After the Rain

Everything looks so green

and lush


and the raindrops are like diamonds
on the leaves of the columbine.

Quincy Gets a Bath

Once a year, whether he needs it or not.

I always forget how skinny he is under all that fur.


After the blow dry -
but the groomer says he's not quite dry enough.


This is a dog dryer.
Quincy wasn't crazy about it,
but he liked it better than the hand held blow dryer.
I felt like I was watching him on TV.


All clean, and so fluffy!

Wash Day

The view from my upstairs study.

Whoa, it's windy!

And not just from one direction, either.


Which is all very well until there comes a lull,
and then I can see that my newly strung clotheslines
need some major tightening.
We had a big rainstorm last night, so at least the grass is clean.

This is my first venture into hanging clothes to dry instead of using the dryer.
Maybe the hank of line I found in the basement isn't suitable for a clothesline -
it seems to be pretty stretchy.

Seeds!

I finally planted the Liberty Garden with some of the seeds I ordered:

Carrots, radishes, onions, spinach, arugula.
And I'm ready for the rabbits.

A Dog's Life

I'm afraid Quincy is not as articulate as his friend Poppy
at Chez Magpie.

But he'll share some thoughts anyway.

1. Exercise regularly, even if it's wet and blustery and your fur blows around.

2. Get plenty of rest. Don't be too picky about when and where.



3. Once it lands on the floor, it can be used as a pillow.



4. Be tolerant of your humans' need to do goofy things to you. If it amuses them to rearrange some of your fur into a comb-over, let them do it. Laughter is healthy, and they need it.



5. If your human loses her temper at you, forgive her. She's probably just obsessing over some little spot on the carpet. She doesn't understand that "things" are just not that important.



6. If you lose your temper at your human, quickly make up with her. Whatever she did to cause you to lose your temper is not as important as your relationship with her.


7. A dog's job is to be an example to his humans about what is important. And humans have trouble remembering what is important. So you will have to show them again and again:

Friendship. Forgiveness. Tolerance. Love.

Another Birthday

I think I had exclusive rights to licking the mixing bowl that day.
My older brother and sister would have been in school
and my younger brother and sister not yet born.

There seems to be an empty cupcake liner to my left.
So, in addition to licking the bowl,
did I also already have a cupcake?

And my favorite toy,
a plush dog with most of the fur worn off,
is just visible on the table in the foreground.

My mom is taking my picture.

No wonder I have such a big smile on my face.

Tonight G and I are having dinner with my wonderful parents
at their house.
The same house where the picture was taken.
I think I will look as happy today as I did back then.

A good day

Yesterday was a good day.
The white scilla are looking so fresh.



Signs of crocuses, finally.



The blue scilla are just starting to emerge.



G worked on removing moss from between the bricks.
Yes, he's wearing his slippers.
But it's so unusual these days for him to do anything resembling work outdoors,
that I didn't want to spoil the moment.



The rhubarb is showing some leaves -
something I've never really looked at before.



I sieved compost to add to the Liberty garden.




An easy dinner.



And - the conclusion of Sense and Sensibility on PBS.