31/Mar/17 ... and it's STILL snowing

Good morning Cape Breton.

Maximus Handsomius here from my forever home.

The Big Guy went outside last night for 2 hours.  He is quite happy that he has a lawn tractor with the snow blower attachment.  But when the snow is wet and heavy, it means that he can't go very fast.  

Then the key wasn't being recognized by his car.  He has a keyless starter in his car.  But he knows a trick to get it to work.  So he is pretty sure, he just needs a new battery to make it work again.  He isn't sure if it's because his jacket got wet from the wet snow that was falling.  He will be seeing how to get a new battery in the key fob today.  Either that, or he is going to borrow Tonya's key for the day.

On top of that, he was kinda upset that his snow brush fell apart when he was taking the snow off the car.  (Lets not mention that the windshield wiper will fall off the control arm if you lift it up.  He knows he has to go get a new set of windshield wipers)

He also posted on the Keto Way Of Eating, that he lost 125 pounds in 2 months.  WOW, what a type-o.  He corrected that.

It just wasn't his day.

On the brighter side.  He did get to spend the ENTIRE day with me yesterday as he got to work from home.

He was telling me that we are going to be doing a post where he is going to give me a treat while in the living room and I have to jump up to get it.  He already posted a picture of him at his heaviest.

Yesterday the Big Guy made a ham.  He tried to make a glaze for the ham.  Well, it didn't exactly turn out the way he was hoping.  Then again, sugar is sugar, and he was trying to use stevia as a replacement.  Tonya said that although it didn't exactly glaze, he did a great job with the ham.

I got to have the ham bone, so I really didn't care less that the glaze didn't really work out for him.

The Big Guy seen that the next door neighbor put out their garbage, but he is wondering if they aren't just going to cancel it for today.  I know if I was a garbage collector, I would be telling the boss man, nope, calling off today.  I am sick.  (Then does a couple fake coughs into the phone)

Bye bye for now.

30/Mar/17 40 cm of snow? WHY?

Good morning Cape Breton.

Maximus Handsomius here from my forever home.

No walks for me last night.  The humans are afraid of a little snow.  OK, so I will give them the fact that the snow is blowing and would get into their eyes and they wouldn't be able to see so well.

Now, today, I don't think that I will be walked as there will be too MUCH snow on the ground.

They did have a gentle winter this year.  Spring, not so much.  Boy oh boy, they are getting it now.

Tonya was doing arts and crafts for work last night.  I NEEDED to help her.  She would keep yelling at me.  I just saw that she was playing with some little letters.  Then I would sniff at the little letters and the wind that would be created from me sniffing, would blow the little letters around.

I was able to blow a couple of the little letters on to the floor and that is where I would gobble them up.  Boy, that would get her attention.  Then it was a game for me.  I would run away from her while she would chase me.  WEEE!

I don't think she is going to do her arts and crafts at home again.

I am kinda upset.  I really can't look out the windows to see outside.  The snow is hitting each window on all 4 sides of the house and then the snow is melting.  So there is water on every window and I really can't see outside that well.

So for those of you living in Cape Breton, hunker down and wait out this storm.  Those of you that live elsewhere, well, you stay safe too.

Bye bye for now.

29/Mar/17 I went for a long walk last night

Good morning Cape Breton.

Maximus Handsomius here from my forever home.

Last night, the Big Guy and Tonya took me for a longer walk.  It was down past the school, then back around to go past St Joseph's church and then back home again.  I was pretty tired when I got home.  I hardly wanted to play at all when I got home.  I got a drink and then plunked myself down and took a nap.

The Big Guy was complaining the whole walk.  He kept loosing his underwear and they would droop down inside his pants.  I think he better be wearing smaller sized underwear when he goes for walks with me.  

Did you know that Tonya is in Onederland...  she is embarrassed to say how much her starting weight is, but I can tell you, she is in the 100's and she says that she will never go back to that weight again.

