A Garden Variety Mob Hit

I was going to entitle this post "Always Wear Protection",
but then thought better of it...not that I think that any of my genteel followers would have misconstrued such a title ;-)
No, What I mean to say is- While most of you are familiar with the notorious Mr. Stick and the injury that he caused Sola over at Life with Dogs. You may have, like me, thought that this was just one bad branch broken off of a basically good family tree.
But now I have my doubts.......
I was gardening this past weekend when a bunch of rouge Irises (I knew I should have dealt with those dead-heads last fall) attacked me leaving me with several nasty splinters.
I got most of them out with ease - but there is one that seems to continue to evade me (and is even starting to look a bit infected :-(

I just wanted to send out the warning- whenever you are in the great outdoors, be ever vigilant, and have protection on hand!

Top Ten

Top Ten reasons I wish my life were more like a 1970's T.V. show:

10) Good help would NOT be hard to find,

and we would be able to afford a maid, as well as feed 6 kids, on 1 income

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(9) Our dog would be more like this
And less like this (nothing personal Hero)

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(8) A twitch of the nose would solve all problems-(not just be a sign that the pollen level is REALLY high)

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(7) The neighbors would not only NOT be judgemental- but would make us look amazingly intelligent and sophisticated.

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(6) I could say things like "Sock it to me" and "groovy" on a regular basis

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(5) There would be writers to make sure that I always had a witty comeback/ answer-

and who could make even "dead wood" look clever (right Mr. Stick?)

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(4) I could make loads of money off my kid's talent

(3) The good guys would always win

(2) We would have our very own COOL theme song

AND

(#1) My van would have a better paint job (lol)

Here's your sign....

Tired Dogs...

Yes, Hero is tired- but I mean MY DOGS are tired. Saturday we did an "urban hike" with our pals at Mutts of Manassas.

A simple 1 1/2 mile walk from Point A to Point B - Point B being Nathans' Dairy Barn (for ice cream/ pup cups)

Hero's new friends : Emma and FergusFergus is the shy one :-)And Theresa and Isis Isis says "thanks" for the ice cream.

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That was the warm-up for the main event-

Sunday's Fauquier County Habitat for Humanity Dog walk

As well as walking Hero- we had the pleasure of Wyatt's company.Wyatt is a 14 month old lab/hound ? mix. This is the best picture I have of him because he was ALWAYS moving :-)

He is available for adoption through the Fauquier County S.P.C.A.Boy, does this little fellow LOVE life.

After walking BOTH the long and short trails we tried out the agility pen.

But mostly Hero just wanted to patrol/ mark the perimeter.



After all, You never know who's out there watching :-)

How Does Your Garden Grow?

One of the gifts I received for my birthday back in March, was a set of seeds and planters given to me by one of my oldest and dearest friends - Debbie. (Not to say that SHE is one of my "OLDEST" friends- just that she has been my friend for a VERY long time... I guess it would be more politically correct just to say BFF :-)
( can members of the 40+ crowd use BFF without looking silly?)
Anyway, I have always been more of a flower garden person than the vegetable garden type. We do have 2 blueberry bushes, some strawberry plants, and we usually buy a few cherry tomato plants in the spring- but that has been the extent of my ventures into edible gardening.
Debbie saw fit to rectify this fact, being aware of
-what the food bill is for a family of 7,
-that there have been several recalls of contaminated produce,
-the fact that everything tastes better fresh from the garden, and
-that often children will eat better if they have picked the food themselves.
Anyway, Will and I started some of the seeds indoors a few weeks ago.
My first attempts- cherry tomatoes, lettuce and sweet bell peppers.
Notice anything?? I have some hope for the cherry tomatoes and the peppers, but the lettuce?

I separated out some of the lettuce seedlings- I put them outside on warm , sunny days to harden them). They are in good potting soil (with miracle grow). But so far I am less than optimistic that we will be harvesting any lettuce. Any ideas? Next, I will try some sugar snap peas and some zucchini. And when we are finally past the risk of frost (we had frost AGAIN this morning :-( I guess I will try to direct sow some of the lettuce seeds I have left.

Or perhaps I should stick to flowers

Walking the Walk

This coming Sunday Alaina, Hero, and I will be participating in the 2009 Habitat for Humanity Dog Walk (as part of our our local spca group). Along with the actual walk-a-thon there will be a grooming station, a bake sale, and a "paw print" station.

