Happy Birthday Daisy!!

Yep, it’s official – Daisy turned FIVE on Friday! Yes, it was Friday the 13th, but for us, it’s a good luck day because that’s the day that our little sweetie was born. 😀

Daisy the Furry Caterpillar at 2.6 months old.

Daisy got big “good morning” greetings, and she actually seemed extra excited, as if she knew it was a special day. She jumped higher, romped, and did little ram-like jumps over absolutely nothing. 😀

Daisy loves over-the-shoulder hugs!

We started celebrating early with an extra long morning excursion out and about, despite the muddy grounds.

Daffodils should be shooting up in our flower garden, but instead we just have a muddy pool.

We couldn’t wait to give her her present – she de-stuffed poor Pinkie last week, but she loved him so much that we got her Pinkie’s little brother, Baby Blue.

Meet Baby Blue, Pinky’s little brother and Daisy’s new favorite toy.

I love my Baby Blue!

Daisy didn’t let go of Baby Blue all day.

Since one of Daisy’s favorite things is paper bags, we put Baby Blue into a long paper bag, scrunched up the end, and turned her present-opening into a homemade “mental exercise” toy. She had a blast and it took her a little while to figure it out.

Daisy’s day was full of kisses, cuddles and mushies. I think she’s already looking forward to her next birthday!

Daisy gave lots of lovies too!

 

Happy Third Birthday Daisy!

Wheeeee! We’re so excited! Today is Daisy’s third birthday! She’s come a long way from that little tiny puppy

Daisy, 2.6 mos old. We took this photo the first time we saw her. She’d already stolen our hearts.

….who we almost lost to a bad respiratory infection that went undiagnosed by a corporate-chain vet (shame on him for even calling himself a veterinarian), despite our repeated visits to him and telling him of our little 3-month-old puppy’s rapidly-deteriorating condition

i….don’t….feel….good….

….who rallied back once we found our wonderful vet who saved her life, bringing her back from the brink immediately

Thank you Dr. Farber! I’m much better now!

….who then refused to be housebroken for NINE l-o-n-g months

No! I refuse to use that silly wee-wee pad! You can’t make me!

….who destroyed every toy that came in her path, earning herself the title “Destructo-Pup”

Give me 20 minutes and I’ll have this thing gutted.

….who hated summer heat but used to love playing in the snow (and now hates that too)

Daisy racing in the snow last year. One of our friends has nicknamed her “The Blur”. 😀

….who still loves playing in the fall leaves

I love these crunchy leaves!

….who lives for cushy pillow naps

The more pillows the better!

….who loves hiding under the bed when playing “Catch Me If You Can”

HAHA! You can’t catch me!

….whose mischievous side is as funny as it is mischievous

Pfffffffttt…..

….who supports us in all our endeavors, whether she understands them or not

I see what you’re saying here….you’re doing a great job!

….who has brought more laughter, joy, love, affection, and cuddles into our house than we could ever have imagined.

Our sweet baby

Happy birthday to our joy-making little mischief-maker, our sweet little dream girl. 😀

Early Monday Mischief: Mommy Was Born for Mischief!

We’re about to get hit hard with Hurricane Sandy – we’re in the epicenter geographically, so we’re posting on Sunday instead of Monday because there’s every chance we won’t have power for quite some time starting tonight or tomorrow. The storm is starting tonight (Sunday) and lasting through Wednesday morning – we’ve got a  long, scary road ahead of us! If you don’t see us online for a few days, it’s because this so-called “life-threatening Frankenstorm” has taken us down for a while. Good luck to any of our fellow bloggers who are also in the target area of the northeast!

Meanwhile, Daisy is hijacking the blog today.

Hi Blog Buddies! Daisy here. And I’m going to tell you a secret about Mommy today.

My mom really was born for mischief because she was born on Mischief Night! (Tuesday is her birthday, but she won’t let me tell you WHICH birthday it is! Heehee!) How could she doubt I would follow along?! I like to tell her that all my mischief is in honor of her birthday. 😉

Well, I guess her mischievous birthday isn’t really a secret, but did you know that sometimes she gets a mischievous little gleam in her eye? When I see that, I know something’s up, but I never know what it is until it happens.

Like the time she put that Halloween skirt on me.

You’re taking Havachon humiliation to a whole new level….

Or the time she made me wear the “spa bathrobe” after my bath.

This is ridiculous……

Or when she took a picture of me soaking wet after my bath – not a girl’s best look!

This is NOT my best look!

But I know she does these things in good fun, so I go along with it. After all, if I didn’t have a good sense of humor about it, I’d have chewed up her camera by now, right? 😉

We’re part of the Monday Mischief blog hop!

Daisy Turns TWO Today!! :D

Yup, today’s Daisy’s second birthday!! WOOHOOOO! 😀

She sure has come a long way from that little tiny frightened furball we brought home almost two years ago — 2.6 months old and 2.6 pounds….most of which was hair!

