I hadn’t completely emptied my camera when I wrote my last post about our new office. If I had, I certainly would have included this picture of our now almost grown-up (she’s a teenager, really) Bella. She likes the rug almost as much as Guinness, except that she enjoys eating tufts of the wool, which I don’t appreciate as much. But if she has a toy to chew on, we’re both content. She’s our beautiful little “coyote.”
Somewhere between my projects, work and family autumn has fallen. This being my favorite time of year, I thought I’d share my recipe for the tastiest fall:
1 part fat knit sweater
2 bowls Spiced pumpkin soup (this recipe is really good!)
1 cup hot Ginger tea
1 hour walk in golden afternoon light
3 turmeric hued pillar candles
1 fuzzy friend to share it with
Repeat daily!
Life has been full, as usual. We’ve recently completed oodles of projects and now move on to preparing for the next adventure.
Let’s review the past few weeks:
Hubby flawlessly installed new floors in our living room and guest bath. After cleaning up the remnants (and reinstalling the toilet) we’re back in business and reveling in a stunning house. (A special shout-out to Chris Frost for helping rip up the carpet and moving the piano, twice).
After many hours of class, practice and adventures to the dog park, Bella has perfected her sit, down, and stay, thanks to her puppy class. She is even (finally) learning to walk on a leash, a skill we’ve never mastered with our sweet old pooch Guinness.
While Hubby sawed and hammered, I’ve spent almost every night writing, editing and emailing press releases for the Santa Cruz Film Festival, where I serve on the B-of-Directors. We’re nearing game time (the Fest kicks-off April 19th with David Arquette’s “The Tripper”) and I’ve worked down to the final flow and have two releases left before the whole shebang is over. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
The icing on the cake was the purchase of my folks’ GMC truck with 4-Wheel Pop-up Camper. We’re still a little in shock (the good kind) and getting used to the idea of having this great house-on-wheels. The dogs love it, my bike fits in the back, and we’re enjoying my Dad’s homemade laptop stand that I call my “portable office.”
With the endless motion and activity, we’re happy to finally return to the ground and move to the planning stages for our next adventures.
In the not-so-distant future we see our two-week road trip around the West (in our camper, of course!), a summer of drinks on the deck and bike rides on fresh trails, taking Bella and Guinness on long walks, and then transforming our downstairs bedroom into the ultimate home office.
What adventures are you preparing for?
Today was hard. It still is. Our sweet old tabby cat with the perfect ringed tail has enjoyed his last sunset. Although it’s his time and he’s led a charmed life I cannot remember a time I’ve cried so much. But these words, repurposed from a Dixie Chicks song, we’re one of the few things that helped:
Things can move at such a pace
The second hand just waved good-bye
You know the light has left his face
But you can’t recall just where or why…
Choices we are given
Are no choice at all…
But you must always know how long to stay
and when to go
And there ain’t no talkin’ to this man
He’s been tryin’ to tell me so
It took a while to understand
the beauty of just letting go
I’m gonna let him fly…
May you rest in the perfect sunny spot where there is always a hand to pet you and abundant wet food Barney Horton Miller-Scribner-Paulson-Haughey.
It’s fall. No really, it is! Friday morning hubby and I took Guinness for a walk in Nisene Marks and with each inhale the cold air stung my lungs, fresh and whole. The evenings now fade away in golden-hued sunlight and my deck is covered in leaves from a sudden surge of wind. But what I love about fall most is that it makes me fall in love. With life, the sky, and everything around me. It’s when hubby and I fell in love and got married, it’s when I adopted Guinness and Jasmine, it’s when hot chocolate sounds good again.
Yesterday, I fell in love with something else, Miss Bella, a 9 week old German Shepard/”Something” puppy. We adopted her from the Animal Friends Rescue Project (an organization I’m very supportive of, and the same I adopted sweet Jasmine from). So far she is a delight, but Guinness is a little unsure. I think she’ll win him over in no time. We still have MUCH training to do, but it’s fall and I’m in love.