CODE RED CODE RED

Hey Its Maggie...

Sometimes my sister ms. perfect and my brother mr. notsoperfect likes to mess with me.  For instance, last week the phone rang and they told me it was my BFF that I have been looking for EVERYWHERE...when I ran to the phone it was a telemarketer selling siding ....  On Sunday Mom took me on this trip to Missoureeee and I thought I was traveling to Puddles house.  I packed all kinds of things for her and I to enjoy. We never arrived at her house, ...it was a lie....so i just had to eat and drink my supplies the rest of the way home alone. I did meet a little doxie but it was a he and his name was Charlie and he didn't drink any type of adult beverage so I knew he wasn't even related to Puddles.

Now my BFF is back and we have a new  SECRET code word so they can't play tricks on me anymore   If she says this word somewhere in her post to me, then I will know it is not stella or angus tricking me.  Don't you think that is a wonderful idea!?!

The shrine that mom made me tear down.


In a few weeks... exactly 13 days I am going to go to obedience classes at the college.  I told stella hahaha i am going to college and you are not. She did not care...she just shook her head and walked away.  I hope mom and I do well in those classes. Mom is nervous, I am not.  I am putting a picture of PUDDLES in her jail clothes in my pocket to show all my new friends, mom said I might not want to do that....??????
Margaret

DANG BUZZARDS

We never manage to have a completely wordless wednesday cos margaret says i can't shut my trap that long, margaret needs to take a class on "getting along with others" or go to prison. 

Speaking of prison and Margaret in the same sentence..I told mom it is really handy that we live right across the highway from the jail here in our town, and the OLDEST courthouse in IOWA, and the attorney's office where my mom works.  It seems tho the jail is having a bit of a problem with the buzzard population here in town.  See right in the middle of the exercise yard is a huge cell phone tower. (We have often wondered about the climbing OUT aspect of the whole thing??) anyway all the local buzzards...as in birds...love to sit on the tower day and night. At first Mom was worried about this cos she was afreard when we were out running around in Alcatraz they might swope down and get us.  Well, I told Mom not to worry cos they don't like anything with a heartbeat, and they NEVER leave the tower anyway UNTIL the sheriff's office decided they were tired of the little "deposits" as in poop they were leaving on the ground and cars in the parking lots.   So the sheriff's office has started shooting firecrackers off every morning bright and early to scare them away!!  Notice Mom wrote "bright and early".  Since July 5th twice a day BANG BANG BANG.....is it working....yes.  My theory is as soon as those old buzzards understand the illegal fireworks that was confiscated on July 4th are all gone, they will land right back on their tower.  After all they have been there for 87 hundred years!! 

This is Margaret

YAY AYAYYAYAYAY MY BFF PUDDLES IS BACK...I HAVE MISSED YOU TO THE MOON AND BACK...I HAVE BEEN PRACTICING MY INTERPRETATION OF YOU EVERYDAY PUDDLES AND HAVE BEEN DOING SO WELL AT IT THAT MOM SIGNED ME UP FOR OBEDIENCE CLASSES ....THEY START IN TWO WEEKS.

Margaret's Adventure & The Yard

So Sunday Mom made plans to drive down to Missouri to see her friend Deb.  Mom decides its Margaret's turn to go with her cos she needs to get use to going other places besides just playing around our house.  Margaret thought Missouri is where PUDDLES her IDOL lives so she jumped right in the car and was ready to go at the crack of dawn. 

But Mom I NEED to go with you so I can get the break from the Gangsta's....see I am smiling and everything.

Please Mom take me take me, Oh Maggie quit your whining......

Gussie could care less if he got to go or not, he just wanted to stay in the yard and chew on the wheelbarrow handle. (See gussie's weird eyes, you can tell he cannot see very well by the color of them)

I reminded Mom SHE does go to CIRCLE B with Dad on numerous occasions so he can get his glass bottle of Mt. Dew.

Can you tell Maggie is starting to fill out?  She is going to start obedience classes in a few weeks, and mom wanted her to get use to riding in the car for one hour each way.  Maggie rode in the doggy car seat and Mom said she did just fine.  The only thing was she wouldn't pee outside at the other Deb's house, and she ignored the other Deb's dogs and Mom said they were really friendly.  Apparently Maggie has no social skills except with PUDDLES and MOM said that may not be a good thing. As soon as Mag's seen her yard, she peed and peed and peed. 