The Big Guy put some spray on my leash.  He was hoping that if my leash tasted bad, I wouldn't chew on it when we go out for a walk.  Guess what...  it doesn't taste as bad as all of that.  I still bite my leash and pull with all my might.  When we get out of the driveway, I start sniffing around.  So by then, walking me isn't so bad.  I think he was saying something about cayenne pepper.

I got to met another doggie when we were out walking.  He barks a lot.  I was on a strong lead, so he couldn't get close to me at all.  I pulled a little bit to go see him, but the Big Guy convinced me, we should just move on.

I seen another man that gave me treats in the past.  When we walked past his house, so many months ago, I was only small and had my puppy fur.  The man said that I was a bear on a leash.  Well he seen me last night and didn't recognize me.  I am so much bigger now.  He said that he normally carries treats, but didn't have one for me.  Oh well, next time, perhaps he will have one for me.

Bye bye for now.

28/Mar/17 WHAT'S THIS? MORE snow on the way?

Good morning Cape Breton.

Maximus Handsomius here from my forever home.

The Big Guy was telling me that we are expecting snow for tomorrow.  Geesh, this normally means, no walks if there is snow.  Since I pull so much, the Big Guy is afraid that he will fall if he doesn't have proper traction at his feet.  For those of you that never walked a pulling beast of a dog, you will not know what it's like to almost have your arm ripped off your body.

When the Big Guy got home last night, he was massaging his shoulders.  I really should walk next to him.  But if I did, then I wouldn't be able to sniff as much.  When I am outside, I LOVE to sniff stuff.

If I scratched half as much as the Big Guy does, he would be taking me to the Vet, thinking that there is something wrong with me.  You should see, the Big Guy has this scratching stick.  He calls it his back scratcher.  He is using it all the time.  I am pretty sure he doesn't have fleas.  He tells me that it's because of the hard water.  They get that every year around here.  When the water isn't frozen any longer, the water gets soft again and the humans stop scratching as much.

The Big Guy sprayed my leash with after shave last night.  He was hoping that the taste would stop me from chewing on the leash.  Guess what.  Nope.  I was still tugging like a dog possessed.  I thought I heard him saying, he will be using his bitter apple spray next.  Yea, well we will see if that stops me or not.

The Big Guy has found that there is a dog friendly off the leash park.  It is all fenced in.  But it's way over in Sydney.  So that is like a 25 minute drive there and another 25 minutes back again.  But if they wanted to go to the beach, I am sure they would drive that far and even more if they could.  Lucky for them, the beach is actually a lot closer than that.

I heard that my non-furry sister, Linda and her non-furry husband, Gerry, is going to be visiting next month.  This will be the first time that I get to meet them.  I hope they like big dogs.  If they do, then they are going to LOVE me!

Bye bye for now.

27/Mar/17 March came in like a lamb, going out that way too

Good morning Cape Breton.

Maximus Handsomius here from my forever home.

I don't think that I told you, the other day, when we were out for a walk, there is another Bernese Mountain Dog that lives at the corner of Blowers and Pierce.  We often walk right past that place.  Well they also have a doggie that is just like me.  

Do you know what his name is?  I bet you can't guess.  Come on... guess for me...  That's right!  His name is "Max" as well!

Only he is much smaller that I am.  Also, he barks a lot.  I think he is a very nervous doggie.  I heard that he is what they call a "rescue dog" where someone had him as a puppy, but then decided that he wasn't going to live there any longer.

I noticed that he really isn't as big as me.  Then again, he may have smaller parents.  My daddy was a really big boy who weighed 145 pounds.

As we were out walking last night, there was someone that called out to ask if I was a Bernese Mountain Dog.  Of course I am!  Then again, some one asked if I was a St. Bernard one day.  Only cause of my big paws.

I really like to pull on my leash when we go out for a walk.  Yesterday the Big Guy wasn't playing fair.  He was on the dry pavement and he made sure that I was on the ice.  When I was trying to pull, of course my paws were slipping.  But even though I was slipping, I was still able to pull him off balance.

