Emperor and Empress

Part of today's bouquet included a fuzzy-looking grass.

On her way home from work, picked up a rose to add a little contrast to the other flowers.

Even though there is one rose, it was able to add a nice aroma to the classroom.

The commemorative plate of the wedding of the current emperor and empress add a nice touch to the tokonoma alcove. 

The plate was going to be thrown away, but I fortunately salvaged it from a home that was being torn down in Shizuoka. 

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Orange Nap

After unpacking some boxes from the move, I found her bag for carrying her on the train or bus. She really likes the small space of this carrying "cage."

I loaded it up with her favorite towels and blankets. For some reason, she hates wearing her striped orange jacket, but loves to gnaw on it.

Whereas Dale would rather tear up and chew on towels or house slippers, Mary seems more content to just snuggle up somewhere nice and comfy and sleep the day away!

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Basking

Walked into the room and found Mary basking in the early evening sun on top of the short-legged kotatsu table that I use for a desk when in the tatami mat room.

Mary is lucky in so many ways. I wouldn't mind coming back in my next life as her! :-)

In some ways, she acts like a cat -- does her own thing at her own pace -- but acts like a spoiled baby when food comes into play.

Am so happy to have her as a part of our family!

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Still a Puppy

Dale is still just a four-month-old puppy in these shots. Her fur is fluffy and soft!

Still having a little difficulty with potty training.

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Sleepy Mini

I have never seen a dog sleep so much!

Further, I didn't expect that she'd usually sleep on her back so much with her legs pointing up into the air!

Kind of envy her!  :-)

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Samukawa Envelopes

The two envelopes contain items we received from the Samukawa Shrine last year after we took part in a Shinto ceremony to pray for a good year and to ask that the "Gods" watched over us. In addition, the priest at the ceremony performed rites to ward off any evil or bad luck from our lives. 

This shot was originally rather bland. Added some slight saturation using editing software, which bad the blues almost look flourescent!

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Dog IDs

Don't know which would be worse, two rows of eight dog teats or a dog penis? Fortunately, Dale has much more fur to avoid her teats from being so darn noticeable.

I wonder why the ant-red-eye software doesn't work with dogs' eyes?

This is one of my favorite poses. Her proportions are good and her muscularity is well-defined.

One bad thing about Mary is that her claws grow rather quickly. She has a tendency  to walk on her claws like a cat when prancing around, which makes it easy for her to slip on the tatami mats. Her breed is for digging out varmints in the fields or around the barn -- not for living in a house with a slick floor.

In the end, this is the shot we chose for her pet insurance ID card and her dog run ID card.

She definitely looks "royal" in this pose. Miniature Pinschers are known as the "King of Toy Dogs."

As to be expected, she can's sit still long enough before having to start sniffing for some doggy snacks! :-)

When she isn't licking me on the face, hands, or feet, then she'll resort to licking herself and tidying up.

Pix4Japan by R.D.S. is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.