Afternoon Banco

You can see by the second picture how skinny Banco is and that she needs to add a few pounds.

High Octave Hercules

Heading out for an outing this afternoon.  Will be seeing an old Mario Bava movie that has been set to music with a full orchestra and opera stars singing the dialogue. And people say LA has no culture.

Banco Plays

Yesterday, Banco was scared of everything... including tennis balls.  She has opened up a lot in 24 hours.  She was not terrified of the leash today and was able to walk. And seeing her play like a normal dog tonight, we now feel her training and acclimation will take days instead of weeks.

Acclimating Banco

Banco needs some socializing. She doesn't play ball or even knows how to play. She's scared of a lot of things and we will be working with her to overcome her fears. Wondering if anyone ever took an interest in her old life.

Afternoon Light

A bumper crop of limes and lemons this year.  A few waiting to be juiced in the kitchen recently.

Banco's Story

Banco is a rescue from Stockton,CA.... East of SanFran. She was abandoned in a backyard, left with no food or water.  When found, she was eating bugs to stay alive.  That was early April. She's thin and we need to put a few pounds on her. She made her way south via a network of volunteers.She's very sweet, too submissive (we are working on that) and very affectionate. She did not need to be crated the first night.... she fell asleep on her dog bed and stayed there till I got up this AM.  She's getting used to being walked.  She has full, deep bark we've heard twice when Rocky next door was running around.

Nasturtiums In Bloom

Banco's Here

Last week, we saw a dog on a local rescue website. A mix of Dalmatian and Lab.  We went to Santa Monica and the Dalmatian Rescue of West LA weekly event and met her. As we got out of the car, there was a young couple with an older Pitt walking her.  I asked if it was Charlotte and they said yes.  Turns out they had come across her that morning and had taken a fancy as well.  But since she was brought there to meet us, we had first right of refusal. Of course we couldn't. Rescue owner Gail told us she did not respond to her name so we re-christened her Banco on the way home.

Lazy A** Squirrel

WL called my attention to our fat squirrel in the back.  He eats for 10 minutes and then sprawls out, splayed on the grass. Like after a big Thanksgiving Day meal. I've never seen this level of gluttony in a squirrel before.

Dueling Burners

The stove top got a little crowded today.  I am trying a new paella recipe while WL makes his amazing strawberry/rose water jam.  It's hard to tell which smell I like more.

Tom Emotes

Our director last week got very demonstrative with cameraman Chris by the LA River.

Cap One and Sam

All those Cap One commercials we did a few months ago with Sam Jackson are now online at the Cap One youtube channel.  Including all the Final Four road trip ads with co stars Spike Lee and Charles Barkley

Maui!

The Farmer's Market this morning had Maui onions, the best tasting onions around.  They're going to compete against the smoky Spanish paprika in today's paella.  May the best taste win.

Anna's Work

Last year, I started collecting a series of prints from Russian artist Anna Filimonova based on "100 Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Currently on Etsy, she is selling a B&W set of these prints.  I will hopefully be able to complete my orange set soon. If anyone wants to piggy back unto my order, let me know. Amongst her other works include children's illustrations and some lovely  Russian-esque themed works.

Sitka Came, Frankie Left

 Four weeks ago we got a Red Ticked Coon Hound named Sitka from a local shelter. Since her name was very close to command WL was going to be teaching her, we changed it to Frankie. She is a beautiful 2 1/2 dog but with no training. She grew up with 38 other coon hounds in the South.   She only wanted the company of other dogs.  Her daily trips to the dog park were her favorite times.  A trainer told us it would be upwards of $1500 to socialize her and after a few biting incidents, we decided to take her back.  WL told me she seemed happy to be back in the shelter. She knew the people there and the other dogs. The staff was impressed WL was able to teach her some tricks. We thought we had failed her but she's going to need more training than we can give. Hopefully she will find her pack.

Back Yard

Things were looking good in the back yard last weekend.