We seen another lady who was out walking her dog.  She introduced us.  Her doggie barked a lot.  I didn't bark at all.  I got to sniff her tail and she didn't like that one bit.  She barked and barked at me.  Not sure that I would like a girlfriend that would bark that much.

Bye bye for now.

26/Mar/17 waiting for my mommy to get home

Good morning Cape Breton.

Maximus Handsomius here from my forever home.

I found out that I can still get traction on ice when the Big Guy is walking me.  When he looses traction, I can take him off balance and make him walk really funny.  He is pretty good though, he doesn't get go of my leash.

Yesterday when I went for my walk, they used a choke collar on me.  I can tell you now, I wasn't choked at all.  It would pull, but I could still pull the Big Guy arm out of it's socket.  When we got home, he said that he got quite the work out on his shoulders.

Tonya wanted an elaborate meal done for supper last night.  The Big Guy did Egg Roll in a Bowl.  She said that he got off easy.

So today, he is going to make some fried chicken.  Of course it will be the Keto way of eating, but none the less, it will be fried.

Tonya's phone got an update yesterday.  When the camera is on, you only need to say, "Cheese" or "Smile" and the phone will take the photo.

There is some snow that is on the roof just outside this window.  I wonder when it's going to fall off the roof?  It make a BIG thump when it hits the ground and will often scare me.

Well the Big Guy has got some boiled eggs on the go for breakfast.  Guess I will go have some kibble.

Bye bye for now.

25/Mar/17 Fe Fi Fo Fum, I can smell BACON

Good morning Cape Breton.

Maximus Handsomius here from my forever home.

Did you see what THEY had for supper last night?  It was a Bacon & Cheeseburger Pie.  My nose works REALLY good and I could smell this cooking.  Did you want to see the recipe?  Click HERE and it will show you how to make it.

Do you know what the Big Guy is cooking for breakfast?  Take a guess...  Bacon, eggs and fried balogna.  He says that he is allowed to eat this cause of the new way of eating he is doing.  But I can't argue success as he is down 23 pounds.

Last night, we went for a walk.  It was cold for the humans, but not so much for me.  I didn't climb as many snow banks.  But I can sniff the other doggie's that have been out for walks too.  They pee on the snow banks.  

Here is some BIG news.  I am lifting my back leg now when I pee.  The Big Guy seems really happy about this.  I have been trying to pee over everything when we are out for walks.  I even try to force a few dribbles on the other doggie's pee places so that they know that I've been there.

It's kinda funny when I am out walking, there is other smaller doggies that are barking in the window.  I look at them as if to say:  Nyea nyea, I'm out walking and you arrrrreeee nooooot...  then I look away.  Yup, keep walking.

Last night we walked 2 blocks.  I knew that the Big Guy was pretty sore in the end.  It wasn't his back like it used to be, but his knee.  But he knows he has to walk.  The further he walks, the more weight he will loose.  The more weight he looses, the less his knee will hurt.

Bye bye for now.

24/Mar/17 Spring, where are you already

Good morning Cape Breton.

Maximus Handsomius here from my forever home.

Wasn't it cold outside yesterday?  When it's -10 in Cape Breton, that's like being -40 out in the Prairies.  It is really cold outside.

I didn't go for a walk yesterday cause there was snow on the sidewalks and it was too cold out for the Big Guy and Tonya.  She came home yesterday and she was cold.  So she got right into her flannel PJ's so that she could warm up.  I guess it's different for humans.  I wear my fur coat year round.

But they know NOT to shave me down in the summer.  I don't feel the heat like they do.  My fur keeps me cool in the summer.  Then again, I will likely find a shady spot and just lay in the shade.  But that is MANY days away from now.

Tonya had ordered something in October of last year and it was finally delivered in the mail yesterday.  She said that for the person that it belongs to, they will have to come here to get it.  It doesn't "work" outside of Cape Breton. Some day, I will be able to take a picture of it.  Tonya is always buying stuff.  She says that the Big Guy can buy stuff too if he wants.  But he doesn't always do that.

