Smudge went in for his regular checkup today. Every couple of weeks he gets blood work done to monitor his hyper-thyroid. Prior to him getting in the carrier, Roxie jumped in. I had to coax her out of it. Smudge gained 2 lbs since he was diagnosed, and she doesn't want him to gain any more. He's doing great. But now she hears a heart murmur and his heart is racing so she's concerned about high blood pressure. If his thyroid is behaving and he gets to cut back or come off of that, and his blood pressure is still high, he'll be put on that. He also needs dental cleaning done, but at those prices, that's not going to happen soon!

Impressive photos today. The chateaux is incredible. Love the Czech kitchen - it looks so cozy and inviting. Alisande, I have really enjoyed your series of gull photos. They also remind me of the movie, The Birds. Beautiful sunrise photos, Moni. I especially like the cloud formations in the second one. Nicole, your homestead shots are beautiful and eerie at the same time. Wonderful butterfly shot, gyr-falcon. You did a fantastic job of capturing all of the little details like antennae, legs and markings.

A few days ago at our house.

I went on a guided nature walk around the UVA campus last week. I didn't have my camera, but a co-worker did and sent me some of her photos. An invasive vine called Porcelain Berry