Layla said “doggie” in her baby talk and Maggie said, “Yes, Layla, that doggie is named Strider!” I couldn’t help but smile at how these two communicated with each other. It was a constant source of entertainment for me.

Strider took a few steps off the porch and barked again as we continued by, and from inside the house we heard Sam call out, “Hush, Strider!” And with that, we continued on.

We made a nice long afternoon out of it, and along the way we stopped frequently to set Layla down so that she could explore the world. She had become a bit more mobile lately but was more scooting on the ground and not crawling. Towards the end of the walk and near the house, we found an old wild grape vine entwined around an ancient trellis. It appeared to be a part of an old vineyard which was only about a hundred feet from the main house and the caretaker’s house. Maggie thought this would be a great place to sit Layla down in the shade, under the trellis and the vine, which would give us the chance to harvest some grapes.