sweet Piaya

Hi. It’s me Vanilla Bean.

How’s your Valentines Day? Did you have fun? I hope you got showered with love in the form of kisses, hugs, treats, praises, gifts, etc. from your humans…As for me, my humans did a great job in expressing their love.

My overseer made a handmade denim dog vest for me (which I wore during my afternoon walk last Tuesday); how a red angry bird got stuck to it… I really dunno… Next, she gave me a spoonful of Selecta Quezo Real ice cream which I enjoyed licking and she shared some of her Bongbong’s Piaya, too. (I put on my best give-me-some look when Twinkle opened the gift-stuffs she received from from Uncle JH).

When my humans spoke the word Piaya (pronounced as pee-ya-ya), I thought it’s a funny name for a treat… the people who made it in the City of Smiles (Bacolod City) probably lived in jocularity… Anyway, I followed each of them who had this food in his person, pawed them when they tried to ignore me, and flicked my tongue several times just to get my message across that I wanted to sample this disc-like bread…
This a simple native sweet treat was made with flour, brown sugar, purple yam, sesame seeds, and of course, love… the starchy bread crumbled into flakes easily as it hit my mouth… and the purple filling at the center tasted so good. With its texture – crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, and its yummy smell especially when served hot… my verdict was a four paws up for the Piaya…

puppy luv is beautiful…

♥♥♥Happy Hearts day everyone♥♥♥

♥♥♥My latest human-puppy hook-ups♥♥♥

♥♥♥Have fun out there this Valentines xoxox- Vanilla Bean♥♥♥

Mischief Monday: chained

Hi. It’s me, Vanilla Bean.

I’ve never set foot inside a beauty shop but I often imagine these scenes in my mind: A lady goes in there; an attendant puts a chain-leash on the lady’s neck; trim/shampoo/hair-massage/ rinse/towel-dry/brushing plus nice talk would commence; attendant removes the chain-leash after the lady pays; and the lady goes out of the beauty shop with a new hair cut. Then, she goes home and does this:

…yep, the one in the photo is my mischievous overseer… and she’s enjoying MY bath… (I like the shampoo and massage but I DON’T dare show it in my face as long as I haven’t figure out why a chain-leash is necessary in my grooming…)

I’m thinking of having a natural dog bath instead of this complicated routine… (Keanna recommends mud or sand… but how to pull it off without being detected… hmmn…)

Anyway, I’m just glad that my overseer doesn’t own a hair-dryer… and she lets me enjoy my sunbathing unleashed… This way, I could plan my next mischief in peace…

This is part of the Monday Mischief blog hop. Click on the button for more fun. Enjoy!

Windy with a chance of fun

Hi. It’s me, Vanilla Bean.

For a week,  the PAGASA informed us that a strong to gale force wind would affect our weather here in Northern Mindanao; that our region was in the tail end of a cold front.  I didn’t understand whatever that means. However, I was really praying that if ever those dark clouds hovering the Tubod skies would wet on us, I hope they would do so on evenings and not during my late afternoon walks.

(You see, my rain-allergic walker (Twinkle) often cancels this impawtant schedule at a slight drizzle… sigh… I often think she has kitty blood…) Mum-Princess and I often gave her its-time-for-my-walk look; we did that to Kenji, too… everyday at 5 o’clock p.m… This week, they took us to RCMS (the nearest grade school and the next best thing to a dog park). Here are some photos of us having fun… Kenji walked me; I like him because he could walk and run…fast. Along the path, we saw several kids hanging around; they thought I’m a boy!… really? Also, we spotted the school custodian’s dog; we didn’t sniff butts with him, though.  He barked at us to inform that the school gates would close by dusk.

I noticed many wild sparrows swooping the green area… and I just couldn’t resist running and chasing after them… weeee… it’s so fun… Meanwhile, mum-Princess was busy sniffing…
The setting sun and the strong wind signaled us to go home… Reluctantly, we followed our humans out of that place. So how about you, how’s the weather affecting your fun?

Check on how other pets enjoy their weekend in a blog hop  sponsored by Life with Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers, and Confessions of the Plume.  See you there.

Wordless Wednesday: 80′s kids and kitties

During the dog-less years in the 1980′s, Goldilocks – the orange tomcat ruled our home. I would have forgotten him if not for these old photos. -Twinkle

Thursday thoughts #2

My thoughts on: Life and Death with Mummyhood at the middle

God pours life into death and death into life without a drop being spilled.  ~Author Unknown

When there is life, there is death; every creature has to deal or struggle with both daily. It’s a never-ending cycle and either  occurs whether you expect it or not… that’s what I notice…

 3 yields 15

Twenty-two days ago, I struggled for hours to bring out my new litter – all five pups.

looking so helplessly cute and fragile at the first few hours of their lives...

Vanilla Bean observes the new litter from a distance...

Last early Sunday morning, a new litter arrived… Cassie had 5 pups in the dark corner of the anything-spare-thing room… I couldn’t stop myself from barking when I saw my overseer transferred the 5 newborns and her at the craft-area upstairs (hmmm….next birthing season, I’ll book that nook for myself…)

so un-Cassie after birthing... Cassie looking lovely again and nursing...

