I received my 1st contribution for the coffee table from Australia, the land down under and the birth place of
Dogs With Blogs, from
Suzuki, Tahlia and Scooby! This was a very exciting package for me because not only did it travel a record distance, 11,698 miles or 18,823 kilometers, but it was HEAVY!
Inside the box was an awesome card from Suzuki. I think Suzuki is one cool dawg! She is a world famous writer using the pen name Bark Kent.
She has a really good lookin' brother, Scooby who helps single dawgs connect on Scooby's Singles Saturdays, and her sister Tahlia is my cousin
Rambo's girlfriend!
The most impressive thing Suzuki does though, and this is what brought me to her blog originally when I saw her picture in a contest, is BOOGIE BOARD!
HOW RADICAL IS THAT??? She is just awesome! Suzuki included a letter that gave the history of the area where the rocks she sent were found.
In addition she emailed me some absolutely beautiful pictures of the Waroona Lions Club Drakesbrook Weir Community Park where they went rock hunting.
No dawgs are allowed in this park but, since Suzuki is a rule breaker, she and her sibs snuck in! Drakesbrook Weir is an irrigation dam which collects the overflow from the Waroona Dam in a town called Waroona which is south of Perth. In winter it is full of water. The whole ground is mud. These cracks are caused from the mud drying out.
Looks like somebody forgot their kayak last winter! That's what the humans get for not putting away their toys! The cracks vary in depth from about 1 inch to 6 inches.
I'd be in trouble if I stepped into one of those 6 inch cracks since my little legs aren't much longer than that! Suzuki wasn't sure what kind of rocks these are but she said they were the "prettiest" she could find and I think they're very handsome rocks indeed!
My mom says they remind her of petrified wood. Does anybody out there know what kind of rocks these are? Suzuki thinks they could possibly be sedimentary rocks called chert. I know that kind of rock can be found in the Grand Canyon too and my mom said she'd bring me home some when she goes there in a few weeks. Suzuki also found the shell in the park. I would never have expected to find a shell there.
I'm a spoiled rotten dawg! Look at all the treats and toys that box was stuffed with! No wonder it was so heavy. In the box was a stuffed zebra (my favorite), a squeekie hamburger (Ziggy's favorite), dawg tags, two cool rope bones (I'll kill them later), and chocolate treats that are safe for dawgs to eat! All the rocks were individually wrapped in bubble wrap so they could make the long journey to my house safely.
The first thing I had to do was rough up the zebra! Man that's a fun toy! Turn your volume down when you watch this video because my mom and Jessie were cracking up and the TV was LOUD!
Libby is a funny cat. She thought the box was her present and she LOVED it! I didn't want to tell her that, ahem, she probably needed a shoe horn or some grease to squeeze into it!
Now the Aussie rocks and shell have a home in my table. We'll probably spread them out but for now they're taking up the whole upper righthand corner! Thank you Suzuki, Scoobie, Tahlia and your humans for sending us such an incredible package all the way from Australia! We'll leave you now with one more picture of the beautiful landscape from Drakesbrook Weir Community Park.
I got a package from my Boxer friend, Chef, 
this past weekend. Chef lives in Montreal, Canada. My mom went to the University of Vermont (back in the Dark Ages) in Burlington, Vermont. She says Burlington wasn't all that far from Montreal and one of the things they liked to do was drive in to Canada to buy beer. When I asked why she said something about Canadian beer having a higher alcohol content than American beer. This didn't sound good, so I changed the subject... Montreal isn't really all that far away from me - 326 miles or 525 kilometers (as the crow flies - it is actually 435 miles to drive).
I wonder why it took 18 days for Chef's package to get to my house? Maybe it went by Pony Express? I think I do smell some ponies on here. Oh well, I'm just happy it did arrive!
Chef searched in his own garden and found three awesome rocks to send me. 
He was so excited and tired from the hunt that he had to take a nap with the rocks before packaging them up for the long journey!
When I opened the package there was this great card inside. Chef is that you? Besides being an award winning dawg, are you a model dawg too? 
Libby read the post card and letter for me. Chef invited me to come visit him in Montreal! Too bad I don't have a passport since as of June 1st you have to have one of those to go to Canada from the US.
Libby says I should go tomorrow before the passport rules take affect. I'm getting the feeling that Libby is trying to get rid of me!
Mom said she had to give up and hire two college boys to help move the furniture up to the 4th floor! No elevator... Mom says she's too old for that! 
Along the way she waved to our friend 
She waved to our friend .jpg)
And this sign made us think of 
On the way home my mom stopped at a place called 
She's been looking at it ever since the first trip she and Leah took to visit WVU. Such interesting geology, especially in light of our coffee table project, demands a visit.
It was WINDY crossing the bridge over the highway! During the walk my mom picked up a few rocks for me for the table.
As usual, I was not thrilled to have to pose with the rocks...
But I do have to admit they look great in the table. Thanks Mom & Leah for thinking about me on your apartment trip!
In other news, my mom and Leah go on their big vacation next Friday. I'll be home with Dad, which means extra treats and table scraps! That really helps to make up for missing Mom and Leah. Mom is a little nervous about the trip because she just found out the canyon she is supposed to hike is 
We all hope Havasu will reopen as scheduled on June 1st. Mom doesn't know if she should cancel the hotel by the trail head or not. If they announce on the 1st that they're not reopening it will be too late to cancel and she'll lose her money. 
She and Leah have talked about different things to do if the hike is cancelled but it will be so disappointing if they don't get to see these beautiful waterfalls again. Will all you dawgs and cats please keep your paws crossed for my mom? Thanks!
Inside was a letter from Khyra explaining that it took her assistant a long time to get the package to me. Um, Khyra, it took my assistant a LONG time to help me write this post! She kept complaining about her broken tooth and something called a roots canal. Sounds like a bunch of lame excuses to me!
Finally the box is open! I see some delicious treats in there for me and Ziggy and Libby too!
Bully Sticks for me and Zig! Libby LOVES Temptations! She's been spoiled by so many dawgs and cats during this coffee table project that she's usually the first one to inspect the packages when they arrive. She's also the first one by the treat basket when my mom leaves for work! She figured out that mom gives us treats when she leaves and she wanted in on the action.
Khyra sent us a "furry" special letter that only Ziggy and I could read. In our letter she told the story of her 
Here is one final picture of Khyra hunting for rocks. Can you see her fluffy tail??
Chester thinks his rocks aren't real special
But then he came across it
There won't be no mistakin'
Along with the special rock there were two other little rocks included in the package. Chester explained in the letter that the rocks didn't come from his mom's head but were actually found in West Virginia! I wonder if Chester knows that Leah goes to college in West Virginia? Well, Chester's mom and dad went for a bike ride to Harper's Ferry and they found these rocks. You can't tell in the picture but they are actually very sparkley!
Libby dug a little deeper into the box and found some other things in it that Chester sent along for the two of us! Libby was very insistant about having some of her treats immediately! Mom offered a couple to me but I told her I am a dawg! The balls we will share though.
Now this treat was for me! Ziggy was seriously eyeing it up though, so Jessie broke it in half and we shared. I know Ziggy would do the same for me cause he's a very kind and generous dawg.
We put the Pennsylvania and West Virginia rocks together into the table and they really look great! The tooth cracks me up! Thanks Chester - you are a character!
