Relief efforts

Well, relief is indeed at hand! Sighs of relief that damages in New York seem to be quite minor. And relief for Petey in terms of FINALLY getting outside for a nice long walk. And with plenty of limbs on the street, he had loads of places to leave pee-mails.

This car was swamped down near Asta's home. We were walking with a bunch of our dog run friends and ran into George taking Asta out for some relief of her own. There was some flooding on their street, but it's all receded.

About a block and a half away on Bleecker Street, two trees toppled down in the little park near Magnolia Bakery. (No cupcakes were killed in the Hurricane. Well, at least not by toppled trees.)
One fell over inside the park -- the park is under renovation already!

And this one fell across the street and was cut down by the fire department.

While we were looking at it, I was interviewed by CNN! (Note to self: Never go outside following a national disaster without full makeup, hair and wardrobe...) Told them that the dogs were the real victims, as they'd been housebound for hours and unable to get outdoors to relieve themselves. Yes, hard-hitting news! But the camera man did pan Petey and my friends across the street, so keep your eyes peeled for us!

Again, we're feeling very blessed that we made it through an earthquake and a hurricane without much harm here in New York. Our prayers go out to those not so fortunate.

Goodnight Irene!

Looking south towards the tip of the Island. the fourth building from the right is the new tower,
now under construction.

Well, we've been waiting out the hurricane all day today. The streets are eerily quiet, though we did see a couple with their "Nuevo York" guidebooks trying to get in some sightseeing in the Village this afternoon!

Every time there is the slightest break in the rain, I've taken Petey out to "drain his squirt gun!" The city has either removed or turned the trashcans upside down so they'll be less likely to fly around when the storm really hits. Which means that the few available cans are full of poop bags! When Irene starts to blow, the sh*t could really fly - literally!

Looking north towards the Empire State building.

Around 2:00 p.m., I went up on the roof to see what was going on - hence these photos. Eighth Avenue is usually a ribbon of glowing red taillights up to Central Park and today - nothing. The shops on Bleecker Street are closed, some of them taped up with painters tape or masking tape, which I thought was pretty funny. Clearly these people are not up to date on their Hurricane preparations! The Michael Kors store was boarded up, except for two small windows on the side of the building which still had handbags on display. Figure those are the cheap bags!

"Hmmm, how long is she going to expect me to hold it?"

Petey's not a fan of rain to start off with. even more so as he's gotten older. So I bought some wee-wee pads and opened one in the bathroom and am hoping he'll remember what they're for - that they'll stir up a memory from puppyhood. Of course, every time I take him outside, he'll do a quick pee and then pull to come inside. Where he goes to the kitchen and scratches his bowl for water! Nooooooooooo!

Thank you all for your kind thoughts and words as we face this storm head on. We really appreciate all the goodwill you're sending our way!

In our household, this is EVERYday!

Today is National Dog Day - what's new? - it's Dog Day every day at our house! I often think of Jerry Seinfeld's riff that if aliens came to earth, they'd think dogs ruled the planet, with humans as their servants who carry their waste in little plastic bags!

So celebrate like crazy today, Petey and Pals! Because the rest of the weekend here in NYC may not be so much fun.

My biggest concern is not the windows blowing in or the electricity going off but what to do when it comes to getting Petey outside to relieve himself? I think one of my hurricane supplies is going to be some wee wee pads and just hope that he can think back to his puppyhood and remember what they're used for!

The following image has been all over the internet lately, but it's so beautiful and powerful, I felt it was poignant to share it with you on National Dog Day.

(Not meaning to be disrespectful, but unless there's a tennis ball or a doggie treat on my coffin, I don't think I can expect this from Petey.)

Finally, in the spirit of solidarity on National Dog Day, I thought I'd share this photo with you that was taken of Petey and Lil' Lacie this summer on Hilton Head.

And in case you're thinking that "Hey, Lacie's butt doesn't look THAT big," Petey wants you to know that they are not sitting on a cushion, but a pair of Lacie's shell-printed bikini bottoms.

Have a great and SAFE weekend everyone!

Beware the Devil Dog!

Now, Petey has been a devilish dog in the past. Sometimes literally, and sometimes figurately (like when he decided as a puppy that the only pair of shoes he wanted to chew on were my pink alligator pumps, purchased at the Barneys Warehouse at a significant discount from their original price of $1,350. I know. But how many times do you run into a pink alligator?).

However, last Thursday while walking home from the run with our neighbor and her dog Kali (since Rosie has disappeared from blogland, Kali is Petey's real-life girlfriend. She's a sweet black and white beagle-terrier mix with an alluring beagle bay.) we stopped by a neighborhood store where Petey knows he can always count on getting a dog treat or two or three. I looked down and my sweet boy looked like this:

Okay, I exaggerate. Just his left eye looked like that. Like he was possessed by a demon. He wasn't in any pain and his vision didn't seem impaired, but it looked just awful and glowing red so off we went to the emergency vet.

Several tests later, we ruled out rat poisoning, internal bleeding, cornea scratches, blood infections (can you just hear the cash register ringing up this total?) and it was decided that he had a burst blood vessel behind his eye. So, home we trotted with pain pills (as much to keep him quiet as for pain relief) and gooey ointment to squish into his eye three times a day. He's on to me and when he sees me coming with anything in my hand, he scampers away, tail between his legs. The blood started pooling at the bottom of his eye almost immediately and is s-l-o-w-l-y looking better but it still looks quite red when he's outside in the sunshine.

