Of Ospreys, Compost, and Wiener Dogs

It was a relatively quite week at Dog End, where I've decided that I'm not really retired.  Instead, I am dedicated to getting in touch with my 10-year-old self.  I hesitate to call this "Second Childhood", as that tends to imply diminished mental capacity, though you never know.  But the general idea is to devote my time to the activities I most enjoyed during childhood, such as drawing and painting, reading tons of books, and spending time with wiener dogs.  And while not an active birdwatcher, I was also attracted to nature--and even occasionally birds--for here is one of my earliest drawings:

Not bad for a 7-year-old, if I do say so myself.  You may wonder, however, why there's a clock behind the owl.  It's because the unfortunate bird was no longer quite so natural--it was, in fact, stuffed and sitting on my uncle's mantlepiece.  Sigh.  Oh, well.  All great artists have to start somewhere!

So nowadays, being fully in touch with my inner 10-year-old, I am busy drawing and painting stuff, reading tons of books, and spending time with very fine wiener dogs, and I've added live, natural birds to the picture.  Of course, I never really stopped doing any of these things during my alleged adulthood.  It's just now I get to do them all the time instead of only on evenings and weekends.  Yay!

Down at the Montlake Fill, for instance, my fellow birders and I have been keeping a keen eye on the Osprey pair, Chester and Lacey, who should have chicks hatching any day now.  I got to see Lacey doing one of my favorite activities--redecorating--as she brought a new stick to the nest:

I also spotted my friends Connie and Inge over by the Main Pond.  Sometimes it can be difficult to spot birds, even with binoculars....

As for drawing stuff, we had a mini-heat wave here (85+) last Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and all I did was haul out the wading pool for the Hounds and take them for walks at 7am.  On Thursday, I was dog-sitting all day.  I can't remember what my Friday excuse was, but on Saturday I did manage to get out with Tina to a small and lovely public garden in Shoreline.

Yes, I drew compost bins.  What can I say?  They were different from what I usually draw, and I was attracted by the variety of shape and texture.  And then I drew what I usually draw:

I have other ideas on how to reconnect with my 10-year-old self.  For example, we used to have fun looking for license plates from other states whenever we went on road trips.  So about a year and a half ago, I decided to find all 50 license plates with the restriction that I had to see them within Washington state.  Someday I'll post pics of them, but only when the set is complete, for as of today, I am still at 49.  And which state am I missing?

Well, it's not Hawaii:

Which I spotted in my own neighborhood.  And it's not Maine:

Nor is it Alaska (we get tons of those here), nor Delaware, nor Arkansas, nor West Virginia...no, the license plate which tasks me to this day is none other than Rhode Island.  It's a small place, I hear.  And apparently, none of the population venture westward.  At least, not very far.  Sigh.

I have other fun ideas, but I know that what you really come here for is the adorable dachshund pics, so I leave you with oodles of wiener dog fun.

Though it wasn't all fun--poor Pippin had to say goodbye to his favorite mail carrier, who is switching to a different route.  They've been very good friends:

Every time he heard the mail truck arrive, Pip bolted outside, tail wagging ferociously, leaping at the gate.  Our carrier, Ms. Chou, enjoyed cuddling him on her lap, and giving him treats.  He will miss her!

Later he distracted himself from his sorrow by romping with Winston:

I also distracted Pippin by buying him a new toy--a ginormous monkey, which he adored in the store but wasn't too sure what to do with when we got it home:

So Truman demonstrated the proper Giant Monkey Attack Method:

Pippin loves to model his behavior on that of his big brother, so he quickly picked up the attack method:

So that was life at Dog End this past week.  My conclusion, after getting in touch with my 10-year-old self, is that I never actually left her behind, that adulthood is highly overrated, and as Moominpappa* likes to say, All responsibilities are only a nuisance.

*If you don't know Tove Jansson's Moomintroll books, get thee hence to a library!