Wednesday, February 24, 2010

I guess being prepared should be part of your budget...

Today a friend and I trekked over to the Lonestar Scrapbooking Company to pick up our passports to begin this weekend's Crop Hop (don't ask Cuddle Buns about it--he just rolls his eyes) and we stopped at Mercer Arboretum so my scrapping/gardening friend could exchange a t-shirt at their gift shop. I haven't been to Mercer for years. We took a quick tour (it is still winter, after all, and not much blooming/growing yet) and then went into the gift shop. It really was a cute little place. The proprietor is trying to fill the shop with unique gifts made locally. Most are. I especially liked the garden sculptures made from gardening tools and implements. But I instantly fell in love with this bronzy looking tree in the window. I'm thinking of all the wonderful Easter eggs my mom made when we were kids and thinking it would look great in the middle of my table all year long, decorated appropriately for each season.

It wasn't for sale. The proprietor told me she had purchased it at Costco and was getting ready to put magnets on it that would be for sale. She pointed out another she had with jewelry hanging on it.

Man. Another use for said tree!

So, I just got online to see where our nearest Costco was and to see if maybe I could just go ahead and order it and have it shipped right to me instead of driving clear across Texas to Willowbrook (Google Maps says 16 miles. My foot.)  I didn't find the tree, but LOOK WHAT I FOUND!

You can order them online. Just put them in your shopping cart. Wonder where you would store it until you need to use it. Wonder what the postman would think. Wonder what the neighbors would think. : )

Monday, February 22, 2010

It was only a matter of time




What do you mean I have to take the banana tree back outside???!!!


Saturday, February 20, 2010

Could this be why my house smells like a barnyard???

Rudy was just trying to fish something out from under the couch. Imagine my HORROR when I moved it back to see:

4 bones (1 has already been joyfully removed)
3 pieces of chew toy
1 snail (has to be a recent deposit)
several fiber fill deposits
1 knitting needle point protector thingy
2 grapes (Zoey was trying to feed him last night despite my protests)
1 unidentifiable piece-very symmetrical but with no smell-not going to taste it
countless pine needles and pine cone bits

Rudy is now acting like he's got a bunch of new toys.

I was so proud of the fact that I vacuumed the entire couch yesterday.

Best not judge me until you look under your couch.

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Rudy Doesn't Do Decisions

Rudy is relentless when he wants to play. Like most puppies (not just the gifted ones like Rudy), he likes to play keep-away and tug with his favorite toys and then fetch when we wrestle the slimy toy from his mouth and throw it across the room. In the morning, when I'm still in bed with my coffee and email, he will sit by the bed looking up longingly with his rag bone or squeeky bone thingy, tail wagging, big brown eyes expecting me to stop what I'm doing and attend to him. And of course I do. Problem is, he has much more energy than I have. By 9am, we've usually already got an hour of tugandfetch in and I'm shedding clothes because I've a broken sweat. He goes and runs the fence out back with Petey.

Yesterday morning he brought me his cute little snail. The snail is actually a bathtub toy he dug out of Zoey's bathtub basket. I love throwing it because it tends to bounce crazily and willy nilly. Watching Rudy change course suddenly is fun. (As opposed to watching him slide into the back door.) ( I promise. He has never hurt himself. This is the dog that can FLY, remember?) But, wrenching the cute little snail out of his mouth is increasingly hard. He is bigger and stronger now. SO, once I got it, I threw it and then quickly threw the squeeky bone thingy hoping to switch toys on him.

I wish I could have video taped his reaction. Stopped his playtime dead. He picked up the snail. Tried to get the considerable larger bone in his mouth, too. Dropped the snail. Picked up the bone. Tried to get the snail, too. Dropped the bone. Picked up the snail. Dropped the snail. Picked up the bone. This went on several times. He just couldn't get them both in his mouth and couldn't figure out which one he should leave and which he should return to me with.

He gave up. Went and curled up in his bed with a big sigh. Good thing he isn't a rescue dog. Or a sheep herder.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

If it is going to be cold, there better be snow

I believe I have stated previously here on Rudy's blog that I have a hard time with re-entry once I come back from a trip. This last one was no different with maybe even more to factor in.  I had to decompress from the stress of leaving my dad alone. Detox from the family togetherness. (You know you're doing it, too, Scott and Teri!!) Tuck away the guilt about no time with my mom. Unpack and then repack (poorly)  for a long weekend of dog/house sitting.

So, I'm still not back on schedule. Routine. Track.

And I'm still amazed that all I'm hearing on the weather news is about the Eastern Seaboard. I KNOW it was a lot of snow. TWICE. I know that it was historic. I know there were power outages, which is dangerous in cold weather. (Ask me about the week with no electricity when I was in seventh grade in NW Iowa.)

