A Different BUT Great Summer (and yes, I know the REAL Summer is not over yet)

Our Summer guests are gone, Cousin C is back at school, Me/Mommy#1/Mommy#2 moved back to Casa de Noodles, and Cousin E and Mommy #1 are preparing to return to university. August started off rather cool and we contemplated sweater and then POOF! The cool days were gone and replaced with scorching temps. This has been some SUMMER.

JUNE

 Because there were so many people in our house, Auntie B said ME and my MOMMYS could stay at her mother's empty house. Grandma H had passed away last Fall and the house had been empty since. What a TREAT that was - we had the run of the house and I didn't have to share my bed with Molly AT ALL! 

No Mommy, I said I was not sharing with ANYONE, not just Molly. Ha! Like I said, I really enjoyed being a solo PUG - even if it was only in the evenings and on weekends. We were at Casa de Noodles every day so Mommy #2 could work. That is where her office is AND Grandma H's house had no wifi.

July

 

The Fourth of July was a tough one. It was actually tough from the end of June because that is when the neighbors in the court behind Grandma H's house began shooting off fireworks. Big BOOMS! I got used to their pattern and was pretty calm . . . UNTIL. . . The. . . FOURTH!!!! Our big house has places where the BOOMS are not so loud - but not the little place we were staying. It was almost like the BOOMS were inside!  See that belly wrap? It was actually (poorly) wrapped around my chest and midsection in an effort to keep me calm. Mommy was worried. The BOOMS were so loud I simply could NOT calm down. The wrap helped. 

The white peaches became ripe while we were there and I enjoyed going outside and noshing a peach or two (or three). Then one day Mommy #2 declared they were ripe and picked a whole bunch - I helped. I THOUGHT they were all for me which is why I am smiling in the photo. I got one or two. . .sigh. . .

This is how the counter at THE HOUSE looked ALL THE TIME. Fresh fruit. Mouth-watering, huh. I am so lucky to live in CALIFORNIA and to have fruit trees readily available.

July was also when we took an ALL FAMILY trip to Lake Tahoe. We stayed at Auntie DD's chalet in Meyers. I have been there a couple of times before and I gotta say - I love it so much. This was the first time in over 20 years that Mommy #2 and ALL of her SISTERS were in the same place at the same time. It was a pretty amazing week.

We took a lot of walks in the highly SCENTED mountain air. I almost hyperventilated from breathing so deeply.

Molly enjoyed a few walks but UNLIKE ME, she does not like to get her paws dirty so her walks were confined to POTTY walks.

My Mommys took a jaunt down to the shore of LAKE TAHOE for the sunset. It was pretty spectacular from where I was. Seeing the photos from lakeside made me wish I could have joined them. Next time, they assured me.

AUGUST

August was, like I said was cooler than normal. It was still warm during the day; but our famous FOG came back in to cool down the evenings and early mornings. The flowers were happier with the cooler weather and we had a lot of DAHLIAS and even a couple of Hydrangea blooms on the counter. 

Mommy #2 did a lot of JAM making with the peaches. They ripen faster than everybody could eat them and she didn't want them to go to waste. So she made several KINDS of white peach jam. She never let me taste the JAM but she did give me pieces of fruit.

 We had some down time now and them and Mommy spent them reading or crocheting. I "helped" by snoozing right by her side. I learned a lot through OSMOSIS.

One day we drove to Ptown where Auntie B lives. She was dog-sitting a yorkie named FANCY. I got along fine with Fancy and we even took a walk together AND picked APPLES.

I loves loves loves APPLES.

Fancy would not pose for the PHOTO. But believe me, she is cute.

 August was also the GREAT N. AMERICAN ECLIPSE of 2017. It went from WEST coast to EAST coast and everyone had some degree of darkness. We were not in the TOTALITY ZONE but we did have about 75-85% of the sun covered. It was really neat. I was outside with Mom to see it but she ushered me inside when I HAD TO LOOK in the direction she was looking. I didn't want to miss what she saw. The difference was she had special ECLIPSE GLASSES and I did not.

She took this cool shadow picture of the eclipse. All of her other attempts were for naught.

NOW WE ARE HOME

Thank you Auntie B for sharing your mom's home with us and helping us make such wonderful memories. It is a SUMMER I will never forget.

All Vacations End

Photo by Aunt M - note how high the lake is

Today I decided to feature pictures taken by my AUNTS. This vacation was extra special because it was with my Mommy #2's 4 sisters. I might have mentioned before that this was the first time in THREE of my LIFETIMES that they were all together. They each have a different perspective and I thought it worth sharing. My Aunt T did not take any pictures at all which is weird - but OKAY!

