His Royal Amazingness

Slightly upset that his new siblings are trying to hijack HIS blog, Ray decided that he would step it up to get things back on track. 

He did his funniest impression of a butler offering hors d'oeuvres (this was Sunday)...

He posed with his sister, out-cuting her with an over-the-butt glance…

He posed with his brother, drawing all eyes to himself by using a stunning red bathrobe as a backdrop...

He did his best impression of the flying nun…if she was one to dig holes and bury bones

  

He showed off his amazingness, exploring the lake after the latest snow (this was Tuesday)…

…with his cape flying behind him like a superhero...

…sending positive thoughts to blind dogs all over the world.

Faster than the Speed of Light

I was winding freshly-spun yarn from a bobbin to a niddy noddy watched closely by Harvey. I knew that I was taking my chances, but he was being a good boy, just reaching out to touch the yarn every once in awhile. Then, faster than I could comprehend, my yarn took off. Harvey was gone, then in a matter of seconds, back again spitting something out of his mouth. I looked at the niddy noddy. The yarn that I had been winding, dangled.
I looked at Harvey again. The thing he was spitting out of his mouth was the end of the yarn that matched the one dangling. The fiber was sticking to his tongue and he was shaking his head trying to get it off.
Still unable to comprehend what had happened, I looked at the bobbin from which I had been winding. The yarn stretched through the door to the kitchen. I stepped through, my eyes incredulously following the spun fiber. The yarn continued down the hall and into the dining room. I followed it. The yarn raced around the dining room table, back through the hall, and into the living room where the miscreant was picking residual fibers out of his teeth.
Gregg, Juno, and Ray came to see what the hysterical laughter was all about.

A Shared Meal

Every time I see this happen, I shake my head in disbelief. I think of what Ray was like when he first came home with me and how he was around Moonie and Hugo and I just can't believe what I'm seeing.

I know that Moonie paved the way for Ray's friendship with Juno, but still I'm dumbfounded.

Guess what I Found!

I was working in the front yard. Ray was yelling in the back yard.

As always, I let him go to it for a bit. After all, dogs must bark even if their 'bark' is more along the lines of a foghorn crossed with a seal. After a few minutes, when I realized that not only was Ray not stopping, he was using his "I FOUND SOMETHING" voice, I put down my rake and went to investigate.

I'm telling you, there's something there!

OMG, this is SO exciting.

Ray was in the back corner of the yard near the shed, his nose pressed through the weathered wooden slats of the fence, his tail wagging. As I watched, he pulled his snout out, raised his head to yell, did a little dance, then stuck his nose back through the fence.

As I walked towards him I wondered what had caught Ray's attention. This winter, a kamikaze squirrel moved into our shed. It launches itself at whomever opens the shed door and the noise it has been making inside its living quarters has been driving the hound crazy. But Ray wasn't yelling at the shed, he was yelling through the fence at our behind-us-and-over-one neighbor's shed. I wondered if they had a kamikaze squirrel too. I also noticed a newly-dug mole trail through part of yard and wondered if maybe he had tracked the mole somewhere.

"What's up, Ray?" I called to my dog as I got a bit closer.

Ray turned, and with his mouth open in a big grin, excitedly pranced to me, then back to the fence looking over his shoulder with a "You gotta see this," glance.

I followed the dog to the fence and peered sideways through the board-on-board slats. I saw nothing.

Ray, danced back and forth letting loose with deep from the belly yells.
"Well, whatever it was is gone," I said to my dog.

Ray didn't believe me.

There! Did you hear that?

Tail wagging, panting with excitement, Ray danced and yelled.

I turned from the fence, "C'mon, Ray," I said to the excited dog as I walked away.

Ray ignored me.

"Ray, come," I said sternly.

Ray ignored me some more, yelling and dancing.