But here's the worst part. No dog run until it clears up. And the weather? Perfect breezy sunshine in the upper 70's. More late September than August. Oh well, we've got a hurricane headed our way this weekend so he won't miss out too much. (Earthquake, hurricane - what's next? A plague of frogs?)

Guess it's as good an excuse as any to let the little mite have some ice cream at the Cafe Cluny ice cream cart...

Petey meets the Royal Family...on Greenwich Avenue, NYC?

Hello there Ladies and Lords! Petey here. No, I'm not outside the gardens at Buckingham Palace, I'm right across the street! But you may think I'm in Jolly Old Englande for the Royal Wedding!

First off, I've been wearing an Elizabethan collar after a dog bit me on the ear at the run. We both went after my tennis ball and I got there first. Wish I could say "you should see the other guy" but she outweighs me by about 60 lbs. No permanent damage done!

Am I outside Clarence house? No, just a townhouse on West 12th Street.

Here's our favorite tea shop — Tea & Sympathy—and next door is A Salt & Battery, a proper fish and chips shop. The whole block was decorated with Union Jacks and royal bunting for the occasion.

Now that's a flag!

Why look! It's Prince William and Princess Catherine, with the Queen (Nicky, truly the ruling monarch of Greenwich Avenue.)

They look much younger than their photo in the window.

Lots of people got up to watch the wedding over a proper English breakfast at 6:00 am.

Here's Nicky's husband Sean, the Pearly King, chatting with a commoner over a nice cuppa.

Sean confessed he grew this big handlebar mustache "just to bother the wife!"

Don't worry little bridesmaid, Prince Harry's still available! Actually, she was more interested in me - maybe my name should be Prince Hairy?

A fun day for all!

A final shot of the happy couple, getting into their royal carriage!

A Wonderfully Tacky Day

The Sunday before we left Hilton Head for New York, I went to the annual Marsh Tacky Races on the beach, as a part of the Gullah Festival. The Marsh Tacky is a plucky pony and the State Heritage Horse of South Carolina. Marsh Tackies' lineage is attributed the horses the Spanish conquistadors brought to the islands in the Low Country in the 1500's. They lived in herds and were rounded up when horses were needed for riding, plowing, etc. They are naturally adept to maneuvering in the swampy environment of the Low Country.

As automobiles became more available, the Marsh Tackies dwindled and by the 1980's, they were thought to possible be extinct. Today, they are an endangered breed, with an estimated 150 purebred Marsh Tackies in existence.

A tradition that used to be held on Christmas day has recently been revived as a conclusion to the Gullah Festival—the Marsh Tacky Races on the beach. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, with the sea sparkling, dolphin peeking up at the crowds from the waves and over 5,000 bystanders on hand to cheer on the 22 ponies in the races.

The event began with a parade of the horses competing in the races. There were several heats one for stallions, and several for the mares and for the geldings.

You can learn more about marsh tackies at www.marshtacky.org.

One of the favorites of the day was a feisty mare named Molly. She was also the oldest horse in the race at 22—two years older than her rider Brittany!

There were several duns and buckskins - very common Marsh Tacky colors.

And the races are on!

This young girl was one of the youngest riders (and the only one to wear a helmet! I was shocked that helmets weren't required as the sand is as hard as cement if you fall off.)

Three beautiful chestnut-colored fillies on their way back to the starting line.

Giddyup!
These two little girls were cheering on Molly. She won her heats and captured the Mares category.

Just a few more heats. Good thing as the tide was quickly coming in!

Several ladies were wearing rather unusual hats - when asked they told me that they had designed "tacky" hats for the occasion! That explained the fly-swatters, plastic flowers, toilet paper and even a garter belt festooning hats!

And the clear winner (against a 2-year old stallion and an 8-year old gelding) is MOLLY!!!

Girl power! As the announcer said with his wonderful Gullah-accent "That Molly beat those boys fair and square. Just shows you don't want to mess with those old ladies!"

Many of the horses and riders posed for photos (and for the horses to get their noses rubbed) after the race, including Brittany and Molly.

When Molly's not racing, she is used in Civil War reenactments and was wearing the authentic tack from the 1860's.

It was an all-around fantastic day - we followed up the races with a long barefoot walk down the beach to visit my friend Pool Bar Jim for a refreshing "Roseanna Banana Kabana" - a perfect frozen concoction of kahlua, coco lopez and bananas - it's a very adult milkshake!

Now we're back in New York - cccccold! - but Petey's only complaint is that his favorite stores all seem to be out of cookies. Off to Italy next week, may not post until I get back but guarantee lots of photos then!

Happy 8th Birthday Petey! (And other stuff, too.)

No time to write much today as we're busy getting ready to head to New York tomorrow.(And Blogger is not cooperating with uploads!) I'll just leave you with these photos of the charming town of Bluffton and of course, Petey at the beach!









Petey doesn't look a day over 3! Happy 8th Birthday to my sweetest Petey boy...



For Murray....