Lot going on...

I've been so busy recently that I haven't even thought about writing. Lame, I know... I'm still in the weeds so here's a picture that Justin posted of me on Facebook from High school... hahahha, yup, I used to blow out my hair straight every morning in the hopes that one day I'd wake up and I wouldn't have to do it anymore... which finally happened when I gave it up and just let my curly hair be curly...
So, in the next few weeks, I'll be moving back into DC, once I find a place, box up my little blue house and have the sad keys to a new apartment not nearly as nice as my little blue house dropped into my waiting hand. As soon as everything settles down, I'll get back up to speed on the blog. As for now, I'm in duck and cover mode.
I should remind myself to talk about, falling down in the middle of the street while looking at pretty leaves on my way to work (yup, it was awesome, and not at all humiliating), having some dude tell me my tattoos turned him off, (another awesome April moment), getting chewed out by millionaires (I'm on a roll, I wish every month could be April), and hanging out with WWII Liberators of the concentration camps (that was so awesome, I'm still processing all the good parts, and I can't wait to talk about it and show pictures, my job at the Museum is amazing!!)
Wish me luck...
wish there were two of me...
wish it was June already so I wouldn't have to deal with any of this... or wish I was this June, so I wouldn't have to deal with the move back to DC...
Cheers

Drunk bastards of spring, here again!

I love carpenter bees, they huge, loud, round, bossy, territorial, dumb ass, no aim, drunk bastards and they are one of my favorite things about spring. Guess who has a crush on them too...
oh yeah... my girl is in L-U-V, luvvvvv...
I was outside testing my time lapse options on my camera, preparing for a shoot next Thursday that I can't miss, so I'm setting up a camera on a lighting scaffold and letting it shoot the crowd while I'm on the floor photographing the event. Anyhoo, Hank was sleeping on the couch (ooh! surprise!, really?) and June was out with me, after I dialed in my timer and intervals, etc, I turned my attention to June and her new friends.
Carpenter bees are really cool, I know they're all destructive as get out, but they really played with June. When she'd lose interest they'd fly high closer to the shed roof, but when she came back around, they'd fly low and buzz her, really getting close to make her give chase.
June on the other side, although she could have caught them and killed them, when she'd snap at them, I could see a few times that she'd pull up short to make sure the game continued.
Fucking nature is awesome. (Sorry for the f-bomb Mom). Here are some fun images of June and her pals, enjoy, we did. I can see June from where I'm sitting inside. The front door is wide open and she's sitting in the sun with her chin tiled up and her eyes closed. Hank is in a sun spot on the couch next to me, and the dryer is making good on it's name with the bed sheets, kitchen is clean, nose prints are off the glass in the front door, the house has been swept, bathrooms cleaned, and the last thing to do is mop. One of my favorite tunes is on, I'm not huge on Sean Hayes, but this tune is great, rattlesnake charm.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mTjpAiPvCA&feature=related
I'm blogging, and when I'm done I'm going to call, my Mom, Aunt Martha, and Bubba. I've already spoken to AuntiAfro and had my usual weekend skype coffee date with Aly. I am having an amazing Sunday. Hope everyone else is too.
Cheers, and here's more Junie June.
Look at how low they were, watching her, baiting her, and she loved it all!
Ooh they were so great together, maybe 4 or 5 bees and June
hey! who's chasing who!
click on this picture to see a larger version. Hahahaha!! oh June! Happy birthday sweet hound, you turned a year old yesterday or sometime within this week, but I like to think it was yesterday, because then she and my Mother can share a birthday. Happy Birthday Mom!!

HOLY BALLS!!!

Holy Balls, what plant is this!! I love it!!! It's flowers are like like chandeliers and they glow in the morning light like nothing I've ever seen!!
I walk past them every morning, from Merv's to the metro at Union Station, and every morning, I stop, touch them, smile at them, wink at them, smile some more, wiggle a little, and then use every bit of will power I have to not pluck every single stalk of flowers, shove them in my HUGE city purse and take off running!
They are pretty, no?
Cheers!

