We finally met John’s sister Chris and husband Steve from South Carolina to celebrate all our birthdays. Four times a year we plan to get together, but many things intervened this past year. Chris arranged to have the other sister, Barbara and husband Thom, join us with a video call from New York. It was like old times to have the six of us chatting.
Rain was pelting the area when we were ready to leave, so we waited for it to let up. This is the only picture I took of brother and sister together.
I always try to take a photo of people when they walk to the creek with us. Today was debut day for Sadie! We were testing her new leash, and it worked well.
Logan came over after going to school on line. He was here when John $pencer gave Sadie a bath and could see the peanut butter trick firsthand.
I got tickled when Logan said he was going to balance a balloon on his nose. The flash worked for the first shot and not for the second. I was lucky to catch the moment, even if the lighting was not good.
Mehrling Muse 
I like your shadow shot of Logan. and it is nice to see John’s other siblings.
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I love silhouette shots! It was perfect, both of them. Sadie is adorable as always, and good you had a sibling visit. Sadly, I have not seen my sis and bro since this whole thing started.
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I haven’t seen my brother and his wife, either.
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Peanut butter trick is awesome. Everyone wins. Happy birthday to all!
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Thank you. Today is John’s birthday, and we’ll be celebrating later.
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What cake did you make?
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John’s favorite cake is angel food, and I’m going to buy one at the supermarket this morning. If he preferred any other cake, I’d bake whatever he wanted. We’ll pile strawberries and whipped cream on top, and he will smile for the camera. This will be the 56th time for us to do this together.
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Like the pictures. Looks like fun. Well, not the bath part. Two of my humans had birthdays this last week and they didn’t share their cakes. Hope your cake was good.
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I wish I knew how to attach a photo. The restaurant gave him a tiny free dessert with dollops of whipped cream on the plate. He might have been willing to share that with you.
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How sweet of them. Glad he got to enjoy the fun too! And I would let him share it!
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Happy birthday to two of your humans.
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Thanks, I sat in my human’s lap that day and let her pet me as my present to her! She’s just getting old, you know, and needed a nice treat.
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Nice gift! You probably lowered her blood pressure.
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I like to think I did. Thanks.
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How sweet smile your pic. So sweet.” Happy birthday ” good post. So cut kid. I like. I am so happy Enjoy
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Logan is very cute, and he is always willing to pose for a photo.
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Such happy smiles in your photos! The peanut butter trick is new to me, I will have to try that with my dog!
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I hope peanut butter works for you. Sadie doesn’t even notice she is being bathed.
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Love seeing you along with the others in the post. I hope my hair inherits that color of Uncle John and my mom when it goes grey/white. That shadow shot is wonderful! Glad you all got a chance to meet. And how fun to meet with the others online. Brilliant.
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We had a lovely time with your folks. Your Mormor had gorgeous silver hair, so maybe you will have your wish for lovely hair.
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Birthday greetings from DELMARVA!
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Thank you. Today is John’s birthday, and we went out for barbeque to celebrate.
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happy times! Happy birthdays! and I love that peanut butter trick!!
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Happy birthday to all! I also love angel food cake. It’s like eating air with whipped cream and strawberries. Nothing better. Well, maybe chocolate cake! That’s good too.
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You’ve hit our favorites. John’s grandmother always made an angel cake for his birthday.
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Laughed like a drain at the Peanut Butter trick! Love it! LOL ~ Cobs. x
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I laughed at your expression — laughing like a drain.
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It’s a British expression – from, I believe WWll
I learnt it some years ago from a lady who was born around that time, so grew up with it. I found it so delicious that I adopted it.
I LOVE words Anne. Muchly. :o)
Squidges ~ Cobs. xxx
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That’s a great account of learning a new phrase.
My favorite new one from North Carolina was from a neighbor who grew up in this state. She said, if you are correcting a child sternly, you say in a mean voice, “If you don’t stop that, I’m gonna jerk a knot in you!” I haven’t had an occasion to use it in the six years since I learned it, but I did jerk a knot in my shoelaces by accident.
Squidges right back! xxx
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Sadie is a picture perfect dog. She’s meant for photo shoots.
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Sadie has quieted down and isn’t nearly as rambunctious as she used to be.
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Now Logan needs to try the balancing a spoon on his nose. Always a fun way to pass the time in a restaurant!
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I never thought of that. I’m not going to tell grandson David (25). David loves to balance things. When he is the last one to use the ice cream scoop, he balances it on the sink divider. That’s just one instance!
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You mean David doesn’t balance spoons on his nose? What is his email address? LOL
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I’ll have to ask David if he has ever balanced a spoon on his nose. I should have a clean one handy when I ask him. He’s bound to want to try it.
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It was the first balancing trick I learned.
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Ah! I didn’t realize I was talking to an expert.
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LOL
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There is never a dull moment at the Mehrling house. Great trick with peanut butter for bathtime. 🙂 How did John $ come up with that idea? I think Sadie looked happy at the Creek; she’ll be tagging along more often.
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I don’t know whether the peanut butter idea was original. Sadie got in the horse pasture and rolled in horse poop today. $ was annoyed with her and gave her a bath without the lure of peanut butter. She knew she had some something wrong.
Sadie went with us to the creek three days in a row. We will probably be rained out tomorrow.
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Oh oh – yes, animals are so smart and pick up little nuances that they have done something wrong. I’d be mad too at having to wash off horse poop. Sadie will be “all in” for going to the Creek going forward. We’ve had a nice weather week for a change but very chilly today – was in the 50s when I left and darkish from the wildfires.
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We’ve had rain all day, but it might stop by tomorrow morning.
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Well stay safe – I just heard a weather forecast that “the Carolinas” would get a lot of rain from the dregs of Hurricane Sally.
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I think the remains of the storm shifted northward.
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That’s good – I didn’t hear any mention of Sally this morning … I cannot imagine that projected three feet of rain though. We had four inches of rain in as many hours and there was significant flooding in the tri-county area.
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I must remember a peanutbutter bath for Elsa! Sadie sure seems to love it.
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I hope Elsa loves peanut butter.
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I am late in wishing John a happy birthday! I hope it was a good one. The photos are great Anne. I never have heard of the peanut butter trick but it looks like it works wonderfully.
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John had a good birthday, quiet, but adequate. Maybe we’ll do a little more next time when he’ll be 80.
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You have a great sense of timing in your photography, Anne. Did you ever take a course? It seems like you have!
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I have vast experience, Ellie, in taking terrible photos. Once in a while the camera catches the essence of the moment, but it’s pure luck.
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