Of dogs, gardens, unions and moving~~~~~

Good Morning Darklings,

A chilly nippy morning it is, even though the sun has come out to dry off the very wet dew.  Both Wiener Dog and Belladonna are wearing sweaters,  yes Sis has bought for Wiener a complement of sweaters, coats, rain coats and a t-shirt for the little guy.  No one has claimed him or asked for him, we've checked back with the Cemetery office, various shelters, the Vet and nothing. 

Sis took Wiener in for anothe check up and he's fit as a fiddle and he's about 6 months old, no microchip either, so Sis went the whole route, microchipping, other shots, nails trimmed, bought the right stuff for flea treatment, but he's fine right now, more food, and his own toys but he seems to like his blue wiener dog toy, he even takes it away from Belladonna if she should get too close,  I've seen them sleep together under the throw blanket.

With two dogs in the house we've had to purchase throws for the chairs and couches, then they can be whisked off for guests and parties.  But it will help preserve the fabric,  I was concerned about Wiener's chewing habits but he seems to be very good about that,  and with Belladonna's encouragment, he understands the signals to go out and do his duty.

My Gardener has finished re-enforceing the fence and it would be very hard for him to dig out and it prevents any run off of soil.  My contractor has put in the cement paths where the garden gates would be but has suggested that since my garden is so deep and the dogs are so small to install fencing with gates to separate the garden into sections, this way I can keep the dogs in my sight and prevent them from getting into an area where I can't see them.  His suggestion makes sense, currently Doyle has set up moveable metal fencing around the area that I refer to as a patio and it's very easy for anyone to clean up, so I think I'll select some period looking fencing with a gate and I think an archway to separate it from the rest of the garden.  I could even plant a climbing rose bush like "Cicel Brunner" to cover it.

And it's strange the other night when I mentioned it to Sis she became excited and showed me a photograph taken many years ago of the back of the house and it shows a wooden fence and a wooden covered gateway between the main garden and the patio area  from the 1920's, some how over the years it must have deteriorated and was removed, but this time it will be metal.  I showed this to Doyle and he said that we should check out Urban Ore and Omega Salvage, we could find what we're looking for there. 

More planning, more design.

Last night on the news we heard that the BART Strike problem is not over, although the BART trains are running, it seems that there is a problem in one of the area's of negotiations and management may want to go back to the bargaining table, the union has said if they do, they will strike.   Oh Wonderful!!!  Right at the beginning of the holiday shopping season! 

I've come to the conclusion that I really do hope that a law passes where transit unions cannot strike, because this is stupid, and economically harmful.  The Union will lose if this goes to the state capital.

At one time Unions were good in protecting workers rights, but now they've become greedy, one Union forced a situation where a large baking corperation had to close down and sell off its assests because the Union would not be reasonable, this put 2 thousand people out of work, Hostess cup cakes and Twinkies disappeared, as well as Home Pride Bread.  Well another company bought the cup cake and twinkie francise, and another is making Home Pride but that new bread does not taste the same, and even Twinkies (which I really can't stand) is not around like it use to be.

It appears this is what Unions are doing, taking everything to the brink to see if the owners or managers will blink, but what happens, the owners close up shop, sell everything and everyone is out of work.  Everyone loses,  if my Father was alive and he was a Union man, he would have been horrified at what the Unions are doing now, and they are NOT for the workers.

Well I'm done with that rant,  Louise is ready and we're going back to her new place to see how things are going, her friend says its ready to be moved in and will give Louise two weeks free rent, and start it on Dec. 1st for her, because she knows she'll be a good tennant.   So to read and sign the contract, take a measurement of the floor spaces and then to go and buy some things, first thing is a bed and matteress, I'll be loaning her a card table and chairs so she'll have a place to sit and eat,  I'm using Doyles van, he's using my car so that way we'll have plenty of space to carry things.  And we'll go to the storage unit that has the funrniture that neither I nor Sis want to see if there is anything Louise can use.  So much to do, so little Daylight to do it in and we still need to get some serious coffee in us.

Later Darklings



As I said, we do take our coffee SERIOUSLY.



Of adjustments and adjustments~~~~

Well Darklings,

It is official the little fellow's name is going to be Wiener Dog or Wiener,  we were not sure of the correct spelling but now we know.

