I was clearing out my phone recently and came upon some fun animal videos that never made it to YouTube. So after some frantic genetic engineering editing, I slapped these puppies (well, only one puppy, and she’s eight) onto YouTube. My haste is your gain!
Remember Gumby? He was that green, bipedal, Claymation humanoid with the orange pony, Pokey. I always liked Gumby and his amorphous, shape-shifting ways.
Apparently, our three-legged dog, Nugget, has beef with the Gumbster. She has a Gumby toy that she loves to shake around. Lately, she’s been pulling Gumby’s soft inner fluff out the poor fellow, and yours portly ends up being the one picking it up. Perhaps Nugget is trying to get me to exercise a bit more.
What Nugget has not been mauling—thankfully—are the birds that come to our bird feeder. I bought a ten-dollar bird feeder at Lowe’s and hung it with a nail outside of our sunroom. Dr. Wife loves the birds, especially Peepers (a female cardinal) and her “boyfriend,” Big Red (a male cardinal).
What’s cool is that the birds are so enamored with their treats, they’ll let me walk right up to the window and look at them. I can get some pictures of them, although they tend to come out a little dark thanks to the UV coating we have over the windows. One day I’ll do a post of nothing but bird pictures (and my self-indulgent commentary).
Today is not that day. Instead, I’ll be sharing a video of a cute bird eating—and of Nugget locked in battle with her Claymation foe:
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With Murphy’s passing, I figured I’d reblog this series of posts, dating back to before I picked her up for the first time. Yesterday would have been five years (I believe) since I first picked her up—her “gotcha” day. I was blessed to have that much time with this wonderful, loving dog.
I won’t say more at this point, as her passing is still very raw, but I hope you’ll enjoy this celebration of Murphy’s life. The way the old girl was doing even six months ago, I figured she’d probably keep ticking, but time caught up with her, as it will all of us. It just goes to show that we don’t know when Death will come knocking on our door; better make the most of the time we have with our loved ones, even the furry ones.
With that, here is “TBT^16: Big News: TPP is Going to the Dogs“:
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It’s been a whirlwind Wednesday for yours portly and Dr. Wife. Yesterday we were both worn out between her onboarding and my long day of duties around the house, and we had to get up early to head to Florence, South Carolina for a day of “life admin” errands.
We got home mid-afternoon, only to discover that Nugget, our three-legged dog, has been selected as one of a handful of canines to receive a (mostly) free photography session. Part of her prize is a full-sized portrait with Dr. Wife!
The rub is that the studio is in Summerville, South Carolina, which is a little over two hours away. After making some hasty arrangements for Murphy’s care and feeding for the next twenty-four hours, I booked us a dog-friendly hotel (and a continental breakfast—ooooh, baby!), and we’re setting out at some point this evening.
More to come, dear readers! I’ll share photos of our last-minute adventure, as well as Nugget’s grand portrait, soon!
Happy Wednesday!
—TPP
My old bull terrier, Murphy, loves winter. She really seems to come alive in the cold, and even loves frolicking in the snow.
This Friday, I have three videos of Murphy adapting to some wintry climes:
Here’s something a bit different for today’s Open Mic Adventures. I’m never one to let anything go to waste, and that includes silly, improvised cover songs that I send as voice texts.
One morning a couple of weeks back I sang a “cover” of “Riders on the Storm,” the song by The Doors, but changed it to “Murphy on the Storm.” I amused myself so much with my shenanigans that I texted a rendition to my older brother. I then took that audio and plugged into iMovie on my phone, along with a picture of Murphy.
The result is absurdist hilarity.
About four years ago this week I got Murphy, my chunky bull terrier. She was eight at the time, and is twelve now.
Quite a bit has happened in the intervening years, but good old Murph has always been there. And now she’s getting a mom in Dr. Fiancée and a canine sister (about whom she is probably less enthusiastic).
The life expectancy for bull terriers is between eleven and thirteen years, but Murphy seems to be doing well. She spends her days relaxing and enjoying treats, and she still baffles me with her love of sunning herself in 100-degree weather. Murphy is enjoying her golden years in relative luxury and comfort—at least, the meager kinds of luxury and comfort I can provide her.
With that, here is 11 July 2024’s “TBT^4: Big News: TPP is Going to the Dogs“:
In a continuing celebration of my chunky dog Murphy’s twelfth birthday, I’ve got some more Murphy videos for your enjoyment. These videos are feature Murphy doing what she does best (besides eating): lounging like a French duchess.
My old bull terrier, Murphy, turns twelve this Sunday, 15 June 2025. I adopted Murphy when she was eight, so we’ve been together for nearly four years.
After a bit of a hiatus, I have some fun new Murphy videos. She is doing very well for her age, but the old girl is slowing down a bit. She can handle stairs fine, but sometimes she has to do them at her pace.
So, settle in for a couple of videos of Murphy in her battle against steps (and canine aging):
“Murphy, Queen of the Arctic” sounds like an Edgar Rice Burroughs novella, but when we had snow on Wednesday (22 January 2025), my old girl enjoyed the hoary frost.
I got a couple of videos out of the deal, which I present to you now. Grab a cup of coffee or hot cocoa and cuddle up for some frosty videos:
