Sio’s birthday just passed, and we’ve been hiding a secret toy surprise for her — her own Mac! She’s ecstatic about it, and from all appearances, loves her iMac.

Happy Birthday, Sio!

In the copy room at work today, I found these rubber overshoes, with a pleading note atop them:

“Please! Take me home before someone throws me away!”

It’s my bet that somebody nabbed them from someone else’s office as a prank. But think of the plight of these lonely rubber overshoes, soulless and lonely. Afraid for their very existence. It’s terrifying!

After Bailey’s sock-swallowing incident this weekend, and the subsequent emergency surgery, today Bailey came home. She’s sporting a better than six-inch incision as a permanent reminder of this rough weekend.

However, as bad as I’m sure she felt, she gave us a reminder of the important things. Darla tells this story from her trip home with Bailey:

After I picked Bailey today I was given clearance from the Emergency Hospital to take Bailey to the pet store to size and buy a collar to keep her from licking wounds (special collar, called an E-Collar or Elizabethan Collar). After we selected our right size, we went to check out.

At the counter, a young girl with Downs Syndrome was in line and ran up to Bailey and gave her a big hug. Realizing what was going to happen, and knowing the pup had just been through a rough day, I reached down to hold her collar. I wasn’t sure how she’d feel after all the work she had done on her. In the background, the Mother was saying, “That’s a Strange Dog honey, ask permission.”

Well, none needed. Bailey just let her hug on her and pet her head and her back like it was her long lost friend. The little girl looked right into Bail’s eyes and Bailey replied with a well orchestrated gentle, almost slow motion, lick on her nose. The girl smiled ear to ear and giggled and clapped with pure joy.

I asked the gal if she would like to give her a treat — and she shook her head violently. So I reached into the buy-it-by-the-pound-loose-treats and took a small one and asked the girl to put her hand out flat and open. She did as requested. I placed the kibble on her little trusting hand and Bailey, with no solid food in two days, slurped it right off. The girl giggled. So we did the exercise again, and again, Bailey slurped and the girl giggled into laughter. The young girl reached up to get a kibble and brought back a full sized dog biscuit, which was a bit much. So we directed her to ‘little puppy sizes’ and did it one more time, giggling and laughing the entire time.

Treat – pet pet pet – Treat – Pet Pet Pet (a little harder) – Treat, smile, laugh, PET PET PET

Momma was ready to go and called her daughter, with full sweeping motion the girl hugged our pups neck and buried her face and nuzzled. Bailey nuzzled back. They hugged for a good 10 or 15 seconds. Almost out the door, the girl swung back, ran inside for one more encompassing hug and Bailey soaked it up as she hugged back.

Such sweetness!

Molly had a surgery a week-and-a-half ago to remove a growth. It was sent off, and was found to be a cyst, not cancer. That’s great news. However, this weekend, her stitches weren’t quite holding well, and she’s gotten an infection in the sutured area. It’s not a big, big deal, but it was another visit to the vet for her yesterday morning.

Fast forward to last night. Bailey started being ill around midnight, and after a quick phone consult with our vet tech, we thought we were out of the woods. Just a short bit later, she was ill again, and it was obvious that something was wrong. Beck took her to an emergency vet hospital, and it was good that she did. Somehow, Bailey’d gotten hold of two socks, and had swallowed them whole. Her stomach was full of them, and they were starting to work their way through her system. This was nowhere near as bad as it could’ve been, but it meant a surgery. Bailey’s still at the hospital, and we’re hoping to bring her home tomorrow or Tuesday. She’ll have a week or more of recovery, and I don’t know how we’ll keep her still, given her six-month-old puppyhood, but we’ll find a way I’m sure.

Not a very cool weekend, but it could’ve been a lot worse.

The rain poured down today. And poured. And poured. Despite the constant downpour, this hawk kept zooming up and down the little valley between us and our neighbors. I don’t know what he was seeing, but he was pretty persistent in his focus.

I captured this image with my Canon 7D and Canon 100-400 L lens, finishing it up in Photoshop CS4E and Nik Viveza.

With the rain in place, and a VCR to take apart, I started hacking away, with a thought of starting a week or so of macro shots of itty bitty electronics. Tonight’s image comes from the “Really?” category from Captain Obvious.

This image was captured with my Canon 7D, Canon 100/2.8 macro lens and Canon 580EX II, and whipped into shape in Photoshop CS4E, Nik Viveza and Nik Color Efex Pro.

Every time I think I’m done with the pendulum, it surprises me with something new. Today, I noted these fine diamonds etched in the sand by the pendulum from another recent session with it, and decided that they might look nice with some low-angle lighting added. I liked the look.

Once I pulled the image into Photoshop CS4E, I used Nik Viveza to nudge the image to black and white, and add the deep blue toning. I’m a big “blue” fan, so this deep blue toning really spoke to me.

Enjoy!

This ain’t a beautiful image. But it is a good story.

A few weeks ago, Darla and I were coming back from lunch with our friend Jay, and we happened upon this sign at Walgreen’s.

Darla asked, “What’s a hiney shot?” And that’s when Jay and I cracked up.

I love you, Darla!

I’m a bit of a lens hound. I love getting new glass, and it seems like I’m always on the watch for a bargain. Tonight, I was able to add a horse to the stable. I found a used Canon 100/2.8 macro lens for about 2/3rds of the retail price that I couldn’t resist pouncing on. I have the MP-E 65/2.8, but it is just a little unwieldy for regular macro work, and of course, cannot be used as a “normal” lens, being an incredibly nearsighted lens.

So I took the new lens, fired up the pendulum, adjusted to touch the sand, and played with some flash shots of the pendulum doing its job. I’m finding that this lens is nice and sharp, and seems to be taking great photos. I can’t wait to get it out into real world, with real sunshine, chasing after some targets outdoors.

The snow is falling again today, and I thought it was a great chance to grab an image of Becky’s sasquatch on the deck. With several inches of snow on the ground, he seemed to be enjoying himself.