Dear Lucretia thank you for the suggestions, we suspected about the burrowing, my Gardener showed up and I talked to him about that and he said he could do it and recommended at least 6 in wide boards in 6 to 8 foot lengths, he's been wanting to build up the sides of the garden anyway to prevent run off, and we're going to have to add two gates with concret paths one between the garage driveway and the garden and the other between my garden and my sister's garden, not exactly planned but thinking about it very necessary, with the concret paths it might prevent Wiener from digging under the gates.

I had been thinking about doing that for the garden, just not quiet so soon, so my Gardener will be back in a day or two with the boards and braces and I've called my contractor and he's coming over tomorrow morning before I leave for work and we can discuss what will need to be done. 

And now not only do we have to make adjustments but so does Wiener. Sis and Doyle left for work today and Wiener was upset, at least I'm here and Belladonna plays with his ears to distract him by flipping them with her nose, she tries to take his toy and they seem to do a mock play about it, it seems to help.  I think having the two of them together is good for both of them, but I called my speical occasion dog sitter and ask if she could handle two dogs, she doesn't have a garden more of a patio all brick fence so I don't think Wiener can escape from there and she was pretty sure it would not be a problem.   So until the little fellow gets use to the routine this will be a bit stressing for him, thank goodness he has Belladonna to keep him calm.

To everyone, I agree why would anyone abandon a pet like that is just cruel and unthinkable, it is much easier to surrender a pet to a well maintained Animal Shelter it does not cost anything to do that and 99 percent of the time they are adopted only under very difficult circumstances are they put down.   But people don't think, if they throw away an old coffee maker, they'll "throw" away a pet and it is cruel.  People who do that have no compassion or a conscience, they are the ones that will abandon their elderly parents in an unhealthy care facility and not check on them, they can't be bothered. 

I think it was some sort of fate that led us to find Wiener Dog, because orginally we were going to have Belladonna with my sitter but I changed my mind at the last minute and it was a good thing.  It could have been days before the grounds keepers would have found him and we are getting very cold nights now, he could have starved or died from thirst.  

Belladonna takes a certain amount of possiveness about him, well she is older and he's just a pup, so its understandable.   But Wiener Dog----what a name.  Why not Max or Buddy or something like that?? But Doyle named him and the little thing responded, so the name stays.
Cousin Louise's new home is one of those happy circumstances, her friend is into vintage and bought this property some 30 years ago as an investment to prevent it from being torn down and a block of cheap looking apartments built instead, at least back then there were some far seeing people into historical preservation.   If one hunts one can find gems in the most unexpected places.

For example I have an aquaintance that has a 2 acre property up in the lower part of the hills, and it is surrounded by single family homes whose back yards back into this property, to get to it one goes down this one block street and encounters a huge wooden fence with a car wide gate, unlock the gate and you are in a different world as if one has gone back into the Victorian era, and yet in looking at the stucco houses on either side of the street leading to it one would never know its there, and oddity amonst normalicy.  Two whole acres??  Fortunately my friend makes good money and can afford the taxes, I believe because the place is so old and is historical I think they are seeking historical status to prevent it from being taken over by developers.  Some politician or some important person lived there.

Sis has come home much to the delight of Wiener, she's barely put down her purse and brief case and he's all over her.  She is going to change into her walking shoes and we are going to take both of them for a walk before dinner, it's been slow cooking in the crock pot, on such cold evenings beef stew with lots of hardy veggies over a bed of rice to soak up the juices seems in order.  Louise is out to dinner with a friend so it will be just us four Brian, Doyle, Sis and myself and the two little 4 legged children.

Then we'll relax and watch our favorite shows, Bones, Sleepy Hollow, Castle and I'm going to record The Blacklist, James Spader is just wonderful in it, he makes evil seem sort of friendly.  Oh that is twisted thinking.

And I have yet to let you know what we think of Cupcake's Red Velvet wine.....

Later Darklings

Even in Dark Times, one must look for the good things.

Of finding something abandoned, lost and found~~~

Well Darklings,

Today has turned out a bit different than we planned, we are home now from church but with a little situation, and its a good thing our cousin was able to help out.

We went to the cemetery as planned, visited the graves and put flowers out.  Belladonna was with us enjoying the change in location and scents, we trimmed some of the grass back, and made note to bring stone cleaner in the spring, the hard water can make the smooth surface of tombstones have that hard water streaks,  when Belladonna got very excited about something.

