Our huMom is busy, busy, busy with Spring cleaning. Our brother, Mitch and his fiance' are coming to visit us from California for Easter. We are all sssssoooooooo excited.

Have a fabulous day.

Lilly, Piper, Carrleigh and Java

POP!! POP!! POP!!

Yesterday, Mom and Dad were watching a movie and we heard Mom ask Dad, "Do you want some popcorn?" That is one of our favorite things to hear her say - it is better than going for rides or walkies and almost better than dinner.

Mom went into the kitchen, and we all went along to supervise. We heard that wonderful sound - like hailstones hitting on our tin roof when we have a summer storm. Then we saw Mom put butter and oil in the pan and before long she was shaking the pan as we heard the pop-pop-pop of popcorn popping and smelled that aroma like no other.


When it finished popping, we saw Mom pour it into her big blue bowl and put just a tiny bit of salt on it.The she brought the bowl into the living room with all of us following close behind. Mom and Dad are sneaky when it comes to passing out that delicious treat. A Scottie stand won't get a piece of it - can you believe that? Not all dogs can do a Scottie stand - Java can't.
To get a piece of popcorn, one must "sit pretty" and then Mom or Dad will throw a piece of popcorn for you to catch. Sometimes if you miss your piece or it gets intercepted by one of the others, they will take pity and toss you another piece. Piper, who is the youngest, gets to sit closest to Mom and Dad, and the rest of us fan out around him. Lilly has found out that is she stays back the farthest, that she can run in and scoop up anything that gets dropped or missed. If a piece happens to land behind a chair or under a table, they tell us to "leave it" and for the most part, we do. Then whoever is around when Mom does the cleaning gets the treat of stale popcorn - not quite as good as fresh, but better since only one gets it!

Until next time,

The Arrroo Crew at Rocky Creek Farm.

The Name Game - Fee fy mo Mirley, Shirley!

Wasn't I a cute baby??

Good Morning All,

I'm up early and decided to play Mitch and Maggie's name game. Everyone else is sleeping soundly as it rains and the wind blows fiercely outside.

1. What is your name? Spencer's Lilly Greer - but Spencer is really my last name, Lilly is what everyone calls me. The following answers must all begin with the first letter of your name.

2. A four letter word? Love

3. Girl name: Lynn (my Mom's name, hehe!)

4. Boy name: Lawrence

5. Occupation: Land Surveyor

6. Color: Lilac

7. Piece of clothing: Long Johns

8. Food: Lasagna (we want Mom to make some!!)

9. Item in the bathroom: Loofah

10. Place/City: Los Angeles

11. A reason for being late: Lost

12. Something you’d yell: "Let's eat"

13. Movie: Lost Boys

14. Something you can drink: Lemonade

15. Band: Lynyrd Skynyrd

16. Animal: Lion

17. Street name: Los Flores (Mom and Dad lived in CA before they got me)

18. Car: Lambergini

19. Song: Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

20. Activity that includes more than one participant: Lacrosse

Wow! That was a little difficult, but with the help of Mom, I did it. You should try it too.

Have a fabulous day.

Lillybug

GUESS WHAT??

As you all know, we have had a lot of rain here on Rocky Creek Farm and we have been stuck in the house. Mainly catching a lot of ZZZZ's. Mom has us on a schedule for going outside that seems to work for all of us, but one time when she took us out yesterday, it looked like a creek was coming down our road. Mom has Bogs that she wears in the rain and we want some too - especially Lilly - who hates to get her feet wet.

Well the rain is "neither here nor there" when it comes to telling about yesterday's treat. Lilly has this cute look that Mom just adores and when she sees it, Lilly could ask for the moon and Mom would try to get it for her.

Here's Lilly practicing her
"please, please, please, I'm so cute" look.

