snow day

I had been in the house all day, where it's nice and warm - but - a little dog named Spencer that does adorable tricks for twigs drew me outside. Joe came out to play with my new camera, and it was fun - until Spencer ate the twig. He eats much, much, worse things; so I think he'll be okay. (Typical Spencer Mervis behavior pattern.)

Then, Huck let me have my picture taken with him. (That's "Buster" in the background.) Huck is mid-bark; as usual. Many have tried without success to get a photo of this dog with his mouth shut... Just pretend he's smiling. He really likes to bark. Especially at Spencer.

Huck thinks he's Spencer's drill sergeant. Some people find Huck irritating. He needs all of the attention focused on him, all of the time. (I refer to it as a different type of "attention deficit" disorder...) He's not even able to enjoy the attention he does get, because he's so distracted with keeping everybody else at an acceptable distance. You either love him or you hate him. I'm kind of partial to him myself.

The fun in the snow just wouldn't have been complete without chasing the neighbor's cat (who thinks he lives here) up the garden fence. Spencer likes to deal with this cat using his "junk-yard dog" voice, which sounds absolutely hideous. (Joe rescued the cat immediately after this shot was taken. Letting the cat learn his lesson was not worth the noise pollution we were all enduring.)

No; the cat did not decide to go home. He still wants to live here for some reason.