We thought oh she has seen a squirrel so Doyle took her leash to humor the little thing and went walking with her on the hunt as Sis and I finished things up.  We sat down for a minute to rest and Sis remarked to me how much Belladonna seems to keep everyone on their toes and we laughed about it.

Then we heard Doyle call us, we turned and saw he was still walking Belladonna who was hopping up and down towards something in his arms,  it turned out to be a very young dog, a black and tan Dashund.  No collar or anything, Doyle said he found the dog tied up with some string under a bush over near the fence of the cemetery, no one with it not even near by, Sis and I went to the spot and looked around for anyone but there was no one.  It looked dirty and cold.  Belladonna whined and kept looking at the dog but wagging her tail like "Look what I found Mummy".

I asked Doyle how did he find it and he said Belladonna led him to the little thing, I was concerned that maybe it had been abandon because it had Parvo, Doyle said one way to find out is to see if it refuses to drink water, so we put Belladonna's portable drinking bowl down and poured water in it and it drank and drank that we became concerned that it would make itself sick.  But it didn't seem to have Parvo.

What to do?  Sis said lets take the dog to my Vet and have it checked out and go from there, we stopped at the cemetery office to report the dog and gave our contact information if anyone reported to  them about it.
Then off to my Vet and hoping that we could be fitted in.

We were lucky the appointments were light and the Vet could see us.  We told her how we found the dog and we really didn't want to take it to a shelter but wanted to leave contact information, the Vet helped us, and checked the little thing out,  it needed a bath and flea treatment and it was about 5 months old.  So we left the little thing with the Vet and said we'd pick it up in a few hours and wait for the results.

The Vet must have done a rush on the tests,  we went back before the office closed and we were told no Parvo, but might need puppy shots to be on the safe side and appeared to be in good health, so out came my credit card but Sis said no it was going to be on her, so she paid for all the treatments, and made an appointment to bring the little thing in later this upcoming week for a further examination.

The cemetery office told us that on occasion people abandon their pets there and they have to call Animal Rescue to get them, mostly cats it appears and the Vet said she would contact several shelters to see if anyone reported a lost dog, but we all remarked that it was strange that someone would tie it to a bush, like as if it was abandon but there to be found by the caretakers.  But instead we found it.

The Vet had puppy food for it and suggested several brands that would be good, and it had been bathed and flea treated and we were told it took to bathing pretty good, but we think that it might have been too scared to do anything.  The Vet said that if we decide to keep the little thing to consider having him neutered, Doyle had a pained look on his face when that was mentioned,  I could understand his reaction, but we were in no hurry on that.

So then off to the pet store for a leash and collar and some more puppy food, its own bowls and a dog pillow also on Sis I said that she was putting up a lot of funds for a dog that we may not keep, and she looked at the little thing now in her arms and said to me "I beg to differ"  I only raised my eyebrows and began to realize we may have a new family member.  We put the new collar on the little thing as well as a matching leash and it immediately wagged its little tail and gave Sis a look like "I'm with you?  We're partner's right?"  and then we walked down the doggie toy section heading towards the check out counter when suddenly it grabbed this long blue squeeky dog toy it looked like a blue Wienner dog made out of terry cloth it was longer than the real dog and the little guy was not going to give it up, so with chew bones, dog bowls and bed, collar and leash and puppy food we marched to the counter.

Cousin Louise was home when we arrived and was as surprised as we were about the little guy and asked us the obvious "What's his name" and Doyle said "Wienner Dog" and we said "No" but he was firm. As we put the bowls in the kitchen he said "I prove it to you" and called out "Hey Wienner Dog" and the little thing came running in, found its food and it ate, so we surrendered.  Then we saw the time and asked Louise to watch both dogs while we were gone, she said she could.

And now we're home, because our schedule was mixed up Doyle has gone to  get our old standby Chinese".   Who 'Wienner Dog' is going to belong to I'm not sure but I am aware that they do suffer from back and hip problems, so we shall see, I don't think we'll get a call about someone missing a dog, and from the way its acting it seems to think its home carrying its toy in its mouth, Belladonna seems to have taken to him.  We think so too.

Later Darklings

Of a Spooky hunt weekend~~~~

Yes My Darklings,

I did not post the entire weekend!  Shame on me, but I had a very good reason.

