What's Mr. Joe painting now?

Hi everyone;
A big part of Miniature Wargaming and one of the most enjoyable parts for me is actually painting the miniatures to be used in various games.
I collect rule sets/books, like other people collect novels and each rule set covers a different period in history or combat in a certain element.
The only other item I collect more of, are the actual miniatures, which become the playing pieces of each game or set of rules.
World War 1 or 2, the American Revolution or Civil War,  European wars of the 17, 18 or 19th Century, Brits versus Zulus, Naval warfare from the 19th century to present day or Air Combat from the First World War to present day, I have a set of rules and the miniatures needed to recreate those battles on the table top.
To cover all of these periods, you need miniatures in a variety of scales and of course a way of finding out just what that soldier, aircraft, ship or vehicle looked like.
Thankfully I have a great core of gaming buddies, who know even more about this stuff than I do and as always, I have the World Wide Web at my disposal.
My last paint project dealt with one of my favorite set of rules, named Check Your 6.

As you can see by the cover to my copy of the rule book, this deals with plane to plane combat in WWII.

So far I have painted miniature (1/300 scale) aircraft for Italy, Britan, US and Japan.

My latest group of planes are from the French (Vichy) Airforce of 1940-43.

Check Your 6 offers several scenarios or settings for pitting Vichy French aircraft against the Royal Airforce of Great Britan and the US Navy.

A little history for you. After the German defeat of France in 1940, a pro-German government was allowed to set up and run a small part of France, plus their overseas colonies. It was called the Vichy government, or "Vichy French". Part of these territories were in North Africa and the Middle East, and so eventually brought them into conflict with England and the United States, as we attempted to beat Germany and Italy and Vichy France strove to defend their territory which was in our way.

The French had some sharp looking aircraft and used some flashy colors to distinguish their craft.

trolling the internet and websites like, "Wings Pallette" and "The Miniatures Page", plus the CY6 Yahoo group got me the color and paint scheme information to accurately paint up the French D.520s.

The color scheme consists of a light grey blue for the bottom of the plane and a 3 color cammo scheme of dark blue grey/earth brown/ dark green for the top half. Plus the Vichy French "team colors" of a yellow tail and red stripes.

While I was at it, I also painted two Italian Macchi 202s, as seen below.

These were painted with a combination of Yellow Ochre and green splotches

 

Up next on my paint bench are some WWII British soliders in 28mm scale.

These lads will be used for a different set of rules and actually we have a real plethora of rules sets to go with. Current group favorites are "Rules of Engagement", "Nuts" or "Force on Force".

Here's some I painted about a month ago.

Now, if you are reading this (Thank You) and not one of my wargaming buddies, your probably saying. "Wow, that takes a lot of time and patience" and you would be right.

Time and Patience is what I have plenty of here in Mr. Joes World.

Thanks for visiting.

Joe

benvenuto (Welcome) Bella

Hi everyone;
Thanks for coming back.
Well it seems that the old saying, "There's always room for one more" really does work, at least where Mr. Joes World and Camp Run-A-Muk are involved.
 Back in October, Josh's girlfriend Nicole, was involved in a United Way fund raising campaign, at her work place (Nordstroms). Of course Nicole had to bid on something, cute and furry, in need of a home and so she got Bella the kitten. The next step was where to bring the cat to live and as I'm sure you all see where this is going, Nicole decided to give the kitten to Josh.

Now the last "pets" she gave Josh were fish, two fishbowls full of fish. The fact that you haven't seen any pictures of the fish may tell you how long they survived under Josh's care. And now she wants to give him a kitten...oh boy. Thankfully Nicole picked out a fiesty kitten who will tell Josh when she is hungry and is not confined to a bowl of water. I do also have to give Josh credit, who, with Nicoles coaching and supplying of cat stuff, has done a good job of taking care of Bella.

It's amazing to see how a little animal can grow and adjust so quickly to her new environment.

One day she can't make it up or down 3 steps, the next day she is running laps on the same steps.

Bella has been welcomed warmly by all but one of us here at Camp Run-A-Muk.

The boys and I love her.

Daisy thinks she's the coolest toy in town.

And Hobie???

"Leave me alone kid, you're bugging me"

Yep, Hobie is less than enthused about the new little sister. But that doesn't keep Bella from following Hobie wherever she goes.

We try to limit where Bella can go in the house in order to keep her safe, like out of the laundry room, but like I said this cat is fiesty and determined to say the least.

It will take all of us to keep an eye on the littlest edition to the crew...

even if we are busy begging for treats...

or guarding your turf...

