Sunny at the Beach

Recently, I got a huge order from a chain of wineries who will be carrying some of my cork items. It's sort of a good and bad thing because I make all the items myself, so I've been cranking away at the sewing machine, which is where I'll be for at least 3 more weeks, making over 300 items as fast as my fingers will let me.

I try not to let it affect Cabana's life too much. She still gets her morning walks and trips to the park--but after that, she needs to entertain herself. She's good about it, usually hanging out in my sewing room with me.

But I decided to give us both a little break this morning, and we took a trip to the off-leash dog beach. We don't get to the beach often enough, even though it's only 30 minutes away. I know, how ridiculous of me! But today, the weatherman predicted a rare sunny morning there (the coast is usually encased in fog until it burns off midday), and I was so glad to take advantage of it because it turned out to be gorgeous.

Cabana's first response to the beach is always sniffing around the sand like crazy. I would think she'd head straight for the water, but no, this dog needs to make sure there's nothing good to eat hiding under the kelp mounds. Unfortunately, she usually finds something to consume, whether it's food or some other substance. Today, it was a corn-less corn cob--she started chomping away, but when I told her to "drop it", she did. I smushed it into the sand with my foot, but about 20 minutes later, she made her way back to that spot, dug it up, and ate it. Was she thinking about that corn cob the whole time?!

Finally, Cabana leaves the sniffing behind and heads for the water. She switches gears with a vengeance, dashing in and out of the waves like a true water dog.


Here's a video of Cabana's frenzied cavorting. Imagine having this kind of energy! If only I could sew like Cabana cavorts....

But Cabana is only a "faux" water dog. She doesn't go any deeper than this because Cabana does NOT like to swim--she ONLY likes to wade.

We stopped and played with a few dogs as we walked along, but when we came to this boy, Cabana was enchanted. I was worried she'd knock him over or jump on him, but she didn't. She just wanted to hang around him and be his buddy.

That is, until she saw this black Lab! They were drawn to each other like magnets. And of course, it's because career changed guide dogs always seem to recognize each other!

I couldn't tell just by looking, but Cabana obviously could! This black Lab turned out to be Jordan, who was released from guide dog training for growling (not aggressive at all, but he just growls sometimes).

Jordan's owner is a current trainer at Guide Dogs for the Blind, and they live just a few blocks from us. We have met a few times on walks, but Cabana and Jordan have never gotten to truly play together. The dogs definitely were happy to finally get the chance!

Now it's back to the sewing machine for me, and I think Cabana will be happy to veg on the floor for the rest of the day.

P.S. I took these photos with my 50mm/f1.8 lens that I've had for a year but hadn't used in a while. Lovenandaleash reminded me of it with her comment on my last post--thank you, Aleksandra! I think it makes a huge difference in the quality of my photos.