Scout's Nose

Andy has a picture of a close up of a pigs nose that he got a long time ago. I think it's a really funny picture, and I thought it's be fun to do with Scout's nose.

I love this picture. Look at all the little freckles she has on her nose! So cute.

So a few years ago, Andy and I were up north grouse hunting. We were staying at Kerls place, so it was before the cabin was built. Anyway, we were nearing the end of the day of hunting and decided to go down one last path. No birds, but Scout did find a mean porcupine who gave her a good smack to the face. She ended up with quills in her nose, lips, tongue, and soft pallet of her mouth. We pulled some of the quills out, but had to take her to the vet because some were so deep. It was a Saturday night in Ladysmith WI, but we found someone at a gas station who knew the local vet, whom they called, who met us at his clinic. Poor Scout. They sedated her, and even with her passed out she just screamed when the vet was pulling the quills out of her jaw and soft pallet. One quill had to be cut out of the top of her mouth, because when he tried pulling it out he just pulled her across the table. Poor Scout. They reversed the sedation and she spent the next 20 minutes walking in circles in the vet office. Man was she stoned! That part was funny. Of course, this whole time poor Maggie is in the back of the truck freaking out because she can see and hear Scout for part of it, and then when we were at the vets she could hear Scout screaming. She was totally freaked out, and once we got back to Kerls she was very solicitous to her sister. The vet wasn't able to get all the quills out, so a few months later a quill poked out of the tip of her little brown nose. One of those little freckles is really a scar from the quill!

How Maggie feels about grooming?

I took Maggie to the PetCo groomers and on my way out picked up a "Spa Services" brochure. They offer lots of stuff! Everything form nail trimming and normal grooming to special shampoos and nail polish. I looked thru it, joked with Andy about getting Maggie smelling pretty with pretty toes, and then put the brochure away. Some time in the next few days it ended up on the ground. I came home from work to this. Apparently now we know how Maggie feels about the pretty nails...

By the way, there were no additional pieces of paper, they were simply gone. I guess she was hungry too.

Fishing for Maggie

Winter in Wisconsin. There's no fishing except thru holes in the ice, and Maggie and Scout get really restless. A couple years ago Andy started this winter game with the girls, and now Maggie is addicted. She will go to the closet where Andy keeps the fishing pole and stare at it intently, and then look longingly at her Pop.

So, the game is basically, a moose-ball (tennis ball with moose skin) is tied to a fishing pole. Andy will cast it out into the yard and the girls will chase it. He'll also spin it around in a circle, on the deck or in the livingroom, and they'll give chase. When we first started the game Scout would chase until she was dizzy! Too bad we didn't have video back then!!

X-Country Skiing

So we take Scout and Maggie cross country skiing in the winter months when the snow looks good and the girls are restless. We go to Buena Vista which is about 5 minutes from the house and a huge expanse of open area and roads that aren't maintained in the winter - perfect for skiing with our runners.

We had some really cold days and ice over the snow this year, so we had a limited number of good days to ski. Last weekend couple of weekends though the weather was really good, and the snow was OK. This picture is from a couple of weekends ago when it was still a little cold out - you can tell by the stud wearing snow pants in the picture.

Maggie loves it when the snow is not as deep - easier to run and catch her sister. Scout of course is nowhere to be seen in this picture. She's probably off looking for birds in one of the many fields near there.

Inaugural Post

Greetings family and friends. This is my personal blog, and will be my place to display pictures and fun stuff I want to share. We'll kick it off with one of my favorite pictures of the girls. This is the day in May 2004 when we brought our little Maggie home. Look how cute she is with her big sister. Who knew back then that she'd end up beating her sister up as often as possible?