The Addition

Meet the newest member of the family: Vanity Fair's King Lear, commonly known as Shakespeare.



He's an English Springer Spaniel. A regular ball of energy when he's awake, angelic when he's sleeping. Just like any baby I suppose. Bailey seemed a bit annoyed to begin with, but now I think he's realizing that he (Bailey) is a dog too. He's starting to put up with Shakespeare's antics and actually play with him occasionally. Kind of hard not to when you have this little ball of energy jumping on you, nipping at your ears and just generally getting in your face. Bailey weighs almost 60 lbs, a bit overweight. Shakespeare clocks in at about 20 lbs and growing daily. Bailey is like a big old sumo wrestler shifting his weight around to knock Shakespeare off his feet or get the right position to keep him from getting to his ears, a favorite target when they're playing. Like all baby's, he has a very short attention span. He has toys and anything we can think of to keep him busy strewn about the house.

This all started when Randy contacted a breeder about getting a puppy to replace Hanna, the basset hound he lost just before last Christmas. Pat went with him to visit the puppies after they were born. It didn't take long before "we" had to have one. And there just happened to be one left when she talked me into it.
How can you say no to a face like this?



R's has a female named Gabriella, also known as Gabby. We've gotten them together a couple of times for play dates. If you could only bottle that energy: running all over the place, chasing each other and just generally having a good time. Separately, their frantic energy spurts might last 20 to 30 minutes before they take a break. Together it lasts an hour or more. Just when one thinks it might want to rest for a minute or two the other senses weakness, attacks and they're off to the races once again. Whatever one has the other has to have it too.



R and Gabby start Puppy Training classes on Monday. We will start with Shakespeare soon. And Bailey? He's got someone to play with and is actually loosing some weight, finally. All the extra activity is paying off.

Now, for something totally different:
Books currently on my nightstand:

The Road to Ruin Donald E. Westlake
The Vintner's Luck Elizabeth Knox
The Adventures and Misadventures of Maqroll Alvaro Mutis
Under the Tuscan Sun Frances Mayes
The Story of Civilization Vol. 6 The Reformation Will Durant
The System of the World Vol 3 of the Baroque Cycle Neal Stephenson
Memoirs of a British Agent R.H. Bruce Lockhart