Finally Hershey has got it into her little head that her barkday celebrations are officially o.v.e.r... and once again, normality and peace reigns in the household. We are all kind of glad that barkdays only comes once a year, especially so for Hershey. We have an unwritten 'rule' in the house that whoever who is celebrating his/ her barkday (both human and dog), should be treated like a VIP for 3 whole days, i.e. the day before the actual barkday, the actual day itself and the day after. So for Hershey's barkday, it was the same... we all treated her like a pampered princess and no one can scold her no matter what she did or how naughty she was. Sheesh... I am so glad it's over and it'd be another year before it's 'torture time'.

And since it wasn't my barkday, I didn't get the royal/ pampered pooch treatment. Instead, I had to go to the groomers!! Ack!! Here are a series of photos that mom took with her iPhone cos she forgot to charge the camera (AGAIN)...

On the way to the Torture Chambers..
Don't I look cute in all my fluffiness??

Inside the Torture Chambers.. Almost done!! (They have a 'viewing gallery' where owners can keep tabs on their doggies..)

The grooming place is part of a pet shop, so I got to pick a few toys and treats to make up for the trauma that I went through before we headed for home...

Finally... we are on our way home

Close up of my new look... Mom says I look like a girl (WTF?!!) and that my ears remind her of 2 ponytails...

Oh before I go, my mom wants to say THANKS to all of you who have commented that she is 'pretty' **insert gagging sound** in the previous post.. She is so very flattered and her head swelled to triple of it's usual size. It took all of our strength (dad's, Hershey's and mine) to hold her down and keep her from floating too high from the ground.. you know she isn't the lightest person around, so if she falls, she'd land pretty hard and I don't want her to land on me!! Anyway, she's been losing A LOT of hair recently.. as in heaps of it and it is freaking her out. So one day she decided to be a smarty-pants and went alsomade an appointment with the groomer to cut her hair... originally it used to be way past her shoulders, halfway down her back.

Now we have a cartoon character at home because with her new haircut, she looks eerily like Dora the Explorer (see pic below)... She says that she's staying at home for the next 3 months until it grows out.. LOL!!

Hershey's 1st Barkday --- Part 2

The very first present that Hershey received for her birthday this year is from our dear friends, The 4 Musketeers and their sissy! We received it 1 week before Hershey's barkday and mom kept it until the actual day for Hershey to open. The 4 Musketeers sent not one, but TWO pressies for Hershey and BOTH are beautiful...

Pressie #1
Pawtrait of Hershey... our Mom LOVES it so much and we will be framing it up

Pressie #2

A very pretty red leather collar from Coach!

Hershey insisted on putting it on the moment she saw it...

Pressie #3

From our long time friends, Jack and Joey!! (there are 2 toys inside)

Thank you very much J&J (and Aunty G)!

Pressie #4
A surprise package all the way from Malaysia from Happy!!

It's a lovely handmade card and a bag of treats...

Thanks a million Happy.. you made Hershey very H.A.P.P.Y indeed!!

Additionally, Hershey also received 2 barkday cards...

From Mona

and Ludo!!

Message from Hershey: A great big gigantic THANKS to each and everypup for your beautiful pressies, cards and barkday wishes! You have all played a integral part in making my very 1st barkday so memorable and enjoyable. **sending puppy kisses to everyone**

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Some of you asked for the receipe for the meatloaf that mom made for Hershey's barkday... so here it is! Actually the end result turned out better than mom expected (she's not a fantastic cook.. heehee..) and the most impartant thing is that Hershey and I are still alive and well after finishing both of them.. LOL!!


Some of the ingredients that we used.... Actually you can use basically anything you want (or have in the fridge). The ingredients that we used are:

1. 500g of minced beef
2. 500g of minced pork
3. Canned Tuna
4. Vegetables - we used potatoes, asparagus and carrots (**note: potatoes need to be cooked before you place it in the meat loaf)
5. Lasagne pasta sheets
6. Heinz baby puree - we used pumpkin and asparagus but you can use any flavour you want
7. Rice
8. Cheese

Steps:

1. Mix Heinz baby puree with minced beef and pork
2. After this, there are no actual 'steps' to be honest... mom basically just layered all the ingredients on.. we started with a layer of the minced meat and topped it off with another layer of meat. All the other ingredients just goes in between.
3. We baked it for around 20min at 150 (5 min before completion, we topped it off with another layer of cheese).

Some of the ingredients

This is layer #3.. Layer #1 is the minced meat, layer #2 is the pasta sheet and layer #3 is the potato

This is layer #6 (or so...).. carrots!!

Nearing completion... final layer of meat goes on top

Done!! Into the oven next...

Almost there...

Tah-Dahhhhh.... Completed!!!

Don't forget to ask your mom to try it out cos we are sure you'll love it!!

Hershey's 1st Barkday --- Part 1

The smiling barkday girl...

Posing with her first ever barkday cake which is in girlie pink!!

The cake and other goodies

Meat loaf baked by mom

Pic with mom...

Hershey: Hey mom, you know that meat loaf was really delicious?!!

Goodies to share with god-brother Scuba and friends

Pressies from Dad, Mom and big brother Huskee

Tag with Hershey's pic on one side...

and on the other side, it says 'Daddy's Girl - Hershey'

Stay tuned for Part 2....

