This weekend was busy with a few overnight guests as well as the chance to meet a new friend and neighbour. Harry was the first to get here and Lyla arrived at her regular time wearing a spiffy new winter jacket   and not long after, Briar was dropped off as well as Nelson.  and they discussed the custody of the black ball.  

We had some fun roaming around with Stephanie and then this new neighbour arrived. His name is Milo and he is a six-month-old Spaniel/Corgi mix and utterly adorable. Pitch-black, silky coat and full of fun, he raced around with the little guys, Hali, Molly, Harrington, Lyla, Lucie and Inky. Lulu watched him like a hawk and a couple of times Arthur felt the need to lecture him on playing too rough. He would promptly fall down and roll over on his back showing how contrite he was but as soon as he could, he was back on his feet running in zoomy circles.

Milo would like to come over once in a while and play with us so he will have a test play-day this week and we'll put him through his paces. So, now was the time for us to head down to the beach and have some fun as the day grew more overcast and grey.

   

    

Jack arrived around noon to help out so Stephanie could have to afternoon off. She, her husband, Chris and daughter Ellie are going to drive a decorated vehicle in the Christmas Parade of Lights that will be entertaining the folks in Musquodobit Harbour this evening. We followed Jack around as he attended to the chores and Neave was picked up by her humans. After that, it wasn't long before our dinner was served and Jack went home. 

Sunday was a day for departures so that by the end of the day, there were only four dog guests left. Stephanie was here during the morning and she got a few photos before she departed. Then we spent our time with Mary as she busied herself with the never-ending list of 'THINGS TO DO' . Today, the house was full of tasty aromas as she prepared  Chicken Liver Pâté  and Braised Pork Shoulder. There is some nasty weather on the way tonight, so we may wake up to some snow tomorrow morning. Some elves were busy getting a start on decorating with some lights before dark so we know that Christmas is on its way.   

     

  

Inky says he found a lovely passage by Shakespeare that he wanted to share with us so we can share the lament of an overnight snowfall.

"Thou knowest, winter tames man, woman, and beast."

 

 

 

It was icy underfoot, and the little bit of snow that we got overnight combined with the frigid cold resulted in the cancellation by five of the regular day-visitors. Ollie and Ozzy     made sure that they got here and little Lucie was very glad to see them.  It was quite a display of winter apparel in lots of colors and these coats kept Lucie, Harrington, Ollie , Ozzy and Hali warm and cozy as they went for a walk through the snow. Of course, Hali had to show off more than one of her winter wardrobe and she switched to her basic black number partway through the morning. Harrington, not to be outdone, donned his camo jacket which he thought was better suited to the browsing through the bushes.    

   

   

    

Of course, the bigger critters said that jackets were not needed if one had a good coat of fur so Neave and Lulu welcomed Skye and the three of them enjoyed some games in the East pasture where they were out of the wind and didn't feel the wind chill effect. 

     

Molly  , also arrived this morning but she was reluctant to spend too much time outside in the cold. Short walks would sustain her throughout the day.  Maybe when it warms up tomorrow, she'll join in the fun 

Stephanie stopped and took some photos of the pond    , covered with ice, which reinforced the timeliness of the pump and wharf removal yesterday.

It did warm up a bit through the day and we watched the remains of 2025's last supermoon 

 

rise in the north-east while taking our after-dinner stroll.   

We have been remiss in our duty to update the DogBlog and must now, on Friday evening, try and catch up. There will be no finger-pointing or trying to shift the blame. It is shared by all of us. 

Inky wanted to include this quote on the subject of blame 

"We are oft to blame in this, - 'tis too much proved, - that with devotion's visage, and pios action we do sugar o'er the devil himself."

~William Shakespeare

 

It's me, Hali  , speaking  for my fellow critter guests when I say that we must try and do better ...  we all have contributions that we can make to tell our story, day by day. Mary laid down the law and told us that we could each have one excuse that we could weave it into the daily reports in an effort to mitigate our deficiency. I offered to go first and set a good example, so here goes.  

We last wrote about what we did on Monday and on Tuesday there were no new overnight arrivals. We don't expect any of the day-visitors to  spend their valuable play-time writing about the day's events, so that left just Scout, Harrington, Inky or me to sitdown at the keyboard. I tried, I really did, but I couldn't concentrate because I was so itchy. It seems that someone washed my turquoise sweater and used the wrong detergent. It wasn't made for sensitive skin. After wearing the sweater all day, I couldn't stop scratching. So that's my excuse. 

There were lots of good times that I missed because I was so miserable and  couldn't go to the beach with the gang. The Goldens had no sympathy for me, not having any notion of what it's like to have delicate skin.    

