Dearest Friends and Furries,

We are going to be hitting the road (OUCH!) later this afternoon to be with family for Christmas. We want to take this opportunity to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and May the New Year brings lots of goodness and happiness to everyone.

If you are getting a new pet for someone this Christmas, do check out the SPCA or shelters for dogs. There are so many who deserves a second chance and a forever home. Don't buy a brand new dog. Give the ones at the shelters a chance.

Thank you for always dropping by to leave your comments. We appreciate your friendship and love.

See you all next year! Take care and be safe on the roads.

with love,
Dommy, Piper and Anny
Our apologies for not posting much lately. We are on a roll here. Dommy and Piper are rolling in the beds.. left right left right.. hehehe. I am however trying to roll left and right to try and finish the Sketchbook Project 2011.

It has been quite a fun experience scrawling away on the sketchbook dead in the night with Pete singing in the background. Yes.. its always Pete singing.. *LOL* I wonder when he'll be out with his next album. Hurry up Pete.

I rediscovered something which i lost when i started using the computers. It has been cow years working on the computers. On some days, i forget how to hold a pen and write like a normal person should.

The funny stuffs usually end up in my drawings. My mind is more cartoony and cottony than anything else. Most of the pages are cartoony.. *LOL* But its been nice to draw again. I'm still trying to get back in the groove of things.. and trying to hold a brush without shaking like jelly-o. In my old age, my hands shake more and my eyes blurr out when i draw too late in the night.. hehehehe

Hope you all enjoy the drawings below. Don't laugh too loud ya :) The drawings are quite rough on the edges. My hands keep shaking. The shaking is probably due to all the chicken legs that i've consumed all my life.

Tomorrow.. we'll show you our Christmas tree... i'll try to get both furries to pose. We finally put it up last Saturday. YehooooooooooOOOoo.

smoking monsters

coffee love
When he sleeps, he exudes peace all around. That is one of the reasons why we should always let sleeping dogs lie. Sometimes he has dreams and he goes "yip yippp yipp*. On most days, he just snores like an old train chugging down the railroad.

I wonder if they dream when they sleep. Do they dream of chasing cats up trees or barking at the mailman or probably dreaming of a big delicious bone to savour.

He has almost outgrown his little red bed. It is fun to see them fit themselves in their beds and try to get comfortable.

All he wants for Christmas are tummy rubs.
Tails a wagging.. du du du... tails a wagging.. du du du... that is a happy tail from the top dog :) He's still top dog around here (i think). Status haven't changed yet. And so.. the tails are a wagging happily from the little one.

We haven't been up to much around here. Just lazing around and tails a wagging. du du duuu
Christmas is just round the next corner... and our tree is not up yet. Tails a wagging.. du du du

We don't get real christmas trees around here. The only real christmas trees are brought in by IKEA each year. Year in and year out, we'll drag out the old plastic tree.. put up the same ole decorations.. and maybe a few more new stuffs :) Are we a wee bit late for the christmas tree? I am probably too old and lazy for christmas this year... perhaps.

The only thing that is quite christmas around here is dad singing to his christmas carols.

My niece was around last week... and i torture her to do all the household chores.. *LOL* She even washed the pot for me one day. I bet she'll treasure her home more after this. But we did have a good time together.

She is a wonderful girl. She loves to bake and cook. And she wanted to make icing for cupcakes but i was too lazy. So she settled for colourful dots for her topping.

 We made some cupcakes but stuffed all 16 of them in one tray... and all of them cakes overflowed and fight for space.
It was funny to see them overflowing like that. *LOL*

We went to see Narnia in the cinemas. It was in 3D. Like the old fool that i am.. this is the first time i saw a movie in 3D (where have i been all this time right?) *LOL* It was a nice movie with the kids.

Try taking pictures with a crummie phone in a cinema and you get darkness all around ;)
i have been taking pictures only with my crummie phone lately.. *LOL* 

Piper had a bit of a tummy ache from lying on the cool floors everyday. A bit of wind got into his tummy and he was a poot pooting away.
Here he is feeling sick last week.

