WHEELY WEDNESDAY No 10

Hey Pals,
It's me Roxy here today and I'm going to show you some of the flowers that are starting to bloom around the yard & pond. I got to follow Mama around while she worked on things outdoors.
Here is some creeping phlox by the pond:
This plant is a wild geranium:
They also grow all over in the woods behind our fence.

This is a plant that has tiny purple flowers. It is a creeping plant & is just starting to creep out from it's original spot.
This is the water-forget-me-not that grows by our stream:
This is a really tall purple salvia up by our garage:
Papa really likes these, tiny white daisies:
This plant is Cat Mint, it grows tiny purple flowers:
Doesn't that huge hosta make me look tiny???

This flower is the wild columbine:
These are Mama's white lilacs & they smell really nice:
I even got to help feed the fish today:
Can you see the bug?? This is one of the water iris in the pond that is just about ready to open & this nymph landed on it:
This plant is sweet flag:
The koi fish really like to breed in these plants.

Here are some of the hostas by the smaller pond:
Some more hostas by the stream:
Well that's it for the tour today. Roxy signing off.
Wheely Hugs!
Roxy

BUTCHY'S ANTI-ANXIETY VEST & STORM DEBRIS

Hey Pals,
Well now that the horrible storms & tornadoes are done for a bit here in Iowa, Mama said that I Butchy passed the test for my Anti-Anxiety Vest she made me. See when I was rescued by Mama & Papa, I was very very scared of thunder & lightning. I won't share the gross details of what would happen with me during storms, hehehe. They worked really hard with me to cure me of this phobia. After 3 years of it I was much much better & not nearly as afraid, I would still pant & pace horribly, not eat or drink. I'm not afraid of rain, or gun shot noise, or any other loud noises, just the thunder & lightning. I would pant so bad that Mama was afraid I would have a stroke or heart attack. So last year the vet prescribed some pills to help me during storms. They work ok, but not great. So Mama started researching about the Anxiety Wraps you see all over the internet to help pets with anxiety or stress. Mama did not want to pay that much money for something that might not work for me. They work for many dogs, but not others. So since she sews & sells dog clothes, she thought hey, I can make one for Butchy. So Mama created the Anti-Anxiety Vest. Here is what it looks like:




Would you believe that during the horrible storms & tornadoes this last Sunday that I Butchy, Inspector Butcho, actually just laid under the dining room table SLEEPING while everyone was eating supper & watching out the windows & worrying about the golf ball size hail going through our skylights? Yep, I didn't pant or pace or anything. Mama was very excited that I was so calm. Along with putting my Anti-Anxiety Vest on, she also gives me 4 drops of Rescue Remedy. We have heard many good things about it & decided to try that with wearing the vest. So Mama thinks she has found the combination of things that work for me.

We've already sold one of the Anti-Anxiety Vests to a gorgeous poodle girl named Georgie. She is scared of fireworks, etc. Here she is modeling her vest:

We have our paws crossed that this vest works wonders for her too. A pretty girl like her shouldn't have to be afraid of things right?? Our Mama sells these from $24.00 - $40.00 depending on the size of your dog. The vests are made with Twill Cotton Outer Fabric & lined with Fleece. If anyone wants to order one for their scared or anxious dog, please contact us at SNITHCYBUG DOG DESIGNS.

We still keep finding house debris in our yard from the homes that were destroyed in Parkersburg. Here are some examples:

Wood inner siding
Shingles
More fiberboard siding, drywall with paint on it
More shingles
Fiberglass insulation backing & lots of pieces of insulation all over the yard
As we told you, several counties east of us are also still finding things & belongings to the people that lost their homes. We thought of searching the cornfield across from us for important papers & things, but the farmer has his crops coming up already & we know he wouldn't appreciate us tromping through the plants. Otherwise we would. We can't even imagine what it is like to lose everything you own in one storm. If anyone ever wants to donate things for storm victims, be sure to visit your local Red Cross and donate clothes, blankets, etc. Anything helps in a time of need.

As most of you know, Monday was Pearl & Opal's big Roller Skating Pawty! At first we thought we wouldn't get to go, cause there is no way that Aire-Ruby could have landed out here to pick us up with all of the tornadoes hitting. But Aire-Ruby came through for us. She made a special trip back here to get us after the storms were over!! Thanks Ruby!! We had such a fun time at the pawty. The wheelies especially had fun since they have their very own wheels. Josephine wore her leg brace just in case she fell & it's a good thing. Did you see the pile up pictures on Pearl & Opal's blog??? It was pawsome!!

Wirey Hugs!
Butchy & Snickers

Our House Is Still Here!

Hey Pals,
Just a quick post to let you know we are all ok here. We had a small tornado with 93 mile per hour winds just south of us which destroyed an RV Company, destroyed homes & threw cars into a lake. Then the town of Parkersburg which is only 29 miles west of us had most of the town destroyed. Here is a link to some photos: Parkersburg Photos

We had major hail which was golf ball sized & a few were even larger. We need to inspect the house roof today to see how much damage there is.

Debris from Parkersburg has been found as far away as Praire Du Chien, WI. We have been finding debris in our yard since last night. We have pieces of new plywood siding that was ripped off of homes, several shingles, all different colors so they came from different homes, housing insulation, foam pieces. We'll get some photos later. People in Fayette county which is farther east from us has even found people's tax papers, personal papers, etc. from Parkersburg.

