Unexpected Camping Trip

I'm camping! Any guesses where? In our driveway!!! Our air conditioner quit working last night. We slept in the house last night because we opened all the windows and had all the ceiling fans going and it actually got chilly. This morning, Mama started work early so that she could be finished before it got hot in the house. We stayed in the house until 2:30 and decided to come on out here and camp. The air conditioning works here! LOL It's 89 degrees outside, so we are glad to have a place to cool off. Tomorrow, it's supposed to be 93. We hope Daddy can fix the air conditioning tonight.

Daddy knows how to fix air conditioners. He went to school for that. He can fix most anything. He bought the part today, but since the last part blew up, he doesn't know if other damage was done. We will know tonight.

It's definitely more fun camping some place other than the driveway even though I have never really seen our yard from this view. Scout and I are basically just hanging out. Mama just finished watching Guiding Light. She normally doesn't get off work as early as she did today, but she thought it would be hard to work out here. She may have to do it tomorrow though.

Last month, our refrigerator broke and the next day our washing machine broke. What is up with that? Daddy fixed the washing machine, but the refrigerator is still broke. We are using the old one that is in the laundry room and now we are living in the motor home. This has been a strange summer. LOL

Jack,
The lucky greyhound who gets to camp during the work week!

Dangerous Visitor

Last night seemed to be just like any other night. Daddy came into the bedroom at bedtime and said "WHO NEEDS TO GO OUTSIDE?" He always says it like that. Scout always hops right up and runs to him and says "Me, Me, Me". I usually wait for Mama to say "Jack, it's time to go outside. Jack, get up and go outside." So, I went outside and did my business. I always get done before Scout because Scout is busy looking at the sky. She does that every night. To reach our backyard, you walk through our garage and enter the backyard through the back door. After I did my business, I ran into the garage and headed for bed when I sniffed the air and thought "what was that smell?". I ran back outside and start sniffing under the stone bench that sits by the garage. Daddy said "Jack, what are you doing? Jack, get away from there and go to bed." Fine, if that is the way he wants it. Mama asked me if I did my business. She asks that every night. Then Mama's cell phone rang, which was very odd. Mama answers and it was Daddy. He tells her to stay calm and to bring Scout's leash outside, but to do it quietly. She asked if Scout had gotten out of the yard which is basically impossible to do. Daddy said "No, there is a copperhead under the bench and he is scared to walk Scout past it without a leash." Copperheads are poisonous snakes! Mama stayed calm and brought Daddy the leash and walked Scout in the house. She made sure we were both safe in the house and then went back outside to help Daddy. Daddy doesn't normally kill snakes, but since this one is poisonous he felt he should. The snake ended up getting away by crawling under the fence. Mama and Daddy then went to the other side of the fence and searched for the snake with a flashlight. Mama was scared. They ended up finding him on the side of the house. Mama said it took quite a while, but they killed him.

Mama is now scared for us to go in the backyard, but she knows we have lived here 6 summers and this is the first time a copperhead has been seen. We have seen other snakes, but not poisonous ones. She has given us strict instructions on what to do if we find another one. I hope I can remember everything she has told us. She also made new rules: 1) no leaving the back garage door open as a snake could get in the garage 2) if we need to go out in the middle of the night, we have to put our leashes on. Scout has a tendency to wander behind the butterfly garden and sniff around in the wee hours of the morning and Mama is scared she might encounter a snake or some other wildlife.

Daddy attended a seminar at a campground recently and he learned that copperheads are not aggressive. That seemed to be the case with this one. He also learned that no one in Missouri has died from a bite. Mama felt better after learning that, but she said it would have been really bad if one of us had been bitten. We are watching our step now and being as careful as possible. Mama said I was very lucky last night not getting bit since I had my nose next to the snake. I say that without me, they would have walked right past him and never seen him. He's gone now and we hope he doesn't have any siblings slithering around. Ewwww!

Scout's A Storm Buster, Too!

Scout has become a member of the Storm Buster Club. We had storms this morning, so Mama put my "Storm Buster" shirt on me and since Scout was scared, she asked her if she wanted to wear a shirt. Scout never wants to wear anything, so her willingness to wear a t-shirt surprised us. I think maybe she realized that she was the only one in the house not wearing a shirt and felt funny. Scout put the shirt on and she settled right down. The "Storm Buster" shirt works on her, too. Notice her tongue hanging out of the side of her mouth...yeah, she does that. Her real sister does that too. It must be a family thing.



Tonight, the fireworks are starting. Something shook our house. We don't know what it was for sure, but Scout and I both jumped on Mama and Daddy's bed. We are staying in the bedroom. It's safe in here. Mama turned the TV on, so we are settled in for a night of TV watching from bed. We may have to put our shirts on tonight. We will have to see if they work as firework busters, too. Mama said she is staying home tonight so that we won't be alone. I'm so glad.

