The Getting Clever Project

I've spent this week taking care of Gracie. Some of you might remember her epic battles with her dog bed. She still fights with it but I couldn't resist this pose:

We had some glorious Indian summer days but the last view have been rather rainy. Even the doggie wanted to stay in bed. She does NOT like the rain. Autumn has definitely arrived.

Gracie's home is on the 15th floor facing east. On the sunny days it was nice to sit on the balcony and read. Each day I tried to take a photo at the same time. It was fascinating to watch the Potomac River tidal shifts. I'll share a link to the photos soon.

The Paper Moon by Andrea Camilleri. A very good entry in the series. Lots of red herrings and some interesting introspection from Montalban.

A Hovering of Vultures by Robert Barnard. One of the earliest Charley Peace books. He's one of my favorite recurring characters and some of the others are introduced here. A great plot and a slightly fannish one, involving literary fraud and an author's fans.

Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath. The book aims at imrpoving one's decisionmaking abilities by identifying four traps to reaching good decisions. The answers they have are to widen one's options, reality-test any assumptions, attain some distance before deciding, and prepare to be wrong. I like the authors. They usually give me a different perspective.

Sister 3 is spending a few days at the beach so I'm taking care of her teacup poodle. We call her PattyPaws and she has the longest, fluffiest ears.

( Here she is looking for her owner )

( Picture me sitting in the big chair )

I'm dogsitting this week for Gracie. She's the sweetest little dog. To me she looks like a little bear cub. She's not a lap dog but if I sit on the floor with her she loves a good petting session :)

( meet Gracie )

We've had an unusually chilly February and March in the District. Last year the star magnolias were in full bloom by St. Patrick's Day, with the cherry blossoms close behind. This year the blossoms have stayed tightly furled. Finally, they are coming out. The forsythia already looks lovely. For once the cherry blossoms might be gorgeous for the last week of the festival and the parade. And the Tulip Library down by the Tidal Basin should be nice shortly thereafter

Happy May 1 everyone. Happy Law Day. Happy Beltane.

I'm home from dogsitting. I miss Belle - she's such a snuggler. The break in the routine was great but now I are Serious!Person about serious things! Still reading my getting clever books and trying to lose weight for my possible future TV appearance. I planted some herbs in pots out on the balcony. Basil, mint, and nasturtiums, which taste kind of like watercress to me.

Enjoying the runup to season enders for a couple of series. I'm watching the last few episodes of House out of sentiment for how much I loved its first few years. In Plain Sight looks like it's going for a tearjerking ending.

The return of Eureka is a high spot even if it is in its last season. I adore Colin Ferguson and these three episodes have showcased him. But the rest of the cast hasn't gotten short shrift at all.

Dogsitting duties are over but I do have one funny picture. Zach the Yorkie and Bailey the Lab often have tussles over chew toys. I swear Bailey taunts Zach sometimes by dangling the toy perilously close. Anyway, this little fox eventually had the stuffing (and squeaker) chewed out of it. Zach sounds so fierce when he goes after it but he is doomed to lose. He's about the size of Bailey's head, after all.

The nice thing about sitting for Belle is that she gets BBC AMerica. I've been soaking myself in Doctor Who. Sadly, I won't be able to see the Doctor's return tonight.

Happily - Jenn and I are seeing Frankenstein again tonight, this time with Benedict Cumberbatch as the Doctor. Poetic, yes?