Tom and Patti Saunders
Dog's Breath Acres 1999 Annual Report
1999 Annual Report
July - Having just returned from our three week trip to France and Italy, we're settling in for the summer. If it will ever stop raining, and the snow in the mountains melts, various hiking trips in the Cascades are planned. The grass in front hasn't been cut for weeks, and has reached tremendous heights, maybe it will get done soon. There's still plenty to do around the house besides the grass; I've just finished a little stone retaining wall out front, and moved a bunch of bushes and trees around the yard, per Patti's careful direction.
Our retirement has been good to our bodies, we're both getting to the gym three or four times a week, and the hiking in Italy was a breeze. Probably the nicest thing about not having to go to work is missing the commute, but it seems there's only a few hours during the day when a traffic jam can be avoided.
A trip to New Hampshire in the early fall is in the works, perhaps with Allison and Mike along for the ride (if Mike can be talked into an airplane).
November - Well, the winter doldrums seem to have settled in: the sun is gone and the rain won't stop. We're back from our trip to New Hampshire with Allison and Mike. I managed to get in a bit of hiking in the Cascades, along with Patti. A trip up Snow Creek was very pretty, the fall colors rivaling New England's, particularly in the areas burned over a few years back.
Around Dog's Breath Acres, I've completed the Charlotte Saunders Memorial Japanese Basin. This is a beautiful rock two piece basin that once was in Connecticut, then at Ma's home in Oregon, and now here. There's a spout dribbling water into it constantly, which makes a nice birdbath, but also a much preferred supply of drinking water for Bridget and Mandy. Rocky, our favorite squirrel, is no longer in the Cast of Characters. He hasn't shown up for many months, and we fear the worst. There still are plenty of regular old gray squirrels, though.
Patti's heading back to her parents in Arkansas shortly for a few weeks; and her brother and sister plan to visit them also, along with a big family reunion. I manage to keep busy working on the house, reading, trying to recover from soccer injuries in time for the next game. Perhaps my aging body is trying to tell him something.