I'm HOME!!!!!!!

So, a few months ago, I was still living in Japan  -

and now, by the amazing miracle of those big silver things called planes, I'm HOME - for the first time in years (over five years - that's in two legged reckoning, in my reckoning that's 35 years!!!), I'm back in Ireland -

and I was (and still am) SOOOOO happy to be back in my HOME, that I have been running and jumping and running for joy -

Now, don't get me wrong, I loved living in Australia and Japan and I miss my buddies (four legged and two legged) from both those places a lot but this is HOME and I'm so happy to be back!!!


More later - and even better, She is taking some time off work so I will have time to visit y'all and catch up on what has been going on over the last 8 months or so!!!

Woof for now.

Groucho

The Snowman

Groucho and his buddies down by the river

Well, it's another quick post - thank to you all for your welcome back messages but it looks like it was a short lived return to Blogville, She is back at the mad long hours at that horrible thing called Work.  But I had to share this - these are my two buddies, Heinrich and Mathilde - I met them out walking along 'my' river (that's it, in the background - who'd have thought, here I am, living in Tokyo and I have this cool river to run along every day!!!) and we are the best of buddies now.  She says Heinrich is the coolest four legged one (not as cool as me, obviously) and Mathilde makes us all laugh as she loves to dig - and while she has her head stuck in a hole, I run up to her and lick her ears.  Heinrich just moseys on along and let's us have play fights with him, he's very gentle with me even though I can be a bit of a brat (apparently, although I would not agree with this of course, that's just what She says).

Anyway, I have to go.  By the way, this snowman was not made by Her, She grew up in Australia so what would She know about snowman building????  H & M he two legged one built it - he was very fast at it (extreme snowmanning we have called it) but then, he grew up in a snowy country so of course he knew what to do!!

And apologies for not being able to visit y'all blogs, we'll make up for it in a few months time, She has promised!!!!

Woof for now

Groucho (or, as I'm now known, SnowDog)

Snow Mobile

Snow Mobile, originally uploaded by Wonder Westie.

Well, don't fall off your chairs, yes, it's Me, I'm back Again!!!!! I can only say I'm very sorry on behalf of Her, I haven't been able to make comments on any of your blogs, but I'll be back in a few months time, She's having a break and one of the first things She is going to do is become a Consistent Blogger - or allow me to be one!!! Anyhoo, we had a BRILLIANT snow storm this past weekend - the most snow in Tokyo in 45 years!!!! OMD, it was PAWSOME!!! I had soooo much fun, I bounced and I jumped and I made SnowGrouchos and I ate snow and I ran and I ran and I ran.

Woof for now.

Groucho

I'm still here .....

Mount Fuji 2013-09-29 (9O6A2116), originally uploaded by Wonder Westie.

Well, I see from reading a few other blogs that there seems to be a bit of the 'too busy, too busy' going on - too busy to blog is something I had hoped we had got past in our house, given the stern words I had had with Her last time, but it seems, my stern words fell on deaf ears but at least I'm not alone .... I see Higgins and a few others are having the same issues which makes me feel a wee bit better! Anyway, I am still reading blogs, just not able to comment for which I apologise - but I've been keeping up as much as I can with all your news. This is one reason why She hasn't posted - apparently, in between Her long work week (Her reason for not bloggin!) She somehow managed to find time to climb Mt Fuji with Him - this is sunrise from the fifth station on Fuji-san, They then climbed to the summit and came back down - She said the sunrise was PAWSOME but it was one of the toughest physical things She had ever done and She could not walk properly for at least 3 days!!!

We will try to be more consistent ..... We miss you all.

Woof

Groucho

Ahhhhh

Groucho (9O6A1831), originally uploaded by Wonder Westie.

