desert life

Meet Rufus

Okay, I find it a little corny when people are totally obsessed with their dogs (buying them sweaters, feeding them human food etc). But this dog deserves a blog post. Not only because SLEDDOGS is in the title of my blog, but also because everyone should be able to meet this dog. Here's Rufus. Dog number 2 in our 2-dog team. How to describe this one?

-If we ever had someone break into our house he would give the burglars his sweet look that says, "what are you doing? Will you pet me? I LOVE you!"

-A couple of weeks ago we had some family visiting our home. My cousin sat down on the couch and Rufus snuggled his way into Mark's lap within the first 5 minutes of the visit.

-Characters he reminds me of: the scarecrow from the Wizard of Oz, the Little Engine That Could, Kevin from the Office, and Bruce from Matilda the movie (the chubby kid that ate the chocolate cake)

-He stares out the back window of the car for HOURS on road trips

-We only tie him up when we are around to supervise. He will tangle himself up until he is stuck in an awkward position and then he will just give up and fall asleep. no whining.

-Pretty sure he thinks his name is Haas, and even though he's not the sharpest tool in the shed, he sure does give us a lot of love.

Yep, Rufus is a very appropriate name for this dog

i love rainy days and birthday cake

living in the desert, rainy days are few and far between. So when they come, we soak them in. I love them not only because of our desperate need for moisture right now but also because a. I don't have to water the garden, b. Nick gets a much needed rest at work and c. there is no temptation to spend the day outside (unless of course there is waterfall potential). My latest rainy day was filled with good music and good smells coming from the kitchen. Nick's birthday is on Tuesday (mine the following day) and his parents are visiting so i took this opportunity to make a delicious chocolate cake adapted from this recipe: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/basic-chocolate-cake-recipe.html. mmm mmm. Then i had to do something with the overripe bananas hanging out on my counter so I used my friend's fantastic whole wheat banana bread recipe. Check out Emily's blog: http://www.bananafishbakedgoods.blogspot.com/. You can trust that any of her recipes are delicious. So come on rain, bring it on!

spring

happy spring equinox! The tomatoes and peppers are up in their pots, happy and healthy but aching for the temperatures to warm. The salad mix and spinach have sprouted outside and the peas are showing their little selves along the fence. Popcorn is popping on the apricot trees- little white blossoms praying for no more freezes. The grocery store is again full of different languages and outdoor enthusiasts buying energy bars and bananas to fuel their first of the year forays out into the desert. The wild rhubarb is green and will soon flower and die. The wind is howling and the desert is thirsty. My back is getting stronger from digging and my dogs are getting thinner from shedding. yep, it's spring.

these pictures make me warm

ah Costa Rica, the rich coast, how I miss thee.

have you ever seen a coconut sprout?

We did in the beautiful Esterillos, Costa Rica. It was cool. That's Pepita in the background. She was the beach dog that followed around and protected our hammocks. I wanted to take her home but I think she was happier living on the beach.

he's epic

This is Haas. He likes to perch himself on the edge of rocks as if always posing for a picture. I swear he also loves watching the sunrise and sunset. When we lived in Castle Valley with a dog door he would go out every morning and sit in the middle of the yard, watch the sun come up and then walk back inside to fall back asleep. Yep, he's a good boy.