BUT

Does anyone know that it snowed a foot and a half in DALLAS?? That is pretty historic, I think! And the piles and piles of it in NW Iowa keep getting more piled on. They didn't have 30 inches overnight. But I think it has snowed non-stop since the end of November.


This was in Minneasota. About an hour south of Minneapolis. At a McDonald's. That is my niece. She was trying to get back to Chicago where they were ALSO having a blizzard. She's short. But she's not THAT short!! What's more amazing is the temperature. This is the dash of our rental as we tried to get back to Minneapolis on packed snow to catch our flights. It had already warmed up 5 degrees. (The interior temp was NOT 75. I am positive. My feet were still cold. My nose, too.) 

 

Since the sun came out today here in the South, I'm feeling a little better. And I've had Rudy to play tug with. He is easy to please. I love that about him. I think he'd have fun in the snow. But I think, like me, he'd prefer the temp to be about 20 degrees higher. At least.

(OK...I have a confession. I didn't know it was snowing in Dallas until DS (Mikie)  called because he was there and had phone picts. I haven't watched the news much since Hurricane Rita  sent everyone in this part of the Gulf in a tizzy and panic,  except at my sister's house to see when in the world we would be able to leave. I didn't like the way ANY news channel milked Rita. So, I read the paper. And the Internet. Which is much more truthful than TV.)

From today's newspaper: It has snowed this season in every state except Hawaii. Pretty cool, huh??? 

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

The list goes on...


And I'm having a true snow day. (Not quite as fun, Debbie, as those you have!) I am stranded in NW Iowa due to weather conditions. We were suppose to fly out this evening from Minneapolis, but getting there is a bit of a problem. This is what I'm afraid of. And my rental is, of course, white.


Monday, February 8, 2010

Things you don't see in Houston: Part Deaux


Pretty sure both of these pieces of equipment would be special order at Lowe's or Home Depot. Both the heavy duty and mini versions.

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Put this on the list of things you won't see in Houston


This is my BIL scooping snow off the roof of the house. I took both shots through the window. I don't need to be out there. I'd just be in the way.


Roofs up here can collapse from the weight of the snow. Hurricane? Snow weight? Things that make you go HHHHHMMMMMM?

Thursday, February 4, 2010

No new picts, but one great tough old bird


This is my stepmom, Darlene. I didn't call her my stepmom. I called her Darlene. She married my dad one month before I married Cuddle Buns. Because we moved way south and Dad and Darlene continued to live in the midwest, I didn't know Darlene very well until these last few years. I am so glad I got to know her. She was great for my dad, had a wonderful sense of humor, and fought her health problems with fierceness. ("Tough old bird" was mentioned more than once by everyone, including her doctor.) She also took care of my dad, maybe too well, even when she should have been resting with her feet up.  She went to bed before the sun went down, and was up way before the chickens. When she was up early in the morning, she was talking to Jesus. She always asked about my mom. She loved Rudy and still mourned the loss of their dog, Jamie. She taught me that not all is as it seems. And when it is, it is, and you may not be able to do anything about it.  I have come to love her dearly. 

She passed early this morning. Her lungs just weren't equipped to keep up with her heart. We miss her.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Think I missed a day


And this is why:


From our hotel window. Spent the night after meeting up with my niece in Minneapolis. Soon to be on our way to NW Iowa, where, I'm told, there is even more snow than this. Once again, I got a white rental car. Hope we can find it this morning.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Last Day of January....no perfected photography lessons yet

I realized last night very close to bedtime that I hadn't taken my photo for the day. Decided I should try a very delicate photo technique: taking a shot from across the room of Rudy sprawled across Cuddle Buns WITHOUT getting any of Cuddle Bun's Sunday "mess" on the coffee table. (Supper, remotes, cookies, gun-from the Wii, etc, etc.) I took a great shot with only the yellow cap of the little cute plastic cookie "cup" showing. Quite the photographer, huh? From my chair, I had to hold the camera really high and STILL. I am learning great things from this challenge.

But then I finished a silk shawl I've been working on since December 14. (I remember the date because I started it on the plane on my way to Frankfurt.)  The pattern is the Icarus Shawl and the yarn is a luscious silk blend in the colorway called Smog. (I bought the hand dyed yarn on Etsy.) It isn't blocked yet, but I love it.


Of course, my photography reverted back to it's normal point-and-shoot-no-matter-what, so the color isn't great. I suppose the fact that this beautiful smokey purple silk is on the red chair didn't do much for the composition. Oh well. I am thrilled with the shawl.

Oh....and I can't resist. Here's the pict with the real skill involved:

Think a dog's mouth is clean? Check out that filthy bone.