Doggone

HAPPY ENDING: Yesterday I posted about a runaway dog we scooped up off a busy street. We fostered him over night and Christian took him to the local county shelter yesterday afternoon. We saw his photo posted on their website this morning. 

Unfortunately, the shelter posted his found location incorrectly. And the runaway was not neutered. I asked Christian to call the shelter, as I thought them having wrong info on the post might prevent the owner from claiming him. So, Christian called and the shelter told him his owner was looking for him and had called them right after the photo was posted. So little Tuk (as we named him - he doesn't look like a Jerry to me) is back with his person. We hope it's a happy home. He's a sweet little doggo and deserves a happy home.

MARS-BOUND: While most of the West Coat slept, there was a big ol' to do on the East Coast of the United States yesterday. Specifically, at Cape Canaveral, where NASA's latest Mars mission rocketed off a launch pad. The latest Mars rover, Perseverance, is on board. The rover will focus on studying Mars' habitability, seeking signs of past microbial life, collecting and caching Samples, and prepping for future missions.  

This neat video from United Launch Alliance is a quick recap of the rocket action.


I love this photo of technicians Technicians working on the Mars 2020 rover at JPL install the rover motor controller assembly, the electrical heart of the rover's mobility and motion systems.

SPLASHDOWN SET!: We were definitely glued to the television when two astronauts hitched a ride in a brand new SpaceX capsule back on May 30, 2020. The duo on board, Doug Hurley and  Robert Behnken are heading back to Earth this weekend, if everything goes as planned. They'll be dropping back to the Big Blue Marble under parachutes, into the Atlantic Ocean.

A child of the Apollo era, I do love me a splashdown. The shuttle missions of the 80s-00s were important and exciting, of course, but, to me, landing the shuttle like a plane never felt as dramatic as a capsule bobbing in the ocean.

Following is a timeline of the return:
Saturday, August 1, 6:10 a.m. PDT: DM-2 Farewell Ceremony (On Orbit)  
Saturday, August 1, 2:15 p.m. PDT  Preparations and Undocking
Sunday, August 2 11:42 a.m. PDT : Splashdown!
                Watch Here: https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive  

All of the events can be viewed here: https://www.nasa.gov/nasalive

While on board the International Space Station, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley performed tests on Crew Dragon in addition to conducting research and other tasks with the space station crew. Behnken conducted four spacewalks—and has now conducted ten spacewalks in his career--tying him for the most spacewalks by a U.S. astronaut.

Of Sloths and Dogs

SLOTH LIKE: We're glad that a favorite non profit, Birthday Dreams, is back to accepting donations. Annabelle signed us up for a sloth-themed cake. How fun and unique.

We drew up a few different schematics, and finally wound up with the idea of a sloth hanging from a tree, with a couple of sloth friends down below.

The rocks are chocolate, the path is brown sugar, and the sloths are all edible modeling chocolate and marshmallow fondant. 

It took a little engineering to make sure the tree could support the hanging sloth.

Christian delivered the cake with the kids. He took numerous photos of it, but there must have been something on his lens or something because most all of them are super blurry or otherwise not OK, unfortunately. So we don't have a photo of the finished cake. :( Use your imagination.

And yes, those are Tootsie Rolls as the border around the cake bottom.

DOG DAY: We were headed home last night around 7 after enjoying a tabletop card game and some sodas and a couple of pints at a local place (outdoors and super socially distanced) when our trajectory changed a bit. We came off the freeway and Christian exclaimed, "There's a dog!"

We're all about dog spotting and saw this tiny white turbo running toward us across 5 lanes of traffic. "Pull over!" I screamed at Christian, who was driving. We flipped a U-turn and backtracked to get ahead of the running dog. Annabelle and I jumped out of the car and basically the little guy ran into her arms.

He had no collar, bad teeth, long nails, not neutered. ... But he is the sweetest boy!

We brought him home, fed him, watered him, and took him on a walk with our two dogs. Tuk, BY FAR, was the best behaved of the three. (I named him Tuk because we found him in Tukwila.)

CJ spent the night in the basement with Tuk. The dog was so polite. Didn't jump up on furniture unless invited. Was stoic and quiet (until, after a bit, we'd leave him in the basement alone for awhile. Then he'd bark for companionship).

Around noon today, the kids and Christian too Tuk to a local shelter. 

On the way there he got to live his best life, head hanging out the car window.

The shelter folks were nice and encouraging, per Christian. They told him they were almost certain Tuk would be adopted if he's not reunited with his owner. Christian left our contact info just in case. It's not a no kill shelter, and Tuk doesn't deserve that end. 

Feeding Teens

MEGA MEALS: Many hours at MPA on Friday and Saturday were spent getting ready for our monthly gig prepping and serving 80+ meals at a youth homeless shelter in the University District on Saturday evening.

On Friday, we boiled up about 50 cups of salad pasta (cute little tubes) for a mountain of macaroni salad. We  also cooked up 20 pounds of chicken with barbecue flavor. No big deal, ha ha.

Also on the menu were watermelon, dill pickle spears, and nice big cookies.

We headed up to the U District and arrived there a few minutes after 5. When Teen Feed's director of community engagement Janine Kennedy saw us loading in on Saturday evening, she declared, "It looks like a summer barbecue!"

That was exactly what we were after with this menu, so mission accomplished! We had several friends help provide many items for the dinner. CJ and Christian collected those in the alley, while Annabelle, Kennedy and I prepped in the kitchen. Once the stuff was collected, it was all hands on deck in the kitchen.

Annabelle's duties included bagging the meals up. We had options for everyone, including vegan and gluten free diners. 

CJ can pretty much claim 'toastmaster' status at this point. He spend a hour toasting 90-plus buns to perfection. 

Let me tell you, the BBQ sandwiches were HEFTY. We loaded them up with a half pound or so of meat apiece. While we were prepping, the kitchen smelled so wonderful.

The cookies were nestled in french fry wrappers. That worked quite well.

And can we talk about the pickles? Such a simple thing, but it thrilled people to no end. We cut the big pickles into spears for easier eating and bagged them. Not only were the pickles loved, but imagine our surprise when we started fielding requests for 'pickle juice shots,' I kid you not.  Needless to say, the dills were a HUGE hit!

Ever since the pandemic hit, we have had to shift from buffet-style service, dine in, to to go. It has been hard. It has meant only one family in the kitchen instead of multiple, plus the added work of having to box or bag or whatever each and every item for the to go service. 

But somehow, every month we've made it all work. The need to feed is bigger now than ever.