We would be going off on the road to Piper's home next week to celebrate christmas in Kuala Lumpur with my family till the new year.. (i think).

Hah! I hear fireworks outside? Hmmm... i wonder what was that for?

This year has gone by extremely fast... with a lot of changes. As change is always good, we are now slowing down now to catch up on our breath and prepare for the new year.

I never do resolutions to welcome the new year. Maybe when i was a kid, i probably did.. and forgot all about them by January. We should just be happy and live each day as it is our last. Keep good friends and family close and furry buddies closer. Do good and be nice to the little people... and it will be a wonderful year ahead. Own lesser things and live a simpler life.

Loads of money don't usually guarantee happiness. Having people around you and feeling that you belong and loved is a gurantee that you will have a fulfilling life.

 
ROOOARRRRR... i am the top dog!

I am still hearing fireworks now. Hmmm... someone smuggled in quite a bit of fireworks. Is it the new year already?
Living life with two furries is wonderful. Both fight for attention and both wants a piece of what you are eating too. It used to be 1/2 a cookie to Dom when i am eating a cookie and now our cookie distribution has to be 1/3 for each of us. *LOL*

Going on car rides, both fight to be in front too. Somehow sitting in front with me brings a bigger smile on their faces. The one in front usually grins and grins while the one at the back sulks. Sometimes they take turns but usually Dom gets to sit in front as he's more well behaved. Piper will usually sit at the back because he loves to bark at my ears when we nearing home. He gets very excited to get home even though we are just going out for a short errand.

Since he's been missing his mommy a lot lately... we decided to upgrade his status at home and made him the "top dog" here. Things sure are changing around here. Big smiles on the little fella's face.

 
Living the life of a top dog. Being top dog at home means...
  1. I get to sleep on fluffy big cushions while some other curly underdog gets to sleep on the floor. He's lucky he's getting carpet and not cold hard floors.
 
Being top dog when we go out means...
  1. I get to ride in front with her and get all the nice sights and aircon at full blast.
Being the downgraded dog when we go out means...
  1. Curly now rides at the back. Just lookit his sad face.
Being top dog when we go out means...
  1. I get stroked and chatted while she is driving. And sometimes she tells me i am cute and i get stroked and loved more. Sometimes she slips in a tummy rub too when we are at the traffic lights.
Let's sneak a peek at the downgraded dog behind. Isn't that a rejected sad dog. Lookit that sad sad face. Give us a smile now Curly. He's keeping mum. No amount of prodding will crack a smile on that face.

Being a top dog means... i get toys when she goes out to get us pet supplies.

All the Curly gets is his old green blankie which is rather smelly. Poor Curly

Being top dog means... i get to go in between her working chair and sleep whenever and wherever i want. And she is not suppose to move a limb else she rolls over my beeyoootiful nose. But thats the place i always hide when there's thunder and rain.

** My dear furries and children, DO NOT try this at home. This is just an example to show you all of the when and where.

This used to be me and my seat. I always get to sit in front and be the co-driver. I always get to go on rides and keep her company. Now no more. No more. I have been downgraded.

Hey Piper.. when are you going home to your mommy?
Dommy: I think something is up...

Piper: What's up?

Dommy: We are in trouble...

Piper: What trouble? I didn't do anything at all...

Oh boy... is it that time of the year again? For our yearly baths? But i am smelling real good still you know. I only rolled on the grass this week... and a bit of mud.

Maybe bathtime is not that bad after all. I am smelling like a million buckaroos. Even the sunflowers are blooming. Can you hurry up with them blow drying. I need my 40 winks.

 
I don't like bathtime. I got to sit here forever to get dry.

I hate to be blow dried too. It takes forever. I'll just take a nap first. Wake me up when you are done woman.

I'll just sit here and wait for mommy. Mommy says she's gonna come back for me soon.

Dommy: Dood... what are you looking at?

Piper: I am waiting for my mommy

Dommy: But your mommy is only coming back in a weeks time

Piper: One week? How long is one week?

