In between emptying out more of the kitchen cabinets last evening (and deciding what to keep, what to rehome, what to toss) we watched a couple of excellent PBS programs.  The one about people reconnecting with wild animals they have rehabilitated and released into the wild was touching, and should make everyone reassess their views on the emotional capabilities of other mammals. 

What happens when people are reunited with the wild animals with which they forged a deep bond years ago? Will these gorillas, elephants, cheetahs and chimpanzees still recognize their human caregivers and how will they react? That is the premise of this program which also raises the question whether wild creatures can really experience emotions like joy, devotion, and love.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/animal-reunions-full-episode/14089/

Another show, on the construction of the Forbidden City, was also fascinating; besides the fact that construction (in the early 1400s) only took 4 years, the ingenious methods they used render it virtually earthquake-proof!

Today is Alex's 25th birthday!  Now he's a whole quarter of a century "old".  (I celebrated my 25th birthday at Disneyland.)  We'll take him out for dinner tonight to celebrate.

I'm still waking up around 5:30 each morning, but at least that is a time I can live with.  On the plus side maybe I will be able to get in a little sewing before the tree crew arrives at 7:00.  My arm is sore today (probably as a result of Tuesday's workout) but that shouldn't hamper my sewing <g> too much! There's not too much on my "schedule" today so I'm hoping to get the remaining four placemats constructed.  (Alex approved of the first four when he popped over to return Tom's truck keys.) It's a plan!

I had invited him (and Kyle) to dinner last night - salmon on the grill - but they already had made plans to meet some friends.  Here's the pic Alex had me snap after the RV returned all nice and clean from the truck wash. (The inside looked a whole lot better also since they had mucked out 6 weeks of clutter!)

PUPPY UPDATE:

Nate X Frannie puppies have arrived!
We have 4 puppies, 2 boys and 2 girls (1 liver), no patches.

Birth weights were between 12.9 oz. and 15 oz.

All are doing well. Good girl, Frannie!
(Frannie still needed a clean up when this photo was taken, but she needed to rest more.)