Christmas morning was a nice lazy morning. Unlike children, the dogs do not care it is Christmas Morning….until they see the toys.

Miss Olive heard the squeak of a toy and went crazy digging into the bag. I have long since given up on wrapping the dogs gifts. A) they don’t appreciate it B) saves me money.

Miss Olive received two toys. A squirrel log with three squeaky squirrels. And a hot cocoa mug with three squeaky marshmallows.

As of today, I have no clue where the toys ended up. Probably under the bed.

Miss Penny received a new fluffy bed and a new red blanket. I need to sneak the old ones away and toss in the traash. They are so old and dirty, even after many washings.

Penny was not sure, but then she got into it and relaxed. Her little face says it all.

Well after the painful photo shoot with the dogs and their scarfs, I decided to get creative and Photoshop the spoiled little goobers into autumn scenes.

Here they are hanging out with some crows and a scarecrow.

Sitting in the middle of a beautiful Autumn Road.

The girls on some Autumn steps.

The girls seem to get around.

And finally individual shots in a pumpkin patch.

and Olive.

Before you know it, they will be in Paris.  LOL

It has been cold here.  Which is a bit surprising since we are in the middle of wildfires.

In fact it rained last night.  I was so excited to hear the rain, a true surprise.

The cold inspired me to jump into bed, pull up the quilts, blankets, pillow and dogs.

I grabbed a book I just started that felt like autumn.

Penny loves to get on the bed with me.   She loves sleeping next to me as she may get a belly rub.

However I do not think she likes my book of choice as there is no pictures of dogs on the cover

Olive decided to sleep on my book.

Makes it a tad bit hard to read.

I picked up this book because it had an autumn cover.

THE BRUTAL TELLING by Louise Penny

Chaos is coming, old son. 

With those words the peace of Three Pines is shattered. As families prepare to head back to the city and children say goodbye to summer, a stranger is found murdered in the village bistro and antiques store. Once again, Chief Inspector Gamache and his team are called in to strip back layers of lies, exposing both treasures and rancid secrets buried in the wilderness.

No one admits to knowing the murdered man, but as secrets are revealed, chaos begins to close in on the beloved bistro owner, Olivier. How did he make such a spectacular success of his business? What past did he leave behind and why has he buried himself in this tiny village? And why does every lead in the investigation find its way back to him?

As Olivier grows more frantic, a trail of clues and treasures— from first editions of Charlotte’s Web and Jane Eyre to a spider web with the word “WOE” woven in it—lead the Chief Inspector deep into the woods and across the continent in search of the truth, and finally back to Three Pines as the little village braces for the truth and the final, brutal telling.

Getting this book had no correlation of the name Penny on the book and my dog.   Just a coincidence.

Of course Olive got in the mood and started to snore and roll onto her back.

SSSSSSSSNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEE.

Glad she can sleep anywhere.

I think it is time to curl up under the covers with the fur kids.

I watched this video on making little dog scarfs.  I was excited to see something for a small dog.  Most patterns out there were for large dogs, and this pattern was great for Penny and Olive, but she also gave instructions on how to make it larger just on case.

For the written instructions, she also put it out on her blog.

https://poshpoochdesignsdogclothes.blogspot.com/2010/11/12-collars-of-christmas-8-button-dog.html

I found some cute yarn at Michael’s Craft Store in Pantene color palettes which intrigued me.   It was enough yarn to make several but I figured the pooched only needed one.

It was quick and easy to make.

I got some props to make it look more autumn.   Since I live in Southern California there is rarely any Autumn scenes naturally.  Work with what you have.

Penny was up first and she has no patience for Mom’s silliness.  Fortunately Penny does follow commands and actually sat there when I told her to.

I know my dog, and I read in her eyes “What did I do wrong Mom”

Nothing Baby….. you are a good girl.

Thanks Mom!  Here is a little tongue action for your camera.

I wish I could be over there, by the grass and look for squirrels.

Not so fast little one.   Must wear the pumpkin hat now.