Mama & Papa's friends live about 5 miles west of us & they lost power and could actually hear the tornado that was hitting Parkersburg. They said it was very very loud. Auntie C has X-in-laws that live in Parkersburg. They are ok & so is their house but their neighbors 2 houses down, don't have a home anymore. Totally destroyed. We have4 relatives that are volunteer fire fighters, EMT's & one is a Paramedic & they were in Parkersburg right after the tornado hit & stayed through the night to help people. Injuries are very severe & several people have died. We are very fortunate that the tornado didn't hit us. Mama was actually worried for once that we might get hit by one. They all came very close, too close! Better go help Mama & Papa outside. We're sorry we didn't get to have Aire-Ruby land to take us to Pearl & Opal's pawty. But better to be safe.
Wirey Hugs!
Butchy & Snickers

Another Award & We're In Plaid!

Hey Pals,
We are so excited cause we have been given another very cool award. It's from our dear friend Chloe.

Thank you so very much Chloe! This is a very special award & we would now like to pass it on to a few of our pals:
Clover
Deetz
Gus
Chef

Now you've got to check out Miss Snickers. Doesn't she look smashing in plaid?? Mama made these outfits for a customer & we always give each item the Exclusive Four Paw Inspection. Everything passed for the Snitchybug Dog Designs Inspection.
Snickers is very proud of her beard. Mama told her that this is the best it has ever looked & the longest it has ever been. Usually our beards get full of food tidbits (hehehe!) & stuff so Mama usually has to keep them pretty trim.
Snickers thinks we should take a trip to Ireland or Scotland or the UK since we're all dressed up. Maybe we can wear the outfits to Pearl & Opal's big skating pawty this Monday! Hey, that's a great idea!
Now this picture is me Butchy below. I was not a happy boy that morning Mama took pictures. I wanted to stay in the big bed & sleep in. But NO, Mama made me dress up & pose for photos. Geez, can't a boy get his beauty sleep???
We've been so tired out from helping Mama & Papa pot all of those daylilies. So far we're up to 440 pots of them, plus at least 60 pots of other plants. Wonder when we'll be done??? Our nails are just filled with dirt from digging up all of those plants, tee hee. Snickers said we need a pedicure & spa day. I agree!
Wirey Hugs!
Butchy & Snickers

Lost Turkey & Awards

Hey Pals,
We were given these wonderful awards by our great pal Candi! Aren't they cool??

Thanks so much Candi!

Yesterday morning we looked out the window & saw this hen turkey. Papa had left the shed door open & she was peaking in there. At first we thought she was going to enter the shed but she didn't. She then walked over to our garage (which is right beside the house) and was snooping around.

Then she snuck in Mama's flowers, hehehehe.

Hmmmmm, another door...
Nope, it's closed, better sneak off this way.
It's a good thing she didn't start pecking off Mama's plants, cause Mama would have opened the house door & yelled at her, tee hee. You should see that woman when she chases a Great Blue Heron away from her koi. Thank dog we don't have many neighbors out here in the country.
Wirey Hugs!
Butchy & Snickers

WHEELY WEDNESDAY No 9

Hey Pals,
It's Wheely Wednesday already! Boy does time fly. I Josephine get to talk today since I'm the silly girl that got hurt last week playing on the bridge, tee hee.

See what happened??
I hurt my ligamananet, or something like that. So I have to wear a bandage for a few weeks. See the pretty bandage that I had Mama make for me??
I sure hope this heals soon. I want to play at Opal & Pearl's pawty on Memorial Day.

Last night some of the stuffies decided to sneak out & play while everyone was sleeping. Guess what they did?? A huh, they found Mama's collectible wooden wagon. Yep, and look what they were doing:
Digby, Blossom & Gertie were having a ball. They even talked TT into pulling them around the room. As I was spying on them I took a picture of TT pulling them, but the darn camera lost it. Geez, silly techinal stuff. Oh no, they heard me telling on them, I better get wheelin' outta here fast. See you next week!
Wheely Hugs!
Josephine
PS Max wasn't hurt last week, he just had a few bruises & is all healed up.

We Have Daylilies Coming Out Of Our Ears!

Hey Pals,
Hope everyone's weekend was fun. We had nice weather here in Iowa & we are tuckered out from all of the work we helped do around here. We actually think we have green leaves sticking out of our ears too. Is that like having a green thumb?? Well Mama must have a green thumb. We have so many plants & flowers around here that there is no room for many of them. Each summer Mama sells plants or something out here & lots of people stop to buy them. One year we sold koi & goldfish, another we sold waterlilies. This year it's Daylilies & other flowering plants. Every 3-4 years the Daylilies need to be divided. Well Papa thought it would take only a few hours to dig up & pot plants, hah! Boy was he wrong. They have been working on them for 2 days now & are only about half way done. So far they have potted over 250 pots of Daylilies & about 40 pots of other plants. Here are a few pictures of the pots. When everything is potted we'll take a few more pictures.
It's hard to see all of the pots cause they are lined up behind each other.
We sure hope Mama sells lots of these this summer. Hmmmmm, maybe she should start a nursery here too, hehehehe! Papa is taking a vacation day tomorrow & going to help Mama try to finish up potting the plants. We like that plan, we like Papa being home too.

Speaking of plants, we caught these bambi deer trying to munch on stuff out in the yard & out by the pond tonight:
Can you see the deer to the top of the photo?? The one with the fat belly?? She is a pregnant mama deer. She will be having her babies within 1-2 weeks from now.
Sorry the photos are fuzzy, it was very dark outside so Mama had to enhance the photos so you could see them.

There are 2 deer in this photo.
3 deer in this one.
Guess we better hit the hay & get some rest. We will have a busy day tomorrow again. We hope everyone has a great Monday!
Wirey Hugs!
Butchy & Snickers