Fireworks! Barbecues! Desserts! And ALL FOR ME?

It's my SEVENTH BIRTHDAY today and, of course, the WHOLE country is celebrating with me. This is a new photo of my in my BIRTHDAY DRESS. I actually got it a few years ago but it looks much better on me now that I have trimmed down to under 15 pounds.

I love my birthday. It is full of happy family times and great food. The weather is generally warm enough to stay outside until dark and make s'mores and bbq chicken. I get some of the latter but NEVER any of the former.

This year, though, something not so good has happened. It has been getting increasingly worse as the week wore on and last night it has reached a PEAK!!! It was awful with these big loud booms and accompanying crackles. I had no idea what it was all about. In the past, the booms have been LOUD but FAR AWAY and last night I felt they were in my BACK YARD.

I couldn't help but jump off the couch, BARK and pace about like a crazy pug. I WAS A CRAZY PUG because I was so unnerved. When Mommy let me outside to do my nightly bidness, she only did so when she thought the BOOMS had stopped. No sooner had she closed the door so Molly and I could do our THANG, when suddenly the BOOMS started up again. Oh they were so LOUD. And only two streets away. Mommy RAN outta the house because she was afraid I would FAINT. But no, I was standing at the fence BARKING at the sound and the resultant sparkly lights. I was a madPUG. Mommy called me to come in (Molly went right away because she was terrified) but I refused. Oh my! I was so scared. All I could think of was I needed to protect my Mommys from the loud noise and the sparkly flashes.

Finally through the din I heard a familiar word which brought me out of my DAZE - TREATS. I turned and there was Mommy holding the treat bag in her hand. I dashed to her, she lifted me up into her arms right when another big boom went off. She hugged me and told me I was safe while she fed me a treat.

Then she put this on me

A THUNDER SHIRT. . . No pug should have to endure a THUNDER SHIRT on the greatest day of the YEAR - my Birthday - but that is exactly what happened and is going to happen. If LAST NIGHT was bad and it WAS NOT the 4th of July, can you imagine what tonight will be?

This is all so new to us. We are used to firecrackers - don't blink and eye. We can handle the sight of sparklers and the occasional BOOM of cherry bombs. But those show quality fireworks were a new thing to our 'hood and not a welcome one. They are dangerous and they really make little critters like myself shake and cry and bark in distress.

I hope you all have a great Fourth of July and that you celebrate with family, friends and BBQ, like the holiday should be celebrated. And don't bring those big fireworks into the 'hoods because they scare little ones, including me. Save the big booms for the pros.

WHAT WAS THAT????

And I promise I will save a little birthday cake for all of you. I know it will be yummy, it usually is.

#ChewyInfluencer Thirty Day Challenge - In Summation

What's this?

"Dogs are carnivores and we believe they deserve to thrive on real minimally-processed food – the way nature intended. Because the closer foods stay to their natural state, the better they are. It’s what your dog would eat in the wild, only better, because all Stella & Chewy’s dinners are specifically formulated for your dog’s nutritional needs and made with premium ingredients you can count on."

Stella and Chewy's

When Chewy.com contacted me about doing a THIRTY DAY challenge, I said SURE. I love trying new things - especially if that NEW THING is a food. Plus, according to Mommy, this allows us to try elite foods that may not fit into our budget so well.

This month's challenge was to TRY and report back on Stella and Chewy's Chewy's Chicken Dinner Patties. This is part of their RAW line of foods which are FREEZE-DRIED rather than fresh. This food provides a PUG or other DOG all of the benefits of a raw diet but in a more convenient way to store it AND with a longer shelf life. This is a pretty important feature for today's BUSY families.

