It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy that makes happiness. ~ Charles Sprugeon
I’ve returned to work and reality has set back in but let’s revisit a wonderful day from my vacation.
One thing I love about winter is that I don’t have to worry about the dogs overheating. I can let them run themselves silly.
Sadie loves to eat snow.
While Luka loves to play in the icy water.
My goal for a day at the park is always the same: tired dogs. Snoring on the way home is a bonus.
After being cooped up in the house all week the dogs were ready to run this weekend.
Before we went to the park Luka was groomed and he was happy to show off his gorgeousness. (I gasped when I saw him. I hadn’t realized how unkempt he was looking.)
It was another successful trip.
Some random (adorable) dog pictures.
So far, 2012 is very calm. I hope it stays that way.
A cloudless plain blue sky is like a flowerless garden. ~Terri Guillemets
I have too many pictures for one post so today I’ll focus on the sky.
Monsoon season has arrived and that always means one thing: magical sky.
Almost every day the sky manages to take my breath away.
During the past month I’ve seen two of the coolest clouds I’ve ever seen in my life. This one appeared while I was walking the dogs and I felt like I was on another planet.
I watched this cloud form while we were at the dog park one evening. It was jaw dropping.
The next post will feature dog pictures.
An obnoxious number of dog pictures.
Nothing’s better than the wind to your back, the sun in front of you, and your friends beside you. ~ Aaron Douglas Trimble
The dogs days of summer have arrived.
The usual gorgeous summer weather in my part of the world has been replaced by miserable, sweltering heat that shows no sign of letting up. Luka has been monopolizing the AC unit.
To beat the heat we have to take our walks in the very late evening and go hiking in the very early morning. I’m not a morning person and have to force myself to get out of the bed. Luka is always ready to go.
I always start our weekend adventures with a long hike.
I love how the dogs always take off together.
The beginning of each hike always includes a lot of running.
Luka loves to wander and explore. He often wanders down the wrong trail and then when he realizes it he runs to catch up.
The highlight of each hike, especially when it’s so hot, is the water.
To encourage the dogs to swim, I toss treats in the water.
Here’s a video of Sadie swimming for treats.
Luka has started swimming more often (he used to just wade in the water).
This leads to his drowned rat look.
When we arrive home after our weekend adventure the order of the day is always napping.
Milo likes to join them.
Finally, I walked out the door for work the other morning and saw this: the moon setting at sunrise.
Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language. ~ Henry James
Scenes from a long weekend.
Leading the way.
Sharing the load.
Gorgeous view.
Fun in the sun.
Flowering cactus.
Action shot.
Resting.
Stubborn (he would not look at the camera).
Very tired (two hikes in two days will do that to a girl).
Ready for the ride home.
Smart kitty (sleeping in front of AC unit).
Snoring up a storm.
Big yawn.
Pretty girl.
A day without laughter is a day wasted. ~ Charlie Chaplin
Remember when this used to be a knitting blog?
Let’s revisit those days.
A couple of months ago a friend gifted me with a sock blank. I broke out the Kool-Aid and created this.
The blank became these socks.
I love them!
Full details are on the socks’ Ravelry page.
Since I am a crazy dog lady, I took portraits of the dogs with the leftover yarn.
Sadie shared a zen moment with the yarn.
Luka was supervising the photo shoot.
After Sadie serenely posed with the yarn she enjoyed one of her favorite past times: rolling around on her back. Sadly, my yard is mostly dirt so she got a bit messy.
Luka is much too dignified to engage in such behavior.
The dogs and I have gone hiking a couple of times since my last post. These hikes are the highlights of the week.
The dogs always spend the first hour or so running off their pent up energy.
We usually take a break or two on our way to the reservoir.
The dogs know when we turn on the trail that leads to the water and they take off running.
By the time I arrive they’ve already jumped in.
Luka isn’t fond of the drowned rat look and always like to shake when he’s standing right next to me.
Every hiking trip ends the same way: with the dogs sound asleep on the way home.
The napping continues once we arrive home.
Milo fears his standing in the Sleeping Olympics may be in jeopardy so he practices harder.
Finally, the smoke from the Arizona wildfire hung over this area for several days last week. It was very annoying during the day (a thick haze and smell of smoke in the air) but the sunsets were spectacular.
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things ~ Robert Brault
Things have been a bit nutty around these parts lately. The knitting has slowed down a bit, but the socks are making progress.
I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it but Sadie is a rather dorky dog. That’s why I’m especially fond of this nearly regal picture of her.
Finally, a recent sunset.
Year’s end is neither an end nor a beginning but a going on, with all the wisdom that experience can instill in us. ~Hal Borland
What is it about getting older that makes the years fly by? I cannot believe the sun is setting on 2010.
