Friday, March 27, 2009
After two and a half hours at the dog park, and some serious play--mostly with a feisty little feist named Grizz, and a young Shibu (think mini-Akita)called Uther--if he is a little sore, there's no mystery to it. He hasn't been there in a couple of weeks, so started out a bit over-excited, and anxious when another newly-arrived, over-excited dog, a golden retriever, got right in his face. There were teeth-snappings and runnings-away, and confusion and the leash brought out, in this no-leash dog... Sign in to see full entry.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
There are shadows outside-
cast by sunlight in branches caught and colored by pale new leaves a different hue from the heavy wet green of mosses laden with rain, and the watery shine of persistant trees and shrubs that hold through the winter to sturdy tones of dark, unwashawayable ever-greens. A dog-park day it is where joy is visible and celebrated ardently by dogs of every kind and hue and shape and size and temper, while their human folk stand around and chat. two poems of today Sign in to see full entry.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Friends of Uistlady--
Just thought you might like to know, our Uist Lady is doing well, writing hard, and trying to stand up straight in the winds off the sea. Financial reassessment is the reason she is no longer writing here on Blogit, and she is herself just fine. Here is an excerpt from her latest to me: -------------------------------- Things are revving up here, I've got a big commission of magazine articles to do, and I'm trying to flog a major piece on crofting to one of the glossy English Saturday... Sign in to see full entry.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Shadow-folk
An excerpt from a letter We have had arctic air and snow again this week, and record-breaking cold, just after it looked like spring was really making its move. By the end of the week it should be in the 50s F though today, Wednesday, there is still a bit of snow on roofs and rocks, and the green lawn has made a definite comeback. (Calling it a 'lawn' is very generous, considering most of it is dirt, and well-dug by Davy Dog, and, well-amended, so to speak, also courtesy of our Davy.) I think I... Sign in to see full entry.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Snowing again--like gangbusters!
Large, warm flakes filling the air, blanketing the branches--the ground, having lately harbored dreams of spring, was reluctant at first to allow it, but by now, it is also all white. By the end of this week, the word is of temps near 50F. And sunshine. That will be nice. But I can't help liking the beauty of the snow. (Wrote this a couple of winters ago, as the cold and dark were coming on... ) Against a clear December sky a chevron of wild geese goes by-- I follow their course with envious... Sign in to see full entry.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
An afternoon at the movies...
One of my favorite movies is Kenneth Branagh's Henry V in part because the history fascinates me, and in part because it is simply a breath-taking production. It was on today. The story is Shakespeare's take on English history with an eye towards making the then-current English court look good in its ancestry, and the English the clear Good Guys, in opposition to the French as the clear Bad Guys. That's drama for you, then as now. So the history is slanted in its details. The story builds up to... Sign in to see full entry.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Dog Park Days
Of course the heavy clouds in the distance when we started out were, in fact, right over the dog park. The park is about 30 miles away from home, and is the nearest I know where a dog can run leashless to scamper and romp, meet other dogs, bark like fools, chase or decline to chase sticks and balls and other dogs. People/treat stations are standing around, ready to be begged at, jumped at, body-slammed in exhileration... And they all know it's a dog park, so no one minds the mud too much. Dogs... Sign in to see full entry.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
What took me so long?
At Christmas, it has become a tradition to create a basket of goodies that all share--like a family stocking for adults. And every year there are several bottles of brandies of varying type and quality. They are consumed gradually through the year. We started on the Royal Oporto, a small and for us, expensive bottle of tawny port. It is nearly gone now, so I opened the bigger, less pricey bottle of Irish Cream... And this morning I am having an Irish Coffee... Yum! I wonder how long it will... Sign in to see full entry.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Like a Yo-Yo
One day sunny and warming nicely, the nights still freezing... some mornings, snow dashed here and there; others, sunlight pouring through the window; others still--grey and dreary. Moods are like that, too... Hard to write, nothing seems like it needs saying, except, Good dog, Davy, and variations on Calm! Settle! Relax... We have had some good walks, but we both get tired of training exercises. Cesar Millan talks about calm/submissive state of mind, and we only seem to get excited/submissive.... Sign in to see full entry.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Eyes don't have it any more...
The thing is, many of the blogs I want to read, I can't enjoy because the type face is too small. This is true of many things on the internet that I would like to read. It is true of some of the things I post, though I have been trying to remember to go up to that little box above this big one, and set it on '3' instead of '2.' Don't tell me to go to 'view' and click on a larger text-size: that often has no effect on the text I am reading. It's not like there isn't sufficient room on the... Sign in to see full entry.