... or, as Penny does here, take a rest in the shade.  

After a hard day's runnin' around, it's nice to find a sunbeam ... 

Penny's crate is in the dining room, with Russell's bed in the kitchen (though he uses the couch and my chair, too). 

The dogs get along great. They hang out on the deck and chase each other -- Russell never catches Penny, who I suspect has a bit of Jack Russell in her somewhere. 

The garden's gonna love the new canine combination. I can tell already.  

... but she'll also run on her own with this favorite toy, a tennis ball. 

She loves to run and be chased. Here, Russell chases her ... 

The new pup -- her name is Penny now thanks to a wifely veto. She's great whatever name you use. 

Kari, my uncle Dave, and the two hound dogs relax on the couch.  

Chloe settles in at her new digs next to Kari. 

Taken with my camera phone, say hello to our new baby dog ... I say her name is Chloe. Kari isn't sure yet. She's 11 weeks, and we got her from Cascadia Basset Rescue.  

Kari with the world's largest lapdog. 

After our eight-mile day and his belly-filling experience, he's ready for a nap.  

After a hard day of hiking, Russell decides to clean my plates for me. How thoughtful. 

It's a little-known rule about Basset Hounds -- all hound owners must try to capture as many different floppy-face images as possible. From a composition standpoint, not my best work. But wow, look at that skin fly. 

And he's off!  

Russell catches a scent. 

Hounds aren't built for climbing rocks. Russell laments this fact.  

... and tries to scientifically test the Nikon D70's drool-resistance feature. 

Russell investigates the creek ... 

Told you so about the creek.  

Once we got into some lingering snow, we stopped to have lunch by a scenic creek. 

The hound is anxious to get on up the trail and for me to quit taking photos.  

On Memorial Day weekend, Russell and I hiked Church Mountain. This is the North Fork of the Nooksack River from a few miles into the hike.