Eleven years ago today, Rion joined our household from the Pikes Peak Humane Society as an eight week old infant. I took this photo this morning of him snuggling on the bed in his blankie.
Category: Photos
Holiday Tree
This year, we decided to put the tree in the corner of the great room.
Rare Event
Jack in Ireland
Viking Hut in National Botanic Garden (Ireland)
The first day we were in Ireland this past summer, we focussed on getting sim cards for our cell phones. We found a small electronics shop on Grafton streets that quickly outfitted our phones with a telephone plan. We also had the obligatory lunch at a pub where I ate fish and chips.
Our second day, we took our phones and our umbrellas to the National Botanic Garden, where I took this photo of a reconstructed Viking house.
Happy Birthday Rion
Today, Rion is eleven years old. He was born to a mother who was in the Pikes Peak Humane Society foster program eleven years ago. We adopted him two months later, and this photo was taken the day after he came to live with us. The first few weeks he spent the nights in a crate on the bed so I would be able to take him out when he got restless. I used the orange quilt over the crate so it wouldn’t be too drafty for him.
Looking Back – Childhood
Finding the photo of my Grandmother’s house made me decide to look for a reasonably current photo of the house I lived in between the ages of seven and sixteen. I couldn’t find one on Google Maps, but Zillow had a recent listing of the address when I entered it.
I almost didn’t believe it was the same house we lived in. There is a lot more landscaping, and the porch now has a rail and steps. The interior is a lot different as well since some internal walls have been taken down to open up the floor plan. It also now has a finished basement with a mother-in-law suite.
What I found most surprising is how much smaller the square footage was than I expected. I remember it as being so much larger than this, probably because we had moved into it from a tiny ranch house in Rockville, Maryland.
Looking Back
I happened to stumble across a photo that my sister took of the place my paternal grandmother lived. I spent many happy weekends there with her in my childhood. I married Jack in the backyard over forty years ago.
I don’t know if this is a replacement house or an extensive renovation. The windows match up to my memories but it was a small two bedroom ranch house when it was sold by her estate.
Reading Corner
We have friends who wanted this gently-used power recliner to go to a good home and it arrived last night, courtesy of another friend with a pickup truck and a strong back. This replaces a chair that was perfectly comfortable until twenty-seven-pound Bandit joined me. He is just too heavy to be a lapdog without a recliner to help support his weight.
Blizzard March 2019
This is our front door, which is actually on a sheltered porch on the leeward side of the house. All of our windows are plastered with snow. I took this photo when we dragged the dogs out through the garage to do their business. They were not pleased and have decided to wait until the blizzard passes. The drifts make it impossible to tell how much snow has fallen.
The National Guard has been called out to rescue 500 motorists who took to the roads despite being warned. The snow plows can’t operate because of stuck vehicles. The local Interstate is closed from Colorado Springs to Denver. All flights have been cancelled and all school systems are closed. There are multiple reports of accidents, downed power lines, and fallen trees, including some that have fallen on houses.