All the Way From the Philippines!

I received a package in the mail from my friends Sweepy, Sumo and Bogart. They're also known as Hounds in Heaven and they live in the Philippines. I never realized the Philippines were so far away from me - nearly as far as Singapore! Sweepy lives approximately 8,500 mile or 13,700 kilometers from me. Wow!

Inside the package was this very artistic card that the hounds made for me.The letter explained that the pieces glued to the front of the card, with the exception of the slivers of shell, were from their personal collection.

Bogart's job is to guard the rocks and he takes his job very seriously!

First they spread out all the rocks and glass pieces onto the floor for closer inspection.

Sweepy went through the collection, viewing each piece one by one and chose his favorites.

Sumo chose the rock he wanted to send and carefully placed it on Sweepy's nose while he was sleeping!

Even though the shells were part of the card, we took them off and put them into the coffee table too. The shells, brightly colored glass and smooth and shiney rocks really added some pizzaz to the table! Thank you Hounds in Heaven for sending such great things!!

More from Singapore

The beautiful Princess Snowball from Singapore sent me a package of shells and rocks for the coffee table. This is package #2 from Singapore - the first was from my friends Huskee & Hershey. Even though they're all from Singapore, they each sent very, very different things!
The two shells on the top were so delicate and beautiful that I'm grateful they made it all the way (9,539 miles or 15,349 kilometers) in one piece! As you can see below, the rocks and shells were carefully packed up in the cute little box. Princess Snowball also sent two "Milk Spoon" treats. Ziggy and I each had one and they were unlike anything I've ever had before. Ziggy finished his right away but it took me a long time on mine. In fact, I got one end chewed off and then the whole thing vanished! Hmmmmm...... I'm thinking Ziggy stole it when I wasn't looking. I'm telling Mom!!!!!!!!!
I asked Snowball where she found such beautiful rocks and shells and she told me she set out on a quest.First she jumped into the sea and swam and swam and swam for a very long time. Until at last she spotted a picturesque beach that seemed like it might have hidden treasures waiting to be discovered! The name of this beautiful place is Changi Beach.So she made her way to the shore and collected the awesome shells and rocks to send half way around the world just to be in my table! I am so impressed with Snowball's long distance swimming abilities! She should definitely be in the next Pawlimpics! I definitely see GOLD medals in her future. Thank you, Princess Snowball for the spectacular rocks and shells and for the delicious, strangely disappearing, treats!

Bijou Rocks Around the US!

One of the 4 packages we received last week was from Bijou. Bijou is a Toy Rat Terrier from Falls City, Nebraska. She has a younger brother named Banjo who is also a Toy Rat Terrier. Rat Terriers have longer snouts and shorter tails but other than that look alot like chihuahuas - which means, of course, they are extremely good lookin dawgs! The package from Bijou was very heavy and Ziggy was very anxious to get it opened.

Before the rocks made their 1,370 mile trek, Bijou had to first pose with them!

Then she needed to smell them to make sure they were not only interesting looking rocks but also interesting smelling rocks! Smells are so important to us dawgs you know.

After the photos session and quality control inspection, Bijou gave her stamp of approval and declared the rocks were fit to be mailed to me!

Mom opened the package and laid all the rocks out on the patio with the letter. Bijou explained that the two speckled rocks on the upper left came from the Oregon coastline. The two triangular rocks on the lower right along with the white rock on the bottom left came from Arizona. The remaining rocks all came from Bijou's home state of Nebraska. So alot of the rocks had already traveled great distances before they made their way to me in New York!Libby the camera hog insisted on a photo shoot with the letter and rocks (as usual)!No offense to all my cat friends, but sometimes cats can be such attention seekers! Libby is constantly infringing on my time with mom. She insists on sitting next to mom on the couch every night which really annoys me because I want to sit next to mom! If I'm not quick enough she'll steal my spot next to mom in bed too! The little white rock from Arizona is called a Desert Rose. Mom had to take a close-up picture of it to share with all of you because it is so interesting and beautiful. Desert Roses are actually "chalcedony" which is formed when mineral rich water flows or drips over a long period of time. You can see "growth" rings on this beautiful specimen. It is very smooth and has an almost waxy feel. It's hard for me (and my mom) to really understand the geological make-up of this rock but it is somehow related to the quartz family and is often used to make jewelry. Please forgive me if any of this information is wrong. I did research but there isn't a Desert Rose for Dummies web site out there! All I know is I like it and it's a great addition to my mom's table!I chose the place for the rocks in the table on the two corners. Several of the rocks were too big to fit under the glass but no worries - my mom has figured that all out. Rambo sent a rock that was too big and the beautiful big shell from Byron & Xinver is also too big to fit under the glass. Last weekend my mom found the PERFECT clear glass candle holder that she's filling with the plus-sized rocks and shells and she'll post about that when it gets a little more full!