Daisy, 5 months old. Just piles of hair and a sweet little face. 🙂

She barely moved around that first day. She stayed underneath the coffee table or slept on my foot…that is, when we weren’t cuddling her….who could resist that tiny little face buried in all that crazy hair!! 😀

Daisy's first day home. She constantly slept on my foot!

Happy Birthday sweet little Daisy! You bring happiness, love, and laughter to us every single day!

YUM!! Birthday cookies!! (What a little character she is!)

A Birthday in the Daisy Family

Taking a brief break from Daisy Doings to share something yummy with you. 🙂

Last week was DD’s birthday, so naturally I made one of her favorite dinners – homemade spaghetti and meatballs. And for her birthday cake, she requested my flourless chocolate cake with chocolate ganache.

Happy Gluten-free Birthday DD! 🙂

I was a culinary maniac for two solid days! 😉

Our little family party was lots of fun, but don’t you just hate it when your birthday falls on a weekday? You still have to work all day and you only have a few hours of party time at night, before you have to start prepping for the next workday. It’s a gyp – I think people should have a paid day off on their birthdays. 🙂

Unfortunately Daisy didn’t get to partake of any birthday goodies. I make meatballs from ground turkey rather than beef, and we all know what happens to Daisy when she gets foul fowl into her tum….. She did get a couple small bits of unsauced pasta, though, which she scarfed down with gusto. In typical Daisy style. 🙂

DD follows a gluten-free diet – she’s got a wheat allergy, as I mentioned in a previous post. I gotta say – with all the choices now in gluten-free dining, she doesn’t miss out on much anymore, and she can eat heartily while still staying a size zero! ::grumblegrumblegrumble::

This cake is decadently rich and incredibly sinful, but worth every bite. Depending on how you serve it – with chocolate ganache, a raspberry sauce, a caramel drizzle, or anything else your heart desires – you change it just enough to make it seem new. You can even make it in small, individual sizes for perfect dinner party servings!

Here’s the simple recipe (I halved it, which is the picture you see):

1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup white sugar
18 squares bittersweet chocolate, 1 oz. each (18 oz. total)
1 cup butter, softened
6 eggs
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease one 10 inch round cake pan and set aside.
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat combine the water, salt and sugar. Stir until completely dissolved and set aside.
3. Either in the top half of a double boiler or in a microwave oven melt the bittersweet chocolate. Pour the chocolate into the bowl of an electric mixer.
4. Cut the butter into pieces and beat the butter into the chocolate, 1 piece at a time. Beat in the hot sugar-water. Slowly beat in the eggs, one at a time.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Put the cake pan in a larger pan filled with boiling water halfway up the sides of the cake pan.
6. Bake cake in the water bath at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 45 minutes. The center will still look wet. Chill cake overnight in the pan. To unmold, dip the bottom of the cake pan in hot water for 10 seconds and invert onto a serving plate.

Personally, this method of removing the finished cake from the cake pan never works for me. It pulls away from the edges by itself, so that’s not a problem, but the bottom tends to stick pretty tight. Next time I’m going to bake it like I bake banana bread – with a single layer of wax paper underneath so it’ll pop out easily and I can just peel the wax paper off. Hopefully that’s the key!

Daisy’s Horoscope!

Strolling through the web, I found a doggy horoscope site. Since Daisy just celebrated her one year birthday on Sunday, March 13, I decided to have a little fun and see how her personality compares against these traits. My comments about how Daisy matches up to her astrological sign are in bold caps:

Baby Daisy, 2 months old, all bones underneath that fur!

Pisces
February 20 – March 20

Sensitive, gentle, intuitive and cuddly – TRUE
Weak-willed, easily led and sulky – Definitely NOT TRUE

LIKES:
…being left alone – NOPE
…lazing and doing nothing in particular – WHEN IT SUITS HER
…learning new tricks – YES

DISLIKES:
…being told off for being naughty – YES, SHE HATES THAT!
…loud noises of any kind – YES, OH YES!
…not having somewhere comfy to sleep at night – DON’T KNOW, FORTUNATELY SHE’S ALWAYS HAD A COMFY PLACE TO SLEEP!

Piscean dogs possess a gentle, patient and lovable nature. YES

One year old Daisy, the crazy, silly, toy-destroying, risk-taking, rule-defying nut we love with all our hearts.

They have many generous qualities and are friendly, good natured, sensitive to the feelings of those around them, and respond with constant tail-wagging whenever they are called. ABSOLUTELY YES!

They are deservedly popular with all kinds of people and other dogs, partly because their easygoing, affectionate, submissive natures offer no threat or challenge to neither man or dog. EASYGOING, AFFECTIONATE – YES. SUBMISSIVE – UHHH, NO. DAISY WILL STAND HER GROUND WITH ANYONE, BE IT MAN OR BEAST!

