Feel-Good Black Friday

Black Friday has never been about shopping for me. I like to spend the day after Thanksgiving as a recovery day not a shopping day. We spent Thanksgiving Day at my parents, where there were lots of little turkeys everywhere. 

Gracie, left, and Cujoe, right, were not exactly cooperative while posing for these pictures, but they were still much easier to photograph than these two turkeys, Olivia and Sadie.

Believe it or not that's the best picture I could get of them. 

 And the problem was not Olivia, as you can see.

With Cujoe and Gracie, the problem was not Cujoe. 

He was quite cooperative.

And so cute. 

Being at my parents meant we had to leave Wiley behind for a few hours. It would have been too stressful for him with the other dogs and little children. When we got home he was pretty excited, and then the bad, attention-getting, spiteful behavior began. Here he is with the cat's food dish, which he stole expressly for the purpose of sitting right in front of me with it, yet refusing to give it up.  

Anywayyyyy. . . on to the most important part of today. . .  Happy Birthday to Hubs, Wiley's dad. We had lots of overnight guests, so we had a nice birthday brunch for him before he headed off to Madison Square Garden to see the Arizona Wildcats, his favorite team, for the first time in person! 

That was his birthday gift, since his birthday was a big one this year. We won't say exactly what number he's celebrating since that might give my age away too. 

Wiley had no idea what to make of a flaming cake, but you can see him butting his face in with interest. Don't worry, I was very careful to keep him safe!

Happy Birthday to the love of my life! Thanks for all the encouragement and inspiration you provide.  And thanks for loving our pets so much. :)

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Next week the blog will be back to business as usual so keep your pictures and stories coming. Email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com.

Follow us on social media:  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rescuedogblog
Twitter: @RescueDogBlog
Instagram: @rescuedogblog   

Happy Thanksgiving!

As people today reflect on all the blessings their lives have to offer, I share one of my biggest with you. 

 Not only I am thankful that Wiley and I found each other, but I'm also thankful I have the lifestyle and necessities to keep a pet. 

I can give him (and Jenny) a safe home, good food, quality veterinary care, and face time with me. Some people leave in the morning and don't get home until 12 hours later. I'm blessed to spend plenty of quality time with my furkids. 

I'm blessed to have a husband who didn't bat an eyelid when I told him I wanted to adopt one of the most neurotic and high-needs dogs at the shelter, or when I wanted to add to that insanity by bringing in a stray cat and kittens "just until we can find them homes." And now he loves his foster failure Jenny.

While we're talking about blessings, what a good time to share Katie's little blessing Owen. 

Yesterday I was able to visit Owen and his furry brother Rosco, whom we've shared a number of times before on the blog, for example right here.  

 I may have accidentally taken my turkey hats along, only to find out Owen's Mema had already made him a turkey hat. Two turkeys!

Rosco was so excited to see me, so it was a bit of a challenge to get him to calm down long enough to sit still on the couch with Owen.  

Katie had a trick up her sleeve though. Ice cubes!

Rosco really loves them.

But Rosco really loves everyone and everything!

And while we're sharing adorable kids in this turkey hat. . .

I have to share my niece Sadie, who decided to start celebrating Thanksgiving on Halloween this year.

Is it me, or does that turkey hat make everyone cuter?  

Hmmm. Must remember to test this theory at Thanksgiving dinner this year. 

Happy Thanksgiving from Wiley and me! Enjoy all your blessings, big and small, furry and human.  Email pictures of your pets enjoying the holiday at pabibliophile@gmail.com.

Follow us on social media:  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rescuedogblog
Twitter: @RescueDogBlog
Instagram: @rescuedogblog  

Fall Photo Share Pictures

So the blog readers (that's you) have been pretty steadfast in submitting fall pictures, plus I spotted a few I just couldn't resist sharing. After each of the pictures' descriptions, if their humans have an Instagram account I list it. That's what you see with the "@" symbol.  If you're not on Instagram just ignore those.

First up is Qusto, a beautiful Irish Setter. He lives in Japan and his nickname is Pon. @qustopon

This is Fritzie, a happy little Bichon saved from a puppy mill. 

