Catching up

I realized today that I'm way behind in sharing photos. The summer has flown by and I haven't had time for much reflection or sharing. I'm not sure where I left off, so I went back to when I first got the new (smaller, more portable) camera for the trip to China. Here's one of the first pictures I took with the new toy (as usual, the dog was my subject):

Friday Update

Well, internet, it's gotten crazy around here again (still?) and I haven't been keeping up. And to be honest, I don't think I'll be posting much until we've got both feet planted firmly in summer around here -- there's just too stuff much coming up and going on in the next few weeks.

But here are a couple of interesting items from today...

My dog killed a baby bird this morning (I think she was just trying to make friends), and I think the mom is still pissed. This morning, I heard a commotion out in the back yard and when I went to investigate there was a dead baby bird, and a very angry adult bird squawking and dive bombing the dog. And now I think that same bird is outside the dog's window (she's got a spot where she hangs out, next to a window), shrieking and flying at the window. It's spooky.

And then a totally unrelated thing, but I'll mention it because I was a big fan of Google Docs, which is now being replaced with Google Drive. This could be cool...

Autumn Scenes

In a swirl of wind and bluster, yesterday's rain managed to knock the first few leaves out of the trees. I imagine now that the cold has arrived, the rest will follow in a flurry of fall color. You can see the beginnings of it here, in the view from an upstairs window at home during the rain:

Also, you'll be relieved to know that despite the newly-arrived winter's hardships, Nonnie is managing to keep warm:

Sunday is Nonnie FUNday!

Every weekend, usually on Sundays, Nonnie and I go for an epic walk together. It used to be that we'd just walk somewhere from the house -- around the neighborhood, to downtown Chattanooga, up onto Missionary Ridge, or over to the Southside -- but in these dog days (ha!) of summer, it's just too hot out to spend much time in the direct sun, so we've gone searching for shady pathways.

Today, we did almost six miles out at the new Enterprise South Park (thanks, Volkswagen!), but I haven't gotten those pics off the camera yet, so here's a photo of Nonnie from last week's adventure down at the Chickamauga Battlefield -- she loves those monuments!  ;-)

Have a great week, everyone! Classes are starting up again here tomorrow (at least at the University -- the younger kids have been back at school for more than a week already!), so we're looking forward to getting back into a routine...

Friday Creature

Whew! I'm glad this week is coming to a close. We had some very strong storms roll through Chattanooga on Wednesday, unleashing wind, hail, rain and multiple tornadoes all over the region. A lot of people are still without power, the death toll continues to climb, and there is so much cleaning up to do. I'm feeling very lucky at the moment, as our house was not damaged, our power was only out for a little while, and no one here at Chez 10K was hurt.

And now that the weekend is almost here, Nonnie and I will start looking forward to our Sunday walk, which has become a regular weekly event since the warmer weather returned. Instead of going to church in the morning, we choose to glory in creation by doing some urban hiking. It takes an hour or two, depending on our destination, and we usually cover at least three miles (one week we had a bit of a directional problem and ended up walking over seven miles!). This photo is from a few weeks ago, snapped when we stopped in a shady spot for a quick drink of water.

Have a great weekend, everyone! More creatures can be found on the modulator's ark! Be safe, happy and well!

Friday Creature

Yeah, I didn't post a Wordless Wednesday this week, but I've been migrating to a new computer and I don't have any of my photos on the new digs yet. But I went to some extra effort to bring you this Friday Creature -- because the weather has turned very nice all of a sudden (hence the sunny scene) and because I finally broke down and shaved the dog this past week (hence the clipped version of the dog from last summer, right after we had that awful hackberry tree cut down). We're in transition, folks, and warmer weather is right around the corner!!

And there are more creatures on the ark for your consumption. Have a great weekend, everyone!!!

Friday Creature

Wow, it's been just a gorgeous week here in Tennessee! Gradual warming, a little sun, and the opportunity to get outside a bit has me feeling like this shot of Nonnie relishing a wide open grassy field last summer (not many things are as beautiful as an animal moving at top speed!). I got out for a run yesterday, a bike ride to the store this afternoon, and I'm looking forward to a walk this evening with G-Dog. It feels so good to be out and moving around after being cooped up in the house with all the winter we've been having!

There are creatures on this week's ark -- welcome to the weekend, everyone! May it be peaceful and fulfilling!

Friday Creature

Congrats to the people of Egypt. Peaceful regime change is a tricky business, but it looks like they managed!

And welcome to the weekend, everyone! I'm still waiting for the early spring promised us by the groundhog, and getting a little less patient about it. The dog has the right idea, though -- when the weather gets like this, it's best to find yourself a nice, warm patch of sun. More creatures await on the Ark! Have a restful and restorative weekend!

Friday Creature

Welcome to the first weekend of the new year, everyone! The Friday Creature is starting out fresh with no more shore birds, and it's been a while since you've gotten a look at the greatest dog ever (AKA Nonnie, my faithful hound), so here's your first creature of 2011!