Happy 4th everyone! Hope you have a quiet evening.

Jack,
President of the Storm Buster Club

Stepping Stones

We made our stepping stones last night. We have to wait two days before we can take them out of the mold. The suspense is killing us.

Mama thinks that she didn't add enough water to the mixture. She had conflicting instructions and did not realize it until after she had completed the stones.

Scout and I put our paw prints on the stones, but they are not showing up very well. Mama pushed our feet into the mixture, but they didn't sink very well. That's when she figured out that she may have messed up. We think they still look pretty. Scout's is more girlie even though she is not a girlie girl. Mine is more manly. LOL





Jack,
The greyhound who now has his own stepping stone!

Trash Day

Wednesday is trash day here. The trash truck does not come down our road, so we have to take it to the end of the road which is about a mile. Daddy usually does that on his way to work. He's out of town, so Mama has to do it. She decided that Scout and I could go with her this morning. We were all excited when she opened the tail gate of the Jeep Liberty and we jumped in. The backseat is kept down for us, so it is a nice size for us. We were shocked when she started putting trash bags in the back. We both jumped out. Mama said that if we wanted to go, we would have to ride with the trash. Can you believe that? I decided that I was not going to ride with the trash and walked right back in the house. Scout wanted to go with me, but she also wanted to go for a ride. Mama asked me one more time if I wanted to go and I really thought about it. Scout begged me to come along, so I decided to go, but I wasn't happy about it. We both jumped back in and Mama loaded up the back with the trash bags. It was just terrible riding with those trash bags. I had to hang my head out the window just to get some fresh air. After Mama dropped off the trash, she decided to take us for a longer ride to make up for terrible trip down the hill. I think she needs to do more than that to make up for me riding in a "trash truck" today.

Thank you for all the nice Gotcha Day wishes yesterday. I still can't believe it's been three years.

This could be a disaster.... Mama is going to try and make stepping stones today and she wants to use our paw prints. I'll keep you posted on how that turns out. LOL

Jack,
The greyhound who does not like having his car turned into a trash truck.

Ready to hear my secret?

June 30th is a special day. You know why?

Today is my "Gotcha Day". Three years ago today, I moved into my forever home! This photo was taken the day after I moved in. My face was a lot darker back then. Mama has started turning me grey. LOL

I can't believe it has been three years already! I was born and raced in Kansas. I only raced eight times and when I didn't make enough money, I was abandoned. You read that correctly. I was abandoned in a barn along with 24 other greys. Luckily, a man looked inside the barn before he demolished it and found us. Five of us, along with my half-brother, Woody were brought to St. Louis on Easter weekend. Mama and Daddy came into Petco looking for a greyhound in June. Mama really wanted a fawn, but the fawn was not a good match for them. The following week, Mama and Daddy were asked if they wanted to walk me in a parade. They were so impressed with me because I wasn't scared of the bands, fire engines or kids. They decided to adopt me, but asked if they could wait a little while because Daddy was changing jobs. It turns our that Daddy had to go out of town for an unknown amount of time and Mama didn't want to be by herself. The adoption group rushed through my adoption papers and I moved in sooner than expected. Mama said she rushed all over town getting things ready for me.

Mama told me she was so scared waiting for me to arrive. She said my size scared her since she only had lap dogs in the past. After I arrived, I settled right in. I played with toys and chewed on bones. When Daddy arrived home from work, the first thing he said to me was "You look a lot bigger in a house!" We've been a happy family ever since.

Today, Mama took Scout and I for a long walk. The weather is great here after our 11 day heat wave. I'm sure tonight I will get a frosty treat. Daddy is out of town, so I'm kind of sad about that, but Mama is here and she is the one with the food.

Every day is a fun day in my forever home!

Jack,
A greyhound who loves retirement

Another Silly Scout Story

Last night, Scout was outside after dark and she was chasing fire flies. Mama said it was so funny. She thinks that Scout caught one because she seemed to spit something out of her mouth. Okay, I thought that was kind of silly, but here comes the really silly part. Scout is now scared to go outside because of the daytime bugs. Mama has had her out twice today and both times she has run back in the house. The first time, Mama caught her and made her go back out, but Scout refused to do anything. She was very scared, so Mama let her come back in. The second time, Mama didn't make her stay out because she is scared that Scout will not trust her if she keeps making her do things that she is really scared to do. She did all her business this morning on our walk, so we are sure she is fine in that area. She went through this last summer too, but then she was okay. Mama may have to take her out on a leash in the backyard to show her that things are okay. Sisters are so silly.

Tomorrow is a big day for me. I'm not telling why just yet though. LOL

Jack
The greyhound who has a secret