Pit bull

We just got home from church. We had Psalm 133 again, the one psalm I've seen so far to, despite mangled words and a different tune, be set to a familiar tune. I believe the Scottish Psalter's rendition goes, "Behold how good a thing it is when brothers..." uh, no more by memory, but basically, brothers dwelling in unity is a good thing, not unlike ointment running down Aaron's beard onto his clothes or dew on Mount Hermon. So, it was nice singing a familiar tune, but I didn't really get my voice right. 

Sermon was Part 2 on Colossians 1:1,2, this time discussing the meaning behind Paul's greeting. A condensation would be "you're saints, God's people; faithful, believers; and brothers, as members of my family, the church." I didn't fall asleep--took some notes. We stopped to talk to some people afterwards. One lady, Mrs. Marble, had just with her family joined the church. They're living in a hotel right now, having just moved down from Wasilla, Alaska to be near the son in the Air Force Academy. Three sons and a daughter were visible today, but I understand there are more. Talking to her was fun--she told me that when they saw me behind Philip, they started making bets on sister/"special other". She had her money on sister, because of the way Phil walked in front. Heh. She did ask, uncertainly, was I a younger sister? Bwaha. Anyway, she suggested we come see them, and I'd like to. I also got to talk to Mrs. Boonzaijer and Mrs. Reese. I like 'em both. I saw Tava, but we didn't run into each other.

I got to wear the dress Sid gave me for the first time. It's a lovely chocolate brown, made of some delightfully smooth fabric. It's cut flatteringly, too. There's a matching jacket, but I decided against wearing it, and Grandma gave me the run of her scarf drawer for some color to break up the brown. I went with a sort of reddish amber scarf on my head, but there are several others I'd like to wear with this dress. Having decided on the scarf with me, Grandma thought of a jacket in her closet, which Aunt Ann had given her and which was much too small for her-- the sleeves were a little short even for me. It turned out to be of metallic gold thread interwoven with a gray base. It went very well with the dress, and was quite warm enough. It wasn't much help at the end, though--it began to rain as we were coming home, and I didn't even put it on when we got home. The rain is still coming down in sheets, and it began to thunder as we were eating lunch. The effect, from inside the greenhouse, is rather like going through one of those aquarium tunnels, where one is surrounded by water and fish.

Once the rain stopped, about four o'clock, Lark and I moved out. We went up the treasure-hill and around through the houses to the mountain road again. This time, however, we met someone at the top of the road: an uneasy older gentleman with a chocolate-colored pit bull. He got a good grip on her when he saw us, explaining that while she was very well-behaved most of the time, she was something of a dominatrix, making a lot of noise when asserting herself, and besides he didn't always know what she would do, having gotten her from the pound over a year ago. So they went on ahead, his dog shooting ahead of him when he let her off the lead. We followed circumspectly. I do rather wonder what he thought when we didn't pass them--duh--and he didn't meet us coming back up, either. Probably that we had gone back early; but in point of fact we did our usual dropping-off-a-cliff trick, going down the steep but fairly easy slope.

After dinner Phil had a movie for me to watch: Shaun and the Dead. If Gordon Freeman worked in an electronics store and was trying to protect multiple people, you'd be pretty close. Nice slow zombies, of course, and you have to take the head out, but.....yeah.

Now going off to read Angel Wars and similar until I get in the shower. I hope Trina's been on. Haven't seen her all day. Maybe too much family action.....the collegiate sibs are still home, I believe.

Loldogs

Everybody slept in. I believe Lark enjoyed it, but as I was not under the covers, having fallen asleep waiting for Grandma to get out of the bathroom, I was not warm. I ended up taking a shower after breakfast, and washing my hair.

Grandma started making a do-list at breakfast. T_T Philip vacuumed all the carpets, and I mopped the kitchen and greenhouse floors. Next we're running errands: taking the dishes back to their owners, for one. Meanwhile, clouds have moved in after this morning's sun, and all in all it looks like rain. I wonder if we'll get soaked again...?

Well, we took the dishes back. Norma didn't seem to be home, so we left hers on her (covered) porch; Joan was too far across town, so we gave hers to Jinn; and Philip found Jinn's condos relying on Google Maps and instinct alone. Jinn was happy to see us, and invited us in. She has a very nice kitchen, as far as decorating-induced mood goes. I asked her about bridge, and she says they're happy to come over as soon as Grandma's ready. Need to talk to Grandma about that. There's also a luncheon in, I think, early June they want her for. Noted. Jinn showed me over her house, saying that while she preferred the country it wasn't bad once you got used to it. Discussing the sort of place she'd like to have (a small acreage, with chickens, ducks, and geese), I asked, "No goats?" She conceded a couple of goats, and told me a story about her dad. Apparently he was in the habit of buying things from auctions a reselling them. One purchase, brought home in the stock rack, was a small herd of goats. He brought them home and released them in the backyard, where Jinn's mother had hung out her wash. Oops. "Did she kill him?" I asked. "I thought for a minute she was going to," Jinn admitted.