     

    

Now it's Wednesday, and I, Inky , have just been advised that I am responsible for the DogBlog Report for today. I really think that seniors, like myself, should be let off the hook. After all, I should be able to enjoy the sundown of my life. Chasing after the day-visitors in order to find something to write about, is a lot to ask of an old guy like me. 

You see, I have reached that time in my life when I sleep during the daylight hours, while the noisy hordes are here, and then I stay up late into the night, pacing and trying to achieve my personal goal of  reading all of the works of my favorite playwright, William Shakespeare. I think William must have been a dog owner because he mentioned them a lot and he knew them well. 

"Coward dogs most spend their mouths when what they seem to threaten runs far before them."

But I must do my duty and let you have a peek into the antics of the Doodles, the Dachshunds and show you the festive Holly Bush loaded with red berries. 

I recalled this passage from Love's Labour's Lost and thought it germane. 

"At Christmas I no more desire a rose
Than wish a snow in May's new-fangled mirth;
But like of each thing that in season grows".

  

   

    

Finally, we come to Thursday and it's Harrington's turn to present his excuse for neglecting DogBlog duty. 

Okay, okay, I, Harrington  , confess that I'm not real keen on this chore but I'll try to string a few words together. When I'm here in Seaforth, I'm a very busy guy, supervising the new arrivals, making sure they've had all their vaccinations and checking to see what they brought with them in the way of edibles or illegal weapons.

There are lots of hooligans arriving for the day, so I have to frisk, Rosie, Koda, Gimli, Remi, Rugar and Juno because they've been known to try and smuggle in illegal sticks or balls and have even been caught with contraband treats. I conifiscate anything that I find and impound the items. Now, where did that come from, Rosie?    The other day visitors, Joey and Remington, stuck close to Stephanie to avoid getting caught up in my stop and search.

The first overnight arrival today was Neave , and she checks out on the concealed toys and weapons search but as for edibles, she couldn't conceal the  large box of goodies. I checked them out and they were gifts of fancy Christmas baking from her humans for Mary and Stephanie. I took them for safe-keeping and I might have to test them to make sure they are safe to eat. I'll just have to figure out how to get the lids off the containers. 

Gary, the Handyman, arrived to help Mary with the removal of the pump from the pond as well as harvesting two milk crates of carrots from one of the garden boxes. After he left, the final overnight guest, Lucie was dropped off and I thought I must have struck a mother lode when I saw her huge bag of food and treats. Lucie only weighs about 7 or 8 pounds but that bag must have weighed close to 20 pounds and I was at a loss to understand how that little mite was going to eat all that stuff. I'll be busy most of the day just checking this out which limits the time I can spend on the DogBlog.

Here are the photos of the day's activities.   

    

   

  

A trip to the beach was popular, as usual, followed by a rest period in the cabana.

   

   

 

Well, that's all done and Mary is on the hook to do the report for Friday. Time for most of us to get to bed. Inky has already started walking around from room to room mumbling to himself using words like forsooth, doth, perchance ...  

Sadie (aka Ivory)   was matched up with Scout (aka Ebony)  and the two of them did lots of 'rockin and rollin', throughout the day. In the words of Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder .. 

Ebony and Ivory live together in perfect harmony 

Side by side on my piano keyboard, oh Lord, why don't we? 

What a pair, Sadie is a Cockapoo and Scout is a Portuguese Water dog ,  identical in size and shape, both love to swim, Sadie is a few months older but they are both still puppies in their own minds. What great playmates.

    

It was a day to enjoy all that they could find in their travels and they certainly inspired the other critters to play, run and investigate everything they found along the way. 

Even serious Sadie    got a kick out off their antics although she wouldn't admit it. Inky   came out and ran around after them for a few minutes and Harrington   kept hoping that one of them would slow down and notice how handsome and debonair he was.   

          

All too soon, the regular day visitors started to leave and Ivory Sadie had to say goodbye but she made sure that her friends, especially Scout,  knew she would be back again on Friday, for some more fun and games. 

Saturday brought us a visit from our buddies, Millie and Job, who wanted to  come and play for the day. Lyla also arrived for her regular Saturday romp and she was pleased to see Job, her fellow Havanese Terrier. She was glad that she wore her pink-knit, ruffled sweater today and Job was wearing his collegial, striped sweater. They certainly were the best-dressed couple as they sashayed around the yard.   

      

But soon Lyla got wind of a beach hike and Job couldn't go, so she asked him to give her some space and assured him she would be back soon. 

