Jack’s Walk

©voyager, all rights reserved

Jack has had a very lazy day today. He usually gets up with me in the morning around 8 or 8:30 and has his breakfast while I make coffee. This morning, Jack didn’t get out of bed until 11:30. I awoke with him asleep and snoring under the blankets and curled into my knees. I tried to wake him up, but he wasn’t having any of it. Poke, poke, poke…” Jack, it’s time to get up… Jack,… Bubba.” Nope, that didn’t work. So I upped the ante a bit. “Jack, it’s time for breakfast.” Poke, poke, poke.

“Is Jack a hungry boy?” Still nothing! So now I’m trapped, and I’ve realized that I need to pee, so I straighten my legs and push. Jack didn’t like that at all and he pushed back, digging in his hind feet and arching his back. Did I ever mention that one of Jack’s nicknames is Mr. Heavy Bum? Well, this morning, he used all of that bum against me, and he actually gained ground! Now I’m annoyed and I really, really have to pee, so I scootch up and around him which isn’t an easy thing to do first thing in the morning, but I make it out and to the bathroom on time (yeah!)  On my way to the kitchen, I look back to see Jack stretched out to the size of a Great Dane and snoring again, which makes me feel tender, so I pull the blankets up around him, and go make the coffee, expecting the boy to wander into the kitchen in a few minutes. Nope, it got to be 9 o’clock, then 10 o’clock and finally at 11, I scooped out his kibble and called his name. Still, no Bubba, who I might add, has not peed since 10 last night. That’s 13 hours without a pee. He’s obviously got a better bladder than I do. So I went to rouse him again and this time he sluggishly stretched and oozed off the bed. When his wobbly legs hit the floor, he trod to his food bowl and sleepily bowed his head and inhaled his breakfast. Then he lay down beside his station and his head hit the floor with a bit of a thunk. Sheesh, Bubba, were you out partying while I was asleep? I hitched him up and took him out, figuring he must have to pee by now and he did – right away. On my rose bush. Well, Damn. Anyway, It was a beautiful day outside, and Jack soon picked up and asked to go for a real walk, which we did in the sunshine, under the blue sky, while the snow melted around us. After a few minutes, I commented on Jack’s lazy morning, and he told me that he couldn’t sleep well around Angus and that he’s been extra tired since he got home. I feel the same way, Bubba. I feel the same way.

Jack’s Walk

 

©voyager, all rights reserved

There really is no place like home. It’s familiar and comfortable and a place where you can relax. It’s the place where you can take off your bra, put on your pink bunny pyjamas and lie in bed all day eating ice cream and watching movies with the sound off and the closed captioning on. Which is precisely what I did on Saturday.

I was totally exhausted from the 2 weeks of constant conversation and also a tiny bit battered. I took a hard fall in Montreal while loading the car, and my left hip took the worst of it. 7 car hours later, the whole left side of my ass was throbbing and magnificently bruised, but I was home. (Thanks for another good drive Mr. Groovy) That was Friday and Saturday morning I awoke to triple gravity, lots of aching, a bit of throbbing and a burning desire for cherry ice cream. So once I managed to get out of bed and get in motion, Jack and I slowly took our morning perambulation around the block, and while I was in gear, I went to get a few necessities. You know, milk, juice, bread, eggs and Chapman’s Deluxe Black Cherry Ice Cream. The rest of the day is a bit hazy, but I’m sure there was a bit of feeling sorry for myself. Sunday morning was much the same, but I did manage to get a few chores done, and today the extra gravity is letting up, and there’s only a teacup’s worth of aching. So, to celebrate, I took Jack out to our wee forest for a walk in the freshly fallen snow. It was a beautiful day with a touch of blue in the sky, and the woods were quiet and tranquil, without a trace of wind to disturb the blanketed snow. Jack and I took our time, but we made it all the way around, and by the time we got back to the car, both of us were feeling closer to normal. These woods are home for us, too, and just like Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home.”

The Art of Book Design: Our Next Door Neighbor: Winter in Mexico

Gilbert Haven. Our Next Door Neighbor. Winter In Mexico. New York, Harper, 1875.

I’m dreaming about winter in Mexico today, because I’m going to Mexico on Feb. 13th. It would be an understatement to say that I’m excited. My girlfriend and her husband lived in Mexico for 11 years, but her husband died two years ago and she moved back to my city. She’s finally sold her home in Jacotopec and we’re going down to pack up the last of her things. We’ll also do a few other things that might be more touristy, but we’ll see what comes our way. I’ve never been to Mexico, nor had a winter holiday in the south so I don’t care what we do, as long as there’s no snow involved, I’ll be happy.

 

via: The Internet Archive

Fabulous Fumaria Flowers

Thanks to Nightjar and her magic with a camera we have beautiful flowers to start the week.

I wanted to share these photos I took on my first walk of 2020. This is Fumaria officinalis, known as common fumitory or earth smoke, and one of the first winter wildflowers to bloom here in Portugal and give the fields some colour. They look even prettier covered in morning dew.

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

©Nightjar, all rights reserved

Have kids, they said. You’ll never be bored, they said.

You’ll grow so much and learn so much, they said. You’ll be faced with so many new challenges, they said.

