Introducing Finnegan (Finn for short)

Well, we have finally made the plunge. We got a puppy yesterday. As many of you know, we have been stalking shelters and surfing pet finder for several months. We have considered golden retrievers, labs, collies, mixes and full breeds. We wanted a larger dog (at least Leon did- it seems that he wanted a "real dog" to walk and didn't want to walk a little one- an ego thing, I think). I wanted a female in order to avoid leg hiking on my furniture. To make a really long story short, we finally found a litter of collie mix pups at the Union County Animal Shelter and decided to drive up and take a look.

This was a litter of nine puppies and they all looked pretty different from each other. There were 5 females and 3 males left when we got there. Their story goes something like this. It seems that the mother and the nine puppies were dumped in a roadside ditch. The farmer that discovered them tried to take them home and find homes for them, but it became too much for him. He contacted the shelter, who found a foster home for them until they were old enough to be adopted out. Enter Faye and Leon. The puppies were delivered to the shelter by the foster parents as we waited in the waiting room. There was one other lady there to adopt one of the females. The puppies were all absolutely adorable. They were all running around the waiting room in an absolute riot of activity. The foster father was able to provide a bit of information on each puppy. Leon fell in love with a little male fluffball named Kermit. We were told that he was a fairly docile puppy compared to some of the others. He was very cute and we decided to take him home. Of course, we changed his name and he has already had his doctors appointment and a bath. A couple of little infections can be cleared up with antibiotics. Oh, I almost forgot, he is not housebroken, so we are outside a lot these days. He is doing very well though.

Silent Night, Holy Night

Well, Sorry about the no-show for the past several weeks. To coin a phrase, I lost a bit of my mo-jo and have been feeling a bit under the weather physically and emotionally. I won't get into all of that, but I do have something that I wanted to share. The Christmas season is upon us and as the decorations come out, It is always fun to get new things. We pull out the same old decorations every year, and I really do love them. We did obtain decorations that would become part of our tradition, but it is always nice to have something new to add to the collection. I recently helped out at the Gift Fest at our church and there were probably fifty-ish raffle gifts that were donated by the vendors. Of course, I had to purchase tickets to benefit our child care center and guess what!!!!! I won.

Not only did I win, but I won the very thing that I wanted the most. There was a lady that made miniature nativity sets and I love all things miniature. I so wanted one, so when I won it in the raffle, I was super excited.

Now the next problem.....these teeny little figures are perfect to set on a table or shelf. I wanted to put it on the coffee table, but I have a cat. I just knew that Max would be batting those poor little sheep around the living room floor in no time. So I wracked my brain for a way to display them and came up with this little idea. I think its pretty cute and now I can put it on the coffee table without fear of them disappearing.

It is hand sculpted using low fire clay and painted with underglaze colors, glazed and fired in kiln.

Simple Beauty

I have been walking past this basket of peppers in my kitchen for days. I have always thought them beautiful, but tonight I took the time to really appreciate them. So, out came the camera. These beauties are the product of Leon's garden. Aren't they gorgeous!!!!!!

Thought for the day

Decisions, decisions

I am trying to decide whether it is time to get a dog again, or whether I just want to be a cat person. So I have decided to do a pros and cons list. I have been surfing the pet finder site until I almost feel like a voyeur (well, not quite). There are small decisions like big or small, male or female, mature dog or puppy, what breeds to consider, and on and on and on. It is a huge responsibility that lasts for 10-15 years. I am just so afraid that I will regret it, that I am afraid to commit. What should I do? I can't depend upon Leon to make this decision. He is way too much of a softie!!!

Pros
companionship
proven to relieve stress
more exercise and outside time for walking
fun
gives a dog a home


Cons
limits our ability to go away or travel
housetraining, letting out and how to confine to yard
cleaning up yard, dealing with hair
they are hard on carpet and furniture
cost - food, vet, etc.
will disrupt the cats

Turtles

One of the outstanding moments of our recent vacation for me was going to the Jekyll Island turtle center. It is a turtle hospital and they had approximately 6 to 7 patients when we were there. As we walked in the door, the lady that was taking tickets told us to hurry because they were doing an assessment on a new turtle that had just been brought in. So we hurried to the viewing window to watch the vet and the interns take care of this scraped up, cut up turtle. It's shell had been damaged and bleeding, although I am not sure how it happened. I didn't hear that part. I managed to get a couple of pictures as they attended to the wounds on the "carapace".






As we moved on to view some of the displays, one of the attendants told us that they were doing "rounds" in the hospital and would be talking about each patient, so we hurried into the next building where the rounds were in session. Each turtle is in a large tank, although we did see one tank with 2 turtles -they were separated by a barrier. I learned quite a bit about turtles from that session including some of the conditions that they are brought in with. A lot of them may be injured from boats or other animals. A larger number of them, however, are brought in with the debilitated turtle syndrome. Often they are found floating, because they have lost their ability to dive down, often because of air that is caught in their shell. Sometimes they are floating "crooked" and have barnacles or leeches on them .

