Scrappy, I just saw your episode of Hammerheads. Your place turned out so beautifully! I especially like how sustainable your yard looks. And the pergola and solar light details are great!

And let's hear it for neighborliness. I thought I'd completely missed the episode. But I'm helping look after Amyth's poodle while she's traveling, and when I checked out her TiVo this morning, I saw that she'd recorded it.

Woo! Day off work! Kinda. I did go in and fix some system stuff.

Pictures for this lazy day. Some from yesterday on the lake including my newest great nephew Cooper in his oversized life jacket. [link]

And some from Providence. [link]

Enjoy.

Our friend who's visiting from Australia gave me a Melbourne-centric cookbook. I'm having to google some of the terms. Like "yabbies."

Which I'm now totally using instead of "crawdad." And whose Latin name, Cherax destructor, is gonna be my supervillain name.

Our friend who's visiting from Australia gave me a Melbourne-centric cookbook. I'm having to google some of the terms. Like "yabbies."

I have suffered at the pincers of a small yabbie. (My brother's doing.) Which cookbook is it?

Laura, Cooper's expression seems to indicate a certain wry understanding of the irony of being in a life jacket which is larger than he is.

Great pics Laura! Cooper is adorable! I am still looking for the plug for my camera so that I can upload my pictures.

There are a couple of goat/sheep pens in WVA where you can take a dog to run for 45 minutes, for a fee.

Ooh, I would love that for Arthur. He tries to herd the cats and they are Not Excited about that.

We didn't really do anything for the 4th. It rained, and I went to bed early. Yay. I just got up, and M is setting up Spy Central in the living room, which I am highly in favor of.

Our small dog, Layla was totally chill during the bangs and booms outside last night. Truman, our big standard poodle, was shaking and pacing, poor guy. We ourseleves were chill, until the dogs started barking madly and I realized police were in our front yard! We were not made calm when J opened the door and the policewoman said, "Everything is fine. Just stay inside your house." They eventually left and we don't know WHAT was going on, but we suspect they were chasing someone shooting off illegal fireworks.

One of my friends has a farm with pigs and chickens and uses Great Pyrenees to guard them.

Lovely pictures, Laura.

P-C, I'm just now getting going, and think I'm going to pack up my stuff, hit up Starbucks, and go shopping...maybe see a movie?...down near where my new hotel for the night is, in Pleasanton. Since they have stores and stuff. And a massage place in the mall. I think I might get a massage today AND tomorrow. Try to keep some mellow. Or something. Since I'm already down this way.