Sharing With Dixie

For a long time, Tony has shared his reclining chair with Dixie.  It's their morning routine.  First, Dixie is sleeping in her bed and then she hears Tony sit in the chair and recline it.  She knows that once that happens, she can sit on the back of the chair and look out the window--happy to bark at who ever walks on her territory.  After a while, she will relax and take a nap up there.  

Sometimes, she will sit on the foot part of the chair, leaving Tony a small portion of the stool for his feet.  Other times, she will squeeze next to him, pushing him left until she is comfortable.  And that is the most important thing...that Dixie is comfortable.  Just ask her.

Recently, she has started to share my spaces.  A few days ago, my legs were bothering me, so I stretched out on the couch to read a book.  She came over to me and indicated that she wanted to be up on the couch, so I put one of her towels on it and lifted her up.  

Slowly, but with singular purpose, she got comfortable.  Me, on the other hand, not so much.  Take a look:

"OK, so I took over the couch...what's the problem? 

First, she gets rid of the towel....

We negotiate...the towel comes back, but she gets the pillow.  

Notice I'm not stretched out any more

Now she has part of her tail in my lap while I hang over the cushion and arm rest...

Victory....no towel and the couch to herself.  I give up and go to my red chair in my office....

And guess who has decided she likes that chair too?

She likes to stretch out...

...and keep an eye on the foot stool, just in case someone might 

get any ideas about sitting on it!

Getting Ready For The Holidays....

Probably like everyone else, I can't believe that we are at the end of 2017.  I seriously think we skipped a few months this year.  On a happy note, this is the first year since I have been working that I am not working on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Christmas Eve or New Years Eve.  

The last few weeks have been pretty calm here.  We had our friends, Beecher and Carol over for appetizers and wine and had a really nice time. 

We are going back to "hippie days" and getting into meditation for relaxation.  Tony took a class at the Wellness Center and one of our hospital volunteers is a Nurse Practitioner who specializes in women's health issues.  She gave me one of her relaxation CD's to use after a hectic day in the Emergency Room.  It works, ten minutes after I turn it on, I'm sleeping!!  

Yesterday was a fun day for us.  We did some running around in the morning and then found a new place for lunch--Kickback Jack's.  It's a fun, loud sports bar that had really good food.  After that, we did some Christmas shopping and then, had a fire in the chiminea--our first for the fall season.  Of course, Dixie was with us.  I had fun taking some "fire photos" and being out in the crisp, cool weather.  

Today, it's back to being a little warmer, so it looks like corn hole is in our future.  Tony has to put Alex's name on the family tree on my board--but we're leaving space for another baby just in case!

So, that's been our November so far....just enough activity to be fun, not hectic!

Getting ready for Beecher and Carol.....how can Tony be so 

comfortable in the kitchen....

...when I can't even figure out the apron?

Too many loops!

Getting the chiminea ready for the fire...and the tiki torches!

Tony starts the fire....notice that Dixie's seat is a footstool with a blanket....Tony and 

I just get chairs

Light the tiki's....let the fun begin

Dixie checks out the fire....

...and enjoys her blanket....

...but not as much as she likes Daddy's lap

and Mommy's...

Puppy Love

The fire burns down and in we go

A Nice Way To Spend The Day...

One of the nice things about North Carolina is the plant life.  There are so many different kinds of things that grow and thrive here...some grew in Cleveland, too, so it is a nice reminder of home while other plants are just new and pretty. 

We have wanted to go to the Arboretum for quite a while and today, we did.  It is tranquil, beautiful and a place to enjoy.  Tony said that he was sure our blood pressure went down just from walking around.   It offers a variety of plants, beautiful gardens and information.  

We walked around various gardens and promised to come back with a picnic lunch.

From there, we went to the Holiday Inn in Wrightsville Beach, a favorite place because the restaurant there faces the ocean.  We saw a kite surfer and lots of dogs on the beach.  On this clean and crisp November day, it was 80 degrees and beautiful day to be out.

Enjoy our day...and of course, pictures of Dixie!!

Sleeping on the blanket with Mommy

Me and My Chew Stick

Bed Head!!

A fun start to the day...a Fiat with eyelashes!

We are here....

...a place where time stands still...

 

A creative walkway...

Flags of Service....

...and stonework too...

Beautiful trees....

...a tree with "old skin"....

Tony and the banana trees....

A tea house...

Ready for tea

The dragon...

A turtle and "fake" flower

Diva in Doric

Tony on the bridge

In the pumpkin patch....

...with Tony...

Lunch at Holiday Inn where we watched a kite surfer

A beautiful day on the beach

Gabby the parrot, at Holiday Inn

Seinfeld--A Blog About Nothing

I think I have lived for approximately 23,725 days--give or take a few.  Sometimes it feels like 230,725, but I guess everyone feels that way at some point or another.  Some days have been great and some have been really, really bad.  But most are just days...they come, they go--with nothing  monumental in between.  Just time.  This is a blog about nothing, just life in general.

Go figure, it's the end of October already.  Our weather has been holding steady at mid 70's to low 80's during the day and in the 60's at night.  This is the time of year that I really enjoy.  Seasons are changing!  Sometimes it's hard to believe we have been down here for six years.  Before we know it, Donna and Bob will be down again and we can start shopping!

And, there's also football...we joined the Wilmington Browns Backers club again this year,  but with all of the traveling to Charlotte and Lakeland, we have only been to one game.  The last few minutes of the 4th quarter of the Cleveland/Tennessee game came on today after we watched the Carolina Panthers lose to the Bears.  Cleveland actually went into overtime with a game full of field goals (on both sides) and we still lost...to a field goal.  It's just not our year...again. But, Tony made chicken wings so the day wasn't a total loss. 

Tony and I did property walk yesterday.  It's nice to just walk around the yard and see what new things are coming up and what has started to go dormant.  

We took Dixie to the beach again yesterday.  She dug a hole in the sand and buried herself in it, even though she had a perfectly good towel to lay on.  The sun on the water was really pretty and we watched fishing boats being followed by birds.  People were fishing on the beach but didn't seem to catch much.  It was the kind of day you see in a picture of people playing by the ocean. 

My work time is ticking away and I'm actively thinking of things I want to accomplish.  So far, I have investigated what it takes to be a contributor to AARP Magazine and some other "senior" writing opportunities.  I also want to further develop my photography skills.  I have advanced to the level where I don't have trees or chimneys coming out of the top of Tony's head anymore, but I still need to work on my content. 

We will be on the road again soon and look forward to seeing how big Alex is.

And so this is the end of a blog about nothing...just life. 

Here's property walk:

Plants at the back of the property

Trees that Tony planted

Flowers by the deck

Fall Sky

The Princess and her Daddy

A big smile

Beach

Beach Birds

Dixie didn't appreciate the tide coming toward her...

It didn't seem to bother this character!

And back...

Back Home....Tony was taller than these trees when he planted them a few years ago...notice that I don't have the trees growing out of his head!