Keeping Up with the Romas.

Beats keeping up with the Joneses, eh?

Seriously, the garden -- after the rainy season we've had this year (sorry Texas) -- is in abundance. I didn't stake any Romas this year, or cage them, and they are now maturing on the vines, with most of the extra leaves having naturally dropped off.

Every few days, they need a good solid picking. Pounds and pounds worth each walk through -- and I'm sharing with fellow gardeners, even. Luckily, Mal is having fun in his new kitchen, canning and freezing up a storm. I'm trying to convince him it's ok to be creative -- why not add some of the Thai basil now to the tomato soup stock?, but how can you complain, or criticize, really?

(The outdoor work, and all the winter meeting prep to get the gardens going is my contribution -- lest you think I laze whilst he works in a hot kitchen.)

The Buddy boy is having fun too -- did I mention he enjoyed his first river ride on our kayaks mid week? Back and forth between the two, and boy was his coat ever soft from wading at the sandbar. He's not a natural swimmer -- he paddles, tentatively feeling for the bottom, but is always happy when you turn him around once he's reached you, and send him back to the person on shore. My previous family dog was a black lab/collie mix, so she needed no encouraging to get in the water, more to get out...

I'm beginning to better understand the divorced weekend Dad/Superman status. Because when I'm with Buddy, we're out walking, car riding, or otherwise having fun, he seems to love the constant attention. Mal is the stability, being that his place allows 15-pound dogs. (The vet's scale said Buddy weighed in at 17 -- but he's been moving-moving a bit more, being around us.)

I could go on telling stories -- funny things the dog does, and endearing too. We're working well together -- Mal and I -- in taking care of him, I think, and it's kind of funny to see where we differ in our nurturing practices. (To me, when a terrier digs, at a mole, on ground where he's been verbally encouraged to dig to help eradicate a mole problem, it's ok when he gets dirty digging. Ditto when he gets excited "tracking" other scents, on leash, and takes such excitement in his feral side.)*

Of course, it helps that the dog sits still for the baths -- I agree you don't want him licking "dirty" paws, but hey, what kind of dog's life doesn't include a wet belly and blackened paws from a little outside fun anyway?

Hope your own weekend is worthy of your time and talents...

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* and don't get me started on the importance, for the dog, of playful wrestling/nipping on the ground. He knows when to not bite, and when it's ok to test his skills in play ...