we're back!

It was truly a whirlwind trip to Seattle... we had waaay too much stuff we wanted to do, and no way we were going to fit it all in. So, we will just have to go back sometime!! (I already knew I wanted to go back, because I want to see Mount St. Helens and the Buchart Gardens in British Colombia... plus, lots of other things!)

We toured the Museum of Flight (where we went aboard an old Air Force One plane and a Concorde!); we saw a tiny bit of Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle; we took a drive over the Cascade mountains (very dramatic views of snow covered peaks and waterfalls from melting snow!) and we visited a small town called Leavenworth (a Bavarian-style tourist mecca with mountains in the background); and we had brunch at the top of the Space Needle. We also managed to catch a glimpse of Mount Ranier through the clouds as we flew home (apparently the mountains are fickle, and don't always want to be seen- they spend a lot of time hidden up in the clouds).

Pictures will definitely follow, once we get them off the camera and see what all we have! Today is a lazy day of relaxing and maybe grilling out, before going back to the daily grind of work. (daily grind- a bit of Seattle coffee humor, get it?? okay, so I'm still tired... but I tried!)

work in progress...

whaddya think? I decided to add a photo to the title block of the page... I'm still working on making the colors of the title stand out, but I'm getting tired of editing and re-editing it, so it's staying for now... ...still messing with it; I think I need to tweak the colors of the text and post titles, but I reeeeallly need to start packing!

go west... Northwest, actually

We're off! Tomorrow (eeeaarrrly- ick!) we're heading to Seattle for the weekend- yay!! I've wanted to see Seattle for ages... Tom has been there twice for work, and it's one of the cities he looks forward to visiting, even if it is work-related. We're looking forward to a whirlwind weekend full of of sightseeing, exploring, and fresh seafood. See you next week!

introducing...

the newest member of our household... Bisbee Barkley the Sheltie puppy!! She will be coming home with us in two weeks- yes, we are going to be a multi-Sheltie household... (Mom, I think we do know what we're in for, and I hope we're ready for it.) For quite a while, we've been thinking about getting another puppy, so Sedona could have a canine play companion. (the cats don't quite do it for her, although she will play with them sometimes.) I found a breeder in Glendale, AZ (Roseglen Shelties) a while ago, and found out they had puppies on the way. When the puppies got here, the breeder had a "smaller-sized" female available, which we didn't really want (since Sedona is a couple inches over-sized), so we had resigned ourselves to waiting till the next litter later this year. The breeder contacted me last week quite unexpectedly. As it turns out, this little girl is running "over-sized" according to the charts, so the breeder won't be able to show her after all. So once again, we found ourselves thinking about having a new puppy in the house, and we decided to go for it. Hopefully we will be in for lots of puppy playing fun amongst the dogs, once Sedona gets used to having another dog in the house. This is her mother Lacey, a very sweet, dainty little female. (she doesn't look so hot in this picture- having puppies causes them to "blow coat" which is a massive all-at-once sort of shed.) You can find a picture of the sire here. Be sure to check it out; he's a gorgeous dog. He is Ch Sandance Ardastra, a beautiful male who is apparently doing really great in shows, and also in the quality of puppies he's sired.

the more things change...

the more they stay the same... Tom caught Pandora and Butters snuggling on the bed earlier today, and snapped a few pictures. It brings back lots of bittersweet memories of Cleo and Phoebe. But, Pandora and Butters definitely have their own very strong personalities- they are not timid around the dog at all, and they love going outside... chasing bugs and trying to get the hummingbirds when they come to the feeder are two of their favorite pasttimes. (occasionally they do nap, too!)

it's spring- the lantanas are blooming!

it's spring- the lantanas are blooming! Originally uploaded by crimsoncat05

they started blooming in March, actually, but the plants have finally taken off and spread out quite a bit. I'm still not used to gardening in the desert, but I've realized you have to get the interest from different places- more textures and sculptural shapes, rather than a riot of greens and colors from flowers, like back in Illinois. Even though I will always miss my peonies, irises, and hollyhocks, I can still have patches of color, like this one stretch of color next to the driveway which always strikes a cheery note against the light colored gravel.