For me, the challenge is NOT to get me to eat the stuff. It is for Molly, though, as she is infinitely more picky-at-the-plate than I am. BUT I have tried the freeze-dried foods before and frankly I was NOT too thrilled with it. I always ended up licking the bowl and asking . . . no BEGGING for more as I was not sufficiently full. Well, I am happy to report that Stella and Chewy's Chicken Dinner Patties not only satisfied me once that bowl was LICKED completely clean, but it turned Molly into a rabid beggar. It is the whole truth and nothing but. . . Molly was insufferable. She would whine before the food was portioned out (DONE via individual patties)! She would dance around and YIP while the food was being reconstituted. She would run around barking while Mommy put the dishes down. And finally, she would stand and eat every last bite which she never does with other food (which causes me to LAND SHARK her plate and get in trouble). So for the taste side it is a WIN! On the heating the water- reconstituting the food- and the fact the patties crumbled in the bag forcing Mommy to determine how much a patty equals in patty-dust - NOT SO MUCH. It takes a long time to feed us at mealtime and sometimes she does not have that time. But she refrains from calling that a fail when it could be chalked up to her disorganized self.

But I think one of the MOST important determinations when trying a new food is whether or not the PET thrives on the food. What does it improve on our already PERFECT bodies? Inside and out, maybe. And this is what I want to discuss now. Stella and Chewy make some claims and I am going to discuss them one-by-one. DON'T LOG OFF! IT WON'T BE BORING, I PROMISE!

1. Improved appetite and digestion

I can honestly say this is true. As noted above, Molly became a food demon when the S&C bag was brought out. I have never in the 3+ years since Molly joined the family seen her acting like this about any food. She went KOOKOO for COCOPUFFS. As for digestion, it went down like it was supposed to and came out when it was supposed to so I call that a YEAH MAN!

1. Relief from certain allergies

Interesting note - I have been suffering from excessively waxy and occasionally smelly ears almost from day one. This has been true despite Mommy cleaning my orafices on a CONSTANT basis! But a couple of weeks ago Mommy could not perform her every-other-day ritual of cleaning on me and she was so worried I would develop some kind of infection. Well, when she finally settled down to do some hardcore ear cleaning, she found UNWAXY and CLEAN SMELLING ears. She asked everyone in the house if they had cleaned my heretofore mentioned things and they all said NO! Could the smelly ears and snout been from food allergies? I am not saying YES or NO but I think the evidence is pretty compelling. And this was not true before S&C.

1. A vibrant skin and coat

Hard to quantify since I already possess skin and coat of remarkable softness and luster. I have received a few more comments and compliments that usual, though, so it is possible that my ALREADY A-quality coat and skin is now an A+.

1. Healthy teeth and gums

Okay - we fail here. Where my skin and coat are great, my teeth SUCK. Molly's are worse and she just had more pulled. I don't think this has anything to do with the food just as it has nothing to do with brushing (yes, we suffer from that TOO). It is just a thing with us. SO I really cannot comment on this claim other than to say the food DID NOT make it any worse.

1. Greater stamina and vitality

I'm a pretty active PUG. Yes, I will sleep a lot at my Mommy's feet while she is working. . . but when I do go outside I am what my Grandma DeAnna used to call BUSY. I go here, I go there, I check out this, I check out that, I do not stop. . . kinda like this sentence. But I admit I FEEL GOOD and Molly says she almost feels like a puppy again. Could be the food.

1. A healthy immune system

I am NOT a dogter so I cannot be 100% sure of this. But I am not sick. Nor is Molly. And like I said about the ears. . . I think that might be an indicator of improved immune system as well.

All in all, I think Stella & Chewy's Chewy's Chicken Dinner Patties absolutely lives up to the claims of a good quality food which in turn greatly benefits those who eat it. And it is yummy. Even Sunshine the Cat enjoyed it on occasion. Since it is high protein and has no fillers, it is good for cats too. She had it as a topper, though, and not a full meal.

We want to thank Chewy.com for giving us the opportunity to try this food and let them and YOU know how we did on it. We are not paid for any of the opinions we express in this post. Or on any other post on this blog. All Opinions are PROUDLY ours, We did get free of charge enough Stella & Chewy's Chicken Dinner Patties to last 30 days so we could write this song. . .uh . . . review for you.