Just remember our motto here at Camp Run-A-Muk; "A place where kids and pets run free"

Thanks for visiting Mr. Joes World

Take care;

Joe

Ciao Pepi

Hi everyone;
Last month my Mom and Dad lost their very much loved dog named Pepi.
While Pepi was not a member of Camp Run-A-Muk down here, he sure would of fit in and as it was he gave my boys much joy when we spent time with him either in Latham, NY or at my sister Ginas house in Bear DE or even the one time he came here.
Pepi was the kind of dog that people were attracted to, especially kids.

The amount of joy he gave Mom and Dad is uncountable and it goes to show that if you do one good thing, you will be repaid, some way, some how, countless times. Pepi was brought home from a shelter by Mom about 12 years ago. She had volunteered to walk dogs at the shelter and thats where she came across this little one year old scruffy looking dog sitting by himself in a cage. Pepi was owned by an elderly woman who could not take good care of him or even get him out for walks regularly, so, unfortunately she sent him to the shelter. Fortune favored Pepi on the day mom saw him and on the one walk, she promised him a new home, if "Grandpa" (Dad) would agree. of course Dad agreed, although I don't know how much say he really did have in this, but the next day, Mom went back to the shelter and brought Pepi home and a match for the ages was made. Pepi grew with the family and has seen all of the grandkids grow over the years.
He had his own personality, as all animals do, which became a frequent topic of discussion whenever I spoke to my parents. Comparisons of his fincky eating habits were always made with his cousins; Daisy, Buster, Madison and Casey, all whom never met a snack or something edible they didn't like. Pepi was stubborn, loyal and knew exactly what he wanted. He was able to thoroughly train my parents to understand what he wanted to do, or more importantly not wanted to do.

Mom would ask him if he waned to go out to the yard...Pepi would let it be known that he would rather not.

Mom would suggest going to the park.....Pepi would practically open the car door himself:-)

The park is named "The Crossings", and is not far from them in Colonie and is a wonderful place for man or beast to walk and take in the fresh air. This was Pepis' home away from home, the place he longed to be with Mom.

Of course when Pepi and Mom weren't at the park, Pepi would always be wherever Mom and Dad were at the time and if at home, then he would be in whatever room they happened to be at that time.

If Dad was sitting in his chair by the picture window, Pepi was lying on the floor right next to him. If Mom was on the couch, Pepi was also on the couch with a part of him butted up against her.

I've noticed that with Dogs, versus Cats here.

Daisy wants to be with you and have some part of her actually touching you.

Hobie wants to be with you, but three feet away is okay with her.

Life goes on and Pepi began to show his age, little by little and then he developed a "mass" in his stomach.

The past few months saw a drop in his activities and liveliness, but never in his affection for Mom, Dad and the park. As any good pet owner would, Dad and Mom kept a watchful eye on Pepi and prepared themselves for the inevitable end. Their goal was to not let him suffer, but to give him as much time as possible to enjoy life. Thankfully for all concerned, Pepi passed on quietly in Dads bedroom, with both my parents at hand. It was an end that we should all be so lucky to have, in a place that you love, surrounded by the ones whom loved you the most.

Pepi now rests in Mom and Dads back yard.

Its a spot which the sun shines on most every day, the grass is green and air is sweet.

And the memory of Pepi lives on, as does all of the other family pets, here in Mr. Joes World.

Next post; "benvenuto Bella"

And another addition to Camp Run-A-Muk and Mr. Joes World

Thanks for reading.

My last Adirondack Adventure

Hi again everyone, welcome back.
This past summer was a tough one, with my hectic work schedule and little money to do anything when I did have time. But I do have memories of summers past, especially when the boys and I would spend a week at Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State. I was looking through my collection of photos and came across pictures of one morning  Kayaking on Lake George, during our last trip up (2007).
In Bolton Landing, on the shores of Lake George, is the home of the Lake George Kayak Company.
They have a store located on route 9N in the heart of Bolton Landing, but their boats are on Green Island, next to the beautiful Sagamore Hotel.
I wanted to do some kind of boating on Lake George, kayaking seemed to be the simplest and cheapest way to do that, so one morning I took a ride up there to rent a kayak and get out on the water.
    Now you are probably asking about my boys, Josh and Chris, and where were they.
They had no desire to go with me, having never kayaked and were in fact sound asleep back at the cabin.
Our typical morning was to get up around 8AM, go have breakfest at the breakfest restaurant where we stayed, great breakfests too I might add, and then the boys would go back to the cabin, turn on ESPN Sportscenter and fall back asleep.
I would have loved to have them with me, but I'm not one to push what I want to do on them, so I let them nap, while I experienced the lake:-)

Ready to launch....Here's a view from the boat house

A party of paddlers make their way away from the boathouse.

