SNL with EJ

Just who's going to outlast who on this babysitting gig with Ezra Jones?

Even Border Collies don't stand a chance.

Livin' large, then lights out!

The downside to being a two-year-old Border Collie - no second gear. Just lucky there wasn't enough time for another Frisbee toss after a "walk" by the beach.

MLK holiday commemorative, Monday, January 18th

(The weather cooperated on Monday so I got to come along on another of Vic and Gene's outings with another crowd...

...and this one was actually enjoyable with no sign of skateboarders anywhere.)

(The only thing that would have made it more memorable would have been to score a bacon handout after the feedfest at the MLK brunch that I know these folks just left.)

First walk of new decade

(A walk in the woods, in the wind, in the rain, on New Years Day, is a far cry from a polar bear plunge in Lake Padden. For this I'm truly grateful. Everyone knows how BCs hate the water, much less plunges.)

(Looks like we're just beating a downpour as it is!)

Good tidings 2009

And So This Is Christmas...

And What Have We Done?

Another Year's Over;

And A New One's Just Begun;

And So Happy Christmas;

I Hope You Have Fun;

The Near And The Dear Ones;

The Old And The Young.

John Lennon, Happy Christmas (War Is Over)

I think we've got everyone - and everything - covered thanks to John.

Merry Christmas,

Victoria, Gene, Casey, and Stella

Midwinter comes to Bellingham

Winter is Nature's way of saying, "Up yours."

Robert Byrne

Unlike last year, no snow, but we can almost taste spring. Now we just have to persevere until our daylight quits hugging the horizon in the Great Northwest.

'Twas a week before Christmas

With less than a week to go before Christmas these creatures are barely stirring. 

(Vic's coming around though, recovering from a wicked case of what she's been calling the flu (does H1N1 sound right?), finally perusing her most visited blogs in other than a prone position,

and me and Stella stacking zzz's, while Gene stares at some strange sounding black and grey and white folks on the flat screen for the longest time.)

(And he seems to know just what to say, to no one in particular - like Merry Christmas, Mr. Scrooge!...

...In keeping with the situation! What-ever!)

The grandkids first Christmas show

(Pups aren't the only cute peeps in town...and Kaya and Silas' Daycare Christmas show is proof.)
 

(Of course Border Collies are a lot less contagious.

Come on, Boomps,don't be a dick. It's Christmas. Just lay off the Rice Krispie treats in Silas' classroom.)

Birthday Boy

Doesn't matter how cold it is, no matter the occasion...

nothing tops Frisbee at the park.

Except maybe your very own piece of meatloaf at home on your 2nd birthday.

"They say it's your birthday...happy birthday to you."

Peace Collie's first antiwar march

(I don't have a clue what's going on, but it must be very important. Vic's walking right down the middle of the street. I usually get in trouble for being out here. Whadda we want... Troops Out!...When do we want it...Now! Now what's that all about. And who's Obama?)



(Some "Bye-Bye" this is. The interurban trail's got this beat. And it's a lot less crowded.

OK, where's the Prius? We gotta be getting close.)

Thanksgiving weekend on Island Time

Last week the Thanksgiving Holiday was so much more than a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. Scraps and hugs were plentiful last year; more than this Minnesota rescue dog ever thought possible. This year though, a real island getaway, with lots of new faces and places … priceless.

Friday Harbor, the Tucker House Inn (our hosts even made Stella feel welcome), and lots of sights and fresh air on “Island Time”. I’ll bet I’m the only Bellingham Border Collie that ever watched porpoises (whatever they are) feed. And the daily homemade cookies and biscuits from Anna Maria's kitchen – wow - we are so coming back.

Perfect day on Mount Baker

With the visibilty close to clear as a friggin' bell and Indian Summer off to a great start a trip up Mount Baker was the perfect way to spend a day.

Against a backdrop of mountains, heather, and the remaining wildflowers, Picture Lake was more than picturesque today - and Mount Shuksan's mirrowed image was in class by itself.

Ushering in the equinox

Look what we've got going here on the first day of autumn.

It's our favorite time of year. Really - just look around.

The last day of summer at Marsha's Place

Beating the heat

Sometimes it's just the simple things in life.

What a Week!

(The hottest day on record in Bellingham - 97 degrees - was the start of the most exhausting week this summer for Vic and Gene.)

(If hosting Cindy Sheehan and 36 friends and admirers to a huge Mexican buffet before a Veterans for Peace speaking engagement in town wasn't enough...

...closing out a week later at the National Veterans for Peace Convention in College Park, Maryland and DC was plenty.)

(It's just nice to have them back home and all to myself.)

Thunder bumpers rolling in

(Uh oh...did anybody hear that?!)

That last one sounded just like back on the farm in Minnesota...

(I'm for doing the Frisbee thing later.)

(I can't believe Gene and Victoria can't hear those thunder bumpers...right here...on Salmonberry Lane.)

Our three favorite words - Summer in Bellingham

We knew if we hung around long enough summer would get here.

Vic's garden is looking great - fox gloves, lilacs, fuchsias, herbs, vegetables, name it.
The Frisbee training has really paid off too.

First sunny Saturday in a long while. 72 degrees, a little breezy by the water, but who's complaining.

Sunday even better, no haze, a little warmer - official soft-serve ice cream weather. No real rain until October - and do not let the word get out.

Ezra's first

(Just back from our long trip to California and back...then we headed back down the Interstate to Ben and Ernies' for a big celebration. It seemed like a celebration anyway. You can just never be sure with crowds.

Lots of food, most I'd never sampled before. The tasty little tube things with meat in the middle, really good...and easy to con out of people too.)

(Luckily I wasn't the focal point - way too much pressure. Everyone was doting on and passing around the tiny little guy called Ezra, even Vic and Gene. I never did figure out why he was so special. He could barely stand on his own two feet, much less catch a Frisbee. And who doesn't like green beans and cake?)

Weekend birthday clutter

(Joe's 40th, Joe's 40th...whatever that means?! It seemed to be enough though to have a strange variety of people - big and small - all over the place. At first it was OK, but after a while there were 5 or more conversations going on - all at the same time.

Nothing like this ever happened back on the farm.

The little ones were the weirdest, but it looks like they're here to stay. It'll just take some time getting used to ever sharing center stage again.)