(There won't be any Friday Arks in January while The Modulator is off on an epic adventure. Happy trails, Steve!)

There's never enough garlic!

Ohmygosh! Has it really been Friday since I posted last?!? I'm so sorry. I've been very busy, and the weather has been so gorgeous that I just can't sit at the computer for a moment longer than necessary! Nonnie and I got out for a run again today (our second two-miler together). She is awesome at pacing and I can't wait to head out again together (which will hopefully be on Thursday -- tomorrow I'll be biking to the farmers market).

Anyway, to tide you over, here's a picture of some roasted garlic. If you ever stop in here at Chez 10K, you'd best have a bite on your way in the door -- otherwise, you're going to think everyone here has some awful breath, because we can't seem to get enough garlic. It's good and good for you!!! ;-)

Busy, busy, busy!

Well, we just had our third Christmas this evening. The first was on Feats of Strength Day -- the day after G-Dog and I bought a new elliptical machine as our big gift this year. Emmie and I got the parts inside and I assembled the thing on the 15th. It's a larger machine than the last one, so it called for some rearranging of furniture and equipment -- hence, between that and the lugging of parts and assembly, you get the Feats of Strength.

Our second Christmas was in Ohio, on the traditional day, with the family, and it was wonderful. There was snow on the ground, a magical Christmas Eve buffet, a fun Christmas morning with lots of gifts and a classic afternoon dinner with roast beast and yorkshire pudding. Wow. Who could ask for more?

But there was still more waiting at home, with a few more gifts and a celebration for the dog, who didn't get to go to Ohio, but was not forgotten by Santa.

We've also been enjoying some cable TV again after being without since the middle of the summer. The EBP hooked us up to their fiber network on Monday. I didn't miss TV in general much, but going without MSNBC was tough at times, and I'm happy to see that they've got some new talent since the last time I tuned in -- Ed Schultz is part of the lineup now and I'm loving his show based on what I've seen so far!

I've also been enjoying Nebulous Week. I've been cleaning and cooking and working on projects. My major effort this year is to get all the photos from the last decade organized. I got a digital camera in 2004 and never did properly archive all the pictures I've taken, so I'm working now to get them in order -- and thinking of moving them all to Picasa, not only for the independent archive, but also for the captions and labels, which I would think might aid in searching for images as I move forward. Does anyone have any experience with Picasa to share?

That's about all I have time for at the moment, though, as the evening is not done! I found a recipe for dog treats, and Nonnie and I are planning on trying it out this evening... the fun never stops here at Chez 10K! :-)

Friday Creature

Brrrrr!!! It's such a cold morning here in Chattanooga (we might even get a bit of snow tomorrow!) that I'm inspired to reach back to warmer days for this week's creature. This photo of the dog (and her very hip water bottle) comes from a few months ago, over at her nearby special spot where she can run sprints. Happy Friday, everyone! Have a great weekend, and don't forget the Friday Ark!

Friday Creature

This week, Nonnie turned ten years old. We had a party on Wednesday, with presents to unwrap and yummy food. She's pretty indispensable around here. One of her very important jobs is to monitor the activity in the neighborhood and she takes it very seriously. If a person comes along -- especially someone wearing a uniform and/or in a loud truck (like a mail carrier or UPS/Fed Ex delivery driver), she will alert you to the intrusion until your ears bleed. Our doorbell is pretty much extraneous.

Sorry about the late post today! My Friday ended up being more like a Monday -- thank goodness it's over. And there are always the arkettes to distract a person from the day's headaches! Have a wonderful weekend!

Friday Creature

I'm plum out of creatures that don't live with me, so this week you get to take another peak at my dog. Here she is looking just about as comfortable as a body can possibly be -- which, of course, is her special talent in this life. That and sleeping. She's really good at sleeping.

If that didn't quite scratch your creature itch, there are plenty of others over on the modulator's ark! Have a fantastic weekend!

Friday Creature

I'm calling this one "Standoff!" A couple of weeks ago, you got to meet Boris, the Russian Blue who lives across the street, when he got stuck in a tree. Well, this past week, Nonnie got to meet Boris, and as it turns out, Boris has some balls of steel on him.

There's a low fence that runs between our yard and the carport, to keep Nonnie from getting out into the road when we're pulling cars in and out of the gated fence that runs around the perimeter of our yard. Ordinarily, Nonnie has to stay on the yard side of the fence. But when she noticed that Boris was poking around our yard, she became very frantic -- running, jumping barking and causing all kinds of a stir. Other cats have come into our yard and gotten similar treatment, but they have always fled with all due haste. Boris just sat there in the carport and looked at Nonnie as if to say, "you bore me."