We had Coralline for the entire weekend,  her Dad (my brother) dropped her off at my work, and since I went in early that Day (Friday the 13th) I left early.

But Friday was not all fun and games, I had to do some grocery shopping, and we went to our nearest Safeway, I know Darklings, Safeway how mundane, well they do offer things that one can't get at Trader Joe's which was right next door, so we shopped there too.

But Coralline spotted them at Safeway, yes, in purple and black and black and orange, salad plates and serving platters and dip trays all done in skulls, bats and cats with a few spiders thrown in for good measure, so we bought a set for 6 (just in case a guest or two), and the serving platters were a good idea as well.

And we spotted doggie sweaters with skulls just in Belladonna's size, so we bought 2 because they do wear out, Coralline was so happy to have the weekend with us, just to get away from her 3 stooge brothers, but I told her she had homework that needed to be done.

I did promise her we'd do shopping on Saturday if she did her homework right, so as quickly as we could we went home and while I prepared dinner she started her assignments, math, a review of a chapter in her history book, and she needed to read a poem and analize it for her english assignment, I asked her which poem and she said Robert Frost the one about the snowy woods, I knew immediately which one she referred to.  I suggested she do her math first, then history, then we'll talk about the poem.

Since we were home early, I did an oven pot roast, using the timer to remind me when to check it, and then prepared the salad, chilling it, and put the veggies to one side to cook the last 15 minutes along with the rice to serve with it.  Doyle pleaded with me to have rice, so easy anyway.

Then we went over her homework, espeically about the Robert Frost poem, she knew that the person in the poem was sad but what was it about, I told her that the person in the poem was thinking of taking his own life, things seems so bad to him,   it was a question of which road should he take, but the presence of the horse brought him back to reality and practicallity and that he had to endure tough times, just as his horse had to plow through the snow, the horse shaking its head was saying "come on snap out of it".  So we went over it line by line with her realizing what each line meant.  Especially the last line "the woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have miles to go before I sleep"  I told Coralline that when life seems bad or difficult to not give up that is what the last line means.

Coralline liked that and wrote that down in her paper, which she had to re-write checking her spelling, which she did at her little desk. 

Dinner then with Doyle, Sis, Coralline and Brian who needed a home cooked meal, and we relaxed watching "Perry Mason and the Case of the Avenging Ace"  So retro and so much fun.

Doyle surprised Sis and I with some new wines,  The Diving Rod Cabernet Sauvignon and their Chardonnay and a bit of a surprise Once Upon a Vine's Big Bad Red Blend, and the Charming Pinot Noir, well he bought 3 of the latter, I was surprised by these new additions, but Doyle said the Pinot Noir is good relaxing wine and the others were recommended to him by a friend who knows wine.  So they have been added.

I chased Coralline to bed because we were going to have a busy day Saturday,  she had an assignment to go to this place called "Playland Not At the Beach"  and do a writting assignment of her immpression of the place, as a matter of fact everyone had an assignment in which either Saturday or Sunday they were to go to a place that they drew out of the box----the parents knew of this and agreed to take their child to whatever place they drew, my brother warned me about this and told me that no where was he going to have the 3 monsters near a place that had antique displays. 

I found it to be fasinating with displays of antique games and devices, moving train type displays, opitcal illusions, hints of an old fashion 10 in 1 Bally show, and they had a magician performing as well, it seems that it can be booked for birthday parties for children or adults,  I believe they have a web site, it was all too much to take in but Coralline was enchanted by it, so I made a note for us to go back perhaps with her friend Marissa.

When we got home she started her paper right away, but afterwards I suggested that she nap since she wanted to watch Svengoolie present "The Phatom of the Opera" the 1940's color verison with Nelson Eddy
and Susanna  Foster (and yes Darklings gowns by Vera West).

Coralline snuggled with me and Belladonna on the couch on one end Sis on the other and Doyle in his recliner snoozing,  never have I seen the color in the costumes used to such advantage by West, one of her few color productions, and even the Opera house set that was used in the original Lon Chaney Sr.'s Phantom was beautiful almost an actor in its self, Foster's and Eddy's voices sounded beautiful even if the so called opera's were never really written, in the end Coralline felt sorry for the Phantom, it was not really a horror story but a tragic love tale.  But she laughed when both the Inspector and the Baritone were left behind as the heroine was swept away by her admirerers,   she looked at me and said "I guess she preferred her career, I think I would too."   I could only smile, I too perferred my career as well, and even with Doyle I have not given it up.

