She's Home!

My Mom came home today! Hooorraaaayyyy!

Dad got into the wheeled rolling room, told me he'd be back soon, and then, suddenly, there she was! I'm so happy.

She's already played with me and brushed me and hugged me and brought me treats and everything! And then we went to the place with the fields and we met Riley and his Mom and I had all my favourite people (four-leggers and two-leggers) together again. So fantastic.

I can't tell you how happy I am.

And here I am wasting some of that time writing this blog when I could be helping my Mom unpack!

Excitement Builds

I think my Mom is coming home soon. I don't know why but I can just smell it in the air. Dad is cleaning our house and doing laundry, which seems like a pretty fair indication she's on her way.

I'm very excited. I've had a very nice time with Dad alone and he has tried very hard to play with me and go for walks and stuff. He certainly has made sure we've had good food together. But, as nice as he's been, he's not my Mom. She hugs me more and brushes me more and likes to sit with my head on her lap.

As I said, this is no knock on my Dad. He's pretty great. But Mom's great and different. And life can't be better than when they're both home with me, can it?

So I'm tingling with excitement!

Ice Bergs

Mactaquac is a long way away. It takes many breaths in the wheeled rolling room to get there. Sometimes, it's too far. Sometimes I have to make sweet smelling brown logs so badly that I can't hold it until we get all the way to Mactaquac.

Fortunately, today was NOT one of those days. With the ball of fire smiling down on us and the air warm and dry, Dad and I got into our wheeled rolling room and drove all the way out to Mactaquac. We'd already been to the place with the fields this morning so this was a bonus for me and for Dad.

Marlee on the Mactaquac tail of land
It was so beautiful. The ball of fire felt so nice on my coat and the ground underfoot was soft but not mucky. Perfect. Dad says pretty soon the grass will be green again but for now it's a nice wheat colour, like me.

I love going to Mactaquac. It's beautiful and fun and quiet and perfect for playing ball with my Dad.

It seems like forever since we've gone out there and played on the tail of land surrounded by water. But today was the day! Finally.

We brought two of my orange balls and the long rope in case Dad tried to run away. And sunshine and cool breezes and blue skies.

Once again, I helped Dad practice throwing the orange balls: he'd throw them as far as he could and I would go running back and forth across the tail of land, bringing them back to him so he could throw them again. And every time I got hot (and this is what makes Mactaquac the BEST place in the world) I just had to jump down a short hill and into the water. It's so great. I cool off, shake myself a bit, then it's back to helping Dad with his throwing practice.

Marlee with the ice at Mactaquac
The only difference today was, some of the water was SOLID. It was bright, white and solid. Like snow, really. I tried to stand on it once but it bounced and I had to step off into the water to avoid falling over. Dad says the solid water is called an "ice berg". It's like those two leggers have a different word for everything!

So I swam in and among the ice bergs, drank the water and cooled off each time before having another go at the old orange balls. It's great to be back at Mactaquac, even if I have to share it with the ice bergs.

Slowing Things Down

The ball of fire is back and swimming in its sea of blue. I'm not cold anymore when I go outside and even some of the slimy muck is starting to go away, replaced by soft green carpets and dry, friendly earth.

Dad seems more relaxed these days and he's not always coming at me with a swath of material, rubbing away the wet. I'm not getting as dirty either when I take him out for a walk or a run. Everything just seems to be slowing down a bit.

I still don't know where my Mom is. We've been through a lot of darknesses since I last saw her and she still hasn't come home. She's nowhere in the house; I can swear to that. I've searched every nook and cranny for her or even a trace of her. I can still smell her around the place but I can't find her.

I hope she comes home soon. It's just too lovely around here lately for her not to enjoy it with us!

So Much for the Grooming!

I'm glad he didn't have the camera with him. That's all I can say.

I'm so glad my Dad didn't have his camera with him yesterday when we went for a run with Riley and his Mom in the place with the fields. If he had, you would now be looking at a photograph of two very dirty doodles. Not just average dirty. Filthy dirty.

You see, the wet in the air is finally letting up but the muck on the ground is only getting worse. And, since I hadn't seen and played with Riley Roo in several days, I was very excited to see him and he was just as excited to be out in the fields with me. So we went a little crazy. Running and rolling and fighting and pawing and panting. Such fun. And of course we had to have most of our fun in the field with the least amount of green and the most amount of oozy, squelchy brown.

Marlee on the groomer's table
We were covered in it. We became two brown four-leggers, rather than sporting our usual wheat-coloured fur. Riley's Mom and my Dad asked us to go and lie down in a huge pool of water to clean off before we got in our wheeled rolling rooms and it helped a bit. But wow were we ever filthy!

And just two days after my friend Nicole had done such a beautiful job of cleaning me up and making me look pretty! Dad says my Mom will be coming back in a couple of days and that she'll be very sad she didn't get to see me all clean.

The way I see it, clean Marlee is not the real Marlee. The real Marlee is the one that was playing in the muck yesterday and my Mom loves the real Marlee most.