Dusty on the dry season grass

This is Dusty, our newest pet.  We’ve had mixed luck with pets, you know.  Our second batch of cuys (guinea pigs) weren’t very fun and when they escaped into our neighbor’s overgrown yard, we said goodbye without tears.  A couple of weeks ago, John and Viola started a backyard project.  First order of business was to burn the weeds that had grown up.  Two familiar-looking cuys escaped the flames and the workmen caught them.  The Lentinks offered them back to us, but we said the workers could feast on them instead.

Our dog Inka had a mysterious swollen knee.  We took him to the next town over for a vet visit.  Ol’ Inka was pretty pitiful.  He didn’t walk and no longer barked.  He just sat in one place and wagged his tail feebly when we came to talk to him.  We were prepping the kids for putting him down when a shopowner I have befriended offered me one of her dog’s puppies.  It turns out they were pretty cute and I thought that it might ease the pain of losing Inka.  I’m a sucker for fluffy curly hair.  The owner said that the puppies needed another week to finish weaning.  In the intervening week, Inka made a miraculous recovery with the steroids the vet had given him, although he limps a little.  So now we have two dogs.  Dusty is very much a puppy, chewing on everything, attacking Inka, digging up the garden, and wanting attention.  Welcome to the family, Dusty!