We're Baaaacccckkkkk ....

I owe a huge thank you to the Google technical support team for restoring our blog!   Two weeks ago, in the process of changing my Email address, I accidentally deleted my Google account .... and this blog went with it .... disappearing far into Cyberspace somewhere.     CorgiTales is not a blog that makes any profound contribution to society, but I've had a lot of fun with it and we do have followers ... so I was pretty devastated at the thought of losing it.   Realizing that I was a mighty small goldfish in a HUGE ocean, I started posting requests for help on every site I could find, without a whole lot of hope that I'd get any.   But several days ago, I received a message that our blog had been restored!!!    Yeah!!!    The only problem is that my photos were not restored .... so gradually, over the coming weeks and months, I will upload those again.  I figure if I do a couple of posts a day, it shouldn't be too painful.   I learned a couple of important lessons .... 1) back up your posts in a Word document and 2) don't start deleting things when you really don't know what you're doing!!!    (I think I have learned that lesson before .... why didn't I remember it?!)   So anyway, we're BACK!    And CorgiTales, by the way, originated as the name of our scrapbooks ... now on Volume Six ... and counting!!  

Drifting Along ....

It's mid-February and the main topic of conversation these days is spring flooding. Again. This year. It's getting really old. We have more snow than we did last year at this time, and it has a higher moisture content than last year's. And, just like last year, there is more snow south of us - snow that eventually melts and runs north. Crazy river. Many people still have battle fatigue from last year ... so the thought of going through it all again is hard to take. I broke down and spent my vacation budget on flood insurance. It was just too close last year. The big unknowns yet are how much precipitation we'll receive in March and April, and how fast the snow melts. A slow melt is what we're hoping for.

The long winter starts to take a toll on everyone about now; including the girls. They've been fighting more the past few weeks, and I'm not sure what that's about. It may be that they haven't been getting enough exercise. We've been getting out with the snow shoes on weekends, but I've turned into a wimp on weeknights. I get home from work and just want to hibernate for the rest of the night ... especially now with the Olympics going on! I tell myself that the girls are 9-1/2 and almost 11 now and they don't need as much exercise! But they've put on a couple of extra pounds, and we all sleep better if we get out for at least a short walk in the evening. Their leads are buried somewhere deep in the snow, so I let them run unleashed in our neighborhood. They're usually pretty good about staying close to home, but they do like to wander down the block to a house rented by college students where they know they're likely to find left over pizza and other tasty delights. One night last week I let them out to go potty about 11:00. When Dee Dee didn't come right back, I called for her, and she barked - from my neighbor's yard. There is a fence between us, but the drift in my yard is so high that she was able to walk right up and over it. Getting back wasn't so easy. I had to put my boots and coat on over my pajamas and sneak into my neighbor's yard to rescue her. I wasn't too happy with her that night - nor the next day when Princess did the same thing! The drifts are like concrete. I cracked my bumper on one at the end of the driveway (grrrr ...) and the girls have cut a track through the back yard on top of the snow. It's kind of funny because, looking out the back door, you'd never know we had a deck! It's just one giant snow drift that covers everything. Yes, we are longing for spring .... we just don't want it to come all at once!

Cute, butt .....

I don't know if it's because they have no tails, or because they are so low to the ground, but corgis have the cutest little butts! Many times we have been out for a walk, and someone has come up from behind us and commented on this! Of course with two of them walking together, side by side, they are especially fun to watch. Dee Dee has wide hips (can anyone relate?) and when she lies down to relax or munch on a chew stick, her short little legs fan out to the side as in this picture. I call it the 'flying squirrel' pose because of how her legs are spread. Princess, on the other hand, finds it more comfortable to keep her legs close together, and lie with one of them tucked up under the other. I suspect that is the position she was in before birth, crowded in Babe's belly with the other puppies. Dee Dee is longer and has much bigger bones - and when you look at her from behind, you see how sturdy those back legs are. Princess has narrow hips and thinner, more fragile looking back legs. My brother says she looks like a woman walking on high heels.

A couple of weeks ago we were visiting a friend who lives in a third floor apartment with a walk-out balcony. It was too cold to go out there, but the girls loved watching the action in the parking lot through the sliding glass doors. My house doesn't have any windows that are low enough for them to look out, so it's always a big treat when we go somewhere that does. They can be entertained for hours, watching for rabbits, squirrels or other critters.

Happy New Year! Brrrrrr .....

Happy New Year to everyone! It's hard to believe it was 10 years ago that we were consumed with Y2K, and holding our breath to see if there was a massive computer crash, power grid failure etc. at the turn of the millenium. It's also hard to believe that 10 years ago, I didn't even know what a 'corgi' was!!!! I got Princess in October, 2000 - and my life changed forever. 

It is COLD. REALLY cold!! Minus 33 degrees F this morning, with a wind chill that is minus 60! The girls tolerate cold weather quite well, but they went potty pretty fast this morning! I get such a chuckle out of Princess. She stands on three legs - alternating the leg that is raised - presumably to warm it up! Smart girl!

