GDB FunDay San Rafael / Sunday Rest

It is without a doubt some of the hottest days in a while and maybe the hottest was yesterday and we spent that walking around the multi-acre campus for Guide Dogs for the Blind. But the warm sun has other benefits in the realm of the floral display in our own front yard this week:
We have enjoyed the burst of mostly white things mixed with some purple -- we are amazed that the iris flowers keep blooming . . .

Weather from the Web

It is always comforting to be able to get forecasts for the weather whenever we want them -- and they are fairly reliable. Growing up, we were often totally surprised with what weather "showed up" though if it was rain -- we could smell it "in the air".  And in the midwest the after rain smell was definitely present. We have not had rain to speak of this week, but we have had heat:

These are examples of the notices that I receive hourly on one of my homepages to broadcast the temperature at the moment . . . what I really love is the ones that state:  98 degrees outside but it feels like 94 degrees . . . really?  Who determines that and can you really feel 4 degrees different. If you get right down to it -- it feels like 70 degrees to me because we have the a/c on and fans as well . . .


The Big Day for GDB in San Rafael

Once a year the GDB organization invites all the puppy raisers and their pups to gather, mingle, participate, sell things (to benefit individual groups) and to meet one another. Yesterday was that day for San Rafael. There were about 1400 folks and about 400 puppies attending the conference. It was not unlike some of the other conferences that I have attended over the years for the companies that I worked for -- but this one was also very different in that puppies were such a huge part of the gathering -- I only heard one small bark the entire day from the pups visiting.

Click on the above to see some of the activities. Sign-in, Booths to buy things in, exhibits and the grounds to explore. We arrived shortly after 8 am for a day of "fun". We started with buying things from various booths and then graduated to buying things in the "gift shop". We then all convened to a huge tent and were welcomed and given guidance for the days activities.

Some of the highlights included having a chance to meet Dino's littermates. We met at the assigned area and unfortunately only two other siblings were in attendance. We met Delphi and Delfina and were told about a third sibling that had been what is called "career changed" which means they will not be a guide dog for the blind -- in this case Denali had a sensitivity to the wearing of the guide dog jacket. We also found out that another sibling -- Darlo -- lived in the Seattle area.

Clicking on the above you can see a couple of photos of Dino reacquainting with his siblings. Another highlight was visiting the new puppy area and a beautiful yellow lab pup can be seen in the arms of it's attendant. While visiting that area Dino also "checked out" the statue dog . . .

Canine Entertainment

What would a huge gathering be without entertainment that would be suitable for both humans and canines -- Tillman the skateboarding bulldog . . . that's who. Tillman captured the interest of all who attended. He performed energetically along the street and never seemed to tire of the skateboard:

Tillman was a huge hit and even the pups were enthralled watching him on the move . . .

But Getting Back to Genealogy

And guess whose genealogy I am talking about -- my favorite activity of the day was to go to the "volunteer's center" and obtain a copy of Dino's Pedigree. Clicking on the above you can see a five generation chart for Dino -- and of course it is the same pedigree for his eight siblings. The difference in his pedigree chart and for one of us humans is that with five generations all of his ancestors on the chart most likely are living . . .

The picture on the lower left is of Dino and the two other siblings attending -- and that was the best of the photos we attempted to shoot . . .

The Status of the Dieting Program

They say to not weigh each day, but what the heck. I started the week at four pounds less than the week before and then bouncing daily numbers up and down I end up at the same weight that I started with -- oh well, I still have next week and I am feeling good about that. Here is a peek at one of my favorite "diet" dishes:

I could eat this type of food almost everyday -- that isn't the case with everyone though . . .


A Look at Dino this Week

We had other things besides "FunDay" this week. We had watching the progress of paint-drying and things like that as the pool house gets painted. Hopefully next week that project will be nearing completion. Dino though enthusiastically welcomes each chance to visit in the back to check out everything.

Above is a variety of poses as he went about his weekly chores . . .


And Lastly, Something Shady

Another mini-project completed this week -- and that was the installation of new shades on the back deck. We had put up a temperary shade but now we have some that are "workable" in that they can be lowered and raised as desired. We are going to put them on the backside of the arbor as well . . .

And so went our week -- we did have burgers last night, along with slaw. Tonight we are going to have a surprise dinner consisting on whatever strikes our fancy when we go shopping in a few minutes . . .

Have a good week, see you in a few!