Then end of the story

We LOVE LOVE LOVES - a photo essay by Noodles the Pug

Thank you Ms. Sydney and all of Chewy.com

This is Wednesday - Don't Forget to HOP

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It's So Fruity. . .

Do you see the apricots on the ground? Yummmmmm.

Our yard is THE smorgasbord of Summer. We have all kinds of good eats growing and ripening - so many I only have time to mention a few.

You already know about my obsession with APRICOTS. I dearly love those so much that I get very naughty and refuse to come inside. EVEN when the sun comes down. As a result, the powers that be; i.e. the Mommys, put a fence across that portion of the yard. No more lounging in the sticker weeds eating 'cots. I MISS them so much. Mommy does occasionally pick some to share. Well - she did. It was so hot in the beginning of June that the apricots ripened A WHOLE MONTH early. Maybe more. Mommy #2 recalls apricots not coming in until July and lasting until August. So, I ask, what happened?

Could it be G----- W------?

Next up is our APPLE tree. As you can see in the photos, our apples are quickly approaching picking time. It will likely be late July or early August before they lose all bitterness and become the super sweet CRISP apples we love. I might add, this tree is normally a FALL fruit bearing one. That means these apples are running about 6 weeks early. Again, I blame the warm weather.

Nonetheless, the fruit is large and firm and a lot better looking than they have been over the last two DROUGHT years. We had a lot of rain this year - not enough to erase FOUR years of drought, but enough to make the yards and trees happier than they have been in a long time.

I loves loves loves APPLES. I go outside and just sit in the shade of the tree. The heavy branch you see is just above my head and is just about PICKABLE for me. That's because of the weight of the fruit. Auntie T says she is going to have to put a pole under the branch to raise it. As it is right now, the fruit is getting so heavy the branch is in danger of breaking before the fruit reaches complete ripeness. I won't mind the branch being lifted out of my reach as long as SOMEONE shares those ripe apples with me.

The citrus is not anywhere near ripe - nor is the pineapples. Funny thing about the pineapples - they were sprouted from STORE BOUGHT eatin' pineapples. Aunts B and T set some in water to sprout roots and once they did planted them. It has been years now and a couple of them have little 2 inch pineapples on them. Adorable! I loves loves loves pineapple too so I cannot wait for them to ripen.

Last but not least are the STRAWBERRIES, If you look closely at the above picture you will see some SMALL green berries. They take about a week and a half from this point to ripen. That is when I reach over the side of the planter and NIBBLE them, Pure HEAVEN.

This year we had some blue berries as well. That viney thing on the left side of the strawberry plants is the blueberry bush. It is young yet but shows a lot of promise. I would bet I PUGSONALLY harvested 10 blueberries myself. That is a tasty start.

We have some tomatoes and bell peppers in planter on the patio. They are still small and green - but once they hint of red, I will be checking those out as well.

I am the PRINCESS of our GARDEN harvest. What are you ROYALTY of?

Taking a Nap in Honor of Bailey

I am taking a nap in memory of our sweet FURiend Bailey who has crossed the Bridge. Thank you Christmas for sponsoring this great way to honor and remember Bailey. . .

Run Free Bailey

Whatcha Say?

I went outside yesterday to. . . you know. It was a lovely day as the heat kinda went away and there was the luscious ocean breeze keeping it REAL NICE. So I wandered here and there, sat for a while in the glorious sunlight, and sniffed around the garden.

I found some treasures - strawberries newly ripened and just waiting for me to discover them. Apples still small and mostly not ripe but still edible - and low enough for me to snag. And don't tell Mommy but there are some apricots that fell just outside of her fence that I have been nibbling on. Finally I gotta tell you that the tomatoes are beginning to ripen as well.

So I had a lot to occupy me time outside. I wasn't aware that someone was calling me to come in NOR that I had a time limit. Next thing I KNOW, Molly comes out cackling something about being in trouble for not listening and better get my booty inside if I know what's good for me.

HUH????

A Tale Without Words . . . and a Blog Hop

HOP HERE

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