Ruki goes to the salon

It's been a long time (1.5 years) since our last visit to the groomers. So, when i stopped by the week before to make an appointment, I was surprised that the groomers remembered my boy. Haruki... the yellow lab? yeah...that's my boy alright.

We haven't been back often since Ruki cannot stay clean for long. But, I think he loves the attention and pampering. He loves his bath time a lot. He has no problems being left alone at the "spa" while I go for yoga.



Unfortunately, he still like to mark in public. He made sure that the few bags of Eukanuba dog food at the front of the pet store is his. Then, he said goodbye to the groomers by marking their front dog!

He managed to stay clean for a day. At least, he enjoyed himself at the spa and a visit to the pet store later that day.

If your dog was human, what would he/she do for a living or hobby?

My dog forum posted the above question. Let me see...

Haruki would be a food tester or a spa owner.


Mariko would be a FBI agent or a mattress tester.

My natural snooze button

For a long time now, I lived without an alarm clock in the house. My kids are up at the crack of dawn... and I let them out a crawl back to bed. They usually entertain themselves ...barking at everything and anything that moves and running up and down the yard. Somehow like clockwork, my boy will come into the room at 8.45am. At first, he'll sit quietly by the bedside. Then, the soft whines will start...followed by his high-pitched bark and foot nudges.

Today, my snooze-button boy rang four times and jumped on the bed twice to get me out of bed. That was even before my maid arrived.

You see, on Friday mornings, the maid comes at 8 sharp to clean the house. However, this morning...it rained so it really felt like 7 am. I was wondering why my boy was demanding I get up so early. When I finally got up, I found that it was already 9.30 and my maid had called in sick.

I suppose from now on I should not question my alarm clock!

Meet the Cousins

Today, my kids met their cousin Bowzer for the first time. Riko took an instant liking for the four month old beagle. She kept the cutie pie under her legs as much as she could.

Ruki sniffed and frisked him well to make sure he was not the enemy. Ruki was happy just being a spectator and occasionally showing fearless Bowzer who's the boss. Otherwise, he was just rolling about the grass after making trips to his dipping pool.

The kids got along well. It shows that they could get along with a third pup...not to say that I want another. No, two is just enough!

Meanwhile, my boy has been looking and acting like a St. Bernard these days. He's been submerging himself in the pool any chance he gets...and of course, the best time is always when we are getting ready to go to daycare! He also needs to sleep in an air-conditioned room... otherwise, he can't sleep. I need to find some time to send him to the groomers to trim his fur a bit...so that he looks a bit more decent. Half the time now, he looks like a wet mess from spending too much time in his pool.

I need him to look like this all the time. My dream dog (after grooming) Look at his aerodynamic waist line just a year ago!

I almost had a heart attack when...

...Grandpa told me he tried to let Mariko go off-leash outside.



Apparently, he took my girl out to the little green patch he uses with my boy. My girl was running up and down the patch off-leash. After two successful recall, Grand dad shouted "GO!"....and my girl LEFT the scene. She took off to the roads on her own!!!

This off-leash green zone connects our street with the next street. So, off she ran down the neighboring road .... looking back only to see when grandpa was frantically tailing her. She zipped right down to the end of the road. Luckily, she didn't cross the busy junction down the road to get to her usual walking circuit.

Thank goodness, grandpa caught up to her as she was trying to get to the next street. This is not the way I want to start my New Year!

Mariko Christmas and Haruki New Year!

I've been super busy lately and hadn't the chance to make a post here. I've still got backlog work to complete, emails and text messages to reply...which I have to (unfortunately) carry forward to this year. It's been crazy month. We hosted Boxing Day dinner last weekend....serving Eurasian-styled Devil curry, ratta yogurt salad, minced beef with potatoes and rice...with Pineapple-upside down cake for dessert.

Here's Mariko looking pretty with her Princess Leia crown. It's once a year I subject my kids to this ridiculous act.

My boy did not want anything to do with his santa hat. Since he's been "off-leash", he thinks he's a big boy now.


Today, we hosted our New Year Brunch...which I had only confirmed to hold yesterday when I finally had a chance to do grocery shopping. How did I spend midnight as the fireworks were blasting away? Well, I spent it on all fours on my kitchen floor! I spilled some batter in my still-running oven which seeped through to the kitchen floor. Geez...I hope this "clean-up messes" is not indicative of the year ahead!! *touch wood*

This morning... of all mornings, my kids decided to let me sleep in...when I was supposed to be preparing for brunch! Luckily, I was awaken by my mobile phone ring at 9am. So, my kids had their New Year breakfast feast outside while I was cooking up a storm in the kitchen.

Even in meals...they are in formation...right up to their tails. ;)


In the end, our New Year brunch turned out great...despite the last-minute shopping and using untested recipes I was admiring a few days back. I glad that I managed to make my quiche after talking about doing so for a whole year. Finally, last year's resolution crossed out this year!

Menu
Bacon-brie quiche (delish!)
Greek Baked pumpkin omelette
Breakfast sausages and portobello mushrooms sauteed with fresh herbs served with capsicum relish
Salad of romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cranberries and toasted almond flakes with Italian dressing
Oatmeal buttermilk pancakes with blueberries
Freshly-squeezed lemonade with mint and coffee


And when it was all over, we were all dog-tired.