A Doggy and a Foggy Beach

Certain beaches here in San Diego let you bring your leashed dog in the morning or early evening. Because we are lazy (that includes Rita!) we often don't get up early enough to get to the beach and still have plenty of time for a good walk, but today we managed to get up and at 'em early.

It was really foggy today so I thought about skipping it, but we went for it.

A Dog Named Trixie

If you've been around the blog a while, you know my mom passed away in December. While going through her things, my one sister found 9 letters that my dad had sent to his parents during WWII.

Spring Roll

Sorry this is a bit blurry, but you get the idea...

It Didn't Change My Life, But It Does Spark Joy

I confess, I haven't been writing lately. I've got a book over half done, but it doesn't "spark joy" at the moment.

So, what have I been doing? Well, I spent weeks "Kondo'ing" my house.

My Kondo'd T-shirts

Does Your Dog Have Friends?

Rita has two good friends, Reg...

Wordless Wednesday: Surf's Up

We've had a lot of wind and some choppy surf here in San Diego lately.

Old Snow Is Better Than None - Taking the Dog In Search of Winter

Last week we went to Flagstaff for a little vacation, in search of snow since Rita had never seen it before. Unfortunately, it ended up being really warm, which was nice, except that it was too thawed for any showshoeing, but not thawed enough for hiking. Bummer!

We attempted one very muddy hike in Flag in the trails behind Buffalo Park. (Buffalo Park is a nice spot to walk your on-leash dog, with a nice flat loop trail. At the back of the park, there's also a connection to a much more elaborate trail system. But it was too muddy to go very far when we were there.)

Here are Rita and the hubs in the park, with the arrow pointing out the only "real" snow in the background.

Wordless Wednesday: Workin' It

Rita is really good at looking like she hasn't eaten in three days when you are smacking out on something she wants a bite of. (Note how she sucks in her cheeks.)

I Met My Furry Muse!

If you've been around the blog a while, you might remember I posted this picture last year of our family friends' Labradoodle, Annie, the real life inspiration for Marie, the fuzzy heroine of my third novel, House Trained.

Photo credit: Annie's mom

New Cozy Sheets - The Dog Approves

We recently got new cozy polar fleece sheets. To say Rita approves of them is an understatement.

The Sweet One and the ... Intense One

There are two border collies in our 'hood whose yard we often walk by on the weekends.

There's a sweet one...

Ain't No Party Like a Puppy Party

The other day if you've liked my author page or we're friends on Facebook, you might have seen this pic of me with two cute puppies and a sweet old golden in the background. If so, did you wonder who those pups are?

Rita: Nutty About Chew

I wanted to share a couple of cute pics and a funny video from Christmas and figured I better get on it! Christmas already seems so long ago. (Although our neighbors are still turning their Christmas lights on every night...)

Anyway, here's Rita opening her gifts. Do you wrap presents and let your pup(s) open them?

See Beautiful: Beauty's All Around on a Hike

Belated Happy New Year!

I must admit - I've lost my blogging mojo (hopefully I'll find it since I'm in the middle of a big spring-cleaning binge), but I promised last month when I shared our Sedona/javelina adventures that I'd share some of the other pics I took if I remembered the See Beautiful hop.

And I actually remembered!

It's hard not to "see beautiful" when you're out on a hike with this scenery:

But I thought I'd share some of the other beauty on the trail - all the different trees and plants.