So Much New....

Mom FINALLY let me get on the 'puter today so I can fill you all in on what's been happening around the Russell-Shaw Casita lately!

Mom and Mommy have been wanting a big drinking bowl for a really, really long time.  Well, after years of saving pennies (and denying us extra treats) and hard work, we now are the proud owners of a big mud hole in the back yard.  Mom and Mommy are thrilled.  They act like they are itty bitty kids - all excited - so excited they can barely contain themselves!  It's actually pretty embarrassing!

Anyhow, so far, the men with big diggers came and dug a funny shaped hole.  Then they put steel around it.  Next is plumbing and electrical (probably so mom and mommy don't have to fill up their water bowl every time it gets empty).  That's happening starting tomorrow.  Mom and Mommy bought these funny get-ups that barely cover their "you know whats" so that they can jump in to their water bowl when its done.  That's crazy, isn't it?

I see some lizards I MUST go chase, so I'll sign off for now, but here are some pics Mom took of the nasty rotten things they said me and my brothers have to wear when their mud bowl is done.  Oh yea, and a few of their mud bowl too.....

How Embarrassing!  We're dogs for dogs sake!

The day the trucks and diggers arrived

One of the two diggers!  I tried to bribe the guy to let me drive it.

More digger action...

The end of Day 1

Me checking out the pawrents new watering bowl

At the end of Day 2

Brother checking out the steel work

Happy Sunday!

Happy Sunday everyone!  

Love, the R-S Kids

My Jammies

I don't know about where you live, but its been feeling mighty chilly around here lately.  I like to wear snuggy jammies to stay warm at night, but I always manage to get my feet stuck, or a leg pops out, or I get them twisted around me, so this weekend, Mommy made me my very own no-tangle jammies.  I sure am glad she is so talented!

Here I am on Sunday morning, just loungin' around with my toys and my big brother!!

Our Feeding Tables

Sorry it's taken so long to post.  Mom and Mommy have been up to their eyeballs with the sale of the Murrieta house.  It was all supposed to be done by now, but one buyer mess after another has brought them to the point of issuing a Demand to Close order to the buyers.  I guess that means that they have to close on the house by Tuesday or my pawrents will cancel the deal.  Just when  thought we were getting a big hole in the ground.....sheez!

Anyhow, my big brother Digby is getting to be an old fart, and my smaller brother Paddy has on-going back and leg problems, so Mom decided to build us all our own feeding tables a few weeks ago!  Yay for us - no more bending down to the ground to eat!

Of course I helped.  I was Mom's right-hand pup!  I helped her cut the wood, sand it down, stain it up,  assemble it, and even helped Mommy make our name tags.  It was alot of fun.  Mom says she wishes she could retire and do this stuff full time.  I would sure like that too!

Here are a few pics of the process...

Just after cutting the wood and assembling

After the third staining

The End Result!

Bye Bye "Other" House....Maybe!

Well, the snow has melted (long ago), and the weather is changing.  Our daytime temps are in the high 70's and low 80's now.  Signs of the destruction from the snow and freezes just a month ago are starting to fade, and I'm helping mommy plan the next series of plantings.  But...before we do that, we have a few other things to take care of.

For those of you who don't know, Mom and Mommy own another house in the area - a place they called home for over 9 years.  They took me to that house once, but we were on a mission, so I didn't get to sniff around much.  My brother Digby lived there - that's the house where Mom and Mommy brought him home to when he joined Prinnie and our family.

In early fall, Mom and Mommy decided to sell that house (after our tenants moved out) so that we could eventually get a swimming pool here.  I don't know what all the fuss about a new pool is, but I think it might help curb the cursing mom does all summer long.  Somehow she thinks that if we have a pool, the weather won't be so hot.   Pawrents!!

Anyhow, the housing market here has been abysmal. Houses like ours that would have sold before even hitting the MLS are staying on the market for months.  That happened with our "other" house.  With the holidays fast approaching, and folks buckling down for the season, there were no offers, and barely a few showings.  Getting past the holidays was key.  Right as we rang in the new year, offers started coming in.  Mom and Mommy decided to accept the 2nd offer in January.  They told me that means we will be giving the house to another couple in hopes they will love it and take care of it as my pawrents did.

That also means that Mom and Mommy are charging full steam ahead with plans for this pool they keep talking about.  They said they are actually gonna pay some guy to come in with a big truck thingy and dig a huge hole in the ground.  Seriously?  They're going to pay someone to do what I can do??  OMD!  (Oh my Dog!)

As we wrap this up, I'm helping Mom and Mommy say goodbye to their first California home....Bye, Bye you wild canary!  Thanks for taking such good care of my family!

It Never Snows in Southern California...or Does It??

The end of 2014 was one for the record books - southern California got socked in by a rare snow storm the eve of New Year's eve.  It started snowing around 10:30, and lasted well into the morning hours, blanketing us with about 5 inches of wet, heavy snow.  We watched it fall, and at first were excited and in awe that it was actually snowing.  Soon, we understood the magnitude of what was happening.  Our palms bent over from the weight of the snow, our plants were covered in frozen slush and in a few short hours, mom would have to make the trek in to San Diego.

It took her 3 hours to go 72 miles.  California drivers are not accustomed to driving in anything other than sunny, dry weather.  Many cars littered the sides of the freeways and local streets - obviously from spinning out in the wee hours of the morning.  All in all, mom was on the road about 5 hours that day, but nothing made me and my brothers happier than when she returned home and our family was whole again.

Here are some pics of the snow....

Welcome to Kagan's Kapers

Happy New Year everyone, and welcome to Kagan's Kapers!

Many of you have asked for a place where you can once again catch up on what's happening with our family, our lives, and our little part of the world, hence the creation of Kagan's Kapers.

Our previous blog, Prinnie's Yaps, is dedicated to our precious little Prinnie who crossed over the rainbow bridge on March 17th, 2014 following a short, but tough, battle with IMHA.  We wanted to keep that space as hers as we start a new chapter in our lives.  She is forever in our hearts, and in one way or another, brought us this feisty, loving little girl named Kagan.

Kagan is a 3 year old papillon mix who we adopted from a local rescue group.  We don't know much about her previous life, other than she had been in one shelter and then another for nearly 3 months. She is sweet, loving, sassy, devilish and a great sister to her brothers Digby and Paddy.

This blog will follow her adventures and those of her family.  We hope you enjoy the journey - it's bound to be a doozy!!