Presents From South Africa

On the first day of Christmas my true friends, Samuel and Wallace sent me a box.

Yep I, Sweet William The Scot, got a box!

Okie Dokie Lee said I could work at opening and lookie when I got it open it was wedged full.

Now I have to start opening the wrapped presents!

I got a postage tag stuck to my face!

I open my own presents.

WooHoo I got a stuffie!

The gifts that represent their country mean the most to us.  The Ndebele Fertility Doll well I doubt if she can help here since Lee and I both have had our ectomies but we think she is so sweet.  Lee over the years has collected pin cushions and we think with her soft head she will sit with the pin cushion collection.

A towel set with pot holders which have Nguni Cattle native to South Africa well we will have a hard time using them but they will come out for special occasions.

Zulu bead pin.  Each color represents something.  When Lee wears that I know many 

people will ask her and she can pass on the story that it came from the Soul of Africa.

When I or Lee wear the sunflower bandanas people ask us about them.

And goodies galore. 

The one box sure held a lot of presents.

We decorated our fireplace mantel only this year.  Simple but festive.

For Christmas we served cranberry walnut stuffed pork chops, apple cranberries in a sweet sauce, steamed green beans with a fresh mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes and home made rolls.

Lee baked a white cake and decorated it with blue poinsettia cream frosting.

We sure do miss Samuel and Wallace there are just so many who don't post anymore.

We got a very short Christmas greeting from Puddles another one we have lost.

Thanks for being a friend

Traveling down the road and back again

Your heart is true and your a friend of mine

Signing Off

Sweet William The Scot 

Santa's Village

Well we have to drive to the North Pole for this holiday tradition. 

Not really, just twenty miles north of us.

Then we have to find the walking bridge to get us over the waterfalls.

Found It!

Usually we go at night when all the lights are on.

But since Lee's camera does not do nights we came right before dusk.

Yep it is Santa's Village and I, Sweet William The Scot, am here to talk to Santa Paws.

First I checked in with the Post Office to get his address.  They directed me on down the road.

Well here is Licorice Livery.  Yep I can smell this is where Santa Paws keeps his tiny reindeer.

The reindeer are out hope that means Santa Paws is not with them.

This sure looks like a nice home.  Wonder if Santa Paws lives here?

Looking in the door doesn't show anybody around.

O.K. I'm a Peeping Tom.  Look at all those nicely wrapped presents under the tree.  Somebody who lives here has been good and they didn't even lock their door.

O.K. where is everybody.  No one home here either.

I can see through the window and all the presents are still wrapped.

Ye Olde Cocoa Shoppe.

Darn it is getting cold and we need something warm to drink.

Finally someone working.  I'll go around to the front door.  Maybe the elf can tell me where Santa Paws is.

Well no one is answering the door!

I'm going to the other side to look in.

Well it looks like the elfs are starting to take down the decorations and Christmas was just yesterday.

Didn't he ever hear of the twelve days of Christmas?

Well the Candy Cane Shop is the last place Santa Paws might be, maybe it is open.

Nope closed also.

Santa's village is working on a skeleton crew or migrant immigrant elfs from the South Pole.

I think the regulars all headed South for the winter.  Santa Paws is having himself a nice warm vacation.  Santa Paws is a Snowbird he is one who travels to warm climes for the winter.

Jeez I'm disappointed I didn't get to talk to Santa Paws.

Thanks for being a friend

Traveling down the road and back again

Your heart is true and your a friend of mine

Signing Off

Sweet William The Scot

Mt Adams Reindog Parade a Nati City Tradition

Well we have so many traditions in Nati City it is hard for me, Sweet William The Scot, to show you just one.

In past Decembers I have showed you

The Krohn Conservatory Christmas Display.

I have showed you

Scuba Santa at the Newport Aquarium.

I have showed you

The Nativity.

I have showed you

myself riding on a horse drawn wagon in the annual Christmas Parade.

I have showed you

The Christmas train display at Union Terminal.

All of these are Nati City traditions.

Well in Nati we have another tradition it is the Reindog Parade that takes place in the community of Mt. Adams.

Yam Aunty that is where the beautiful church is and we could see the whole city when you visited us. Yep all us dogs get all dressed up and parade up and down the hills of this community.  It happens the first Saturday in December. We pack every parking space for miles.

This is a video of the 2011 parade.  We like this one because it has Christmas music.  But it is a time when we see old friends and make new ones.  It raises money for the SPCA.

You can catch the different years just go to YouTube and put in Mt. Adams Reindog Parade.

We are in some of the years videos.  The last year of Half Pence's life he could not make it from where I had to park up the steep steep hill.  I carried him but he walked in the parade, my little wonderful trooper.  I think we were almost last because the walk up the steep steep hill was so hard for me. The bestest Scot anyone could ever have.  Not a day goes by that I don't miss him so.

So watch and see all the wonderful dogs in their Christmas outfits that turn out for the Mt Adams Reindog Parade.

Thanks for being a friend

Traveling down the road and back again

Your heart is true and your a friend of mine

Signing Off

Sweet William The Scot

Gots To Hang My Ornament

I, Sweet William The Scot, gots to hang my ornament on my Christmas tree.

What happened?  Lee said we were downsizing but lets get real.  Downsizing, well I could lift my leg on the top of this Christmas tree.

Now talking about lifting my leg.  Well I got my Christmas present early.  Yep I got a pee pole.  I am eight years old now and finally Lee got me a pee pole because I finally stop peeing like a girl.

See my pee pole.

Every time I use it Lee opens the window and says William, yep that's my name, stop peeing on the new carriage lamp post.  I don't know what Lee is talking about because it is my pee pole.