Sunday walk

This morning the hounds got me up at 5:20am... I let them out, rested my forehead on the front door with my eyes closed, let them back in, and went back to bed. Hank can't hold it all night long anymore, so he gets me up once a night. It is what it is, and the alternative is him having an accident every single night... he's a good boy for getting me up... I've got no complaints. This morning the hounds got me up at 7:01am... I got up, royally pissed... let them out, yelled through the glass of the front door that they were rotten dogs, shook my fist, adjusted my underpants without shame, and watched them tear around the front yard. I let them back in, and glared at each of them until they ignored me, got up onto the bed and went back to sleep. This morning I lay in bed until 9am, too stubborn to waste the only day I get to sleep in, by getting out of bed before 9am, but unable to fall back asleep. *SIGH* I let the dogs out, wished them well if they didn't come back, put the coffee on to brew, and took a 20 minute shower. And when I got out of the shower, I felt fucking AMAZING! I drank 3 cups of coffee, smiled at everything, even the stink bugs on the wall, made the dogs nervous by barring my teeth at them every time they looked at me, and we finally decided to go buy some groceries for the week, and go find some river.
We went people food shopping first, and the dogs stayed in the car with the windows down while I bought stuff for the coming week in the city, and then... we went hound shopping, because right next door to the Weis Grocery store, is the Petco, 'grocery store'.
The dogs LOVE the Petco... we walk up and down all the aisles, check out the turtles and the ferrets, that make June's tail wag so hard, the employees fawn over them, and then we get to the treat aisle, where I basically buy them whatever they want. I know, it sounds insane, but they check out all the treats, and then which ever one they pick up is the one I buy for them... Hank is a big fan of the pig ears, and June picked out a pressed rawhide treat this time and Cane couldn't decide so... oh, did I mention that whichever treat one dog picks out, I buy three of them... just to be fair... anyhoo, yeah... I'm insane... but the dogs LOVE this store!
And we all love driving with the windows down...
Even spoiled Junie who stole Hank's front seat spot for the ride back home... naughty younger sister! Yeah, I did take this one and the one of Cane and Hank's butt and the groceries, while I was driving... ugh... yeah... but the weather was so nice, we were invincible today...
So, after we got back to the house and unloaded groceries, we packed back into the car, drove just about 2 miles and entered Shannondale (National Park) and weaved our way to the Shenandoah river. The water is still really high, from the almost flood we had, so the dogs didn't spend too much time in it, but we had a great walk. Hank walked for the first 20 feet with us before deciding it was too much nature and headed back to the car.
HHHhahahahaha!! This view makes Hank shake... what an ass! Oh my poor agoraphobic hound. Oh well, the weather was awesome, and we rolled down the windows for him and off the rest of us went for a walk.
I've had Cane all weekend as Chris is spending Easter with his family, and it's been really great for June to have her play partner with her on such great days. Hahaha, foot travel only is no joke... Cane got some foot travel right in the face!
So these are spring onions... they look like lovely grass, but they're edible and so very delicious... as they get older, their tips start to curl in these dramatic kinked shapes... mmmm spring onions
kind of like this vine... I love finding these vines and all the crazy shapes they make... The next time I'm out I'm going to pluck some of them and see if I can't make some cool earrings from them... I wonder what I could dip them in to strengthen them... like a shellac... hmmm... am thinking... can you feel the heat coming off my head... it may very well start to melt...
ooh! look at how the inside of this stalk looks like a spine... or a skeleton... I thought it was beautiful and stared at it until June circled back to collect me...
Everything is in bloom right now... big trees, small weeds, broken grasses and tangled vines... everything is cranking out life...
and it's so great to walk along a path with the dogs and not see another person and find all these lovely displays of nature
oh June, not that display of nature... She's a funny hound. When Dozer was all up in her grille wanting to play, she wanted nothing to do with him, and even turned tummy to get him to stop... thinking perhaps that if she was submissive he'd leave her alone, but he just wanted to play and tortured her... hahaha, silly June, and yet, with Cane, she's a ferocious play hound! GGGRRRRR!!! June the Terrible!!
June, the tree eater!!
June the copycat... she copies everything she sees Cane do! She's a roof sitter, she's a wind growler (she'll grumble at the slightest noise), she pulls food from the bowl and goes to eat it somewhere else, so many of her characteristics have so clearly been learned from Cane... it's neat to watch, especially since I have access to her sister Ollie, when we visit with Mike, so I can see what she's learned from Cane and what characteristics are just in her nature, because her sister does the same thing.
It's been a great weekend, hanging with the dogs, and with the perfect weather. Oh, and do you see the balls of leaves, twigs and stuff behind me, that's all from the almost flood we had. The river, at one point last month, was over my head here in this shot... cool!!
This is the road to get to the river... it says, city folks steer clear, you might be swept away by the little river, so you may not even want to cross this to get to the real river! To me it said, YAY! There should be no one on the path today!! Thank you Bernadette, for being such a good (and high chassied) car, this was a piece of cake and well worth the barrier crossing.
Cheers!