We all saw Mom go to the freezer and get something out, but we didn't pay too much attention to her since we had heard her tell a friend that she would be making a meatloaf to bring to her yesterday. Mom was defrosting things in the microwave and getting out her big black iron skillet. She even got the cheddar cheese (that we love and always get to sample) from the fridge and sliced off a few slices and we were standing there all cute waiting for a piece - nothing happens. Lilly and Carrleigh started muttering between themselves - "What's wrong with Mom and where is our cheese?". Piper tried his sweet Scottie Stand. Nothing worked. Mom kept on ignoring us. MOM!! MOM!! We're down here!!

Then all of a sudden we heard Mom's black skillet start to sizzle and the most wonderful aroma ever filled the kitchen. Could it be possible?? Were we going to get some hamburgers like Mitch and Maggie? And were we going to get to have some Rocky Creek Farm organic beef? We were all aflutter - We just stood and watched Mom at the stove. But then we saw a hamburger with pepper on it - Yuck- who wants pepper on a burger? But we looked again and saw three burgers without pepper. And then we started counting- wait Mom - there are 4 of us here!

Then we saw Mom put the cheese on the hamburgers and she steamed some hamburger buns. We saw her put the buns on her pretty blue plate and put cheeseburgers and ketchup on the buns. She still only had 3 burgers fixed. Was Java going to go without?? Or Piper?? Or Carrleigh?? not Lilly, right Mom??And then she got a knife from the drawer and started cutting up the hamburgers. Doesn't she know that an adult Scottie has a mouth that is as large as a German Shepherds and can kill critters and vermin with a single chomp?? Why is she cutting up our meat - we won't get choked. We promise.

Mom did divide the cheeseburgers into 4 equal portions.
No one got choked and they sure were delicious.
Mom sacrificed and ate
the one with the yucky pepper on it herself.
It's a wonderful dog's life!!Java's head was spinning when he saw Mom
putting those delicious burgers in our bowls.

Happy Trails and Waggin' Tails,
Rocky Creek Scotties

LESSONS FROM A SCOTTIE

It's rainy (has been for 3 days and predicted to be through the weekend). Our road is muddy (so walks are limited because our furnishings get so muddy) and our pen has water droplets dripping off the wire so there is a lot of this going on at our house this week.
When Lilly and I had puppies back in December, Mom thought it would be fun to give all of the new puppy parents a "baby book" for their new addition to their family. We had some input on it and we wanted to show you some of the pages from it that showed lessons every self-respecting Scottie should learn.


Have a great day. Maybe if we click our heels together three times really quickly, Mom will pull some icecream out of the freezer or make us a special treat. We're really are hoping for a burger - we'll skip the fries. OK MOM??? MOM???

XO
Piper - (the rest of "The AARRROOO Crew is sleeping)

PS - We just had to come back to tell you
how sad we feel right now.
We just got an email that Obie's (our little brindle boy)
big sister Oreo went to the Rainbow Bridge in the night.
She will surely be missed.
We send our hugs and prayers out to their family.Oreo In The Sun

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

TRUE COLORS THURSDAY

And the color is BEIGE,
like the background in Mom's sign
and part of the background of our blog.

Maggie and Mitch sent us over to Blue's blog to sign up for True Colors Thursday. We are sorry to hear that she has a migraine and we hope it goes away soon. When our Mom gets one, Lilly has to lay on the bed and watch her, while Piper and Carrleigh lie really still in their crates and Java lies on the floor near the door to make sure no one comes in to bother her. We try to take really good care of her.

While you're out there surfing and reading maybe you can go by and leave some "get well wishes" for Hercules. He is not feeling well - waiting for pooh with a poodle foot. We hope he gets well soon.

Beige is a funny shade that has a lot of variables. Mom thought it would be hard to find some pictures for beige, but she found a lot and none of they are the same shade. Our "Dale" friends and many other canine friends are like Piper and Carrleigh and have shades of beige in their fur.

Here's a picture of Piper when he was a little boy
(and needed grooming badly).
Most of the time he looks kind of coppery,
but when he needs to be stripped,
his fur is beige.

