Helping with the Book

I have been working hard on the belated gift - the latest chronicle of the black gatolinos and their antics in a story with pictures. For some reason, Lulu has been obsessed with my collaging. Every time I am working, cutting paper in particular, she runs from wherever she is in the house and jumps up on my desk, batting at the paper as I cut it. Although it is slightly endearing, it takes a heavy toll on productivity!

Felix Follow-up

As you can see, Felix is doing just fine! Piper and Lili were worried about him so he wanted me to post something for them. He has been healing well from his little wound and the doctor says his fur will grow back in a month or so. But it is a mystery wound! We do not know how it happened. Our best guess is that he was running really really fast under the bed and maybe snagged himself on some metal or something. He does run really really fast and he gets very worked up about it!

Felix says, "Thank you for your concern! I will be back to my old self in no time at all." He has to have ointment put on his spot every morning and every evening. At first he licked it off, angry with me for putting it on. But he is so sick of the yucky taste now he just leaves it be!

Tres Gatolinos

They never cease to surprise you. Jimmy and I came home from the library today and here were all the cats piled onto my desk. Felix was taking the nice warm spot, the computer. While Simone and Lulu curl up in some little clams. Very funny and rare!

Felix seems to be having a reaction to the rabies vaccine he got last week Dec 20th. It is now seven days later and he has a little patch of hair gone (about a square inch in size) with some scarring on the surface of the skin. It is very unusual looking. He will have to go see the vet on Monday. We will keep you posted!

New Balance

Jimmy and I have been working out a lot lately and Jimmy has taken up running! After the first few runs it became apparent that the converse sneakers he is used to wearing were not going to work for running!

Simone did not care so much about Jimmy's blisters but she cared a GREAT deal about the hot box his new shoes came in.

In the future I will post some pictures of Jimmy and Maxine running. Max has to practically drag Jimmy along at first but it doesn't take her long to tire out and then HE has to pull her along. Pretty funny team.

Bird Migrations are Beginning

We were not sure how many birds we would see this year since we no longer have our big oak tree in the back. This week we started seeing a more diverse group of birds. Jimmy even spotted a female cardinal.

The gatolinos don't care what kind they are, they are just happy Bird TV is back!

Do you see the two little birds perched on the trash can???

Marley Bob and Guapo

Marley Bob and Guapo became fast friends as they bonded around food. Here they are intently watching Jimmy as he makes our crab cake salads. You should have seen the looks on their faces as we tucked into the delicious lobster Jimmy had made. Eat your heart out doggies!

Snugglers

This was a surprise team! Lulu and Maxine curled up on the blankets on a chilly morning.

BBQ

While Jimmy worked his tail off cooking bacon covered drumsticks and root vegetables the two grey's joined us for some R & R.

Greyhounds at their best . . .

Bufflao Bones

Saturday morning we lit a fire in the chiminea, it was a beautiful, crisp morning. Jimmy brought the dogs out and gave them buffalo bones. Maxine got a huge piece of buffalo neck! She could barely get her mouth around it, it was so big!

They chewed and chomped, scraped and licked - all morning long. Maxine actually gave up on hers after about an hour. Guapo was more than happy to step in and finish the job!

Koof Finds a Secret Spot

Lulu found a great little nook where she can curl up and not be bothered by any big dogs! Guapo and Max would run right by little Lulu in her secret spot!

Team Guapo and Simona

Guapo is having some upset stomach and bad gas as well. He is having a hard time . . . not pooping in the house. He never did this when he stayed with us before so it is obviously because of either the medicine he is taking or the anesthetic. Whatever the reason, Simone is obviously comforting him here. She is an expert at stomach aches since she can't get enough of eating plastic bags, plastic ear plugs - indeed anything remotely plastic smelling appeals to her. She is telling him to just lie back, relax and let the pain work through his body. He is considering taking a little nip at ole Sicky, just to keep her on her toes!

Cats in LA

This is another memory blog - a few weeks ago I was in LA staying with Lara. She has two beautiful cats, who we spent a lot of time with. Often they were our kitchen consultants and other times they were our spectators of the Great Cribbage game of 2008.


Here, Lara was gone and I was cooking dinner. She had put the stool out for Nimbus to sit on and hang out. So he did for awhile, while Lilly circled underfoot.




Then Nimbus got bored and went to seek something more interesting and I turned around and there was Lilly right on the stool!

Kung Fu Felix

Felix squeezing himself into the wok!

He looks incredibly mischievous here. It is a wonder he can fit into that little bowl, really. It is Koof size and she seems to fill it just fine.

But while I was in LA Felix found this hot spot.

Hootenanny

Since we are a little behind on blogging, I will give a few highlights from Woodbelly's visit. Yes, we had another hootenanny! In fact, this year we even had a four legger there - his name was Nacho. He is a smart dog and full of energy.

In this picture you can see the stage in the background.

Woodbelly played his heart out. Jimmy did too, he was so sore the next day from hours on the mud stick! Unrelenting songs, one after another. It was awesome.

The greatest thing was everyone jumped in and played instruments: tambourine, washboard, bongos.

We played and sang until the wee hours of the night. And then up the next morning for a fire and some more singing. Can you see Maxine warming herself in the sun behind the fire?

It was a hoot, a real hootenanny!

Guapo is back!

The GPA (Greyhound Pets of America) called Jimmy today and BEGGED him to take Dapper aka Guapo for the weekend. He went into the hospital today to be neutered and ended up having to get his spleen out! So he wasn't ready to come back to the kennel and they really needed someone to take him for the weekend. So . . . Dapper is back on the scene.

The scene which he immediately peed on the floor!

Other than that, I think he is happy to be back. Of course he is currently high on morphine so he is probably not feeling much but a bit spacey and tired. He has to take three different pills every morning and evening. Hopefully he does ok while he is here! We will keep you posted.

Chilly Morning

I received this picture at 6:15 this morning from Maxine's best friend Marley. That's her on the couch with the cat! They don't usually snuggle up like this and Marley rarely wears a jacket. They look so cozy.

It is COLD this morning. Last night we had a layer of snow throughout the neighborhood, it was quite amazing.

This is a layer of snow on our hibiscus plants! I am sure our family in Boston, New Jersey and New York are laughing at our layer of "snow." You have to consider that a month ago it was 85 degrees and humid!

Cold, finally

We got snow today! It was absolutely amazing. So beautiful and unexpected. It didn't stay on the ground long, but it was such a pleasure to feel and see. After about 9 months of blistering hot, humid weather it was about time!

The cats were of course hunkered down keeping warm and Maxine had to wake us up last night to let her into the toasty warm bedroom.

This is Lulu who found the single best spot in the whole house!

Guapo

Life in the Guerrero house has been running full steam - November was a crazy month. Over Thanksgiving we fostered a greyhound named Dapper, re-named by Leslie Guapo (it sure beat Jimmy's name for him). He was the best behaved and most pleasant foster we have ever had. He was just starting to come out of his shell when we had to take him back to the Greyhound Pets of America. He was a mellow beauty and a joy to have around!

This second picture looks so existential - like the two dogs are looking over the marshlands contemplating life!