Lacey Doodle's Doodle Dog Blog

Catchup blog

2009-09-07T15:58:00.002-04:00

Today is my birthday. I turned two today and Mike got me a bully stick and Meredith gave me a bone in honor of my special day. But I'll tell you more about that later. First, I'd like to apologize for the long hiatus of not posting. Since I feel I should make it up to you I'm going to 'catch you up' on the goings on in my life for the past 6 months in the form of haiku.
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------

My backyard has grass
I like to run in circles
oops-- dug a hole

----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------

I am a big dog
The neighbor is a small dog
Mike won't let us play.
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------

My hypothesis:
Meredith's belly is so big
Therefore..... puppies!
----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------

Katie came to visit
We drove to get the new couch
In a refrigerated truck.

----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------

Kathy cleaned the house
Chris cooked mouth watering meals
what the.... a baby!?!?

----------------------------------------
----------------------------------------

Finding ingredients in the Netherlands

2009-02-01T12:32:00.003-05:00

The Dutch like to bake from mixes. Not so much from scratch. Therefore, finding ingredients like good quality flour for cookies can be a bit of a challenge. Sugar isn't as much of a problem because the Dutch love any coffee accoutrement, so there are many kinds of sugar at our local AH grocery store. Powdered sugar, however, is another story entirely. And forget about finding chocolate chips here!

Meredith and I checked out Eindhoven's Genneper Parken watermolen (water mill) to see what they had for baking. They claim to have over 400 kinds of flour! Well... not exactly. They've got 2 kinds of plain white flour: cookie flour (zeeuwse bloem) and bread flour (wit brood bloem). Many other kinds of flour blends exist like donker volkoren (I think this is a whole wheat flour blend) and mais bloem (corn flour- NOT corn meal). Most of the 'flours' are for baking a certain thing like cherry bread or peach bread. Of course you have to add the cherries or peaches!

The bunch of stuff we came home with:

Well, not the bag of Hershey's chocolate chips of course- they are only there for comparison's sake- we did find chocolate chips but they are the mini kind- "Bakvaste Chocoladedrupples". The good news is they are made from Callebaut chocolate (the best chocolate- not that I've tried it- doodle dogs are not allowed) the bad news is that little bag was 4.95 euros (about $7.00!).

And we found "Poeder suiker" which is real powdered sugar- not the bizarre flaky stuff they sell at AH (the tube container in the upper right corner of the photo above) that blows away when you breathe on it. We also found real rolled oats! Havermout is the Dutch word for oats, but the AH version is more like the quaker quick oats you find in the states.

Dutch Cake Event

2009-01-23T11:56:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend Meredith and Mike went to the Dutch Cake Event. It entertained Meredith to no end. The event had vendors and a contest and a cute cafe for snacking in between. Most interestingly, the contest was for the appearance of the cakes. Each cake entered in the contest was not really a cake. No- it was a bunch of cardboard or foam decorated with fondant or gum paste or frosting or whatever. The entrants had to also submit a tiny real cake for the judges to taste- just to make sure they actually know how to bake a cake, we presume. The theme for this year was "music" so all the cakes reflect that in some way, although they could be in one of three categories: formed cake, tiered cake, or flowers.

As I'm only a dog I really don't know if this is normal for these sorts of contests or not. Meredith loves to bake and was attending to scope out the contest for next year. I'm not sure if she'll enter a card-board cake or not- it might be against her moral values.

Here is the grand prize winner:

And the goodies they gave each person attending:

It was 10 euros to get in. I didn't get to go because dogs weren't allowed.

Ice Ice Baby

2009-01-19T11:50:00.001-05:00

Mike took me over to the pond to see if the ice has completely melted yet. It hasn't. He made me walk on it. I probably look more nervous than I need to be as the depth of the water here was only about 2 inches.

My conclusion is that the solid form of water is better than the liquid form. But only marginally so.

Whenever you need a little break, rest your head on a chair.

2009-01-15T11:06:00.000-05:00

Snow week!

2009-01-09T10:21:00.001-05:00

We got snow again! All the Dutch people here are astounded. They are not used to snow at all; in fact Mike and Meredith's Dutch language class on Monday (the day the snow arrived) was canceled because the teacher could not drive out of her street! Plows are few and far between around here. Of course being from upstate NY, M&M didn't think much of driving in the snow but people here are petrified...

We had a ball in the field near our house. Snow is my favorite thing, ever, so I was in full doodle-looping mode. The horses on the other side of the river even thought it was fun to race me back and forth along the river!

Of course I had plenty of snow cookies on my feet when I was finished. It was tough to get them all off once we went inside. I spent a long time eating the bigger ones. Yum.