Dommy: I don't know.. I can't count

Piper: When is mommy coming back for me?

Dommy: Hey.. cats. Let's go out and check them out.

Piper: I want my mommy.

Bah! I'll just take my 40 winks first.

My paws are crossed for my furfriends Sam, Wilfee, Shelby and Blueberry. May they get well real soon.

Do check out Blueberry's Brigade. Its an online christmas auction to help Blue with her medical bills. Click on the button below.


Before we start to share with you our story, we would like to thank Minna Krebs for coming up with such a brilliant thingy for Thanksgiving. You can click on the picture above to head on over to her site to check it out.

Dom's first picture in Ipoh

Our Dommy's coming home story started in 2007. Piper's mommy was at a neighbourhood pet shop when she met this very long hair girl (that kinda look like Yoko Ono when she was younger). She is a very nice lady who really love dogs. She runs a small shop and a daycare cum boarding house for dogs. She has them dogs running all over her shop. None of them were in crates. All the dogs were happy and doing zoomies up and down the tiny shop when they are there for daycare.

Few days later, Missy Yoko Ono lookalike called Piper's mommy and asked her if she wanted to adopt a pair of poodles. Champagne colored ones. A pair of brothers. The owner just started a family and probably cannot cope with two very active doggies. They send them to the boarding place to stay and finally decided to give them away.

Piper's mommy got excited and talked about it with me this time in advance... but probably her mind's all set up to get them anyways. She went on and said... they are free... all they want is a forever home. And they have travelled very far. Dom and his brother Moet came all the way from Perth to Malaysia in 2004 to join their family who was relocated here. (we thought they came from Melbourne... seems that some Anny got to get her eyes checked again).

What do we know about taking care of poodles. All i know is that they are curly and probably need quite a lot of grooming. But i do know they are hypoallergenic and don't really shed as much fur.

We were still staying in a small apartment (that do not allow dogs) and in a very conservative area/environment where dogs are not even allowed at the park down below. Piper hardly made much noise back then and he's small, usually we had to hide him in a bag when we were going down the lift. *LOL* But a poodle will surely make more noise. How can we keep them quiet and happy in an apartment. And two of them too.

We asked our parents whether they would like a poodle or two perhaps. Dad will always says yes to dogs but mom like me will weigh the pros and cons. She knows that she'll end up doing all the work. And so during Chinese New Year, when my folks were down to Kuala Lumpur, i took them to the shop to see the poodles. When i went into the shop, there were a lot of doggies doing zoomies up and down.. all very happy. All different breeds and different sizes but playing quite in harmony.

And there he was... Mister Dommy... he stuck close to Missy Yoko Ono and gave her big licks on her face. He must have loved her a lot. We got introduced and Dommy came by to lick my nose. *LOL* I remember mum hesitating. She said he looked thin and sickly. There were hardly any fur on his legs.

He looked tiny and frail.. probably missing his brother

There were two of them. His brother was called Moey. They were Moet & Dom. Both named after famous champagnes. His brother was bigger and more playful. Dom was quiet...and shy.

Another family was there too to look at them. A young family with 2 kids. We both settled that we'll each take one of them. Moet went to them and Dom came to us. It was hard to separate them. Quite painful actually. But we couldn't afford to keep two of them with my parents. They would be quite a handful for the old folks.

Tough choices to make sometimes but we wanted the best for both boys. Being cared for separately will prove to be a better choice of a forever home.

A week later, we went to pick Dommy up. He was scared and stressed as his brother has already left with his new family few days earlier. We went to a vet to check him out. He had a jab and his blood drawn. Some irregularities detected in his blood... and we got to start him on heartworm treatment immediately. After quite a lot of poking and proding, we took him back to our apartment. Wrapped him up in a towel... and carried him up like a baby. *LOL* People are quite clueless there sometimes.

We packed up Piper and headed home to Ipoh and Dommy began his life with mom and dad in February 2007. It first started with... dog (poodle) with scrawny itchy legs are not allowed on all furniture. Dog (poodle) with no fur on legs... are not allowed in bedrooms. Then it was ok... dog (poodle) allowed on certain furniture. Now its dog (Dommy) allowed in all rooms.