A Package from Sammie & Honey and an Apology

This week I received 4 packages in the mail! I'll get to those in a minute but first I have to apologize for not visiting all of you this week. My mom went to West Virginia to spend Easter with Leah. She took off Good Friday from work and got home early Monday morning after a horrific traffic jam on the New Jersey Turnpike. At one point she had to get off the road a take a nap because she was getting too tired to drive. So that started the week and one thing lead to another and suddenly it's Sunday again and this is the first time we've had a chance to even open the packages! I hope this coming week is a little slower than last week!

The first package we opened was from Sammie and Honey, two good lookin Goldens from San Rafael, California. I looked on a map and San Rafael is almost directly across the United States from my house in New York, a total of 2,980 miles awayThey went for a nice walk on Muir Beach to find special shells and rocks for my mom's table. Sammie needed to run around and play for awhile first while Honey enjoyed wading in the cool Pacific Ocean.After that they got down to some serious searching. They found rocks and shells and even a piece of plastic sea "glass".When they got back home the grandpeep helped them make beautiful and colorful cards to send to us with the rocks, shells and plastic sea glass taped onto them.When my mom opened the package for me the first thing she pulled out was a miniature hamburger squeekie toy! I loved that toy so much I had to run around like crazy and kill it!

Also inside the bag were some great treats! Yum!

Mom, hurry up with the camera and PLEASE open these treats for us! Please!!!The rocks, shells and plastic sea glass are great additions to our table. Thanks Sammie, Honey, your parents and the grandpeep for sending us such a nice package!Stay tuned this week for posts about the packages I received from Bijou, Snowball and Sweepy!

Wordless Wednesday

Swiss Rocks & Chocolate

Today I received a package from my new friend Faya who lives in Biel-Bienne, Switzerland! The postcards she sent show how beautiful it is there. Her house is 3,824 miles or 5,153 kilometers from my house. That's like a trip to Rambo's house then back again to my house.

Here is a video of Faya looking for rocks at the lake where she lives.

On one of the postcards Faya sent to me she said her lake is shaped like a heart and if I looked on a map I could see it. So my mom fired up Google Earth and we found Faya's lake!

As you can see in this picture, the box was full of all kinds of surprises (not only for me but for my mom too)!
The first thing my mom noticed was that Faya used corn starch peanuts. Those are the best kind of peanuts to use for packing boxes. If you've never tried it, put a cornstarch peanut in water and watch it melt away! Unlike traditional packing peanuts, cornstarch peanuts will be gone with the first good rain. Faya you are truely a Green Dawg!

On closer examination I found a bandana in the box, which my mom immediately put on me. Also in the box were four bags of awesome treats for me and Ziggy to share. The next few things I pulled out of the box were specifically for my mom.

Swiss CHOCOLATE! Faya, you are officially my mom's best friend! She is a serious chocoholic! Usually I'm the one doing the drooling, but today my mom was drooling more than me - hehehe.
Look at this cute stuffed dawg. According to Faya, this is a typical Swiss dawg - the Bernardiner. We call them St. Bernard's. I think it looks alot like me with it's bandit eyes! My mom said they carry alcohol in the cask around their neck to warm up cold skiers.

Mom tried to see if there was a mini martini in there but somebody else must have been cold and thirsty because it was empty. This cool key chain was also in the box!

Inside this pretty little bag was a whole bunch of Swiss rocks for my mom's coffee table.
Whew! I am tired from all this excitement. I think I need to take a nap but first I need to put all the rocks in the table. Wow! They look great!
Thanks, Faya, for your additions to the table and for all the treats for me, Ziggy and my mom!!!

Singapore Slings Rocks!

Yeah, my mom thinks she's so clever. Ziggy laughed but I hung my head in embarassment. You tell her the truth, she won't listen to me! We received a package from my friends Huskee & Hershey who live in Singapore. I've been reading their blog since before Hershey became Huskee's brother!The outside of the package declared that there was a dawg treat and a souvenier in it.
Libby, it says DAWG treat not CAT treat! Give mom a little room so she can open the package!

Mom finally got the package open and read the letter to us. Huskee and Hershey found the rocks at a park near where they live in Singapore. I was wondering if Singapore was further away from me than Taiwan so my mom looked it up. Yes it is further! Singapore is 9,539 miles or 15,349 kilometers. As of today that is the greatest distance a rock has traveled to be in my mom's coffee table. In the note Huskee and Hershey said they didn't think the rocks were very interesting. Wrong! Besides being very smooth and beautiful, they are marathon travelers! I hope they had a good flight! If only rock could talk... Imagine the stories they could tell...

Libby took over control of the note and the rocks but my dad was showing me the dawg treat that was in the package. I tried to gobble it right up while it was still in the package so Libby couldn't steal it from me.

Mmmmm, that Bark Bar looks so good mom! PLEASE open it for me? OK, she says first things first. We found a perfect place for the beautiful Singapore rocks!! Thanks Huskee and Hershey for the Bark Bar and for the rocks!