Moss Forests

I like terrariums.

When I was visiting mom we found some amazing hanging terrariums shaped like lightbulbs.  I knew they would be perfect for the dining room so I collected a few other goodies and put them together one pretty afternoon.

Now if I could just manage to keep them alive.

Nibbles for Cocopuff

Recently Eddy's cousin Beth and her husband Eli were in the Bay Area.  We forced them to hang out with us because they're fun.

To commemorate the occasion, I baked up some dog treats for their sweet pittie Coco (AKA Cocopuff!)

I baked two flavors: cheddar beef and peanut butter pumpkin.

Okay, so truth be told the treats were actually for Norman and Molly. I mean, there were 150 in all.  That's a freaking lot of dog treats.

Beth and Eli just happened to plan their visit with impeccable timing. But just so you don't think they got short changed, I made this adorable gift bag for their treats.

Just look how much fun it is to come visit us. Everyone should do it.

Crows Don't Like Car Rides

Before we got sweet little adorable puppy Norman,

Eddy had what he called the "Two Pets Per Person Rule." Then of course Norman came along. Then Harry Potter came along.

While I had advocated for the abolition of the Two Pets Per Person Law, four pets were admittedly too many. Once HP found a home, we were back to three. When we lost Ada, we decided we might be ready for a third pet again so along came Molly. As fate would have it, we were destined for a fourth pet. At least for a little while.

The exact day we brought Molly home for the first time, an injured American Crow was downed in our yard.

Thankfully we got to him before the dogs did and were able to safely capture him and keep him fed and watered until we could get him to a rescue organization. We took our friend to the folks at the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley and they took great care of him. What we learned from this experience is that crows *definitely* do not like car rides.

For the record, I also sort of don't like giving crows car rides.

Small-y Molly

For those of you who haven't been following the unfolding awwwws on Facebook, we have a new Westbrook in this house.

Molly, on the search for her BFF from BADRAP.org on Vimeo.

Her name is Molly!

We don't have too many pictures of her solo because everyone loves her so much.

She's a timid girl because she has had some bad scares in her life, but we're teaching her about the good stuff. Like riding in the car,

chasing balls,

and (most importantly!) snuggling on the couch.

She's beginning to be quite the expert on snuggling on the couch.

Berkeley Afternoon

We recently spent a lovely afternoon out at Berkeley.  We took Norman to see the Lawrence Hall of Science.  Everyone knows dogs love Science.

And views. At least, Norman loves views. Or maybe that's Eddy who loves views.

We hung out at campus a bit.

And by "hung out" I mostly mean "stuck our heads through bridges."

You know, to stare at squirrels and stuff.

Giraffes Heart Crackers

Recently I had a chance to visit the Dickerson Park Zoo with my mom.  It had been years since I had visited that zoo and it was amazing to see how much had changed (and how much hadn't!)  We saw some muggle animals

and some magical animals.

We tried on masks at the gift store (of course!)

But the best part ever was feeding the giraffes. Giraffes heart crackers.

Apparently very much.

Portrait of a Stewart as a Pillow

Mom's dog Stewart is kind of an adorable clown.

She therefore likes to collect things with Stewarts on them. Like, lots of things. She recently bought this cute fabric to make some pillows for a new couch.

I thought she might like (yet another!) Stewie to go with it.

Stewart Gilligan!  (Yep, Stewart Gilligan...)

It's a real big pillow...