Filed under: animals, canine, dogs, love, pets | Tags: animals, dogs, family, life, love, pets, pictures, silly, st. patrick's day
have i ever mentioned “seasonal bandana syndrome” to you? sbs: when my mother fabricates then sends seasonal/festive/holiday bandanas to the dogs.
now cody bear LOVES bandanas….but…i think he knew these were ….PINK!
me: “ohhh. baby loves!”
cody bear: “this is emasculating.”
me: “but you’re so cute and gramma loves you so.”
pickles: “um….i’m going to kill you. …..tonight.”
the package had two festive bandanas and one dozen heart shaped snicker doodles. (snacking on them now.)
nothing for the cat. she’s quite relieved.
“we are NOT amused.”
try them again on st. patty’s day. pickles likes her beer and cody bear looks great in green!
Filed under: family, flowers, gardening, life, photography, plants | Tags: cacti, christmas, family, flowers, happiness, life, photography, plants
it’s the little things really, the surprises, the small flashes of color, that make life enjoyable.
so, about 6 years ago my neighbor gave me a bunch of cuttings from succulents where she had been house sitting. one was a 6 inch long sprig of christmas cactus. i stuck it in a pot, way too large for the wimpy thing, and put it inside on a book shelf at the window overlooking the front step. the other plants, stayed outside where they are flourishing to this day.
on the phone with my mom that week i was telling her about my new plants. when i mentioned the christmas cactus she made a point of letting me know that ….it was going to die. they never live, according to her.
it has filled the pot. it has flourished, but nary a blossom.
i mentioned the little things. how they are so important for happiness. when you’re hurried and stressed, that is when you notice the little things the least. but that is when you need to notice them the most.
christmas eve i was rushing to pack the car to get out of town. home from work, wrap the gifts, make sure all the dog’s meds are packed, will the car make the drive, yadda yadda.
a flash of pink out of the corner of my eye as i walk out the door. “what the?”
2 blossoms and 3 buds. i called my mother, elated, of course!
by the time i got back many blossoms had appeared.
isn’t it beautiful? the pads were covered in dust. i took it outside and dusted it with a soft paint brush, then put it on my honda for some photos.
i love it.
Filed under: animals, dogs, family, friends, life, pets, photography | Tags: animals, christmas, dogs, family, friends, holidays, horses, life, photography
there’s a holiday buzz in the air….and it wasn’t irritating tonight because my visiting sister plied me with margaritas!
we hit the xmas neighborhood…after one hell of a day. i have to say, “I LOVE THIS VACATION BUSINESS!”
we took cody bear to the bookstore, then we took pickles to the restuarant for lunch. when they brought us our meal….they brought her a bowl of tri-tip. wtf????
then we relaxed, then we shopped, then we had some yummy chow and hit the holiday lights.
then i came home and found out that snotty russel didn’t win survivor!
the giant dradel? it spins!
fa la la la laaaa, la la..la…laaaaaa.
since i average one round of gold per year….it should be action packed. as action packed as golf can get.
(keep in mind….it’s me…so yes, a dog is involved)
because i didn’t want to hit the tree and have the ball bounce back at us on the par five, i kicked the ball a few feet into the fairway. i took my far-from-trusty 7 wood and hit it perfectly, if i do say so myself. it hit the yardage marker, a thick blue pvc pipe sticking up in the middle of the fairway. it blew the top to smithereens.
knocked the cap off, cracked it into bits. the ball hit the rebar and bounced backwards into the center of the fairway. not a bad lie, really.
then, oh i wish i had my camera, my brother is teeing off and all of a sudden this giant boxer, (canine, not heavy-weight) comes running from behind the tee boxes. she trots by, totally ignoring my kissy noises. she runs up the center of the fairway, which had a slight dog-leg left, funny enough. she stopped at the green and hung out for a while.
and that was the first day of my vacation. i loved it.
Filed under: animals, dogs, family, photography | Tags: animals, cars, dogs, family, life, photography, race cars, shelby cobra
i was driving south on a main road when i saw this convertible that looked familiar. i was sure it was a shelby cobra, the kind of car my dad used to race in the 60’s. so i pulled up next to this guy in his cool car and i asked him about his shelby. after chatting at the red light, and again while driving beside eachother, he invited me and my family to this weekend’s club cobra barbeque!
my dad had a great time chatting with all the car owners. everyone was very nice. and i had a great time photographing these very pretty cars.
i don’t know much about these cars. my dad raced them long before i was born. and to be honest….after seeing the pictures of his wreck….i’m glad my mom and i weren’t there when that happened. we would have had heart attacks!
our host let us know that all of the 20 + cars were replicas, but some people race them monthly and each car is impeccably taken care of.
i think this one is my favorite:
my mom loved the orange one, my dad loved them all. there was a silver one for sale . . .
but i just don’t think i can come up with the cash by next father’s day!
it was a beautiful day, as you can see by the sky.
i love this one, too…
i know what my normal blog readers are thinking:
“goodbear,….you’ve never posted this many pictures in a row without throwing a dog shot in there.”
oh you know me so well! of COURSE there was a dog there. meet murphy in her shelby cobra!
again, it was a great day. john was really nice so i’m glad we got to chat at the stop light. it IS ok to talk to strangers if they’re in a certain kind of car!
