Smooth Stones

In our dream (and heading towards "real") home, we'd have a

rock TV wall covered with something like these colorful,

water- weathered stones.

And a separate fireplace wall with similar pebbles standing

on end for added texture.  I can't keep my hands off them and

wonder if the boys would use them as a scratching post.

The stones are perfect with our carpet choice, a bit of color

mixed with neutral tones.

Outside, we hope to have gardens close by the windows with

less polished rock (we already have this pile of rocks to use).

The boys regularly explore this mini-hill by the east pond,
soon we may be enjoying bits of it from our windows.

Settle Down, Please

 Today we had a full day at work, visited more manufactured homes,

and arrived home all riled up and eager to pounce on the boys.

 Vladi is not quite ready to join the fun.

C'mon people, I'm trying to sleep here.

Ripenings

Our trees give us weekly reminders that the seasons are marching

along.  This week the Shiro plums are ripening, when they turn

from chartreuse to gold, they are dripping with flavor.

That means the apples are not far behind.  By far the best tasting

apple trees we have are not the ones we, or the previous owner

planted, they're the ones sprouted by chance from the wildly

cross-pollinated seeds in our scattered apple cores.

Tile Samples

We're been reveling in house design, and are keeping the boys

involved in as much of the process as possible.

Today its tile samples, and Vladi LOVES rubbing the cool,

hard edges.  This is Cambria quartz in a neutral color,

we like the feel and 3D look better than granite.

Plus it has some flashy choices like this silver-flecked gray.

Our favorite sample so far is a glass composite from Vetrazzo.

Even if we don't end up with a kitchen island, I'd be happy

to have a small slab of this sitting somewhere.

For my bathroom (it sounds funny to say, "My Bathroom" we'll

share, we're just taking separate design leads on different spaces), I

can't get enough of this Hi-Macs nougat-like solid surface material.

Its almost as sparkly as Vladi's paws.

 Mark is looking at a warm caramel and honey-toned Hi-Macs

color for his bathroom counter.

Whatever we get, I'm pretty sure Vladi is going to enjoy rolling

around on it about as much as we'll enjoy looking at it.

Summer Hues

 Its summer bliss when you can have a dinner dessert of orange

creamsickle cake with maple ice cream and walk outside to see...

...an indigo and salmon pink sunset.  Tanji and Vladi were

already out in the kennel enjoying the sights and sounds.

Home Touring

Today we are touring the homes and factory of one of our local

manufactured home companies.  Its an experience to sit in "real"

rooms with conventional furniture, cabinetry, and bedrooms.

Of course they are not showing key things like placement

possibilities for an exercise wheel and three jumbo litterboxes :).

Grading Final Exams

Its the final exam day for the first of the three summer courses

we teach, and after a zillion years of grading, we finally came

up with the idea of grading in a cafe with a comfy booth.

Good food and a bit of coffee is making this go much easier.

Too Windy

Its a really windy day, and our slightly longer-furred Bengal Bros,

Vladi and Uschi, don't like to be ruffled up.  So their "walk"

today largely involves chair-sitting under the eaves.

Don't judge me, I'm delicate.

Bees-Eye View

 Its hot, hot, hot in the valley, and on those few days with

cloud cover, there is a lot on energy in the atmosphere.

 The fields have turned brown, with little patches of wildflower color

between the various crops.  We're traveling to McMinnville for a bit

of Goodwill scavenging and the best Dairy Queen blizzards around.

The grasses are already being harvested, and the dry soil is

kicking up all over.

 Back home we have more moisture with the ponds, oak grove,

various stands of conifers, and nearby river.  Its brown at human-

eye level, but the bees (and the boys) enjoy a summer wonderland.

 There are native wildflowers sprinkled with a few species we

added back when this was a fairly lifeless post-agriculture plot.

The clovers and lupines added nitrogen to the soil, and

each year new species arrive and stay.

 This year we have the most diverse group of bees and wasps

yet, so when you lay down to take a ground-level photo, you

are surrounded by a haze of buzzing noises.

Uschi's Carpet Selection

 Our carpet sample just arrived and Uschi is testing

whether it is comfy enough for his belly fluff region.

He is just oozing marvelous cat-attitude.

Uschi seems to be taking this test seriously, he's already been on the

sample for five minutes.  It may be because its the cleanest area of

carpet in the house.

 Getting sleepy...

Now that he's passed out, we can get a close-up of the way

the multicolor tight weave highlights Uschi's stripes.