First weekend of 2026

 

Sunrise and moonset, January 4th, 2026.  The sun peeked over the horizon at 7:51 a.m., local time.

It was chilly Sunday morning but predicted to rise to 50℉ in the afternoon.  "The kids" planned an outing at the big dog park near my house for 2 p.m.

Ember slipped her self-control in the morning.  The Prisoner wanted to come in, and I was not paying attention when I opened the door.  Yikes!  A scrimmage ensued, and eventually The Prisoner fled to the neighbor's yard.  I could not entice him back, even after Ember was safely crated.  He came back toward the end of Ember's first puppy nap, and I walked him down to his luxury suite.  He was still giving me a bit of side-eye for my earlier lapse in vigilance.

I baked a cauliflower with cheese for lunch and ate another portion for supper, after the dog park adventure.  

It got up to 50, as promised, but there was a breeze that made it seem chillier.  I have no photos to share of the dog park, as I put my phone in my pocket and just enjoyed watching the canines and the kiddo running about.  The stream was iced over in spots, and the dogs got both wet and muddy because it was not iced over in ALL spots.  

DIL did take photos but none of those she shared is missing the image of FGC, so can't post them here.  But the shenanigans of canines with kids are pretty classic.  Ember did manage to climb up the A-frame on the agility course, and the weave corridor was traversed by both dogs as well (while kiddo was perching on top of a couple of the solid wooden poles that line it).  

Ember tripped the kiddo early on, but he bounced up from it and carried on, having DIL check his scrapes.  The sun came out, and it felt warmer toward the end of the walk than it had at the beginning.

Kiddo wanted to toss ice chunks, so there was a bit of that kind of action, too.  I think I might be able to share that one as it's from the rear (doesn't show his face).

Everybody went home for baths at the conclusion of the park time, dogs and humans alike.  Ember's version was with the cleaning gloves.  I kind of like them, vanilla scent, disposable wipes in a mitt shape.

I fed Ember, then she sacked out, having had just what she needed from the day!  

We end the post with a gorgeous sun display as it sank to the horizon at 5:12 p.m. local time.  The Foster Grandson heads back to school on Monday after a nice long break, DIL heads back to work, and hopefully, I'll get my inner calendar reset to a regular "day of the week" awareness.

Life is good.  Keep on Sparking!