Hannah's Cranberry Caper

Too cool for school - check out our shades... we're super lucky dogs in Carmel, CA for the Thanksgiving holiday! A whole week of fun, sun, and running on the beach with all kinds of crazy canines. Mom's working on our new Beach Day video, too. Stay tuned for that!

Mom and Dad spent all morning cooking great smelling stuff for Thanksgiving weekend. Lucy and I lucked into a couple of pieces of stew meat sauteed in red wine and housin sauce by hanging out near the kitchen and pretending not to notice anything unusual. (They don't cook much, so it's totally out of character!) Dad's kinda learning how to cook and so he made pumpkin bread and cranberry bread for the first time ever. Boy did that work up the olfactories!

In the past us dogs have been highly obedient regarding fabulous food items on tables, but when Mom went off to buy the turkey and Dad went into the garage, that cranberry bread was too hard to resist. Lucy grabbed it right off the counter and started to scarf it down and I joined right in, too. We didn't leave one crumb - not one piece of evidence. It was a very clever clean sweep, if I do say so myself. And man was that good chow!

Mom was confused for a few minutes when she got home. She asked Dad if he had wrapped up the bread, but, tee hee, he hadn't. They looked at each other funny and then started giggling and scolding us. We feigned innocence, but I think they knew exactly what happened! (They aren't as dumb as we think they are.) I overheard Mom using bad words and discussing our 'digestive systems' keeping her up all night pooping cranberries. Then she figured out that Dad forgot to put sugar in the pumpkin bread. Dad said we could have that loaf, too. I think they're going to start all over tomorrow morning.

The good news is that we're doing a book signing on Saturday, Nov 24 at 11am at the Pilgrim's Way Bookstore in Carmel. The Beach Day for Hannah book is a hit here, because, of course, it was shot in Carmel. Mom got us these silly Christmas collars for the event. (What do you think?) Mom's also going to talk to a nice man named Hal on the Monterey Peninsula radio, KRXA - AM540 on Friday morning at 8am.

Last week Mom was in Chicago doing book readings at Joseph Sears and Willowbrook Elementary Schools and at the Book Stall Bookstore in Winnetka. She had fun but we couldn't go on the plane.

Anywho - hope you have a fabulous Thanksgiving. We're giving thanks to cranberry bread for sure!

Love & gobs of giblets & gravy!

Hannah

People Do Cool Stuff, Too

Sometimes people are so cool! This really nice lady named Patty Aarons and her friend Judy took their gorgeous Bernese Mountain Dogs to two book readings for kids in Michigan. They have dogs named Skye, Trina, Magnum (I bet he’s big), Abigail and Annie B. Two of them have special CGC Certification – that’s a Canine Good Citizen. (I’m not certified to do a darned thing!) Anyhow – They read my books at The Atlanta Public Library and The Lewiston Library Reading Garden in the great state of Michigan and even got a spread in the Montmorency County Tribune.

They’ll do another reading on Aug 9th at Gaylord, MI Library. Here are some pictures. Isn’t that just the nicest thing to do? I’ll tell ya – kids love us Berners!!
Patty said that Skye tried to sneak off with a stuffed me. (I like to play with - and shred - those cute little stuffed Hannah toys, too!) I'm not sure why mom thinks kids want these toys 'cause Berners sure like to play with little puppy dollies like themselves. But kids like to play with them, too.

Another creative teacher at Chapin School in New York read the book to her kids and then they did snow stuff they don’t normally get to do. For example, they did some sledding on wheels in the gym and then puffed up a parachute stuffed with cotton balls so all the kids got to be in a big snow globe! How much fun was that? I like to catch blowing bubbles, but cotton balls would be a riot!
Love and good cheer to cool people!
Hannah

Mom Goes to Gettysburg

May 2012...(we're a little behind right now) For scores and 7 weeks ago a whole bunch of Berners got together in Gettysburg, PA for the Bernese Mountain Dog Specialty Show. Mom said there were a ton of Berners there all dressed in their finest furs – fluffed and primped and gorgeous. They were talented, too - check out this boarder dude!

Mom was at the Gettysburg specialty show signing my books in Mary Dawn DeBriae’s booth. Mom says that she knew my book had gone international to places like Scotland, Germany, and Sydney already, but now it’s going home even further to Japan and Perth. (That may be as far away as it could go!) I hope the roo’s like it in Perth…

Mary Dawn has a shop in Telluride called Schaussi’s Alpen Schatz (http://www.alpenschatz.com/) that has all sorts of cool Swiss dog collars, yodeling outfits, specialty items from Germany and other Bernese kind of stuff – (Mary Dawn has Berners like me too!) She invited Mom to come to the Bernese Specialty Show with her and it’s been lots of fun.

