After Thanks and eating

I enjoy having one entire day to be thankful. I am almost getting to the point where the eating part is something I could skip entirely. I like to eat as much as the next girl, but that whole turkey dinner thing is WAY OVERKILL. Maybe I am the only one who feels this way.

Anyway, my in-laws are here, and so we have been having fun. Yesterday, we climbed onto the roof to get our swamp cooler ready for cold weather. It was fun up there, since you can see really far. I also got some nice shadow shots. Here is one with me, and I have long legs. That is probably the main thing I love about my shadow: I look tall with long legs!!! As a short person, that is something new and exciting. The sun was setting, so I also took some photos of the desert landscape with the shadows of dusk. Isn't it beautiful? I find that I am still adjusting to our new environs, but I do love the colors here.


Here is a shot of the four of us, plus dog, in front of our beautiful desert home.
I think this is my new favorite kind of family portrait.

This morning, on the walk with Pono, the dog had another close encounter with the dreaded cholla. This time, he got a few on his lips, a few in his foot, and one in the roof of his mouth. We now know it takes FOUR people to get ONE thorn out of the inside of Pono's mouth. He is an amazingly strong dog. My friend's dog had cholla thorns in his mouth - even in his tongue - and she and I were able to get nearly all of them out with just the two of us. Her dog also outweighs Pono by about ten pounds. I guess Pono is just not as well trained or something. I am trying to teach Pono that we can get those cactus thorns out better than he can, but he doesn't believe me. If only I could speak "dog"! I hope that he will learn to avoid them entirely soon. Even if I am becoming a pro with the tweezers.

Here is the shameless promotion part: I have listed some new art on my etsy site today, including this watercolor. For some easy Christmas shopping, please do stop by! This is shopping with no crowds, no parking, and no grumpy sales people!

Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all of you!