Sunday I was to take her home so we made sure all her homework was packed and in the trunk of the car, and then after a relaxing breakfast at home, we went to THE SPIRIT STORE near the house.   There she helped me choose things for the outside displays and some fun things for indoors for the Halloween party, such as books that have spiders jumping out,  flowers that wilted,  but she wanted for her room at my house this wonderful candlelabra we also stopped at Beverly's to see what they had and she found a blackbird or raven sitting on top of a white pumpkin with the words "beware" on it and another with an owl and the words spooky, they were small enough to be paperweights so we bought them for her desk at the house.

And there were these craft things with ghosts and skulls and other spooky items to use to make a shadow box, but she wanted them for her Draculina Doll house to decorate with, so why not thought I.  I told her if she needed more she could call me and I would get them.

Am I spoiling her, in a way yes, but her Mother said that it was fine because her time is taken up so much with the boys, but she is trying very hard to make time for her daughter as well.

And slowly we drove back to her home, stopping at the BIG Spirit Store in Hayward, and found some more things that were not in the local one.  But eventually it was time to go home,  I hated to part from her it was fun for the both of us.  But one must be practical as well. 

I did ask her parents if it would be alright for Coralline to come with me to see "Rear Window" on the Big Screen at a local theatre that was doing a retro movie night, it was middle of the week, once I gave the dates, it turned out that they would be in the area for an event the boys were in, so we made arrangements to have them drop her off at house and we'd go straight to the theatre and then we'd all meet back at the house later.   "A Grown Up Movie!!" Coralline exclaimed, I told her that I would explain the movie if she had questions later, but it seems that she's been curious about Hitchcock films, so this would be dipping her toe into it.  I always felt his films from the 40's and 50's were his best, so I'll be on the watch for those and see if she's interested.

Coming home the house seemed empty without her presence, even Sis felt it and Doyle, he said Belladonna had been mopping about all day not having Coralline to play with. 

And now tonight, well it will be time to watch the premire of Bones and Sleepy Hollow, I think I'll record them in case Coralline doesn't get a chance to watch them at her house.

Later Darklings

I agree

Of Fireplace repair and birds' nests~~~

Well Darklings,

I was right, the firebox in the formal parlour needs some repair, just a few loose bricks towards the back, needs to be re-sealed, he can either finish it today or on another day, I'll know in a few hours.  And it seems that during the summer a bird had made a nest in the upper chambers just under the chimney camp.  Fortunately we didn't burn a fire during the late spring and summer just in the family parlour, so we're assuming the little one's have flown, so we'll need to put some screening around the chimney caps to prevent that from happening again.

The gutter man is finishing things up, cleaning up the debris that was in the gutters, some enterprising squirrel had shoved nuts down one of the down spouts, so I've put them on one of the fence ledges for either it or another squirrel to find.

Progress is being made on my sister's house, a lot of plumbing repairs because of the former owners pouring cement down the drains.   The remodeling of the kitchen is wonderful, it had been upgraded so its victorian look had been long gone but it still had a lot of the 1950's feel to it that Sis wanted to keep.  But that Orange wall paper with the Big Yellow flowers from the 70's HAD to go.   I was getting a head ache looking at it.

The good thing is that the ceramic sink surround had been retained,  but the sink had to be replaced, Sis went with a double sink in stainless steel, and the ceramic tiles were matched to the old ones, pink tiles with green trim, sort of refreshing in a way, Sis said she would stick with white appliances it was simpler that way.

Brian Sis's tennant has been a good sport though all of this.

I'm going for a simple dinner tonight, spagetti with meat sauce, salad with that dressing that Doyle likes, french bread with soft Tillamoke Butter, more of that delicious Deadbolt wine, and fresh fruit mix of grapes and mango chunks over vanilla ice cream.   Hmmmm maybe leave the ice cream out, and just fresh fruit, the ice cream and the wine may not mix well.

Just taking a brief coffee break and once the men leave I'm going to take Belladonna for her evening walk before dinner.   It will feel good.

