Walty Surrenders

A dog is the only thing on earth that will love you more than you love yourself. ~ Josh Billings

Poor Walter. He is so incredilby camera-shy, it is bewildering. I have no idea why he is so afraid of the camera. Even if I pick up the camera, before I even turn it on, he flees the scene! The weird part is, he even knows that my iPhone is a camera! Even when he is sleeping and I try and sneak up on him, somehow, inexplicably, he opens his eyes and bolts before I can get a shot! And it's not the flash - even without the flash, he is out of sight at a mere glimpse of the camera or what he believes to be a camera. Hmmmph.

This evening, I was determined to get a shot of Walty or this blog will be filled with only photos of Henry - as cute as he is. Henry has no problem with cameras.

So, this evening, I cornered Walter in a room and asked him to sit (which he did - good boy), I grabbed hold of his face and took my best shot! I forced Walty to surrender to the Nikon. Bless his heart; he loves and trusts me so much and I betrayed him.

As soon I let go of his sweet little face, he ran out on to the deck and would not come back in. Sigh.

Henny's Little Tuft

Cowlick: A cowlick is a section of hair that stands straight up or lies at an angle at odds with the style in which the rest of an individual's hair is worn.

How cute is this cute little boy with his cute little cowlick? Cute beyond words!

Lizzie Takes a Spill

"So go ahead. Fall down. The world looks different from the ground."
~ Oprah Winfrey





As I wrote in a previous blog post, Brian brings Walter and Henry down to the docks in Tiburon to greet me as I get off the ferry boat every evening after work. Walter and Henry are very excited when they spot me coming down the dock and as I get closer to them, Walter lets out a little bark to say hello and Henry smiles and wags his tail. It is charming. Brian takes my heavy bag and hands me the leash as we walk to the car. People walk by and smile at the dogs. It's always the same routine.

Except for this past Friday evening. On our walk back to the car, a little Pug stops to sniff and say hello. We veer around others on the sidewalk and head up and over the lawn.

Suddenly, Walter decides to drop and roll in the grass.




He does that kind of thing all the time with no warning. There also happens to be a big hole in the lawn of which I am oblivious since I am chatting away with Brian.

In a flash, I am falling.

I land right on top of Walter and all I am thinking about is that he will be hurt. I do not even think about what will happen to me! Next thing I know, I am face down on the ground.

What the heck just happened? I hear Brian’s voice; he is asking me if I am okay. He sounds worried. I am okay. I am not hurt, just stunned. Sweet Walter broke my fall. I get my bearings and look up.

Yes, things certainly do look different from the ground.

Henry has a Crush?!

Crush: Cuz we were like “woaaaah”, and I was like “woaaah” and you were like “woaaahh…”~Quote from Finding Nemo






Henry’s Got a Crush?

Can it be that my sweet little boy has a crush on someone other than his Mommy?

We recently moved into a new apartment at The Cove. It is only a few blocks away from our old apartment in the same complex but has lots more room and a little fenced-in yard for the boys. We also have a large back deck where we have a nice view of the canal where there are boats and kayaks moored to floating docks. It’s lovely.

View of the canal from our deck

The only problem is the back of our deck also directly faces a neighbor’s windows and sliding doors and we can see right into her living room and kitchen. Although this is awkward for us at times, Henry seems to love the view. Not only are there a couple of cats across the way who wander out on the neighbor’s deck and taunt their canine onlookers, there is a pretty blonde woman prancing back and forth in Henry’s line of sight from his perfect perch on the couch. He is mesmerized. He sits there with a smile and watches her every move. I am not sure how she feels about Henry’s ogling stare day in and day out, but I have to say I feel a little jealous. LOL. My baby has eyes for another girl?! What to do?

Our full view of the neighbor's windows and doors

Henry on the couch looking at the pretty blonde neighbor

Henry's view of the neighbor's kitchen

For the Fourth of July weekend, Brian and I went to the local nursery and purchased some potted wax privet trees and a couple of citrus trees, thinking they would provide some privacy for us when we sit out on our deck or walk around our living room with the blinds open. The trees are not fully grown but will grow into a nice privacy cover eventually. They do help with blocking the bird’s eye view of our blonde neighbor’s activities. I am sure this gesture provides some comfort to her, too. And, maybe Henry will turn his attention back to his jealous mom.  HA!

Our new trees

Still, I think we need more trees. Back to the nursery.