Here is a picture of Lilly on the day she came home to
live at Rocky Creek Farm.
Her bed has a beige lining.

This is our daredevil sister, Kat
riding her motorcycle in the dessert.
The sand is different shades of beige.

When Mom was a little girl,
her family always went on Florida vacations.
The Coppertone advertisement was
one of their favorite signs to see along the road.
There are a lot of different beige tones in it.

Here's a picture of Carrleigh sitting on our old
worn out couch.
Mom and Dad got rid of that couch and we miss
it, but it sure was ugly.
Granny and Pa had left it in our house
when they moved out so we just kinda
inherited it.
It had a lot of beige (dirty paw prints) on it.

And "last but not least"
here is a picture of a quilt,
Mom's cousin, Linda made
of our church.
It is a field stone church called
Dinwiddie Presbyterian Church
and is on the
National Register of Historic Places.
Many people come to see it every year.
And we think it is beautiful.

Have a wonderful day. We're looking forward to supervising the man who is coming out to pump our septic tank - what a yucky job!! We're glad we're dogs and don't have jobs like that.

XOXO
Lilly, Piper, Carrleigh and Java

Our HuMom is Sort of Strange.....

....but we love her.

Sometimes we think our Mom does the strangest things but we know it is only for our good. Can you imagine how humiliated Lilly is to be dressed like this? As we've told you before Mom doesn't want any "summertime puppies" because Dad is a teacher and he gets the whole summer off from school and we all want to travel. When Piper gets crazy and starts chasing Lilly around Mom makes her wear little boys underpants and sticks her tail through the fly. She is so glad she only does this at home. She would hate for anyone to see her dressed like this (and Mom is putting this picture on the internet for the whole world to see - imagine that). If Piper gets too "off the wall" she puts Vicks salve on his nose - anyone coming over would think we all had really bad colds!

We have been playing around with our photo program again. Mom took a picture of Carrleigh (through the screen window) playing in our pen and then she saved it to look like a chalk drawing. We heard that Dad has been showing her a better photoshop program - we just hope she doesn't spend our treat money for it. Isn't Carr pretty? - And this was before she had her spring grooming.
Rain and floods are forecast for the rest of this week at Rocky Creek Farm. We better get out and enjoy the dry earth while we can. Lilly doesn't like to get her feet wet so Mom has to drag her off the porch when its raining. And it's all but impossible for Mom to hold an umbrella along with three leashes. Maybe while we're all sequestered inside she will make us some hamburgers like Maggie and Mitch's Mom did for them - we can only hope.

TaTa for now.

Lilly, Piper Carrleigh and Java

UPDATE -- WE'RE SO PROUD

PIPER WALKED ON CONCRETE TODAY!!!
He didn't have to be tricked, treated or pulled.
He just jumped out of the truck when we got to Granny's
and trotted right across her concrete porch.

We don't know why he was scared of concrete floors.
He came to us that way at 9 weeks old.
It could have been the floors from
the kennel where he was born.
He hated going to the vet because of the concrete,
but today he did fine.
Our baby is growing up!!

XOXOXO
"The Arrrooo Crew"

WE ARE THRILLED.......

.....that Lucia awarded us with the "Friendly Blogger Award". We don't know too many people yet, but we think all of the bloggers we have met so far are friendly. According to Lucia, there aren't too many rules regarding the passing of the award so we would like to pass it on to:

(drum roll please)

Maggie and Mitch the Airdales
(they encouraged us to start our own blog)

Oreo & Obie
(we hope this is not nepotism since we're related to Obie)

Miss Donna
(she always keeps us when Mom and Dad travel)

Can we give it back to Lucia ?
(we really like her and we love that she speaks Italian)

We have another reason to be thrilled today. Our Mom had some surgery about a month ago and when she went back to the doctor yesterday, he told her that there was no sign of cancer and that she was released from his care. What a blessing!! She can do anything she wants now as long as she has no pain and doesn't get too tired. He even told her she could go back to work in another week. When she told him she didn't work on a public job, he said she could come to work for him!! But she's not planning on it - she likes staying home with us.