He had three good months with mom. She finally got around and started to love him. He is a good companion for them. He even found his way into mom's room sometimes. Mom passed away suddenly in May 2007. Dommy's arrival to our family is a blessing. He helped dad got thru some days and he helped all of us cope somehow.

Do not underestimate the power of dogs when we are grieving. They understand sadness and they stay by your side without saying a word. They just stay with you and lick all your tears away. They do silly things to make you laugh too.

8 months later... the fur on his legs grew out beeeyoootifully

He is still wary of strangers. He doesn't quite like men.. or if you raised your hand on him. He gets defensive. He probably had a bad experience with someone. He loves all family members. Relatives not included. Even relatives get barked at when they come by. His first line of securing the house is bark first and check it out later.

We sometimes look for Moey at dog shows and at Dogathons. But we never did find him yet. It would be nice for the boys to meet up sometimes and have some zoomies. Does anyone know or seen a poodle named Moey?

Dommy today
That's all for our story for Minna Krebs. Thank you again for hosting the Thanksgiving Story of Us.
Happy Gotcha Day to you Minna
&
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!


La Vie en rose ~ Louis Armstrong
Its almost 5pm and the rain is still pouring lots of cats and dogs. We are suppose to go on the road today to Kuala Lumpur this evening, but looking at how bad the rain is going, i think we'll shelved that till tomorrow morning. I don't do night driving very well and heavy rain don't help. With precious cargo with me, i guess tomorrow would be a better option.

After lunch today, i got both dad and Boy packing quickly. I told them... we have bright sunshine... i think we can leave this evening. Both grumbled under their breaths and started packing. I used to pack for both of them but they got lazy after that. Then there's the issue of not being able to find things. For the last few trips, they have been packing their stuffs on their own. Mom used to do all the packing for both of them.

At 4 sharp, it started to rain and rain.. and still raining now.

KABOOOOOOOOMMMM!

MAYDAY MAYDAY... we got hit! we got hit! MAYDAY MAYDAY...

Now its 8 hours later. After a very heavy dinner at the cafe and Harry Potter, we came back to a very happy Dommy who's been left home alone with just the tv on to keep him company. We just went out for 4 hours. But to a fluffy, 4 hours would seem like eternity. He greets us with so much happiness that it seems like we've been gone for days.

After the Kaboom... our electricity tripped and everything was darkness. I did mention that i live on thunder lane. When there's rain and thunder, its best to just lie low and just switch off the internet and everything else. Today i decided to drag on a wee bit longer as i was waiting for a response from work. And the kaboom did the honours and switched everything off for me. *LOL*

Its Piper's birthday today and he's 6. Its been 6 years since this little fiesty fella came to us.

Piper (puppy year)

One morning, my sister came up to me and said... i think i want to have a dog. As usual, i'll go on about dog keeping and loads of stuffs and responsibilities and the fact that we were living in an apartment and out the whole day working. Keeping a dog would be quite out of the question at that moment.

In the evening when i came home, there was Piper greeting me with a tiny woof. And there was sis... smiling sweetly. She went.. tadaaaaaaaaaaa!

We never have a dog living IN the house all our lives as kids. We did have dogs... many dogs.. but they all live in their big doghouse in the garden. And there was this tiny little fella in his dog crate staring back at me. *LOL* And that was 6 years ago.

I grew to love him and he became my best friend while i was still living my swinging days in Kuala Lumpur. He took care of me and stayed beside me all the time when i was sick. Sometimes checking on me by sniffing near my nose to check whether i was still alive.. *LOL*

We fed him a lot of green peas with his kibbles when he was little. He loves oranges and sweet potato. And he's fat. Overweight. It came about after he was "fixed".

He has destroyed quite a lot of stuffies but the longest lasting one is his Pikachu.