I would follow the same route as them and cross this channel to go under the bridge and out to the main body of the lake. I have kayaked before, but it was all on the sheltered waters of the Gunpowder River and Dundee Creek here at home. With Lake George, you are talking "Big Water" that's much deeper and larger boats.
           Below here is my view of the boat house from the lake.

As I left the boat house and headed to the channel, I really enjoyed the beautiful green mountains surrounding the lake. The waters were calm and the boat moved easily through the water.
Once I got out past the bridge and into the open waters of the lake, the boat and water came alive with wave action. Now I had to concentrate on keeping the boat balanced, while watching out for the various powerboats coming to and fro.
Kayaks are more stable than a canoe (in my mind), but they still give you the feeling of going over quickly when hit by a wave, and there were lots of waves/rollers coming in on this day.

I paddled around Green Island and the Sagamore Hotel on my left, to the right and in front was the main part of the lake and the western shore of Lake George.
At times I would take a pause in paddling to sip my drink and just take in the beauty of the lake and surrounding mountains.
I thought I took photos, while out on the water, but don't see them in my computer:-(
Perhaps I was too busy trying to balance the boat to take shots.
 As I went around the island, I came across one woman, reclining on her kayak, with her dog, while reading a book. I don't think Daisy would go for that.
It took me about an hour to get around the island and back to the boat house, and it was an hour well spent.
Here's a parting shot of the boat house.

When I got back to the cabin at Alpine Village Resort, the boys were out throwing a baseball around, so I was glad to see them out and about. The rest of the day was spent either in the pool or down by the beach and of course the night was left to visiting the Village of Lake George for dinner and Mini Golf.
The next day, I had the urge to get out on the water again, so I grabbed a tube and headed down to our beach and floated around the little cove we are in. 
This time I had my camera ready to get some waters edge photos.
Below is from me in the tube, just off the beach at Alpine Village looking out to the lake and Tea Island.

Here's a photo of the Mini Ha Ha, as she cruised back to the Village of Lake George. I waved but don't think anyone saw me.

A closer view of the Mini Ha Ha. If you ever go to Lake George, take a one hour cruise on this boat. It's a great way to see the lake and the beautiful camps along the shore

While I was out on the water in my float tube, I came across a beautifuly colored dragonfly, that had basically gotten stuck to the water surface. I scooped it up and let it dry out on my tube while I floated around. It's wings looked like spun gold.

After awhile it took back off and then I headed back to the beach and lunch.

In the picture below, you can see the boys playing catch as I made my way back to shore.

Yep, the lazy hazy days of summer by the lake.

It doesn't get better than that.

Now days the boys and I are busier and in some ways not as connected as we were back in 2007.

Life goes on, kids grow up and life changes for all of us.

But we always have our memories of places like Lake George, Alpine Village Resort and the Lake George Kayak Company.

And the memories linger here in Mr. Joes World.

Thanks for reading.

Joe

The Camp Run-A-Muk update

Hi everyone;

I have so many things to write about, just haven't had the time to "put fingers to keyboard" as they say nowadays.

We all know the best way to start a long journey is to put one foot ahead of the other and start walking, so here is the first step.
Camp Run-A-Muk update:

Some notes on what the boys, their girlfriends, the pets and I have been doing of late.

First off; everyone is fine and in good shape.
The place can be like Grand Central Station some times, with each of us coming and going on our own schedules. It's almost gotten to be a rare thing to have all of us at home the same time.

The one we most worried over is of course Hobie, but she seems to be recuperating and growing stronger all the time. the Vets had given her a clean bill of health and she is back to her old familiar ways now. She had us worried a few weeks ago, as you could hear her sneeze and what sounded like a cough, but maybe that was just a cold she picked up, since she isn't doing it now. I still worry about her and am keeping a watchful eye on her health.

Meanwhile her sister from another mother; Daisy is enjoying the hikes and walks we go on at the Gunpowder Falls State Park and Baltimore County Eastern Regional Park. I have to watch her food intake, as she will eat as much as I give her and more. The Vet says Daisy is overweight and so Joan (Chris and Josh's mom) has "advised me" to cut down on her intake. At least with me, Daisy gets exercise, but I know she can get really overweight if we are not careful.