Later Darklings


Upkeep on an old house can be time consuming but worth it.



Of coffee, a little dog and squirrels~~~~

Hello Darklings,

I'm waiting for my sister, she has to phone some clients to confirm their appointments for next week, so I have a few minutes before we go shopping.

Last night we went through the pantry to check what we need and those things we need to get for emergency supplies.   I'm good about those things, but Sis is very through,  she is also getting things for her own house for Brian, her tennant/house guest----but I guess it would be better to refer to him as her tennant.

Poor Brian has been putting in 12 and 14 hour days of late, so much to be done before the Labor Day weekend, I'm not totally sure what it is but it seems that where he's now at they are going to be shifting things over right after Labor Day and will need that week to tweak things.  He is earning his money.

This morning again I was up early, enjoying my coffee, there is something about fresh brewed coffee that has a waking up feeling to it, just the smell is enough at times to give a lift to one's mind and senses, and on chilly mornings like this one with that tang of Fall in the air it seems even extra special.

I think I could not survive without at least one cup of morning coffee, of course periodically I have to go to my dentist to gently whiten my teeth as coffee does stain, but not overly white, white-white teeth is sort of off putting to me, very unnatural.

No I don't think I could survive without coffee, tea, chocolate and a good bottle of wine----of course we also have to have the staples of life as well.  But those are the speical flavors and scents to keep us going.

This morning as I was sitting out on the back porch enjoying the garden and the nip in the air, Belladonna was with me, I put her light sweater on as it was chilly and had her out-door bed next to me, when I saw it.

A very, very fat squirrel come into the garden, grubbing around for food,  I knew that it loved to induge in the walnuts on my neighbors tree, for more than once I've found the reminants of shells here and there, and I could see that this squirrel had indeed fatten up for the winter, as he (or she) carefully picked and hunted its way across my garden,  I think that is why I love it so (the Garden), I get so much animal life here, the various birds, the squirrels and occasional possum (fortunatly not often), humming birds, bees, butterflies, and the scent of the flowers, I love to choose those that have a wonderful strong scent that travels on the air to attact pollenators.

In the mornings hearing the birds calling out, marking territory,  the other day I was surprised to hear the call of a Hawk, and what sounded like the reply by a much younger hawk, I looked up and spotted the pair high up in the sky.  How rare to hear something like that in the residental part of the city or in the city at all, but how wonderful as well.

But there was that squirrel, and I saw Belladonna slowly stand up, trembling not with fear but with excitement, here was her intruder that frequently teased and scolded her totally unaware of the Mighty Belladonna's presence.  Then quickly she flew down the stairs without making a growl towards her nemisis, the squirrel was completely unaware of the 4 legged danger swiftly approaching until the last second.   I thought that the little creature had met its doom, it scampered as fast as it could with Belladonna close on its tail, I knew that Belladonna would catch it, but at the last moment it made a desperate leap to a tree just out of Belladonna's reach and scampered up the branch.

I watched as Belladonna stood under the tree not with trembling frustration but with satisfaction, the squirrel in the tree was trembling, not even scolding the little dog, it knew in its over confidence that today would have been its last, if not for fate.  But Belladonna a tiny dog with the fierceness of a Rottwiller knew she had won the day and taught that sassy squirrel a lesson.   She did one self-satisfied bark and came trotting back to me in all her smug glory as if she were saying "That'll learn him, come around here like he owns the place, not while I"m on duty, no sir!"  

And for that I simply had to give her a bit of my buttered toast as a reward for a job well-done.

Later Darklings

Of Some changes but nothing new~~~~

Well Darklings,

The BART strike is still going on, people very frustrated, the infrostructure of temporary transportation pushed to its Maximum.

Things got a little hung up yesterday at the Golden Gate Bridge toll booth, a trucker from Canada attempted to go through the wrong lane and got.....STUCK!!!  

There is a wider taller lane for trucks but the driver was unfamilar with it and broke the front axel of his rig, it took a heavy duty tow truck to remove the entire rig,  there was back up but they managed to clear it.

But on the strike the Governor sent his top labor mediators along with a strongly worded letter to both parties and they are back at the table negotiating.   However the public is not pleased with the Unions to do this to the working public and also damaging the economy by 73 million dollars per day.