This was our "intern"




I took a picture of one of the turtles, along with her information and am sharing it here with you. Her name is Erika and she has this floating syndrome. You may be able make out some of the diagnosis and treatmen plan in the following photo.

and here she is
After I got home from vacation, I went to the website to check to see how she was doing, but nothing was shown for her. I got pretty gutsy and emailed the vet to see why she wasn't on the web site. I received a reply back right away that they have been very busy and unable to update the patient portion of the web site. In addition he also updated me on Erika's condition and I thought I would share it. I was very impressed with the response and wanted to let everyone know what a wonderful and worthwhile venture this is. It is probably a tax deduction for donations, too (hint)

He wrote:
"Faye, We have been so busy, I just have not had time to update everyone. Erika is still floating. We did figure out that if we aspirate air to a certain level her tube feeding goes much better and she does not regurgitate. The air in her body cavity pushes on her GI tract and makes it difficult to pass the stomach tube. We are now able to increase the frequency and volume of her tube feeding and better able to meet her nutritional needs as her lung heals. I will try to get something up on her as soon as I can. Thanks so much for your interest. Terry Norton, DVM, Director and Veterinarian, GSTC "

A really weird coincidence is that I took a book along on vacation to read and it is about a sea turtle hospital. I think this may be my calling. Next step is a beach walk to check turtle nests. Wouldn't that be fun? By the way, the book is great - it is called Swimming Lessons, by Mary
Alice Monroe and is a sequel to the Beach House by Monroe. Unfortunately I couldn't get the first one, so I will be reading them out of order.

Check out the web site for the turtle center and watch for Erika. I hope he gets her on soon.

Island Time

I am sitting on the deck of my sister's condo in St. Simons Island, GA on the 5th day of my vacation. First of all, THANKS SIS!!! This is a beautiful place and we are having an absolutely wonderful time. We both needed this time away so much! The first couple of days that we were here were a bit in the "adapting" category. Trying to figure out what to see, where to go, what to eat and where, learning the directions, the lay of the land, where to put things, how to use the laundry room, etc. I was in the mind that I needed to be doing something, seeing something all the time, although I knew that this was physically impossible and really doesn't fit the definition of vacation.

Today, I am on island time. I have relaxed. I know where to go if I want to and how to get there and although our time is limited, I do still have tomorrow. I don't feel guilty reading a book, because after I do, I ride my bike down to the pier and wade in the ocean. It is wonderful. I feel settled.

Now no vacation is complete without an "injury" and there is a certain weird sort of 'pride' in a vacation injury, assuming it is minor with no real after effects or anything to slow you down. I think this pride comes from the fact that 1.) we are on vacation, so we are out of our routine and not in the day to day and 2.) at least we are doing something. So it was our second night here and we had walked down to the DQ (thank God for Dairy Queen); anyhow I digress. By the time we walked back, it was dark. I would like to say that I was skiing, skateboarding, or some other very exciting endeavor, but no; I was walking. All of a sudden I was on the ground, after having tripped over a bump in the sidewalk. I got skinned up a bit (as you can see, 2 hands, one knee). After having scrambled up onto my feet, I 'fessed up to Leon that I was being nosy and trying to figure out where some people talking was coming from (their own deck, by the way) and wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. ......Orrrr I was skateboarding through the park, jumped over a tree branch trying to land back on the skateboard and fell?!? Anyhow, very minor scrapes and not a problem, but it seems to go with vacation time, right?

On vacation - St. Simons Island, GA

More to come!!! ------ having too much fun to write much!!!

New Floor, yahoo!!!

Getting ready to work:

Starting in the laundry room:



Our floor has been rapidly deteriorating for the past year or so. It was put into our home as the standard vinyl flooring, when our home was built 8 years ago. It was a very nice floor for a few years, but lately it has just been a pain. We couldn't get it clean or keep it clean. I guess the color and quality conspired against us, plus the little microscopic cuts just caused real problems.

Fast forward to a week ago. We have been watching for a sale on wood laminate to replace our vinyl and sure enough, we got some at The Andersons for $1 per square foot. So Leon started on Sunday and just finished with the final touches today.

IT IS PERTY!!!!

Thought I would share the transition with you

Here is the work force, a lot of work went into it:
And here is the finished floor

I love how the sunshine looks when it is shining on the wood.


It is beautiful. I love it!!!!

I think some cute little round rugs in front of the stove and sink would just look perfect.

Julie, Julia

I have been wanting to see the movie Julie, Julia and we finally got an opportunity to go on Saturday afternoon. It was absolutely delightful - just a feel good movie. It was about a young lady, Julie, who blogs her way through the Julia Child cookbook. But in addition, it showed the story of Julia Child herself. I was absolutely enchanted by her and what a cool lady she was. And her husband, the love of her life, was such a strong force in her life and cheered her on to her success. Kudos to Meryl Streep!!