Ummmm Mom, I dont think this is cool.  My friends will laugh at me.

Penny, you don’t have friends….you bark at every dog you meet.

Mom…..PLLLLLEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

OK baby, I will let you go……  So where is Olive.

When ever I tell Olive to “stay” she thinks she is in trouble.   She has to look at the sky and avoid eye contact.

La-dee-da….. I don’t see you…..

Olive look at me…..please Olive baby……

You are almost there Olive…. you are not in trouble.

Show us your pretty face and new fancy collar.

Thank you Miss Olive…. you are free to go.

Every year I try to dress up the girls in Halloween outfits

Olive usually loves it

Penny thinks she is being punished

I have come to the conclusion that Olive will never be an instagram star.

The minute I put the costume on, she takes off.

This unicorn took off immediately.

Then things went south

Olive apparently could not keep her horn on straight.

It just kept getting worst.

Sorry I Failed you MOMMY

I just could not UNICORN today

Penny clearly hates the clothes I put on her.  She is clearly a dog.  A real dog.  Not a little fluffy pocket pet.

Once the outfit goes on, Penny thinks she is being punished.

Such defeat!

Her poor little mind is probably whirling, thinking what did I do wrong.

Penny reluctantly looks at me with sadness in her eyes.

Such sadness.

I had to take the costume off.

Maybe next year.

Hi!  Its Olive and Penny hacking into Mom’s blog again.   It is hard to believe the 4 days of Parks Palooza is over.  (to be honest, we were getting a little tired).

We wanted to post this yesterday but there was a thing called “internet not working”.   It was frustrating  to blog and Mom was upset because she could not use her IPad.

But today it seems to be working, and since Mom is photographing stuff for Ebay (whatever that is) it is a good time for us to hack into this blog.

Park Four – Circle J Ranch

The park on Friday was the best, simply because NO ONE was there and we were able to run free.  FREEEEEEEEE   Mom did not hold our leashes.  We ran away so fast.

While Mom was getting her phone out to take pictures….. we RANNNNNN AWAY.

Can you see us under the tree in shady part?

Maybe a close up will help.  Olive is by the tree and I (Penny) am in the grass.

Mom is always looking left and right for people and dogs and danger while we sniff away happy as can be.

Tree sniffing is very important.

The park itself was a big open green space with trees around the edges.

We really enjoyed our freedom.  Running around and sniffing.  Mommy rarely lets go of our leash but we love it when she does.  We run from sniff to sniff.  Trying to get as much in as possible.

Mom even found some keys someone left on the bench

Mom called the sheriff to let them know and they did not care.   Mom was disappointed in them.  She tried to be a good citizen.

Well, onto the rating….

Grass and Trees

There was a lot of grass and several trees.  Not a ton of trees but at least the walkway had trees so it had patches of shade.

Crowds and Hoomans

Even thou we meet a little dog and her hooman on the way out, we basically had the park to ourselves.   Yahoo!  My kind of day.  The Hooman Mom met said on Friday evening all the dogs come and play on the field without leashes.  Sounds kinda scary.

Places for Mom to sit and Rest

There were a few benches along the walkway.  But like most parks, it was without trees.  Not sure why they don’t put benches in the shade.   But overall a good amount for the park size.

Poop Bags Available

Yup, at the front of the park the poop bags were waiting for us.  Except I did not poop.  Or I did without Mom noticing because I was FFFFFRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Mom Stuff, Like easy to get to, parking, Nice view (she does not care about sniffs)

There was no one in the parking lot.  A little far but not bad and the park was pretty.

Overall Rating

We give it a 5 because we were FFFFFRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Rating of the Over Park Palooza

Penny here, Olive and I discussed the parks and decided the order of preference

1. Circle J Rank Park
2. Dr. Richard H. Rioux Park
3. Central Park
4. Iron Horse Trail

Mom agrees.   She has agreed that we will go back to the top three parks.

Overall both Olive and I are happy that Mommy added Park Palooza into her vacation!

Signing Off!

Penny the Smoocher  

and Ollie Doodle  

Olive and Penny here.  Hacking the blog again.

