Essex's Seventh Barkaversary

Today is Essex's seventh barkaversary with Dog Dad. Dad got up early in the morning for our walk and sang Happy Barkaversary to her. It is hard to believe seven years ago today Dad drove up north to Holmhaven and picked up his best chum. In celebration of the Barkaversary we got some cheddar cheese and played a bit with Dad. Then he took a nap.

Our Neighbor Kylie Kylie and Deacon

We wanted to share some pictures of our Friend Kylie who lives next door. She isn't quite a year yet and is a small sable and white collie girl. Her Dog Mom is here for only a short while before moving to Japan. We sure like her and Dog Dad sneaks her treats sometimes.

With Our Essexmas Gifts

Deacon gets comfortable

With all this excitement we are ready to take a nap.

Dog Speed,

Essex & Deacon

Happy Collie Days - 2010

We wish all of cyber-paw pals a very merry Essexmas. We hope that Santa Paws brings you extra special dog treats and plenty of things you love. Maybe a golf cart to chase or a squirrel to catch.

Our Dad's brudder Stevie Grrrr-Wonder is visiting us and escaping the snow in Ohio. Why any paw would like to escape snow we don't know. We love playing in the snow and flipping it off our nose.

Dad has promised to make cheddar collies and peanut butter labs. Those are pawsome dog treats. Stay safe and may the Great Dane look over you.

Until tomorrow, Happy Colliedays to all. See you tomorrow.


Essex, Deacon & Dog Dad too.

We're Back

Thank dogness, we are back after a long absence from cyber-paw space. First our old puter decides to go four paws to the wind. Then we decide to up grade to cable and figure Dad can handle the self install. Arrrrrggggg, no such luck. It was modem doesn't work, get a new modem. That one doesn't work set up an appointment to get hooooman to get it installed.

Well, the installer guy comes to our house. He has problems too. The modem didn't seem to be working right, so he uses one he brought. Still no signal. He asks Dad if he can drill a hole in the wall to run a new connection. Dad says that is okay with him. Now our house was built in 1970, so it is out of tough concrete blocks. The drill he brought has problems, so he has to go to the office and get a new one (BOL). The hole is in the wall, new wire spliced in and still there is a problem. He has to get his tall ladder, go up the telephone pole and replace the line to the house. After all that Dog Dad gave a sigh of relief because the puter is back up, and it was technical issues that prevented him from installing it himself.

In the meanwhile, we missed reading all of your posts and there were a number of things that we wanted to bog on too. Like the crossing the rainbow bridge by our DWB friend Snowball and our good dog friend Lucy in Valdosta, Georgia. Then there was Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and the 35th Anniversary of the sinking of the Edmond Fitzgerald. Then we have a new Dog Friend next door.

Alas, life goes on and we are happy to be back.

Essex & Deacon

Collieween 2010

We hope everyone had a Happy Collieween. Once again there will be all kinds of little children wandering our streets.

This Collieween we are keeping an eye on Herricane Tomas out in the Caribbean Sea. The words major herricane send even trolls and hobgoblins running for cover. We hope that every person and paw will be safe, but we think Tomas has other ideas. Tomas sure looks like a witches brew and we hope that Tomas has no tricks in store for us.

Projected path of Herricane Tomas

Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanograpy Center

Dog Speed,

Essex & Deacon

Wilma Plus Five

Dog Dad and Essex were remembering Wilma today and yesterday. A lot has changed at our home since then. Her and Dad barked about stinky carpets, all the stuff they had to throw out.

They remarked on how things have changed for us. How the back fence had to be replaced, the pool bursting, the new counter tops, tiled floors. The looked at me and asked what we the best change. A smile came over their faces, when they said "Why the best change in our home was having you, Deacon, joining our family.

Dog Speed cyber-paw pals,

Deacon

Essex is Seven

Two very wet collies

both withCollieween Eyes

Well today Essex is seven. The most important thing she wanted today was to get dried off after our morning walk. We had a pretty good rain this morning and both of us were pretty wet. We love our walk, but being toweled dry ranks pretty high up there.

