Meet me -- Bu (alias, "Little Badness.") Introductions

Hi, Everyone -- I am posting as "Bu" today. I'm a new (one-year-old) Portie boy who is full of mischief. Whenever my person isn't watching me I do something fun (she thinks it's bad), like grabbing whatever isn't hidden -- oh, like tax returns on a desk, or lots of little pieces of paper like receipts or paper towels, or shoes, nail polish bottles, nail files, knives, scissors, pork steaks, grout cleaner -- you name it. It probably is a miracle I'm still alive. I eat everything... sneak into the laundry room and see if I can find a detergent pod to steal. Shoes are fun to destroy, especially new ones. I sneak into her closet when she's working if the door isn't 100 percent closed. She takes me to the dog park, but that's closed now, due to Covid. She took me down under her home to the beach -- where I love to swim -- but that's verbotin now, too, due to Covid. I hope this virus goes away soon. I also used to swim a lot in a friend's pool and play with my littermate brother, whom I love. But that's off limits, too. So, what's a respectable, mouthie Portie to do? I live with a German Shepherd Dog who is eleven-and-a-half and she isn't much fun. The first thing I did when I was eight weeks old and I came into the house was head for her food bowl. She didn't like that, so as soon as I could, when she wasn't looking, I ran and bit her in the behind and then -- fast as lightning -- ran to hide under the sofa!!! I can't do that anymore because I'm way too big now, but it was really fun. So I'm not her favorite friend -- But that's okay. My person loves me to bits, even though I push the limits constantly. I am getting much more loving as I grow older. I love to snuggle up with her. Here's a secret: She sometimes puts on Chanel No. 5. It drives me crazy! I love any perfume but No. 5 is my favorite. So, she doesn't wear it very often anymore because I'm all over the place when she does. I can hardly wait until that darn "testing" starts, because I want to swim in the waves again. I am very smart, but don't mind if you want to think I'm a beach bum. I LOVE being naughty. That is my favorite thing, in fact -- to grab something I know she wants and run off with it. Now I have her trained really well. If she wants it back without a struggle, she has to give me a treat! So, I'm getting picky. If I don't pick something really bad -- like a knife or nail polish or a bra or something (ever chewed the top off a nail polish bottle?) -- she might just decide to let me have it. Once I grabbed her bra and ran out into the street with it. I will never forget that one. She was really mad! Anyway, if you're a dog who wants a good time, I'm ready! Anytime! P.S. I am rather vain despite my naughtiness. I don't like the photo my owner posted, but I am very hairy and my eyes are deep set. They are a lovely amber-green. You can see them if you click on my photo and blow it up (click again on it). But they don't show when the photo is small because they are in the shadows. I guess my face isn't very easy to shoot because I'm always moving frenetically -- just my quirky personality.

I have just splattered granola all over my monitor reading that!

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Welcome Bu [and your human] to Breedia from Tikva and me

You are a gorgeous girl, Tikva. If you were on my beach I would pull the sand out from under my person's feet in order to get to you! That is a very funny cartoon! I relate to that!!!!

Hi Bu

I miss my beach too and this virus thingy is a pain in the butt.

Glad to meet you.

Welcome to our little club

Luv from Rosie

Thank you, Rosie.. (and Chris) . . . We (my human and I) wrote a long post last night about many topics of concern, but an errant movement of my human's left hand might have wiped it all away. We were hoping it was still there even though it had not been saved (because to save is to publish and we weren't ready yet for that). It was possibly to have been a new thread -- because it was in the general dogs section, not the Portie section (we think). Any chance it might not have been deleted and is still waiting somewhere for us to finish... or divide it into smaller posts in various different sections? (Okay, now it seems time to post elsewhere because there's a new Portie topic we need to address. Let's see if Ann, the human, can figure out how to do it. Thank you foryour response. Good to meet you, Rosie!! Are you also in California?

Hello again Bu - Tikva here. My human [Juli] says that if your human had typed it under a new thread on any section but not actually posted it, it probably went foof into the ether somewhere, never to be found again, alas.

She also says that had you typed it under this thread but not hit Post Reply, you should probably see it in fainter print when you checked the latest reply, which was from Rosie.

My human also says that she hopes she has made herself clear [she has to type for me because my nails need clipping and because of this nasty COVID wotzit my lovely vet Ram cannot come here to do them] - she, Juli that is, tends to forget her English at times.

Well, that is what she says and who am I to disbelieve her because she might not give me my dindins if I do...

Oh, and that is not me in her avatar, that is the wubble whose place I am now filling, even though I am not very big. I am quite clever though.

Oh, Tikva... thank you very much. Actually, Ann (my human) FOUND IT a little while ago. It was way too long and she copied most of it to notes. She is going to read the other posts dealing with the issues she's concerned about, and then repost in shorter pieces if some of her questions are not answered. Also, she might take me to the "General Chat" section where puppies and their people might be able to just "socialize" freely . . . (that word seems to have new meaning these days). A lot of topics seem to come up during socializing. She found it was still there when she hit "New Post" under the "Portuguese Water Dog" section. She was lucky! Thank you very much for answering!!!