Anyway Mom and Maggie took off in the blue streak at 9:30 and they didn't get home until 5:30 that night.  Gus and I slept most of the day away till Dad came home from work....he let us go on a yard tour with him while he checked to see if the flower pots were dry.

This is Mom's baby butterfly bush..it stands about 8 feet tall, the old grandpa butterfly bush which is about 6 years old now only stands about 12 inches high.  We think the drought last year got him.  Mom has this butterfly bush in a bed with huge huge round rocks all around him so she won't weed eat by mistake.  She has been known to do that.

See Mean ole Cat Dietzman sneaking around the flower bed, he is hoping to get faraway from Gus!  He despises GUS!

Usually he hides under this hosta and mom has to look for him there when he doesn't come in for supper.  She worries about him cos he is getting pretty old and she notices he has lost weight this summer even tho he eats like 10 grown men!!!

Maggie shared with me later that she looked for PUDDLES under every tree and bush, in the bedroom, closet and the beer garden, although mom called it a tomato garden.... she never found her anywhere ...she did find a little doxie but his name was Charlie and he was dapple colored, he loved my MOm and even Margaret, she ignored him cos he wasn't her buddy ....Margaret is snotty like that.
stella rose

RAGBRAI CONTINUED......

This is what the riders saw when they came around the corner and started to come down the hill ..mom and dad sat in front of the house with their cups of coffee and waved at all the riders.  It was a very diverse group, some with big bikes, long bikes and little bikes, some with shoes, without shoes, with shirts, with prom dresses, with shorts....some young ..some old...diverse.  It took them 7 hours to go by our house, there was that many riders.

We waited patiently inside of Alcatraz ....Mom didn't want us to get away from them and run out into the street....

See how big Baby Gussie has gotten.

Margaret photobombed my picture.

Mom put her baby geodes in her bird bath for the birds to perch on while they watched the riders zoom by our house.  At the base of the bath is some new decorative grass she planted..it is small still.

 This is part of our back yard by Alcatraz.  Mom likes blue bottles.

On the last leg of the bike ride all the riders dipped the front wheel of their bike into the Mississippi River and then they partied till the sun came up.  We just stayed home with Mom and Dad went to work.


Mean ole cat dietzman couldn't figure out what all the commotion was about and he hid out in the hosta bed.

Later that night we all played outside with Mom we had a great weekend.  Maggie has an adventure story to tell you also later this week.

(Big Sister Kylei took all new pictures for US)
STELLA ROSE

BEFORE PUGS

This is a picture of me, Sammer and Trudie...Trudie is smiling cos Dad brought her home from the hell hole.

Anyway Mom talks about having pugs in her life as BEFORE PUGS and AFTER PUGS ..this is what she thinks about it.

BEFORE PUGS.
1. Dog food was purchased from the grocery store-- whatever was on sale. Zeus lived to be 12 years old.
2. A toy was only purchased at Christmas.
3. Mom went shopping for herself more often.
4. The Vet was only seen once a year or as needed which was almost never.
5. Dogs slept on the floor on their blanket.  Never one time did Zeus sleep in their bed.
6. Dad gave real bacon as treats all the time or whatever meat he was cooking.
7. Mom and Dad would jump in the car and head off for the day and the dog would be just fine while they were gone.
8. In 12 years Zeus only had one accident on the floor and that was because he was sick. Mom NEVER bought pee pads.


AFTER PUGS.
1. Only grain free dog food is purchased ..if not there is alot of gas in the house and our fur is not as shiny as it should be.  Grain free dog food costs mom what a new outfit for work would each month.
2. At least one new toy is purchased each month, and always on our birthdays and of course at Christmas time. Sometimes we even get to play with baby toys that the grandmonsters used to play with.
3. Mom has not bought a new outfit for yourself for work in over a year.
4. We are on a first name basis with the Frankenvet. We know where they live, what their home phone number is, and what athletic events their children attend.  Now we go to a new vet so we are going to have to learn all these things all over again. Our vet is on speed dial.
5. We used to sleep with mom and dad until they changed bedrooms.  Now we have a great big bed of our own that Dad puts in the big bathroom each night.  We wish we could still sleep with Mom and Dad but I cannot see in their new room and I cry and want to go back to the old room.  Sometimes Mom feels sorry for us, and they get out the air mattress and sleep in the old bedroom with us.  Its like pretend camping.
6. Dad sneaks us little pieces of bacon but not very often cos Mom has a eagle eye about good and bad treats.  I eat alot of fruits and vegetables.
7. Dad and Mom only go places we can go which means they don't get to go as often.  People shy away from people who have three dogs so their human circle of friends have gotten much smaller.
8. In the 3.5 years I have been here I have had so many accidents on the floor Mom can't keep track!  Now, we are all doing much better. We should own stock in a pee pad company.

