Salem, MA

My daughter's school trip back in June included a trip to Salem.

This is the House of Seven Gables (as in Nathanial Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables):
This is what I learned about gables on the tour. To be a gable, the peak has to be the same height as the original roofline:
You can imagine how thrilling this information was to a bunch of 8th graders.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's birthplace, with the House of Seven Gables on the right:
Another Salem landmark:

Phoebe update

So Phoebe is 10 months old now, and it's like she's always been a part of the family. We have come to the conclusion that she's so ugly she's cute, which makes me love her even more. She got a haircut last week, and the stupid clothes I buy her actually had a practical use for once, because she was shivering(from cold or from embarrassment I'm not sure).Blurry face here, but I wanted to show off her shirt, which cost $1.00, because buying dog clothes makes me WEIRD, so I try to only buy on the cheap:
Also blurry but I like her ear. Nope, she will never win a beauty contest (but hey, neither will I):
She was still shivering even in her shirt, so we wrapped her in a blanket. My husband will probably be pissed that I posted a photo of him with morning hair. That morning he shook his head and said, "I never thought I'd have a dog that needed to wear pajamas to bed."






I think she's appreciating her haircut this week, though, because it's really hot and humid. I'm sitting here with a fan six inches from me.

Adams Stone Library, Quincy, MA

Holy cow, it's a blog post.

My daughter graduated 8th grade earlier this month (parent brag alert: as co-valedictorian!), and that weekend her class took a trip to Boston and Salem to tour some historic sites. I decided to leave the 40D at home and see if I could still operate a point-and-shoot camera. The answer is: not so much. This one's not so bad, though. It's the Adams Stone Library (as in John Adams):

Dumbass chipmunk

This was the most exciting thing that happened at our house all Memorial Day weekend. We rescued a chipmunk that got stuck in our bird feeder.
We couldn't figure out how he got in there at first. It doesn't open unless you pull up on it, so he didn't get in through the top. He must have crawled in through one of the square little holes. Then I bet he ate so much he couldn't get back out. Just like Pooh with the honey at Rabbit's house!
Freedom!

Yellow Tulips

Haircuts

I decided the dogs needed haircuts since I couldn't see Phoebe's eyes anymore. She was looking disheveled all the time. After their haircuts I thought I'd take them outside to try to get some cute pictures.

That didn't work out so well with The Phoebster.
Post haircut, she's still disheveled all the time. She's no supermodel, but we sure love that little puppy.
Baxter gave me his best "look how dignified I am" pose. It's a total act. There's nothing dignified about that dog, but he does pull off the look sometimes.

Orchid

I think I'm busting out of my photo slump, because I've pulled my head out of my...Kindle and am starting to take more photos. I thought I'd capture my orchid one more time before it dies.