We want to thank Maggie & Mitch for wishing us a happy barkday. Thank you to Dad's brudder Stevie Grrrr-Wonder for the Barkday Card in the mail. Dad will go out and get some extra treats later today.

Well, we got to get going. Hope all of you have a wonderful safe and dry day.

Dog Speed,

Essex & Deacon

New Cyber Pals and Awards

Lady II & Lady I

First we want to say congratulate our good friends Lady I and Lady II on starting their own blog. You can visit them and say Howl-Low at "D's Collies". They are great pals of ours and we are so happy they have such a grrrreat mum.

Next we want to acknowledge this award we received way back in September from Kess. This award asked us to do the following:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you this award Kess. Many woofs Kess and may the Great Dane always look over you!

2. Share 7 things about yourself
---1. We love doing fence patrol.
---2. Golf carts are evil, thus we chase and bark them away.
---3. We come to Dog Dad when he whistles the tune from "Lassie." We do not answer if he whistles something else.
---4. We love cheese.
---5. Essex does not like fireworks, while they don't bother Deacon.
---6. Dog Dad loves us, though we think he should triple the amounts of treats we get.
---7. Essex is finicky about treats, Deacon just abouts any treat that you have.

3. Pass the award along to 15 bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic. Note: Ous is a mixture of new and old blogging pals and is only five. We want others to have the chance to give away awards too. It is no fun to get an award if you can't paws if to other paw pals.
1. Oorvie
2. Abby & Aiden
3. Lady I & Lady II
4. Kira & Scampi
5. Islay (He took over our beloved friend Charlie's place)

4. Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award.

Dog Speed,

Essex & Deacon

Buddy - Brudder - Paw

Buddy

We sure enjoyed our surprise yesterday and it was black, white & brown like Dad said. We drove up the Keys and met Buddy. Buddy is Essex's brudder and he is Deacon's Paw. Sure is confusing.

We came in the park and went up to sniff each other. We did a little bit of greetings and then settled into routines. Unfortunately there were very few evil bicycles and such to chase.

Dad & Buddy's Mom talked for quite some time. Buddy is aloof like Essex. After we got done there we went over to visit our pal Kay and had a lot of cheese. We were very happy about our visit. We hope to do it again sometime.

Deacon spends time with his father, Buddy

Essex & her brudder Buddy

Essex, Deacon, Buddy

Dog Speed,

Essex & Deacon

Weekend Surprise

We were talking to Dad today and he told us that he has a surprise for us this weekend. We asked him what the surprise was. He told us to think black, white and brown. We can usually figure out Dad's clues, but can't figure this one out. Maybe you could tell us about the surprise.

Dog Speed,

Essex & Deacon

Chase

Chase, the Irish Red & White Setter

Our pals Hunter & Baily have a new brudder. The new pups name is Chase and he'll get a lot bigger. Chase is a Red & White Irish Setter and should be somewhere between 50-70 lbs (27-32 kgs). He is quite playful and he tries to get both Essex and Deacon to play with him. He is very attached to his Dog Dad. We think he is a pawsome addition to our Dog Park.

His brudder, Hunter the Beagle

Sister, Baily the Cocker Spaniel
Hunter & Chase take a play break

Hunter, Baily and Chase all get along with us. Chase has learned to leave Essex alone during fence patrol. It is especially fun to watch him interact with Deacon. The two will probably be great chums once Chase gets bigger.

What are we looking for Essex?

Come on Deacon, lets be chums

On a sad note Mongo, Blue and Charlie are going to be moving to Colorado. We sure hope they enjoy all the cold and snow after spending three year in warm humid Key West.

Dog Speed,

Essex & Deacon

The Gremlins Visited

Look what those pesky Gremlins did!

