Work Before Play - a RightBrain/LeftBrain conversation about semantics

 RB  (tugging on LB's skirt) Hey. Hey.

  LB (busily scribbling on a notepad) Hmmm. yeah, inaminit

  RB  Watcha doin'. Hey. Hey. I'm feeling funny.

 LB  Yeah, yeah, be with ya in a minnute.

 RB  No. Now. I'm getting scared. What are you doing?

 LB  (Looking up from the notebook) I'm making a list of everything we're going to do on this vacation! It's a great list! Lookee!

  RB  Waaaaaaa! You don't love me any more.

 LB  (Looking shocked) What? Of course I love you - you're the other side of me. What's wrong?

 RB It's our VACATION and you're making one of those awful TTD lists! I want to play!

 LB  Well, yeah. sure. I'm writing that on the list. See? Here? Number 8 ... PLAY

  RB  You're crazy. You can't schedule play. Play means you aren't responsible for anything. Play means fun.  Play means you don't have to accomplish anything!

 LB  So. So? Where on this list does it say we have to accomplish anything when we're playing?

 RB I know you. You will say No Play before ticking stuff off that list. I know you. this will be nothing but chores and werk and werk and chores.

 LB  No it won't. Look at the rest of this list. See?

1. Clean House
2. Work on the kitchen cabinets - organize those last 2 messes
3. Work on the spare bedroom - one hour a day minimum 
4. Work in the garden
5. Work out
6. Read
7. Draw 
8. Play
9. Visit Mama

  RB  Yeah. I see that you want to work almost all the time. Werk in the kitchen werk in the garden werk out. wekr werk werk I hate this list.

 LB  What? Don't you like a clean house? I thought we'd agreed that house cleaning is really just caressing our favorite possessions - the ones we bought or collected and brought into our lives.

 RB  Well. Yeah. I do love all our stuff. I just wish there wasn't so much cleaning to do.

 LB  Yeah. I understand that. But we live with guys. And dogs. On a farm. Down a dirt lane. It's just the way it is - there's cleaning to do and we have to do it.  Besides - it only takes a few hours a week. You know that.

 RB  (sighing) yeah. I know. but it's #1 on the list. what kind of vacation is that?

 LB  Oh. well. Yeah. I see. but don't you want to start this vacation in a sparkly clean house?

 RB I guess so.

 LB  Let's see how things go today - we can put this off till tomorrow

 RB  Thanks.  But there's still too much work on that list.

 LB  Well - don't you want to work in the garden? Don't you want to have that spare bedroom ready for summer guests? Frances and Audrey will be here in 3 weeks.

 RB (sighing again) Yeah. I do want them.

 LB  so - if you want it - you gotta go get it.

 RB  I just wish you didn't have so much work on that stupid list.  I feel like the whole vacation will be nothing but work. I'd rather go to work where I don't have to work so hard.

 LB  Oh. Hmm. I see. Hmmm. Yeah.  Okay - how's this for a Better List?

1. Start with a beautiful, sparkly clean house
2. Play in the kitchen cabinets - toss out all that crap we hate and create beautifully functioning organized spaces for everything we want. Never be ashamed if someone opens a cabinet door again.
3. Begin the transformation of  the spare junk room into an oasis of organization and calm - maybe even take it over for our bedroom - it's bigger than the one we use now. Sit down with those boxes of family photos and letters and decide how we will store and share them. Own that space. Make it ours. Retrieve it from the Lord Of Chaos and Shame. 
4. Dig the soft crumbly earth in the garden and nestle those little vegetable plants in their new homes where they can grow delicious food for summer meals that we'll serve out on the porch.
5. Give our body the exercise it longs for - stretching, moving, lifting - everything that makes it feel vigorous and thriving.
6. Read
7. Draw
8. Play
9. Visit Mama

 RB Ooooo. Yeah. That's a MUCH better list

 LB  (smiling) Well good. I'm glad you like it. Man – this is going to be a fabulous vacation.

 RB  One thing more, though. Can you put Play first?

 LB  (laughing) You betcha! Love you

 RB Love you more

I May Be Shallow - But These Shoes Make Me Look Tall

No doubt about it - I love me some cute clothes. And shoes? Don't get me started.

Not that I have thousands of pairs of shoes but I do have maybe 20. For winter. And the same for warm weather.  I've been working hard at Not Buying Too Much New Stuff - but I've also been shopping for a new summertime purse. The one I had last summer is worn out already! Alas - everything I like is by Kate Spade, at about $300 - and I just can't bring myself to spend that kind of money for something I'll carry only till September.  I'm not sure I'd even be willing to part with that kind of money for a classic 1980's Coach bag - after all - what's a classic anymore?