She seen a pair of Canadian High Top sneakers.  I bet they taste yummy.  It is a red maple leaf on the side of the sneakers, which really looks like a Canadian Flag on the sneakers.  

This year, Canada is going to be 150 years old.  We can go to the park for free this year.  But there isn't a lot of parks around here.  I can only think of Fortress Louisbourg.

Well, I gotta go outside for a bit.  I don't pee indoors any longer.

Bye bye for now.

23/Mar/17 it's my non-furry Memere's Birthday!

Good morning Cape Breton.

Maximus Handsomius here from my forever home.

If this is a blizzard, I can't wait to see a hurricane.  Then again, I guess it could turn into a blizzard any second now.

But I don't see it happening.

I got to go for another walk last night.  That is the second walk this year.  I REALLY like climbing the snow banks and trying to walk on top of them.  But I tend to fall through the snow and then I am stuck with my legs in the snow and I am up to my belly.  But because I am determined, I just jump my way out.

The Big Guy said that is just like any kid that he knows.  Not happy to just walk on the side walk, but has to climb EVERY snow bank.

I am starting to lift my leg when I pee.  Tonya and the Big Guy were so happy about this.  I think I will lift my leg more often.  I tried to pee on a lot of stuff yesterday while we were out for our walk.  

The Big Guy felt that he could have walked around two blocks, not just the one.  But he said that he doesn't want to push it too hard just yet.  he said that he doesn't want to hurt his knee and then the walks stop again.

During the walk yesterday, I am pretty sure that the Big Guy purposely walked me though the mud.  Tonya didn't like me having mud on my paws.  But then I climbed a few snow banks and my fur was clean again.

Yesterday Tonya shared a meat ball with me.  It was made without bread.  She used smashed up Pork Rinds that was sent to him by his brother that lives in Kingston Ontario.

I wonder if he went to the Costco site, would they have some?  Oh well, next grocery order...

Bye bye for now.

22/Mar/17 open the door, let me in NOW!

Good morning Cape Breton.

Maximus Handsomius here from my forever home.

I will jump on the door to announce that I want to get back in the house.  Tonya doesn't appreciate this very much.  She is always afraid that I am going to break the glass and get hurt.

Yesterday the Big Guy didn't realize that it was freezing rain most of the day.  So that meant that the trees are full of ice.

Now that the snow is frozen, I wonder if the Big Guy is going to get out his snow blower and move some of the snow.  He just looked at the weathernetwork and they seem to be forecasting for a blizzard.  I guess he better get outside and clean up that yard before the blizzard hits.

Here is some pictures of the trees.  If you click on the picture, it will go full screen so that you can see the pictures a lot better.

 You can see the moon, center right

 He tried to get the icicles and the frozen trees

 Now he got the icycles, but no trees

 Different angle on the trees

 Across the street from Jim's house, tree illuminated by the street light

 Front yard tree, you can't see it that much

Isn't it pretty outside?

The snow is SUPER crunchy as it is so frozen.  The Big Guy hopes that the water managed to get to the bottom and is frozen.  But not so frozen that it can't be shoveled and moved by the snow blower.  Otherwise, what a hot mess this is going to be.

The Big Guy tried to open the front door, and it's frozen shut by the snow.  This will HAVE to be fixed.  He can't abide by not having several escape routes.

Bye bye for now.

21/Mar/17 it's freezing rain out, glad my fur is thick

Good morning Cape Breton.

Maximus Handsomius here from my forever home.

No walks yesterday.  But you should see the snow on the deck.  AMAZING!  I can't wait for the fence to get in place.  I will be able to run around the WHOLE YARD having fun in the snow.

See how pretty the trees look?  You can see the tips of the branches are covered in ice.

The freezing rain isn't so bad that it's bending the trees and effecting the power lines.  I would imagine, later on, once the sun comes up, it will look so pretty outside.

One of the staff that works with the Big Guy has left work to go to another job.  Everyone is happy for her.  That means they are down 2 bodies at work.  If you count how many staff they had in the past, they are actually down 3.

They are forecasting for some heavy rain this morning.  You know that ALWAYS makes the Big Guy happy.  Then we are due to get some snow later today.  Not a lot, but just enough to cover up the wet heavy snow.  The Big Guy is hoping that we will get some really warm weather to melt all the snow.

Well, the Big Guy is bugging me to be eat this new kibble.  I can't say that I like it that much.  I know that Tonya doesn't like it cause the pieces are smaller and she says they fall out of the side of my mouth when I have it.  The Big Guy said not to put anything else in with my kibble.  When I am hungry enough, I will eat it.  I wonder how he would like it if he could only eat pickles.  I know he doesn't like pickles.

Do you know what he is going to have for breakfast this morning?  He is going to have ribs!  Then he isn't going to give me any.  This Keto WOE is a weird new thing for him.  But since he is loosing the weight, I can't argue the results.

Bye bye for now.

20/Mar/17 weatherman is suppose to give 8 inches... of snow

Good morning Cape Breton.

Maximus Handsomius here from my forever home.

Yesterday was the first day that I went for a walk in a LONG time.  It was so much fun!  The Big Guy said that it wasn't his back that was sore.  This time it was his shoulders as I was pulling so much.  He wore these really thick work gloves that was hard to feed though the loop on my leash.  But I wasn't able to run away.  They had me on my harness and I didn't try to pop it off my body.

I got a few looks while we were out for my walk.  I guess it's because I am such a big dog.

Tonya did NOT like the fact that I don't mind puddles or the mud.  The Big Guy purposely walked me though the snow to clean off my paws.  I think that Tonya is going to have a bucket ready later on.  This will allow her to clean my paws before I walk into the house.

It is snowing rather hard outside right now.  It is small snow.  Normally small snow means that we get a lot of accumulation.  But it is blowing around a lot.  I have to wonder if the Big Guy should have parked the car further up the driveway instead of the back yard.  Normally there is a large snow drift by his garage.

Oh well, he does have his snow blower if it comes to that.

Once they get their new fence in place, they will be using the front door a lot more.

The Big Guy was drinking on Saturday night and he went above 380.  He isn't upset by that.  He figures this week, he will be down again.  I can't see why he will not be.

Bye bye for now.

19/Mar/17 is it Spring yet?

Good morning Cape Breton.

Maximus Handsomius here from my forever home.

Yesterday was an exciting day.  I got to meet a new person.  His name is Randy and he works with the Big Guy and Tonya.  He came by with his metal detector and was trying to find the buried electrical line.  We're pretty sure we know where it is now.

This is one of those items that would be nice to have, but you wouldn't use it very often.  The next bit will be for the Big Guy to GENTLY dig around where they think that the cable should be.  He said that he is going to get a garden hose to loosen up the earth and then will use a plastic shovel.  He doesn't want to damage the line.

The Big Guy did up the taxes for his brother-in-law.  He is going to be getting some money back.  You can bet he is pretty happy about that.

Then Tonya and the Big Guy put up their new bird feeder.  I don't think it is is it's final spot.  But for now, the birds will be able to get used to it.

The bird feeder is just like Costco, everything is big and over sized there.  It has 3 feeding tubes.  This means that they could have put three different bird seeds in it.  But it was less expensive to buy the one HUGE bag of general bird seed.  They spilt some seed across the deck.  I licked at some of the seed and decided that I am not a bird.

The Big Guy did some ribs yesterday.  I didn't get to have any.  Surprise surprise...  Tonya did give me a rib that I took outside on the deck.

We could be in for a lot of snow tonight and tomorrow.  The Big Guy better go make sure that there is gas in the snow blower for this one last storm.  At least he hopes it will be one last storm.

Bye bye for now.