What was interesting is that this entire week the snow has stuck around. Normally it melts within a day or so. We are so lucky!

That war last night

2009-01-01T15:08:00.003-05:00

New Years Eve in Holland = Firework Display Extravaganza

Last night was really interesting. We all went over to one of Mike's colleague's house for drinks and food (and a little bit of one-year-old baby licking by me!) and fun. While we were there, I heard and saw fireworks out the front window occasionally. We came home before midnight and around 11:50pm the craziness really began. Meredith and Mike decided that I could sleep upstairs in their room because of all the loud booming sounds coming from our neighbors. I really wasn't scared at all, but it sure was nice to be able to see the color changing sky out the window for about 30 minutes or so. Right at midnight I swear it was as if a war was going on out there! We all watched in amazement as the entire sky was pink, yellow, blue, orange in every direction! Impressive!
Today I've been investigating the remnants of last night.

Don't worry, these were already boomified.

Yep, this is the street right outside our house. Crazy, huh!

Who cleans up all this mess?

We wish you a fuzzy Christmas

2008-12-25T20:59:00.001-05:00

To me Christmas means:
Trees... indoors!!
the amazing smell of turkey wafting from the oven
guests! lots of fun people to play with
extra long walks with the guests
snuggle time
presents!

Let's talk about the presents. Okay, I admit, I had a Christmas wish-list. It included a new collar, a bunch of bully sticks and a new ball.
Here I am opening up my first gift:

Don't you know it?! It was a collar!

Next, I looked through lots of other bags, but none of these was for me.

I did get the bully sticks!

And the new ball I was hoping for? Well... I had to share it, but I didn't mind a bit.

Boy, was I a lucky doodle!
Merry Christmas, every one!

Christmas Tree!

2008-12-08T16:08:00.002-05:00

We got our Christmas Tree last weekend and it is finally decorated!

It was challenging because the Dutch normally wait until after Sinter Klaas (Dec 6th) to get their Christmas trees. Even though it was difficult, Mike didn't give up the search and managed to find one at a garden store. It had a root ball, but it was no problem to chop that off before bringing it home.

Mmmmm. Now it smells like Christmas!

IKEA Weekend

2008-12-07T15:58:00.002-05:00

Mike and Meredith brought home lots of boxes yesterday.

Our new car was full to the brim!

Today I had to supervise Mike putting everything together.

It was exhausting, but at least now there is furniture in our living room.

Moving Day

2008-11-28T20:32:00.001-05:00

We've moved!

Today all our stuff arrived from the US of A. It was delivered to our house we'll be renting in Aalst. I had to stay in my crate all morning at the old apartment while the big move happened. It was for the best as I would have been a bit underfoot.

They got the mattress and box-springs through the upstairs window!

All the mover guys drank lots of coffee during the move. The Dutch love their coffee.

It smells like home now.

Amsterdam

2008-11-24T16:21:00.002-05:00

Holy bunnies, I'm exhausted today. We had quite an adventure yesterday! First, we rode the train for a long time.

And we had to switch trains a lot. Meredith and Mike were amazed at the delays because they said it should have taken us 1 hour and 20 minutes to get here and instead it was almost 3 hours.

Once we arrived, we had a lot of fun with friends Lori, Brett, and my new friend, Holly.
We went to a dog park!

And it snowed there, too!!!
And Holly and I both got really dirty:

Holly knows how to come when she is called. I don't care to do such things. I'd rather run around until I'm good and tired. Only then will I decide to come.

We didn't see much of Amsterdam because we were a bit worried about getting home with the trains being all messed up. Unfortunately it took us another 3 hours to get home, and several trains, too. It was so cold on the platforms we were all snuggled together trying to keep warm. Once we got back to the apartment, Mike and I played in the snow.

Eindhoven got 3 inches of snow! I guess that's quite a big deal here!!

Hair cut again

2008-11-23T17:18:00.000-05:00

Gah.

At least I get a treat in exchange for the torture:

Announcing: OUR FIRST SNOW FALL this season!

2008-11-23T15:34:00.001-05:00

Oh my bunnies! It snowed here! Can you believe it?! It doesn't happen very often, so when it does, golly... we enjoy it.

We do whatever it takes to have fun in the snow:
For example, here I am goin' a little bit nutty:

And fetching snowballs:

New Car!

2008-11-22T15:15:00.000-05:00

Meredith and Mike were so excited because they bought a new (used) car last night. I guess it is going to be ready in about a week.

Doesn't it look like fun? I can't wait to ride in the back seat!