Like repairing a slatted frame on a Friday afternoon because the kids thought that you only told them not to jump on your bed because you’re a mean old sucker…

©Giliell, all rights reserved

You can see the part where the laminated beam broke completely through. Mr will visit Ikea on Friday and # 1 will learn about the value of money (that’s the equivalent of 7 Pokemon movies!).

Crappy New Gear etcetera, aka: Good News, Everyone!

The New Year has arrived, with a new, fresh and unsullied threat of a third world war. For me, personally, that would be more than enough to jump with joy /s, however, there is more.

Closer to home we hadn’t any decent snowfall this winter, only rain. Which does not seep very well into the frozen ground. Even the mountains have no more than a few cms of snow, and to get the skiing business running, they keep depleting groundwaters to make artificial snow. So in all probability extreme droughts are going to continue for the third year in a row. But global warming definitively does not exist, because right now there is about two mm of snow outside that fell overnight. Yay!

Even closer to home, I was pain-free for a whole week, so I felt confident I can manage the transfer from Windows 7 to Windows 10. The update went reasonably well, after only four tries I have managed to install the system without needing to buy a new license (or doing anything illegal), and mere two days were needed to install all the software I use and get it running. Some older programs and HOMAM III needed some persuasion, but I managed it alright. The PC runs better than ever before (clean system installation does that) and everything is ship-shape. Now the only thing that remains is to backup and clean all my data when I am at it. True joy. Except that both my pointer fingers flared up from typing, the right one with extra helping from all the mouse-clicking before I got my old drawing tablet running so I can use left hand too (I have an ergonomic mouse, so I cannot use it left-handed). And it was not that difficult work to do, to begin with :-(.

So the new year is off to a very “good” start, even the good comes with some bad.

On a cheerier note, I heard that it helps to keep new year resolutions when you write them down publicly, so here are mine with commentary:

1) Exercise at least 2 minutes, daily, no other specifics (last year I tried an hour two times a week, that got thrown out of the window with subsequent 6-week illnesses – 2 minutes daily should be more manageable and possible in some form even when ill, less exhausting and still at least somewhat useful).

2) Absolutely no using phone or PC after 21:30, I shall be reading books instead before bedtime (I think I was staring into my phone more than is healthy, even without facebook or twitter, especially these last two months when I could not do much else).

3) No YouTube or movies or internet or games on PC or phone from after breakfast till 19:00 on workdays, only perhaps audiobooks to listen to at work (I do not need to watch as many vids as I did, neither do I need to obsess over what new idiotic thing the conservatives the world over have done right this minute).

4) Most relevant to you all – at least one blog post a week, however short and inconsequential.

5) Start painting and drawing again (to have something to blog about).

So, happy New Year to you all. The farce is definitively with us.

Jack’s Walk

Bye, Bye, Angus. ©voyager, all rights reserved

Just a short post today because Jack and I are heading home, that wonderful place where we keep all our junk and where life is a bit more predictable. I know Jack is growing weary of Angus’ hyper-vigilance and herding and, to be honest, so am I. Angus is a bullheaded, tripping hazard, and he’s noisy. He’s exhausting to be around, and two weeks in close quarters is enough. Jack and I will both be happy to return to our quiet little corner of the world. It’s a long drive, but Jack is a seasoned traveller. He took his first trip to the east coast when he was six months old, and that’s a gruelling 22-hour drive over two days. Seven hours to home is a breeze by comparison.

Mostly, though, I’m looking forward to not having to talk to people all day. I’m an introvert by nature, and two weeks of constant chatter has left me drained and exhausted. I can’t wait to get home and put my phone on mute and just read without interruption. Oh yes, and to have a nice quiet coffee in the morning before I have to engage in ‘happy talk.’ If I wasn’t so damned exhausted I might even jump up and down for joy at just the thought of being alone for a while. I’ve told my friends that it will be a few days before I talk to them and I know they understand. I’m goin’ home, and I’m gonna have me a good, long dose of quiet contemplation to recharge. See you on Monday.

 

 

 

Jack’s Walk

Please, may I have a bite? ©voyager, all rights reserved

We had guests for dinner last night, and we served a roast chicken with homemade stuffing. It was delicious, and everyone enjoyed the meal, including Jack and Angus, who had a few tasty tidbits on their kibble. Did it satisfy them? Well, yes and no. They ate with great gusto, but both dogs wanted a bit more. Angus barks when he begs, which is annoying and not effective at all, but Jack has begging down to a fine art. He simply turns up his charm to maximum volume and sits quietly beside someone until they notice him with his goofy smile and big eyes that say, “Please, may I have a bite? I am a poor, hungry dog, and I will be eternally grateful.” It’s a very effective strategy, and it doesn’t seem to matter that I tell people not to feed him at the table. People are helpless to resist, and even I give in once and while. Poor Angus doesn’t seem to learn from Jack, he just barks more loudly and seems confused that no-one offers him anything. Twice I forced Angus to hush for a bit and rewarded him with a bite, but the lesson didn’t stick. He’s a guard dog by nature and barking is his go-to mode. Jack, on the other hand, is a lover by nature and guarding isn’t on his resume. I don’t mind. All that chocolate brown love makes me happy and brightens my days. It might even help me to be a better person, and who could ask for more than that?