All Creatures Great and Small

We took to the air this weekend, to celebrate my mother-in-law's birthday in beautiful Carpinteria, CA. I won't tell you how old she is, but I will tell you what Joe-Henry says about her. "You're the perfect age, Grandma. Not too old, and not too young." She has always looked gorgeous, and aging doesn't seem to be on her agenda, ever. She will always and forever be a dish.


We've been spending lots of time lavishing love and attention on the dogs. Joe-Henry loves to help Grandpa walk the dogs, and this guy needs extra special attention.


He's only eleven, but he's had a siezure disorder for the last six years, and is on heavy duty meds. But his nose still works the way it should. He can smell food from miles away.


He weighs a ton, and smells like, well, a basset hound, but he's family. He brings grown men to their knees with his sweetness. And this little girl is smart enough to do your taxes.


It's nice to get a dose of family here, and to fill our senses up with California. There's the beach, of course, and the little creatures that thrive here like nowhere else. I am determined to get at least one decent shot of the hummingbirds that seem to be playing a game with me.

"Where's your camera NOW, lady! Haaaahaaahaaaa..." and they speed away while I futz with the lens cap. I did manage this one shot, but it's my mission to get a better one this weekend.


I love the lizards, of course, but this little frog was so cute. He was about as big as my thumb, and he hung on to the adirondack chair for dear life.


We'll see lots more family today, and there will be baseball and birthday cake. Then it's home tomorrow to my sweet hubband, who had to work, but then was felled by something nasty that seems to have crawled up his nose and stayed there. On the phone he sounds like he might have tried to stick an orange up there. I'm glad he's got the house to himself to rest up.

We miss you, sweetie. Feel better soon.