GLOW

2008-11-14T15:27:00.002-05:00

We went to GLOW in Eindhoven together. On the way we ate at a Greek restaurant that was very nice to me. They gave me water with a little bit of parsley on the side as a garnish. How sophisticated!
Here I am under the table:

We enjoyed GLOW a lot. The following videos are of various bits of the GLOW. First, you see me window shopping:

Next, you can see a couple of the fancy lighting displays:

This one was neat because they projected a moving scene onto the building. The portion in the video is supposed to be constellations, I think.

The Bark Theater

2008-11-14T15:07:00.003-05:00

Here I am in front of the Bark Theater, one of my favorite places. I'm sure it's called that because they have lots of dogs around there.

As you can probably tell, I'm working on my expressive look. Meredith is the actor in the family but I believe I could do it too. Watch me bite the leash and jump:

Can you tell I'd be great on stage?

Beautiful Day

2008-11-13T16:18:00.001-05:00

We went for a walk in the park today. It was a gorgeous fall day with the sun shining through the trees. Everything seemed possible.

Meredith and Mike are so happy they finally found a house to rent. It will not be close to this particular park, but will be close to fields and woods and other fun places for me to romp. Although I'll miss it here, I am sure we'll all be much happier in a house with a yard!

Ridiculous.

2008-11-12T14:12:00.001-05:00

So I need a hair cut... is this really necessary?

Argh. How embarrassing.

Goldendoodles in the news

2008-11-09T15:27:00.001-05:00

Recently in the U.S. of A. the people there elected a new president. Meredith and Mike were listening to Obama's acceptance speech and I distinctly heard mention of a presidential dog. I fully support the idea of a dog having a prominent position in the government of America. Consider the attitude of a typical dog... when I meet another dog I have one question: Will you play with me? If the answer is yes, we play. If no, we don't play. If only people could be that straightforward and considerate of each other's needs. Think about it. The US says to China, "Do you want to play?" and China says, "Yes." All is good in the world.

But back to the goldendoodle dog news: It turns out that President-Elect Obama is interested (perhaps) in a goldendoodle dog. An article in the The Boston Globe is even titled,
"Goldendoodle talked up as First Dog"
The picture shown in the article is of three goldendoodles, two brown and one dark brown... from behind. While I would recommend such a pose from one dog to another, I am going to guess the people reading that article would have preferred to see the dog's faces.

The article goes on to have some "important" dog person quoted as saying that goldendoodles are not a recognized breed but rather a "mutt". Well, no matter what you call us, we certainly are special. And if the president decides to make one of us a first dog, well, worse things could happen.

Bunnies! Bunnies! Bunnies!

2008-11-07T12:10:00.002-05:00

Did you know they sell bunnies at the pet store here? I’ve seen bunnies from Don and Marty’s condo balcony in the yard below, but never up close and personal before. This was my lucky day. Ohhhhh so lucky.

When we arrived, I noticed the bunnies right away!

Aren’t they amazing? Check out this video- they even act like they might be my friends!

Bunnies!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a biking dog!

2008-11-06T11:45:00.001-05:00

Mike and Meredith decided to try again to get me to bike properly this past weekend. They were heading to a friend’s house on Sunday so they wanted to make sure I had plenty of exercise before they left me for the day. We started out “normal” (or at least how I’ve biked before):

Meredith then brought out the cheese. I do love cheese. It is almost my favorite food, ever. I say almost because yogurt is probably my favorite, but much harder to use as a reward unless I’m indoors. I can’t imagine Meredith busting out yogurt from her pocket for me on a walk in the park.

The training happened next. Mike biked reallllly slowly while holding my leash, Meredith walked reallllly fast next to us and I ate cheese between them, instead of biting the leash. We did this over and over again and then she said to Mike- go for it- and off we went. Check it out!

Meredith and Mike are so proud of me! I’m a smart doodle-dog!

Sick means no walks

2008-11-05T10:27:00.001-05:00

Since Meredith is sick this week I've had Mike walking me in the morning and evening. No daytime walks at all. What a drag. At least I found a way to entertain myself with a rock.

I do love rocks. They are so.... rocky.

How long?

2008-11-03T21:21:00.000-05:00

Meredith had to run errands this afternoon and I was stuck in my crate for a long time. When she came back, her hands were full of AH groceries and she was coughing and sounded really sick. We had a brief conversation about the fact that it was high time I went outside for a walk.

M: Listen, Lacey, I don’t feel very well (cough cough) and I need you to wait until Mike gets home from work; he’ll let you out.

L: When is Mike getting home?

M: Well, I don’t know but I just tried to call him at work and there was no answer so he’s probably already left and will be here in less than 15 minutes. Can you wait?

L: I suppose I can wait.

-20 minutes go by-
-Phone rings-

M: Lacey, that was Mike on the phone and I was mistaken- he is just leaving work now and so it will be another 15 minutes. Sorry about that. Can you wait?