Millie, the Doodle, was very anxious to get to the shore and stretch those long legs of hers, so it was a mad dash down the hill. It was a very small group on the walk since the only critter staying overnight at that time was Inky and he never goes to the beach. Ruger, Lulu and Arthur were the other beach goers but Millie was racing so fast, we don't think she even saw them.     

     

   

Job soon tired of wandering around on his own, so he joined Mary, Inky and Hali inside until Millie returned and then he ambled around the property enjoying the periods of sunshine and lots of fresh air, with Millie acting as his guide.Lyla didn’t want to join in so she settled down for a bit of quiet time by the gate. There were two more arrivals in the afternoon, both ready to stay overnight. First there was Briar  , who will be here for one night and then Harrington  , who will stay till it's almost Christmas. They barely had time to introduce themselves to Millie, Job and Lyla before the three of them were picked up by their humans and they headed home. 

Sunday turned out to be much better weather-wise than what was forecast, but it was very quiet with the only action being Briar's departure in the afternoon. Stephanie had the day off and she was busy doing her family thing so we kept Mary company while she worked hard to scratch some of the jobs off her TO DO LIST.

Inky    did go for a walk and had his picture taken just to show that he was a good sport but that didn’t generate too much excitement. 

 

 

Sadie   and the Grimes Gang were the first arrivals today and it seemed like Sadie had more excess energy than the three Grimes. She burst through the gate like a little tornado and she ran around non-stop for the next hour and a half and it didn't take long for them to give up on trying to catch her. 

      

           

The remaining Friday visitors arrived, as well as Gemma who wanted an extra day of fun this week. Stephanie could see that there was a need to organize the trip to the beach as soon as possible in order to satisfy some of the wilder participants. So, she gathered up her leashes, and dog biscuits and both Ruger and Opal, the two Brittany Spaniels. They would accompany the beach goers today, on the leash, since there is a pretty good chance they might just disappear after some birds. Sadie was on her nineteenth circumnavigation of the East pasture and we were starting to get dizzy from watching her whiz by, so we marched in a straight line to the gate. 

... and they're off ... 

   

   

    

 

  

 

 

 

While Tuesday often highlights the Golden Club and Wednesday is known as the Doodle Day, Thursday could be called the Global Group Day.  Just to demonstrate how readily dogs of different heredity can play together and form their own club, today, Thursday, brought together eight dogs that cover a broad spectrum including varied countries of origin, temperment and talents.  They're good at solving their issues, enjoying one another's company and diversity and living in harmony.  Too bad humans couldn’t take a lesson from the Global Group.

 

Thursday Global Group

Name		Breed	Country of Origin	Temperament	Talents
Remi		Australian Shepherd	USA	Active, Playful and Bossy	Strong managerial skills, watchful,  demands cooperation.
Koda		Nova Scotia Duck Toller	Canada	Intelligent, alert, and energetic, pushy	Good at finding problems and dog biscuits, has strong ownership principles
Rosie		Golden-Irish Retriever Setter	England and Ireland	Demonstrably affectionate and vocally enthusiastic	A good talker, makes friends easily, likes being involved with the group.
Remington		English Setter	England	A gentleman by nature, discerning, devoted	Sitting and watching, prepared to act when needed, unflappable, a deep thinker.
Daisy		St. Bernard	Switzerland	Sweet natured, affectionate, gentle giant	Fits in, unassuming, watchful, a day dreamer but always looking out for those in need of help.
Joey		Cockapoo	Unknown	Demonstrative, busybody, lavishly affectionate	A born cheerleader, likes being in control, single minded
Juno		Eurasian	Germany	Aloof, calm and dignified	Independent thinker, aloof but a friendly participant when it suits her.
Inky		Bahamian Beach Boy	Bahamas	Fiercely independent, discriminating with his affection, impatient with youngsters	Gets an immediate response to his demands, avoids the rain and cold, always finds the best sleeping spot.

   

 

It started raining early this morning and it rained all day. All the Doodles showed up for some fun in spite of the wet weather but they were disappointed when the beach hike didn't materialize. Little Lucy also got dropped off with her bright yellow raincoat but, even with the raincoat on, she didn't want to go for any walks.

Mary and Stephanie forgot to take photos and two more overnight guests departed. We said goodbye to Amber after breakfast and Rocky left around noon. That meant there was only one overnight guest for dinner, Inky, and he also hates going out in the rain. 