Well we painted a Frosty pole out of the extra wood from what went in my pee pole.  Yep I helped I got white paint on a paw.  We decorated the porch so Santa can find my house ~ it is the one with the pee pole.

Well it is suppose to snow tomorrow and they just put down that beet juice stuff on our streets for the predicted one inch ~ JEEZ.
I got my sled out.

Thanks for being a friend

Traveling down the road and back again

Your heart is true and your a friend of mine 

Signing Off

Sweet William The Scot

Friends I Have Made Along The Way

If you are like me, Sweet William The Scot, you have made friends with people and their pets who are not bloggers but stop by with a comment and e-mail you.

People who care about our lives.  When we are down they e-mail us to cheer us, when we are sick they send us cards and they rejoice when things are going our way. 

Well here are a few of those I have had the delight in getting to know.

This is Pea.  Pea lives on the other side of the world and is moving to QLD.

Queensland will have acreage and a lattice enclosed verandah where Pea will be able to supervise all.  In the move Pea will be taking two planes.  Pea is sixteen years young.

Here is Gailen wearing his purple people eater costume for Halloween.  Gailen lives with his bro Bentley on the east coast.

Now Bentley is the communicator.  Why he has even tried to help us get our house sold.  He sent us a Saint Joseph Statue - Home Selling Kit.  

Always bury the statue upside down it said. The theory behind this request claims that Joseph will work harder to leave the ground when buried upside down so he can find a comfortable home in which to dwell.

• Some say that burying the statue sideways so that Joseph’s praying hands are pointing directly at your house helps direct potential buyers to your home.
• Or bury a St Joseph statue in the backyard of your home near a flowerbed, shrub or other natural growth to expedite selling your home.
• You can also choose to bury St. Joseph one feet underground (again, to make Joseph work harder to leave the ground and quickly find a nice home) next to your For Sale sign, even if it is in the front yard.
• Once your house is sold, dig up the St Joseph statue and give it a place of honor in your new home.

Well we think St Joseph expedited our flowers as our flower beds grew double.

We had an offer of $105,000 on the house without it being up for sale.

The couple had looked at the house next door and it did not pass housing inspection.  They were sad and Lee asked if they would like to see inside my house as I was thinking of selling if I could get a certain condo.  They were renting a house month to month and could stay where they were for awhile.

Lee took the offer contingent on us getting the condo in the development that was up for sale where two of our friends live.  They said they would take our offer but leave their condo in pending till my people got their loan in order (which was not going to be a problem ~ other than the bank had a backload of 45 days).

Well the condo got a higher offer, Lee countered but they came back again higher than Lee could go.

We hate realtors.

So the deal all went down the toilet  ~ I dug up St Joseph and now have Joseph sitting on the mantel. 

Yep it was bury dig him up, bury dig him up for awhile this Spring.

Next is Nessa who lives out in Nevada.  Nessa is eleven years old and is quite the gopher digger.  Yep she digs so much she has worn her Scottie beard off.  She is a dirty sock thief also.

Now Bella and I are out on the Halloween haunt for more great friends.

Thanks for being a friend

Traveling down the road and back again

Your heart is true and your a friend of mine

Signing Off

Sweet William The Scot

Catching Up

Well I, Sweet William The Scot, got to catch you up on what happened with the baby birds we acquired by buying a bird house at Lowe's and getting down the road only to find out the house was occupied with babies.  If you remember we tried to get the store to take them back with no luck.

Sitting on my new driveway and thinking this sure looks different.

The first one to fly off was Flappy just as Lee was taking this picture but sadly his life ended that day.  We had one of those sideways sheet rains and Lee saw him trying to make it back to the nest but by the time she got to him the rain had washed him down to the drain and he had taken in to much water.

We had two for the next several weeks.  Little, on the left, was always singing but sadly his singing stopped one hour before he died.  Lee had him in her hand he kept stretching like he had a tummy ache then he died.  He never got his fledgling feathers.

Now we had only Spikey.  We knew he was lonely so we kept him with us all the time.  If we went out on the porch he sat with us.  If I was looking out the door he was sitting with me looking out.  Well we had him for over a month then he flew away.

But he still comes back.  Some evenings when we are sitting on the porch he comes in and sits on the basket handle.  He has never gotten the ability to make a good landing.  He flies then runs as he lands sometimes running into things.  We don't see his species around here much.  We have noticed the hummingbirds have befriended him and he sits with them but cannot keep up with them flying.  We worry what he will do when winter comes.  He eats the seeds off of our cone plants we notice.  He never leaves for more than a day or two.

Spikey has followed us in the door a couple of times.  So when Lee saw a birdcage out for the garbage last week she stopped and put it in the car.  If he has a hard time he can stay with us this winter.

Our prayer for him is that he can find some of his kind who could teach him what he needs to know to survive and not be lonely.

But he will always have us.

Our tall Phlox had beautiful heads this year.

We had Petunias in pink, purple and blue this year that got really big and grew out of the bed.

Our  Elephant Ear (Colocasia) were just starting here.  They got to be over five feet tall.

Our Needle and Thread plants all had flowers, we would see Spikey sitting on them when they were in bloom.

Our Knock Out Roses really took off in the Spring.

We have lost over $100 in flowers in having a new cement driveway poured.

Will has had a hard Summer but seems to be improving.  The vet is of the thought his white spots and two stone hard lymph nodes and malaise could have been the result of an insect like a poison spider bite.

Thanks for being a friend

Traveling down the road and back again

Your heart is true and your a friend of mine

Signing Off

Sweet William The Scot