Simply Sharrvelous

There are actually three! McDonald’s within walking distance of the house.  Here, Mattie is heartily approving of the taste of Uruguayan ice cream from McDonald’s.  A new record for her – three chomps and it was gone.

Here’s a picture of Mattie after her romp in the water.  You can tell she’s still ecstatic, but she’s also tired!  She even managed to get her Halti off in the water.  Needless to say, it went right back on after the picture.

More pictures from the same set as yesterday of Mattie at the beach.  This is really a big trip for her.  The beach is half a mile from the house, then she gets in the water and plays, and then has to walk another half mile back home.  Her hip’s still not completely recovered from the surgery, but Mattie doesn’t complain and is eager to go to the beach.  We hope the water will help strengthen her leg.

The other day we took Mattie to the -real- beach by the embassy and the amusement park (if you look on a map of Montevideo, it’s by Parque Rodo).   She loved it.  You can see her tail in full Sharr plumage in these pictures as she goes on exploring.  We’ll be going back with her tomorrow.

I believe the spot’s a bit of chicken fettucine that got misplaced as Mattie gobbled her leftovers down.  She really enjoys those.

Mattie at the park again last Saturday.  She’s spotted a bunch of kids and dogs on the other side of the path.

In the second picture, Mattie’s not far from the tree she’d been sniffing earlier, just posing for a picture.

Last night, Mattie insisted on bringing the blanket over her for the nightly half hour ritual of TV watching.  We do this to spend time with her at home, and she seems to enjoy it.  She lays on the sofa between us and I stitch during the show.  The cover was originally over the back of the sofa.  She dragged it down and draped it around her head and kept tugging at it to get it around her.  I’m not sure why she did it; it was a hot day that she spent most of outdoors, since the maid was in.  Anyway, we finally helped her rearrange the blanket and she was satisfied.  It stayed on the whole show.

These two pictures are from Sunday at the park.  This one gives you a bit more view into the park and reveals Mattie investigating a new scent.  She does this a lot.

Here she is checking out a tree.  She sniffed at it for a good five minutes.  I have a feeling a lot of other dogs have left their marks there.

One of Mattie’s favorite places in the house is right at the front door.  She lays there and fills up the whole entryway, keeping us safe from anyone daring to speak as he or she passes the house.  It’s also a nice, cool tile floor and it’s just beginning to come into late spring here, with temperatures comfortable but not hot.  She’ll appreciate the tile even more next month.

We walked to the park today and Mattie was eager to get there.  So eager, in fact, that she jumped the barrier to the grass and went right into sniff mode.  You can see the sign with the park name on it in the background.  The park’s about two to three blocks big and always has a swarm of dogs.  It’s also where the local Saturday and Tuesday market is held.