Piper & Pikachu

This little dog is quite a funny sort. Always fiesty and have a mind of his own. Stubborn and never went for obedience school. Still as stubborn as ever... and still very fiesty. But very cultured. Somehow, he doesn't quite like to mix with other dogs. Even Dom. But he does love Dommy's company.

Piper has an air about him and probably thinks that he's human. He struts when you say that he's handsome and when you put his collar with the red bell on him, he's automatically transformed into a flamboyant pooch.

He got tons of nicknames over the years. From his name Piper, some people (who is hard on hearing) calls his Wiper or Viper.

Using the dog age calculator at Pedigree.. here's how old our little guy is.
(here's the link http://www.pedigree.com/02All-Things-Dog/Dog-Age-Calculator/Default.aspx)

Results
In human years, your dog is 40 years old and is considered a senior dog

40?? are you sure??

We are all packed and ready to go :) We are just waiting for morning light and then we can be on our way. We'll take some pictures of our pawty and come back next week to share with you guys. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Our paws, fingers and toes are crossed for Sam. He just had a operation to remove some lumps. Do jump over to visit him.

And dear Wilfee... many life lessons to learn from the PON. My must visit each day.

To da Booker Man and Asa... thanks a lot for the early birthday wishes for Piper.


Rainy Days and Mondays ~ The Carpenters

An old song from my childhood :) Its been rainy here almost everyday and somehow this song came into mind. Since its a Monday, all the more apt. With a bit of a boom boom and kaboom that probably haven't hit my router yet. We are pretty still safe but we are on thunder lane and sooner or later, the router will probably see smoke if we don't turn it off when the thunder comes.

Some people do not understand why we have to turn the modem/router off when there's thunder and lightning. We live in a very old neighbourhood where the powerlines and the phone lines are all on poles (still). In the more modern, urban new neighbourhoods, powerlines are usually all underground. Safe from lightning strikes and thunderbolts.

Our garden is all lumpy with wet soil and very happy worms and snails

Dad: Dommy... wipe your feet before you come in.


Dommy: How? How do i wipe? I am all thumbs


Dad: Don't go running in the garden when its wet then.


Dommy: But but i have to pee... and poo... and chase out my meow buddies


Dad: Sand... its like a desert here in the hall. Stop bringing the sand in


Dommy: But grandpa... the sand just came with me. I didn't ask them to come in with me...

Dad's been complaining of too much sand in the house. *LOL* With a curly around, sand just follows. Sometimes grass follows too. We'll probably have to get Dommy some clogs or shoes to wear soon...

I'm innocent. Don't check between my paws. I got no sand in them.

With the constant rain, Dommy's been reduced to being a sluggish curly with no where to go except sleep. We found some kangaroo meat from Nature's Gift at our pet stores lately. He has probably have had it before when he was living in Melbourne with his first family. I sense a look of nostalgia on his face when he tasted it. Its probably my very own active imagination. *LOL*

Dommy has always been on a chicken or lamb diet. Our vet says beef is not too good for him. How much of lamb and chicken can a dog take day in and day out. Roo meat was a nice change. He leaped with joy and finished all his food in a jiffy. With a contented burp, he licked his bowl two times... grin and went on his way. Even a dog deserves variety in life.

What's a dog to do on a rainy day but zzzzZZZZZZzzzz

Footnote: We've noticed a bit of a cyber-bullying going around among some bloggers lately. Cyber bullying is really not necessary. We all blog because we have something to share. We should all blog for the right reasons and not to hurt people with comments. If you seriously do not like certain blogs or bloggers, just don't visit them and end of story. There is a blogger's code of conduct. Do not say anything online that you wouldn't say in person.
This is my friend Lester. He came by last week to play with me.

He has to run away from home to come play with us since he live few rows away now. When he gets a chance to break free from his leash, he runs... wild and free... back to our neighbourhood. First he'll visit Fei Fei.. and then he'll come to our garden to hide in them bushes till i give a "i wanna pee" face to Anny.

Anny will let me out and walla... me and my friend will be reunited for zoomies in my garden. For a small fella.. he can jump very fast and high. We love to jump on each other and do all those silly jumping jacks.