L: (legs crossed) I guess so. But I’m really not happy about it.

M: Sorry, I just don’t feel good right now. Please be patient.

L: Okay. (eats dinner, plays with bone, looks out the window)

-30 minutes go by-

L: If you don’t let me out right now, I’m seriously going to pee on your foot.

M: Alright! I’ll let you out. But we have to compromise. I can’t take you for a walk. You’ll have to just do your stuff right in the parking lot on the leaves.

L: I don’t care! Let me out!

Don’t worry, no feet were peed on tonight. She let me out, I went in the parking lot, and we went back inside. I couldn’t believe how long it was taking Mike to get home. Twenty minutes later he walked in the door. “What happened? Are you okay?,” asked Meredith.
“My bike broke.”

From what I could understand Mike decided to pump up a low tire on his bike but ended up taking the tire apart and losing a piece of it. Bummer! So he rode the bus home. But everything turned out okay because he took me for a nice run-walk and I got to bite the leash!

Just when you thought Halloween was over...

2008-11-01T13:37:00.003-04:00

I had a marvelous day-after-Halloween. Check me out! Check out my fabulous muuuud! I bet you are wondering how on earth I managed to accomplish this. In order to create this custom muuud-look several important steps must be followed. First, you need to start with a rainy morning. Next, find another dog to play with who slams you onto the ground. Preferably wet, soft muddy ground. Thirdly, run around with this dog until your paws are fully soaked. Here, let me demonstrate:

Now find a big pile of leaves to swim in.

Check out the final product:

And Mike’s initial reaction:

Mike’s secondary reaction:

Dang. Guess I’m back to my old self again.

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T05:02:00.004-04:00

Halloween is Meredith's favorite holiday. As a tribute to this day I agreed to try on all her costumes before they went into storage.

Here are a few examples:

Click here for the whole show!

She has a lot of costumes. Seriously. I had to be very patient and wait for my treat. Mmmmmm... yogurt reward for Halloween costume trying-on. Nothing beats that.

MUST. FIND. HOUSE.

2008-10-30T21:16:00.000-04:00

We need a place to live! Our stuff is coming on the boat very soon!

Only one place has been seen this week. Argh. I’m feeling Meredith and Mike’s stress about finding a house so I bit my kong in half. Bet you thought that wasn’t possible, huh.

With a doodle-dog, anything is possible.

Let's stay in tonight!

2008-10-29T20:11:00.000-04:00

Mike and Meredith have been staying in for dinner almost every night since we arrived at this temporary apartment. Therefore, I’d like to take this opportunity to personally thank Albert Heijn, the grocery store guy, for his efforts to make this happen.

Purchased ingredients:
(Kip is Chicken)

End result:

It is so simple to stay in for dinner with your doodle dog!

"Mode" - Dutch Fashion

2008-10-27T16:05:00.000-04:00

I’m not really that excited about fashion. Most of the time I don’t even wear clothing, so why should I care? Clothing is for all of the people because they don’t have fabulous fur like me. Even so, I have to admit I’m amazed at the number of boots that exist here. All the women wear boots. Well, at least 75% of them. An example of said boots:

Meredith is so bummed she put all her boots on the boat shipment. She will have to be bootless for another few weeks, I guess. Unless she buys new ones!

Even though Meredith is not all that fashionable either, she has been impressed with the fashion available here:

Did you see those prices? Too bad she can’t grow fur!

Other Dogs Can Do It, Why Can’t I?

2008-10-25T14:34:00.002-04:00

I promised a video of another dog bike riding. Here you go:

The bike rider was a little creeped out by my video-making, I think.
Here I am, trying again:

I think our two different styles are pretty clear.

Success!

2008-10-24T19:19:00.001-04:00

Again on Thursday Meredith was gone for the entire afternoon, trying to sort out the internet problems. Things were so pathetic that at one point in the day she was explaining to the guy at the mac store in the mall how to use her macbook air. When we were out walking last night I noticed a store with “UPC” on the front of it- the internet service company! I pulled on her pant leg and made her stop in and asked if they could help. They suggested we come back with the modem the next day.

Today, after the dishwasher repair guy left (he said he’d be here between 8am and 12pm and showed up at 11:55am- of course!) we headed over to UPC. She insisted that she bring me with her because, well, I have an excellent cute factor and might be of service.

My cuteness worked. After a couple hours of waiting and a nice cup of tea for her and lots of petting for me we got a new modem and an official internet blessing.

Here I am with my internet hero, Erik:

The internet now works! And it only took one week to get it to work! This is fast by Dutch standards so we are trying to appear pleased. (Don't I look pleased?)

