Things I Love

The smell of Sunday gravy cooking on the stove.

Listening to the radio in bed in the morning with one of the dogs.

Puppy breath.

Rain on the roof while snug in bed.

Finishing a project.

The smell of sheets after they have been hung out on the line to dry.

A properly poured pint.....

                  Note this is not a complete list......

The Rachael Ray Show

A couple weeks ago, The Best Neighbor In The World and I went to a taping of the Rachael Ray Show.   I've gone to a couple taping's of Anderson Coopers Talk show and to the Nate Berkus show.  I've waited something like 9 months to get Rachael Ray tickets.  When the e-mail appeared in my inbox for two tickets, I jumped on it!


I do have to say, I was pretty chuffed that Rocco DiSpirito was on the show.  I love Rocco.  What can I say, I have a thing for men who can cook.

The cool thing about the show was we ended up with a ton of schwag.   We got a copy of Rocco's new book, a mini wireless speaker, a watch, a make up kit (so not being used by me), a coupon for a  Rowenta travel iron, a copy of Rachaels magazine and and a Temper pedic pillow.  I needed a new watch, it's a bit big, but it's still pretty good and we also have a coupon for another watch band (can you say PURPLE). I love that pillow...... I think we ended up with close to $300 worth of stuff. We looked like bag ladies as we schlepped to the bar for a drink (good beer,mediocre food).

I'm hoping the travel iron arrives before I leave for MCKC..........

The End of The Summer Basil

It's fall, that's for sure. It arrived this past weekend, the air decidedly crisper, the sun setting earlier, the gardens slowing down.  I started (way too late again) to make pesto and chop up the basil in some olive oil to put a kiss of summer into winter dishes.

The basil seems to taste different in September than it did in August.  I still have made a couple jars of pesto and a handful of small baby food jars that have either just basil or basil, parsley and a little olive oil.  IF  I had my act together, I would have been doing this all summer long, oh well, next year...

Another Project Bites The Dust

I've had this old cast iron fire grate for a couple years.  I had originally had it in the house to store shoes, but I could never find a good spot for it. So out the front door and at various points it was a leaf collector, shovel holder and dog toy holder. It was getting a bit drab and a tiny bit rusty and in need up a face lift. Here it is in pieces with a coat of primer on it. 

I had a can of leftover Rustoleum High Heat black spray paint.  I got it to spiff up my old gas grill, but I figured it should be ok to use on the grate.  Here is the finished product!  I'm going to get a nice potted mum to put into this.   I'm thinking yellow would look good against the white clapboards and blue trim.  Total time start to finish, less than an hour including dry time!  

Laboring Day

While the rest of the US had a BBQ, hung out, watched baseball, I used my one day off to get chores done.  The list of things to do is long and lengthy. I have been taking inspiration from DIYDiva and attacking my list of stuff that needs to get done.

The first chore was re-organizing the shed.  When you live in a house that is 476 sf with no attic, basement or garage, prioritizing what goes in the shed is paramount.  For me, it's the excess of dog crates. I counted, I have 21 crates of varying styles, types and sizes. I only have 4 dogs, but 21 crates?  Yeah a bit much

This is all the crap, uh stuff, out of the the shed. Under the blue tarps to the right are the rubbermaid bins I store other "sutff".  I pulled out almost everything, less the plastic shelving unit, that was easy to just stick in a different spot. I swept the floor, made a pile of stuff to go the town dump and pounded a few nails to hang "stuff".

Why do I have a photo of the rotted corner of the shed? Well that whole soffit was filled with nasty biting yellow jackets. I had dumped a full can of bee killer spray the night before. I saw them going in and nesting a few days before and I had visions of opening the shed door and getting swarmed.  

The right side of the shed, all the crates, chairs, coolers, tent, cones and the back seat to the Escape are neatly stacked. You can also see the Tule Rack I still want to sell.

The left side of the shed, on the shelves, miscellenaous things, to the left where you can't see it, all the rakes, shovels, brooms, pitchforks and assorted gardening items.


The whole process start to finish only took about an hour.  I should be able to keep this pretty tidy.  I could use a much bigger shed, but this will do for now! Maybe later this fall, I'll slap a fresh coat of paint on it.

I Totally failed that 26 day challenge.....

Yeah, I totally failed that 26 day challenge, fast forward a few years and I now have grass by my runs, a lovely paver walk way, the puppy pen (which is another post in an of it self) has a top on it as well.  Each run has a dog house, Ben never uses his, well, only to pee on! 

Some things that have to be done sooner rather than later,

1) Re-caulk the house where the siding meets the foundation. As you can tell by the photo below, Ben has taken a terrier like interest in what is living behind the siding and in the walls.  I'm sure we have more than our fair share of mice.    I know we have more than our fair share of mice.

2) Probably not only have to re-caulk, but replace a couple rows of clapboards as well. Can you see where someone has had a snack?????? It's the perfect height for a Parson or a Lakeland......

3) Put hardware cloth all around the puppy pen.  The chain link allows very small and creative puppies to climb out of said pen, and allows very naughty terriers to stick their snouts into the pen.  

4) Re-sod or put more pavers down in front of the puppy pen.  When it rains, it gets very very muddy.

5) Plant some more hostas and shade loving plants behind the pen.  Putting in any type of an annual is just not working, the impatiences and coleus are all getting eating by slugs. I want to make a shade garden since that part of the yard gets minimal sun.

I have such an odd work schedule that I should be able to do most of these things with a little time, effort and energy. I should do these things at least once or twice a week instead of drinking wine in the sun lounger staring at the lake and listening to WPKN.........

Getting Back To The Blog

Since I've had to do a blog, facebook page, twitter, and two web pages for work,my own fun stuff has totally fallen by the way side.

Sooo, since I really love writing about ME. I'm going to start re-blogging here. Plus it's much easier to post photos of things here than on my FB page.