Anyway - while looking on the major on-line accessory shops (think Zapos, Amazon, Overstock) I discovered drool-inducing shoes.  In particular I discovered these shoes.

Zapos had them in every print or color (there are about 10!) and I just had to make them mine. Of course - I have triangular feet - so lots of times I need a wide width and these didn't come in wide - but I took a chance. Return shipping is free with Zapos so they're worth taking a gamble on.  The UPS man delivered them to me yesterday, at work, and the minute he was out the door I was ripping open the box and trying them on. Not only do they fit - YIPPEE! - they were the perfect match for what I was wearing. So. They got their first exposure yesterday.

If I had the money I think I'd buy a pair in every print - still might go back and get the blue/green stripes. So cute.  And those black & white print oness that make me think of Audrey Hepburn? Yeah.  I just wish they'd use the fabric in these shoes to make some cute summer purses - in classic shapes - not too big, not too small.

Well, yeah. A girl can want, right?

So - here's the link - just in case you were curious:
 
(oh man! I forgot about those turquoise prints - I want them too!)

And here are some cute quotes about shoes:

“I like Cinderella, I really do. She has a good work ethic. I appreciate a good, hard-working gal. And she likes shoes. The fairy tale is all about the shoe at the end, and I’m a big shoe girl.”
— Amy Adams

“A pair of shoes can change your life. Just ask Cinderella.”

—	-Anonymous

Yeah yeah, I know. I've been AWOL. Been busy, been uncreative, been feeling overwhelmed about Callie - who is all fixed now - there's a post in the queue about that - and another with lots of photos about a cool place to hike - I promise - after the 18th I'll get them finished and posted. I promise. Next week. At Tara.

Callie Teaches TheQueen a Lesson

Seven weeks ago my 7 month old lab pup Callie broke her leg and we have been carefully tending her since then. Two and a half weeks ago, on a Friday, she got the pins out of her leg and was still on 2 more weeks of careful watching.  That Saturday she started playing in the yard and you guessed it - re-injured that leg. Worst yet - I didn't notice it till we were walking home on Sunday after picking up the paper. The rest of Sunday was pure torture for the two grownups in this house. Monday she went back in for surgery and came home with an exterior pin and a prescription for another month of confinement.

It has been a tough 2 weeks for us. (imagine how hard we had to work to not recriminate all over each other - only partially succeeded)

Callie? she could care less. all she can think of is "Where's The Fun?!?"

And that, my friends is the best lesson I could ever learn. I agonized. I blamed. I ached. I angered. I raged. I wept. I wrung* my hands.

Callie thumped her tail. Callie nuzzled my face. Callie ate a healthy dinner - neither too much nor too little. Callie has a much more enlightened soul. She takes what's good in life and concentrates on that. No obsessing for Callie.

Lord - Please make me more like Callie. Thank you.

Callie's Progress

It's been 4 weeks since my beautiful little dog leapt out of the truck and broke her leg. We've all adjusted to adjustments and the reward for our efforts has been some wonderful healing. I would say that she has become so spoiled that she can lie on any couch in the house - except that she was always that spoiled.



I think she looks like Manet's Olympia with her white throat and black collar - she can really give you that blase face. That's me, the servant girl in the back ground, offering things to tempt her pleasure. Can't you tell?

She is wearing the collar because we don't walk her unless she's on the leash now. Well. I take her off for short spurts so she can find the perfect spot in the barley to take care of business. And we release her when we're at the big ditch or at the riverbank since swimming is permitted and she loves it so.

The fur on her leg is growing out so that the stitches are hidden unless you stroke her and I believe the pins are sort of working their way back up the leg bone - as we were warned they might. They'll be taken out on Friday and then she'll be banned from the river again.

We were treated to the magic of a visit from LD this weekend and many a walk was taken, both with Callie and without her. She is a handful when there are two other dogs to chew on and though she struggles on the leash a little with me, she struggles A LOT with the guys (who have more tender hearts).

When it was time to say good-bye to LD, two dogs decided that they'd love to drive south and of course they aren't a bit crowded and there's plenty of room in the car for 3 dogs.




Even after they'd been called out, told "Nooo Nooo Nooo" and given lots of strokes, you can see how they don't believe a word of it. I love the expression on Jack's face.