Those pesky gremlins visited us Friday and Saturday. First of all the Air Conditioning decides not to work last evening. By the time we figured it out, we decided to wait until this morning to call it in. Home was warm but we slept well. A really nice guy named Steve just got done fixing it, so we are cooling off right now.

Those gremlins really got us last night, while all of us were sleeping. We didn't notice it until Dad went into the back yard early this morning after our walk. Dad mumbled that the water sure is low. Then we all started looking and noted the gremlins had created a huge hole in the side of the pool and all the water had escaped. We are surprised that none of us had heard the explosion when the pool went. We sure must have been sleeping good.

Dog Speed,

Essex & Deacon

Paw-to-Graphs

We have been busy trying to catch up with things. It seems like everypaw wants something from us. We want to show you some pictures from our emergency trip to Ohio. The good news was we got to see some of our pals last August.

Next post, we want to introduce some friends to you and bark about the award we got from our cyber-paw pal Kess. In the meanwhile enjoy the paw-to-graphs from our emergency trip to Ohio in August.

Cassie with a Key West Coconut.

Hattie is ready for Vogue.

Resting at Auntie Becky's house.

Essex claims Clyde's bed.

Clyde and Deacon in Cincinnati

Evening clouds in Key West

Remembering Grand-Paw

We finds it helps us a lot to look at the past. Today we are going to look at Grand-Paw's life. Grand-Paw was born in November 1918, shortly after the end of World War I, the Great War. There was only him, his sister Mary and his Mother because Great-Grand-Paw died in the great influenza epidemic of 1918.

His mother remarried but passed away when Grand-Paw was 13 during the Great Depression. Grand-Paw, his six brudders and two sisters were then sent to an orphanage. He went to school and played on the baseball team. He was pretty good player too.

Grand-Paw School Picture 1932-33

Grand-Paw's High School Baseball Team

With his six brudders

He then served with the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC). In 1939, the war set Europe ablaze once more. Grand-Paw entered the 5th Armored Division. He trained in Kentucky, California, Tennessee and New York. On 11 February 1944, he and the other soldiers departed the Port of New York destined for England. Eyes constantly swept the seas for the sight of a U-Boat periscope. He was assigned to a Catholic Chaplain and was called Deacon Joe by the other soldiers.

The 5th Armored landed in Europe several days after D-Day. Grand-Paw saw some of the most bitter fighting on the Western Front in a place called the Hurtgen Forest. This action took place between 14 September 1944 to 10 February 1945. The American Army suffered over 33,000 casualties, while the Germans were at least 28,000. Ernest Hemingway compared the fighting there to the British Offensive in Paschendale during World War I. The weather was bad, shells burst in the tree tops sending splinters and shrapnel down on the soldiers. It was better to hug a tree than huddle in a fox hole. Dad's unit, CCR, saw action during the Battle of Hurtgen Forrest from 20 November to 8 December. CCR was awarded the "Distinguished Unit Citation" for this action and French Croix de Guerre for 14-20 September 1944 action at Wallendorf and Our River. The 5th Armored was the first to cross the Siegfried Line and the closest American unit to Berlin at the end of the war.

Grand-Paw liked dogs back then

Grand-Paw, a Sherman Tank, Hurtgen Forrest

Grand-Paw and Sister Mary

Grand-Paw came back to the states after the war and went to work at the Ford Motor Company. He fell in love and married Grand-Maw in May 1948. They raised a family of three girls and two boys. It was a good family. He was grief stricken when Grand-Maw passed away in January 2008. Then in November 2008 he was admitted to a hospital to never return home. Unfortunately he never fully recovered and he was destined to spend the rest of his life in a nursing home saddening both us and Dog Dad.

Grand-Maw, Grand-Paw and Chaplain from the War

Reading Sunday Funnies to Young Dog Dad

At Work

After Grand-Maw Crossed the Bridge

Grand-Paw was a good kind loving man. A man with a twinkle in his green eyes and quick to smile at strangers. What he went through would have destroyed many a man but he became stronger. He loved God, his family and baseball. We are sure Grand-Maw and Pudgy were among those to meet him. We will always be proud of him, and given his beginnings, we do not see how you could have asked for a better man.