The day visiting Doodles were good sports about the weather and Stephanie did play with them in the cabana but they quickly lost interest. Just for fun, Mary told them a story about the old days when Doodles were pencil sketches you did on paper napkins. It wasn't until September 2006 that they  met their first Doodle to Seaforth and in 2007, there were four more. By the end of 2009, there were ten Doodles on the client list and the number kept increasing year over year. Today, in November 2025 , Mary estimated that there are about thirty members of the OODLE club on the active client list and every Wednesday, you can find at least five members of the OODLE club having a lot of fun in Seaforth.  

On Monday, Skye and Boba departed for home and on Tuesday Piper did the same. So, by Tuesday night the only overnight critters were Rocky, Amber and Inky. Sometimes we find it a bit strange when there are so few staying over and we keep checking to be sure that we haven't forgotten someone outside.

The five Monday day-visitors and the nine Tuesday day-visitors were here to keep us on our toes and that was a good thing. Stephanie took us to the beach in the morning so she could keep a couple of appointments in the city around noon and while she was gone, we entertained Mary. 

Here's Monday's photos and you can see that we all had fun, both at the beach and in the fields around the house, hanging out with our friends. 

    

        

    

It didn't get much above 3 degrees C on Monday so, it was no surprise that with a clear sky overnight and a -3 degrees C, we would wake up to a hoar frost. The sunrise on Tuesday morning highlighted the frost that covered almost everything in sight and we left our paw prints on the white film that covered the grass and the steps. While we waited for Remington to arrive, we examined the artistic design that the frost paints on surfaces like glass and metal. Even Arthur and Remington   seemed to have been touched by the breezes wielding the brushes that left behind these patterns on the hood and windshield of the car. As the sun's warmth reached the surfaces, the artwork began to disappear but it was lovely while it lasted. 

      

Added to the Silver frost decoration that started the day, we welcomed the Golden critters that come every Tuesday and as usual there was a lot of excitement and noisy greetings.  In order to keep everyone happy, Stephanie gathered the crowd and off they went to the beach. 

   

   

   

Throughout the day after returning from the beach, there was lots of time to play with one another before the day visitors had to start returning to their homes.  

    

   

 

  

 

 

 

Saturday turned out to be a good day for us to spend time outside. The weather forecast called for rain but it didn't start until after dinner. Our little Havanese gal, Lyla  , arrived for her regular Saturday social and today she wore her pink and green knit, form-fitting sweater dress with the ruffled peplum. She thinks she's pretty sharp and she wants to throw caution to the wind today and have some big adventures.  

We followed Stephanie around until she was ready to take us to the beach and, not being a sports fanatic, Lyla's participation usually lasts only until she gets down to the water. Then she is likely to turn around and head back to the house but today she gets adventurous and goes off into the woods with some of the other critters. 

         

The rest of us kept watch to see where Arthur would end up as he has found his own convoluted route from the house to the beach, these days. Apparently, he has hopes of surprising a pheasant or two and flushing them from their ground cover. We looked across the pond to the north and sure enough there he was   trying to decide whether to join us or stay on the trail of his feathered friend. Eventually, he decided to catch up with us and see if Stephanie had any of his favorite dog biscuits. 

We continued with our beach exploration and, when everyone was tired and thirsty, we headed back to the house to see what Mary and  the others were up to.

        

   

   

We found Rocky giving Lucie a grand tour of the property, commenting on some of his favorite haunts like the Stephanandra Hedge where he has enjoyed many games of hide-n-seek. As soon as Lucie spied some of the beach goers returning, she dropped Rocky like a hot potato and ran to say hello to Piper and Harry, hoping for some more excitement from the bigger critters. 

       

 

Betsy, Tilley and Lyla were picked up by their humans later and we had a pleasant dinner with naps afterward. 

Sunday dawned with a clear sky and no sign of the forecasted rain again. Stephanie was going to do some family stuff today but she got our breakfast and took us to the beach as soon as Briar   arrived to spend the day. 

  

It was a lovely early morning, as you can see from the photos, and after we had our beach fun, we returned to the house so Stephanie could pass us over to Mary for the day. 

Rocky     was still trying to impress Lucie and she was happy to follow him around while Harry was at the beach. Harry was tired, wet and somewhat smelly when he got back, which resulted in Lucie not being interested in hanging out with him, so she returned to Rocky's side until it was time for her to go home.    

After lunch, Desi and Bruce arrived so that they could help Mary with some chores. The first item on the agenda was for Desi to take Piper to the beach and she got some good photos of Piper playing.

     

Bruce was busy doing some clean up over at the barn which involved burning lots of wood scraps and old fence posts in the barrel. Harry got picked up by his human around 1:30 and Lucy at 3:00 followed by Briar at 3:30. Then it was time for Desi to get our dinner ready and take us for a walk before she and Bruce left for the day.