Mom got up real late today as she went to the movies with a friend.   She saw Crazy, Rich Asians.   She said it was very funny!

Mom wanted to sight see instead of walking around a park.  So we went to a local landmark instead.

Park Three – Iron Horse Trailhead

This was not much of a dog adventure but more of a Mom adventure.

She has always wanted to walk across the Iron Horse Bridge.

First thing we saw was this cool sign post that pointed to all the historical places in Santa Clarita.

From the signpost you can see the iron bridge.

Mom kept trying to get us to walk on the cedar side of the walk way and not to walk on the asphalt, but we never listen to her.

Fortunately the bridge walkway was all wood.

Mom was concerned that Olive was way to close to the edge.  She kept thinking that Olive would slip down a hole and fall to her death.   Her harness is not that tight and she could fall if she did something dumb.

Olive:  I was just looking, I am not that stupid.

Mom:  You don’t pay attention and there are big holes on the side.

Olive:  Ha!  Moms worry for no reason at all

Mom: (thinking) “get me off this damn bridge”

The river view….what river…..this is Southern California, we do not know rain here.

Overall we, as dogs were not impressed.  It was hot, there was no good sniffs.

The things we do for Mom!

Overall it was a bad rating!

The low rating was because this was not a park.  No good sniffs.  No poops.   No shade.  No trees.

Tomorrow better be good Mom!

Olive and Penny here!  Hacking into the blog again to add more dog photos and dog thoughts!

Today the Hooman took us to a new park to sniff and explore!

PARK TWO – CENTRAL PARK

Central park is a huge park with lots of child play things, benches, bathrooms and open space.  They have a dog park called Central Bark but we did not go there.

There is a lot of open green space.

Paths

and plenty of space to walk and sniff.

However we were more interested in smelling trash cans and looking under bushes.  Not to mention a ton of poles.  Poles smell real good.

Just walking along paths are a bit boring.   Plus there were no benches for Mom to sit and relax.

However we did discover later that further down in the park by the picnic tables were all the benches.

Poor Mom had to stand while we rested in the shade.

and it was HOT…we drank a lot of water.

I like to get my face all wet when drinking!  Hee Hee

Well onto the rating!

Grass and Trees

There was some but not consistent.   However the park was large and not sure if there were better places with trees.

So that gets only a 2 paw rating.

Crowds and Hoomans

We met a nice lady with two chi’s.  We all went at it!  Mommy talked to the lady and discussed that little dogs make a lot of noise.  NOT TRUE.  We were just protecting her from those murderous killer chi’s.  Geez some hoomans never appreciate anything.

Not a lot of people.   Could easily avoid people if necessary.

Places for Mom to sit and rest

Seems that all the benches were just around the kid play areas.   Guess hoomans like to watch kids play.   No benches along the pathways.  So poor Mommy had to stand the entire park experience.

Poop bag available

Lots of Poop Bag dispensers and fully stocked.  And trashcans to drop the goodies in.

Mom Stuff, like easy to get to, Parking, nice view (she does not care about sniffs)

It was way across town so it was quite a drive, but had plenty of parking.   The view was ok, but not spectacular.

Overall Rating

Only a three paws up.  It was a nice park, but I am sure it is super crowded on the weekend and just not worth the drive.

Mom decided to treat us and drove up and down the street in the park so we could hang out heads out the windows and get all the sniffs we wanted.

Other hoomans must of thought we were crazy.

I wonder where we are going tomorrow.

Penny and Olive here.  We are hacking Mom’s blog.  She never puts enough of US on the blog.   She does silly stuff like cards and quilts.  So we will just have to hack into her blog and fix that!

Mom promised us 4 days of new park adventures.   She is on vacation this week and she said she would take us to 4 different parks during her stay-cation.   All new sniffs,  new grass, new shade, new poop places.

We are here to rate the parks and let her know which parks meet with our approval for future parkies!