However several aquaintances that I know that use to use BART are taking the bus to the Oakland Ferry and discovered that it's really a relaxing way to get to and from work, except for the long lines to get on board and heaven help you if you miss your boat.   But they told me that except for really bad weather they will continue using the Ferry after the strike is over.

Today Doyle remarked to me that all the Ferry systems should use larger ferries like the old car ferries, not these hydrofoil jobs, it would carry much more people, I asked if they would have to modify the docks for them, he thought no considering the way they dock on the East Bay side perhaps on the S.F. side maybe but not East Bay.     Well maybe in the future.

Update on our dancing 51/50 (crazy person)  they police came by this morning at "oh please let me have my first cup of coffee"  and wanted more information on him, I couldn't tell them much but gave them information on his parents and the neighbor next to them who told me about him.   It seems he maybe kept longer than the 72 hour period.   Although one officer did ask me "Do they have horses around here?"  and we both smiled at each other knowing the joke.

The heat is beginning to retreat a bit, the coastal areas are at the mid-60's, where my house is its down to the Mid-to upper 70's although the house interior is still very stuffy and warm,  I've had to keep the front and back doors open (but front screen door locked) for air circulation, although the back door opens to the screened shady back porch which Belladonna it taking full advantage of.   I have a comfy bed for her as well as her water and dry food bowl out there.   She is recovering from the heat.

However the temps inland over on the other side of the hills is anywhere from upper 80's to just over 100, a huge difference of between 20 to 40 degrees just 30 miles inland from the coast.  The weather people consider this an unusual heat wave condition.  At the start of the heat wave my sister and I and now Doyle have been checking in on our elderly neighbor who baby sits Belladonna and she is doing very well,  her family lives out of town but they set up a cool spot for her for conditions like this with widnow air conditioning on the North side of her house,  it has a day bed, reclinder and small t.v. as well as a telephone extension, so when the heat wave started, she retreated there for the duration,  now I understand why Belladonna trotted so quickly to that room when I've left her to be watched by our neighbor a time or two during the heat wave.

I talked to my Boss yesterday evening before I left to come home and he suggested that next week I come in at 12 noon and work till 8 p.m. and he could bring me home, that way I'd be available to handle the confrence calls that would be coming in the afternoons next week,  it sounds reasonable, although he did agree that I was to only work half days, so after 4 I could rest in the staff lounge since there was a couch there that I could lie down on.  It sounds workable considering the unusual situation we're having.

Sis had to go early into San Rafel this morning to meet a client and decided to return via the Golden Gate Bridge it would be a reverse communte, she said it was strange and weird  because there was FOG totally shouding the towers, a misting fog, and hearing on the radio the weather predicting 100 degrees inland, and yet Fog coating the Golden Gate bridge.  And now she's heading back out again, she says she'll be so glad to have her house finished and then her clients can come to her, no more traveling around.

Brian is still camping is Sis's living room but the work on the kitchen and downstairs full bath is almost done, and he's received two call backs for 2nd interviews, they both sound promising.  For his sake I hope something comes from them.

My sleep routine is totally upside down, I managed to get some sleep last night but woke early again, however I did enjoy the cool morning overcast in the back yard with my cup of coffee, listening to lazy jays calling to one another, and seeing the birds taking morning baths in the bird baths that I have out, they dirted the water so much that I had to put in fresh several times.

But the bees and butterflies have not stirred one bit, although an amateur bee keeper in the neighborhood told me his hives are fine but it's been very hot for them, so they are seeking water, and he's been doing things to help them stay cool.

Also this morning another neighbor who has plum, apricot and cherry trees in her back yard has brought over laundry baskets of them, she is sharing her overwhelming bounty with everyone.   My Sis said "yay, apricot cobbler, apricots for canning and plum jam and cherry pies so they are now in the pantry which is cool and I anticipate a hot kitchen by this weekend.   Thank goodness we have canning jars, just need to buy new lids.   Sis still takes pleasure in old fashion things, so do I so I think I'll be helping her this weekend.   And come September there will be apples for apple pie, cobbler, apple sauce, I envision our pantry being very full.

4th of July is tomorrow but I think we'll stay home and just relax,  I have chicken marinating in the refrigerator and Baby Ray's bar-b-que sauce at the ready,  Doyle will do the honors to be King of the Grill and I have Belladonna's medication to keep her calm during the echoing sounds of the fireworks both tonight and tomorrow,  Doyle and Sis will watch her.