Dog Speed Grand-Paw,

Essex, Deacon & Dog Dad

Grand-Paw Crossed The Bridge

Around 1130 AM Grand-Paw crossed the rainbow bridge. We are both happy and sad. Happy he is no longer in pain and because he has been bed ridden for about a year-and-a half. Sad because we enjoyed being around him, visiting the nursing home and seeing his eyes twinkle.

We were there right by Dog Dad's side when Grand-Paw crossed. We felt Dog Dad's hand stroke our fur and gather strength from us. We were all ready for this, so we are okay. We will know more what is going on with all the different hooman rituals late tomorrow.

When Grand-Paw crossed the bridge, we can imagine Pudgy came over to lick his face. Grand-Maw was probably the first to greet him.

We are okay cyber-paw pals. We are only a little bit tired from everything.

Dog Speed,

Essex & Deacon

Grand-Paw Update

We arrived safe in Northern Ohio yesterday. Grand-Paw has lost a lot of weight but is fairly lucid at times. My Dad's three sisters and his brudder were there at the nursing home. We even sniffed him and Grand-Paw gave us a weak smile and we could see his eyes light up.

We got to walk around the nursing home and we visited several people. Deacon got a lot of attention from strangers, while I just don't trust strangers.

We even visit our collie friends Cassie & Hattie last night. The weather here is a lot cooler than Key West. We'll it is time to go. It is time for a walk.

Essex & Deacon

Grand-Paw

We haven't been posting lately, but Grand-Paw has been in bad shape and Dog Dad has been worried. We are going to be going on an emergency trip to Ohio. We fully expect Grand-Paw to be crossing the rainbow bridge soon.

Don't worry about Dog Dad, he is okay with it as Grand-Paw is 91. It has hard seeing Grand-Paw in the wheel chair and not be able to talk much when he visited in June. Dog Dad remembers a much younger and happier Grand-Paw. We traveling with Dog Dad as he refuses to leave us behind during herricane season. Besides Dad will need us for emotional support. Nothing like a face lick to make someone feel all better.

We are sure Dad's nickle dog Pudgy will be waiting to greet Grand-Paw when he crosses the bridge.

Dog Speed,


Essex, Deacon & Dog Dad

Bonnie Passed to the North

Well, Tropical Storm Bonnie passed well to the north of us. We got very little rain and not much wind at all. To our surprise we even visited Angel Paws Friday evening. Except for all the little green seeds on our fur, all is well.

Essex wearing green seeds of the weed.

Dog Speed,

Essex & Deacon

Bonnie is Over the Sea

A vacation picture

We will be staying in Key West for Tropical Storm Bonnie. The current forecast has the center of the storm passing about 22 miles away with 45 knot winds at around 6 PM tomorrow. Guess that means no dog park, sigh.

Bonnie

The worst we should have to put up with is a Tropical Storm force winds and Dad has cleared the yard of loose objects. Dad has to go into work, so while we stay home guarding the house.

Dad has been singing the following:

Oh, Bonnie is over the ocean

Oh, Bonnie is over the sea

Oh, Bonnie is over the ocean

Oh, Bonnie be gentle to me

Be gentle

Be gentle

Oh, Bonnie be gentle to me, to me.

Yep, Dog Dad is silly, but we love him.

The Great Dane willing, we will post after the storm passes.

Dog Speed,

Essex & Deacon

Deacon 4th Barkday

Well cyber paw pals, Deacon is four years old today. It doesn't seem like it has been four years.

Deacon wearing a Barkday Hat

First Picture Dad saw of Deacon

Both of us got to eat some peanut butter and cheese ice cream, have some extra sharp cheddar cheese and some extra treats. Deacon got some big hugs from dog dad too. We need to get going, Dog Dad wants to give Deacon some more attention.

Dog Speed,

Deacon & Essex