We are taking care of our neighbor, Sadie, today. Sadie and Princess are the same age, and they've been pals since the beginning. When they were young, they used to chase and chase and chase around the garage and through our yards. Now that they're old ladies, they just enjoy hanging out together. Dee Dee adores Sadie. I mean, really adores her. Occasionally she gives Sadie some 'lip' but most of the time she gets under her head and gives her lots and lots of kisses; then rolls over in an act of total respect and submission. It's so interesting, because she doesn't do that with any other dog; certainly not with Princess. Sadie is much bigger, of course, but she's really the most mellow of the three of them, which has been a good thing because she could take care of Dee Dee in short order, if she wanted to. But they are all great pals.

Christmas Snowstorm

It's been many, many years since the Midwest has had a major snowstorm on Christmas Day. There are a couple of aspects of this one that are headed for the record books .... 18 inches and counting, and the duration of the storm: 3 days, if you count the 5 inches we received Thursday night. We had a little reprieve yesterday for a few hours and then it wound up again, dumped another foot of snow and brought a lot of wind with it. Plans were changed and, unless you got out of town Thursday night or early Friday, you ended up staying home. The girls and I slept late this morning (soooo nice .... had the radio on, listening to Christmas music in the background), and I spent the day finishing up my cards and blowing snow. My snowblower isn't very big so you have to stay ahead of the drifts. I'm usually at work, so don't have the opportunity to do that, but this time I did and I'm so proud of myself. I was dug out before any of my neighbors (for once!) and even was able to help with my neighbor's driveway, since he DID have to work ... a 12 hour shift, no less.

The girls think the snow is just great, and they had a lot of fun playing with Sadie, their pal next door. Running through deep, heavy snow with legs that are 5 inches long is a lot of work, and they are getting older .... so they came inside and went right to sleep. Merry Christmas girls!

Reluctant Reindeer Christmas Photo Shoot

It is nearly the middle of December, and I have never gotten such a late start on my Christmas cards. Sending and receiving Christmas letters from family and friends is one of the best parts of the holiday season for me. Since I grew up in five different states, and have lived several different places as an adult, I have quite a few friends who I hear from only at Christmas. Facebook has been a new point of connection with old friends, but I still enjoy reading the comprehesive Christmas letters .... and I'm dismayed that the trend is moving to shorter and shorter letters; sometimes only a paragraph! No! I protest!

This is the way they're supposed to be worn, aren't they?                                          

Usually my cards are made by the end of October, my letter is written the day after Thanksgiving and they are in the mail the first week of December. Not this year! I had company over Thanksgiving (great fun!) and December has been consumed with baking for three different cookie exchanges, hosting a graduation open house for a friend and a year end fundraiser at work. Suddenly I find it is mid-December, and I'm almost in a panic! The letter is yet unwritten, and I don't have a single card made! I don't even have my tree up yet. Last night I decided that 'this was it' .... do or die ... so we went over to my friend Sandy's to have our picture taken in front of their tree! And my usually very cooperative and photogenic girls decided to be stinkers. Maybe they were picking up on my sense of urgency .... who knows? Whatever the case, we could not get them to look at the camera ... let alone 'smile'. And, just as I knew she would, Dee Dee finally 'had enough' and started to snarl at Princess .... at which time Princess closed her eyes and arched her neck as faaarrrr away from Dee Dee as she could ... and the photo shoot was over! But, just like with kids, sometimes the funny, candid shots tell the best story - and I think that will be the case with us this year!

Fright Night

Halloween isn't exactly the most favorite of days for Princess and Dee Dee. It ranks up there with the Fourth of July. Even the cute little toddlers who come dressed up as puppy dogs or clowns are scary looking to the girls. The other day I left them in the car while I ran into a grocery store. There was a display of ghosts and goblins just across the street, and when I came out of the store, the girls were looking out the back window, barking furiously. We can be walking in the neighborhood, and suddenly they will stop - dead in their tracks - suspiciously eyeing someones' lawn decorations. 

October isn't their favorite month for several reasons; Halloween just being one of them. It's also the month we go to the vet for their annual checkups. When Dee Dee recognizes the clinic, she refuses to get out of the car and wants me to hold her when we get inside. Princess puts on a much braver face, but her quivering back legs give her away. They were both pronounced 'in excellent health' for their ages. No cataracts (common in dogs of their age) and I was complimented on the condition of their teeth. Dee Dee's weight has been right at the 28.5-28.8 mark for years, but Princess - who has a much smaller build - has now dropped to 25.6 lbs - which makes her look and feel so much better. We love the staff of the Casselton Veterinary Clinic ... they are the best!!

October also took us to Michigan to see family, with a stop in Eastern Iowa to see friends. The weather in Michigan was the same as what I left behind in Minnesota - cold and wet!! Nonetheless, we did work in a trip to the beach one day, and the dogs had a great time. Dee Dee picks on her brother mercilessly, so she has to wear a muzzle when she's around him. She really doesn't mind it all that much. I think it makes her feel more secure, and it keeps Elvis safe - and my blood pressure from rising! The weather this month has been absolutely miserable, with several days of snow (thankfully, it has all melted), but the sun is out today and hopefully that bodes well for November. My leaves still have not been raked .... that is on the 'to do' list for tomorrow!