Sundogs...

So, after visiting with Dean and Steve, June and I went back down the hill, picked up Chris and Cane and we all went for a walk along the canal. The hounds had a great time and Chris and I enjoyed the sunshine. It's weird how well we've been able to maintain our friendship after having such a long relationship fail... all I can say is that we did the right thing, and I'm glad that I still have a friend.
So, as I was making pictures of the hounds running around all crazy, and Chris was unpacking the lunch he brought,
some jackass who will remain unnamed, found a mud puddle...
and some other younger jackass, who will also remain unnamed, learned about how awesome mudpuddles are...
HA! until someone splashes mudpuddle in your face!
oh being young is tough sometimes...
UGH!!! Look at that filthy dog!!! Chris was howling with laughter, the hounds were having a ball, and I was slowly being covered in mud as they made laps around me shedding muck and nasty like mudflaps on a big rig...
my favorite picture of the afternoon... this how you completely enjoy a spring day.
HA! Dogque du soleil...
This is a great tattoo arm band... this is what I see, and no Mom, not getting another one...
thanks goodness mudpuddles are found near rivers...
HA! Mud is gone, and hello sand.
nice shake... Between coffee with Dean and Steve and a nice walk with Chris, June and I spent several hours in the sun on Saturday...
We dropped Chris off at his place, picked up Hank (who'd been napping in the basement on the couch) and off we went, back up the mountain... so we could sit in the sun all the rest of the sunny day until it went down...
even Hank sat in the sun (if you count sleeping on the leather couch indoors on a glorious day... what a butt... ehh, at least he's happy!
Cheers!

Dozer, Atia and a morning with friends...

It's been a while since I've seen Dean and Steve in Harpers Ferry. So, yesterday I made a point of stopping in for a visit and was overjoyed by Dean's new fosters. Dozer is a 3 month old tank of a hound, 30 pounds already, and just a mess of legs and speed and girth. Atia is his cartoon nemesis, weighing in at 14 pounds at 8 months old and as dainty as a fairy. I brought June and the bunch of us, Dean, Steve, their two hounds, Dash and Roux, their fosters, Atia, Dozer, and Moses, June and I, sat in the late morning sun drinking coffee and taking in the awesome weather. The hounds played around us everywhere and we finally had a chance to catch up. Steve broke his arm in the big snow, and this is the first time I've seen them since before I moved out of Chris' place and up onto the mountain. Thanks men, for being so awesome (and snarky!!), June and I had a blast!
So, this is Dozer... and he's up for adoption... (just saying he's freaking awesome!!! If any one's looking for a hound that's going to be over a hundred pounds)Ugh, he's so awesome! I wouldn't trade June for anything, but this was the kind of dog I envisioned rescuing after Roark passed last year... Big, Bull, monster, sweet hound...
HA! and this is Atia... hahahahaha!!! I'm not a small dog fan, but look at that 'tude!!! Hahahaha!!! She's a wee morsel, but so sassy!
One more time, I was so smitten with this big lug!!
hahaha, he's so awesome, and stubborn, and big, and he just walks (or runs) into the sides of other dogs and barrels them over... June didn't want anything to do with him at ALL!!! hahaha
Hi Steve's head! Hahaha, I love these guys...
so apparently all I did while I was talking to Dean and Steve was make pictures of this guy. I'm amazed I know what either of them look like, as I don't think I bothered to look up at them once... thank goodness they're used to me and my camera face...
UGh, stupid love this picture...
being one of Dean's fosters is like going to heaven. They all get adopted out fatter (MUCH fatter) and happier and beautifully socialized... seriously, look at Dozer's expression... total bliss...
yup, it's good to be a Dean foster...
HA! and here's wee Atia again, who almost jumped this fence with such ease, that I wouldn't bat an eye in shock when she attempts to jump the house... she's spring loaded! (and ALL eyes on Dean!!)
oh huh huh huh... monkey see, fat monkey do... Hahahah oh Dozer, spring loaded you are not!
Cheers!