Thanks to you...

It was a terrific Christmas...thanks to you... Ever since we've started blogging, my humans & I have really learnt from our blogger friends. We've had the chance to see how each of you live, your experiences and culture. It's a great learning experience. But best of all, at least from my point of view (you'll see why in a jiffy), my humans have learnt how to cook for me. Hurray! As a Christmas treat, my humans roasted special meatballs for my dinner. Since they were cooking meatballs for their dinner, they set aside some minced meat for my doggie version. Theirs had ingredients like onions and garlic and seasoning, which supposedly aren't good for dogs.

Human version

You can pop by mama's blog for the simple baked meatball recipe.
Naked aka doggie version

So, I had the "naked" version with breadcrumb and egg. My special meatballs were served in a bed of fragrant Jasmine rice, sprinkled liberally with my Innova kibbles.

My regular meal time routine. Sit and wait until the go ahead is given...

First, there were three meatballs.

Then, there were two...

Burp...


What a terrific treat. And with that, we think that it's appropriate for us to share this wonderful award which we received from Dughallmor Beagles with eight of our pals.


The award, which was started in Portugal states that "This blog invests and believes the PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships!" In other clearer words, "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I really believe that blogs have brought us closer despite the distances that separate us. We have learnt so much from everyone. Thank you!

1. Amber Mae and her cool sistas from Malaysia - The champions of great food.
2. Lorenza from Mexico - The prettiest and sweetest Daschund we know.
3. Oorvi from India - Master philosopher and creator of cool doggie gadgets.
4. Ari- The Maine canine naturalist aka teacher
5. River from Georgia - who is blessed to belong to a wonderful human who loves and rescues dogs.
6. Happy from Malaysia - who really is a happy doggie and spreads happiness to all her friends.
7. Maggie & Mitch - the Conneticut brother and sister Airedales who are so well loved by everyone
8. Guiness & Shiloh from PA, the 2 big cuties!

I am I because my little dog loves me

From the desk of Kess' Mama:

It's the week of Christmas - what better time to share this quote with you.
"I am I because my little dog knows me"
Gertrude Stein

Note: Without realising it, I actually misquoted Gertrude earlier until Key West Collies pointed it out to me. Thanks Collies. I like my accidental version better too.
"I am I because my little dog loves me"
Eliza Ong

J & I came across this quote on a bench in Central Park, New York City when we were there in summer and couldn't resist taking this picture. All dog lovers can relate to this saying. Since Kess came into our lives 6 years ago, she has brought us such joy. We never fail to be amused by her idiosyncracies, laugh at her antics, sigh at her trail of destruction (only when we are away), and blessed by her unconditional love.

Kess - 4 months


Kess - 6 years


Blessed Christmas to our fellow dog lovers!

Dog logic

Mum received this in her email box a few weeks back. It's great logic so we thought that we'll share it with you. Enjoy!

The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue.
-Anonymous


There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.
-Ben Williams


A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
-Josh Billings


The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.
-Andy Rooney


Dogs love their friends & bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love & always have to mix love & hate.
-Anonymous


Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog.
-Franklin P. Jones


If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough exercise
-Unknown


If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
-Mark Twain


Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
-Roger Caras


If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then give him only two of them.
-Phil Pastoret

Early Christmas presents

The Christmas countdown continues with great cheer! I'm still receiving e-cards from our DWB friends. In contrast to my tons of cards, mum has only received one snail mail card (you can see who has more friends....) from her good pal, Ai. Of course, since Ai knows us well, she has also addressed the card to me since I am such an important family member! Thank you my dear Ai.

But it's not just cards that I've been receiving. I've been given two early Christmas presents in the form of these 2 special awards:




The above award came from Mona & the Mommy too. It is an honour for my blog to be considered a "Dog Blog Worth Begging For". Actually, I would have preferred if the doggie biscuit was edible...but hey, I'll just have to beg mum for the real thing. After all, I deserve it, don't you think?

And to continue the tradition, I would like to pass this award on to:
1. Thor
2. Boo Casonova
3. Agatha & Archie
4. Penny, Poppy & Patches




Next, my Scottish pals, Dughallmor Beagles have given an "I Love Your Blog" award to me. Christmas keeps getting better!

And this award goes out to:
1. King King
2. Cayman
3. Mino
4. Erin, Bubbles & Texas

These awards comes with a poem too (it seems we're on the roll with poem writing...)
To our blogger friends
We bestow this award
Your fabulous blogs
Deserves this reward

Christmas greetings

I have to say, the Dogs with Blogs Christmas Exchange Card has really spurred us to an early start to our Christmas preparation. The Christmas wreath is hanging on the door. Our table Christmas tree is up. Christmas presents are wrapped (the only present missing is mine). My humans have yet to go shopping for me - can you beat that?

We've started sending out our e-cards but have yet to keep pace with the rate of Christmas cards coming in, simply because we want to visit the blogs of our new friends, whom we've never met on-line before we reply. So, please be patient with us. Meanwhile, we also realise that some of our pals are not on the DWB card exchange program or for some who are, have opted for snail mail only. We've decided to post our Christmas card on our blog to wish all you a blessed Christmas.



And finally, a little Christmas poem we made up for all our friends:

It is Christmas time
Let's spread the cheer
We wish you all joy
and a blessed new year

With love,
Kess & Her Mama

Chrismas Mission Accomplished

Thanks to dad's photography prowess, mum's feeding techniques and my modelling skills,we have successfully completed our Christmas card mission over the weekend. My humans used 2 fool-proof techniques for dog photography:

1) Get the dog in a calm state by reducing excess energy. How? Easy...Walk the dog first
2) Use treats. For this session, I had beef bacon jerky...

Notice how both techniques are actually to my advantage? I trained them well :-)

Since outdoor photos work best, we did the photography session on our porch on a beautiful sunny evening. Out came the prop (i.e. mini Christmas tree) and the all important beef jerky treat. Dad is grateful for digital photography as he had to take tons of shots before getting the "perfect Christmas photo". After all, I can't make it too easy for them or they'll be wanting me to pose for all kinds of funny stuff all the time!

After selecting "the" shot, dad had to do some editing to get it "card-ready". We couldn't figure out how to add the fancy shmancy Christmas trimmings (would love to hear from the card experts on how to do this), so this year, you'll be getting the simple version. Mum is now in the process of emailing the cards out. She's decided to personalise the Christmas messages, so it'll take her some time to email it out. Apart from our existing pals, we've also decided that we'll be sending cards out to some "yet-to-meet" friends as well as visiting their blogs. After all, that's the whole point of the card exchange, right? So, look out for our Christmas card and our visit!

P.S. Last night, we witnessed an incredible phenomenon - A smiling moon (we kid you not!). Check out the picture on mum's blog.