Now we can finally look for a place to live. This apartment, while better than a hotel (even a fabulous hotel), is on the 7th floor and surrounded by brick… not so easy for me to go outside and find a suitable place to do my business. Here you can see Meredith and I walking in from our front door. Not that exciting, but clearly too many doors to go through.

Best Hotel Ever

2008-10-22T21:10:00.000-04:00

The last few days Meredith has been trying desperately to get internet in our apartment. This has involved her leaving for hours at a time, and I have to stay in my crate. If I may say so: This Sucks. We went over to our old hotel and used the internet there today around 4pm. The receptionist on duty was our favorite one who lives in Valkensvaard and who tried to convince us to come live in the same apartment building as she does. She is adorable! However, the waiter was not so nice. He kept winking at us while we sat there alone and then when Mike showed up he became rude and gave us dirty looks. I was indignant about it because gosh- what kind of a doodle does he think I am! So Meredith mentioned his bizarre behavior to the sweet receptionist and she said (right in front of him!), “Oh do not pay any attention to him! Only listen to me, we like having you here.”

That’s what I’m talking about. Best Hotel Ever!

A little bit of a move

2008-10-20T22:39:00.000-04:00

An apartment was found! And it is not too far from the hotel (and my favorite park!). From what I understand we are only going to be here for a few weeks while we continue to try to find something more permanent. Meredith and Mike have been packing all evening and used some kind of hotel cart to transport most of the luggage the few blocks over to the new place tonight. Tomorrow morning we have to be out of the hotel by noon, so we’ll finish up before Mike goes to work. Fortunately, the bus stop is next to the apartment, so it will be very close for him to ride to work. Too bad he can’t borrow hotel bikes anymore to take to work or to teach me to run next to!
The view south from our new place: (the bus stop is not visible because of the large tree)

This new place is all black and white. Literally. A huge canvas photo of some American city in the 1900’s adorns the living room wall.

Let’s list the myriad of good things about the apartment:
• It isn’t a hotel
• Cheese is available in the fridge
• My rug came with us and I get to play with my toys in a bigger space
• Meredith and Mike are with me for dinner instead of gone every evening to a restaurant
• We have a balcony!

And the not so good things:
• In order to get to our 7th floor apartment we have to use an elevator (scary!!)
• The balcony makes it tough to look out the window from the living room at the people below
• The internet isn’t working (how the heck do I blog?)
• I’m still not allowed to bark at will

Exploring... without me. :(

2008-10-18T16:36:00.001-04:00

What a lame day. I spent the a lot of the day in the crate while Meredith and Mike biked to a neighboring town, Veldhoven, to see if it might be suitable to live there.

They found a town square complete with a band. See how long it takes you to name that tune. I couldn’t, but hey- I’m a dog. That’s not my job.

I wish I could have gone with them, but you see, I’m just learning how to behave on a leash next to a bike.

Mike tried to take me for a walk next to his bike today.

It is very common here for dogs to run next to their owners while they bike. I’ll post a video of some other dog biking in a future post. Suffice it to say it looks very different from my technique.

I’m not sure that I get the concept. Aren’t bikes for chasing? And isn’t the leash for biting?

Proof of the Torture

2008-10-18T16:33:00.001-04:00

Here is my picture before the torture (spa day):

And afterwards:

And this is what I do anytime my face gets wet:

Spa Day

2008-10-16T12:32:00.001-04:00

Our hotel has a courtyard surrounded by wall or a wall of greenery. I’ve noticed that many yards here are ‘fenced’ in by greenery. It is usually so thick you can’t see or smell through it at all. A fine example of said greenery:

Meredith and I decided to explore the hotel yard because it is completely inescapable for me and she thought she could let me off leash for a bit. I love being off leash. Most of the time I just want to run in circles really fast:

Occasionally, however, I get a little bit of the devil in me and try to do something naughty like dig. The grass was covered with colorful fall leaves and I decided it would be great to grab a leaf during my mad dash. Meredith thought that was cute and clapped her hands. Next, I noticed little piles of pellets here and there. They smelled vaguely of bunnies, one of my most favorite things. I stopped to get a better sniff. Meredith came toward me, warning me to ‘Leave it!’. Ohhhh no, not this time!! I grabbed a mouthful. Next, I found some other dog’s poo. Yum!!! I kept running as fast as I could go while Meredith was screaming for me to quit eating shit. It was truly a beautiful morning.

Once I got sufficiently tired she grabbed me and marched me to the door. She said, “You’re having a spa day, little shit eater” and next thing I knew I was being doused in the hotel shower. It was horrible. I thought I was going to drown. Maybe I’ve mentioned before that I HATE water? Argh. I tried to escape, but the doors on the stupid shower actually close completely. Meredith was locked in there with me, armed with the shower hose thing and gallons of dog shampoo.

