Bruce King Memorial Dog Park

I have been meaning to write something about this little dog park in El Cerrito just a couple blocks from our new house. It was one of the pluses when I was considering purchasing our new home. This is the park that's always open and within a very short walking distance. However, we don't usually see people there.  A dog park is pretty lonely when there is only one or two dogs.

We are hosting a young hound for a few days who needs a bit more exercise than our normal routine. We walked over to Bruce King Memorial Dog Park in the morning,  and to my surprise, there was a group of dogs their with their people chatting like a group of old friends. They had all sorts of toys and were all large breeds. Cracus fit right in then. He thinks he's a big dog. It turned out, they are the morning regulars who stop by every week morning before they go to work. Wow, that's dedication.

Building a Bamboo Trellis

We have a  little bamboo patch in the backyard. It's a good and possibly bad thing. If they start taking over the entire yard, then it's a bad thing. If they stay in their own area, I can use them for various purposes. I knew that I wanted to use them to make trellis for growing anything that climbs.  A couple months ago I planted my kiwi vines out in the garden. They have really flourished. This week is spring break, and I knew that I had to take this opportunity to cut down some bamboo and make a trellis for the kiwi vines.

I have the perfect tool for sawing off the bamboo. About four years ago, I bought a Pocket Boy. It's a cute little saw that can easily hurt someone seriously.  It only took seconds to saw off a bamboo stick. I saw off about 20 of them.  One thing to watch out for is getting splinters from the bamboo. They are so fibrous and sharp. I put on some gloves after getting many tiny splinters.  I saw off the top part with the leaves before pounding the bigger ones into the soil. I used some ribbon from old gift wraps to tie the horizontal sticks. They aren't all straight and even, but that's okay. I think they will be functional. Once the kiwi vines wrap around the trellis, you won't be able to see much of the trellis itself anyway.  I will show you how it all looks in a few months.

Getting Ready for Warm Days

We had a pretty mild winter this year.  There was hardly any rain although it rained a little today.  It seems summer is arriving early. Our new home gets hot in the back, so I have started getting some patio items out. The cooling orange bed for the dogs. Crucus likes to jump onto it like it's a trampoline. I also put on a clothesline to dry towels and sheets.

A few weeks ago on my way to work, I saw someone put out a green patio chair to give away. I turned around and put it in my car.  After hosing it down, it's my patio chair now.

A few months ago, one of the neighbors on my block was getting rid off a couple patio umbrellas. Other than they are old and used, they are in perfect shape.  I took both of them since there isn't much shade in the yard until all the leaves grow back on the trees. I have been hoping to find a couple umbrella stands on cragislist.com with no avail. I finally had to buy a cheap one from Home Depot.

A few days ago, I found the umbrella with the stand lying on its side when I got home from work. I guess it was too windy. Now I put 2 of my spare kitchen counter tiles on top of the umbrella stand, and it's perfect. Those tiles are very heavy.

Finally a Good Look at the Baby Mourning Doves

I have been checking on the doves every day. Yesterday I caught them without the mom, but they were very hidden between the leaves. I never want to disturb them but brushing aside the leaves, so the photo above was the best I could get.  There are just two chicks. I thought there were more.  I went back to the photos on March 9th, and only 2 eggs are in the picture.

This morning, I looked at them again. Mom was sitting with the chicks, and I could only see one chick. After returning from Pt. Isabel a few hours later, I checked on them again. Yahoo!!!!  Only the 2 chicks were home, and I was finally able to get a clear photo of them! I can't believe how much they have grown in eight days! (see photo from March 20th). They are now completely covered in feathers. Pretty soon they will be learning to fly!

Buddy's Three Night Visit

In January I signed up to be a Rover sitter. It just seemed like the logical thing to do. I love dogs and my dogs love dogs. It took over a month until someone contacted me, and Jasper was my first guest. He only needed to stay one night, so my first experience was short and sweet. In less than 2 weeks, I got 3 more inquires. Two of them weren't very good fit, but Buddy was a good match even though he's not crazy about big dogs. He was mostly fine with Kelsey as long as there was some space between the two.

We went to Pt. Isabel a couple times during Buddy's stay. The first time I kept him on the leash. It was pretty obvious to me that he's not the kind of dog just runs off.  The second time I just let him off leash. He runs fast. Both Cracus and him run super fast but they always make sure to stop and keep me in their sight. After Buddy was picked up by his person, Cracus seemed a little confused and sad. He was just playing chase with Buddy a few minutes ago. Now Buddy has gone home.

If you are ever looking for a dog sitter, check out Rover.com and use my discount code "CATALINA20" to get $20 off as a new customer. The code is good for any Rover sitter. Isn't it a sweet deal?