Piper and Carrleigh have to go to the vet this morning. Piper needs a shot - we want to keep him from getting any yucky rabies and Carrleigh needs a checkup. After that they will go by and visit Granny. She loves for them to come visit, but Piper is afraid to go to her front door because she has a concrete porch - this summer we are going to work on helping him get over his fear of concrete.

Have a beautiful day!!

XO

Lilly, Piper, Carrleigh and Java

PS - We decided to change our colors for spring - what do you think?

Signs of Spring are everywhere

Mom says "Spring is everywhere". We went out to take some pictures of Spring springing around on the farm. Mom wanted to get us in the picture with her miniature daffodils but she said it was all but impossible to get us all in there at the same time while holding on to our leashes and the camera. These little daffodils are one of the first signs of Spring on our farm and we are always glad to see them start poking their little green leaves up through the ground. Mom wishes she had taken a close up to show you because they have beautiful little orange trumpets.

Mom had to take this picture
through the kitchen window so it's a little blurry.
On the left of the picture there are
4 wild gobblers (male turkeys) in full strut
and you can see the one strutting in the center.
We'll probably see a lot of babies this spring.
Mom and Dad are always counting the turkeys.
We scare them when we go running out
the front door and we always get to see them fly.
We can hardly imagine how a bird that big can fly.

We don't know why, but our Mom loves old things that are rusty and have peeling paint on them. Dad has been tearing down fences that Mom's Dad and his brothers built in the 1930's so there is plenty of rust around. She has Dad roll the barbed wire up and she uses it to make barbed wire wreaths (can you believe that people even want those things? - We guess that Mom is not the only person around that likes rust - she even had the doctor give her a tetanus shot just in case she got poked with of the spikes!) But as you can tell from the rust on the steps to the granary, she let this batch set there through the last rain and snow we had. She really likes the juxtaposition of the wire on the steps and will probably end up using this photograph for one of her greeting cards.

We have been remiss in getting photos of Carrleigh on here for you to see. This is a picture of Carrleigh with Lilly's puppy, Maddie - who is a sister to Obie. Obie now has his own blog. We're so excited to be able to keep up with him. If you want to go over and visit him and his sister, Oreo, go to http://oreoandobiesworld.blogspot.com/
You'll see what a handsome dog he is turning out to be.
We think he looks a lot like Lilly -
except Lilly is blue/black and he is black brindle.We hope you are able to get out and enjoy
this beautiful Spring weather.
The sunshine is calling us to go out for our walk.

XO
Lilly, Piper, Carrleigh and Java

Our Son - "Obie"

Last night we noticed that our son, Obie had joined our followers.
He was such an adorable puppy and the fave of our big sister, Kat.
We thought you might like to see some of his pictures.
On December 1st, Lilly had 3 puppies.
The first two were wheatens and Mom and Dad thought
the 3rd one was black like Lilly,
but when he dried off they realized that he was a
beautiful black and gold brindle.He had a perfect white "T" on his chest when he was born,
so Mom and Dad nicknamed him "Mr. T"

He was so adorable, no one could resist the little cutie!!

Dad made this picture the day after our sister
Kat left to go back to CA.
Mom calls it "Missing my Kat"

And this is what he looked like on the day he
left us to go live with his new family.
We were so happy to find him such
a wonderful family to spend his life with.

We sure miss having our little babies around, but they are in fantastic homes and get lots of attention and love. Mom told them every day how much they were loved so that when they went to their forever homes they would be full of love.