Next, she spent time trimming my nose and paws. They tend to get unruly rather quickly, causing me to obsessively lick my chops after meals and such, so, although I hate the process of trimming, I do like the end result. However, she didn’t stop there: all the lovely bunny smell on my breath was completely obliterated after she brushed my teeth with toothpaste for dogs. What a morning.

Work has begun for Mike

2008-10-15T12:30:00.000-04:00

Today is Mike’s first day of work here. While I’m happy for him to start work, I’m also a little bit sad that he left. Check out how fancy he looks:

Once he left I spent time sleeping by his shoes and by his side of the bed. I guess I’ll have to get used to it- someone has to earn the money to buy me my treats.

A Farm within the City

2008-10-14T12:24:00.003-04:00

What the heck are these things?? Meredith and Mike said they are ‘cows’ but I tell you, they look like overfed Dalmatians. They move so slowly, but they still scare me.

And check out these chickens! We walked over to the fence and they all came running! I thought they were coming to see me, but I guess the reason for the royal greeting is that people feed them and they thought Meredith and Mike might have some tasty treats. Believe me, they didn’t. I’d know if they did!

Food

2008-10-14T11:23:00.001-04:00

Meredith and Mike have been eating really well at the hotel restaurant. Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Wish I could say the same for me! But they did buy me a new dog food. Of course the dog food I eat isn’t available here, but they found some that is wheat-free and doesn’t have scary ingredients. The pet shop is amazing and really close by the hotel.
Here's my new food:

Smells...

2008-10-13T11:16:00.000-04:00

I met a Dalmatian dog in the park today. It was a blast to play with her for a bit. You wouldn’t believe the smells they have here. Everything is so pretty with the fall colors all around- oak leaves, maple leaves- they are all here. They have some artwork in this park and it all has interesting smells too.

We went for a ride in the car and I got to smell everything out the window!!! Weeeeeee!!!!

Marathon in Eindhoven

2008-10-12T21:32:00.000-04:00

On Sunday we also saw a race! The people of Eindhoven hosted a marathon, which drew 16,000 racers! Some videos of the festivities:

Sandwich Willy

2008-10-11T11:47:00.000-04:00

Well, I feel quite normal again! Here I am, in all my glory:

Today and yesterday were loads of fun here in Eindhoven! A fantastic park full of dogs is right outside our hotel door.
Here is the front door to our hotel:

Everyone has been so nice to me, petting me, asking what kind of dog I am in Dutch, which of course I don’t understand. Once we explain that we don’t speak Dutch they launch into perfect English! It was so amazing how I was allowed to go into the sandwich shop yesterday.

We saw a place with tables outside and asked if we could sit there for lunch. The shop-keeper explained that the season for ‘outside table sitting’ had now ended and the tables were only ‘decoration’. Meredith explained that she had me with her, and they said, that is fine- bring her in! So I got to lie at Meredith’s feet while she and Mike had sandwiches. I had never been in a restaurant before!

Mike and Meredith had little drinks!

Notice where her feet are positioned- it seems the Dutch are a bit taller than her- so far whenever she has been sitting, her feet haven’t quite touched the floor. Interesting…

They even brought me a bowl of water! Now, if I could only get that kind of service everywhere I go.

We made it to Eindhoven

2008-10-10T08:40:00.001-04:00

Today was “travel-day”. We got in a rented SUV and drove to Canada, eh! The border people didn’t even care about me, Meredith had all my papers ready to show and all they wanted to know was if “Graham” was her maiden name. She kept saying, “It is my only name.” and they kept asking is it her “maiden name”. It was rather comical, in retrospect.

We stopped at a nice park where I could stretch my legs and enjoy the sunshine.

Mike and I found a great stick to chew on!

I’d really rather not discuss the plane ride. Traumatic, strange, scary… it was all of the above. And embarrassing. I had to go so bad I couldn’t hold it. I thought I’d never see my people again… but a nice man finally got me and brought me to Meredith and Mike. They let me right out of the crate and hugged me and loved me. I was so glad to see them I wagged and wagged. Meredith cleaned out my stinky crate and my stinky paws (yes, I stepped in it, did you have to ask?) and things seemed better. The scary part continued, however, as Meredith walked me outside the airport where there was no grass and loud machines cleaning the sidewalks. I was so freaked out that I couldn’t go to the bathroom. Eventually, Mike came outside too and he walked me around until finally I consented to pee.