And I absolutely loved Julie, played by Amy Adams. She was fresh and funny and made me want to blog through the very same cookbook. I give this movie four stars of five.


Speaking of blogging; as I was thinking of this blog and what I wanted to say, I thought it might be fun to think of books that I might like to "blog my way through" and what sorts of books might that entail? Suppose, I were to blog my way through the phone book - Oh the people I could talk to. How about books of hairstyles, fashion, diets (I think I did that!?!?), and how-to books. I could blog through the pattern books at the fabric store, the seed catalogs and the road atlas. I am reminded of the old saying - the places I would go and the things I would do. What books would you like to blog your way through. Let me know and I will post it. Who will be the first to say the Joy of Sex (guess I just did!)

Take me out to the ball game

Take me out to the park.... Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks..... great song!! ... Great American institution.... "Baseball, mom and apple pie"

We had an opportunity to go to a baseball game yesterday. We have been to a couple of games here in Columbus, since we have been here, but had not been to the brand new ball park that opened last year. Leon was lucky enough to win some tickets, that allowed us to watch the game from a box suite at the ball park. I had never been in a suite at the ball park and it was pretty nice. When I first heard that he won the tickets and that they were for the box suite, I thought it was cool, but wondered if I would miss being down with the people in the 'stands'. I thought that it might feel very strange and that the atmosphere would not seem true and original. However, it was actually pretty neat and I could watch the game without peering in between heads and being squished into a seat, shoulder to shoulder with a smelly beer guzzler or a teenage giggling bunch of girls, or any number of other annoying people that may be there. ( I hope I don't sound too prissy). Anyhow, the suite was very nice with a couch, table, counter with space for all manner of eatery (although we didn't have any) small bar with stools, and seats in front for viewing the game.

The new ball park is very nice and if you get a chance to go there, you should take the opportunity to do so. I forgot to take my camera, so I am showing some pictures I found on Flickr.

Oh, I almost forgot. Columbus got stomped, in fact, it was so bad that we left after the 6th inning (it was 4 to 14 when we left). Worse.... We played Indianapolis.

Our lilies and our Lily

Our lillies

and

Our Lily

The art of mowing a lawn (or cutting the grass)

A freshly mowed lawn is one of the nicest things about summer. My dad owned a lawn mowing business and I have smelled a lot of freshly cut grass and there is no smell quite like it. It is such a summer smell and just totally takes me back to lying in the grass as a child, looking up at the clouds, running through the sprinkler, playing kickball and all the great summer things that children do in the yard and on the grass. It smells fresh and clean and wholesome. It is a smell of nature.

Another thing I like about a freshly mowed yard are the lines that the lawn mower makes. It just sets off the freshly manicured look of it. If you are really creative, you can actually do a design on the lawn or just alter the direction of the lines. Extremely manicured landscaping is not really my thing, but a newly mown lawn is a whole different matter.

And how cool looking is the sun shining on a newly mowed lawn? It just looks like a carpet.

The "art" in these pictures was created by my Leon.

Saying goodbye

Leon and I attended the funeral of 'our' cousin, Carlene yesterday. I say "our cousin", because the cousins in this family do not designate between yours and mine, or his spouse or her spouse. It is a very accepting family and I am blessed to have them. The family originally consisted of six siblings, from which the cousins all came, as baby boomers, born in the forties and fifties.

Anyhow, Carlene has been fighting cancer for the past 2 or 3 years and the past two to three months, she had opted to forgo any additional medical intervention, other than routine medical care. As we all prayed for her, she journeyed into this process of death with a spirit that I have never seen before. All of the family went to see her in her home as she approached the end of her life here on earth. She was so happy to see everyone and just laughed and enjoyed the company of those that she loved and that loved her. Her husband said at the funeral, " she died like she lived, with grace, love and class". Her daughters were with her when she passed and will carry on that grace, I have no doubt. I see her, in them.

I haven't been to an awful lot of funerals, but I have taken something away from every single one. This one gave me a desire to be there for others. Carlene was always there for all of us. She was just quietly there, no pomp or circumstance, just there. I remember that she was there for my own father's funeral, and she barely even knew him. But she was there for me and Leon. I can't possibly live up to that, but I sure will do better, for having known her.

On the way home from the funeral, Leon and I saw a beautiful bit of nature and a promise; and I couldn't help but think of Carlene.
Taken by Leon with his cell phone

More garden gatherings

Mescalin Lettuce
Tabasco Chili Peppers
Green beans
Bell peppers
Hungarian peppers


When I was out picking beans, I noticed some of the other vegetables that were maturing and will be soon ready to pick. It is amazing to me that nature can produce some of the most beautiful "still life's" that can be found.

I always have thought that the produce departments in grocery stores are beautiful. Every imaginable color. Although everything I photographed was green, they are still beautiful and just wait til the tomatoes ripen (they are almost there).

Mother Nature is still the best artist!!

Vegetables are grown and nurtured by master gardener, Leon