Still last Sunday, Twinkle found Keanna near the garden fence…with her own litter… They prepared a nook for her but she opt to dig, settle down, and bring out her litter in a garden setting…very old-fashioned I say… By mid-morning, my overseer transferred Keanna’s lot at a kitchen corner… Two days later, they decided to transfer her again to a crate at the corner of the garden (the one VB escaped from)… They noticed that Keanna had territorial issues; she grrr-ed at us pets and we couldn’t get inside the house…

Keanna and her litter in various locations...

But the sad part of the story was this… death…

My soul is full of whispered song;
My blindness is my sight;
The shadows that I feared so long
Are all alive with light.
~Alice Cary, Dying Hymn

It turned out that Keanna had six pups… big momma buried the lifeless-pup somewhere outside the fence…

Wordless Wednesday: milk and bacon collage

Yes...this is a ShihPoo puppy...and nope...this is not me... I'm way bigger and cuter than this squeeker-pup...

still not me...this is mum-Princess

me...savoring my treat: honey-cured bacon strips...yummy...more please...

it pays to be a barking dog on duty...

Cows and football

Hi. It’s me, Vanilla Bean.

I’ve seen them moo-cows before…but I didn’t expect to come across them late this afternoon. They were grazing some of the freshest grass off my usual trail…nothing unusual about that… However, I just couldn’t help but notice that something was off with them… so I took a closer look. This was what I saw:

up close and personal with the moo-calf but keeping distance with 'broken horn'

…the brown calf had a hairy hide and he wasn’t shy to take a whiff at me… Meanwhile, I noticed that ‘broken horn’ cow eyed me… ooo that horn looked deadly… so I cautiously moved on… I doubt we have a famine in our area…but how come he’s soo thin that his ribs were visible from where I was standing…and so was this other cow…hmmm…life must be tough to some mammals…

sniffing with caution

After the trail, Twinkle and I dropped by at RCMS. It was late in the afternoon but the school-ground was still littered with kids… kids who were having fun…my kind of crowd… We found Kenji sitting on the grass; he was watching his big brother EJ with a group of kids kicking and chasing something round…

fun and run and ruff...that's a huge ball!

I gave Twinkle my i-want-to-play look so I could join the fun but she wouldn’t let go of my leash…sigh… oh well, I’ll just go ahead to the blog hop to see what fun other pets were into…

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cakes and canines

It’s me, Vanilla Bean.

I must say that I had a yummylicious first new year… Here’s how it went: …during new year’s eve, I’ve observed that the kitchen was the busiest area in the house and it smelled good, too… so I decided to hang out under the table where they prepare the ingredients…hoping that morsels and meat stuff would fall on the floor. Unfortunately, Keanna spotted me and barked me off her area…sigh…

our kitchen floor manager on standby

…especially when EJ baked a chocolate cake… and when that brown food was in oven, the smell of it was sooo inviting… I think it translated like taste me…

Also, summoned by that delectable scent were Brett and Krung-krung (Auntie Alet’s dogs); they came near our kitchen window to woof their greetings…and to ask for holiday treats, of course. I dunno what Twinkle gave them…all I know was that they kept coming back to ask for more…

our neighbor's pack

Alas, this double chocolate cake was for canine eyes and noses only…

brown food i'm allowed to google and sniff ONLY

Twinkle said “No” several times at me when I gave her my please-give-me-some-of-that-food look…not a good sign. However, she gave me a slice of sponge cake (made by big momma) which I really enjoyed so much…

can't get enough of big momma's sponge cake

So, how about you…what sweet-treat did you ate on the first day of the year?

lonely Christmas

December 25 — Christmas day arrived with a drizzle and a few minutes of loud fire-cracker noises… At the crack of dawn, Twinkle served us a yummy pork dish for breakfast… then she’s off to someplace without telling us bye…

Cassie, Keanna, and mum-Princess chose to sulk in their crates…but not me — I’m on patrol duty. From the upper garden, I saw some interesting scenes on the streets and on the lawn… like  carolers, vehicles, and the Poinsettia (the Christmas plant)… …which I couldn’t resist to take a closer look… Also, there’s also a new pink bell-like flower in the adjacent pot which I’ve never seen before… (big mama said to leave it alone because it’s poisonous to dogs if ingested…)

…and when I looked up, there’s a rainbow hanging above our garden… Later on in the late afternoon, our overseer got home from a trip to Iligan city (ya know, that place that recently got flooded). Cassie gave her that look…and asked for a doggie massage… Though a bit tired, Twinkle obliged to Cassie’s request…

After 5 minutes, Keanna’s turn came; she tried to give Twinkle lots of licks and kisses… on the face! (by now I knew that our overseer wouldn’t accept kisses on any part of her head).  However, kiss-rejection wouldn’t deter this kisser-pooch because she often got treats (in this occasion, slices of pineapple chiffon cake and ham! yay!) which she gladly share with Cassie and me.
 …yummylicious…We had a nice Christmas after all… How about you?