Paperwork and Baileywork

I found this little crab spider nestled in one of the blossoms on our "Poodle Skirt" dahlia. Can you see it in there, waiting for an unsuspecting bee or fly to come along? I wonder how it manages to find blossoms -- are these spiders just out there, migrating from flower to flower?

Yesterday was a day for getting things done. My mental inbox has been full of a bunch of stuff that I had to get cleared out.

First of all, I had to mail my ballot for the Democratic primary election in Florida. The election is August 18 and I just realized the other day that I never received an overseas ballot as requested. So I sent a message to the Supervisor of Elections in the county where I vote, and they e-mailed me a ballot. I filled it out, printed and mailed it yesterday. Done!

I don't care much about the Democratic primary but I want to stay active on the voter rolls and also get a sense of how this will work for the general election in November.

Second, I had to file the insurance claim for my camera. Dave had to sign, scan and copy some documents, which he did yesterday morning, and I pulled everything together and filed the claim electronically yesterday afternoon. I don't think I need to send paper copies as well but I'll double-check on that. I hope everything I sent will be sufficient; we shall see.

So that's two big items off my plate. In addition I caught up on some e-mails and blog-reading.

And of course I took care of this beast. She lay in the garden with me after an eventful neighborhood walk. She really does not like other dogs. She ran into Olga's black lab and spaniel pals from the nearby housing estate and I thought she was going to take their heads off. I see what the rescue place means about her needing to stay on a lead. She is a very different dog from Olga, and who knows what dark things may have damaged her psychologically in the past.

Fortunately she is very sweet to both of us, and to the other people she meets. It's only dogs she can't stand. She is happy to lie on our laps, submit her belly for rubbing and sleep with us in bed.

In the afternoon we took her to Fortune Green and the cemetery, where we walked the forested paths and she could watch the squirrels (above). She looks tiny in that photo but she's really not that small; about 22 kilos, roughly the same size as Olga. It's just a matter of perspective, I guess.

Afterwards we went to Sweet Corner, the corner cafe, and had a coffee in the air-conditioning while she lay by our feet.

And remember that alligator chew toy that we bought for Olga years ago? Olga never knew what to do with it; she much preferred her Kongs. But Bailey loves eviscerating a soft chew toy. We gave her the alligator and she made short work of it, first methodically gnawing a small hole in the tough outer covering and then pulling out all the stuffing and the squeaker. After that, she beheaded it.

Here's some of the action, in case you'd like to see the carnage first-hand.

She still has a lot of puppy in her. Fortunately she doesn't chew anything she shouldn't. (So far!) I hope I can redirect some of this chewing energy to the Kongs, because they are very sturdy and will hold up, unlike the soft toys. Remember how Olga used to gnaw Kongs apart as a young dog? We've been through all this before!

Her world is about to be shaken again, because Dave leaves tomorrow for a ten-day trip to the USA to see his parents and attend Drum Corps events in Indiana. She's very bonded to Dave so I hope this doesn't unsettle her too much. Fortunately the rest of her new routine should remain more or less the same.