The Fixer Upper House and Garden

Lazy Ladies

When the girls were little I used to feel like I was choking in these last supposedly lazy days of summer. Now that they are older and require less "physical" maintenance, I am loving (almost) every moment out of our time together...especially now that M is home from camp! With no garden to care for and barely any grass to mow, we have lots of time to play. Here's what my gang was doing this evening while I was making dinner (and blogging): 

This is what they were watching. Some day we'll get a 42-inch TV for the built-in cabinet.

Milo was so excited when we picked M up after 4 weeks of camp

Fish Gone Fishin'

I didn't think I had the capacity to care for another living thing when my youngest daughter brought home an aging betta fish last year. I was managing three kids, two dogs, one husband, freelance-work and the renovation of our house. Plus, we already had a betta fish, "Rainy," who ate so slowly we had to feed him one morsel at a time.

So I was peeved when our neighbor outgrew her fish phase and gave "Bob" to my second-grader: Like I needed another dependent! Now instead of taking one minute to feed the fish every day, feeding time would take me two minutes! Cleaning time would take me four! Unlike Rainy, who is as elegant as a red silk scarf, Bob was very ugly. His blue scales were covered with grey speckles and his mouth turned up like a catfish. The only thing I did like about Bob, at first, was that he was so old I figured he'd die real soon.

That was a year ago, and Bob turned out to be a very easy charge. He swam eagerly whenever anyone looked into his bowl. He ate quickly and with greed. He bumped against the glass to fight with Rainy in the next bowl over. And he didn't seem bothered when, one day a month ago, he no longer had a tail.

We were not sure how he lost his tail; was it a disease? Was it age-related? Did the tail get caught on a rock when I was cleaning the bowl? However it happened, being tail-less didn't slow Bob down at first. He swam wobbly, and maybe he was less eager to butt up against the glass, but he still came to the surface when one of us was standing by his bowl, and he still ate his nuggets before they started sinking.

Dog Days of Summer

Is there anything happier than a Lab in water? I took our Labrador retriever for a walk this morning. I wasn't intending to take her for a swim, but when we passed the access road to the beach, she kept looking back at me and nodding her head toward the lake. I swear, she was smiling! It's very hard to resist a smiling dog, especially one that is so loyal and who gives such pleasure.