Category: Dog

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Copenhagen and back – via Paris

Everybody made it back safe from their travels, and it was quickly back to reality for most. That includes Duke, who had to give up his roasted chicken diet in lieu of the raw food his mommy seems to prefer feeding him.

For the last few days, John’s been off on one of his whirlwind trips to Denmark. Mostly to pick up a long-sought-after lens. He had been on a waitlist for this particular lens model for two years before getting kicked off, citing unavailability and uncertainty. The lens was, however, in stock at a dealer in Copenhagen, and by saving the VAT, he even saved a few dollars.

It was also a welcome chance to see his mom and later catch up with an old friend. As it happened, Eli’s Danish citizenship papers came through and were waiting in Copenhagen, so those were also picked up. Great to have that behind us, and Eli is a Danish citizen for the rest of her life.

The return was through Paris, where John was lucky to see the final stage of the Tour de France. With a Dane winning for the second year in a row, it’s extra special, although it doesn’t quite hit last year’s highs with the tour starting in Denmark and an unexpected win over Pogacar. Overall, it brought back memories of a 1996 trip to Paris to celebrate another Dane winning “the tour” (Bjarne Riis). Back then, John was joined by two friends – Hans and Lars – and his dad. Fun memories all around, even though we never really got to see much of the fast-moving riders

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Summer time in Hillsborough

It’s been a while since we last checked in. Since we last wrote, Olivia and her family sailed from Barcelona to Lisbon. Some arrived in Barcelona early, others departed Lisbon late. Most were back in California by July 5th.

At home, John and Duke enjoyed each other’s company. So much so that John was later accused of making Duke chunky, having put him back on his previous diet consisting mostly of rotisserie chicken. Anyway… lots of walking, lots of visits to the beach, and the bay, where Duke managed to find a leopard shark, correction, a dead leopard shark on one of their walks.

These little vacation pockets with very few people in the house are a good opportunity to catch up on the smaller-and-smaller list of things we need to take care of, and Manuel and his crew were here for a week treating all the outside woodwork. The outside looks so much better and should be OK for at least five years.

Eli went to Italy to visit a friend while the rest of the family was in Spain. She had a great time on the coast (La Spezia) and even made it out on the water in a family-owned boat. She was lucky to see one of her cousins in Copenhagen during a layover on the way back.

We continue to have construction in our backyard, and the dust from digging and the winds have been rather significant. The dust is everywhere – on the side of the house, on the cars, on the pool cover, and more. We have written the city, asking them to pay for at least one cleaning a quarter. Let’s see – we don’t have a great track record with them, although they have decided to take another look at our claim from the fallen tree. Their insurance company is still recommending that they deny our claim, so we don’t have high hopes for a positive outcome. For us, anyway.

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Another Quiet Week

It’s been another quiet week by the pool. The tracks for the pool cover were installed on Tuesday, and our landscaper almost finished rebuilding the retaining wall. We got some of our irrigation back, which is excellent as the last couple of months have been hard on our plants.

We’re waiting for coping and spa tiles to be installed, but there’s a bit of negotiation to be done. We are also waiting for our patio contractor to start. Unfortunately, he pushed the start date another two weeks and still owes us some numbers for a redesigned design.

Still searching for a landscape designed to help with our rose garden but made some progress via friends and our local mailing list.

In all of it is Duke running around in the dirt pile, having the time of his life…

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Two Years Old

Duke – our golden doodle – turned two today. Went by without any celebrations but he’s been mooching chicken, cheese, and yesterday he was treated to two Puppy Patties from In’n’Out Burger (unsalted burger patty).

Duke got his name from a lucky draw. There were several other good choices in the hat with all the little paper slips, but it’s a good name for him even though it’s rarely “Duke” when spoken to. “Dukie”, “Dukalicious” (cringe), and obviously “Duke Dish” is often heard around here.

He’s doing a good job uniting the family when he’s allowed. Olivia’s his favorite – by far. The two of them are inseparable.

Happy Birthday, Duke! ❤️

There’s more of him on his Instagram account