Eight hours of sleep last night!

After weeks of getting by on 6 and 7 hours of sleep because of the stress I was under (including Lily and Loosy's demands), last night I got a nearly-uninterrupted eight hours of sleep and this morning, except for the normal early-day stiff-and-soreness, I am feeling whole again, not scattered, not anxious about what I need to do next.

Today is Sunday and instead of getting dressed up and going over to the church to set up and be cheerful and welcoming to all who come in, I am sitting at the laptop looking again out over a steel-grey Saratoga Passage toward Camano Island.

I figured out how to turn on the gas fireplace and heat the house, as it has been chilly, breezy, and a little drippy for a couple of days, so it's toasty in here right now.  The dogs have been fed and walked (there is a 1/2 mile loop around the property that works perfectly for an early walk with them---I actually take five of these walks with them every day) and I have only a few things to do today.

Yesterday I made a quick visit to the B's to see Lily and Loosy, neither of whom were particularly overjoyed to see me.  Lily is still pretending to be afraid of the B's and hides under things much of the time but while I was there she did come out and was a little sociable.  They're confused, I think, about how attached to get to the B's, with me going and coming every few days.  But they are getting retrained into new early-morning habits, I hope, which I will try to keep them in when I move south.

The dogs are lovely---Rider, Roxy, and Keely are their names.  Roxy is Rider and Keely's mother, so she's the oldest, but all three are high energy, friendly, and seem to have fallen in love with me.  I tend to be pretty lovey-dovey with them, being deprived of my own animals, and they are eager to be with me.  Rider, who, according to the neighbor, is shy around strangers, seems to be particularly enamored, laying his head in my lap, gazing adoringly as I stroke his ears, bumping my hand up onto his head again if I should tire.  They are Irish Setters and it's a huge pleasure to see them racing hell-bent across the yard, ears and tails flying.  But they are obedient and quick to communicate their own needs and hopes.  Like a walk!