Aunt M took a lot of walks. She likes TEXTURES and found a lot of different ones so she took pictures of them. This photo shows one of the unusual things about wildfires - they jump around. One place will be totally burned out (to the right) and another will be unscathed (to the left).

On one of her walks this cutie came up to her. His human was running along the same path as Aunt M was walking. But the pooch, Murphy, I think, kept lingering. Even when his huDAD called him! Finally Aunt M took his picture - and boy did he pose beautifully! After that he left and joined his huDAD on his run. He just wanted his PICTURE taken! BOL!

No. . . Aunt M is NOT that tall. In fact, she is the shortest of all 5 sisters. Somehow - maybe the slope of the path we were on - the perspective makes me look verra wee and Aunt M GIGANTIC!

This picture is by Aunt L. This is the street we stayed on

Aunt L had a very different photo style. She went for the scenery and I think she captured the HUGENESS of the mountains and the wide open vistas. I can almost smell the fresh mountain air emanating from her pictures.

she said to PLEASE ignore the reflection of her ARM in the mirror

Finally I have some pictures my Aunt B took of the flowers around the mountain chalet we stayed at.

Aunt B likes flowers. This is a really nice
picture full of color and shape. I like the way
the light plays along the petals

These two pictures look like the plants are Larkspur. I'm not sure as it was hard to gauge the stem, petals, and leaves from the picture to accurately identify them.

Aunt B says Fox Gloves is one of her favorite plants because she can imagine foxes having their little paws nestled in the "gloves".

Aunt B also likes the clouds when they appeared (not too often the whole weekend). Look at the variety of clouds in this one picture - whispy, fluffy and kinetic. It is a super shot.

Finally in S. Lake Tahoe near the casinos (at Stateline) are these moving sculptures. Aunt B took this as Live because her camera can. That was you can get a snippet of movement when you press on the photo on her phone. But downloaded is another story. I think you still get a sense of movement, though.

And that was it! We headed home after 2 nights - it was just a long weekend. But we share a lot of memories from our little mountain reunion.

If a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words THEN How Can There Be a Wordless Wednesday?

More of WHAT I did in TAHOE

Remember to HOP Today

Walking in the Mountains - What a Wonderful Place

Like I said, I took A LOT of walks while in Lake Tahoe. More than usual because of potty walks which are different than plain walks. The picture above was on a potty walk and Mommy took it because of the pine cone arrangement and the lighting (remember that sunset picture from yesterday? Same lighting).

On my last walk with Mommy and Aunt M, I saw somethings that I love love love - wildflowers - and some interesting trees. That is what I want to share with you today.

This is a firecracker plant. Mommy wanted just the fire hydrant and the plant but. . . what can I say?

Mountain Yarrow and Yours Truly. I think we complement each other.

It was hard to take this picture without a shadow. Even harder to keep me out of the shot, heehee. Mommy is having trouble figuring out what this is. . . she thinks it might be Blue Grass. 

This is Indian Paintbrush. It was in abundance on our walk and Mommy said she had never seen so much. 

This is Cutleaf Daisy. This was ALL over the place!!

I am pretty sure that is Balsam Root in the foreground and a lot of Lupine in the back.

This is a thistle with puff balls. I put my nose into one and it made me sneeze. And oddly enough, the puff balls disappeared after I did that.

Mom has no idea. We are open to suggestions.

Tahoe Talk - Day Six (Wrap Up)

This morning I took a nice long walk around the Meadows. They have changed a lot since the first day we arrived. For one thing, the wildflowers are changing! Yes - gone are the purples and blues. In their place is an abundance of yellow and red. Some of the grasses that were bright green the first day we walked are turning golden. In a couple of weeks, I wonder if there will be any flowers at all?

It is warm already this morning, unlike the earlier part of the week where it was chilly until almost noon. And the humidity is back. Not quite as bad as yesterday afternoon when it suddenly began to cloud up. Then about an hour before sundown we heard a clap of thunder and then the pitter patter of raindrops. The thunderstorm lasted a scant 10 minutes but reoccurred several times over the course of the evening.

The air has that freshly scrubbed smell to it. Heavenly, I must say. This whole place is like a slice of Heaven. Yes, there is a lot of traffic outside of the Meadows. Yes, there are globs of tourists everywhere - outside of the Meadows. But inside these gates there is a serenity and splendor that those on the outside can only imagine. Where else can a little pug go for walks filled with fragrant flowers, tinged with the warmth of sunlight and kissed by the fresh mountain breeze?

Tomorrow we head back to the Bay Area and it's myriad social impositions. But I think we will all retain a little of the mountains in our souls - at least for a while.