Angel Trudie. (wrong year on the date)

Devil Sammer and Me.  Sam always looked peeved off at the world.

Trudie killing the pee pad.

Gangsta #1

Gangsta #2

Mom says there must be a special place in heaven for pug owners....I tell mom she is already there.
BAhahhahahha
The bikers are coming tomorrow......
stella rose

RAGBRAI

Ragbrai is coming to Keosauqua on Saturday, and the town is getting ready for it!!!  Do any of you guys know just what Ragbrai is...I bet there are some bicyclist out there that do....Murphy and Stanley????  Here are some interesting facts about Ragbrai...
1. A few friends got together in 1973 to bike across Iowa and there has been a Ragbrai ever since.
2. Ragbrai riders have came from all over the world and ALL the major newspapers in the country.
3. Major magazines such as TIME, Reader’s Digest, Sports Illustrated, Ford Times, Smithsonian, Saturday Evening Post, National Geographic’s Traveler, SHAPE, Bicycling and many others have offered coverage of RAGBRAI.
4. In 1986, the NBC-TV TODAY Show was on the ride and in 1987 featured RAGBRAI on the Sunday evening news. CBS Television included a report on RAGBRAI XVI in 1988 on its Friday evening news.
5. In fact, the ride has become so popular that RAGBRAI officials now limit the number of week-long riders to 8,500 in order to maintain a sense of control and insure fewer injuries.
6. In 1988, an estimated 23,000 riders had taken part in the leg of the ride from Boone to Des Moines by 3 p.m. In 1992, an estimated 17,000 riders rode the leg of the ride into Des Moines. And in 1997, an estimated 20,000 riders pedaled into Des Moines from Creston.

This is a picture of our village when you are bicycling down the long hill, or in their case on Saturday UP the long hill.

Mom is going to TRY to take us down to the Park on Saturday after the bikers and the 10,000 (no lie!!!) cars will be gone after 1:00 pm and take a picture of us with this big bike.

When they leave our town at 1:00 pm they will ride onto Fort Madison for the night and dip their bike wheel in the Mississippi river and that means the trip is over.

Friday night they are staying in the town where our Dad works, he is crazy cos he know they will be hungry for Greek food.  Mom said he is going to be hot and tired and we had better behave.

FOOD FOR ThOUGHT:  Our village is the biggest in Van Buren County ...there are 1,006 people that live here, imagine 8500 bikers plus 10,000 visitors from 5 AM till 1:00 PM and guess what they are routed to go right past our house and on down to the park where there will be food, water and fun waiting on them.  We are gonna have to get up early to watch them zoom by our house.  Mom is hoping for some photo shots, IF she is awake.  Here is what they will see on their route.

First, our house.  Then...

Then ME watching them zoom by our house, (yes, this is a Halloween picture...well you all know the sad story of the camera cord)

Then...

 the historical cannon across the street that PIP and PUDDLES were shot out off.  We wanted to put up a sign to tell the bikers that but the town council said NO.

Then the Welcome Center and.....

The Park.........

The Bridge at the Park

Famous Hotel Manning and

the Water Marks on the side of the hotel to show how high the flood waters have gotten over the years, the two highest marks are when we lived here, but our house is up on the hill.

We think they are gonna like Keosauqua alot, but we also think they are gonna be so glad that it is almost over for them, that they will be anxious to move on to Fort Madison.  We are gonna watch for MURPHY and STANLEY to see if they are in the pack zooming by our house, and if so, we sure hope they stop for breakfast!!
STELLA ROSE

THE ROCK COLLECTOR

MY mom is a rock collector.  She doesn't know when or why she started collecting rocks, but one day she heard herself ask a friend who was going to Switzerland to bring her back a rock. Her friend looked at her like she was CRAZY but she brought her a rock back from some famous MOUNTAIN.  Then, another time her minister and his wife was going to Africa to visit and do some work, again she heard those strange words come out of her mouth about bring back a rock.  They brought her back a lovely piece of marble with the date written on it from a village they had visited. It was wonderful....so the tradition began.  Everytime people she knows goes somewhere she asks to a rock.  We have rocks from everywhere....we try to put them in special places around our yard, and in our house. We have a whole basketfull of rocks from Glacier Bay in Alaska, that Mom's brother brought back to her a few months ago.  Sometimes Mom even forgets where they come from. She asked her son in law to bring her back a rock from Iraq but that must have been a big no no cos he just brought himself back and that was a million trillion times better than a rock.