He used to live just next door. I wish he still lives next door. Then we can have zoomies everyday.

My brother Piper don't like to do them zoomies with me in the garden. He don't even like to do jumping jacks. He's such a cultured fella. He only likes to watch tv, read the papers and the occasional christening of all the nooks and crannies of the house. He's the alpha.

Now i am back to my brooding self. Its been raining almost everyday. No walkies for me. Boohooooo. I don't mind the rain actually, but grandpa says that i stink after the rain. Boohooooo...

Have a great weekend everyone :)

It all started with her. She is the first that came by and she got friendly. And one cat leads to another - Ernest Hemingway
YooohooooooooOOOOOO :) Sorry for missing on posts here lately. Dommy says that if i don't post soon, he's gonna lose some friends. He's all thumbs. He don't do the keyboards very well. But he's very good in this.

sleepy curly

caught sleeping on the job ^.^

We haven't been posting much lately as Boy was home for his semester break. We were busy keeping him happy, pampering him to the core, fetching and cooking for him and spending time with him. He's 18 and we all still pamper him like a baby. Urmm.. we even made a trip to McD's every single day for ice-cream too. McD's is sure making me broke by opening a new venue just 5 mins away from my home. *LOL*

We have had lots of people/family in the house. Sis was back, Piper was back. Boy's mom and dad were back too... Boy's siblings were back. One sibling stayed back. It was nice to have so many people in and out of the house. 

Now dad is back to wailing singing with the youtube. He's back to being an old lonely man. He's been singing with the youtube the whole day today. (Youtube is a saviour cos he can find all his oldies in them) Before lunchtime, his headset conked on him and i'm invited to join in his music selection till i ran off to the shops to get him a new headset. But i can still hear him singing. Now he keep singing Irene goodnight Irene goodnight.. I'll see you in my dreams tonight. I am very mean to make fun of my old dad. Poor dad. He's so bored and lonely.

ETS train
This is the new electric train that comes to my hometown a few times a day from Kuala Lumpur. It takes about an hour and 45 mins to reach Ipoh. It is a tad expensive but its very clean, new and fast. The Clean, New, Fast works for me. Especially the Fast part as this train's been punctual so far. Most of the intercity trains are usually delayed. 

My hometown gets its steady stream of tourists from the city each weekend. It is good for tourism for our quaint little town. I've been to the railway station two times this week to send the boys off to their mom and to send Boy off to college yesterday. It is the safest cum fastest mode of transportation to get him back to college minus the bad jam from the long Diwali celebration over the weekend. 
You can check the train schedules here www.ets-train.com.my if you want to come to Ipoh :) If you need a tourist guide, Dommy would be most free to take you around. 

Curly is most happy when Boy's home

Today is my friend the Booker Man's 2nd Barkday. Do hop on over and wish our labradude a great 2nd barkday.


HAPPY 2ND BARKDAY TO
DA BOOKER MAN

We are very much behind schedule on the Sketchbook project. All we did are doodles.. *LOL* Kinda lost the rhythm along the way... and drawing with a pencil first and outlining it with ink don't work very well. We do better just going freehand. But going freehand is bound for some disasters. HAHAHA But anyways, we hope to get it done and finish the whole sketchbook before the deadline. We will not give up.

 doodles
 kinda sound like Puddles Duddles
it must be the Kool Aid... ^.^"

We just got some fat Sharpies today in orange and cyan. We hope to doodle more and speed things up with big Sharpies. *LOL* I will still want to finish this sketchbook and meet up with my friend Emila come December to let each other have a peek and touch on them sketchbook before we mail them out to New York. Emila is doing the theme "Boys and Girls" and so far, she has been brilliant. 

If my sketchbook make it there to New York, it will probably be the silliest one there.. hahahahahaha Because real artists don't use Sharpies.

Cranberries fruit have been my constant source of inspiration when i was younger. I found them again on Youtube. Hopefully they will inspire me once again to finish this in due time :)

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