FLOWERS FOR JULIE

     Julie is not a chemically altered mouse or person.  (And if you're too young to get the FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON reference, I have no use for you.)  Julie is my crazy nomad writing friend, and this week she gave me an awesome idea for raising the stakes in the book I've been working on, and I'll be trying to implement said idea this coming week while I'm away on vacation (in Virginia, because God knows it isn't going to be hot enough here in New Jersey!).  So this post is a big fat THANK YOU to Julie, whom I love and slightly fear and follow vicariously as she hopscotches her way around the planet.

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

     Yes, I know that the real dog days arrive in August, but last weekend my husband and I had our own.  We went - with our dogs - to a B & B in Vermont.  And by the way, here's a link - my guest post from May on my friend Guilie Castillo's wonderful blog, which I don't think I ever remembered to re-post on my own blog - to explain why we once again have two dogs after our irreplaceable Murphy died in February.
     The B & B was The PawHouse Inn in West Rutland, and its hook is that it caters to "dogs and their owners."  To be honest, I'm not recommending the place.  Neither the bed nor the breakfast was anything to write home about.  But the dogs liked taking a road trip

and the inn did have a big fenced-in area for them to play

and they got to go offsite to the Vermont Country Store

and share the humans' bed, which they don't get to do at home.

     So, all in all, despite the rainy weather, it was a nice little getaway.