Lucille had puppies!

Meet Alice, Dot, Big Emma, Miles, Sgt Pepper & Diamond Lil. They arrived April 16th with quite a surprise. I had only confirmed that Lucille was pregnant a few days prior when I felt one in her belly move.  I thought I had at least a month. Not a chance. It caught me quite unexpectedly. Luckily it was an uncomplicated, natural birth, and also that Lucille was such an instinctively good mother. She took care of everything.

Their eyes have just opened & I took this video I want to share.

Puppies Running Out On the Salt Flats

#488

New Yorker Caption Contest #482

What My Garden Looks Like Now

These are a bunch of pictures I took today.

This is an Amaranthus called 'Love Lies Bleeding.'

I grow them every year.  They're annuals. Everything you see is the volunteers I let through.

They've spread everywhere. I let some through, but I pull up most as weeds.

My blackberries are starting to ripen.  

This is one of the real success stories of my garden. They're so sweet and prolific.

I've got a patch of sunflowers that may be as much as ten feet tall.

They're volunteers from last year crop which were specialty seeds that were red rather than yellow. This year, most were yellow with only a few nice and red like this one.

This is my second year growing onions.  I had no idea they were so interesting and beautiful.  I treat them like ornamental flowers, but they're really just regular yellow onions.

I've got an artichoke coming up.

 And this is just a pretty picture.

Mario Savio

I was watching a really great PBS documentary on the year 1964, and the part about the Berkley Free Speech movement with inspiring.  I had to grab this clip of Mario Savio speaking.

Who brings a gun to a balloon fight? #480

Is The Supreme Court Crazy? (Or did they just blow your mind?)

I was watching Seinfeld and this Kramer bit seemed entirely appropriate for today's Supreme Court ruling on marriage equality.

Cyrus & Lucille (Cherry Kisses)

Caught Cyrus and Lucille kissing today, then Lucille nipping at cherries. Aren't my puppy doggies so great?

Neither Confirm Nor Deny

I got this one too quick.  What's gonna happen is I'm going to come up with a much better one later, and then it will be too late.

World Party at The Urban Lounge

     I didn't even know they were coming to town. My buddy Curtis calls me up with an extra ticket. Seriously, I was in my pajamas.  The first hurdle really was to just wrap my head around the idea of being spontaneous enough to jump in the shower and pull myself together. The next hurdle was more of a crisis. I couldn't find my glasses when I got out of the shower! I was just sure my puppy doggies had gotten to them. I looked and looked, but I couldn't find them.  This shouldn't be too surprising since I couldn't see much at all.  Especially out in the dark. I worried that they had taken them out there into the backyard. That's where I often find my comb, and infuriatingly often, my socks. 

     But I was blind!   I couldn't so much as find my slippers, but I at least had just barely had the sense to get some pants on, (no shirt though) when an even bigger disaster occurred. I guess I was in a bit of a frantic panic, and I just left the gate open for a few seconds too long....  It was long enough because just like that, my puppy doggies had both ran out into the dark toward a MODERATELY BUSY STREET! They made it across, and bare-chested, bare-footed I ran across as well. I relied on Cyrus's strong sense of loyalty to get him to come to me fairly quickly. But not without help from a guy passing by, who had to temporarily be my eyes for me. I crouched and held Cyrus as I watched the blur of several cars of traffic moving quickly off where I guessed Lucille to be. I braced myself for the worst as they passed.

     But then the traffic passed, and I breathed a sigh of relief.  Holding big old Cyrus as I crossed back over to where another neighbor (out walking her dog) was helping out by hanging out while Lucille made friends with her dog. Lucille's always been a lot more tricky when it comes to coming to my beckon, but tonight she did ultimately come to my gentle cajoling. I lugged the two of them back indoors and proceeded to look for my glasses. I'm so glad I held my temper with them because what had actually happened was that I had put them on top of the toilet tank, and they had just fallen off the back. So I finished pulling myself together and shot off to the World Party show. True story.

     When I got there it was perfectly intimate. my buddy was standing there on the front row with plenty of room in front, so I joined him and had an unbelievably great time. I love World Party. Here's as big a video as they'll let me upload. (Watch for Curtis on the left.) Sorry to make you read all that, but here's the payoff.  

#478 Dismal Attitude

Had A Good Day Today.

I finally took Cyrus & Lucille out to the desert for the first time. I got way out there, but not quite beyond the gun-nuts. (Had to listen to them shooting most of the day.) I found an empty ravine and let 'em loose. It was the first time in their lives they'd been off-lease outside of my home and/or back-yard.

They ran and ran! I was right, they really needed to stretch their legs.

Lucille found some petroglyphs.

After a day of rock-hounding I became very comfortable with letting them roam. They never got out of earshot, and they always came faithfully when I called.  I'm beyond ecstatic that this is the case. The "Come!" command is vital. They'd come up the side of the mountain and rest with me desert style. Ain't they beautiful?

And as a bonus, I came home with a nice load of ornamental stone that I'll be using on the wall I'm building out front.

#477

Anyone Wanna See A Puppy Video?

My son's dog, Pheonix came to visit for the weekend.  He's the heavier beagle.

#476

It's not great, but I couldn't think of anything else.

#475

#472

Cyrus, Lucille & Linux on my New Floor (With Toys)

Yawning Contests

I've been trying to catch Cyrus & Lucille on film when they have their yawning contests. This was about as good as I could get. Cyrus doesn't do much here, but Lucille briefly gives a pretty good performance.

Here's a still of it.  Crazy photo, huh?

I got the term 'Yawning Contests' from a nature documentary I was watching recently where it was a description of what hippos will do.  I couldn't help noticing that it was something Cyrus & Lucille do too.  Like this.

 (Hope Nick Garbutt doesn't mind the free advertising for his photo.)