Shelter from the storm

First of all, you should know that the blurry stuff

in this picture is rain coming down in torrents.
Now, can you find Trouble?
The funniest picture was one that I missed...
her coming out from the bird feeder after the storm
with her whole body dry except for her butt,
which had apparently been sticking out the back
and was sopping wet.
Hysterical.

Fully insulated

Casey and Cody worked at our house today

finishing up the insulation in the attic just in time for winter.
I love this picture because not only does it show
the super huge fan they use for the blower test,
it also shows the covering of insulation gunk
on Casey's back that I am constantly battling to remove
every time I do the laundry.

These are a few of my favorite things...

"I simply remember my squeaky dinosaur and

chewy blue moose and then I don't feel so bad"

You couldn't see it in the last picture,
but one of the cutest things about Paley is
the little white tip of her tail.

Orin's latest creation

I can't remember if I ever posted one of Orin's

spare wood pile creations, but I think I did.
Anyway, this one might be the best yet.
The balance he manages is really something, isn't it?
No help from us, either.

Hitting the beach

Today we took Paley out for her first beach adventure.
It was a beautiful sunny day and we had a great time walking and wading.
I was going to include a picture of Paley romping in the sand,
but I liked this one so much, I have chosen it instead.
This is the problem with the one-a-day limit.

Paley's Arrival

Ever since we lost Purple things have been strange around here.

Quiet, for one, way too quiet.
But other things have changed as well.
Food has been left on counter-top edges,
leather shoes have been tossed carelessly on the floor,
and when we get home the other dogs barely

move off of the couch to greet us.

Even though we know that Purple is entirely un-replaceable,
something needed to be done
to make home feel more like... well, home.
So we sorted through hundreds of ads on Petfinder
until we stumbled across a 3 month old Newfoundland lab mix
who had been dropped off at a shelter in Arkansas.
And so, after a mountain of paperwork,
I went to pick her up at one of the pet transport
"drops," a park-and-ride in Connecticut.

Meet Paley: the new trouble-maker.
She has big shoes to fill, but I think she can do it,
she is estimated to hit 100 lbs.
But for now, she is oh-so-very-small.
And cute.

More to come...

Green Soup

This is one of my favorite recipes in the works.
It calls for an entire pot of kale and spinach
plus three cups of water.
45 minutes later (and a couple extra ingredients)
wah-lah!
delicious and nutritious soup.