Saturday, October 30, 2010

The referee, the ring leader and the bait


Of lately, I seem to be playing referee at home. My brown girl, the resident night owl, is always poking her brother while he's sleeping. So, he gets annoyed and starts growling. Soon, the situation erupts into a full-blown sumo wrestling match. At times, Ruki-san is not totally innocent too. Like tonight, he was up to his antics. He thought it would be fun to snitch my slipper from under my study table. He swings it around to get our attention. Luckily, I shoved Riko in the bedroom otherwise, there will be a crazy cat-and-mouse chase in the house.

Just 10 minutes earlier, I diffused another chasing situation outside. My brown girl went to grab the kong and started swinging it in front of the boy. Since she did not attract sufficient interest, she ran over to the dog pool and stuck her feet in. Usually, under no circumstance you will find Riko deliberately getting wet. For whatever strange reason, Ruki normally loves to chase a wet Riko. She was setting herself up as bait!.

I was lucky tonight because Ruki was tad lazy to give immediate chase. So I managed to shove Riko inside the house in the nick of time.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Mariko hosts her doghouse tour

This weekend, my favourite furniture shop delivered my latest piece of indulgence. So I thought it was time to open my indoor lawns (carpets) again. Everyone at home is now toilet-train...so, it is fairly safe. Mariko roused from her nap with the commotion from movers and the carpet-laying...so, she decided to play hostess to her home.

Over to Riko....

This is my living room. The coffee table inherited from Grandma while the fern is just a prop for the photoshoot. It goes right back to the patio because Momma says we shouldn't kill anymore plants prematurely. Momma wanted to keep the original louvered folding doors and retro grills from this 1970 house. So, she had them all restored...which is a good thing for her but, it makes it impossible for me to escape outside.

Momma loves that everything is in order in this room... so, it's usually for guests. But, Ruki and I think it's ok to be here when we play toy-tugging. We usually end up jumping on the couch simultaneously ...which makes it skid a few inches just for fun. The Turkish patchwork rug is back as Ruki's primary indoor lawn.

Momma opened these rooms up to let in more light to the middle rooms. But, we know that she knocked the walls for us to run from room-to-room when we play indoor chase. Originally, the room on the left was the kitchen. The right was a bedroom. She didn't want to go totally "open concept", so the huge sliding doors can be drawn for privacy, if needed. This creates a problem for us when we want to chase each other in circles.

This is the couch where I sometimes sleep on while waiting for momma to finish her work. I'm lucky to sit on this cicim, a Turkish hand-embroidered rug because momma will only roll it out for special occasions...otherwise, Ruki will make this his secondary lawn.

Momma's study used to be here. It's now our napping cum reading room ..as you can see by the shelves of books. The little pencil-leg side table is one of Momma's favourite pieces.

Momma always wanted a smaller dining room. So, she decided to set one up after finding a charming high sideboard recently. This room doubles up as her study. Her desk usually covered by piles of books and papers...so, she decided to un-clutter and store some items under her canteen bench. She has to be careful what she stores down there because Ruki just snitched her writing pad and ripped it to pieces in the garden yesterday!

This is our favourite morning room. It's where we have breakfast and guests congregate while meals are prepared.

This sideboard stores Momma's rose pyrex, her hand-painted ceramics and Chinese cigarette girl posters from Shanghai. She gets a bit nostalgic over her small collection...but, we think that she's living her second childhood because there are more yet to be unpacked for a storage box. Recently, she unpacked some art pieces collected from her travels, to hang them near the living area. It's still a work-in-progress because momma still travelling and collecting.

She also hopes to perfect her Childcraft set one day...even though she knows we can't read. She looking for her favourite volumes 1, 2 and 11 for a start.

Now, Momma's taken to growing her cactus indoors! I wonder how long they will survive on the shelf. Hopefully, she'll remember to water them since they are right in front of the study table where she sits everyday.

The patio has the best short-cut for me to get to the backyard in a flash. This is the place where Grandma and Grandpa sit over coffee and dessert after dinner. The cushions hide a big hole I made a few months earlier. I do check the hole by pulling out some stuffing from time to time to make sure it's still there.

You asked me where I learn this mischief from? Ask my brother Haruki, who is seen running away from all the questioning. Our once intact chair looked like this when my brother wrecked the patio last year. But, that was before I was born.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Happy birthday Mariko!

My baby girl is one today.

A year ago ...

This morning...


This evening, she leaped over a standing Ruki when we arrived home. I am now convinced of her destiny in the agility circuit.

First, she needs to attend Basic Obedience school.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Escape from Daycare



Since my foot injury and her spaying operation, Riko has been house bound. She seems pretty much okay with watching her brother go for his walk every evening until today.

Apparently, dog-walker dad forgot to close the gate on their way out today. Riko tailed both of them down the road. Once she was spotted, she was safely escorted back home. Poor girl.

Hopefully, this week she'll get to go to the dog park.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Re-introducing.... Virgin Mari(ko)



Riko's e-cone comes off today ....but, it was already (unofficially) out yesterday when I came to pick them up from daycare. My girl is going great..maybe a tinge too energetic. I'm so glad that it's over. She still needs to take it easy for another week. That would be tough since she's the chief wrestling and chasing instigator with my boy.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Mariko does a Houdini


Riko was at the vet this morning to remove her stitches. Yeah! Still the internal sutures will take another 10 days to dissolve...so, mobility remains (supposedly) limited. Cone goes back on her for another 3 days and will come out for good this Monday. Surprisingly, she's gotten used to the cumbersome cone but ... I can't wait till it's out.


Meanwhile, Ruki had his bath when we got home. Poor boy had been much neglected since my ankle injury, then Riko's spaying. He hadn't a his proper bath in 2 weeks! Somehow, they love to chase one another when wet. So, Riko safely stayed indoors....or so I thought! Moments after I was done with Ruki's bath, out runs Super Conegirl from the back of the house. Apparently, she escaped through the back door grille (4.5 inch spacing) with her e-collar intact. This is the back door grill. Now, imagine that she escaped here with her cone on!



I.am.totally.amazed.