They tend to just drift along from day to day accepting their world around them and the circumstances in which they find themselves and will just patiently wait for what they want rather than taking the initiative to annoy their owners for it. NOT REALLY – DAISY HAS PLENTY OF INITIATIVE AND DOESN’T MIND ANNOYING US AT ALL! LOL OTHERWISE SHE’S VERY ACCEPTING OF NEW PLACES AND NEW PEOPLE.

They long to be recognized and dislike discipline and confinement. DAISY LOVES TINY, CONFINED PLACES – THE SMALLER, THE BETTER – BUT THE OTHER TWO ARE RIGHT ON THE MARK.

As they are also versatile and intuitive, have quick understanding, observe and listen well, they are receptive to anything new. DEFINITELY.

Intensely loyal, these dogs will always remain a faithful and dedicated companion to their owner. LET’S HOPE SO!

Because of their sensitive nature, Piscean dogs tend to suffer from various forms of skin disease, inflammations, foot disorders and lameness. LET’S HOPE NOT!

So some of these are right, others are way off the mark. Pretty standard for horoscopes, I think! What about your dog – does he/she seem to possess the characteristics of his/her astrological sign?

Strolling through the web, I found a doggy horoscope site. Since Daisy just celebrated her one year birthday on Sunday, March 13, I decided to have a little fun and see how her personality compares against these traits. My comments about how Daisy’s personality compares are in bold caps:

Pisces
February 20 – March 20

Sensitive, gentle, intuitive and cuddly – TRUE

Weak-willed, easily led and sulky – Definitely NOT TRUE

LIKES:

being left alone – NOPE
lazing and doing nothing in particular – WHEN IT SUITS HER

learning new tricks – YES

DISLIKES:

being told off for being naughty – YES, SHE HATES THAT!
loud noises of any kind – YES, OH YES!
not having somewhere comfy to sleep at night – Don’t know, she’s always had a comfy place to sleep!

Piscean dogs possess a gentle, patient and lovable nature. YES

They have many generous qualities and are friendly, good natured, sensitive to the feelings of those around them, and respond with constant tail-wagging whenever they are called. ABSOLUTELY YES!

They are deservedly popular with all kinds of people and other dogs, partly because their easygoing, affectionate, submissive natures offer no threat or challenge to neither man or dog.EASYGOING, AFFECTIONATE – YES. SUBMISSIVE – UHHHHH, NO. DAISY WILL STAND HER GROUND WITH ANYONE, BE IT MAN OR BEAST!

They tend to just drift along from day to day accepting their world around them and the circumstances in which they find themselves and will just patiently wait for what they want rather than taking the initiative to annoy their owners for it. NOT REALLY – DAISY HAS PLENTY OF INITIATIVE AND DOESN’T MIND ANNOYING US AT ALL! LOL OTHERWISE SHE’S VERY ACCEPTING OF NEW PLACES AND NEW PEOPLE.

They long to be recognized and dislike discipline and confinement. DAISY LOVES TINY, CONFINED PLACES – THE SMALLER, THE BETTER – BUT THE OTHER TWO ARE RIGHT ON THE MARK.

As they are also versatile and intuitive, have quick understanding, observe and listen well, they are receptive to anything new. DEFINITELY.

Intensely loyal, these dogs will always remain a faithful and dedicated companion to their owner.LET’S HOPE SO!

Because of their sensitive nature, Piscean dogs tend to suffer from various forms of skin disease, inflammations, foot disorders and lameness. LET’S HOPE NOT!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAISY! One Year Old Yesterday!

Yes, our little Daisy crossed the milestone birthday yesterday that propelled her from Puppy Daisy to Doggy Daisy. 🙂 Just look at how much she’s grown and changed – although she still LOVES curling up on our feet!

The first photo we took of Daisy when we brought her home. She immediately curled up on my foot!

What a big girl she is now!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We celebrated by having a spa day at home. One of my friends gave Daisy a soft pink hooded bathrobe for Christmas, which almost matches DD’s robe (minus the hood).

So after a nice long walk, Daisy was treated to a lovely warm bath that gave her that sweet flowery scent we love so much. Then we put her little pink robe on her….and immediately started snapping pictures.

You all know how much Daisy hates hoods – they paralyze her with shame. LOL So what else were we to do but take pictures??!!

Not another hood!

🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What was of the greatest surprise to us was that once we took the hood off, she wore that robe for hours and never once tried to wrestle it off!

Her birthday was a day of cuddles and cookies; so much cuddling and petting that I guess you could put it into the “massage” category just to round out the spa theme. 😉

Today she’s full of energy and mischief. That’s what we get for all that pampering!

Daisy may have officially reached dog-hood, but she’ll always be a puppy to us.