Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, Mani the increasingly huge purebred border collie, filling in for the guy I live with, and here to bring you the latest news about this and that. You may remember me from such posts as “A Misty Day”, among an ever-growing (like me) number of others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
I bet you’re thinking how intelligent and sophisticated I look there. Well, I pretty much do, although the guy I live with took my picture when I was thinking of something totally different from sophistication and intelligence; instead, I was being the fierce patroller and eliminator of things that do not belong in my house.
Here I am in a fiercely patrolling pose. If you needed to know how to look super alert, well, this is how it’s done. 
There are things that need watching very closely. 
So just in case you thought I was something like a Home Ornament who sat around and did nothing, you would be wrong.
I did get chastised for swiping Ambrose again, but I guess the guy I live with isn’t too steamed about it now.
Ambrose
I did get really yelled at for “trying to chew a hole in the carpet”, but I wasn’t really doing that, I was simply looking for something. I forget what, now.
And also, if you were under the impression that the guy I live with was like this perfect, enlightened, mellow guy, you might be surprised that he gets angry at people from time to time. He also does stupid stuff.
He watered his cactus seedlings, you know, the thousand or so, and forgot that the pots were sitting in trays and that the water wouldn’t drain anywhere, and instead sucked all the water right back up into the pots, and he also thought the air would dry them out, but instead half of them died. This is all that’s left (except for one flat still upstairs and some that are being planted out).
He said he didn’t need that many cactus and that he was kind of losing interest in them, and that the whole thing was really stupid on his part. There’s an anniversary coming up on Sunday and I guess he’s moping more about that than all the dead cactus, but the point here, really, is that I bet you didn’t know how dumb he could be.
And yet, he claims I’m dumber, which is hard to believe, and not very nice, because he says I’ve been trying to climb up the shelves on the patio to get to the squirrel. “Shelves?” you might wonder. Yes, shelves.
The squirrel, or I guess squirrels, used to have a cozy nest in the corner of the patio, here. Way up in the corner there’s a shelf built there, just for nesting, but the squirrels moved in when they discovered they could. Looks pretty cozy to me.
cozy nest
For some reason (“probably lower rent”, according to the guy I live with), they moved everything to the shelves where stuff is kept. The shelves have covers on them to prevent rain from washing out any seed pots that might be there, and now there’s a squirrel fort there, which I can’t get to. Not that I could get to the one you see above, but this one is lower down, and I know it’s there, so it’s much more aggravating.
squirrel fort
Okay, I guess that’s it. No, wait. The weather. It’s been raining here since April, and they said it would stop today, and it was raining this morning, and then it stopped, and then it started to thunder in the afternoon, then the sun came out for a couple of minutes, then it rained, and then it stopped, and then it poured rain. The guy I live with says it’s gloomy.
(All those really loud drops are because the guy I live with had a trash can lid on his head….yes, that’s right….and held the camera with one hand.)
It might be to me, too. I like to play out in the rain, but not really when it’s pouring rain. I suppose it will stop eventually, the way things do.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
I’ve wondered for a little while about the time difference and now I know. It’s 8.45pm there and it’s 12.45pm here, just going to beg my mum for my lunchtime apple.
Mani we all forget things sometimes but you must remember Ambrose ( who looks very sad because you keep kidnapping him ) is very special.
Hope the rain stops soon so you can play in the puddles.
I’ve never had an apple, though I think there are some in my food. The guy I live with says that a couple of the border collies here were really fond of apples, and other fruits. Yes, I keep getting told about Ambrose, and I keep forgetting. The rules around here seem to be increasing with each day. Don’t do this, don’t do that. The guy I live with says there wouldn’t be so many rules if I didn’t do so many things, but I am little, after all. It’s really raining now, at 9:13 p.m.
There’s no getting away from it Mani. I am a big grown up 7 now and there are still new rules plus all the old ones I am supposed to heed. I have an affliction though, it is called selective hearing, Most of the time I don’t hear when my mum calls or yells at me. Sometimes I listen because you really have to sometimes.
That’s funny, I have selective hearing too. Like if I’m outside, having fun, I only hear the bag of biscuits being crinkled. I can also hear the alarm on his phone that says “lunch” or “dinner”. Of course, in fairness to me, the guy I live with rarely has anything of value to say.
Oh, I wish it was raining at whatever pm. and am.
The guy I live with says he would gladly trade, and you could have the rain, but that life doesn’t work that way. I don’t know why not, but he says it, so it must be true, right? The sun is sort of out right now, at 8:47 in the morning, but it’s still overcast in the west. We can see the west from here, like the clouds over the mountains, I mean. He says he would just as soon not have any more weather until this time next year.
Oh, my gosh, Mani, MORE rain porn. Although when we arrived home from the down-the-block Asian Bistro (walnut shrimp with Manhattans) a minute ago, pavement and soil were surface wet. We even can’t wish for rain – in a drought – for on Sunday in an outdoor stadium across the bay – we take a ferry – we see Mick and Keith and the rest of the Stones rocking out. Gotta stay dry for that. Then the rain can down pour … bet it won’t .
.Other than that, dear Mani, you look quite the fierce alert doggie on patrol in house, patio, and one gorgeous garden, and I hope.you getcha them squirrels.
Oh, love Ambrose. Where procure? and not for the dogs — me.
Yes, more rain. I don’t know where Ambrose came from. The lady of the house saw it somewhere and bought it. The rain is okay, though according to the guy I live with, the accompanying darkness is not. Isn’t it strange how some people get what other people want. (The guy I live with occasionally reads California water blogs.) And now that the rain has departed, according to official statements, we’re in for severe weather. He says never wish for anything, and to just breathe, instead. What a weirdo.
mani ~ you are growing into such a handsome, yet still adorable doggie. be patient with your human…some of those anniversaries can be really difficult to pass through, no matter how much time has passed.
Thanks; he needs to be patient with me, too, since I’m still little and think stuff exists to be swiped, and dragged out the back yard. I guess last year on the anniversary, which is tomorrow, there was a tornado and hail, which I’d just as soon not experience, but the guy I live with says the weather has become all backward (this neighborhood rarely gets any weather, being so close to the mountains), and that life has become increasingly strange. Which is where I come in, to be utterly delightful, despite my “moments”.
Good way to get rain sound effects. Sorry about the cacti. Will be thinking of you on the sad anniversary. Sad is a weak word.
Thanks; the sun came out, and we could see blue sky, which was taken as a sinister sign. It also poured rain here today and hailed a little. And the squirrel nest had to be removed. It was a really excellent nest, very cozy looking, but it had to go.
Keep at those squirrels. You’ll get them one day!
Best wishes to you this time of year and please just try to send the rain our way.
Thanks; I plan to. One of my many duties around here, I guess. The guy I live with says you can have all of our rain. It poured rain here a couple of times today, and it’s supposed to do that all next week. The rain might be okay if it wasn’t accompanied by another precipitation feature, which is all too common here….