Shaak Ti Gets Comfortable

Shaak Ti. This silly bundle of dog has been part of our lives for so long we sometimes take her antics for granted. 

Laying in the grass on a sunny day is totally expected, normal for a dog.  

Getting in a neck stretch to make sure all those neck nooks get nice and sunny, still within the realm of normal. 

Laying in the gravel path though, well that's normal for Shaak Ti. She regularly gets covered in all manner of fluff and relish. She's not lacking for other comfortable places to lay down, there are half a dozen dogs beds of all shapes and sizes throughout the back yard, she just prefers the gravel path.

Spring Garden Pictures

It's been a typical Spring here at the homestead, jam packed with activity. So many seedlings to plant and the seeming never ending garden fun. 

The path past the greenhouse is maturing perfectly and the hanging baskets have just started to produce their first blooms.

The lupine have begun lupinating.

The first of the clematis have started clematisizing.

We'll try to post more, we promise. There will be many more flowers and garden things to post and we'll do our best to not let garden tasks or work get in the way.

Shaak Ti Does Hot Yoga

This is Shaak Ti performing the difficult "Warming My Junk By the Fire" pose. This is an advanced pose, not for beginners.  

 Shadowfax looks on in admiration.

We're Still Here

We're just hiding from you. We're lounging on the back porch in the last warm Fall sunbeams, soaking up the good weather before winter arrives.

Don't fret, we're not hiding. It's just been the typical cornucopia of excuses in why we haven't posted in months. You would think that with staying at home we would have more time, but it seems like we've been busier than ever.

And it hasn't helped one bit that John got an actual job. As in a real job, where he has to go into an office every day and work. It's been...an adjustment. That's an understatement. It's like saying 2020 has been difficult. An understatement. 

So we'll do what we always do, give you a cute deaf dog picture and promise to post more frequently. I think you all know what to do with that promise.

Stay safe and stay healthy. This too shall pass. Pet your dogs and hug the people in your quarantine circle. We'll get through this together.

Mid Summer Sun Naps

When the heat of Summer hits you, sometimes it's best to not resist the powerful sunbean.

We nap hard here at the homestead.

Some locations for napping are better than others. I personally wouldn't sleep right next to the downspout but we've learned over the years not to questions Shaak Ti.

Expanded Pool Hours at the Homestead

We had a very warm day on Saturday. On very warm days the backyard pool at the homestead is usually open and ready for business.

The lawn needed moving though and we had to empty and close the pool for a few minutes. Shadowfax was outraged. Her solution was 1) get in empty pool 2) lay down in empty pool 3) look as sad as possible.

Management fielded her complaints and opened the pool as fast as humanly possible.

Sharing the Dog Bed

Shaak Ti and Shadowfax generally prefer to have their own space while napping. But every once in a while they tolerate some sharing.

On the back patio the other morning, sharing seemed to be acceptable.

It was pretty warm out though. The mid-morning sun was already strong and the pups made a hasty retreat inside where it was cooler.

Storm Carnage and Clematis Blooms

We had a big storm roll through on Thursday afternoon. The wind howled and the rain lashed down for a few hours. There were numerous lightening strikes, a few transformers were hit, and there were reports of minor damage throughout town.

We lost a limb from the Norway spruce tree in the backyard. It got hung up on the fence and one of the new clematis trellis.

It was a good sized limb and took a little while to chop up and wrangle into our compost bin. We were lucky to just have a branch come down. A few houses away a tree came down and crushed the cab of a parked truck. Nobody was injured, but it was a decent mess to clean up.

While we were out taking pictures of the storm carnage we snapped a picture of the lovely clematis blooms. This is Clematis "Killian Donohue" that we planted about two weeks ago. It seems very happy in its new spot.