On the mend

What a rough weekend for Casey. On Saturday he caught a dew claw on something, somewhere, and by the time we noticed the digit was bleeding and the claw was hanging loose. It looked cockeyed, nasty and painful. Enough so that we had to clean it and wrap it and keep him comfortable until this morning.  After a trip to the Fairhaven Veterinary Hospital he's back home and on the mend. His favorite doc Kris Johnson numbed it with Lidocaine and...Are you ready for this?...pulled it out the   rest   of   the   way. What a brave little guy. Notice that he's perfectly OK with his pink bandage. (Kinda matches the pink highlights of his nose.)

Indifferent Scot

Surprisingly our four-legged Scot couldn't have cared less about bagpipes on Water Street during the Rhododendron Festival in Port Townsend, Washington last week.

Persistent

Even after a couple of weeks, our seasonal invasion of buttercups doesn't seem to be showing the first signs of letting up. Casey can actually disappear from sight with each new bend in a hiking trail.  

Buttercup eruption

The Whatcom County eruptions of wildflowers wait for no one, and our Connelly Creek trail is no exception. The onslaught of Pacific Northwest varietals - buttercups, dandelions, and Columbia coreopsis - flourish from late spring into early summer, then give way to wild grass that make meadows inaccessible by routine trails. 

She's back

Just as impressive today as the aerobics on a brisk walk around Lake Padden was Casey and I struggling to keep up with Vic for a change. After knee-replacement surgeries on both knees, as well as two years of rehab, Victoria is once again setting the pace. No stopping her now.
     

Bursting, almost overnight

Cherry blossoms bursting out all over, and right on schedule. But definite proof that a spring storm is on the way. Those "pink clouds on sticks," as my granddaughter calls them, will be all over the neighborhood very soon.

They're back

Before venturing too far down the trail Casey became mesmerized by something or someone up ahead. Since coyote sightings are common in this area, with a pack known to call the undergrowth just northeast of us home, I was paying particular attention to the kid's slower pace. As I got closer it was apparent what caught his attention. And it was far from hostile, more romantic than anything else in fact. The mating calls of the tree frogs were in full swing. 

Back seat boy

All settled in on his new backseat quilt for a trip to Seattle for the day.

Cleanup at Melissa's

With a little over a week to go until spring Casey was due for a grooming at Happy Pooch's with one of his favorite people, Melissa, from his early training days as a puppy at Hyline Hotel. We know we go out of our way - 10 miles out in the county actually - every couple of months to clean him up, but he always looks forward to this grooming and he trusts his "personal stylist." The kid actually jumps up on the grooming table every visit, always startling any new salon employee.

Melissa applying the finishing touches

Casey only looks nervous. He knows he's in good hands.

Good for a couple of months

Glass

A glass-like Lake Padden between storms

As El Niño and an unrelenting Pineapple Express battered and drenched the West Coast Bellingham managed to fair better than most communities in Western Washington. So today Vic and I and Casey took full advantage of a short-lived break in the action for a walk around a glassy Lake Padden, and our timing was spot on. It's been raining ever since.

Feelin' the Bern!

Looks like Casey is just ecstatic at the NBC projection of Bernie Sanders taking the Michigan Democratic Primary over Hillary Clinton.

In the meantime

Now that our 30 degree nights are few and far between our charges' cozy co-minglings by the fire are becoming just as infrequent. In fact when everyone turns in at bedtime and the flame isn't thermostatically lit, Stella seems put off.

In the meantime, we can't help but savor such scenes of radiant bliss, in spite of having to check these two occasionally so they don't spontaneously combust.

How about it?

Casey's always had a knack for letting us know if it's time for getting a move on. Here's a more subtle approach with his leash. Now how can anyone resist or ignore this effort?

Cleanup time

Little did we know when Victoria planted her boxwood hedge near the deck years ago that it would serve as Casey's after-dinner (or after-breakfast for that matter) muzzle cleaner. Fortunately there's more than enough of this all-weather, renewable resource around the backyard for this kid's cleanup - and our comic relief. And what's more it seems to thrive on drool and food scraps each growing season, while birds snack on the leftover morsels all year long.

Pregame warmup

That look

There's that "look". That familiar glance our way when the kid knows we've just had last cups of coffee and are ready to get going, anywhere.

Indoor obstacle course improv

Wake-up snow, such as it is

Not exactly a snowmageddon from the looks of things this morning but Casey was excited nonetheless.  A Frisbee toss is the first order of business with the first snowfall of the season and today was no different with this accumulation of less than a half inch.

We might even have another go-around at it later, once the kid thaws out.  He's always up for it.    

Subfreezing trend hangs tough

The quest for foliage that doesn't crunch continued today with temperatures hanging in there around 35 to 30 degrees, mid to low 20s at night. This late afternoon pause in a neighborhood greenbelt might readily convey that icy trend, fairly normal for the first week of any new year in Whatcom County. Needless to say we weren't out long.

New Year's rehab

The kid is obviously laying low after a rough a rockin' New Year's Eve. It wasn't like Casey was out partying. He was home baby-sitting Stella and everything was fine until after midnight when south end revelers thought it would be a good idea to light off fireworks. A recent city ordinance has actually done very little to curtail these now illegal explosives, with pets usually cowering until the moronic activity subsides. 

    

At least things have settled down enough to rehab on the couch. And 2016 should be OK until July 4, when we'll leave town for peaceful summer environs before the next round is set off.