No Bu, I'm in Skegness on the east coast of England. We have lots of beach, but I like the park better because I like to sniff, sniff, sniff and the sand gets up my nose on the beach and makes me sneeze and cough.

I get to have lots of cuddles because people say I'm little and cute. I'm a Border Terrier. In summer, I get lots and lots and lots of cuddles from the 'bloody tourists'. I don't know what 'bloody tourists' are because they look just like all my winter cuddlers.

Haaaaa.... how adorable. Going to Google Earth Skegness, England to see what the town looks like. Furthest north I've been in England is, I think, to Stratford on Avon, though I also visited Leeds Castle, which was wonderful fun. England is such a beautiful country. My human mom's cousins live in the London area and second cousins live a bit further north. A second cousin was born there, came to the states and worked here for about six or seven years, got married, and moved back with her baby and now has a second one. I love to give cuddles and just hang out with her. My person loves cuddles -- so that works just fine, and yes -- everyone thinks I am adorable (though you wouldn't know it from that ugly, monster-like photo at left. Very bad shot. She needs to put another one there.) I am not small, either. I have a big, loud voice and am very buff and masculine even though I do still run around with a wagging tail and the cutest little puppy trot in the world! At least that's what my human thinks. She is a doting mom, of course!

@MaliBu Did you see the dog collar collection when you went to Leeds Castle? This is where the National historic collection is housed. If so, I'm jealous as I have never managed to get there myself! I really should have gone years ago, it is too far for us to drive these days.

Carole, It would never have occurred to me to go to a dog collar collection! But, darn it! That's what we wear, every single day! It is important. If my human mom goes to England again soon, I am going to have to make sure she sees that. I wonder if dogs are allowed in there....I don't think so. I know there's an armor collection complete with swords and chain mail and breast plates and all the rest. I'm a lover, but I also can be a good fighter. I have good strong teeth and we Porties are very, very mouthy dogs. We have to mouth everything. And run our teeth over everything too, just to remind folks that we might be cute but we were bred to pull up big, heavy fishing nets with schools of fish inside. So we had to be strong. I love fish! -- BU. P.S. -- Thanks for mentioning that. It's on the list (Ann, Bu's mom.)

P.S. Again, Carole -- Thinking about that, I decided to Google it to see what's in the collection, if I could. You might enjoy doing that.

-- You can get a copy of a collection of the collars on postcards here:https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Bo...kaigdPGlyDuyHFWF-itTS0JlKNrBYwERoCrSAQAvD_BwE It's about $16.00 U.S. dollars plus postage of about $12.00 or so. Fairly expensive, but you also can go here for an idea of what it's like: https://www.leeds-castle.com/Visit/Attractions/The Castle & Exhibitions/

You can scroll down and then enlarge the pages two or three times or zoom in on the collars themselves. There are some pretty mean looking collars there -- I wouldn't want my Bu to wear any of them. He might hurt himself. They're also pretty heavy looking. It would be interesting to read the descriptions. --Ann

Just went to Skegness -- still have to zoom in on the streets. It looks gorgeous. Like a light and dark green quilt (farms) with blue sheets (ocean) pulled over the covers! Will check out the rest later. Bu needs to go out.

Old fashioned, traditional English seaside town.

Cheap and cheerful but we love it

I always dreamed of living in a seaside town where the beach was just down the road, and for a short while I did. I could see the Mediterranean from my apartment windows and the glorious, then un-spoiled beach was just five minutes walk away.

I wonder what Tikki would make of the beach - and the sea...

We have the best of both Worlds Juli. Countryside is 5 minutes drive, beach is 5 minutes walk so it really suits us.

Maybe I'll have time to "drive up and down some streets" there tomorrow. It looks WONDERFUL . . . quiet, too! A blessing. Do people ever go into the ocean there? How are the waves? Low, high? Both? Soft sand or pebbles or rocky? And, you say, cheap? Really? Sssshhhhh. Don't say that out loud so others can hear you!!! Sounds incredible!

So, I'm still new here. Where do I click "like?" I'm almost afraid to do that. Don't want anyone to discover this place yet. I will click it when I find it (probably) tomorrow. In the meantime, I might add it to my own personal low-key, outta the way list of "finds."

I couldn't wait. Google Earth (Street View) brought me in on Wainfield Road....at a place called "Iceland." There's a place called "Interchange" across the street. It looks cloudy and cold . . . I wonder what time of year the photo was taken. When I visited my uncle in the summer in a suburb north of London the mornings where overcast (but didn't threaten rain)... it looks like it might rain in the Google Earth shot. Next door to that is a place called "The Lumley." Lots of brick. Does not look at all like a Southern California beach town. Interesting. Uh, oh! I am driving the wrong way on a one-way street at Lumley Square! And a big blue bus is heading my way.