Have a blessed Sunday.
Lilly and Piper

Yesterday was "PIZZA DAY"

Mom and Dad almost always have pizza on Friday - if we don't have pizza we usually have some type of Italian food and we all love it. Yesterday Mom had a migraine so instead of making her usual delicious pizza with homemade crust, Dad stopped by the grocery store and brought home a couple of frozen pizzas. Mom had some extra pepperoni in the fridge so after we tasted it to make sure it was "fit for human consumption" Mom put some of it on the store bought pizza and cooked it in the oven. I could hardly wait for it to come out!!
Here's a picture of me (Piper) waiting for the pizza to cool down so we could have a taste. I always stand on my hind legs to let Mom know that I'm so excited that I can hardly wait (and she doesn't have to bend over too far to put the pizza in my mouth!)

This morning Mom let Carrleigh and me go outside to play in our pen. Mom is trying to keep me and Lilly separated since she "doesn't want any summer puppies" so Lilly sat on our crates and watched us play through the window - you can see on the window where we have scratched all of the paint off the sill with our toenails. Mom has plans to paint it this spring, but she keeps saying she doesn't want to do too much work on this old house because she and Dad plan on tearing it down and building a new one in about 3 more years.

Here's a picture of the house where we live now. I think we've already told you that our Mom's Grandfather built it for his bride in 1898. After Mom's grandparents passed away, her parents bought the house and the farm that it's on - this is where Mom grew up and she thinks it's the most wonderful place on this earth. She and Dad thought we were going to be able to keep the house, but since there is a lot of termite damage, they are going to replace it - the house they have picked out to build in it's place looks a lot like this house where we live now. Originally Mom and Dad had thought they would save part of it for a guest house and build a new house on another spot on our farm, but after they started looking closely at the condition of the house, they decided that it must come down. And it is standing on the perfect spot for a house.

Dad is out working on the farm today - the silly cattle messed up their water trough so water just overflows and doesn't stop. Dad's real good at repairing things so I'm sure it won't take him too long to fix it. He is starting to get a touch of "Spring Fever" and wants to start plowing the garden. It won't be long now before we'll have those little green onions that Mom and Dad love so much - they say I can't have any because onions are toxic to dogs.

Have a fabulous weekend - get out and enjoy the sun. I need to get out and start supervising Dad.

Piper (the prancer)

Spring has Sprung

It's hard to believe it's the first day of Spring. We saw on the TV this morning that it is snowing in New York City. It's about 30 degrees here, but the sun is out. It is supposed to warm up some today.

The Scotties have been getting to do most of the blogging, but Mom decided that I should have equal opportunity since I put up with them and am very patient (most of the time.) My name is "Spencer's Java Bean" - call name "Java" and I have lived with Mom and Dad for almost 12 years. As you can see I am a huge Chocolate Labrador Retriever. It was so wonderful when it was just Mom, Dad and me. I would lie on the floor and have my head on Mom's feet and my tail on Dad's feet - I just wanted to be able to touch both of my people at the same time. Then one Christmas, Dad gave Mom a gift certificate for a Scottish Terrier - I didn't think she would find one and then before I knew it she brought the little ankle biter home. My life changed forever on that day!! About the time I got accustomed to having Lilly around (and she had almost quit biting my ankles) here comes Mom with another one - Piper. Good thing about that though is that he bit Lilly's ankles and Lilly protected me from him. All in all I get along fairly well with the Scotties and I even let Lilly sit on my back to watch TV. Scotties love watching TV!!


We all want to thank Mitch and Maggie for introducing us today. Mom was searching for Scottie blogs and could hardly find any. She did find a lot of Airedale blogs though and started reading them to us - those "dales" really do get around. Mom decided that if she helped us blog, maybe more Scottish Terriers would talk their humans into blogging - she hasn't even checked for Lab blogs. We emailed Maggie and Mitch and told them we liked their blog and then they encouraged us to start one too - and the rest is "history" - well about a week's worth anyway.

