5 posts tagged “weather”

 

His name is Wrangler. He's an 8 year old black lab from a family up in the mountains.

 

 

Unfortunately, circumstances were such that they could no longer keep him and needed to find another home for him. We had planned to drive up to get him on Wednesday but a storm came in with snow and sheets of rain. So couldn't do that. Luckily, there was a break on Saturday and it was warm and beautiful for enough time that we could go get him. Here are some pics:

 

 

Maddie was of course up to any ride. We were happy to see that her and Wrangle got along very well. He's very strong. The first time I held his leash he nearly pulled me down a hill. I'll need to train him appropriately before Rain can walk him. Even then, I might have to be the one walking him. Still, he's an absolute sweety and though we are so happy to have him, I'm saddened that it had to be such a sorrowful experience for his last family. I really felt for them as they are going through some of the things we've had to go through this year.

 

 

 

The first night went rather well. He only cried a little bit. But around midnight, I was going to bed and he jumped up into the bed with me! We have a rule about the only piece of furniture the dogs can jump up on is the couch in the sunroom since it's our most casual room. I probably would be ok with the dogs sleeping on my bed with me but my grandma made me a wonderful quilt and it can't get dirty. So, though I was temped to let him sleep like that the first night, I thought it'd be meaner not to be consistant. And I refuse to have a double standard for my dogs. So, I tried to get him to sleep on the couch in the other room. Usually Maddie sleeps up there too though they both have dog beds too. As soon as I went back to go to sleep again, he jumped up on my bed again and refused to move. Here's vid and some pics.

 

 

Don't you love how he doesn't even budge? It's only recently that he's started taking us seriously. Usually I use more of a commanding voice when I expect to be answered but it was midnight and he was so cute and I felt so bad...Eventually I got him down by moving his dog bed into my bedroom but it in all probably took about a half hour. Which is a lot when it's already midnight and you're tired. Luckily, he seems to understand the house rules now.

Last night he got a bandana like Maddie. His is Spongebob and it has dual purpose. One is he looks so fricken cute. Another is that now I can see him outside at night by following the ghostly yellow bandana prancing around the yard. Very useful, mind you. What was really cute though was when the kids were saying goodbye to him last night. Specifically my neice Jaden who just can't pronounce his name. I had to get video of her cuteness.

 

Here are some pics of the dogs today. They seem to be falling into a groove which is so nice. I'm not one of those people that loves pets the most when they are "new". I want to get through that period fast. I love having everyone snuggly fitted into the family and knowing the drill. He's a really sharp, sweet dog so it's coming along really nicely. We're very happy to have him.

 

 

 

It's raining.

It's pouring.

The old man is snoring.

Went to bed

bumped his head

And couldn't get up in the morning!

 

 

 

Yesterday, this area was hell. It was 106 degrees. With the air conditioner blasting all day, it never got below 82 degrees. In short, it was HOT.

So when Rain On Your Skin and I were talking last night, we discussed how  much she'd love for it to rain. I pointed out that it wouldn't certainly make it cooler. It'd probably just make it HUMID and HOT. Ironically, at 3 am last night (morning?) I glimpsed lightening outside my window. And then thunder. It was raining. You might want to ask Christy to predict better weather for you. Don't worry, I'm willing to lend her Weather-Prophet skills out to you for the short rate of 100 dollars per prophecy (limited time warranty.)

Because of that today was so much different than yesterday, you wouldn't have thought it possible. It was still very warm but not HOT and not too HUMID either. Best of all, it really cleaned up the air. At sunset today, we had the most amazing clouds. Here are a couple shots:

 

 

 

And our camera didn't capture the sheer beauty at sunset. I whipped up a few banners made out of them for fun before trying to go to bed. Here they are:

 

 

 

I'm not sure I like the third one but I'm too tired right now to mess with it. And yes Christy, at the moment, I am using the Feet banner I made you.

These last three days sure have been filled with activity. On Saturday I watched all three children while their parents were off at the Home Show. Here's a pic:

 

That's The Home Show, not the children. At points, those children sure sounded like a pack of horses but I never tied them up to anything. Generally, they were great. Really, they're all very good kids. Even though there were incidents of screaming in the bathroom and waking people up. And then there was the remote control incident.Still, good day.

Sunday was Gavin's party in the park that Flavia threw for her sister Tina, the new mother. It went off really well. There was food from Bobby Salazars and my mom made some great food too. Lots of people showed up. It was a beautiful day. There were a lot of people in the park but it didn't feel busy. Everyone seemed to find the place rather well. The children played together nicely and no one got hurt. Gavin was adorable and generally behaved extremely well (ie slept) through most of it. I think everyone really had a good time. I did. You can see the pics in the collection below. Make sure you're logged in if you're in my friends or family so you can see all the pics available.

 

And then today, Siobhan and I finally got to the pumpkins. She had early dismissal from school today so we had more time than usual. That's good because I had planned for us to do this Saturday but then we had my brother's kids come over. I'm all up for dealing with a six year old while carving pumpkins but three children under the age of 7? No. And then Sunday was Gavin's party. So, really, this was the day to do it. Again, it was a beautiful day. Fresno is really beautiful in the fall. It's so strange to think that places all over the US are under snow right now. In Cali, I'm still walking around barefoot and wearing capris and short sleeve shirts. I really do love California. I have a collection of the photos taken today while carving. Unfortunately, they should be viewed (because of description and chronological reasons) from the third page of the collection forward. So, go here to see the pumpkin pics and then go to the second page then the first. Now that they're carved, they'll be good for a couple days and then we can look forward to this:

 

If it's up to me, I'd throw them all out the day after Halloween. However, I'm sure Siobhan will not be so fond of that idea. Oh, and in honor of you, Christy, a vid of a watermelon:

 

So, here's an article about all the wildlife that has moved back into the New Orleans area since Katrina. Yes, it's a great trouble to people who are trying to move back and create New Orleans into something like what it was. I'm especially worried about the Brown Widow spider. We have Black Widows here and they freak me out. Supposedly, Brown Widows are even more poisonous. But it always surprises me when people see wildlife return to an area and they act flabbergasted. Or, even better, as if it's unnatural for these animals to take back this area. Really, this gets back to what we can possibly expect in the resurrection of New Orleans. I know it is a rather unpopular viewpoint (and as a lover of historical value, there is a part of me that balks at it as well), but I don't believe it necessarily wise to try to put New Orleans back at all. Such an absolute amount of money would be required to clean up the space and then even more money to build back on it. And if that is not bad enough, the things that destroyed it in the first place? Yeah, they're not going anywhere. Yes, we fix the levy. But that doesn't change the fact that most of New Orleans is below sea level, put on marsh land, and is in Hurricane territory. Let's take it even further. What insurance company in their right minds would ever insure something in New Orleans again? Perhaps for the very rich. Certainly not the poor. It is absolutely tragic that the people who suffered and continue to suffer from this the most are the poorest of the area. But really, is it doing them any favors to put them back in this area with all these problems I've mentioned above? Would it not be better to spend that money in getting them in more secure housing? Yes, that's a lot of people to displace permanently. But, the horrible thing about hurricanes is that they aren't like earthquakes, where you can go a good amount of years without one. These bitches of weather show up regularly. Very difficult situation. And unfortunately, I think most people in charge are dealing with it by trying to ignore it until it's not their problem anymore.