sunshine

That I am not spending the day outside just tells you that I have a streak of laziness running through me. At times dormant, at other times, for example on a January Tuesday -- very much present. It's sunny and warm. 53F/11.5C, which is weird and unheard of and wont be repeated until in March at best. And yet, here I sit. (To my credit, I guess, I did do a 15 minute stint on the balcony again. For the sunshine. I felt like I do when I am in the mountains in the winter and the sun is out. I could almost imagine eating a blueberry tart and maybe sipping a glass of white wine. I have an active imagination.)

Despite yesterday's pledges to myself that I will go to sleep on the early side, I didn't do that. More book reading and puzzle doing. Oh, and I'll admit to watching four episodes of the limited series on Netflix -- North of North, which does give you an inside look at the Inuit culture up in the Arctic circle. I am just not keen on early bedtime when so much pulls at me. I can see myself getting roped into all three again tonight -- the show, the book, the puzzle. And then groan in the morning, because Henry just does not sleep in.

Henry. What a dog! He is so patient with me in the mornings! He wakes me and then waits nearby. No complaints, no yelps, just patient waiting. 

Speaking of waiting, I'm working now on adding the command "wait" in the elevator to the already present "hang back." But is that a good strategy to get him to not pull and bark at strangers? He now tenses up as the elevator doors open. As if I'm asking him to wait because something awful is about to happen. I'm out of ideas on how else to keep him quiet if there are people appearing suddenly as the door slowly opens. Luckily, at 7 a.m. there are rarely people up and about. It almost always is a quiet and calm walk for us then.  

I must say, for all the worrying I do about his rather fierce sounding greeting for strangers, He is far quieter than some of the pooches here. For example, there is a small yappy dog that lives on the ground floor, with the patio doors facing the street. He routinely barks his head off every time he sees Henry outside, for however long Henry is there. The difference is that annoying as the dog may be, he is not scary. Though I do feel sorry for the neighbors. Yap yap yap, nonstop!

Breakfast. Lovely.

My dog. Lovely.

 And big.

 

 

One of my favorite moments is to be with him in the morning, after our breakfasts, and to watch his eyes slowly close in total bliss as I rub his chest and belly.  

 

 

 

Birds outside. Lovely.

Sparrows finches chickadees. 

And here I sit, watching the day unfold. From the inside.

 

When Henry goes to doggie daycare, I do grocery shopping.  And I schedule some stuff that needs to be scheduled (more on that later in the week), and I pay quarterly taxes, and I take out travel medical insurance. There, have I bored you yet? I should have gone for a walk but without Henry by my side, a walk seems so unadventurous!

The kid pickup today is a bit convoluted, but they are both with me for a short visit.

(it's back to Lego for him)

(she's as addicted to these Back to Nature Crispy Wheats as I am)

Snowdrop had an incident in school, about which teachers notified parents, and Snowdrop's mom in turn passed it on to me. Though she is in middle school -- a time of such stress for so many girls -- things have been going rather smoothly for my grandgirl. Aside from the usual small stuff, I heard nothing about mean and denigrating comments. Until today. We talked about it in the car. The funny thing is that the entire incident completely passed the girl by. Must have been the group of kids I dong hang out with -- she said. She calls them the "popular kids" though I never understood this designation, not now, not when my own girls were in school. Sparrow, like any younger child, surely gets his share of older kid stories by coming along for the ride. You can view that as an advantage for him I suppose. Or, perhaps it strikes the fear of God into the poor boy!

In the evening the three of us go to pick up Henry and Goose. 

 

 

 

Their dog is tired after doggie daycare. Mine is hyper! Bouncy, barky, excited. He'll calm down once home, but it usually takes him a while. This is not the time to run into people in the elevator!

And the rest of the evening? Um, no comment. Too engrossed in the stories and dialogues and puzzle pieces. And my dog of course! 

 

 

With so much love...