We rented a car and they let me ride in the passenger foot-well on the way to the hotel. It was either that or ride in the crate because the crate and luggage took up the entire back seat and way back of the station-wagon. I sat up a few times to look at the farm animals Meredith pointed out on the way. But admittedly, both she and I did quite a bit of snoozing. Traffic was bad and poor Mike had to navigate on his own to Eindhoven.

When we arrived at the hotel, Meredith and I crashed almost immediately.

Mike did some stuff and then he slept too for an hour or so. They were all up again in the afternoon and out seeing apartments and then eating dinner. The time difference is 6 hours and so it will take some getting used to, I think.

It is going to be interesting ‘camping’ here in the hotel!

Home away from Home

2008-10-08T04:28:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, after the movers left, we drove to Brockport to stay with Barb and Sal. Mandy had told me about their dog, Skunky, whom Mandy used to play with. Skunky passed away a few years back and it was very sad. Here is a video of Mandy (on the left), Ceasar, Moby and Skunky during Christmas time. It totally cracks me up.

Barb and Sal are so nice to me. They treat me like one of the family. Their house is fantastic for squirrel-watching. From the living room to the family room to the hallway, I’ve got tabs on all the windows. It’s nice to have a job to do for a couple of days here, and I know they appreciate my watchful eye.

Meredith and Mike have said we are traveling tomorrow. They are telling me not to be scared. Scared of what, I wonder? Well, for now there is relaxing with Sal. I’m great at it.

Boxes! Boxes! Boxes!

2008-10-07T14:25:00.000-04:00

Oh My Bunnies, this week has been crazy. First, Meredith’s parent’s showed up with the van and loaded it full of stuff out of our house. Then, Mike loaded our car full. We get to the lake and unload everything into the basement. We only hung around there for the day and then came back to Rochester and Meredith and Mike worked like mad sorting and throwing things away. I kept hearing, “Keep it? VOA it? Toss it? Plane or boat?” I felt like I was in the way, but did get a couple of good walks.

Then, on Monday people came to the house with boxes. I’ve never smelled so many boxes!! I had to stay in my crate for almost the whole day while they wrapped everything left in the house into paper and then put it into a box. Soon, the entire house was full of boxes. Meredith and Mike let me sleep on the floor next to their bed that night because I was a little bit freaked out by the whole experience.

Tuesday, the same people came back and did the same thing with the rest of the house and other people came and took the boxes outside into a big truck. The truck was only filled up half way but I guess that is standard procedure. The people said they ordered a 20 ft truck and got a 40 ft one. So they use what they have, I guess. Which is what I do- if there is only rocks to play with, I play with rocks.

The Netherlands?

2008-09-17T04:15:00.000-04:00

Things at Harlem Street have been a little bit strange as of late. People visiting, lots of throwing things away, sorting, packing, going to the lake with the car full every weekend (and coming back with it empty) have all inundated our house lately. I keep hearing about this place “The Netherlands” and I wonder what that means. Does it smell good there? Another interesting development is that I got a new crate. It is a little bit smaller than the old one, but better because it is hard plastic instead of metal bars. It looks less like a jail and more like a den. Not that I’m a huge fan of the whole ‘crate thing’, but I have to admit I kind of like this one.

At first there was a plastic bowl thing attached to the inside of the crate door. When Meredith was inviting people inside the house to look it over, I decided to eat that plastic bowl. In no time at all I had it gnawed off the door and partially chewed. After about 5 minutes of fun Meredith caught me in the act. She had a complete fit and of course I was very sorry. It had seemed like a good idea, but her disappointment overwhelmed me. As a result I sat meek in my crate during the “house-inspection”.

It’s now two weeks later and guess what: I got metal bowls attached to the inside of the crate! The box they came in had birds on them for some reason. I have a feeling they weren’t really intended for dogs but I don’t care. They look fancy and match my other bowls.

Nomads?

2008-08-09T20:45:00.000-04:00

So last night I asked Mike, "Are we gypsies?"

It was actually a valid question- I mean- we've stayed at 4 different places in the past 6 days. I am starting to think we just live out of the car. Not that I mind much: vacationing is pretty darn cool because I get to see Meredith and Mike all day and nothing beats that. (Well, except if there are other dogs wanting to play with me, or squirrels to chase, or bunnies...)

Sturgeon Bay is pretty neat. Mike's parent's have a boat and we spent two days sailing around the bay. Well, they sailed and I napped.

I did very well on the sail boat. Here I am again, in position:

Don was great. He let me wander all over the boat, no leash. We had some fun times together while taxi-ing out of the channel:

I have to admit, sailing is my favorite kind of boating.

Trip to see Finn-land

2008-08-07T20:33:00.000-04:00

Today we got to see Meredith's cousin Susan, and her son Finn. He is just one year old now and loved me at first sight. Meredith gave me a bully stick to chew (one of my most favorite things!) and so I let Finn pet me, pat me, and judge my overall fuzziness level.