Then we went to a liquor store, Philip having a yen for a beer he had, hitherto, only found at the Yard House. Here, having seen a sign at the door forbidding "children between the ages of 12 and 20", and a sign over the beer cooler saying that because of rising shoplifting in the economic downturn (no, really) purses longer than six inches had to stay in the car. Well, you know my purse. A foot if it's an inch. So, having found his beer, Philip handed me his keys and told me to head out to the car. Passing three employees and nearly bumping into two others (one at the inner door, one at the outer), I made it into the parking lot, where rain was falling heavily. I tried to unlock the car. None of the keys on the ring worked. I tried every single one, including the obvious house keys. I was still standing in the rain, trying keys, when Philip came out. He, of course, unlocked the door, no problem. "I think it would have ben more efficient if I'd just  checked out with you," I said.

We also went to K-mart, the vacuum cleaner needing a new filter. I had been thinking about hats lately, so this sounded good. I didn't find one for rain shedding, but I did find a nice one for just, you know, nice, which had been my other goal. It's tan, with neutral beads on a thong around the brim. I liked the blue one better, since it would have gone nicely with one of my skirts, but unfortunately its beads were anything but neutral and too likely to clash. So I got the safe one. *sigh*

Philip and I made salmon (him) and lemon rice (me) for dinner. Grandma's stove is....difficult. The settings are degrees of temperature, like an oven. Fortunately Grandma was nearby and awake, so I could just ask her. It all came out pretty well. Philip emphasized the salmon's Norwegian origin, which seemed to matter to Grandma too. This conveys nothing whatsoever to me.

Lark didn't get her walk until after dinner. Philip and I were both full, and his basketball game (Nuggets vs. Lakers) was on, but we managed a good long walk, making it home before full dark. We met no one, despite various interesting post-rain tracks in the sand of the trail. Drat.

Philip is watching the game now, at 9:25. I've been on icanhasahotdog.com, hence the goggies. I admit, there's a lot more variety there than one encounters on Heller walks. Now considering when to get into the shower, tomorrow morning being church. :s

Hey, cool. Clicking on 'em enlarges 'em.

A pictures post. Grandma wanted me to send some pictures of wildflowers to Robin, and while it's doubtful that this will be accomplished I do have some pictures for here. Philip helped me take them this afternoon.

see more dog and puppy pictures

Bichon Frise

Well, I managed to get up a few minutes after seven (read "under five"), stagger into Grandma's room, and crash on her bed to say good morning. Lark got her morning pettins there, since it took awhile for Grandma to get up too. Which was nice. People who get up too quickly are unkind to Larks. Anyway, by the time Grandma was finished in the bathroom, and I had the coffee going, Lark was ready to go out. As I passed the sitting-room I noticed Philip on the couch, which is something of an improvement over last week, when I noticed his car first.

After a morning of nurses, followed by lunch, Philip and I went grocery shopping. (Pocky = great. King Soopers has it.) We came home to find Carole in possession of the phone, directing Laurie here. She made it, eventually, and gave Grandma her haircut.

Philip and I went out on The Walk as Carole was about to give Grandma her shower. It was about three-thirty, and the clouds were heavy. It started to rain shortly after we got into the Heller estate, and intensified as we neared the crossroads by the rock. We met someone as we passed the pond: two older girls, a round redhead and a tall dark blonde, walking a Bichon. We exchanged compliments and passed on. It was raining pretty heavily as we reached the tree and rock, and we spent awhile sheltering under the tree. I was fairly dry, having worn my bomber jacket and camos, but Philip was soaked long before we got home. Philip decided to keep along the trail, but as the rain fell faster we stopped and sat under another tree. It was not dry, but we stayed for several minutes before going on, in the direction of home. As we passed the water on the other side, the girls with the dog came back along the far side, one calling out that it was a nice day for a walk. I agreed, and we kept on for home. When we got there Philip's shirt was dripping, my jacket was heavy with water, and Lark still had enough energy for towel wrestling.

Dinner was bisonburgers, produced by Philip, and really very good. After dinner we're going to go see Star Trek.

Well, it's just after midnight, and we're back from seeing a very fun movie. First off: all the young crew are pretty cute. Kirk is hot. Spock, not quite so much--I enjoyed Nimoy in his cameo more. But Scotty was hilarious and Chekhov just plain cute. Not attractive: more the sort you'd want to, um, foster, than date, precisely. He gave the overpowering impression of immaturity. Enterprise was shiny new in the middlish-beginning, but by the end I already felt sorry for the poor ship. What do they put it through, for all those years of episodes? Speaking of the show, I asked Philip if Shatner's Kirk got beaten up quite so much. It would be difficult for this to be the case: from his first appearance as a young man, right through the climax, people are punching him, throttling him, and throwing him against hard surfaces. Not that he's weak: he just....ends up in these....situations. I mean, he got Spock to throttle him on purpose, he very effectively provoked those cadets in the bar, and....okay, the Romulan throttling him wasn't really his fault. Or the other Romulans on the planet drill. Or the wildlife on the snowy star Scotty was stationed on. I kept waiting for bigger fish in that bit. Only two, I'm afraid. Philip elbowed me fairly consistently, even though I was mostly whispering, and I made the gentleman next to me laugh at least twice. I did swallow quite a few remarks, especially the ones that couldn't be expressed concisely. I still got a fair number of elbows in the side.