I turned around. Now I'm passing Alisons and heading up High Street. Passing Flippers and the Heat and Light Centre. The sky is bluer here . . just puffy clouds.
There's Yorkie's Cafe and Moneysaver's Pet Centre. Chunky Chip, a bingo game place, an Entertainment Center, Epton's Fish and Chips (second on on the left side of the street). This place looks like some less crowded older towns in New England (USA) . . . A sandwich sign spoints to Skegness Market and at the tourist stand a sign says "Get your Skegness Rock here." I must be in the beachy part of town. There is a real touristy shop on the corner here . . at the intersection of Briar Way and High Street, I think. No cars are on High Street -- or, maybe just one or two. Seems that I passed an orange vehicle a moment ago but another sign says "no vehicles," and there's also one that says "No cycling." Well, darn. I was thinking of parking it and going in some shops.
Now I'm on Briar Way... this looks like it might take me to some apartments or two-story houses. The sky looks very blue with streaky clouds and some little puffy ones, too. There is no traffic. Passing the Skegness Working Men's Club. Hmmnn. Now I'm in a residential section of two-story dwellings. Wondering if these are single-family houses or if the top floors are rented out or sold as condos. Nice street. No traffic. Quaint and just like my imagination would tell me a little British town would be like. Think I'll turn right right here to see if I can get to the beach. I'm at Sandbech Avenue, but Google turned me the wrong way so I need to do a 180. The houses on Sandbeck on one side of the street are not brick and they also seem very friendly. Looking down this street towards the beach, it seems that there is no immediate view of a beach. Time for an overhead shot.

I see a Marine Boathouse Bar, a Factory Rock shop. But where is the beach? It has to be around here somewhere. An Embassy Theater and a Ferris wheel are there. There's a light house... Looks like there's a pier . . . Now, automatically, somehow I am at a dining table inside of Hussey's Fish and Chips. There are sea gulls on the wall paper!! Man, how do I get outta here. I want to see the beach. "Please pay here," says the sign. But there are no people in here and no food. I'm trying to go through the door, but I cannot seem to exit.

Whew. I'm out. Now I'm going to try to get to the edge of the water. Nope. Cannot go there.

Now I'm on Drummond Road . . .

I couldn't go any further so flew over to North Shore Road. There's a cool beach here and a nice trail along the beach. An elderly couple is walking a cute little white dog. But there's a closed gate in front of the path. I can walk around it and maybe even onto the beach. I want to check out that couple with the dog. Cannot walk onto the beach but real people who are there can go there. And nope, cannot get closer to the people with the dog.

Here are some very cute cottages and some row houses along David Drive.

Maybe I can check out the houses there. Well the arrows won't let me go there, but they seem very nice.

I was going to another neighborhood of homes but somehow wound up wading in the water at the beach. Very low waves, but it looks like there are a lot of windmills offshore... maybe they are generating clean energy! Good, good!!

It looks like there are some beach houses back there, or hotels.

This must be winter. No one is on the big, wide beach. Oh, wait. There is one single woman in a dress standing in one inch of wave water... And another couple way far away on the beach, but no dog. This looks sort of like the beach near the island of Nahant, above Boston, where I spent a number of years living with a boyfriend. It was a bi-coastal relationship. He spent half his time in California and I spent half my time at his place in Nahant.

I'm above the North Shore Golf Club.

Now I'm headed to what looks like east along Church Lane . . . Beautiful fields, and it looks like cows in one field. And what is that? A little castle off in the distance? Going there now . . .

Guess not. It is hidden behind some trees and there doesn't appear to be any road to it from Church Lane. Just cows in the field.

It is a church.... Very pretty from the outside.

Ah, here it is. The map said it was St. Mary, Winthrope, so I have come quite a ways from Skegness. I am at "Church End." And there's a house across the street. Maybe it belongs to the rector.

I just drove down Church Lane to an intersection. Very pretty brick houses all around. Some are big single family residences. Some appear to be duplexes and some appear to be multi-family apartment buildings or something.

Interesting area. Quite pretty and tidy and beautifully maintained. No, wait. That is not an apartment building. It is a big -- very big -- house! Cool! But Google won't let me go up that street.

So much for tonight. I'm going to sleep.

About six months ago I visited a small town in Western Russia this way. It was a really small town. Fascinating to travel this way. Cheaper than flying but not as much fun as being there. Can't do that at the moment, though, with this virus all over.

Anyway, you live in a lovely, green area that does not appear to be overpopulated. Maybe there is time to relax and get to know your neighbors and read and have a sort of fairy tale life. Or -- NOT. Does ANYONE have that life?

I did not see more than one dog on this little trip. We have dogs all over here. People take them everywhere, it seems.

Hasta Mañana -- or whenever.
(Until tomorrow)....

Fun touring your part of the world!!!

I will have to use Google Earth to visit my own part of the world and see what virtual tourists get to see.


Later!

I just went to a few other areas on the other side of Skegness.... Lovely areas.... remind me of places in Beatrix Potter's books. Where is Mr. McGregor's cabbage patch?
(Saxby Lane and some places near there.) Nice not to be living in an overpopulated area!!!! I haven't seen many dogs OR people. Must be early in morning or mid week. Or people are all working.

I wrote more about it but it is late and I am sleepy. Then was told I could not edit the last one because my 10 minute time had expired so am not going to recreate what I wrote. Good night!