This update picks up at the end of April, when we were having very bizarre weather. The predictions that global warming will bring more varied weather certainly seem to be panning out here in Vancouver, because in April we had the above one day, and the below the next:

But in general April was very cold and dreary. The snow seen here arrived at the very end of April, which really got to all of us. Everywhere I went, from my colleagues at work to the cashiers in stores, it was "Can you believe it's nearly MAY?!?!"

The photo above gives you a sense of how out of place snow at the end of April is here in BC, as the trees, shrubs and bulbs were already in full flower! But Murphy isn't one to complain, especially when it comes to snow, so when I let him out in to the yard it was like a little kid on Christmas morning. First he sniffed around the corners of the yard:

Then Murphy came to the edge of the yard where I was standing, and gave me a good waggle, as if to thank me for the snow:

Just as the weather was varied, we have a variety of topics to cover in this update. Below I captured a funny behaviour of Murph's on camera for the first time (at least the first time I can remember). I think I've caught the beginning of this behaviour before - standing on the arm of the couch, pointedly trying to get my attention:

This is generally a bid to get an early meal, but also occurs if I've just been on the computer too long for his liking. It's the next part that I don't think I've caught before:

He's just perched on the edge of the arm of the couch! This is his way of getting very close if I'm going back and forth into the office, to get right into my face for a pat. By getting up high he can maximize his surface area that gets exposed to the hug.

Welcome Cecil the Seal. Murphy found him when I was going through an old box of my favourite toys from childhood. I'd kept two kinds of toys - those with sentimental value and those that I'd gotten later in childhood that were still in great condition, as I rarely played with them. Below you can see a bit of the variety:

Cabbage Patch Kids, a Winnie the Pooh from the mid 1970's and my first Teddy Bear. Those were all sentimental favourites. But below these were a bunch of Gund stuffed animals - bears, a white rhino, and a seal (among others). Here's a close up of Cecil:

How cute is he? Well Murphy took an immediate liking, just pulling him out of the pile, and claiming him as his own:

I figured I had no emotional attachment to the seal, so why not let Murphy keep him? Now he's a favourite (though he hasn't supplanted Patches). Just about an hour ago Murphy came up behind me with Cecil and rammed him into my leg, wanting to play a game of tug and fetch.

Next up, Murphy investigating around the house! First, Murphy's favourite cupboard:

He loves that cupboard, undoubtedly because it's the only human food that's kept at his level. Every single time it's opened he's instantly in there up to his shoulders.

Above we have Murphy assuring the quality of my Dad's repair to my makeshift drying rack in the laundry room. Murphy (and my dad) did great work, I haven't had any further problems with it.

Below we have the big change around the condo, I finally got around to redecorating my bedroom! As you may recall from earlier photos, my bedroom was rather dark as a result of two of the walls being painted (by the previous owners) a dark green:

I'd always been meaning to get to the bedroom, but I liked my duvet cover, and it went well with the walls, so I'd been putting it off. And, I'd wanted a queen size bed, which really isn't within my finances at the moment. But when the duvet cover started wearing out, it was clearly time to overhaul the room. First, I had to prime the dark walls:

Once those two walls were just hastily primed over the room felt so much bigger, and I knew I'd made the right decision. It's a small room, just 10x12, so every visual inch I can get out of it the better! Now the next step was a little riskier...I'd decided to try wallpaper. I knew this could be a pain to put up, and that everyone dreads taking it down, but I was seeing cool wallpaper in magazines and tv, so I was tempted to try. Then in a Home Depot flyer I came across this wallpaper pattern - it's blue with embossed goldy-beige and blue leaves across it. It's advertised as "easy up, easy down" as you just roll the glue on to the walls then press the wallpaper down on top of it. And to boot it's made with environmentally friendly paper and inks! With my father's help (ie: he did all the work, I just handed him things and matched up the patterns between rolls) it was up in under 3 hours. We only did the one wall, and painted the other three a light blue that (almost) matches the lightest blue in the wallpaper. Murphy stayed perched on the bed in the middle of the room throughout the whole process...well, almost. Just as we were finishing the last of the painting, and my father was sitting on the floor working in the corner of the room you see in the bottom left of the picture above, Murphy could no longer resist jumping down to visit him:

On first inspection it look like he just got a little on his left front paw and left ear, but take a look at the reflection in the mirror. The edge of his right ear was coated. Also, look at where his right ear peeks out from under his muzzle - more there. I love this picture because it captures that sad puppy dog look that cockers have perfected, that's somehow hard to catch on camera (for me at least). This is the look that Murphy gives me most often. At any rate, it was latex paint, so you'd think that it would be easy to remove, but it wasn't. I wiped out what I could, scraped off some more once it was dry and the rest got cut out with his next groom.

My nice, relaxing, somewhat pretty but not overly girly bedroom! And for Murphy, a stack of EIGHT pillows! What more could a dog ask for? He also likes the new coverlet:

Just as he makes a nest out of the bath mat, he's taken to making one out of the coverlet. But for the most part, it's those pillows he loves. You can see, above, that he'd already been digging through them.

Next, a visit from Allie and Owen, in time for my Dad's 61st birthday at the end of May. Of course we took the boys out for a walk around Lynn Valley. There are quite a few playgrounds around here, so we checked out one Owen hadn't seen before. This one is at a preschool, so there were items just his size:

What kid doesn't love a fire truck, especially one his size that he can climb on? Murphy, however, is not allowed on the playgrounds. I don't think this bothered him one bit, as he was already hot and tired:

We hung out in the shade under a tree for the 5 minutes or so that Allie and Owen played. Later on we were hanging around my condo when I got the Dustbuster out to do a quick vacuum. Well Owen liked that idea, and had to try it out for himself:

Murphy is actually in the above picture...as am I. Can you see us? Both of our butts are peaking up in the corner. I'm not positive, but a very educated guess suggests that we must have been returning from somewhere, and Murphy had been left alone in the living room with his Roll-a-Ball. A treat or two always ends up under the couch and end table, then I have to go around retrieving them for Murphy. Luckily he tells me where each one is by standing very still and pointing with his nose, then pawing at the ground if I'm not moving fast enough. Also, note the tennis ball. That would have been out for Owen as Murphy hasn't shown an interest in tennis balls in the last five years...at least.

One more picture of Owen vacuuming, just because it's so cute. You can also see that Murphy isn't a dog who's afraid of vacuums, even when run by a toddler!

Speaking of cute, here are a few shots of Murphy that I took simply because he was looking adorable:

That first one I like because of the way he's sprawled across the pillow, blanket and arm of the couch, with legs going in opposite directions. The one below is just from a different direction:

Now these next two you might think are just Murphy sitting around, but this is actually a very specific behaviour: begging for dinner way earlier than he's actually going to get it. He'll sit next to me, just smiling like the photo on the left. Then if I acknowledge him and ask him "Murphy? What do you need?" he'll stamp his front feet, then jump up and run for the door, trying to get me to follow him to his bowl. He does this every time I happen to be sitting at about 4pm (dinner time is 6).

 

Last picture! Now you're probably thinking; "Oh no, not another picture of Murphy on the damned window seat!" but this is different. Notice how he's right to the far edge of the window? The window was slightly ajar, and he was sniffing the yard through the gap. Just struck me as cute.

So that was May! Up next, a June visit to Seattle.

Email me!

Meghan

Here's the link to the next update: June 2008
Here's the link to the previous update: April 2008

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