Today is "pizza day" and we all get excited because usually Mom let's us all have a little slice. She is teaching Piper to "be nice" and not grab food. He's young and he's learning, but he eats so slow then she has to protect his food from the other Scotties. I'm very refined and understand everything Mom and Dad say and I listen to their instructions, not like those "diehards".

Have a wonderful weekend.

XOXO
Java

It's Carrleigh

Good Morning Everyone,

Mom caught me yesterday and gave me the works. I got my toenails dermeled, a lot of my winter growth stripped away, a bath and my face and ears all cleaned and clipped. I am now "the cleanest one". Mom brushed and stripped on Lilly, Piper and Java (our Labrador Retriever Gramps) and dremeled their toenails. Piper, Java and I did really great with the dermel, but Lilly had a fit - she wanted to bite Mom!! - but she didn't.

This morning when I was still sleeping I heard Mom bathing Lilly. I told Piper and we both started to AAARRROO really loudly - then I heard Mom laugh. She loves to hear us when we aarroo. And I like to hear Mom laugh. I bet it won't be long before Piper gets a bath too.

It's so beautiful here where we live in Southwestern Virginia. The grass is starting to get green and the birds are singing every day. I heard Mom tell Dad that we shouldn't get too comfortable with it because before long we'll have a cold snap. I hope it doesn't hurt our little fruit trees. Yesterday we saw that some of them are starting to bud and some strawberries are coming up. Piper loves strawberries and Mom has to watch him because he will pick them all and eat them whether they are ripe or not.

Have a wonderful day. We're getting ready to go for our morning walk.

CarrCarr

It's Spring Grooming Time

Good Morning,

Most of the time Mom lets our hair grow out fairly long during the winter months. We live in a 110 year old farm house that Mom's Grandfather built for his bride in 1898 - so it's a little drafty. We like that she only brushes and bathes us during the winter months. We all hate having the hair on our feet and toenails trimmed. So when Mom starts talking about the weather warming up, we start looking for places to hide where she can't reach us. Our favorite spot is under the bed, but eventually she will coax us out and then she grabs one of us and off we go to the grooming table. We think Mom has her eyes on Carrleigh today. We'll post some pictures once we get our new spring "dos". Have a wonderful day.

The Arrrooo Crew

This is our first time to blog

Good Afternoon,
Lillybug reporting,

I am a black Scottish Terrier that lives on a farm in Virginia that my huMom thinks is the most beautiful place in the world. She tells me all the time that I am an answer to a childhood dream that she had. As soon as she brought me home to live with her, I became the alpha dog. What self-respecting, 6 pound Scottie puppy would be afraid of a huge (110 pound) Labrador Retriever that had lived with Mom and Dad for 9 1/2 years before I came along? Since Mom and Dad got me, we have traveled to other places to get the 2 Wheaten Scotties that live with us.

When I was about a year old, we went to Ohio to get Piper. What a scrawny little thing he was!! My birth father was a Wheaten Scottie so I knew Scotties came in this color, but I thought Mom should get another black one. I got to ride on Mom's lap all the way to Ohio to get Piper and then as soon as she got him, she put me in the crate. I let her know right away that I was the one who would ride in her lap and Pipe should go in the crate. She soon got it figured out.

About 6 months after we got Piper, my breeder, Carolyn called Mom to let her know that she had an adult female Wheaten Scottie that needed a home. She asked Mom to take her and I couldn't believe it when Mom said she would. Before I knew it Carrleigh had come to live with us. Sometimes Carrleigh and I don't get along very well and I have to show her who's boss. As soon as we take a sparring stance, Mom is there telling us to "quit that grumbling". If Mom would leave me alone with her long enough, I could show her where her place is too. Everyone needs to know that I'm the "queenie".

We've just had our dinner of eggs scrambled in olive oil, cottage cheese and some kibble. Mom says the olive oil and protein helps keep our coats looking pretty. Mom needs to start dinner for her and Dad now so I'm sure she'll help us with this blog again soon.

AAARRROOO!!