Tramping through Middle-Earth

A diversion on the south side, with late afternoon temperatures dipping toward freezing, and Casey looks as if he's seen a Hobbit. Middle-Earth, not quite, just halfway through the Connelly Creek Trail.

Electric blue canopy

An incredibly beautiful day in the Pacific Northwest, with an electric Twitter blue canopy of a sky stretching beyond the horizons. Please, don't anyone spread it around.

Morning star

Just look at what's poking through our canopy of rainclouds, for the first time in over a week - a star from the east...well, from the southeast actually. 




After days and days of precip, the wettest December on record for our county, what a welcome sight. A portent of a joyous holiday season. OK, maybe not, but it sure got Stella's attention.

Fascinating 

That's called a shadow, girl.

The kid's birthday feast

What do you get a guy on his eighth birthday who has everything? Well, tonight we thought we'd blow his mind with a carnivore's delight from the food cooperative, a grass-fed beef quarter pounder he'll remember all year. And something tells me Casey's not zoning in on the candle but getting reàdy to do a face-plant into his bowl.

Squirrel lookout

First things first in the morning, in spite of constant rain. Casey and Stella set a watch for squirrel raiders in the backyard. At the first siting Casey will go ballistic and bolt for the door, while his sister heads for cover.

A new slant on a morning nap

Just to keep the circulation going for the full aerobic benefits the kid takes his snooze to his easy chair.

Snoopy's endorsement

Glass at sunset

Sunset mirror effect on Lake Padden

Catching up

Look who's taking time off from watching the all important morning hummingbird feeder activity with a war and news report from Democracy Now...Stella Girl. Living an incredibly sheltered life doesn't mean that you shouldn't keep on top of current events.

Late night hall ball intensity

Loved these shots of Mr. Intensity.  Just what you want to do at 9 at night when the World Series was wrapping up after going into extra innings.  Casey picked the bottom of the 11th to coerce a little attention out of us to play a little indoor catch and hall ball.  But he doesn't get his way with Victoria without demonstrating a little restraint first.   

"Leave it Casey...leeave it...leave it. OK, good boy!

Just check out the kid's eyes.  Our indoor, late night athlete really, really wants that ball.

Front yard precursor

everything in our world, even a drop of dew -

is a microcosm of the universe.

                                           Ralph Waldo Emerson

 
A bejeweled maple leaf - as if deliberately posed on the front lawn - is an early evening standout and a saturated precursor to a week of much wetter conditions.

Barely beating the rain

What's not to love about fall in the Pacific Northwest? The daily highs and lows are so moderate they're boring, but the color schemes can be breathtaking if you know where to sample the palettes.


Today Casey and I took it all in during an outing, sampling a range of crimsons and burnt oranges, soon to be crushed underfoot or soaked beyond recognition before going through autumn's recycling program.

Wish I would have taken more video but I was too absorbed in the surroundings, and then rain cut our hike short. But here's a sampling.

Democracy Now was a sleeper.

Monday's Democracy Now just didn't hold the kid's attention this morning.

Downrange in a few Bordie seconds

What more could the grandkids ask for, a sunny fall day and weather conditions ideal for lift offs, launching toy rockets a few hundred feet skyward over Civic Field. And after the first successful launch you'll notice that one of our family spectators has moved completely downrange, more than a hundred yards, to his mobile observation site before the chute deployed.

Suspended animation

It won't be long before the grandkids come over so Casey's just recharging, just a little, before he loses this quiet little piece of the day.  

That look

Think Casey's trying to tell me something? 

No rain yet...YET

Might as well enjoy it while we can, another blown weather forecast resulting in one more crystal clear day, so the serenity of Connelly Creek Nature Area on the south side seemed like the perfect diversion with Vic and the kid.

A mile up, a mile back, a winding, forested creek-lined trail with side trips through carpeted meadows, and no rain, for now...priceless.

Long day

After a couple of long walks, a round of Frisbee, and making the rounds in the back seat of the car during a shopping run, after picking up the grandkids, it's time for Casey to just rest his eyes.  And the perfect pillow...the nearest stuffed toy.  

Pre-storm photos

Three days ago, before autumn-like storms started rolling through Whatcom County, these photos were taken of the kid on one of our last dry outings. I kind of like them - not too surprising, I know. Then I heard Van Morrison's Redwood Tree on Pandora and had to post them.

OK, that's enough

Casey has definitely seen and heard enough from this vantage point.

First blow of the season

This storm is ushering in the first must-needed rainstorm of the season. Casey wanted to go out briefly to check it out. And now, he's hunkered down for the rest of the afternoon, for sure.

At least someone's glad to see us

After a few afternoon errands, on a day that was much too hot to bring Casey along (unusual I know), the kid is his ecstatic self to see us. You'd think we'd been gone all day, instead of a couple of hours. 

Espresso stakeout

Just another poised stakeout by Casey of his guardian at the front door of Tony's Coffee. 

Looking right through ya

Think he's trying to tell me something? Like "Ah, isn't it about time to put the book down?" I'm with ya, kid.

Trim job

With a little over a month of summer left to go Casey was starting to look a little shaggy, so on Friday we took him for a trim at the Happy Pooch Salon. As always, he didn't disappoint, almost dragging us through the door, so he could jump on the grooming table and let Melissa have her way with him.

A funny thing today. An assistant was startled while preparing Casey's bath, when he made a clean standing jump from the
floor into the tub rather than wait for her walk him up the ramp and through the door. 

Not too surprising according to Melissa. "He is a Border Collie after all, and they tend to do things their way."

Not so sure the kid's a fan of the collar ribbon. Can you tell?

Well, whadaya know

It seems all you had to do to entice the kid onto his new bed is (1) cover the ll Bean Premium Denim Dog Bed set with a blanket, and (2) move it into a cozy corner of the room, off the beaten path. It appears Casey's adjusting nicely.

Faking it

I don't know. It just doesn't look like Casey hit that sweet spot as far as the new bed goes. I kinda think he's faking, it for our sake.

Still competing for presidence

The front yard standout, hands down, is a cluster of Asiatic lillies that continues to flaunt its color scheme as well as its fragrance. This bunch bursts out the beginning of July each year and dazzles passers-by until, well, until about now, in spite of the heat and neighborhood water-rationing. Alway hate seeing the petals begin their seasonal cascade.

Soaking up the cool

Late morning and the heat index is climbing. So what do you do? Soak up as much fresh air as possible, in as cool a spot as you can find, before Bellingham temps hit 80 degrees or more for another day.

Boys gotta have their toys

A week into Casey's recovery and the boy is well on his way to catching a Frisbee again. The doctor's orders were to keep high activity on the down-low - no running, jumping, etc, etc. And so far so good. The incision looks great and you'd never know that he ever had surgery, a week and a half ago. So you know what, he deserves a reward, and nothing tops a new stuffed toy.

In fact this latest addition to his pile of Asian imported stuffed animals hasn't left his side for a couple of days.