The Dog Days of Summer
Last night's sunset was so beautiful! The rainy season really brings out a whole different look to the sky at night, and I like it.
Life has been quiet lately, both of us have felt a bit out of sorts. We're just so used to bopping around town alot and it is just too hot and steamy to do much walking during the day. Paul has been working a fair bit, too.
On top of that, the dogs got a touch of something and Lucy's ears got goopy again. More medicine and worries. If her ears aren't better this afternoon I will call the vet and get the stronger medicine for her. Floppy ear dogs have problems in the humidity here!
We've also had to cancel our planned week driving trip to Guadalajara, Morelia, and Patzcuaro. Our dogsitter had to cancel at the last minute and we just weren't able to fix things up with a substitute...especially with Lucy not being 100% well. We hope to reschedule it soon.
But the good news is that Monday they are going to start on the remodeling of the back yard. We have gone back and forth on what we want to do to the back yard - for a while we were thinking about a pool - but then we got a bid and had to rethink the plan. We are going to have a long roof put over the house side wall - constructed with salvaged ebony posts and salvaged vigas. We're going to use cement tile on the floor. The balance of the backyard will be grass and plants - our seriously pruned hibiscus and bouganvillia are thriving, and they, along with the palm and bamboo should provide a nice foundation for the rest of the plants. I know the dogs will welcome the grass and the cover from the roof will keep the house cool and give us a nice place to sit and rock in the shade.
Another great bit of news is that it seems pretty likely that we'll see our son and his family from Washington in November. I miss them all a lot so hearing that they're coming really made my day! Here's a picture of them taken at their other grandma's house this summer.
6 comments:
Great photo of your grandkids! Is Jan McD your dog sitter?
Is the other patio that is completed farther up and surrounded by house? I'm trying to get this straight in my head. So, really you have 2 large courtyards? How nice.
Did you think about a small plunge pool? They are less invasive being built and cost less. The key is there is enough room to sit in cool water in the shade and relax. Kind of like a hot tub but cool. Actually, a ready made hot tub can work great. Carry it in, put it on a base, forget the heater, fill and chill!
Anyway, sorry about the pooches feeling bad. We had cocker spaniels for years and the ear thing - even in NoCal - was constantly an issue. I can just imagine in this humidity.
Kate - Yes, unfortunately her dog has a bug that is contagious, and since Lucy is old and battling a situation of her own, we couldn't risk it. She's great, and when we reschedule we'll take the dogs to her.
Jonna,
Our house is L shaped, with the corner chunk being our neighbor's house. The courtyard we did already is bounded on three sides by our house and one side by the wall between us and our neighbor (it all used to be one house) The back yard is along the short side of the L, and is adjacent to our kitchen, sala fresca, and laundry room. Kind of confusing. We feel really lucky to have so much outdoor space in Centro.
We thought about a plunge pool, but over all decided that at some point in the future we might get a hot tub....have the ice delivery bring us one of those huge blocks of ice once in a while to plop into it! But Maz is dry country and we just felt it would be a bit arrogant to use all the water and energy especially when we can go to the beach in 5 minutes any time we want. I am really excited about adding historically accurate salvage materials to the back and there will be no problem adding a hot tub if we decide later.
The vet says the same thing - if your pooch is subject to these ear things it is a constant down here. But one good thing is we haven't had even one tick so far this rainy season. The frontline plus and the brewer's yeast seem to be working.
Nancy -- I was going to make the same plunge pool or hot tub suggestion that Jonna made. When I head south, I will really miss mine. Even though the weather is a lot different, the water is a universal feeling. And I almost feel green being able to get so much use out of a small amount of water. This summer, I turned the heater very low. It has been a marvelous relief.
I just noticed your Spanish word of the day link. I love it. I will be checking that out daily. Thanks!
At one of the houses I lived at in Marin in NoCal, we didn't have a pool but one of the old wooden hot tubs. We would turn off the heater in the summer, it gets really hot up there, but turn on the jets with the cool water. I used to say it felt like being the straw in a glass of 7up.
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