Spike Lives!

Wow, what a difference 48 hours makes! We're happy to report that Spike is acting like nothing ever happened :) He's moving, eating, and wagging his tail!

And he's even back to going up and down stairs:


Once outside, he actually romped out in the yard.


I got Spike from the Frederick County (Maryland) Animal Shelter when I was first living in Maryland. Since then, he's relocated with me to New Jersey, Minneapolis (where we met Joe!!), then with us to Phoenix and now back to Maryland. So he has put on quite a few miles over his long puppy dog life.

And everyone who's ever met him has simply loved him. He's just a friendly, happy dog. Yay Spike!

Rough Day

Boy, did we have a rough day yesterday. Spike had something happen that had me convinced he was not going to make it through the night. The good news is that today, he seems nearly all better and back to his regular self. But this is a picture I took of him last night:

He was lethargic, unbalanced, quivering, panting, and could hardly walk. Spike is 16 years old, and though age is taking its toll, he's been moving around pretty darn good for a dog his age. And we just had him to the vet last Thursday for a check-up and all seemed well.

We slept on the floor lat night to be by his side, that's how worried we were. But Spike is a trooper, and appears to have fought off whatever it was, and we are very pleased to see him back to his normal Spike self this evening!

On to the other pets...Kitty really enjoys the bay window, and can lay there for hours:
Max, not to be outdone, thinks he has every right to look out the window as well. And bark. And bark. And bark. He doesn't miss a thing.


That's when we stick him out in the back.....

Next task - get a fence built so he can roam free!

30 Days Down!

So! Tomorrow will be 30 days since we signed all the papers and closed on the house here in Maryland - woo! We're still getting settled, but country living takes some getting used to. One of my favorite features of the house is the yard - having over an acre is something I only dreamed of.

Someone else apparently also enjoys his little estate:


Until we get a fence up, we bought a yard stake thingie that we can hook Max up to, with a 40-foot leash. It works pretty well, and he can sit there for the longest time just watching things. Hey! Max!! Over here:


Joe showed me how to start the riding mower today, and I took it for a spin around the yard! When I was growing up, we used to tie round sleds to the back of the lawn mower in winter and drive in circles so we could spin around. We would even build little snow ramps. If I can find a round sled, we are so doing that this winter!