Nothing bizarre, strange or picular happening for now that would entertain an old Goth girl like me,  but I will be glad to get back into something that resembles our form of bizarre normalecy.   But it's just too hot.

Later Darklings   

Of Something completely Different----Belladonna my dog~~~~

Hello Darklings,

Well there was breaking news that the F.B.I. has two suspects, and they have pictures on their web site.

For those of you back East in the Boston Area especially, go to the F.B.I. website and see if you recognize these men.

And now for something different.....I was asked about my little dog Belladonna.

Well how I found Belladonna is posted on my April 1, 2012 posting under "An addition to the Family"

She is a black and tan Chaiuaua(a little Mexican dog) about 2 years old now, her tan markings give her eyebrows, a tan muzzle and legs.  At first you think she might be a really tiny Doberman.  But she's not.

She had been abandoned and on that post you'll read how I found her.   She has been a wonderful little companion, one would think she'd be a bit nippy as most can be, but she is not that way.   However she will let me know if she thinks there is an intruder at the door.

She loves my sister and Doyle and loves playing with Coralline.  Most of the time when I go to work I have an elderly neighbor take care of her, which is fine for both of them for the companionship.   But if my neighbor has plans or is ill then I or Doyle will take her to a Doggie Day care that we like.

She is sweet and silly, brave and scared, inquisitive and shy at the same time.  And I spoil her terribly, I look for sweaters and tee shirts that have skulls on them, and at Halloween I have fun looking for cute things for her to wear, nothing silly, but I did find a pair of devilish horns for her to wear and she does with good grace.

Doyle and I try to sneak her in with us if we can in her doggie tote bag, at a few of the places we like to dine at and she is very good.   But of course there are places we can't take her, so we make arrangements for her to be baby sat.  Most of the time it is my Sister but my neighbor has always been happy to do it.

She sleeps at the foot of my bed when Doyle is around, but when he's not she loves to snuggle next to me.

I've found that by using these tea tree wipes that I find at Pet Food Express it helps keep her clean between baths and I use the Advantex II for flea treatment.  It seems to work best.

I've never clipped her nails, I have the vet do that.  And how well does she get along with her vet and staff?, well she hasn't bitten him and he and his staff are very gentle with her.

The only time she gets very distressed is 4th of July when fireworks are set off,  we have to give her a pill to calm her down.  

You will find mentions of her here and there in my previous posts.  

For years I never did have a pet, my life and my hours did not make it easy to have one,  when I was a little girl we had a cat from time to time, but my Father always had sneezing fits when one was brought into the house, so having a pet was not a good thing, and my Father loved animals, if he took his medicine he could be around a cat or dog for a short amount of time but day in and day out, well it was not a good thing.

We did have a parakeet named "Pretty Boy" that my sister won at a church bazaar, who was a silly thing and made us laugh with its antics.   One time the bird tried to land on Dad's head and grabbed some hair instead and flipped over hanging upside down, it was a little painful for dad.

My Uncle Mannie was bald and one evening we had him over for dinner with Grandma, because we were all sitting at the kitchen table Pretty Boy started flapping his wings at his cage door demanding to be let out.

Mom didn't want to but Grandma and Uncle Mannie said it was o.k. so Pretty Boy joined us at the dinner table flying to my shoulder then to my sisters and then back to his cage.  Suddenly he took off flew around the room (we had the windows closed) and decided to land on my Uncle's bald head, two feet and his tail, well my Uncle's head was slippery and Pretty Boy slid off and landed with a thump on the floor, we all looked at the bird and he walked over to a corner and started muttering to himself in the corner occasionally looking over his feathered shoulder and wondering why he couldn't land on that spot. 

Grandma said that Pretty Boy was embarrassed and went over and coaxed him onto her finger, brought him to the table and gave him a bit of bread crust, and he seemed to be happy.  We all laughed at what had happened.  We had him for nearly 8 years then one morning Mother woke up and found him dead on the cage bottom, we never knew what happened as he was perky the night before.  But Dad said sometimes that happens like a stroke or heart attack.   He had a nice funeral with a rose bush planted on top of him.

We never did have another pet after that.  We all were busy with schooling and such and now I have Belladonna.   I hope to have her for a long, long time.

Later Darklings