Filed under: animals, cats, dogs, family, pets | Tags: animals, cats, dogs, family, kittens, pets
cody bear got some disturbing news from aunt t. this week…
after getting our hopes up that our family back home would get a dog, we were shocked to learn that two new kittens were adopted! what???
not only did they take a new dog’s place in the home, they have upset pennycat’s delicate consitution. and….to add insult to injury, the kittens have gone to work with their new mom!
why can’t cody bear go to work!?
and…what happened to the dog? inquiring minds want to know…
Filed under: dogs, family, life | Tags: dogs, family, grandmothers, grief, life, sad
hi everyone.
i’m home. home as in “back home.” i came here to say good bye to my grandmother. hard to say this:…. i didn’t get home in time. she passed away at 10 a.m. while i was en route.
i’m o.k.
as sad as it is, that feeling is mixed with a joy that i had her in my life. don’t get me wrong: i heard the news in the airport when my family met me. and sure, i had a silent movie type melt down.
but i’m o.k.
would be nice if my dogs were here to snuggle and comfort me. especially since it’s so flippin’ cold here. how do you people live in this weather?! how did iiiii ever live in this weather?!
Filed under: animals, dogs, family, life, pets, puppies | Tags: animals, dogs, family, life, pets, puppies
took pickles with us to cody bear’s vet appointment. she was intrigued with the examination. when she finally got bored she tried to eat a rubber glove that was on the counter. she almost swallowed it whole. puppies!
he’s fine, by the way!
here the dogs are acting serious. they’re being extra good so i will let them outside for late night romping in this shot.
i am getting excited for this weekend. i will be busy working AND doing fun stuff, but all should bring out some cool blog posts… i’m hoping.
i’m also getting anxious to get home and see my family!
back later today.
why is pickles smiling?
she’s happy because i’m happy. i’m happy because i have a new keyboard. i think you will all notice a difference in my spelling.
i stayed home with the munchkins today. i got a bunch of stuff done. still behind on some projects, but …i’m gaining.
the plane tickets have been booked! i leave for home march 31st. i haven’t seen my family in two years! i can’t wait to get home, even if it is one of those “last time you might see someone” visits.
glad i didn’t get around to packing my winter clothes this weekend…
Filed under: animals, dogs, family, life, pets | Tags: animals, dogs, family, hiking, life, nature, pets
we went for a hike today. it was supposed to be a walk along the river, but, well, it was windy and something embarrassing happened. (winds 35mph with gusts up to 53)
so we’re walking along: dogs wearing smiles and me in my old long sleeved shirt from a national park years ago. i love it: it’s way too big and nicely faded with a quote from walden on the back.
we had just crossed a bridge over the river and were approaching a dog that started barking. we turned to go the other way, but just then a giant beagle charged the fence. the three of us freaked, pickles fell over, i dropped her leash, cody started barking at the incensed beagle. i bent down to pick up picky’s leash and one of those 53mph gusts blew up the back of my shirt and pulled it over my head. when i bought the bright orange sports bra last year i thought, “it’s ugly…but who will ever see it?” ohhh, just everyone at the river park.
with one hand i held pickles’ leash which was twisted around her and the leash of the barking cody bear. and with the other i tried to right my wardrobe malfunction. people…walking towards me. i turned the dogs around and headed over the smaller foot bridge to the mountain bike trail. retreat retreat!!!
it’s rough and rocky and is ideally suited for mountain bikers and the recently humiliated.
it was a tough walk. the winds were hard on the dogs. we would have to climb up the embankment to get out of the way of bikers and other dogs. plus they got barked at more than they like.
on our way back to the car the sun was on our backs and the shadows were long. our sihlouettes before us: two sets of bouncing tipped ears and a bouncing pony tail on top of my head. i smiled. we’re a family, the resemblance is obvious in the shadow. we’re bouncy and smiley, this pack.
at home the dogs had happy heavy breathing, looking up at me all proud of themselves and content.
they’re trying hard to stay awake now, but the winds have exhausted their senses. they’ve smelled more than enough for the day.
cody bear's friends 