Leila's Chacala

Hi,
I'm sure you have heard that I have a new puppy. Here name is Chacala. The
vet said she is an Australian Cattle dog, but I doubt she is pure since she
was found on the side of the highway. She's so smart and is learning
fast... though she prefers commands in Spanish.

She won't chase cats, chickens or people but when she sees horses or cows
barks like crazy and tries to get them to move. Pato's uncle wants me to
bring her to his ranch and see what she'll do outside of town. We think
she's about 4 or 5 months old. She loves dogs so is happy to be at the
beach all day with us. She'll swim in the river, but not quite ready to
surf. The only thing I'm not having great success with yet is begging from
tourists, but as she was starving and had bad parasites when we found her
she I thinks she feels she needs food all the time. A big plus is she
guards the yard and house for me. She also loves kids and will let them
torture her and pull her ears without nipping them.

Hope you are all well.

love, Leila

Merry Christmas to all

Merry Christmas to all. Hopefully, we will have some new cousins viewing and posting. May 2009 be a wonderful year for all of us.

Sis

Merry Christmas to All!

Merry Christmas Eve to everyone!

Most of my siblings and the parents are headed to Minnesota (weather permitting), to enjoy Sharon and Bob’s hospitality for the holiday. It will be a new adventure for everyone since Christmas has always been at the parents’ house for as many as who can get there, and Tim and I are sorry to miss it.

Leila is toasty and warm in Mexico, with fiestas every moment of every day for both Christmas and friends’ birthdays.

Stuart and Leslie are staying in New Mexico; the puppy needs hip surgery, managed to break a hip playing — as only a puppy can do!

We will sorely miss our little Digit this Christmas, but we're happy knowing she's not suffering and she's with Sweetpea. And Breakfast. And Ben (my lab, not Ben, my nephew who will be in Minnesota). And all the other pets who have made our lives richer.

Tim is off work until Monday, and is relaxed and trying not to gloat. I am bracing myself for one last day of retail before Christmas. And then I'm off duty for a couple days, and will set aside my elf hat and perky shoes and smile with relief. (And, no, I don't literally wear the hat and shoes.)

It's rainy and rather chilly here in Los Angeles, which the media proudly touts as "Christmas-y." We have our tree half-decorated, and actually got La Lulu Fattone the Cartoon Kitty to sit still in the obligatory kitty Santa hat long enough to get a picture. I'm hoping Tim will finish decorating the tree, and that I will come home this evening to a warm, toasty house full of Christmas light and cheer and the smell of Christmas cookies baking.

We wish you all much joy and love and good health and good fortune and peace and fun for the holidays! And send pictures!!! (I promise to be better about putting them up on the family blog in a timely fashion, honest.)

Love and joy,

Linda and Tim

The Great Deer Hunt of 2008

Took me a while to get these posted, but the sheer excitement that emanates from them -- particularly the stand in the middle of nowhere where Dad and Stuart must have sat for hours, freezing... I just had to pace myself. The following commentary is provided by Dad, not sure if I have the sequence correct, so mix and match and enjoy!

"A bit of explanation on some of the pictures:

Dean was having trouble backing the ATV into the trailer due to its being on a slight side slope and the floor was slippery from the snow.

Just a picture of us fumbling around trying to get organized.

Dean was looking perplexed, which is not uncommon for him, about how to operate the ATV, affectionately known as 'The Grizz.'

Dub's Bambi needs no explanation other than it was one of only two taken by the group. We didn't do our part in protecting the populated areas from the advance of the killer deer herd.

Dub and Stuart

Pre dinner libations probably needs no explanation.

MOTH (Master of The Hunt) prepares chronicles for each year and reads the ones from the previous year Saturday night at dinner.

Oaks. One of our new high tech stands.

Doug is MOTH's son."

Digit's Last Day

We had to put our geriatric kitten, Digit, to sleep today. A very nice vet came to the house and examined her, and agreed there really was no alternative. Too many of her organs were failing her, and I knew she was miserable. It breaks my heart; and, even though I know it was the right decision, I still feel guilty -- like I failed her, I couldn't fix what was wrong, I couldn't stop the pain, I couldn't stop the aging.

I took this picture today, one last afternoon of Digit soaking up the southern California sun.

Linda