Awwwwww, these are all soooo cute. And very well-coordinated. ; ) Our whole family oohed, ahhhed, and giggled over your posts. : ) Our Feliz (you can sing her song with me: "Feliz naughty-dog...") is a three year old poodle-something that we got a year ago. I tease that she's crossed with a fool, which makes her a "foodle". She's a *great dog and has been an incredibly good fit for our family. Believe it or not, she does occasionally peel herself off the furniture to help clean up the kitchen. She especially likes helping "pre-rinse" the dishes as they're loaded into the DW. I think we'll have to match our floors to the dirt, since fluffy white flooring is definitely out of the question. :-) I was over to the house today, tacking up all kinds of paint chips. We're going to have to repaint pretty much everything downstairs, so it'll be a fresh start. Everywhere. Fun, but a bit overwhelming. It's an old house with high ceilings. Painted woodwork. Wood floors (that need refinishing.) Quite a bit of light in most of the rooms. The kitchen is a bit darker though, having a window on the north side and being in the middle of the run of the rooms. We'll be opening the kitchen some, so it needs to work with the whole scheme. Whatever that is. Maybe I should build off of Olivia instead?

I'm already thinking about my next dood but my husband isn't so sure-he's perusing the rescue cats ;) They do have mini and medium-doods as well. Mine is non-shedding but there is no guarantee, some have straighter coats and they will shed. Purebred Portuguese Water Dogs like Bo and Sunny are very popular around here as well, also have curly hair coats. I think they can be a handful. They only get to medium size and often have lovely colors. One thing I love about Penny is how goofy she is. She bounces everywhere (very slow runner because she runs like pepe le pew). Also I think her muzzle is going to turn out to be too narrow for her body (poodle muzzle on a golden body). So basically she's gonna look weird. She would not be suitable for someone who likes beautiful dignified dogs. You can see the muzzle problem in this photo. It was enlightening hanging out with my foster dog (GORGEOUS brindle shepherd-pit mix) as she was a real show stopper and people crossed the street to meet her based on looks. If I were to get a purebred GSD I would check dam and sire carefully for the cant of the back. It is my personal belief that the steeply sloping back that is currently in vogue is very bad for the hips and legs. Dysplasia is no fun. I think this change in conformation is part of the reason Belgian Malinois' are getting more popular, although my impression is that they are a lot of dog and can be difficult to satisfy their working drive and energy needs. A woman at my work has a Malinois a bit older than my pup and he is still fully in land shark mode, mine has already calmed down a lot. I would never go for a Mali myself as I would be a terrible owner for a hard headed, extremely intelligent, extreme high energy dog. I knew I needed a soft dog and picked a soft puppy for that reason. Signing up for working-dog drive is a big commitment. My sister's sled dog (malamute GSD mix) was impossible to keep up with and very hard to live with for the first 18 mos. Multiple runs per day were not enough.

Thanks. So is it because of the particular genus of climbing rose? Because I know I saw a video on youtube where a horticulturist talked about deadheading a climbing rose to promote new flowers during the same flowering season...

Recently there was a cabinet/hutch on craigslist, somewhat more feminine in styling, white with the back painted a lovely yellow. It was described as a Swedish style, something rarely seen in these parts. I really, really wanted it. I could easily envision it in the room that I hope to make my personal retreat once my daughter moves it. It was even pictured against a teal that is similar to the one I envision for that room. I refrained from purchasing it because there is no definite timeline of when she will move out and it would add to the clutter of the house right now, which is something that has been bothering me of late. Part of me thinks it would have been worth it and part of me thinks letting it go was the decision I needed to make right now.