2010 was a rather slow knitting year. Life was busy and I also had several weeks when I did not knit a stitch. I still managed to finish six pairs of socks.
My big knitting related accomplishment this year was my yarn diet. The last time I bought yarn was one year ago today. I didn’t think I’d be able to go a year without buying yarn, but I did. And, shockingly, after the first few months it wasn’t difficult. If I’m tempted by pretty yarn I just look at my stash and realize that I already own a ton of pretty yarn and don’t need more. I’m going to extend my yarn diet to 2011 and attempt to go two years without buying yarn.
Personally, my life hit rock bottom in March. That’s when I had to say a sudden goodbye to my sweet Kishka.
I miss that dog and her songs of woo every day.
Sadie lost her buddy, but other than that she had a good year in 2010.
She lost 10 more pounds (total of 28 lbs. lost) and has become a running wonder.
Sadie’s world was rocked a bit in April with the arrival of her little brother, Luka.
Sadie gets annoyed with Luka at times (he loves to play…she loves to nap…this causes conflicts), but I think she’s glad to have a partner in crime.
The summer of 2010 was the summer of adventure. For the first time since my debilitating hip/back injury I felt strong enough to hike. The dogs and I logged a lot of miles on the hiking trails.
The highlight of our hiking adventures was the discovery of a place for the dogs to swim.
I anticipate many hours spent there in the summer of 2011.
Romeo had a quiet year.
Well, it was quiet until last week. He’s accepting the (still nameless) new guy better than I anticipated.
There hasn’t been any snuggling or affection, but the hissing has stopped. I’m confident they will become friends in 2011.
My life has been such a roller coaster in recent years that I no longer try to imagine where each new year will take me. I have no idea where I’m going in 2011 but I’m looking forward to the journey.
A dog owns nothing, yet is seldom dissatisfied. ~ Irish Proverb
The dogs and I returned to our favorite park this weekend. To say they were excited is an understatement.
They ran through the stream.
Luka chased Sadie up the hill.
Sadie chased Luka down the hill.
Then they circled around and Luka chased Sadie down the hill.
They ran through the woods.
Sadie explored the woods.
Luka found a tennis ball in the stream.
Something in a tree caught their attention.
Sadie kept an eye on me (I was dawdling behind).
Luka kept an eye on me, too.
There was an amazing sunset here the other night. This was the view from my front door (picture is straight out of the camera…no editing or color tweaking).
Follow your inner moonlight; don’t hide the madness. ~ Allen Ginsberg
My camera is home and the weather this weekend was warm and sunny. The dogs and I headed out for an adventure.
The leaves are changing
and the views were (as always) gorgeous.
We hiked through the trees.
Across the fields.
Up into the foothills.
And then we reached the highest point where we overlooked the plains.
This high point was also our destination.
The reservoir!
I once again tossed some dog treats in the water for the dogs to retrieve.
I also shot a video of Sadie swimming for treats. You can see it here
Sadie knew that the dog treats were in the backpack and took it upon herself to guard that backpack.
I love watching the dogs play in the water.
Once the dogs started getting tired I was able to snap a couple of good portraits of them.
It was a wonderful day.
I’ve talked before about how Luka loves to burrow and sleep behind my furniture. Because of this, I’ve suspected that Luka would like a crate. Since a Luka-sized crate is not in my budget I’ve been looking for one on Craigslist.
A couple of weekends ago I was driving home when I passed a yard sale. There was a huge crate sitting in this person’s driveway so I pulled a quick U-turn, counted the contents of my wallet ($30) and asked them how much they wanted for it. I nearly fell over at the answer: $5. The crate was filthy (it had obviously been used outside) but I stuffed it into my little car and brought it home. An hour outside with the hose and a container of Comet restored it to nearly new condition.
The verdict:
Luka loves it. He spends about half of his time in there now. This is easily the best bargain I’ve ever scored at a yard sale.
The crate is huge and took the last bit of floor space I had left in my tiny living room. The top of the crate is also a wonderful end table.
The other morning I finished my breakfast, put the bowl beside me and told the dogs they couldn’t touch it. Luka sat like this for about 10 minutes before I caved and let him lick the bowl. How could I resist?
Just before sunset.
My camera is on the way home from the repair shop and should arrive tomorrow. I cannot wait!
The dogs and I didn’t go on our usual weekend adventure and I didn’t take any pictures this week so today’s post is featuring one of my all time favorite pictures.
This picture was taken on February 2, 2009. I was walking the dogs at sunset. At one point I walked past a sign and the sign blocked out the bright sun. Something in my head thought “that would be a cool picture”. I walked back and snapped this picture.
