NEW JACKET

We are surviving the Blizzard of 2010. I am wearing my new jacket that Anne and Brian gave me for Christmas because it is 59 degrees in our living room. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

SANTA'S HELPER

REINDOG

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY HOLLY DAYS !!!!!!!!!!

HowlOWeen

I am ready for HowlOWeen - feeling a little devilish. I promise I won't do any tricks if you give me lots of treats !!!! I love treats. Hey, did I tell you that I LOVE treats. Love em, love em, love em.

I have now had more than 12,000 visitors to my blog and I want to thank all of my fans for visiting. Lawrence says I am a rock star. And, of course, I am !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beauty Rest

I am all curled up, getting my beauty rest. Lawrence says I am beautiful. He's so sweet. But, of course, I am !!!!!!!!!

ELVIS HAD A BIRTHDAY

Yesterday was Elvis' birthday. One of his most famous performances was when he sang "You Aint Nothin But A Hound Dog" to a basset hound. The King and a basset !!!!! We have always been loved by royalty.

A SPECTACULAR AUTUMN

Although the fall colors were late arriving the view from our front porch has been spectacular. We appreciate it every morning when we look out our window. The leaves are now falling and the mountains are turning brown. Now the forest floor is a bright yellow and the squirrels are kicking up trails of leafy gold as they run through the woods. I wish Lawrence would let me chase some squirrels and then I'd be kicking up some leaves.

BROOD

I am a lucky dog. I live in a nice house with Lawrence my owner who loves me very much. Some of my cousins are not so lucky. Several of them are up for adoption at Basset Rescue Of Old Dominion in Charlottesville, Virginia. You can see them at http://www.brood-va.org/. They are all loveable dogs and your life would be enriched by adopting one of them. Bassets love humans.

GOBBLER SEEKS HEN

Today when I looked out of the window I saw Mr. Big - Tom Turkey, that is. He is a big gobbler with a big beard and he is looking for those hens who were here yesterday. It's turkey mating season and he is on the prowl. I woofed at him a couple of times but he didn't reply . I guess I don't talk turkey.

TURKEYS IN THE YARD

I like to sit on the steps in the kitchen and look out of the front window and keep an eye on the front yard and wildflower meadow. Today there was a flock of wild turkeys in the front yard and several of them took turns sitting up on the split rail fence. They live on the mountain behind the house and come down here to feed. I growled at them but they ignored me. I just don't get any respect !!!!!

MY FEETS TOO BIG

This blogging is a lot of fun but very difficult because of my big paws. We bassets are known for our big feet. It makes it very difficult to type on this Apple laptop. I have talked with the Apple people but they say there just isn't enough demand to make a bigger keyboard for basset hounds. Once again I'm feeling basset discrimination. And texting on my Blackberry?
Fugedaboutit !!!!!!

MY HUMAN IS LEAVING ME

Tomorrow my human is leaving me and going to LA to visit his son, Lawrence Franklin Altaffer IV (shown above). We usually refer to him as L4. He is twenty six years old, single, and lives in Santa Monica. For the past two years he has been the webmaster for the DATA foundation which was co-founded by Bono. DATA promotes aid to Africa. He has also done work for Matt Damon's production company Live Planet. Currently he is working on several freelance projects. You can see his work at "catpointstudios.com". He does really nice work. My human and L4 are planning to go to the art museums in LA and Laguna Beach and they are taking a one night road trip to Las Vegas. I'd really like to go with them but they tell me there are no slot machines that pay out in doggy biscuits. We bassets are really discriminated against!!!!!!!!!

ROSS AND ALICE

Our best buddies Ross and Alice Merrill came to visit for the weekend. I was so excited all I could do was BARK BARK BARK and run around in circles and try to jump up on them and then my human Lawrence would get upset with me and remind me of my proper manners which means NO JUMPING ON PEOPLE !!!!! Being the scent hound that I am I sniffed and identified every bag and package they brought in. I must say I have gotten better. It used to take an hour for me to settle down when guests arrived and now I pretty much get it under control in fifteen minutes. I love having guests because they are "new meat" and I incessantly plead with them to pet me. I especially love all the new scents and aromas that guests bring and my nose stays in a highly charged state. This weekend I just couldn't contain myself and kept sniffing Alice's butt which she didn't like and I just didn't understand this. All of my doggy acquaintances never seem to mind my smelling their butts !!!!
Ross is the chief of the department of conservation at the National Gallery of Art in Washington and is an extraordinary landscape painter. Alice works at The Art League in Alexandria and is one of the most conscientious people on this earth. Lawrence and Ross planned to do some plein air painting on Saturday afternoon but the rain prevented that. Instead they sat in the living room sipping Bourbon and talking about art and looking at art books. Boy does that get boring for me but they actually get excited about. It's hard to figure out these humans.