Park One – Dr. Richard H. Rioux Memorial Park

This park is in the hills of Stevenson Ranch.  Like most parks, it is next to an Elementary School.   However the park was large enough that you could not even see the school.

Lots of Grass

Lots of Trees

Picnic Tables for Mom to rest at

Plenty of Shade for us to rest under.   We try to rest in a cool spot FAAARRRRRRRR away from benches so Mom has to stand there while we rest!

Hee Hee Hee, I love to make the hooman stand and wait for us to rest!

I did not even poop at the park, which I love to do.   One of life’s greatest pleasures is to poop at the park.

Hey Olive, Mom says you will NEVER be a instagram star as you REFUSE to look at the camera!

Not TRUE!   I just choose to model when I am in the mood, which is rare and hardly ever!

See I can model, if I so desire.

OK let’s get back to rating the park!

Grass and Trees

5 paws!  Lots of grass, lots of trees!  Makes lots of shade.

Crowds and Hoomans

There were people there but they did not cause us to bark.   Maintenance guys were mowing, so avoid Tuesdays!

Places for Mom to Sit and Rest

Lots of benches, but had a lot of dirt around them.  We could not sit in the grass if Mom was sitting at the bench

Poop Bags Available

Did not see any.  But we were only at one section of the park

MOM stuff, like easy to get to…parking…nice view (she does not care about sniffs)

She says it was close to home, easy to park, plenty of parking spaces,  Lots of trash cans to throw poop bags away.   Walkways so it is easy for her to walk.  Overall pretty good.

Our over all rating for this park is a total of 4 paws up!

I cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Signing off – Olive and Penny!

I have been missing for a while.   Been busy quilting which I normally do not blog about, but will soon.   I am trying to finish a Halloween quilt that I started 2 or 3 years ago.  Or it could be 4 or 5 years ago.

I finished the piecing and now am quilting it.  The big challenge is that I wanted to learn to do free motion, so part of my quilt was done with a walking foot and the other parts are free motion.

I basically suck at it, but it is a new skill so I just need to practice to get better.   I actually do not mind doing this on an actual quilt versus a spare fat quarter.  I am hoping it will be a reminder of where I started (that is if I get better).

On to Halloween!

I did my normal decorating, pumpkins that light up, spider webs, etc.   I added a new bone spider, bone rat and and bone vulture.

I also like to get the big candy bars and be the cool house.  But the last two years I have seen a trend where large groups of children come together.  About 10-15 in a group.  As you can image this wipes out the candy pretty fast and with that volume, I cannot even stop to see the costumes.   I prefer the one or two children at a time deal.   Of course the little boy next door showed up twice just like he did last year.   I told him to stop doing that and I would run out of candy.  LOL  He could have least changed his costume or waited for a huge group and confuse me.   Too funny!

Speaking of children, the last two children of the night wore this adorable NASA suits and you put the candy down the flexible silver tube (aka dryer exhaust hose) it drops into their air pack on their back.  Sooooo cute.

This year I added two new items, an electric fence light that made “sparking” noises when you got near it.

I ended up putting it on the baby gate that I use in the doorway so the dogs do not get out when I answer the door.

The other goody I got was a short-circuit lab light bulb that fizzled in and out like one of those spooky haunted laboratories that mad scientists do human experiments!   Eeekkk!!!!!  This one is sold by Gemma in case you want one.  I got mine at Wal-mart.

It has a little switch that you can either make it motion sensor or not.    I liked it a lot.  Made it real spooky.

I also dress up the dogs like a good dog mom.   Doug resisted Eli getting dressed but I think he really thought he was cute.

He was a prisoner of Love.

It was a tad bit tight but he did just fine.   The label on the back glows in the dark.   I just love how it looked on his hind legs.  So cute.

Olive was a dinosaur!  A cute one I might add.   Olive does real good with costumes.

You can see her costume better on the video below.

Penny on the other hand HATES costumes and sweaters.  She is 100% dog and does not like that sort of thing.

She does make a cute little panda.   Look at that panda tail on her back.  So cute.

For fun I made a little video

Thanks for looking and Happy Halloween!!!