Of Quilts and Class and Haircuts and Things

We've had quite the busy weekend.  First, it started off with a box from our Granny and Grandpa.  Technically the box was for Mom and Dad, but since the gift inside starred US, it is totally relevant to this bloggie.  Granny and Grandpa had been talking about making a quilt for Mom and Dad for Christmas, and Mom was happy when it arrived (Christmas is fluid when it comes to hand-made gifts).  But she was totally blow away when she opened the box and saw the quilt.

That's not exactly the best picture, but we wanted to give you an idea of the size of it.  Because it turns out that the quilt has pictures of us!  (And TaiChi and Ben and Billy and Bufus, because they are always with us.)  Grandpa got pictures from our bloggie and printed them on fabric and they were included in the quilt, along with pithy comments.  Check out some of them!

Me as a wee pup, hanging out with TaiChi the Wise

The upper left picture is me checking out Abby on her first day home.

MangoMinster immortalized forever in our quilt!

More pawsome pictures and stitching

We were all totally blown away by this - how cool is it?  And for Granny and Grandpa to put all that work into finding meaningful pictures and putting them in a quilt is beyond thoughtful.    I'll tell ya, we were all deeply touched by Granny and Grandpa's Very Cool quilt!  Thank you so much!!!  We'll treasure this always!

The next excitement was doggie class.  It turns out Jessi (the Turkey Hotdog Lady) is training a dog trainer for another Petco, and we were to be some of the trainer-in-training's first actual doggies.  Poor kid!  Apparently we are 'tough' because while we are very well-behaved, we're also totally spoiled; we get tons of attention at home, so we aren't actively seeking out human affection, we are free-fed (we always have kibble in our dish, to eat when we are hungry), so we aren't used to 'working for food' (we leave that to Mom!  Heehee!), and we have tons of toys, so we don't get super excited about new toys.  Jessi knows how to stimulate our mentals, but Riley the trainee was in for a bit of a challenge with us.

Hi.  Um, so you want us to do what today?

Dangling treat ball?  Okay, we'll pretend to be interested.

We actually had a good time with the trainee - we played hide-and-seek, we demonstrated our loose-leash walking skills, and we gave the trainee a chance to try to engage two doggies who are not easily amused.  (We actually ARE easily amused, but in a 'bitey-face on the bed on top of the humans' way, not in a 'here's  new toy' sort of way.)

Of course, after class, we spent time amusing ourselves in the manner we know best - frisbee and bitey-face in snow!

And then today, after some more frisbee time

Mom decided it was time for Abby's haircut.  All because Abby had taken to flopping down in the snow every few minutes when she got hot!

So, Abby got the same 87 hours of torture, ah, treatment I got last week - brushing, bathing, drying, brushing and grooming.

Here is her 'before' picture.

Cute, but furry.

Here are some 'action' photos...  Apparently Abby is Not Took Keen on having her face, feet, or front legs groomed.  However, Mom just cranked up the music and kept the HBO words to a minimum.

Abby not looking like a happy camper

Note Mom's grim determination!

And then the finished product...

Not perfect, but as our Granny would say, a man on a fast horse wouldn't notice the imperfections.

For those of you who are worried that Abby might be cold now that she is nekkid again, I can assure you she is very comfortable without all those extra hairs.

And I had to make sure she was still bitey-able.

Yep.  Still bitey-able.

And finally, in case you were worried about the paucity of photos of my pretty face, I won't leave you disappointed.

Heehee!

*kissey face*
-Fiona and Abby the (newly shorn) Hippobottomus