I turned back to retrieve my dog and drag him away when out of the corner of my eye, through the fence, I saw movement. I stopped. An animal was slinking along the fence towards our neighbor's shed. The color of the animal was similar to most other woodland creatures but the pattern of the ringed tail was unmistakable.

Ray, the Redtick Coonhound, had found himself his first raccoon.

(Here's about 30 seconds of yelling. It went on for over an hour. I kept dragging him away and, although I hated to do it, I finally had to lock him up in the house.)

Mornings; not what they used to be.

I was sitting in Gregg's chair, reading the newspaper. The cats were tearing around after each other. Ray was standing morosely in front of me. He wanted my spot. I sighed. Since I hadn't made my breakfast yet, I knew Ray would eventually get my chair anyway so I stood and went to the kitchen. Just like Lucky Charms, the two cats magically appeared.
Harvey is a winder. If he thinks food is involved, he winds between any legs available, purring and making tiny cat sounds. It makes food preparation a treacherous business. Juno is a lounger, she picks an inconvenient spot, usually in front of the refrigerator, but sometimes in front of the sink or stove, and splays out, waiting for food to drop.
I prepared my toast and cup of cranberry juice and gingerly headed to the couch, Harvey still winding my ankles. Juno followed.
I placed my juice on the end table, sat, and reached for the newspaper. Harvey jumped up on the arm of the couch and stuck his head in my glass of juice.
"Hey!" I exclaimed, knocking his head out of my glass, "That's MINE."
Willing to yield the juice which he didn't want anyway, Harvey turned to my plate of toast. I saw where he was looking and raised my plate high but not quite high enough. Harvey stood on his back legs and hooked one paw over the edge of the plate trying to drag it down.
"HEY!" I yelled again.
I pulled the plate away and the cat, who was still balanced on the arm of the couch, fell to the floor.
Satisfied that my food was now safe, I started eating and turned back to the newspaper.
Leaving it resting on the cushion beside me, I read an article on the front page then opened it up to find it's continuation. Juno, lover of all things

paper, leapt into the middle of it and tore into the article I was reading. Harvey joined her; a wrestling match ensued.
"Hey!" I yelled, "I was reading that!"
Listening to all the commotion and no longer able to contain himself, Ray sprung from his chair to help me get the pesky cats under control.
Juno watched him race by then continued her assault on the newspaper. Harvey squirmed himself under the couch, then as the Ray circled back, stuck his head out to watch. I could tell he was considering a whack at the dog from the safety of his hiding place.

Here he comes.

I left the restive animals and went to put my now empty dishes in the kitchen. When I returned, Ray was just curling back into a ball on Gregg's chair. Juno had abandoned the paper and was on the chair on the coffee table quietly grooming herself.

There he goes.

I smiled at the serene scene and walked to my spot on the couch. There was a sharp pain in my toe. I screeched.
Ray jumped from his chair to help. Harvey disconnected his claws from my sock and raced out from under the couch. Juno jumped from her perch and took off after him. Ray took off after the two of them.
I sat back down on my spot and picked up the shredded newspaper.
I sighed.

Whodunnit?

I have no idea what was going on here. I just know that somehow all the water that was in Ray's dish, wasn't. (click on photo to view larger)

Juno did it!

Spit-take

I was brushing my teeth. There was a flash of black and white. It was Harvey at full speed. Hearing the running water and wanting to play with the stream, he ran into the bathroom, jumped up on the toilet seat (which was open), dexterously avoided falling in, and still at full speed, leapt for the sink.
Being a bit off-balance as a result of having to avoid falling into the toilet, Harvey missed his target with all four feet but caught it with two. Unfortunately, one of these landed, not on the solid surface of the sink but on the tube of open toothpaste. The toothpaste, as it is wont to do, splorted out and the tube fell to the floor. Harvey dangled a second by his two front feet struggling to get a grip on the un-grippable surface then fell into the trash can next to the sink. The trash can fell to its side. Harvey shot from the room. I cleaned my mirror.