Staying Alive!

I'm not known for having a green thumb.  In fact, quite the opposite.  Before I buy a plant to bring home, Fermin often says something like, "Kerri, just let 'em live.  Don't bring 'em home".  And he's right. 

I have especially bad luck with houseplants.  For one, our house has very little natural light.  And, okay, I'm not great about remembering to keep them watered.

However, I've had these 2 houseplants for nearly a year and a half and they've at least tripled in size and they are looking quite lush, if I do say so myself. 

"What in the world does this have to do with puppytracks?" you might ask.

Well, these two plants were sweetly given to me by my friend Aaron (who produced half of my last CD, and did all the percussion/drums you hear on it!) and his sweet family just after Zoe and Scout died. 

So, of course, they've gone on to thrive in this house that we shared such happy times in for so many years.

My two sweet angels, Scout and Zoe.

Weebles Wobble

One of my gifts from Fermin, was actually a gift for Lucy and Ricky.

I get such pure joy out of seeing them thinking and figuring stuff out, so this really was a gift for me as well! It's a weeble wobble type of toy that dispenses food as they knock it around.  They both love it.  Anything that spits out food at them is a winner!

Between the Sheets

I love Lucy.  And she is definitely at her sweetest and most cuddly anytime she's allowed in the bed.

You Don't Need to Be a Star

As you may have heard, my brother and his dog, Deville, have become superstars lately.  They both appeared on ABC's show, Shark Tank, a couple of months ago.  Mark Cuban and Barbara Corcoran invested half a million dollars in his cruiser bike company, named Villy Customs.  So his dog, Deville, also known as Villy, has become quite the celebrity.

Who?......me?

Today, Ricky and I got to go to my brother's shop, while the Shark Tank crew filmed a little follow up segment, which will air during the fall season.

Ricky was a great sport while all the work was being done.  He just kept quiet and stayed out of the way.

He said "Hi" to the new Diva in town, but it took awhile before he got any love from Deville...

Um, hello?  Deville, have you forgotten the little people?

Ricky was a little starstruck as Cousin Villy finally came near.

Of course my brother's bikes looked great in the shop!  They look great anywhere and everywhere!

But, to me, the most beautiful thing in the room was my Ricky Ricardo~

Me and my boy.

As we were driving home, thinking about the day and what a great boy Ricky was, a silly song I remember from my childhood came to mind... It's the perfect sentiment for Ricky Ricardo-
"You Don't Have To Be a Star, Baby (To Be in My Show)"

Woof

Ever since I've been an adult, I've had dogs that don't bark.  Zoe and Scout, like Chloe before them, were Siberian Huskies, and true to the breed, they howled rather than barked.

And because of that, I guess, having a dog that barks has been an adjustment for me.

Lucy has a voice.  And she likes to use it.

There is nothing inherently wrong with that!  Dogs are suppose to bark. 
Lucy barks at Ricky when she wants him to chase her.  And sometimes she offers a different bark when he's playing too rough with her. She also has an entirely different bark she uses when she's in her crate and someone comes to our front door.  It's sort of a deep grumble.  And then she has this other bark she uses sometimes with strangers that approach her that she's not too sure about.  It's pretty mighty, and she makes her point.  I figure, Lucy is my first "guard dog" with a bark like that.  I feel very safe walking with her at dusk.  She's not going to let anyone sneak up on us!  But yeah, every now and then, I'm a little embarrassed when she does it.

Ricky doesn't bark much, but every now and then, when he really wants to play, he'll do his little bow and bark a couple of times.  It's really, really cute- of course!

The other day we met some older lady and her Schnauzer, and Ricky voiced his call to play.  The lady said to him, "Now, no barking!" And he looked at her and cocked his head as if to say, "What in the world are you talking about, Lady?"  She then told me, "Well, he's just a puppy- My dog is 9 and he only just now learned not to bark."  I told her I wasn't really trying to teach him not to bark.  I'm not sure she and I saw eye to eye.

Like I said, I've had to get use to the fact that my dogs bark.  It's the voice they have.  Why in the world should I try to convince them not to use it?