At this time of year, I only have Daisy, and Christopher, on weekends.
During the week she goes home with Christopher to his moms house, where she gets very little exercise. When I do have her with me, I make the most of our time.
Here's Daisy at the Gunpowder State Park, Jerusalem Mill area.

Josh and Nicole are doing well. They have had some "ups and downs" in their relationship, but it all seems to be going well now. They are both working, Josh for a Marketing Company and Nicole for Nordstrom and as such their schedules don't always match up. Josh seems to be pretty much on his own schedule or a "work at your own pace" type of job:-) But he is working and helps me out every month with some cash to help put groceries on the table or pay bills.

Chris and Jazmine are also doing well, both are busy with school, work and sports.

Christopher is in 11th grade at Eastern Tech and Jazmine is in 12th at Mount Carmel. Chris works at Chick-Fil-A, which is a restaurant chain, specializing in southern style Chicken sandwiches. Jazmine works at "Curves" fitness spa. Chris was playing football for his third year of high school ball, but decided to concentrate on work and school instead. I didn't like him quitting but I respect his feelings and football is a sport that if you are not 100% in to it, you can get hurt. At this point in his life (16 years old) he would rather make money to save for a car.

And me?
Well besides being the chief cook and bottle washer here, I have been putting in many hours at West Marine.
This past January, my store manager went out on workmans comp, due to a knee injury suffered at work.
We all expected Tina to have an operation followed by a short recovery period and then come back. I was the Assistant Manager and so became the "Acting Manager" in her absence. Well Winter changed to Spring and the boating season took off. Things got really busy and Tina did not recuperate enough for her to come back. It fell on my shoulders to keep the herd moving north and run the store.

Here is my store during Memorial Day Weekend 2009.
We did well this past year, as a team we worked our way through a lot of challenges and kept Customer Satisfaction high.
But it didn't matter in the long run.
 Things were about to change, for in July they announced that this store (Bowleys) will be closing on September 7th and a new much larger store will open next spring, in another location.

Here is my store the day it closed, September 2009. It took us just a week and a half to completely gut the store.

I am now working at another local West Marine store, just 6 miles away from here.

There is a good crew in place, they are fun to work with, but my salary, hours and "rank" have dropped to match up with their existing staff.

I will be working the upcoming Annapolis Boat Shows for West Marine, looking forward to the change in pace.

I don't know what is to become of me and a long term position at West Marine. I like the company, I love boating, but it's retail and retail is a tough job with low pay besides. The unfortunate fact is that working for West Marine does not pay all of my bills, even when I'm working 40 hours per week. I don't want to keep relying on my parents to send me money in order to help pay bills. Plus there's the fact of being in retail means I work every weekend, which means less time for not only the boys (who usually have their own weekend agendas) but for spending time with Daisy, on the trails.

So decisions will have to be made and options explored on my end.

I do still make time for wargaming and painting miniatures in the evening.

It is a great hobby that stimulates the mind, but is relaxing too. I am very lucky to have a great group of "gaming buddies" that enjoy the simple pleasure of seeing the miniature troops, tanks, ships or planes in action on the table top.

A game of "Brother Against Brother" American Civil War being played at Renaissance Games

Here is a picture of some recently painted British Regulars ready for the field of battle with the rules All The Kings Men. These stapping fellows are 54mm, which is a big difference for me, as I have painted either 10mm, 15mm or 25mm figures all of these years.

Their debut in battle will come sometime this winter.

So life goes on for myself, Josh, Nicole, Chris, Jazmine, Hobie and Daisy.

It's never dull in Mr. Joes World.

Thanks for reading.

Joe

What was lost is now found.