It didn't take long for me to get tired of the drama, so I figured I could get Boris to leave, thereby calming the dog down, if I just let Nonnie into the carport so she could chase the cat away. As I opened the gate, Nonnie quickly slipped through it, lunged at Boris -- and then the unexpected happened: Boris stood his ground. He was not going anywhere. He drew himself up, puffed out his fur, flung out his claws and hissed his loudest at Nonnie. And that abruptly stopped Nonnie's assault.

From that point on, they circled each other, neither willing to concede any ground and, after a few more lunges, neither willing to fight. I took some pictures for a few minutes but didn't want to let things go on too long, lest they get out of hand, so I finally separated the two so that I could chase Boris away. He hasn't been back so far, but Nonnie's been keeping a very vigilant eye out, lest he should return.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone (and a happy Norwegian Constitution Day and my mother's birthday on Sunday)! There are, as always, creatures!

One of those days...

Some days, everything just takes longer...

This morning, I wanted to whip up a quick couple of loaves of bread. [...] No hot water. So I spent a while in the basement relighting the hot water heater. I don't know why it randomly goes out, but that happens a couple of times a year.

This afternoon, I took the dog for a quick walk though the neighborhood. [...] She found one of those weeds that leaves little clingy, green, caper-sized balls all over her fur. So when we came upon a spot in the shade of a tree, we chilled for a bit, and she wiggled and rolled in the grass while I picked the burrs out of her coat.

And so on...

The good news is that it was a gorgeous day, and even though I didn't get as much done as I wanted, the dog and I had a great time enjoying the beautiful weather, and house smelled of fresh bread when we got home.

Friday Creature

I'm going to call this one Two Dogs. I still haven't made it out to take pictures, but I did remember I had this photo from a couple of weeks back when I shaved all the hair off the dog in the back yard. The picture cracks me up because she's standing there looking like she just shook all the hair off.

There are a couple of notable things in the picture. First of all, check out the daffodils in the background. This photo was dated March 7th -- we really did get an early spring this year! Also, for some reason, this image draws my attention to Nonnie's tail, half of which got cropped out of the picture. Now, Nonnie is a lucky dog, because she didn't come from a breeder or a puppy mill -- if she had, her tail (one of the most expressive things about her!) may have been docked down to next to nothing. I don't understand why breeders and others continue to torture dogs in this way, but if people refused to buy their mutilated dogs, perhaps they'd stop doing it. It's something to think about.

Anyway, have a great weekend, full of fun, rest and relaxation! As always, you'll find a lot more creatures on the modulator's ark!

Gorgeous day!

Today was the first real spring day here in Chattanooga. It was warm and sunny, with a nice little breeze blowing. I drove out to the grocery store before lunch (the really good markets are all out in the suburbs -- those of us living downtown are still waiting for the merchants to notice us) and along the way noticed lots of trees with tiny white blossoms bursting from their branches.

After I got home, I realized that it was warm enough to turn off the heat and throw open the windows. The air moving through the house smelled wonderful while I cleaned up the mess I made yesterday when I took all the plants outside -- there was plant detritus all over the laundry room (the winter home of my herb garden) and one of the bathrooms (the winter home of the porch ferns).

Then Nonnie and I went out to the backyard and she lounged about in the grass while I trimmed off her winter coat. When I was done, it looked like there were two dogs on the lawn -- one Nonnie, and one big, curly pile of hair. I did my best to clean it all out of the grass, but the breeze had scattered it a bit, so I expect to see a few blond highlights in the nests of the neighborhood trees over the next few weeks.

Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer...

Friday Creature

Well, I came up dry, picture-wise, again this week. So, the FC had to wait until I had a chance to get the scanner working with this computer (which basically involved just downloading and installing some drivers, but I still didn't get around to it until after dinner)... which all reminds me... does anyone out there have any experience with a photo negative scanner? I'd rather be scanning directly from the source, rather than from faded, dusty, scratchy photos.

But anyway, back to the subject at hand, which once again, is my dog (who recently became her own category). But just to keep things interesting, I dug out some photos from back in the fall of 1999, when Nonnie first came home to live with us. The top image is from that first evening -- she was hungry, scared and covered in fleas, so we fed her, gave her a bath and let her have run of the house, so she could make sure there weren't any cats lurking about. The second image is from a day or two later -- she was still barely bigger than that cereal bowl.

More creatures await on the modulator's ark! It's supposed to be sunny and in the 70s this weekend, so Nonnie and I will be out playing in the yard all we can -- I hope your weekend proves to be enjoyable!

Friday Creature

I've got a confession to make. I have been taking absolutely no pictures lately. I've been so busy and the weather has been a mixed bag, so I've got nothing. I dug this one out of the deep recesses of the archives. I don't know if it will even qualify for the modulator's ark, since it features a person just as prominently as it does the creature, but it's a very young Emmie charging into the sea (well, Florida's intercoastal waterway) with a not-yet-year-old Nonnie. I love this photo -- it was featured on my refrigerator for years, and I was very happy to run across it once again this afternoon.