They will also be having a Pet star Contest, but I don't think Hero's impression of "a sleeping dog"- as impressive as it is- is quite what they are looking for.

If you are interested in helping support this worthy cause please go to http://www.fauquierhabitat.org/ (please be sure that you include DOG WALK in the memo.)

HAPPY EASTER!

Sending wishes for a most egg-cellent Easter to one and all!

Please note the blue hound egg that Alaina designed.


Genevieve hard at work - the white designs were etched with a dremel type tool.

And

As promised - the Easter candles we decorated.

Left to right- Will's egg ( the pattern was his- I just controlled the flow of the liquid candle paint/wax),- Genevieve's egg, (back- water lily)- My egg (front- paw print egg) ,- Alaina's "hound" egg- (right) Mark's egg (I believe it is a volcano)

Strange Bedfellows

Yes, yes, this is a re-run (and it's not even Summer yet ;-) But I wanted to play fair for those
gathering sticks.......


Those of you with more than one hound are probably used to seeing scenes such as these:

Pepsi still swears that they are NOT friends ;-)

But last month Hero decided that Will was also part of his pack, thus fair game for the customary "dog pile" napping position. Will obviously does not mind.

But as they say: "turnabout is fair play".

Speaking of strange bedfellows:

Virginia 2007

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Ok, I can tell I have probably lost some of you.

Well, it all started with our friends over at Life with Dogs

http://lifewithdogs.blogspot.com/2009/03/best-served-cold.html

And like all great ideas, it took on a life of it's own:

http://misterstick.blogspot.com/

My theory- wherever dogs are being harmed Mr. Stick has probably had a hand in it-(well ok, he doesn't actually have hands), but he has been involved in some way.

And that includes the Michael Vick dog fighting ring.

So keep an eye out for Mr. Stick where ever he may be lurking.

The BIG 100

Today marks the big 100- no, not my age- we all know that is 14517. Nope, this is my 100th post! So, in celebration I am having an open house. Well, a cyber open house anyway. I have mentioned that I LOVE to decorate (if only I could find a way to make money off of it...sigh). And my love of all things "decor related" lead me to learn about Feng Shui. It never ceases to amaze me that in the 21st century so many Americans have at least heard of this ancient Chinese form of creating balance in your living spaces. (in my poll only 1 person voted for "winner of season 3 Top Chef" (lol) and No one picked "huh ?"!)

No, you will not find ANY Buddhas, wind flutes, or multi -colored ribbons hanging on my walls.

In my world, Feng Shui is not superstitious or religious. It is simply a starting point for choosing from among the 100s of colors and themes that we are all faced with when we go to redecorate.

Western science Agrees that colors have frequency/ wavelengths, and sounds have frequencies/ vibrations (thus energy), and even that these energies affect our human psyche. (that's pretty much the basis of Feng Shui).

So to see it in action here are some before and afters:

Entrance before


Entrance after

Kitchen before

Kitchen after



Before (you can see a little into the dining room)



Dining room after

Master bath before






master bath after


Kids' bath before (complete with kids-lol- Alaina and Genevieve 9 years ago!!)


Kids' bathroom after




Boys' bedroom before







boys' room after






Then these do not have before pictures (sorry)


Laundry room (not great- but what laundry room is- the brick wall is actually wallpaper)



Master bedroom - after

I DO wish I could find a before for this bedroom, it was painted a green-gold color




Living room after




Basement playroom







Main level 1/2 bath
When we bought the house this SMALL bathroom was wallpapered with blood red striped wallpaper.
(think "Red Room" -as in Amityville Horror)
I was 8 months pregnant at the time, so instead of stripping the wallpaper, I simply primed it, and then sponge painted over it. The window is a piece of wallpaper. The vines and butterflies are Tatouage wall art (rub-on stencils).



Basement bath (wallpaper mural- that was clearance - I bought 2 sets to do the whole bathroom then tiled up to the wallpaper ( the tile and grout are the same color as the floor only smaller squares)-I don't know if you can see it in this picture but the ceiling is the same blue as the top of the mural.)


Well, I hope you enjoyed the tour. But what kind of hostess would I be if I did not at least put out a table of snacks.....