The rain held off (for most of the day) yesterday, so once PetSmart opened at 9:00 we headed over.  Brownie was initially excited to see his leash appear, and hop in the car for a ride, but naturally when he realized our destination he was considerably less enthusiastic.  Still he behaved well during his ordeal (wish he'd do that when I try to trim his nails) and we were back home before 9:45.

I did some sewing during the rest of the morning, but I was definitely dragging -

 and ended up taking an early afternoon nap.

Brownie's portrait was delivered yesterday, and now I need to decide where to hang it.  

Unfortunately my first suggestion did not receive 'approval' from Tom.

Despite his long neck look Brownie is not actually a giraffe - but he is becoming somewhat of a piglet since Tom and Alex have been "sneaking" him people food.  So I took advantage of the scale at PetSmart to weigh him yesterday.  I've noticed he's been looking chunkier and thus I was not at all surprised to find that he's no longer holding steady at 15 pounds, but has added 8 ounces to his weight.

Of course it hasn't helped that I've been laid up all year and haven't been able to walk him.

One of Alex's friends recently got a golden retriever puppy, and now that Ramen has received his shots he was able to come over yesterday afternoon to meet and play with Brownie.  So cute - and soft!  Ramen was totally enamored with Brownie's donut toy; Brownie seemed less enamored with Ramen.

Ramen also chased the mini 'tennis' ball (I missed the opportunity to photograph his puppy lope across the grass) which 'inspired' Brownie to run after it also. It seems the only time he'll play that game is if another dog is playing.

Last night Tom and I watched an excellent program about reintroducing predators

 into Mozambique's  Gorongosa National Park.

Gorongosa on NOVA

Gorongosa National Park is at the southern end of the Great African Rift Valley in the heart of central Mozambique. The more than 4,000 square kilometres (1,500 sq mi) park includes the valley floor and parts of surrounding plateaus.  Rivers originating on nearby Mount Gorongosa (1,863 m (6,112 ft)) water the plain. Seasonal flooding and waterlogging of the valley, which is composed of a mosaic of different soil types, creates a variety of distinct ecosystems. Grasslands are dotted with patches of acacia trees, savannah, dry forest on sands and seasonally rain-filled pans, and termite hill thickets. The plateaus contain miombo  and montane forests and a spectacular rain forest at the base of a series of limestone gorges. This combination of unique features at one time supported some of the densest wildlife populations in all of Africa, including charismatic carnivores, herbivores, and over 500 bird species. But large mammal numbers were reduced by as much as 95% and ecosystems were stressed during Mozambique's long civil conflict at the end of the 20th century.

At 3:30 this morning I took something to go back to sleep,

 so happily logged another 3 hours.

This morning is PT, this afternoon is the chiropractor - 

and at some point I hope to connect with Lily to wish her a happy birthday.  

FYI It's also Jan's birthday today (her first without Denny)

and we will be lunching together tomorrow to celebrate.   

Not sure exactly where in Maryland Lily is today; this past month she's been bouncing from place to place (I assume mostly around Baltimore) staying with various friends while she awaits Mel's wedding on Sunday.  

Wonder if she experienced any of that intense weather yesterday?  (Sandy and Pippa were hanging out downstairs during the tornado alert.)  The pix on the news, of the destruction in Annapolis, sure didn't look good.