My little girl is a year old today.....hard to believe!  We brought her home last May at 7 weeks old and she's been a delight from the moment we first saw her.  She's extremely friendly, affectionate and playful.  She adores Duncan and the cats and is very bright.  Brie loves to "talk"......We've never had a dog that did this before.  She stares directly at you and her little head moves from side to side as she chatters away in doggie language.  This is usually when she wants something. 

Brie had her annual check-up and shots at the vet yesterday.  She now weighs 15 1/2 pounds......she's gained 3 pounds since last Aug. when she was spayed.  The vet said she's not overweight, but she shouldn't gain anymore.  So shhhhhh!  Don't tell her.......but I'm afraid we're cutting back on those doggie treats.

We also had Duncan seen by the vet yesterday and as you can see, that really tuckers him out.  And yes.....he does have an odd way of sleeping in the guest room......half on the bed and half on the window sill.

The reason I wanted him seen was because of his left leg.  Scotties have stubby little legs, but his left one has an abnormality the vet thinks he was born with.  It turns out at a right angle and the bone is quite pronounced.  He doesn't limp, doesn't ever appear to be in pain, but I'm concerned about it long-term.  The vet agreed it might be wise to be seen by a specialist now and see what our options are.  He said as he ages it could get worse and cause a problem for him walking.  I hate the thought of surgery, but I also want him to be able to walk well as he gets older.  So the vet suggested we go to the vet school at UF in Gainesville and have a consultation with a specialist there.  I'll be calling for an appointment.

I've been so busy that most days I'm not quite sure if I'm coming or going......somebody mentioned the other day that April 1 is next Tuesday, and I really thought they were playing an early April Fools Day joke on me.  April 1 is next Tuesday?  Wait a second!  WHAT happened to March? 

All the business related stuff that goes along with getting a book published is very time-consuming.  I've now hired a website developer for my new website.  I'm pretty much designing it, with my own thoughts on what I'd like and she's doing all that tech work that I detest.  There was a lot of work involved to shut down my other website, cancel that account, transfer my domain name, etc.  But......I've managed to get all of that squared away.  Now I'm spending time trying to decide on colors, fonts, themes, etc. for my new website.  I've also been busy contacting other authors for blurbs for my book jacket. 

In addition to all of that, I'm also busy with being the Chairperson for the writing contest with Florida Writers.  This is a very time-consuming job.  Sending out the entries to 3 judges, updating the Excel spreadsheet, when the entries are returned I then record all the info and do up an envelope with the critiques that will be returned to the entrants in November.  I committed to this project back in December, before I signed my book contract and I'm not one to back out of a commitment, so I'll just plod along.

Oh and let's not forget my vacation rental home.......we've been booked solid the entire month of March and April is already pretty full.  This involves a fair amount of work as well.....taking the phone calls or answering emails for inquiries, updating my reservation book, keeping track of everything, making sure I contacted my cleaning woman to clean on the appropriate days, etc.

I'm not sharing any of this with you to complain.  Quite the opposite......I feel very grateful for the busyness that I have.  However, I'm finding it more and more difficult to get "out" there in the blog world to visit all of you like I used to.  I miss you and trust me.......hang in there with me and I promise to pay you a visit very soon!

In the meantime, sending all of you the very best and I'll see you here again soon...........

No, no......not you!  That's the name of the new mobile dog grooming service that I'm now using.

Owning a Scottish Terrier and a Cockapoo means they have to be groomed about every 6 to 7 weeks.  We've been going into Chiefland to get this done.  We'd drop the dogs around 10, do some shopping, go for lunch and sometimes still had to kill an hour while we waited for them. 

But recently a new business opened in my area and she comes right to your home!  Everything is in her van to give your doggie the spa treatment.  She came into the house to meet Duncan and Brie first, and I was pleased to see it's obvious she loves dogs.  And they seemed to like her too.

We carried them out to her van.......Brie went willingly into the cage, but Duncan balked a little.  Poor guy....I think maybe he thought I was giving him to her and she was driving away with them.  But he went in his cage and she told me to "go vacuum or something."  I think she could tell I was nervous.  Yeah, I won't lie.....I worry about my babies.

So I made myself some coffee, and sat on the porch sketching.  And yup.....once or twice I tiptoed to the door to peer out at the van.  I realized all was quiet so figured all was going well.

And two and half hours later, she came to the front door with them on leashes.......looking like brand new doggies!  They were calm, happy and quite spiffy.  I was really pleased.  Brie's cut was pretty similar to what she'd had, but Duncan......wow!  Really for the first time he got a "true" Scottie cut.  He now has very distinctive eyebrows and his beard looks supper.  What do you think?

Is my boy handsome, or what?  He informed me he'd now prefer to be called "Sir Duncan."  And here they both are.........

So having the doggie spa come to us was a great experience and we'll see her again in 6 or 7 weeks.

See you here next time.........

Hey, Mates.....Duncan here....the Scottie on Cedar Key.  Mom said I could do the blog entry for today and I wanted to tell you about the outing that Brie and I had yesterday.  Here we are in the car on our way to the big city of Gainesville.  (Well....living on an island, it's big to me.)

Mom says we're very well-behaved riding in the car.  Well, of course we are.  I learned from the BEST.....Holly.  And then I passed it on and taught Brie.  No rough-housing in the car.  Nope.  We have to sit or lay down and be good doggies.  And we are.  We weren't sure where mom and dad were taking us, but we were really excited to find out.......it was Pet Smart!  Wow!  They're SO civilized there.  They actually allow us pooches to go inside, browse the aisles and socialize.  We met a really nice Beagle, a black Lab and a small Yorkie.....and we did what all dogs do.  We kissed and sniffed each other.  Brie and I had a great time checking out all the toys there!

And then.....we got to go to Chiefland.  Mom and Dad bought lunch and ate it in a nice park.  We got to walk around the park and they even gave us a few potato chips.  It was a gorgeous day!  Sunny, in the 70's and no humidity.  My kind of doggie day.

And then....when we got home, Mom showed us what she bought for us at Pet Smart.  We each got a new toy and a new sweater to wear this winter when it gets chilly here on the island.  Shhhh!  Don't tell Mom.....but I'm sure hoping the other fellows on the island won't be snickering at me when I wear that blue sweater.

So it was a fun day and Brie and I sure did enjoy it.  Mom said to tell all of you to have a great weekend and she'll see you here next time..........

The good news is......Brie is recuperating very well from being spayed last Thursday.  She was quiet all weekend and allowed her incision to heal.  And now is back to normal post-op.

But the bad news is.....I spoke with the vet yesterday and the cardiologist agreed that she had an abnormal EKG and it could indicate ventricular disease.  So the next step is a chest x-ray to see if her heart is enlarged.

We have an appointment at 10:15 this morning to get that done.  Based on that, she then might have to have an Echo done by the cardiologist. 

I've about had it with bad pet news for this year.  I'll keep everyone posted on the results.

See you here next time......