few days. then they took me somewhere noisy and i flew in a plane. whew. it was a long trip and i hope that i am finally where i’m supposed to be.

i’m only ten weeks old. my new mom and dad are not sure of my name yet. might be bella; might be stella. i answer to pup-pup-pup right now. i am very full of myself but sweet too. any ideas for a name that’s a mix of sweet & sassy?

i think i like it here. ho, hum. time for a nap. more to come later. mom says it’s not a good day to get photos since it’s foggy and drizzly. whatever that is.

We did lots of fun things this weekend, but the most relaxing thing we did was take the canoe out for a paddle. We stuck close to home at Green Turtle Pond. It was a beautiful morning—warm and sunny without being either too humid or too warm. The lake was calm and still. The only sound was the splash of our paddles as we made are way around the perimeter.

It’s a nice leisurely workout. Sometimes we just sit and float, watching the sun dance on the water.

The wooden hull of the canoe slips silently and effortlessly through the water. We always draw quite a bit of attention in our beautiful canoe. People going by in other canoes or boats always ask if we made it. We tell them, no, but a good friend did—aren’t we lucky to own such a thing of beauty?

Just as we rounded the corner at the end of our journey we heard a great deal of splashing going on. We decided to see just what was making so much noise.

It was a dog.

At first we couldn’t tell if he was chasing a ball that his owner was throwing out in the water or what. He was sure having fun diving and splashing.

It soon became obvious that he wasn’t chasing anything. He was entertaining himself by diving down and creating flumes of water that he then tried catching in his mouth.

It was the funniest thing we have ever seen. Every time he got out of the water his owner sent him back in to play some more. I could not resist taking photos.

There’s a dog in there somewhere!

Meet Tommy-Boy. His owner thinks he might be part pit bull and part lab. Definitely a water dog at heart.

And so ended another enjoyable paddle around our local pond.

They have all finally arrived. Right on cue the cicadas have amassed their counterparts for their summer symphony. The same time every year they all gather round for their summer performance. Tonight is the first night I’ve heard so many. One thing that is different this year is that they have a backdrop of crickets. My Mom always said that the crickets are a sign of fall. To have them both on stage at the same time is a bit puzzling. I don’t remember them in the previous two years of our living here. But yet, there is no mistaking them. The crickets sound like a soft violin backdrop for the chit-chit-chitting back and forth of the cicadas. Talk about a soothing sound to lull one to sleep ... yawn... I can feel my eyelids drooping sitting here typing with the windows open for maximum volume.

Sorry, Colorado, right now you seem pretty boring in comparison to my life here. Fireflies in June/July; then cicadas in August. Bear, turkeys, deer, and coyotes (we heard a pack with pups twice over the weekend very close) and who knows what else.

This evening Rick was in Philly on business and I took the dogs for a walk. Myrtle and the Fab 5 were down at the end of the street. All five cubs were up a large tree in a neighbor’s yard. The dogs were well behaved and we just watched as each cub made their way down the tree and off to Mom Myrtle. Wonderful. How many people can say they saw a mother bear with her five cubs on a routine walk down the street where they live?