She lives with Spock, who just got rescued not too long ago. I  love little Spock and his big leaf! @klouklotz

He seems to love the fall!

 
And speaking of size disparity, look at the size of the stick Rosco is attempting to carry! hahaha

This is Lex- if you're thinking, "Wait a minute-that looks like Wiley!" Lex's mom and I agree. We are going to share his story sometime soon on the blog.

Lex's brother is Xander, a handsome mini-Aussie. He's ready for any kind of fall weather. @xander_the_mini_aussie

Speaking of Aussies, we've shared some pictures of this pretty pup here before, and her name is actually Aussie. @roxybart

And how about Sarah playing with her adorable turkey toy? @karendj87

Thelma Lou is such a great helper! @thelma_lou_the_blue_heeler

What about our feline friends?  

Suzy shared some pictures of Caesar and Mr. Fluffypants helping her decorate pumpkins for the fall. 

Someday I hope Suzy shares Mr. Fluffypants's story here on the blog because I know it's a good one. . . it starts with his birth during Hurricane Sandy.

If you're still in the fall spirit it's not too late to send me your pictures but I need them by Friday morning EST. However, I KNOW those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving might have some good pictures to share of your pet at the festivities. Email them to me at pabibliophile@gmail.com.

Follow us on social media:  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rescuedogblog
Twitter: @RescueDogBlog
Instagram: @rescuedogblog   

Americana

So the awesome fall pictures continue. Today I wanted to show you a few pictures of my small town through an idyllic lens. To be fair, I don't always see it that way, but while I was walking Wiley along the river path a few weeks ago I saw a group of kids playing midget soccer on the municipal fields. Then I saw the backdrop of the church spire and the fall leaves and I thought, "Oh, what the heck. That's the beauty of an iphone with a decent camera."

You can see the steeple of the church in the center of the picture slightly to the right. You can also see the low, soft mountain in the background.  There is a hiking trail around this whole area, known locally as "the island," which I wrote about here.

This picture, above, was taken after we walked the perimeter of the island.  The river path is part of a reclamation project here in Pennsylvania that's an attempt to add more hiking paths, since part of the Appalachian Trail runs through here and we get a lot of hikers around these parts. Anyway the same steeple shows in the background here but obviously is much closer and the picture is from a different angle.

The path eventually winds under this bridge, and the river was low on this day as you can see by the puddles created to the right on the picture.

After the bridge we headed away from the path and back into civilization, with the soccer fields on our left now instead of our right. Again you can see the mountains far off in the background, but just above Wiley's head you can see the flags waving from the entrance to the municipal fields. 

So, as you can see, it seems like a perfect snapshot of small town America. Never mind that the church has been turned into apartment buildings, or that you can see garbage littering the ground under the graffitied bridge. Those problems are not unique to my little town but some of these views are.  This week I'm grateful that I live in a place where I can safely walk my dog, and I can just focus on the pretty things. Like this:

Send me your fall pics! Email me at pabibliophile@gmail.com.

Follow us on social media:  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rescuedogblog
Twitter: @RescueDogBlog
Instagram: @rescuedogblog  

Sunday's Grab-bag: Thanksgiving Week

This week is a big holiday week in America. Wednesday is one of the busiest travel days of the year, there's so much cooking and cleaning to be done, homes fill up with company, and inexplicably my school always schedules a late day for teachers on Tuesday to do parent-teacher conferences. 

Anyway, all that is to say my posts will be brief this week. 

Today I have a few more of Wiley on a fall walk, with more pretty pictures saved for the rest of the week. 

I hope the short posts don't stop you from checking in often. I plan on delivering great pictures, and if you like them I hope you'll share them with family and friends via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or email. If you have any pictures of your pets outside in the fall, or helping you cook for, clean for, and celebrate Thanksgiving, by all means send them to me at pabibliophile@gmail.com.

Follow us on social media:  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rescuedogblog
Twitter: @RescueDogBlog
Instagram: @rescuedogblog