 Please, please, take me with you.

But as BD says - who should feel sorry for dogs who have to stay at Chesituxent, a.k.a. Dog Heaven? They quickly settled down to life at home without Cousin Buster. 

So. That's the story from Chesatuxent, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking and all the dogs are above average. 

The Wintergreen Springtime of 2013

The equinoctial spring arrived last Thursday with a beam of light down our upstairs hallway. TheCastle is built on an east/west axis perpendicular to the North Star and we can mark the seasons by the sunlight coming up in the windows of the east bedroom and setting into the window of the west bedroom.  Stellar observations notwithstanding, it is a chilly spring if it is spring at all. Even yesterday, with it's blue skies and bright sunlight, had a breeze with a nip of winter in it. There is some greening around me, but it's a winter green and the air smelled as if there were some gusts of snow not far away. 

Still and all - Callie was not to be ignored yesterday. She'd gone 2 days without a walk and she was either getting a walk or getting into trouble. BD was working on the boat, taking advantage of a brief day of paint-drying sunshine and Callie was eager to help. In the interests of peace and safety I took her for a walk instead.

She couldn't wait to dash out on her three good legs into the barley. See how she gleams in the sunshine.

But she's a good girl and comes when she calls. In fact, she's called so often these days that she's much better behaved than she was before the broken leg. Shes also much more attuned to me than she was. It's common for a Lab to have a Special Person and then to be merely friendly to the rest of the pack and since BD is home all the time he was and is her Special Person. Even before her break I had started taking her on a Girls Only walk in the morning to form a closer bond with her. In fact, we continue to do that. Also, she's glad for more cuddling from Mama - which is giving me more status. 

I hadn't intended for Saturday's morning walk to be just us girls but Jack was very comfortable, thank you, underneath his bush so we started off without him. Lots of opportunities for sniffs and squints and peeks.

But at the big bend, Jack joined us. Fortunately, Callie, way out front as usual, did not see what I saw - way up ahead.

You probably can't see it either but if I use my maximum zoom and stand very still look what Jack sniffed and I saw.

I called Miss Callie back before any stray breezes could carry their scent to her but later that afternoon she did sort of follow a rabbit. She will walk much more closely supervised from now on. And she's not allowed to wrestle with Jack either, though she tries at every opportunity. I'm not sure if he misses that or not, but we are not taking any chances on a tussle turning into a tumble and undoing all the good work Drs. L and L did  2 weeks ago.

Instead, we went out and got the mail - and looked back at the beauty that is a spring day; even a Wintergreen spring day. Don't you just want to drive down this deliciously pretty lane?  And imagine how beautiful it will be in a month when all those trees have leafed out?

Of course, Jack and Callie take it all for granted - but in that good way a dog takes things for granted. Not callously but all-accepting - like some Buddhist priest.

The afternoon continued all blues and white clouds. Callie prefers to stay outdoors when she's not sleeping on the couch and she looked so cute out front that I had to go play with her. I will hand wrestle with her while she's lying down so that she can't get hurt. She's good for only about 5 minutes and then, since it's not the real thing, she grows bored. But Mama is always good for a cuddle and a snuggle.

Just so long as I don't try to take her picture.  "Mo - om! Don't take my picture with that silver clicky thing!"  just like a teenager.

Here she is, like Gollum, guarding her precious(es). Goodness - can there be a plural of Precious when it's a proper noun? 3 leg bones and a skull - what more could a dog ask for in life?

And here she is at her most noble. She looks like she's about to burst into Brutus' speech to the Romans. 

Yesterday was also a great day to dry clothes on the clothes line. I actually hang clothes out all year 'round and only use a dryer in town if we get extended rain. Most of the time I prefer this but one of these days I'll get up off it and buy a dryer. It's more laziness and a bit of miserliness but I am sure Mother Nature will one day push me into Lowes with a credit card in hand.


We took another longer walk through the woods in the afternoon. Once we got to the lane Callie was hot and thirsty and since her stitches are healed, she got to take a swim. Ahh. how sweet that cold water is.

See my shaddow? And BD's? and the very top of Jack's head? Yes. He has entirely too much dignity to get all wet like that while Mama is holding her silver clicky thing.

Today is a completely different day. It's colder and grey and it's also Sunday which means everything starts back up tomorrow. Back to werk and it's Budget Time, and time to get the summer reading program on it's feet, and oh la - just so much.  I will certainly have to think about it tomorrow - even if I am not at Tara.  And now - it is snowing.