** Note from Huskee: The text in red below are added by yours truly without approval from the mom, but hey, this is MY blog, so I can do anything I want.. heehee)

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Exactly a year ago today (where lightning strike and strong winds howl), a (monster) little pup was born in some part of Victoria, Australia. The (scary) pup came to live with our (used to be peaceful) family on 3rd August 2008. Today marks her 1st Barkday and throughout the past few (traumatic) months, she's grown into a sweet (**insert gagging sound**) and very intelligent doggie (under her brother's superb guidance no less), who loves to be around people and is very generous with her affection and kisses (especially when you are sound asleep).

She's brought a lot of joy and laughter (don't forget to add damaged furniture and clothing) into the family, and never fails to cheer us up with her antics (yes indeed, like the time she ATE my squeaky rubber ball and regurgitated it, or how abt the time she pooped on the new white couch?). She's also become an integral part of our family (ok I can accept that, but don't forget although I am half her weight/ size, I am still the one who calls the shots around here).

To our special Princess (**more gagging sound**), HAPPY 1st BARKDAY. May you lead a long, happy and healthy life.

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Mom ordered a doggie cake and some snacks from a doggie bakery. We will only celebrate Hershey's barkday tonight when dad comes home from work. We will post the pics of the cake and pressies she's received in our next post. Everyone have a wonderful weekend!!

Hershey: Hey Huskee, how many more sleeps to go till my birthday?!! If I take more naps, will it speed things up?

Huskee: ** don't know what to say**

Hershey: Hellooooooo??!!

Mom managed to take the below series of pics when she was lying in bed one night and Hershey was lying on top of the quilt... dozing off apparently!!

Last Saturday was proclaimed 'Housework Day' and mom's sis had HEAPS of clothes waiting to be ironed (if she procrastinates any more, she may have to go to work nekkid...or in her pyjamas!!). I love to hang around when anyone is ironing because I love 'help out'... by lying on those nice smelling, newly ironed, warm and crease-free clothes... Don't think the humans appreciated my 'help' too much though!!

Dad took mom out for dinner one evening and they were both really dressed up this time (they usually just go out in t-shirt and jeans... sloppy eh?!)... When they came home, they were still raving about the 'glorious view, delicious food and wonderful atmosphere'.. not that Hershey and I care about any of those. The only thing we noticed is that they did NOT bring back anything for us...

Mom showed us the photos that they took from their window seat in the restaurant... this restaurant is perched atop of the tallest hotel in Singapore on the 69th floor and as it was a fairly clear day the day they were there, they had a clear view of the Singapore city skyline. Mom wanted to add that the food was great too albeit expensive - their dinner costed around S$550 (US$360). They were enjoying their food so much they totally forgot to take photos until their dessert plates have been cleared.. LOL!!

Singapore skyline before sunset

Construction site of the first casino in Singapore

Singapore skyline after sunset

On another subject matter, we have got a worried pup at home these days. Hershey's 1st barkday is just around the corner and mom had already warned her that she will no longer be a 'puppy' after the 24th of April and any of her nonsense will no longer be tolerated, i.e. no chewing of clothing, no chewing of furniture, no 'accidents' on the bed, no jumping on our guests... etc (the list is long).

Our friends, The Four Musketeers, have already sent over not one, but TWO packages attentioned to Hershey's name. It'll be her very first barkday presents and she's promised to only open it on the 24th. We will definitely be posting the photos then. Hershey: THANK YOU very much guys... you are the best!! **muacks**

Mom finally managed to get the card reader to work and as promised, we have got the pics of Hershey picking out the 3 winners of the slipper toy.

The winners are:

Aki and Poopie from Philippines

Lorenza from Mexico

Maggie from Malaysia

(sorry no pics of Hershey with the winnner's names cos mom had to dig the piece of papers out from her mouth as Hershey tried to E.A.T them.. **wry grin**)

The names of the first 10 pups who commented on my post

Ready... Get set...

Go!!

The slippers ready to be packed and mailed out...

Mom also bought an extra slipper because we want to give it as a surprise gift to an very special friend who had always been quietly leaving very sweet and supportive messages on our blog and always been showing concern for our mom. We just want to show our appreciation to him and his mom for their kindness and friendship. We won't be telling you who he is yet cos otherwise it wouldn't be a surprise anymore.

Here are the names of the first 10 pups who commented on my earlier post about the slipper toy. They are:

1. Rocky
2. Lorenza
3. Scottie
4. Maggie
5. Twinkle
6. Vodka
7. Aki & Poopie
8. Comet & BLU
9. Joe Stains
10. Bell

We will let you know in our next post who are the 3 lucky winners of the toy (we actually took some pictures of Hershey picking out the winners, but are unable to load them because mom used a new camera and the memory stick is not reading it at all. Apawlogies for the delay...

Oh and here are some pics that mom took last week of Hershey watching the telly again. She is such a couch potato if you ask me... always in front of the TV. She's watching Animal Planet in the below pics and of course she got real agitated when some cute doggies came onto the screen.

Mom gave me a new toy last night... For unknown reasons, I simply love this 'slipper toy' and have it in a variety of colors; pink, baby blue, green, yellow, red, navy blue... and this one is the latest addition to my 'collection'. (Maybe I have a little 'Imelda Marcos' somewhere in me, although my current collection is still very far off from the over 1000 pairs of shoes that she has in her collection.) **Note to mom: I need another 991 of those toys to add to my collection please **

Since I am so crazy about this toy, mom thought that some of my friends may like it too, so we have decided to share the joy cos I am sure my friends will love it just like me. We will draw 3 names from the first 10 pups who comment on this post and send them the toy (Oh, before I forget, it comes with a squeaker too!! This is the pre-requisite for all toys, isn't it?!!) Hurry now!!

I am going off to play with my new toy... (Looking out warily for Hershey).