Oh, I'm quite fuzzy, actually. I've got hair instead of fur and it is extremely soft. Meredith saves it from when she gives me hair cuts and brushes me. She is planning to have it sent away and made into yarn so that she can knit a scarf. (Between you and me I think that is kinda funny because she doesn't even know how to knit!)

Blue Lake: best time ever

2008-08-05T20:08:00.002-04:00

Blue Lake, Wisconsin is absofrickinlutely great. The three of us drove all the way to northern Wisconsin over a two day stretch. Riding in the car is no problem for me, but Meredith needs to stop all the time to do yoga. Not that I mind the opportunity for a pee break and a chance to smell some rest-stop dogs.

The boating, running around like a mad-dog, being off-leash for the entire day every single day all made the trip perfect.(Okay, they had me on-leash on the boat. Only because I kept debating about jumping out and it made everyone nervous.)

We had a chance to catch up with Scott and Tricia, people Meredith and Mike know but I had never met before. They were real nice; although Tricia was also trying to get me to swim with the whole throw-a-stick-into-the-water thing.

I humored her, since she was so nice to me otherwise.

At the end of one day, the people decided to play some game they found in the game cabinet and I did some fabulous couch-leaning.

When do we get to go back there?

Gahhh... swimming

2008-07-27T19:44:00.000-04:00

Meredith and Mike really want me to swim for some strange reason. In fact, they are so excited about it, they both spend time coaxing me, and in this case carrying me out into Keuka Lake. One thing I just don't get about these people: many sticks exist on the shore, all ready for chewing, and they keep throwing them into the water! And then trying to make me go get them! Aren't they silly?

Just for the record, I did swim at some point. I have webbed feet you know. I can do it. I just choose not to.

Thank goodness they decided to bring me back to shore.

I'm hoping that will be the end of this madness for awhile.

Sad News

2008-07-20T09:59:00.000-04:00

In early July I heard from my owners that Mandy the dog passed away. She had a great life and enjoyed every minute. Her favorite things were being petted, getting her butt scratched, taking a dip in the lake, and chewing her bones and squeaky toys. When I arrived at Keuka Lake and Mandy wasn't around, it just wasn't the same. I tried to make everyone happy by chasing my tail and lying down in spots that Mandy liked to lie in. It was a very difficult time for Meredith's parents and I'm grateful that I had a chance to meet Mandy. I will always look up to her.

Meredith's mom gave me the angel dog tag that Mandy had for most of her life. I wear it now, thankful for the love I am fortunate to have with such a great family.

Hawaii Trip!

2008-07-16T11:54:00.000-04:00

While my owners went to Hawaii (lucky dogs) I stayed at Keuka lake with Mary and Jim. They are so very nice to me! Jim took me for lots of walks and runs and even worked with me on how to be good on a leash. Meredith was a bit nervous about leaving me because she has been with me every day since I came to live with her and Mike. She needn't have worried, however. I did lots of good and naughty things with Mary and Jim and didn't seem to miss her much. Once she came back I was all cuddly and happy to see her. I did a lot of the press-my-face-to-the-floor-and-butt-in-the-air thing when she arrived, to show her how glad I was to see her again.

Lacey, blogging at Keuka Lake

2008-06-23T19:41:00.007-04:00

Lacey, blogging at Keuka Lake
Originally uploaded by Lacey Doodle

Today has been a wonderful day at Keuka Lake. This morning the neighbor's dog tried to teach me to swim. While I did not swim yet, I did go into the water further than I have ever gone before. It scares the beejeezus out of me when the waves come in too fast. Check out this video of me eating some waves.

Once I had my fill of fun, I rested with Mandy, the 15 year old golden retriever owned by my owner's parents.

Mandy is coming home with me tomorrow for a couple of days. Can't you tell that we are going to have great fun together?

Welcome to my blog

2008-06-13T19:29:00.000-04:00

Hi! Hi! Hi!
I'm Lacey Doodle, a golden doodle dog. I've been bought by Meredith and Mike and been hanging with them for about six months now. I was born in Nunde, NY on Sept 7, 2007. My mom was a 70 lb golden retriever; my dad a 50 lb standard poodle.

My favorite things are:
socks
paper napkins
ants
squirrels
kids- especially when they shriek and wave their arms

I'm afraid of:
that black pipe sticking out of my neighbors house
being picked up for my weekly weighing
the green box in the yard on the corner
the noise my ball makes when it hits my metal food bowl
my reflection
the cable guy

I'll be blogging my adventures here, such as my recent trip to Keuka Lake. Check it out: