Monday, Nov.29



Wow, it seems like we just got home, and a whole bunch of stuff has happened. I don't know where to start. There was a lot of excitement and rushing around last Thursday, and it turned out we were waiting for Nancy to arrive on Friday. So she did, and that was great, and we told her all about our trip and everything. Then Saturday John and Betty arrived too. I hadn't seen them since last Spring, so we had a lot to tell them about. They were sleeping in the guest bedroom downstairs, so that every time they opened the door I could dash in and grab a sock or something and take it under the bed. Except I don't quite fit under the foot of the bed anymore (all those Tacos, you know) and sometimes got stuck. But it was all good fun.



When we got home we discovered that lake levels were low enough that we had a huge beach in front of our house, so I have been for some great runs along the beach with the whole family. This morning John and Betty and Nancy all left, and then it started to snow. I had forgotten snow. It is really great stuff. TBC and I went out as usual to get the mail, and I was running around and around him in circles, burying my nose in the snow. It also sort of changes the way things look outside the window, so I had to keep barking at funny white shapes outside.



Speaking of barking at things, it was Betty's birthday on Saturday, and Margi and Nancy blew up a bunch of balloons and tacked them up in the dining room. Some of them fell down while they were being put up, so I got to play with those, but today I got to play with all the rest. I am learning to grab them by the string and run around with them flying behind me. They don't last very long, since they tend to go pop and disappear, but that's fun too.



Then there was a big herd of Canada Geese which started to invade the mouth of the creek, and they had to be barked off. So I have been really busy ever since we got home. Tomorrow we are going up to visit Devil and Janine, and then to another dog show. Wow, what a life, Eh?



Nov. 30, 1999



Up to the Jansoo's this evening. I got to play with all their dogs, but mostly Devil, who is my best friend. Devil is looking a bit like a dust mop these days. He bounces when he moves. If they connected a broom handle to him, I could chase him across the floor. He isn't going to be in the dog show in Brantford, and neither is Kieren, the dog I placed above twice at the London show, because they both have their championships. Instead, I will be competing against two puppies that I haven't seen before, Bear and Potsy. So I had to be groomed when I would really have sooner been playing with Devil, but Janine gave me some good tasting booze to ease the psychological trauma.



Saturday, December 4



Man, I love dog shows.



Friday afternoon as soon as Margi got home from her piping lesson we all piled into the car and took off for Brantford. We checked into a nice Comfort Inn, parking next to a van filled with dog treats and toys and leads and stuff, and then found the show and set up my grooming table and walked around a bit. Back at the motel, we started getting ready for dinner. Margi was using some cologne, and I started sneezing. I sneezed 42 times in a row. Eventually I stopped and we went out for dinner. I had to wait in the car of course, because it was a really fancy restaurant, but I can always watch people coming and going from the rear window.



This morning I was awake early and was playing around because I knew we were going to a show, which we did. We were right in the middle of a big clump of cairn terriers and their owners, and it's always fun to wag your tail at everybody. Later there were a couple of cairn terrier fights, which were pretty exciting. The ring had all sorts of good stuff scattered on the mats, so I did my vacuum cleaner act. The judge must have really appreciated this, because she asked Margi to take me around about 4 times - and then she placed me last. Well, what can you do?



You can start by not doing your " vacuum cleaner act", you wretched little terrier.



Oh alright. But when there is all that good stuff in the ring, I don't see why I shouldn't snarf it up

As i was saying, then we came home and spent the afternoon messing about in the garden and putting up outside Christmas lights, and now I am writing my web page, and then TBC will light a fire in the fireplace, and I will lie in front of it and rest up for our usual big Saturday night dinner. Then tomorrow we go back to Brantford and do everything again. Sweet nectar of youth.



Sunday, December 6



Back in Brantford, we went to see the Bell Homestead before the show. Or at least TBC and Margi did. You know who had to be content with a short walk around the grounds. Then back to the show. I beat Bear for Winners's Dog, and Dapper Dan to get Best of Breed. And you know what they gave me? A crystal seagull. I don't like to be ungrateful, but Bloody Caterwauling Cats, what's a cairn terrier supposed to do with a crystal seagull? Remember the basket of balls I won at the show in Toronto last Spring? Now there was a prize worth winning. Anyway, TBC and Margi were really pleased. The next show is in January in London.



Wednesday, Dec. 15



I am afraid I have been neglecting my web site, but it's a busy time of year. We have been out shopping just about every day. We are waiting until Nancy arrives on Saturday to get a Christmas tree and get up our decorations inside, but the outside of the house looks pretty good. It is hard to remember 12 months ago when I was a very small dog, and had no idea what Christmas was all about. I was reading over some of my early web page entries yesterday. I didn't even know what waves were. Speaking of which, we have a huge beach this year. I have been down for a run several times with TBC or Margi. They take my lead off, since there is no place to go unless I want to start swimming to Cleveland, but I always hate to come back up to the house. TBC sometimes gets a bit mad at me, because I love digging in the sand and wading in the lake, and racing at top speed with my ears back along the smooth sand where the waves wash in.

I am giving my first formal dinner party Sunday night. Ron and Janine are coming over with Devil (I think). So I have been burying biscuits for him to share while the others are eating in the dining room. I will let you know how it goes.

 Friday, Dec. 17



HAPPY BIRTHDAY

NANCY



Twenty One is really incredibly old. I can't imagine ever being that old.



Can't wait to see you tomorrow. I am sorry about the tooth marks on that one present. I was being really careful with it, and then TBC and Margi started chasing me, and you know what fun that is, and well, there you are.



I am a little bit disgruntled, because Margi and TBC keep going out to parties and leaving me home alone. At least they don't shut me in the laundry room anymore, but then they come home and tell me that the hostess said, "Oh, you should have brought Hamish". As if a cairn terrier was a bleeding cat licking afterthought or something. Bloody well time you got home and straightened things out, Nancy.



Saturday, Dec. 18



Now that Nancy is here - well almost here, we are going up to London to meet her train in a few minutes- I can tell you that I was a pretty sick little doggy last week. I didn't want to worry her at the time when she was in the middle of exams, but I thought I wasn't long for this world. It started 3 or 4 days after the Brantford show. A very severe cough and repeated sneezing. I did not feel well and was sure it was a case of the dreaded Kennel Cough. TBC minimized the problem, saying that my lungs were clear and my ears were cold. My ears were cold? Is that what they taught him in medical school? You check somebodies temperature by feeling their ears? He also claimed I only started coughing when we went out for walks and pulled on my lead, but I still think he should have taken me in to see the vet. I'm sure she would have at least put me on powerful antibiotics. Probably the only reason I didn't have a raging fever was because I kept going wading in the lake to reduce my core temperature so that I wouldn't start having seizures, which I might have done if I were a less medically sophisticated dog. Kennel Cough can be a very dangerous and sometimes fatal illness if not properly treated, and TBC should have taken my symptoms much more seriously. On Monday of this week we got an emergency e mail from Janine warning that there had been an epidemic of tracheo bronchitis (that sounds better than Kennel Cough, don't you think?) among dogs who had been at the Brantford show. But by then it was too late because all my symptoms had cleared up. So it was really a very very narrow escape. Probably the only reason that my infection wasn't fatal was because I had been vaccinated.



Most of the above is pure bullshit. What did I do to deserve a neurotic dog? -TBC



Anyway, as I say, I have been free of symptoms for a week, and am back to being my usual ebullient self. TBC was making a cheesecake this morning for Sunday night and he let me help him. It is really good. I got to lick up the stuff up that he spilled on the floor, and to clean out the cream cheese containers and things like that. If Devil and I plan it right on Sunday, mounting a sneak attack from two directions, we might get to eat the whole thing. Yeah, and then you would both be "sick little doggies".



Gotta go. Time to meet Nancy's train.



Tuesday, Dec. 21



Christmas is going well. Nancy arrived on Saturday, and we all went up to meet her train. I didn't recognize the parking lot we stopped in, and thought TBC and Margi were doing some shopping. I was in the car, where I couldn't smell or hear what was going on outside, and they came back with this other person. I got up and started wagging my tail. Then I suddenly recognized Nancy, and went berserk. People always like it when you recognize them and go berserk. So that was good, and we all came back and had a big birthday celebration for Nancy. TBC gave her a new camera, and you will hear more about that in a minute.



Sunday was a big day. We went out and bought a Christmas tree. I had forgotten about Christmas trees. It is a tree that you go and buy and then you put it up in your living room and hang things on it but you aren't allowed to pee on it. Weird.



So we got the tree all decorated and put some cedar garlands up in the rest of the house, and then the Jansoos arrived for dinner. I was disappointed that they didn't bring Devil, but I always enjoy playing with Ron and Janine, which I got to do before dinner. I was reasonably well behaved during dinner, even if I didn't get any more of that cheesecake of TBCs.
 

Monday all three of us went out shopping for John and Rob, but I'm not allowed to talk about that just in case they read my web page, and we watched a Muppett movie that Nancy received for her birthday.
 

Friday, December 24



Everything is ready. All the decorations are up, and the floor under the tree is piled high with presents. There are even some there for me. It is snowing gently outside. Tiny white flakes which are just starting to cover the ground.



The turkey is in the oven and starting to smell good. I bet I will get some of it too, because after all it is Christmas and we all have to be grateful about how lucky we are. I mean, how can a cairn terrier be grateful if the house smells of turkey and stuffing and he isn't getting any of it? Yeah, I'm sure I will get some. So the only thing left to do is to wish all my friends a very

 Merry Christmas !



 Sunday, Dec. 26



The presents are the best. We all got to open our own, and I got about 4 bags of gourmet dog biscuits. I ate as many as I could, and then started burying the rest around the living room. TBC gave me a plush toy bone with a squeaker inside which I really like.



After we had opened our presents we went skating. I wasn't supposed to get out of the car, but did, and went racing across the ice of the pond that we were going to go skating on. It was pretty exciting until TBC caught me. Then I had to sit in the car and watch. After that, we came home, and went for a run on our beach. There was a real gale blowing off the lake, with chunks of ice blowing ashore as the waves crashed against the sand. The ice was piling up in ice dunes which I could climb, and stare out at the lake, looking totally fearless and intrepid as the wind whistled around my ears. Then back for a reprise of last night's turkey dinner. After dinner TBC and Margi and Nancy sat on the couch and watched a movie called "You have Mail" while I played with my new plush bone in front of the fire.



Rob and John and Betty arrive today, and there will be more presents and more feasting.



Thursday, Dec. 30



Well, Nancy and Rob have gone to Vancouver for New Years, and John and Betty have gone back to Ottawa, and things have started to settle down, but it sure was an exciting few days.



We all stayed up late Sunday night talking, and exchanged a bunch more presents, and then Monday we went skating again. Luckily, Rob hadn't brought his skates, so he and I ran around the pond and the rest of the park while Betty took videos of me with her new video camera. That was fun. And I got another present, a sort of vinyl tunnel thing which you can walk through, but I can't figure out why you would want to. It is fun to attack from the outside though, because it tries to roll away from you when you jump on it. Betty took a bunch more pictures of me doing that, which we watched later on TV. TBC couldn't figure out why I was barking at myself on TV, when I don't bark at any other dogs unless they bark first. I wasn't barking at myself, of course, I was barking at the vinyl tunnel thing. TBC got another computer game (Amerzone) which will mean long boring hours in front of the computer. Sigh. Betty and John kept forgetting to close the door of the guest bedroom, so I kept running in and stealing socks and things, which is always really fun.



On Tuesday we went in to see Dr. Yett for my annual shots. She agrees that I had probably had a mild case of Kennel Cough 3 weeks ago, and squirted some virus up my nose so it wouldn't happen again, at least not for awhile, probably. Don't you love how exact medical science is?

Did I tell you that TBC got a video cam which sits on top of his computer for Christmas? Here is a picture of me sitting at the keyboard, making sure that TBC types what I tell him to, and making sure that he doesn't add any of his bloody editorial comments.





Have to go now, because TBC wants to go for a walk on the beach. Ice dunes have formed and we have to check them out. Happy New Year everybody. I am going to Mrs. Eveland's to party.



Monday, January 3, 2000



I feel like a bloody Chihuahua today. Margi spent 3 hours last night stripping me! She set up my grooming table in front of the TV set and just kept plucking and plucking and plucking. When she finished there was more of me in the waste basket than there was standing on the grooming table. I think this means we must be getting ready for the London dog show.



To backtrack a bit, I had a good New Year's Eve at Mrs E's. She had a white boxer staying with her, and the boxer and I spent most of the time playing with each other. The boxer kept slobbering on me, but that's what boxers do (slobber, I mean), and I didn't really mind. TBC says I smelled like Oven Off when I got home, but he smelled like cats. Visiting the Waddells, you know.



So I haven't done much but sleep for the last couple of days. It has been dull and rainy, and the ice dunes have melted.



Saturday, January 8



There is a problem Nancy. It sort of involves that Rhythmstick CD that you gave TBC for Christmas, I think, and the magic window, and I'm confused. I had better explain about the window to other readers of this page. By the way, have you noticed TBC's futile attempts to set up a page counter? Needless to say, they're not working. But that's what all the funny looking code which keeps appearing and disappearing at the top of the page is all about. One of these years he may get it right. But to get back to the window. It is in the south wall of what TBC, in a fit of sixties recidivism like to call the Conversation Pit. It is beside the fireplace, and looks out on the garden beside my chicken coop. Which I should stop calling my chicken coop, because TBC took down the chicken wire several months ago when I got too big to squeeze between the pickets in the fence. So, there is this window which TBC can make appear and disappear by making a few passes with a magic wand which he keeps beside the sofa and which I am not allowed to chew on. Ever. Once in a while dogs and other interesting creatures appear in the window, and I will bark at them, but by the time I get out to my chicken coop they are no longer there. So that's the first thing I don't understand. But this evening TBC put on the CD you gave him for Christmas, and right at the start was what I think was a Hyena barking outside the magic window, but the magic window wasn't there, and when I went outside to bark back at the Hyena, it wasn't there, just like the things in the magic window aren't. If anybody can shed any light on this, I wouldl be pleased to hear an explanation.



In other news, Margi bought me a package of balloons yesterday. I do love balloons. And TBC got a new 8GB hard drive to store all the pictures of me. If my web page gets screwed up, you will know why.



Wednesday, January 12



TBC says my problem is that I have no sense of guilt. He attributes this to my lack of religious upbringing, and is threatening to send me to the Jesuits. I don't exactly understand what this means, but it no doubt has something to do with this great run I took earlier today.



The electrical inspector arrived unexpectedly about noon. Usually when somebody arrives at the door I run up and greet them, but I figured TBC wouldn't want to welcome the electrical inspector that warmly, considering all the messing about he (TBC) has done with the wiring in the basement, so I ran past the inspector and out the door. It was a beautiful day for a run. I took off for the corner at top speed. I can run about twice as fast as TBC, but he followed me, yelling inappropriate things like "Hamish, come" and "Sit", and "Down". As if. We got to the corner, and I figured TBC might like to run over the hill to go to the village and get another newspaper or something. Instead he turned around and started for home. At that point I sort of stopped running up the hill, but then I saw a squirrel, and chased it up a tree, and that's when TBC grabbed me and carried me home. It was a great run, though.



Then this evening Margi was out at band practice, and TBC forgot to push in one of the dining room table chairs. Unfortunately he walked into the room just as I had started to get stuff off the table for him.



Saturday, January 15



Two great dog shows. I didn't win anything, but I got to meet a lot of my friends, and met some new puppies, and persuaded several people that they should buy cairns. Everybody said how good I looked and how well behaved I was in the ring. If the judge (a Mr. Reynolds) had been a foot shorter he might have been able to see me better. Maybe its time they split off Giant Cairns as a separate breed. Just kidding. I may be developing a Napoleon complex.



In other news, snow has finally arrived. I had forgotten how much I liked snow. Even though I love dog shows, I kept trying to persuade TBC to take me out and snuffle around in it Yesterday before going to the show I dug up a poosicle in my chicken coop, and had a great time tossing it up in the air and burying it in the snow.



I am going to bed early tonight, since we were up before dawn this morning and we have another show tomorrow. TBC complains inordinately when he has to get up early, and I am not real crazy about it either. He was a bit peevish when I tried to go back to sleep on his pillow this morning.



Sunday. January 16



Another good show. This time we had a more discerning judge, who was a normal size, like TBC. I beat the American dogs, taking Best of Winners, and got a purple and gold ribbon, which I have never won before. Margi says I am behaving a lot more confidently in the ring. Like at one point my ear got itchy so I sat down and scratched it. Then a little bit later, the judge was staring at me when I was supposed to start walking down the middle of the ring, so I turned around and sat down and stared back at him. Napoleon always used to keep one hand in his jacket. Or was that Nelson? No, I think it was Napoleon. Maybe I will start walking on 3 legs when I am in the ring.

Afterwards, the American dogs all left, and Honalee and Ceilidh and I hung around together and just enjoyed ourselves. A lot of blowing snow on the way home. I saw three cars in the ditch.



Saturday, January 22



A good week, not doing much of anything. We were out for a nice ski along the beach on Friday. I kept running around TBC in circles, and getting all tangled up. I do love going for walks at this time of year, and burying my nose in the snow. Sleeping in front of the fire is pretty good too. Margi has been gone all day because she is piping in a Robbie Burns Day concert.



Wednesday, January 26



I just don't think it's fair. I mean , what is a dogs should be a dogs, right? I don't go stealing Margi's stuff. Well, sometimes I do, actually, but she has a lot more stuff than I do. What do I have to call my own? There is my sheep, which I haven't seen for a long time, come to think of it. Not since the last time I disemboweled it. And there is my blanket, which is more of a placemat, but I've had it ever since I was a little puppy, and I just like carrying it around. Every time Margi washes the kitchen floor, which isn't very often, she thinks she can use my blanket to put her bucket of dirty water on. And I don't think that's fair, so I try to get my blanket out from under the bucket and then Margi gets mad at me.



People get mad at me all the time, even when I am trying to do something nice. Like yesterday, one of TBC's friends, Tom Gilbert, came over to show him a map, and Tom left his shoes in the vestibule, so while TBC and he were looking at the map, I carried his shoes (very quietly - I am really good at carrying shoes very quietly) into the guest bedroom, and then to be really nice I put my favourite bone inside his shoe. Was that anything to get mad at me for? To be honest, I think TBC was just pretending to be mad for Tom's sake.



On Monday we were out to do some Skijoring on the golf course. TBC says you can't really call it skijoring because I don't have a proper harness, like the dogs in Alaska, and I am not big enough, but I don't think that should be a criterion. It was fun anyway.



Nancy is coming down for the weekend, and we are going to have a big mid winter party for a whole bunch of friends and neighbours. Bet I can con everyone into feeding me.



Sunday, January 30



Boy, am I a pooped puppy tonight. Parties are really exhausting. You don't get fed all the stuff I did last night without really working at it. And then you have to run around and greet everybody, and tear back and forth to demonstrate what an active terrier you are, and of course avoid TBC and Margi who might rudely tell the guests to stop feeding you. And then today, we went for a long walk on the beach with Nancy, and stopped in to see the new house which some friends of ours are building.



When we got home this afternoon from putting Nancy on the train back to Kingston, I crawled into my old puppy crate and just collapsed..



We have quite a bit of snow now, but there is a small patch of open water on the creek below my chicken coop. During the weekend, a huge hawk killed a Canada Goose on the ice, and spent about an hour tearing it apart and eating it. Pretty scary stuff. I keep a wary eye on the sky.

In other news, TBC has finally ordered the digital camera which he has been talking about buying for the past year. So expect some great pictures. It should arrive in about a week.



Friday, Feb. 4



Went for a great cross country ski earlier this week at the Tom Patterson conservation area and I met a nice Labrador.







Tuesday, Feb. 15



Back from another exciting show weekend. Talk about how to meet chicks!



People probably want to know how I placed, so let me get that out of the way, and then I can tell you about the important stuff. It was really me and Bear competing for points. Bear beat me in Brantford, then I beat him, then on Saturday he beat me, and on Sunday I beat him and on Monday he beat me. So that all seems pretty fair.



I hadn't really realized we were going to a show until Friday at noon when TBC went into the laundry room and started packing my grooming table. As soon as I saw him I knew what was up and got really excited and started jumping around and everything. We drove to Toronto and found the Markham fair grounds, and got set up and walked around a bit, and the went back to the Comfort Inn where we had stayed before. I kept looking for Devil and Ceilidh, who never showed up, but there was a 4 month old Westie puppy in the room next to us who was really cute, so I got to meet her, and a couple of Shelties who ran over to our patio door to say Hello.



Saturday, back at the show site, I met a really neat girl who could sit up and beg. I wanted to play with her, but she didn't seem terribly interested. I didn't even find out her name. She was just visiting the show, but her owner's were telling TBC about her sitting up and begging in the ring.



Apparently she had won 6 Best of Breeds in a row when she was still a puppy. Wow! There was also a cute looking little bitch there by the name of Jade, who was Bear's sister. She actually beat me for Best of Winners the next day. The show was really really crowded. At one point when I wanted to watch what was going on in Group, I had to push my way between about 3 sets of people's legs, and then TBC had to apologetically extract me from the throng.



After the show, we went over to visit Bob. I had to stay in the car because he has this old arthritic cat called Burt. Not that I would have hurt the stupid cat, but there you are. It was a fairly cold weekend, so they kept leaving me in my crate in the car with a blanket over it. Not as interesting as lying in the back window, but it was cosy, and I was pretty tired after all the excitement of the shows.



Sunday we got to sleep in a bit and then back to the show where I won my Winner's Dog ribbon. I was sitting on my grooming table waiting for things to get under way when Nancy and Rob suddenly showed up, which was pretty exciting. As soon as I was finished in the ring we all drove down to the ROM for a special exhibit of ancient Egyptian art, but I had to stay in the parking garage again. Lucky they didn't get cursed by Horus for dog abandonment. Driving back to the motel through a bit of a blizzard I watched a car spin out in front of us. We persuaded Nancy and Rob to stay overnight, so we had a great evening playing in the motel room. Margi had bought me a stuffed toy which sounded like a train engine when you bit it.



Monday morning Nancy and Rob left. There weren't many people at the show because of the snow. Halo and Mrs. K were supposed to be there, and Honalee, but they couldn't make it through the snow. Robyn, a new bitch who I hadn't met before was there. Just as we were getting ready to go into the ring, Nancy showed up with Wendy, her roommate. They had decided to not leave for Kingston until after lunch, so that was good, even if it was Bear's turn to win. That was sort of too bad, though, because Bear and Robyn had to go in the ring together, and Robyn didn't want to walk properly. I'm sure if I had been in the ring with her she would have been O.K. Later, while we were waiting to watch Bear in group, a bitch came in who was wearing the most fantastic perfume I have ever smelled. She was up on Bear's grooming table, and I kept trying to get up with her. Margi wanted to walk down to the other end of the building with me, so I started barking and yelping and trying to get back to our grooming area. Hoo Boy! They should bottle that stuff. Forget garlic fried chicken. Eventually TBC came back and we went and had a hot dog, and that sort of distracted me, but when we went back to watch group, I caught sight of her over on the far side of the ring and started yelping and struggling and trying to get away from TBC who was holding me. He told me I was making a total fool of myself, and finally had to take me out and put me in the car, but I'm telling you, you don't smell perfume like that very often. Besides, it was Valentine's Day.



Back home (the snow had stopped), asleep on TBC's lap in front of a blazing fire, the whole weekend seemed like a dream. Something to tell your puppies about. As if and if only. TBC says our next show will be in Brampton if any other Cairns are going.



Tuesday, Feb. 29



Well how do you like that? They went off to Stowe for a week to ski, and didn't take me with them. It was all TBC's fault, because he hadn't made reservations early enough at Notchbrook, so they had to stay at a condo that didn't take pets. At least that's what he says.



Actually, I didn't mind that much, because I got to stay with a couple of my friends at Mrs. Eveland's in St. Thomas. One of them has a teddy bear which he carries around everywhere, and I had a lot of fun stealing it and trying to hide it on him. I got to show Mrs. Eveland how good I am at stealing boots, and liked to watch TV sitting on the back of her sofa. So that was all O.K.

Margi came back with a broken ankle, which wouldn't have happened if I had been skiing with her. She has a big plaster thing on it, which looks as if it might be fun to chew on.



Wednesday, March 1



I am trying to be good about Margi's cast, except with the silly dangly sock thing on the end which needs to be pulled off. I watch with great concern as she struggles up and down stairs. I can remember when I was a puppy how steep these stairs were and how much trouble I had with them. When she lies down on the couch, it is a good chance to practice my cairn terrier CPR, jumping on her stomach and licking her face. Doesn't do much good. She can't take me for walks anymore. She has probably become defective. Bummer.



Friday, March 3



The trouble with TBC is that he has no sense of tradition. Like last night. Usually when we get home from our walk, TBC turns out the lights, and then Margi gets some biscuits and sort of coaxes me upstairs to go to bed. Last night when TBC and I got back Margi had already gone upstairs. So TBC turned off the lights and said, "Well, come on Hamish, are you coming or not?" That's not the way it is supposed to be done. Then he turned off the lights upstairs, and Margi, having gone defective and all couldn't do anything about it. Then I started thinking about the movie which we had been watching, which was pretty exciting with drug runners from Marseilles and boats and gun battles and stuff. I should know better by now, but it always looks as if all the exciting stuff on TV is going on outside the window. So I started thinking about drug runners from Cleveland landing their cigarette boats in our creek and climbing up the bank, and there were scary shadows from the fireplace, and there had been a scene in the movie where they torched a hotel, so I started barking like crazy, and all TBC did was yell down at me to shut up. Geez! So I had to struggle up the stairs in the dark in the middle of the night. At least TBC had left the bedroom door open.



Saturday, March 4



I don't mind it all that much when they go out for dinner and leave me home alone to guard the place, but I really do think it is a bit much when they come home absolutely reeking of some other dog. From the smell tonight, you would think they had spent the entire evening rolling around on the floor with her. If that's what they do when they go out for dinner, why don't they take me? TBC said it was another of those, "Oh, why didn't I think to tell you to bring Hamish?" occasions. Humpfh!



Tuesday, March 7



Down for a good run on the beach yesterday with TBC. I did myself some good digging deep holes in the sand. The weather is beautiful. TBC and I discovered this morning that we have a skunk under the house. I could have gone in after it, but TBC says mothballs will probably work.

Halo was in a big dog show (98 cairns!) in Detroit on the weekend, and won the under 18 month sweepstakes. We couldn't go because of Margi being defective, but I am really proud of my litter mate. Basking in reflected glory, you might say.

Wednesday, March 8



TBC says the word for Margi is disabled, not defective. Disabled, defective, what difference does it make? She still can't take me for walks.



He says it serves me right for calling her defective that I have to go into the hospital tomorrow and have a lump removed from my lip. It has been there for the last couple of weeks. They are going to shave all the hair off one side of my face, so I won't be able to laugh at Margi's cast anymore. I worry about my show career. Oh well.





TBC and I spent a good afternoon working on a railing for the stairs so that Margi can pull herself up and down. My job was to bark at the saw so that it wouldn't saw up TBC instead of the wood. I had to keep running upstairs to check on the skunk under the living room floor and to see that Margi was O.K., and then I would hear the saw and have to tear down to the basement to bark at it. It was a pretty exhausting afternoon.



Friday, March 10



Had my big surgery yesterday. They took me in to Dr.Yett's about 9:00 A.M., and she put me in a cage, and stuck needles in me and had all the hair shaved off under my chin. Actually, it doesn't look too bad, unless you are a worm looking up at me. Then about 3:00 P.M. they put me to sleep, and I woke up with an IV going and 4 or 5 stitches in my lip. Dr. Yett says I woke up wagging my tail, but actually I woke up having to pee. I was supposed to stay in the hospital overnight, but I guess TBC persuaded Dr. Yett to let me come home, because he and Margi came in about 6:00 to pick me up. By that time I had to pee so bad all I wanted to do was make a bee line for the door. When I got home I tried running around in my usual frenzied fashion, but I was staggering noticeably. I staggered into my water dish and knocked it over. Now I know how TBC feels on Saturday nights. (WATCH IT, DOG!) Dr. Yett said to only give me a small supper, but I was really hungry. I woke up 2 or 3 times during the night and threw up on the broadloom in the bedroom. TBC and Margi had to get out of bed to clean it up, and told me what a good dog I was, but I didn't feel like a good dog.

Tuesday, March 14



Margi has taken to calling me "chinless" , which isn't very nice, but I am feeling a lot better, and am being very good about not scratching the stitches in my lip. We got several inches of new snow Saturday night, and TBC and I went out for a long walk Sunday morning.

We seem to have gotten rid of the skunk under our living room. There were skunk tracks in the snow this morning, but they led up to the bricks which TBC and I had used to stop up his hole, and then wandered off. I still think maybe I should go under the house and check it out, but TBC says it will be O.K.



Friday, March 17



In to Dr. Yett's office today to get unstitched. My lip is feeling pretty good. TBC says the lesion may have just been an infectious granuloma. Apparently some sort of weird organism is growing on culture. He says he has the best medical minds in the country working on a differential diagnosis. Yeah, well. He probably includes himself. Ha!



TBC and I played hide the bone for about an hour last night after dinner. I had one of my hard biscuits which I would give to TBC and then he would hide it and I would pretend to look in all the places where he had pretended to hide it. Of course, I could smell it, so I knew all along where it really was, but he seemed to really be enjoying the game, so I went along with it. You have to keep your human's happy by playing simple minded games with them sometimes.



We are having a big dinner party tomorrow night. I will let you know how it goes.



Sunday, March 19



A good dinner party last night. The theme was black patent leather slippers and green jelly beans.



Mary Rose arrived wearing boots, which meant she had to change into her shoes, and of course she made the mistake of putting them down on the floor of the vestibule. Five minutes of fun ensued. Then we all sat around the fire feeding me green jelly beans, some of which I stashed for subsequent noshing. By the time dinner arrived I was pretty full, not that I would ever do anything as gauche as beg at the table. After dinner we sat in front of the fire again, and I sat on Doug's lap while he scratched my ears. All in all a very successful dinner party I think.



Tuesday, March 21



Well, Margi has been repaired, so she isn't defective - sorry, disabled - anymore. She was at the hospital this morning, and came back with the cast off her ankle. Mind you, she hasn't taken me for any walks yet, which is worrisome. The next time they go traveling they are going to take me with them. And the report came back on my lip lesion. It was a benign histiocytoma, which is a common non malignant neoplasm in young dogs like me. There was some sort of fungus and a bunch of germs growing in the lesion as well. TBC says he always knew I had a dirty mouth.



Wednesday, March 22



Got a letter today from friends of TBC and Margi who live in Holland. They have a cairn terrier called Terry who has a coat almost exactly the same colour as mine. He is a little bit younger than I am. It is an interesting story. Apparently TBC and Margi were doing a home exchange two years ago with Francien and Kees, and had been talking to them about getting a cairn terrier. Then a year ago they got a letter saying that Francien and Kees had bought a cairn terrier puppy also. Anyway, Terry is a nice looking dog. He has a new grand baby to play with, and he doesn't look too awfully pleased about that in one of the pictures. In another picture he is sitting in the snow beside the road in Holland, looking like a real Jack Kerouac Going Down the Road sort of dog. I bet he and I would get along great. Man, could we ever travel places together. Kees and Francien are doing a home exchange in Boulder, Colorado next summer. It would be nice if they could drop in to see us, but I guess there isn't much chance of that. Terry, is that a stuffed pelican on the floor beside you?



Saturday, March 25



Yesterday was pretty exciting. TBC and I were down on the beach to play in the waves, and this is always fun. When we came back up, I was pretty sandy, so TBC put me in my chicken coop to dry off. Margi was inside, and she felt sorry for me, looking all wet and dirty and pitiful at the patio door, so let me in, and now we have sand all over the floors, which is a good idea. If we could build up an inch or two over time, it would be great for burying bones and things.



Later in the evening, TBC was listening to a UNC basketball game on the internet. Apparently he has a degree from UNC (he has degrees from a lot of places. I shouldn't bad mouth him the way I do) and he always cheers for the Tarheels. They had been trailing for most of the game, and with 5 minutes to go their best player fouled out, but then they started to catch up, and TBC started getting excited. Then the thunder started outside, and I got excited. So between me running around TBC's study barking at the thunder, and TBC running around telling me to shut up so he could hear the game, things were pretty lively. Margi had gone to bed long ago since it was now about 1:30 A.M. Carolina ended up winning the game, and TBC and I went out for our evening walk. The thunder was crashing and the lightening was flashing, and the rain was pouring down, and I was running back and forth on my leash barking at the thunder. When we got back, TBC tried to dry me off, but I thought it was more fun to play tug of war with the towel, and then I jumped up on the bed to roll around on the blanket, with Margi saying things like "Ugh, Hamish, you're all wet." Well, Duh. I was only wet on the outside, for goodness sake.



Monday, March 27



It is always nice when your friends drop in to see you unexpectedly. Yesterday was a lovely day, and Devil and Ceilidh and Zoe came down for a walk. We played around here a little bit, and then we all went over to the village for a good stroll. So Margi can walk on her ankle when she wants to. I think she is just malingering.





Friday, March 31



Back from another good trip. We went down to Central Ohio to meet the Spring. Coming back, I was thinking about the responsibilities of a traveling dog. I mean, dogs who stay at home all the time have important things to do too - watching for cats, making sure that squirrels don't get too near the house, keeping the family happy and amused. All that sort of thing that every dog does. But for a traveling dog, the responsibility and the challenges are kicked up another order of magnitude. Like for instance the first night of our trip.



We were staying at a really nice place called The Wooster Inn, which had been written up in TBC's book of Distinguished Inns of North America. It was about 4:30 A.M. and TBC and Margi were sleeping soundly, but not their faithful dog, in his crate beside the bed. All of a sudden, someone slid something under the door. I barked to wake up TBC who told me sleepily to be quiet. But the problem was there, and I didn't think he was fully aware of the situation, so I kept growling insistently until he got out of bed, saw what had happened, and established that it was just a newspaper. Well, it could have been a letter bomb, and he told me I had done the right thing. I think all us traveling dogs should have a motto, which would be something like "Nobis servum et protectum" TBC says I have the case and the tense all wrong, but what the heck.



The next day the problem was horses, which were pulling black buggies behind them They should not have been on the roads, and I told them so fiercely every time we passed one. TBC and Margi made a lot of stops during the day, and left me to guard the car each time. That in itself is a big responsibility. After dinner, the lady at the desk of the Wooster Inn made a fuss over me, so I was doing my usual friendly thing. When we went up to our room, we stopped at the top of the stairs, and Margi overheard the lady say to the other desk clerk, "Actually, he does seem like quite a nice little dog." Hmph. But when you are a traveling dog you learn to ignore that sort of insincerity.

On the last day of our holiday, the problem was a funny looking van with two ladders and an orange light on the top. It kept following us, and I had to bark at it every time it got too close. Eventually it got scared and turned off. Then home to celebrate TBC's birthday. Gawd, he's getting even older. John and Betty gave him a book called "How to Speak Dog". The next thing you know he will be barking at me.



Tuesday, April 4



Gee Whizz, they might have told me! The Cairn Terrier Club of Canada newsletter is an impressive publication which contains about 50 pages. I think it comes out 4 times a year. The latest issue arrive last week, and guess whose picture was on the inside of the front cover? Linwell He's Hamish Magruder! That me! I never have been able to figure out why my official name isn't Linwell's He's Hamish Magruder, but it was me all right. The picture was taken in the Comfort Inn just after I had won my first dog show last May, and the caption says, "His first time in the show ring, and look at all the loot he takes home".



Things have been pretty quiet here since we got back from Ohio. Margi is taking me for walks again, which is good. The hair on my lower jaw is growing back. I think it is about time for another dog show.



Saturday, April 8



Well, I knew it was going to happen when I saw him reading that How to Speak Dog book.



I guess the story needs some background. When we were down in Ohio last week, TBC and Margi went to an ivory carving museum where they saw a section through an elephant tusk. Apparently an elephant tusk is a huge eye tooth, with a nerve running down the middle of it. The one they saw had abcesses all along the nerve canal. This probably meant that it came form a rogue elephant who went mad from the pain.



TBC had been obsessing about this all week, since he had major dental surgery scheduled for Thursday. I guess this was sort of like the operation on my lip, except that they didn't put him to sleep and he was in the dentist's chair for hours (he's probably exaggerating, but he was gone for most of Thursday afternoon). So he finally staggered home, wracked with pain and with a frozen face. Some of this I am just repeating. A frozen face??? It wasn't cold. I don't know. But anyway, he figured he should sterilize his mouth, which required a lot of glasses of Sauvignon Blanc.

Then he saw a squirrel on top of the trellis, and figured he would prove to me that he knew how to speak dog by giving the "Call the troops" bark. Except what he said was Arf..Arf..Arf..Arf. Which of course is the "There is something out here you might be interested in" bark I was busy in the kitchen, and waited a couple of minutes and then came out to the sunroom, cocked my head on the side (this doesn't help me see any better, but it makes me look intelligent) and looked all over, but by then the squirrel had disappeared. Just as TBC was finishing berating me for not knowing how to speak dog, the squirrel reappeared, so I was able to demonstrate my "Call the troops" bark which is YipYipYipYipYip.



I think he has it now. And the possibility of him turning rogue is diminished. So all's well that ends well.



Wednesday, April 12



You can tell that Spring has arrived in Port Stanley because we have ordered some more gabion baskets. I have been helping dig them in to the sides of the bank. It is the sort of thing that a Cairn Terrier is good at, of course.



Nancy and Rob are coming down tomorrow to help us fill the Gabion baskets, and after that we are going to a bunch of dog shows, starting with 3 shows in Fergus ten days from now, and then we are going to Ottawa to visit John and Betty and I will be in shows in Nepean and Arnprior.. Life goes in spurts like that, you know. It gets exciting, and then it slows down, and then things speed up again. The next month sure sounds like fun.



Monday, April 17



What a great weekend! I spent the whole 3 days digging in the dirt and helping to fill gabion baskets and wading in the creek with Nancy and getting really dirty and digging in the sand and playing chase. It sure is fun having Nancy and Rob around. Think I will sleep for the next 3 days.



Sunday, April 23



Hi Nancy. Hope your exams this weekend went well.



It was a good show in Fergus. There were 15 cairns in the show, and I got to greet just about every one of them. We drove down Thursday night in a pouring rain storm and decided to go straight to the arena in Fergus to set up my grooming table and walk around a bit. Got back to the Comfort Inn about 9:30 to check in, and discovered that dumb old TBC had made a reservation at the wrong motel. (I know you said I should comment on my web site about how ruggedly handsome he is, but I think too many people know him. HaHaHa) Anyway, as I was saying, TBC had made a reservation at the wrong motel, so we had to drive for another 20 minutes to get to the Day's Inn on the other side of Guelph, which was really pretty crummy. But things worked out O.K., because we switched to the Comfort Inn the next night. The three shows were as much fun as always, even if Potsy did beat me all three days. He ended up getting 8 points for the weekend! TBC and Margi had some good dinners, and we spent an afternoon in St. Jacobs. I saw a couple of horse drawn buggies, but they didn't seem to be as big a problem as they were in Ohio. We came home Sunday morning. I slept all the way home, and then spent a good afternoon helping in the garden. Good luck on the rest of your exams.



Monday, May 1



So I have a lump on the end of my nose. So what's the big deal? Honestly, the way people carry on you would think this was a major medical disaster. I have spent all day at the Vets, getting Xrays from 15 different angles and being poked by needles. And that was after a traumatic visit last Friday. Dr Yett has a new Vet working with her called Dr. Versteeg who is a nice enough kid, but I think she is over reacting. The Xrays didn't show anything, and Dr. V is convinced the lump on my nose isn't another histiocytoma, so its just a bump. By the end of the day even TBC was saying, "Enough already".



We are soon going to be leaving for John and Bettys. We have all our landscaping done for the Spring, having moved 5 tons of rock and 5 tons of topsoil. I didn't do it all myself, but I helped a lot. It has been beautiful Spring weather, and we planted some flowers. TBC had to explain to me about NOT digging them up, which I don't quite understand, but that's O.K. And we gave a good dinner party Saturday night. TBC has been talking to Linda K and there is a chance that I will be shown at the KW specialty with Pippin and Halo. I think we are all supposed to look the same, so she may have to bop Halo and Pippin on the end of the nose. Just kidding.



Tuesday, May 16



Back from a great ten days in Ottawa. I now have nine points towards my championship, trading wins with the beautiful Jade, and getting a group fourth in Nepean. Only one more point, and then maybe I'll start getting some respect around here. Breakfast in bed, and that sort of thing.

We drove a long way the first day, and then found Nancy, and drove some more, and got to John and Betty's place. They have a really fun house with a big deck overlooking the Gatineau River. The deck is about 20 feet off the ground, with spokes far enough apart that I can get my shoulders through and lean over to bark at the squirrels and make everybody nervous. There is also a neat steam train which goes by and whistles every so often, and that requires more serious barking. I kept it from getting near the house all the time I was there, but I don't know what they do when I am not around. Margi and I did a lot of work planting a rock garden for them, while TBC and John tore down a deck. TBC says that John and Betty spoil me, letting me sit at the table for lunch, and tear up paper on the floor, and playing chase when I grab a shoe or a sock. TBC said that if I ever have puppies, they can have the first one.



One day we went for a really long hike for miles in the Gatineau park. There were signs saying, "Danger, Sector Closed", which TBC and John figured might mean there were bears around, but since I know all about bears, we ignored the signs. It was a really good hike, and I got back covered with mud and burrs. So I had to have a bath before we could go on to the MacLeods and the next dog show.



The MacLeods have a cat called Sheba, who seemed a bit, well, catatonic. All she wanted to do was lie on top of things and look at me. Awww, she was probably just blown away by my physical beauty. She would let her tail hang down and swing back and forth. I batted it playfully a few times but this just made her huffy. On the last morning we were there, I met her outside and touched noses with her politely to say Good Morning. She looked totally baffled. I don't think cats have many social graces. After the last dog show, we went to the MacLeod's cottage, and Sheba wasn't there. I was worried that they had gotten rid of her because of her lack of affect, which didn't seem fair because it's probably not her fault, but then she turned up again so that was O.K. The MacLeods have a couple of grandchildren who came over for dinner, and you all know how I love kids, so that was fun too.



And at the last dog show we met my dad's owners. I was sorry they didn't bring Max with them. He probably wouldn't recognize me now that I am a big handsome almost champion. Speaking of big, we met one of the biggest Cairns I have ever seen at the Arnprior show. We have seen some big dogs, but this guy was massive!



So on to the Kitchener Waterloo specialty. With 40 Cairns in the show I probably don't have much of a chance to finish my championship, but it is going to be lots of fun. TBC has loads of pictures of the last few days which he promises to get on my web page as soon as he can.