Well, so much for the blogging - She has not been replaced as The Main Help because a) it has been very, very, very hot here in Nihon and we are all very, very tired with it all b) She has been very, very busy at work, doing 6 day weeks and therefore any spare time She has is spent with Him and Me, doing important stuff like rubbing my tummy, feeding me, taking me for walks (in the very limited cool times of the day), buying me treats from the wonderful doggy cafe They found (all nature, delicious stuff!) c) Her extracirricular activities are many - Nihon go (Japanese) lessons once a week, taiko drumming once a week and now They have started kendo as well and then there is the jogging They are doing as They need to get fit for Their Mt Fuji climb which is coming up and They are going on an ancient Shinto pilgram trail later this year as well - She is very excited but also very worried as it requires a LOT of walking (for some reason, She seemed to think that pilgram trails were easy!!???) and some steep ascents (and She is not good at ascents - She whinges a lot!). So, I'm prepared to overlook Her tardiness but once the cooler weather hits and I have more adventures out and about (She has bought a bike which will, next month, be fitted with a basket so I can go with Them - how cool is that, I will get to see more of Tokyo now - either by densha [train] or on Her jitensha [bike] - I'm hoping She buys me some aviator goggles, I will look SOOOOO PAWSOME!), She better be more pro-active in the Help Department.

We are sorry we haven't been able to leave comments on our buddies' blogs, we have been reading them, She has just had trouble finding time to leave comments. Hopefully that will all change soon when work calms down!!!

We hope you are well and having loads of zoomies and fun!

Woof

Groucho

Well, it certainly isn't my fault ......

That I have been out of Dog Blogville for what feels like PAW-EVER. And it is, really, in dog years - it may only be a few months to Her (which is actually bad enough really) but for me, it's paw-ever. I'm thinking of firing Her, She really has done it this time. As usual, She is blaming it on Work - whatever this work thing is, I sure don't like it. But, well She may blame it on this work thing - however, I think it's something more to do with :

Then of course, there was the British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia test series which took up a lot of Their time - as They had to watch every match, including the non-Test ones - I don't mind, actually, (other than it keeps me away from Blogville) because I'm a huge fan of rugby, I like to sit on the couch and watch it but oh dear me, She was hard work during this test series - I mean, seriously, does She not know that yelling at that thing that They call the TV will not change the ref's mind???? I mean, I'm a dog and even I know that! But that ended last week and She said, enough is enough, I need to get back into Blogville! P> So, what's been happening in Japan? Well, far too much to put into one post, let's just say that I'll go forward rather than try to play catch up - the weather has turned HOT, and I mean HOT - not hot like it was Down Under, which was roasting hot but dry, or even hot like Dubai which was REALLY REALLY hot - this is like walking into a sauna, it is HOT and HUMID (about 95% humidity and 35 degrees celsius!). Now, after such a glorious Spring and a short rainy season (during which time I had to wear a rain coat - I was peeved at first but I got over it and even enjoyed wearing it - I think it looks ok, really, as far as rain coats go - please excuse the photographs, She took them instead of Him so they aren't that great)

I admit that I am finding this weather quite tough but I still go for two walks a day, I just have to drink a LOT of water while I'm out and we go early and later in the day - AND I have a cooling jacket, They say I look like a star trooper in it, I don't care what I look like, it keeps me cool and star troopers are cool anyway, so it's a win win. I go to doggy day care once a week as well, so that keeps me busy, but it does mean that I can't go on the train for a while as it's just TOO hot for me to be on a station platform. She says that it's like standing in front of an open oven but She doesn't mind it really - She says it's a small price to pay to live here and that, really, if this is the worse thing in Her life, what on earth has She got to complain about? I tend to agree - we are very lucky and we are really lucky to be living in such a wonderful place!

Well, that's it for now, we will be much more consistent, She promises (well, that's if She keeps Her job - we've just had another little chat, set a few performance targets, but She is on her final warning, I can only be expected to be patient for so long!). We will swing by to check out all your news over the next few days! There are some photos below of our neighbourhood and my walking routes! (and one of Mr Groucho is his new sleeping position on the couch - took him only, oh, one day to make himself completely at home!). Woof for now.

