The Lodger

I have a temporary lodger living with me right now. He's such a doll. He is very well groomed, likes to wear a tuxedo, is black as sin and has heavenly amber eyes. He plays hard and likes to hang out in bed with me. To be truthful, I think he might be breaking my heart...

Such a sultry look... He's a heart breaker.

You can't hear it, but he's purring up a storm.

He plays hard...

I know you wanna pet me... Go ahead, do it...

He goes by the handle of Pawz and he needs a permanent home. Anyone have space for a cutie like this?

 

 

The Horrible Cuteness

Some posts require minimal text. This is one such post.

Nope, nothin' over here. Keep movin' along. (Pawz)

Did you say something? (Rust)

Yup, I'm cute. So what? (Axel)

WTF was that? (Rust and Odin)

Butt smack! No fair! (Rust and Pawz)

What? Sneaking up on you? Heaven's no, I'd never do such a thing. (Odin)

What's this? It's my pet mouse. We're cuddling. (Pawz)

Fern, your ass is grass! (Odin)

Gettin' a good look, lady? (Brain, aka Little Momma, Axel and Odin)

Hold up! I'm checkin' somethin' out. (Pawz)

If you need a kitten, these cuties need a home.

Reno Overnighter

Last weekend I drove up to Reno with Kathleen and Coopie so we could meet up Linda while she and Wood passed through on their way to Death Valley. It rained the whole way to the mountains and when we got close to the summit it changed to snow and we had to chain up.

30 mph with chains. Fun.

We arrived safely and found Linda and Wood and, of course, the infamous Addy May. Let me say, that is one happy pup! Coopie, little ball of fluff that he is, was a bit nervous around such a big and very curious Addy. After a brief visit, we kidnapped Linda for a drive around town, some slot action and drinks. I invested $5 in the Linda Slot Fund and she made me bucks - $20 net to be exact. Woot! Plus, over lunch we played Keno and our winnings covered the cost of lunch. I credit faery dust.

Royalty.

This is after just a few sips of one cocktail! What light weights!

While we wandered the casino, we were furred!

Queue to the soundtrack of The Right Stuff.

The furry dude in the right is rather intimidating. Wouldn't want to meet him on a dark alley.

Linda getting some bovine loves.

Totally awesome furriness!!!

The next day we met for breakfast and a final visit before we all headed off; the Wooden's south, us westish.

RV massiveness! They need all that room just for Addy May.

Good puppy!

Kathleen, Coopie and I stopped for a brief time in Truckee. I think this was Coopies first snow. He didn't seem bothered by it.

Snow boots? Only wimps need snow boots!

Arty B&W snowy tree close up.

More puppies! This is at the little Truckee Train Museum. Check it out when in Truckee. It's free and it's about trains.

A nice, though way too short, getaway. It was great to see Linda.

 

Hip-Hip-Hooray

As you may recall, while I was back east I had the chance to visit the Met. I love the Met and if I lived near a museum like that I'd be dropping in all the time.

For some time - okay, since I was a kid - I've loved the famous turqoise blue Egyptian hippopotamus (come on, who doesn't love that hippo?). For a long time I've wanted to aquire one of the ceramic replicas from the Met store. Maybe I saw one when I was little and it stuck with me - maybe my mom had one, I don't know. I'd certainly seen them on past visits to the museum store when I was a broke teen or equally broke college or grad student. I knew I could get it online, but where's the fun in that? So, of my goals while at the Met, one was to see the hippo in the flesh again (done, even got a pic of him) and the other was to finally bring home the replica. On the later I failed. I made poor Michael roam the store with me in search of one. I even asked! But all I could find were cheesy toy versions, or keychains, or puzzles. Sheesh. I got a postcard instead.

Then, in Boston, to my chagrin, over the sink, in front of the kitchen window, the hippo! I said to Steve, "Steve! You have the hippo!" Steve had gotten his hippo years ago and it had travelled around with him from place to place and was now a part of his new life with his family in Boston. I told him my sad hippo story and then, each day while I was at the Gallagher's, I gazed on the hippo with longing. Several times I lovingly adjusted its position on the window ledge, thinking, "Awe, such a pretty little guy." Steve, too, suggested I order one online. "Yeah, maybe I'll do that when I get home, though it's not quite the same."

And I thought about it. When I got back to SF I even went to the online shop to check him out. But a rare moment of restraint held me back. After all, I'd already spent far too much on my trip. This would just have to wait.

Tonight I got home to a box on my doorstep. "Hmmm," I said, noticing the museum's return address, "this doesn't appear to be my missing gnome hat order." With great curiosity I carried the box inside, threw my purse on the couch, sat down at my desk with my scissors and began to open the box, all the while wondering, "What the heck?"

And there he was, in all his blue glory, my very own Egyptian hippopotamus!

Isn't he beautiful? He's all, "Yup, I'm a hippo." Thank you, Steve, John, Gina and Isaiah!

Here's some hippo love back at 'cha!

 

A Great Blue Heron

I've been stuck indoors the last few days because of a pesky cold so I decided to go to the park this morning for some much needed fresh air. My plan was to go out to the northern windmill, take some pictures and then go sit on the beach for a little while. But as I was driving through the park, I came across this guy.

More pics in my In The Park set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/snarfff/sets/72157633371825892/

 

A Walk at Stow Lake

I've had a busy weekend, but I was lucky to find some time to relax and enjoy the fresh air. Saturday late afternoon, after Sophie's birthday party and lunch with Mr. Majors, I went to Golden Gate Park to find a spot to read for a while. Of course I had Madge with me. This, along with all the birds and people and green stuff, distracted me from my new book.

Not all the pictures I took were good, but below are some of the ones that make me smile.

First, let me just say, it is fun taking pictures of Canadian Geese. The pair I came across had no fear of me. I was able to get within a foot of them without them doing any more then looking at me for a brief moment before getting back to their important work of feather grooming. I guess they had plans to hit the clubs.

Babies!

And then there were the ducks. Look closely. They smile. Or is it a smirk?

I'm not sure what kind of birds these are...

After I climbed up the stairs next to the waterfall, trying to get neat waterfall pictures (they didn't turn out very good), I came across some bird watchers checking out the owls that have taken up residence on the little island. I managed to get one sorta good pic of one of the babies.

And not to ignore Stow Lake's other charms.

I took soooooo many pictures! Even after cleaning out all the really terrible results, and then cleaning out some more of them, I still ended up with over 300 pictures. I guess I have a little more culling to do! You can see more of the ones I really like in my In the Park set on Flicker (http://www.flickr.com/photos/snarfff).