Hi everyone;
We had a minor miracle, here around 10:30 pm on Friday night.
Hobie has been found!
It all started with a phone call at 10:20 pm from a man who lived in a neighborhood across from us and some streets away. He and his wife were out walking, they had seen my sign about Hobie and realized that a cat they had seen that night and the night before looked like Hobie.
He described the cat they saw and it sure sounded like Hobie, but was it really her.
I had to go and find out.
I didn't have much time, as I had to go pick up Christopher from his new job at Chick -fil -a by 11.
A short drive over to the street and I found the house of the caller. I get out and start walking along the side walk and calling Hobie.
No answer.
The man came out (Don Amend) and so I introduced myself and talked to him for a bit. I learned that he and his wife had just seen the cat they called about within the last 15 minutes.
I decided to give it another try and walk back along the sidewalk and towards my car.
A few more calls from me was finally answered by a weak "meow" back from someplace nearby one of the houses.
A few calls from me and a few answering meow cries and a black shadow detached itself from the wall of a house and came towards me and then underneath a truck in the driveway.
It looked and sounded like Hobie, so now I sat down on the driveway and talked to her.
Slowly, tentatively, she came to me and then finally, contact was made with me scratching her had and back and she rubbing against me, purring/meowing.
It was Hobie but good lord was she skinny.
Needing to get her home but not knowing if I could do it by myself I called on Josh and he came over in his car.
More sitting on someones driveway and soon she was up to him and rubbing against him.
Soon Josh had her in his lap and the decision was made for him to get in his car with he holding her while I drove. A short one minute drive and we had her in the house, safe and sound once again.
I then walked back to my car and then over to Chick-Fil-A to get Chris.
Whew; what a night!
Today, (Saturday), Josh took her to a local vets and they checked her out, gave her shots and antibiotics.
Hobie now only weighs 5 pounds and has some scratches on her, but should be good for the long run.We are taking things carefully here with Hobie.
She is still very weak and tired.
I don't think she ate much if anything for the month + 6 days she was gone.
So many things came together to bring her home, I still can't believe it.
To start with; I only put a couple of signs on that street, not really expecting Hobie to be that far in that direction.
The wonderful Amend family, who also have a Beagle, are right next to the telephone pole that has my sign and Hobie ends up practically in their yard.
The call coming to me at the right time and when I was able to react to it in a timely fashion.
My not giving up in calling for her that night and figuring it was a false alarm.
My prayers and the prayers of my family and friends.
All of these circumstances and more, combined to bring Hobie back to that familiar spot in our house.
At 6:20AM this morning, Hobie came into my bedroom and told me it was time to get up and get some breakfest.
Just like she always does.
And life goes on, a little happier now, in Mr. Joes World.
Thanks for reading.
Joe

Vanished....she is not alone

Since Hobie disappeared, I started scanning my local, regional paper for Eastern Baltimore County and was struck by how many pets have gone missing in the past two weeks.
Dogs, Cats and even a grey Parrot, all are listed as lost in the paper.
One dog that was lost, right down the road is a Beagle, with the same disposition as Daisy, "friendly but timid."
Every story you read is heartbreaking and you can read the family grief in the short notices.
"Sorely missed", "Family is heartbroken", "Family is grieving".
This is a sign of what pets have become to us and what pet ownership has evolved into.
It's surely a cold comfort to me to know that I am not alone and I can only hope and pray that all lost pets will find their way home soon.
Thanks for reading;
Mr. Joe

Vanished

I am heartbroken to follow up my last post back in February with the news that one of my silent partners is missing.

Hobie the cat was last seen on June 29th. As usual she was always around Daisy and I, always close by, but always keeping a "cat like" distance from the activities. She came out on the patio with Daisy and I in the evening and most likely in the night. I remember taking Daisy for a walk around 10:00 pm and then, it was bedtime. Normally, I let Daisy out one more time around 11, but I was worn out from work and so we didn't have that last time out on the patio. I can only think that if we did go out that last time, I would have found Hobie out there from the 10pm outing. She loved going out on the patio and along the edge of the lawn. She didn't like being out there with the door closed and not able to get back in, so I can only imagine her dismay when she did try to get back in.

Now Hobie has been left out before in the past ten years (3 or 4 times), but she has always been on the top of the shed or right in the yard waiting to get back in the house. The fact that she has so completely disappeared has me baffled.

I woke up Tuesday morning and almost immediately realized that my regular wake up call was not coming from Hobie. Almost every morning for the past ten years, she has been in my room when I awoke to greet me and the new day. If Daisy wasn't in bed with me, Hobie would be on top of my chest, staring intently into my face. When Daisy is around, then Hobie was along the side of my bed and meowing, so when I got up that Tuesday morning, it was strange not to have Hobie in the room, but not the first time and I fully expected to see her in the living room.

When I didn't see here downstairs, I began looking for her inside and out, and I have continued to search for her every day since.

When a pet is around you every day, you grow to expect it to be there every day, you look at certain spots in the house or the yard and expect to see that pet there doing what it has always done and I have come to realize that this is one of lifes best pleasures and comforts.

I come home from work and Hobie meets me at the door, I sit on the couch and she lays across the back of the couch right behind me, I sit at my computer here and she perches herself on the weight bench or love seat, I sit at the kitchen table to paint some miniatures and she climbs into my lap and drapes her paws over my left arm. This is what I enjoyed on a daily basis, this is what I am missing on a daily basis. I do need to add that Hobies disappearence has also caused much saddness to the boys and their girlfriends, Nicole and Jazmine.

