The fire has been burning since last Saturday afternoon. This is a picture taken from our backyard. Don’t worry, it looks closer than it really is. We love hiking there but have not been able to go for a long time due to flooding and now fire …

The day had finally arrived … the meeting of the Shih Tzu took place at the Lams on April 20.

Lucky, the youngest at the ripe old age of 5 months was the most unpopular one. She was just too active, happy, carefree, (pretty, maybe?), and shall we say … disrespectful to the elder Shih Tzu, namely Ms Abby (at the youthful age of 14) and Ms Molly (half of Ms Abby’s age but still, in human years she is like 50 or something like that, that’s old, right?)

Ms Abby and Ms Molly kept their distance from Lucky, as well as from each other - they’ve been friends forever (7 dog years, again that’s like 50 years to us). That’s the way they’ve been able to keep cordial to each other. We all are sure that they love each other, just not that close physically. Occasionally Ms Abby let out a few growls to warn Lucky as she tried to get too close. Lucky kept kowtowing but that didn’t really work. In the end, she probably learned her lessons - leave those old grumpy ladies alone.

How many peacocks can you spot in front of our house? Hint: it’s more than a handful.