Yasai

Broccoli Man 2013-05-18 (IMG_6607_2), originally uploaded by Wonder Westie.

Yasai means vegetables in Japanese and look at what They found when out exploring last weekend - Mr Broccoli Man and broccoli is one of my FAVOURITIST yasai! Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to eat very much of it at all because it's not good for me - which She is a bit miffed about because She doesn't like broccoli (or many yasai at all really) and would like to give me Her share!

I'm sorry I haven't been around that much, but I've been a bit pawly again - unfortunately, my tummy bug has been back for a visit but the dog-ter here gave me some anti-bug treatment and I'm well on the road to recovery! I'm so well that we are hoping to try out my new train travel bag this weekend - so far, the new bag is going ok - I'm happy enough to go into it and don't even mind when They zip up the front because of course, I can still see everything (They made sure to buy a dog travel bag that had LOADS of mesh windows for me to look out of - They say I'm a nosey parker, I say I'm just curious!) but I get a bit restless after a short while, however, we are working on it so that I can go to exciting places like this one and see Mr Yasai man for myself! After all, there will be so many more paws-ibilities once I'm an experienced train rider (I wonder, will I have to get my own travel pass???).

Woof for now

Groucho

Grand Sumo Tournament

Grand Sumo Tournament 2013-05-12 (IMG_6475_2), originally uploaded by Wonder Westie.

Last night, They went to the Grand Sumo Tournament at the Ryogoku Kokugikan - I had to stay at home, which is a bit of a shame as I think I would have really enjoyed it, I would have sat there very quietly and only woofed every once in a while. But it was a no four-legged ones affair so I stayed home and minded the house. it was ok as They weren't gone for that long and I went for two very very long walks in the morning (and, to be honest, I slept the whole time They were gone).

They said it was amazing, just absolutely incredible. There was so much to see and She said the ceremonies before the bouts were fascinating. Her favourite part was the gyoji, the referees - She loved the traditional robes they wore and the elegant stance they took during the bouts. There are major tournaments (hon-basho) six times a year so They will go again in September, They enjoyed it so much. While the ceremonies and colours and atmosphere were amazing, She said that the actual wrestling was very exciting as well - She was cheering and getting very involved He said and He had a wonderful time taking all the photographs. They came home full of excitement and as a huge plus, I got to go for another walk!

Woof for now

Groucho

Space to Roam and Upcoming Exploring!

Before we left to come to Japan, a few of my two legged friends and all of my four legged ones, were worried I would not have enough space to run around in - fortunately, the wonderful two legged ones who helped Her find a place to live, found a house with a garden for me so I am able to sit and strut and sniff out there as much as I want -

and, apart from all the walking I do around our suburb and even beyond (because it's important that I let everyone know I'm here and I like to think I am the master of all I survey!), there is of course the river - here are some more photos of my weekend walk - I go to the river usually at least once a day, sometimes twice, for a long walk - now that the weather is becoming quite warm, I can get out and about much more:

So, see, no need to worry, while I may not have a beach to run along, I'm doing zoomies elsewhere and I'm well able to stretch my legs. And once my Sturdibag arrives, I'll be on the trains in no time, going to new parks and all that - so many new adventures to be had!!!

On a less exciting note, my tummy has been a bit up and down the last week - it's probably because I ate something I shouldn't have, but She was a bit worried so, as a result, I'm not allowed to have my usual treats - this may sound a bit awful but, well, I'm not complaining as She found a shop nearby which sells only 100% organic, non-grain based treats - they are DELICIOUS! And He bought me a 'cheese stick' - it's quite large so I will have to lick it, rather than chomp it, for a while until it becomes soft enough for me to devour in my usual impatient way! I'm very determined when it comes to these things so it will be gone very soon, I'm sure!

