Monks and dogs

This morning I was watering my plants outside, and could hear two dogs barking ANGRILY at each other, and men's voices saying things like, "Oh, come on." They were down the row of houses, so I couldn't see anything, but I was prepared to spray some dogs in their faces with the hose, if necessary. Then, a third dog from the neighborhood, who is NEVER, EVER, EVER on a leash, (and sometimes goes into my garage and will NOT get out, and sometimes tries to go into my house but so far has not succeeded), came bounding cheerily around the corner to join the dogfight fun. Well, Mr. No-Leash obeyed his owner after only a brief delay and went home with her, and soon enough I saw the offending dogs UP CLOSE.

Here they came, both on leashes, and finally settled down, ready for their walk with their owners, who are monks. Yep, the worst barker was a tiny little dog (though not so tiny as to be guinea pig-sized, like Sparky's dog), a dog known to wear one of those cones around its neck and make me giggle at it. The other dog smelled just a little like skunk as it passed, and I heard my neighbor monk asking his friend monk if he had doused the dog with tomato juice. "No," was the reply, and I was just tempted to say, "I can tell!"

Anyway, the last person whose dog I would expect to start a ruckus is our neighborhood monk. It just goes to show, don't have expectations!

No, I don't have any pictures of the incident. But, if you want to imagine the monks, they are white men, and mine has a shaved head, and the other one has long hair and a beard, and they wear maroon robes but "American" shoes. Neither dog was wearing a cone today, or any other type of clothing or accessories, except for collars and leashes.

TTFN.

More at the Wedding

 
I forgot to tell you earlier that some of the mean friends of the bride and groom threw water balloons at them in the middle of the picture-taking. The wedding was up in the mountains, and the temperature was about 20 degrees cooler than at our house. The water balloons would probably have been more fun if it were hot outside. I was actually cold once the sun went down, but Jason's Midwest sweatshirt went really nicely with my fancy wedding outfit.

Okay, the outfit was a little un-fancy because Nicole, who is Meredith's old roommate, accidentally spilled black vinegar sauce on my white shirt. But, we rubbed most of it out with some Pellegrino, and you could barely see it. Therefore, I was still somewhat fancy.

Independence Day

 
 
We went to Jason's brother's house for the 4th of July, and it was fun. They made a great meal, with steaks, potatoes, salad, cake, ice cream, and rice krispies treats. We threw tons of SNAPS at the cement and each other. Someone managed to make one explode on Brad's chest, leaving a small scorch mark, but we couldn't duplicate it, no matter how many we threw at him.

Blonder and blonder

 
Here's a shot of me with blonder hair. I debuted it at a wedding, at which none of my friends could recognize me. SUCCESS! I can now start a new life and no one will know me. :)

By the way, little Iris, seen here with me, brought her orange little bear (made by yours truly!) with her to the wedding and carried it around, along with a little stuffed doggy. Cute!

Things Outside

 
 
 
Some things outside at my house:

A giant moth on the neighbor's screen door. That thing could give me nightmares! Once, I woke up and a moth was trying to burrow into my ear. For several nights after that, I slept with the sheet pulled up over my head. Imagine that thing trying to get into your head!

I have a couple of teensy tomatoes starting to grow! Yay! I think it's been 10 years since I've grown food. I didn't realize how much I have missed it. I would love to have a huge garden. I really look forward to the day when I have at least a little one, in the ground. For now, I'll be content with my pots.

There's also a shot of me outside, with my blondish hair in natural light. I have about a week's worth of roots now, and they look black against that lighter hair!

Notice what there isn't? No bees! Jason filled the hole with expanding foam, so they can't get into the wall any more. Every so often, one sad bee flies around the area, looking confused and saying, "Wha?"

Yay for outside!