The pleasure and comfort I got from Hobie was also shared by each of them on a daily basis.

Thankfully, I have Daisy with me for the summer. If ever there was a faithful companion, Daisy is it. Even now as I type this post, she is here with me and begging for more attention, and/or a treat. Daisy realizes that Hobie is missing and has helped me looking for Hobie, especially on the first day.

I have posted signs throughout the neighborhood, posted a notice on our community website and regularly check with my Vet and Baltimore County Shelter.

Many of my neighbors have spoken to me about Hobie and have leant me support and understanding. Many of the little kids on my block ask me about Hobie and tell me that keep looking for her. There have been several "false alarms" of Hobie sightings in the area and each one gives me a moment of hope, that she will come back to us in time.

Hope is the only thing I have right now, hope and prayers, that is.

And so, we continue our daily routines, go about living our lives and hope that one day soon, we will look at a certain place in the house and see Hobie in her typical cat pose amongst us again.

And so life goes on in Mr. Joes World.

Joe

My Silent Partners

Hi everyone;
Welcome back to Mr. Joes World.

My bio on the blog states, I'm writing about the most important things in my life.

Two of the most important things in my life are also what I call my silent partners.

They are with me all the time, they keep me company, they entertain me and keep me in shape.

They are there for me through thick and thin.

Their affection and trust in me, is second to none.

What are they?

Who are they?
I'm sure you've guessed by now, it's Hobie the Cat and Daisy the Dog.

A typical pose by Hobie

Typical pose by Daisy.

Hobie came in to our lives Thanksgiving of 1998 or 1999...I'm not exactly sure at this point.

She was a stray that was missed by the SPCA when they rounded up her mother and siblings from an abandoned house, near the boys Maternal Grandmothers. Hobie was just a kitten when she followed the boys Uncle Joe and his dog Julie home, where he lived with the boys grandmother. We all went there for Thanksgiving and it was love all around at first sight and so with that, our family added a new member. I had the privelage of naming her and came up with "Hobie", which is the brandname of a catamaran sailboat I sailed up in New York.

All that was lost on you know who, but the name stuck and I can't see her being called anything else.

To say she has been a good pet is an understatement. Hobie is an indoor cat, but does go out with us in the patio or deck. She is very affectionate to people she knows, very shy to folks she doesn't know. When Nicole or Jasmine come over, or when anyone of us comes home, Hobie is right there to greet you.

Then one day, life threw a monkey wrench in to Hobies life, and for better or worse, she had herself a sister....

Dasiy answers a "roommate wanted" ad.

Ok, actually this was last April at the March for Animals around Druid Hill Park in Baltimore.

Hobie never would of placed an ad if there was any chance that a dog would answer it:-)

So...really how did we get Daisy.

Well in 2004, Christopher was really asking for a dog. Joan agreed, but believe it or not, I was the one against it.

Chris wanted either a Beagle or a Pug.

That year we went to Lake George for our family vacation and when we came back, the hunt for the right dog commenced. Not long afterwards, in fact it was in August of 2004, we came upon an ad for Beagle puppies, only $125.00, private breeder. We found out that Daisy and siblings were born on Marylands Eastern Shore, most dogs were used for hunting. But if they had extra puppies, they would sell them to us "City folk" on the Western Shore. The dogs didn't look in the best condition, but Daisy was the most attentive to us, you could tell that Chris was not about to leave without a puppy. Joan had insisted that we get a girl dog, so it looked like it was meant to be. So in August 2004, Daisy came home with us and Hobie hasn't stopped showing her who was in charge since.

Hobie enjoys the outdoors.

She can also be comfortable anywhere in the house.

Daisy has also been an outstanding pet: she is one of the most loving and calm animals you will ever meet. Always ready for a treat, walk or just to have her belly rubbed, she is very easy to please and maintain.

Daisy is the outdoors type too, especially at her favorite place, The Gunpowder Falls State Park.

But she can always get comfortable on the couch at home too.

Yep; they are quite the pair here at Camp Run-A-Muk.
Daisy is afraid of Hobie, yet fascinated by her.

Hobie is bugged by Daisy, yet....errm...tolerates her...barely.

But they do keep each other company and give all of us a good laugh on a daily basis.

And that's what life is all about here at Camp Run-A-Muk and in Mr. Joes World.

Take care., thanks for reading.