Mom really likes Geodes.  That is Iowa's Rock.  People come down to southeast IOwa where we live and try and find them. They are hard to find, unless you know a hunting spot...usually it is on someone's land and there is a big sign telling you this

Its really hard for mom when she see's Geodes laying in the Creek and this sign is posted....really really hard.
Anyway our yard is full of Geode's that her and dad have collected over the years, and she has them all around her flower beds.  Geode's hate weedeater string.....Mom uses alot of that string in the summertime.

The red one doesn't live at our house.  Anyway Murphy and Stanley went on vacation in Oregon so Mom asked them to bring her back a rock.  They sent her pictures instead although we are waiting on a really big rock that would need a UPS truck or maybe a SEMI to bring to our house.  They sent us this picture of these rocks they found when they were hiking....and they told me it reminded them of us.

Their Momma said a group of rocks is called a Cairns and are used to tell hikers which way to go...mysteriously though there was no trails around, um....maybe these little rock piles were just reminding Murphy and Stanley of the friends waiting for them once they got home.

Have a great day,
stella rose
ps everyone is slowly on the mend.

UPDATE ON BEAR

Bear is feeling MUCH better, thank you all for your prayers for Bear and the family.  The family is still struggling with all the upper respiratory stuff.  Mom brought Micah home with her last night as he is the only healthy one, hopefully everyone else will begin to improve.  Kylei is all done with her med's today and still feeling cruddy so Mom is wondering just what the next step will be.  Marcus will probably miss the rodeo tomorrow night.
Stella Rose

FROZEN WATER

No, that is not frozen water, at all, we are just having to resort to putting pictures on our blog that have nothing to do with our post, until our usb cable arrives from the dark jungle of amazon.com.

Anyway, some of you may have experienced pictures from the past of my mom's cooking....you have noticed how hard she tries to make eatable suppers for Dad and us pugs.  Mom tries really hard but its IMPOSSIBLE to compete against a Greek Cook who is perfect at his job; even when it is 112 degrees in the kitchen and that is noooo fib. 

Anyway MY mom has came across something that she makes for us everyday without fail, and she never gets it wrong.  I, Margaret and Angus am sure proud of her, and we tell her that after she puts the FROZEN WATER in our water bowl.

Yes, its frozen water folks, not peach pie like Frankie & Ernie's Mom, not wonderful food that we can't even pronounce like the Sous Pug's Mom, or even M & M's like Lily's Mom, well the list just goes on and on and on and on and  on....

Our Mom cooks us frozen water everyday without fail until December and then we just go eat when if falls off the porch.

We do love you Mom.
Stay cool everyone
StellaRose

National Doghouse Day

Mom heard this morning on the news that today is National Doghouse Day.  Well, let me tell you folks my DAD can sure relate to that.  He spends half his time in and out of the doghouse. 

One time he had to go to the doghouse and stay for a few days cos he FORGOT to feed us while my mom was taking care of grandpa and grandma.  Well he only FORGOT one night but it was a catastrophe for sure!!  That is why my Mom took this picture of me and put it beside the bed.

Another time he REFUSED to eat my MOM's homemade chili soup cos she used the wrong kind of beans in it.  Well, if you know my Mom's cookin and you guys do, Dad should have just been glad it wasn't burnt and tasted eatable.  Mom was pretty mad that night at Dad, and it was really cold outside but she let him take an extra blanket out to the Doghouse.

MY MOM has never had to go to the Doghouse, we are not sure if that is a unwritten rule, like man caves are only for mans .....and she has did a few things like trying to burn the house down on several occasions, making Alcatraz bigger without telling Dad, and forgetting to put us in the kitchen when she went to work.  Of course the doghouse is only so big, and if MOM had to sleep out there well we would have to go with her, and there just wouldn't be enuf room.
Everyone stay cool today, drink lots of water, and watch out for the sun....we are so blessed to have air conditioning, and cold water where we live.
Stella Rose