I need to embark on the process of getting to bed--beginning with telling Trina I went to see it. 

Two Goldendoodles

Everybody slept in 'til eight. It's cooler today, more like yesterday, when it was nice and cool until we were ready to hike, than preceding days.

We had lunch early so Grandma could take her nap. It rained the entire time we were at the table and then some. Amazing. Anyway, Grandma got a good nap, and then Diane came about one-thirty and did arm exercises with her. After she left we did some neatening up, and then the Rector came about three. I must confess to some enjoyment of having a rector visit, but he's something of a disappointment--he wouldn't even pet Lark, and when I told her to give up, he said it was fine, he'd just ignore her.........THIS MAN THINKS HE CAN IGNORE MY DOG??? Clearly he possesses a heart of stone.

Amazingly, the cool weather has held. Lark and I need to hurry up and take our walk, but I don't know how long the Rector will be here and she'll need help getting back up from the sitting-room. To top it off, I was getting the water-can for the palm down there when the doorbell rang, and if Grandma wants to see him in the sitting-room I'm not coming in with a watering-can.

Oh, help, he's interrogating Grandma about me. He's also the first person to have gotten my age right, drat him. >.> :s 

And I just realized I left the dust-rag down there. Kill me now. I'm sorry, Grandma.

I don't think she noticed, though. I doubt he did, but it's the principle of the thing.

I got punched in the stomach by a Goldendoodle. We finally got out on our walk at about four-forty, the weather holding cool and cloudy, with occasional spatters of rain. I, for a wonder, calculated my clothing right, it being pleasantly cool with a sweater on. The air nibbled gently at my face, pretending it was about to bite through my clothes but never doing so. We took the short loop around the pond and back, Lark tearing off as if by unclipping her leash I had lit a fuse. I was wondering, as we neared the end of the trail, if we weren't going to meet [i]anyone[/i] (a waste of a Heller hike, as far as I'm concerned--I need at least one dog a day!) when I heard jingling. Hopefully collars, but maybe just a bike. Lark was off in the brush, and I wondered if I'd be able to keep her out of the way of whoever impended. I caught a glimpse through the branches that suggested someone on a bike, then came clear of the trees into the creek bed and saw the surge of dogs. He wasn't on a bike, he was just tall. I called Lark, hoping I could catch her collar, but as Lark decided she needed to investigate the man called, "It's okay, they're friendly!" Well, I should hope so if you're walking them off-leash, but I gave up and watched as two dogs lolloped forward: one enormous, one Lark's size but stockier, both covered in short curls the color of pale sand. It was about then that the big one got me a full-body hit with his nose. "Oof," I gasped. "Right in the stomach!" "Are you okay?" the man asked. I reassured him, Lark having trained me in the reflexive stomach tense, and we watched the dogs swirl about. "Are they Labradoodles?" "Goldendoodles." "They're cute!" Lark was rather hard-pressed by the pair, and I picked her up. They continued on their way, and I carried her until they were out of sight......making this the third day in a row. The other two days were on Stanton, though, and this is the first day we've been here that she made it home still high. 

I had to fix dinner myself for once, never mind that it was a glorious parade of leftovers. I heard Father Paul asking Grandma if I could cook: why, yes, a little, but why cook when there's so much that needs eating up? So it was chicken and rice, set out to thaw before Lark and I went out; herb salad, which has gallantly sustained us through several meals and two rounds of sandwiches; watermelon chunks, which accompanied pork chops from the wonderful woman who gave us disposable dishes; reheated cornbread and a dinner roll; and Grandma had some blackberry (not blueberry--Grandma figured out what the stuff is) cobbler for dessert. I let Lark out during the sitting-while-Grandma-finishes-up period, and when I went to suggest she come in, the brat whirled away in a clear invitation to play. I did. Note: on a cool day, do not come back in under three hours or the dog won't stop. Wuuuuurrgh......

After dinner Grandma watched an English episode of Antiques Roadshow and I finished Cousin Kate. When it was over she had me get her into PJs and read two (admittedly short) chapters of The View From the Folding Chairs. That done I had to go look "bailiff" up in the dictionary, that being what Michala Miller is and neither of us knowing what it meant in her case. Having ascertained that she was someone who kept order in courtrooms, I was discovering that the dictionary didn't have "assinego" (Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, someone being rude, "An assinego may tutor thee," also quoted when Vincent is being rude about Claude teaching Hugo not to speak Yorkshire in The Unknown Ajax) when the phone rang. Doug was asking if there was anything more I needed in Care Package Mk. II, the first having been mailed already. It was nice talking. Heck, it's nice talking to anyone at home, or even typing. Even Philip razzing me is a nice brotherly pastime. *prays he'll miss this "detail".....unhappily doubts it* He hasn't been very bad, anyway.

Now for an hour or so pretending I'm going to get to sleep at a reasonable hour. Hey, maybe I will. Be nice, anyway.