Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and delicate flower lovers!  I have this beautiful lipstick red flower vine that has taken forever to grow!  I water it like mad and it is in a spot it clearly loves but not until last week did it take hold.  I though the dang thing was dead.  I almost pulled it out.

But here we have the Mayor showcasing it’s location.  It starts near the bottom of the umbrella table.

It has a delicate smell which Burger Boy is clearly enjoying…

OMDog…Do we have a money shot of all the delicate flowers?

Thank goodness I didn’t uproot the beauty.

More being patient later…Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma ATB

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Base Ball Lovers.  I was sniffing out the basset hounds wires this morning and came upon this story.  I really enjoyed it.

From Baltimore Sun Magazine: Q&A: Orioles manager Buck Showalter

Scowling Buck Showalter has soft spot for Sader, Webster, Jasper and Opie

Orioles manager Buck Showalter and his basset hounds Sader (left) and Jasper. (Lloyd Fox, Baltimore Sun Photo / August 29, 2012)

Buck Showalter means business. As manager of the Orioles, Showalter has brought a shot of mojo to a moribund baseball team, thanks in no small part to his grim determination to win. In photos, his facial expressions usually range from “quasi-stern” to “full-on scowl.”

But Showalter, 56, does have a soft side for Sader, Webster, Jasper and Opie — four floppy-eared basset hounds he and his wife, Angela, shuttle between their countryside home in northern Baltimore County and their off-season house in Texas.

When Showalter’s lounging at home, each dog takes a turn napping on his lap. He even keeps “animal crackers” in his office for them.

“I like to kid myself that they come to visit me,” he said. “They act like they respond to commands, but they respond to cookies.”

Get Showalter talking about those dogs, and his piercing brown eyes start to relax. For a moment, the Texas tough guy drops his guard, and you see the real Showalter: a down-home husband who loves his hounds — and baseball too.

Why basset hounds?

Why not? There’s a story behind each one. [Opie] was a show dog. Its grandmother or something was a Westminster dog show finalist in the hound group, and my wife was going to show him.

(Opie) Lloyd Fox Baltimore Sun

We were getting ready to leave this lady’s home — the farmhouse where she had these bassets. We’d driven about two hours from Dallas to get there, to Big Sandy, Texas. We were getting ready to leave, and the brothers [Jasper and Opie] were saying goodbye to each other. Everybody was in tears.

Jasper (Lloyd Fox Baltimore Sun)

Finally, I said, ‘All right. Just go get the brother.’ So we ended up with [Jasper], too. He couldn’t show because he had a deformity in his hips. He was the prettiest dog they had, but he had a slight cut in the womb. He looks like he’s bowlegged. So we couldn’t show him.

Do you come home, pick the dogs up and give them a big kiss on the mouth?

Depends on whether we’ve won or lost.

They like it up there in the county?

The scents of living out in the country like we do, it drives ’em crazy, really. Gets ’em active. … I think the bloodhound has the No. 1 nose, and basset hounds are No. 2. I can open up a can of tuna fish on the other side of the house and these dogs just light up.

Every emotion they’re feeling is evident. They don’t get rattled too much. They’re a calming influence on everybody around them.

They can sleep at the drop of a hat. They can fall asleep in 20 seconds. Carrying that skin and ears around all day, it tires you out.

Some people would say that you don’t get rattled that often either.

Oh, I wouldn’t say that. It makes me feel a little better when I’m gone — that they’re there.

In photos, you look like a serious guy.

I don’t take myself nearly as seriously as people may think, but I do take the game seriously. I have three to four belly laughs here every day. You can’t do this seven days a week for eight months for 30 years and take yourself seriously. I mean, we’re playing a kids’ game. It’s an honor every day to be able to do this.

Do you have a pre-game ritual?

Coffee. I have a percolator back there. Nowadays — it’s our society — they shoot the water through it one time and you get it in 30 seconds. I’ve got an old-fashioned percolator [in my office]. It takes about 15 minutes to keep shooting the water back through the coffee grinds. People come from all over the stadium to get a cup.

Do you feel like Baltimore wants to believe in the Orioles?

No doubt. But we can’t go out there and say, ‘Gosh, we only had X number of people there tonight.’ When you’ve had the struggles we’ve had, you’ve got to earn your way back into the dance.

sam.sessa@baltsun.com

End of article –

Wasn’t that fun?  I love hearing about hounds making the news!

The Baltimore Orioles are my favorite team now!  I have never had a favorite team!

Go Orioles!

More loving baseball later…..Cat, Chaps and Emma ATB

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and a Message From Your Mayor Lovers….

“With the Holiday weekend over I would like to wish everyone a nice short work week.  I am feeling really good and actually the rain storm that Mommy called a deluge did not affect me last night.  Paws crossed the acupuncture is working.  Also, Dr. Leick said that my infection, that my Mom thought came from a needle, was not the case.  It was no where near an insertion point.  We all think I bumped a callous on my ankle and it was just not related.

Also, I would like to alert the residents that Bumper is in the running for a month on the Senior Hounds Abound 2013 calendar. There will be more to come about this very soon.  The voting is going on right now and Bumper will need our votes.  Remember, all money goes to Sr. Hounds Abound as this is their largest fundraiser for the year.

Here is Bumper at a bassethoundtown walking club event last year.  Darling…

Well, I am your very tired Mayor and will be signing off for now.

Sleep tight and greet the week with glee…just like me!  hehehe”

More messages later…Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma ATB

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Howllo Fellow Basset Hound and Memory Foam Lovers.  Well…we are a fan of Memory Foam!

The Mayor and I have a memory foam bed.  We just love it.  It feels good on the aging bones.

This morning the Mayor lingered as I made his low salt turkey with low salt turkey broth breakfast.  I mix in some kibble.  He loves it and looks forward to it.  We love being able to treat him with extras since Emma has passed away.  The Mayor had to follow her diet for the most part which was pretty bland.  Dr. Leick suggested the Turkey which is a cooling food.  Chaps has a heavy coat and tends to be on the warm side.  It makes perfect sense.

After breakfast we drove to the park.  Look at the giant beautiful tree we park under.  Just stunning.

If you click on the picture you can see our big boy in the back of the basset hauling vehicle.

Since the weather has been so brutal we only go for short walks.  Chaps does so good.

IMG_3108 (small 5 sec video clip)

Now back to the memory foam!

Look at these memory foam bath matts we bought for the Basset Hauling Vehicle.  The Mayor seems to love them!

We bought them at Krogers and they were on sale for 20 bucks a piece.  Still a bit pricy but we are in the BHV enough that it is necessary.  He loves them.

It’s the little things in life that make a big difference!

More cooling foods and memory foam later…Love, Cat, Chaps and Emma ATB

PS – no jolting episodes for the last 2 days.  I am just overwhelmed with joy!

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