But… Mom is here posing in the booth with an imposter! Her name is Sophie and I’m very jealous that I’m not there to be in the photo. Can you imagine? Grrrr…. Next year the show will be in Loveland, Colorado, and so Lucy and I can go with Mom and fend off these charlatan dogs!!

All week long Mom’s sister, Marnie, has been helping her drive around and peddle books at bookstores in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Mom says it’s been a fun adventure and it’s a beautiful area this time of year with all the blooming bushes. Marnie knows a guy who thinks we should have a ‘wet fur’ contest – you know, because we’re such sexy canines. (Could be a new entertainment trend!) But then he’s the same guy that gave my own sister Lucy the nickname of Lucifer, and so I’m not sure what to think about him!

Hannah & Her Sister Star in Ben-Fur

As dogs we, of course, eagerly love to go on walks ~ as many walks a day as anyone will take us on! It’s the highlight of the day ~ all those smells, places to go, things to see… But now that I’m a little older this has become problematic if only one master is available to walk us together.

At first Mom tried walking us on separate leashes and complained it was like reigning in the Budweiser Clydesdales. (Click on Clydesdale video - love the hair extenders!) Frankly we did conspire to drag her down the street; and then connived to wrap the leashes around her legs; and then argued about it loudly when we were all tangled in a

knot. It was hard for Mom to maneuver a baggy pick up as well. That’s always quite exciting. We’ve even pulled Mom down a couple of times, we’re so strong as a team. She’s not too keen on that!

So Mom got us a new get-up ~ well really she rigged it so that Dad could walk us both over to get her Starbucks latte in the morning. He claims we’re like Ben-Hur racing around the track with our harnesses and the doggy connectivity device. (Click here for exciting Ben-Hur race & imagine Dad in one of those hats) Lucy and I think we’re the stars of Ben-Fur... but me thinks Dad’s kinda being a chicken. He’s too scared to carry the two cups of hot coffee back in the chariot. Mom’s gotta figure out a coffee connectivity device so we can work it all out and accomplish our act of service in the morning.

Mom says my book is finally coming in a couple more weeks. I can't wait to see it!!

Love & tons of harnessed energy!!
Hannah

Hannah & the Mama Grizzly

Mom says it’s a dog-eat-dog world in politics and I’m not supposed to bark about it because I’ll offend potential book buyers. She says even though there’s a lot of rabid politicians, there are a lot of nice Republicans and Democrats out there that like books about dogs, and that I need to “Wag More, Bark Less.” She says I can start my own Pee Party with a unique dogma and try to clean up the smelly mess left under the bushes if I want.

Don’t let your karma
Run over your dogma!

Love, Hannah

PS: Dad got a new mangroomer from Sharper Image!

Hannah & Her Monkey Business

Dad went fishing this morning with his brother and Mom was on the phone for awhile with her sister, telling her about my book, and so I snuck upstairs to find out what was going on up there. Didn't take long to find this cute little monkey - well, not so little. He was big and stuffed full of great stuffing like a big old turkey. He kind of looked like Curious George and so I shred him. (You know Curious George, right? He gets into so much trouble that it seemed like I should retaliate somehow.) Schnikees was that so much fun! I got the stuffing all over the room and my sister, Lucy, was just watching me and smiling. I think she's a little older and wiser, because I got into some serious trouble after my mom found the monkey and stopped laughing. Well, I think it was more about the other monkey business that I left for her in the other room. Sure stunk up the place real good! But she was on the phone and didn't let me out in time, and she was the one that left the door open so I could go up there! She should have known better!!

Happy shredding!
Love, Hannah

Hannah & the Blender

When Mom & Dad came home after going out to dinner last night I was totally freaked out and hiding in the bathroom, locked in the shower to boot! She couldn't find me but she was startled by this really loud noise in the kitchen. (I was startled too, to say the least!!) I don't know what happened but when I was sneaking up on the counter I think I knocked one of my big old paws onto some kitchen machine and moved a knob. Mom laughed when she saw the blender was on and the house hadn't burned down yet. She said she thought I was making margaritas, but I'm not sure what those are. I learned a lesson, though - no more sneaking up to look on the counter for me, boy! That scared the beegeebees out of me!

Don't get locked in the shower today! Come read my book instead!!
Love Hannah