I'm having such a busy life at the moment, that I'm rather tired by it all - there is so much to learn and see and do, that, after a few rolls on the lawn (commando rolls She calls them), I'm ready for a wee nap:

imageanchor="1" >imageanchor="1" >imageanchor="1" >

They have been out and about again, taking in the new surroundings - I'm sure that once my bag arrives, I'll be visiting some of these new places with Them - I can't wait to sniff all the new smells and see all the amazing things They are seeing although, in fairness, I will probably have my nose to the ground most of the time!

Woof for now.

Groucho

Ogenki desuka?

Well, I would not be surprised if you had all given up on me - but what's a Westie to do when She won't help??? She's so busy learning Japanese (the above being an example - it is the equivalent of 'how are you' in English although the literal translation is a bit different but well, we won't go into that - She could go on for hours about it all, She's that fascinated with the language) and that thing that we are all starting to suspect is just an excuse not to help out - Work. I've no idea what it means as I'm a dog, I'm not supposed to know what it means but all I do know is that it takes Her away for about 12 hours of the day and, over the last few weeks, has made Her very tired. However, that's ok as things are less stressful than last year and we are all having a great time in Japan. And He and I get to do great stuff every day.

So, here's an update:

1) Cherry Blossom season has come and gone and now, we are in to Spring and what an amazing difference it makes - when I first arrived, it was cold and rainy and all a bit brown from the cold Winter but now, there is green EVERYWHERE, the two parks near me are wild with green, the trees are all in leaf, the roses have started to come out and the smell of jasmine is everywhere. Of course, I could care less about the pretty smells, I rarely lift my head off the ground when I'm out walking as there are too many great smells around but She tells me that, up at Their height, it's rather amazing. Here is the view She has on the way to the train station every morning:

2) I'm getting to know my way around very much - I have taken over the suburb, to the extent I can - He and I go for long walks every day so we get to see and do some great stuff - there is some stiff competition over here in terms of the coolest four legged one - at the moment, in particular, I'm finding that the two WFT that I see most evenings are my main competition - I begrudgingly admit that they are indeed worthy of attention but my black button nose is a tad out of joint as a result. I'm working on upping the coolness and handsomeness at my end - it's tiring work - (I had to wear the sock for a few days as my paw was a bit sore - I don't like socks so as soon as they left the room, I took it off - They don't know how I managed it and I'm certainly not going to share the secret but suffice it to say, I worked out a way to get that sock off in a few minutes, every time)

3)I'm settling in well (as are They) but I do miss my buddies back in Perth and I miss the older two legged ones - I partiuclarly miss Jorge and Maxi - they were my favourite buddies back Down Under - and even though Jorge is about, oh, 100 times bigger than me, he always played really well with me - but, as of next week, I'm going to doggy day care near Tokyo, a few times a month so I can play with other four legged ones and I'm getting a Sturdibag soon so that I can go on the trains with Them on the weekends and visit loads of cool places with Them - I can't go into the shrines or temples of course, but I can walk around all the cool little places they visit - I am very excited about the trains - look how fast they are and look at all the cool places I can visit:

4) only a few minutes away from us is a river - it doesn't have the white sandy foreshore that 'my' river Down Under has but it as LOADS of grass to roll around on, a lot of other four legged ones to mess around with and it's LOADED with great smells so I can't complain - we all think it's amazing that in such a densely populated city, I can still have a river to run along and loads of space to run around - you can see me and her having a race (I won of course - She says it's because I tried to trip Her up but I say She's a bad loser - She's very much into the jogging these days, hence the brightly coloured trainers!!!)

So, all in all, the Japanese Adventure is going well - I'm a lucky four legged one to get to see so much and She says it's like living a wonderful dream - She is so grateful and says we are all very lucky. He is taking a lot of photographs (fortunately, mostly of things other than me as we all know I'm not that keen on having my photograph taken!!!!) and They are doing a lot of sight seeing -

But She SAYS (and I'm trying to believe Her this time) that She will help me out much more and promises to be a bit more proactive in Her duties, including catching up on everyone else's blogs as we really have missed you all!!

Woof for now

Groucho