It has been a good, if exhausting, 3 weeks of surrogate parenthood to a teenage girl. A lot happened in those three weeks and I am now sitting back home a bit shell-shocked. My teenage niece has gone to visit with grandma and another auntie in southern California, the last leg of her solo trip out west. I am home with the two girl-dogs. One needs a little TLC for swimmer's ear, the other is glued to my side in full puppyhood. We are a household of female energy and the first thing Feather did was to chase the neighborhood cats out of the back yard. Yay, Feather! Clearing the path for our cat to return to a peaceful home turf. It is good to have her here and she will teach the puppy a lot as well as enjoy a well-deserved period of R & R.
Who could not love this face? Bella continues to settle in and learn the basics of being a good puppy - getting better at the housebreaking rules and slowly learning what to chew and what not to chew. Shoes, she still likes. I rescued my Sanuks from her sharp baby teeth just in time. She's had plenty of time on the road and knows to just settle in for a nice long nap in the truck. She absolutely loved the VVR, as any self-respecting dog would, and was reluctant to leave, but she is my shadow right now and goes where I go.
Even when that going takes us through some hella-hot desert. Yesterday's marathon of driving took us west out of the Sierra, then south through the central valley, east into the high desert and finally, after "delivering the package" (as my sister hilariously put it) north to home sweet home. The temperature actually climbed to 106 but my phone refused to take a clear photo of that - ignorance is bliss. I wanted to kiss the Dodge for flawlessly performing through the heat of the day, ferrying us safely to our destinations.
Niece and I did make one shopping stop in Fresno at Anthropologie - as there are multiple birthdays and a wedding this month requiring gifts. The catch was that one of us had to stay in the truck at all times, with it running and the AC on for the dogs... so time was of the essence and it was a quick, efficient shop. I did snap a couple of shots of some new display inspiration...
Great use of color and contrast.... and these little hanging fans are made of fabric.
Thank you once again, Anthropologie, for continuing to inspire and make new uses for ordinary materials.
Home for a week, then off to southern California for a wedding. I'm hoping to get some ripe tomatoes off our plants, get some jewelry-making accomplished, and enjoy being here for the next seven days. I'll miss my niece, but relish my temporary solitude and time with my canine girls.
Click, click, click.
There's no place like home.
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