I call this “Still Life with Tiles and Picks.” Don has been practicing using a pick with his guitar and I have been finding these all over the place. We don’t need Mr. Riley snacking on a pick. I gathered them all up and dumped them on top of the mah jongg tiles in my McCoy dish. Wait…that might make a nice photo. And there you have it. Don’t you find yourself looking at everything as a potential blog photo? I do.

I’m so proud of my dogs. After much preparation, blocking off the stairs, putting all things away that an anxious dog might find potentially edible, bringing down Scout’s bed and closing the door to the den – I took Scout’s little face in my hands and explained why, for the first time ever, she had to sleep apart from us and asked her to be a good big sister to Riley. I talked to Riley, too. We left them downstairs, with a little classical music playing (just as we do when we leave the house) and cheerily said goodnight. We made a beeline for our bedroom, closed the door, turned on the white noise machine and hoped that all would go well. I, being the sap that I am, started crying. The dogs are always with us in our bedroom and this would be a major change to their routine.

This morning, we tiptoed out into the hallway, peeked down the stairs and saw them both sleeping. Scout was on the loveseat, Riley was on his favorite area rug. No messes, no puddles, no nothing! They really handled it well. They are such good dogs.

It is so cold here today – I’ve haven’t gone outside at all. Around mid-afternoon, I heard my husband let out an ‘Oh no’ as he realized the hot water pipe in the kitchen had frozen. Luckily, he discovered it just in time and we used a hair dryer to warm up the pipe. Crisis averted.

Spring, please come quickly.