Sunday, October 25, 2009

400th Post!!!!!!!!!!

If pictures of our pets isn't really your thing, you may want to skip reading the blog for a few days (weeks? months?). It's the easiest way for David to see pictures from the road. And really...how could I resist taking pictures of this?
Think someone has a new best friend?

Yesterday Riley met Emma. He was worn out from helping me with cleaning out flower pots, so he didn't play a lot, but he was pretty interested in her. Christina came and played this afternoon and now a tired puppy is sleeping at my feet. If you're worried about the kitties, they're adjusting well. Gracie is in her favorite place (my lap) as I type, and Hen is sleeping in her cuddly new kitty bed.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Our New Addition

Since the end of July, we've been able to sleep through the night without having to let a dog out. We haven't had to buy dog food. Our backyard is poo-free. But something has been missing. Something that only a dog can provide. So....here's Riley!His Grammy suggested his name. We tried all different names, but that just seemed to fit him best. He is hard to get a picture of! Always on the move.

On the move, until he isn't. He fell asleep on David during a belly rub. Isn't he something!? It's been a while since we've had a puppy. He is so funny to watch.
Amazingly enough, the cats seem to be adjusting fairly well and fairly quickly. Maybe they'll all be friends! Nah...

Sunday, October 18, 2009

We're (Wal)Nuts About Fall!

Having a large mature shade tree is great. But why do they always have to be gumball trees or walnut trees? We spent yesterday morning on hands and knees picking up walnuts from the yard. It has been a great year for walnut crops! At least Amos the Amur Maple is a more cooperative tree. No offensive fruits and a very pretty shade of red for fall.What better way to spend a cool fall evening than with a campfire and friends? We didn't camp this fall, so we did the next best (and maybe better!) thing with a campfire at Krista's. She recently bought her dream car - an El Camino. And no, I'm not kidding about it being her dream car. She's been talking about getting one as long as I've known her. It's...it's...well, it's just beyond words. David fired it up during his tour and one of the kids in the backyard wanted to know whose motorcycle it was. :)


I love Krista's decorating style. Her backyard looks like it's straight from the pages of Better Homes and Gardens. And the table for our little wienie roast was SO cute! Here's a sample:

And now I'm off to enjoy Silver Dollar City with Christina on another lovely fall day! :)

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday afternoon was perfect football watching weather - crisp and perfectly blue. I don't know a thing about football, but it was fun to go. The marching bands at half time were my favorite. It just amazes me how they all know just what to do. I'd be the one turning the wrong way at the wrong time and tripping everyone, so it's best if I just observe. :)

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Goodbye Blue Cave

Our kitchen is small, but the thing that makes it workable is the pantry. It has great storage, but it was not blessed with a great color. The walls and even the ceiling in the little pantry were painted a dark blue. With a single light bulb illuminating it, things in the corners became lost in the shadows. Over labor day weekend, I took leave of my senses and thought it would be a good idea to pain the pantry.

I hauled the contents out onto the dining room table and kitchen counters and got to work. I quickly slapped some paint on the walls so that I'd have to commit. Four coats of off-white paint covered the ceiling and 3 coats of wicker on the shelf walls and 2 coats of oatmeal on the big wall finally covered all the dark blue. I'm so glad that I finally got around to doing that. It's so much lighter now and doesn't feel quite so cave-like!

Let There Be Light!

I think I've told you before about my affinity for changing out the light fixtures in our house. Most of the lights in our house have been replaced by my dear handy hubby. Only a few sconces remain. The only reason they're still there is that I hadn't found suitable replacements at Lowes. Silly me - I'd been neglecting all the lighting options out there on the web! For my birthday, I receive these two beauties. They arrived today and I really like them! Gracie - well, she likes the box they arrived in.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Happy Fall Ya'll!

I love fall - love love love it! The pumpkins, the mums, the long sleeves, candles, pumpkin bread - love it! We've been busy the last few weeks, and the blog has been far from my mind. Here's an update in pictures of what we've been up to and I'll try to do better keeping up.We went to the Ozarks Celebration Festival held every year at MSU. We've been once before. They have booths set up with crafters, music, steam engines, and other demonstrations and entertainment. I took a class a few years ago called Culture of the Ozarks. Despite the evil teacher, I loved the subject and really like learning about the history of this place we call home, so this festival was right up my alley (what exactly does that phrase mean anyway?). There was a booth set up with some old MSU yearbooks and we were able to find pictures of David's sister and dad. David's sister, Sarah, is on the first row, far left in the picture above.
When September 1st rolls around, I can hardly wait to put out the mums and pumpkins. The sorry-looking summer flowers get retired to a pile in the backyard to be replaced by the wonderful colors of fall.
If you're out at the right time, you might get to see a monarch stop to rest on one of the remaining summer flowers.
One of the other things about fall that I like is the various festivals. We went to Cider Days downtown in the rain, and Farm Fest on a perfect crisp blue day. I fell in love with a baby miniature donkey and two Corgi puppies. Couldn't decide which to bring home, so we had a jug of root beer instead. Can you have miniature donkeys in town? We also went this weekend to First Friday Art Walk, where the entertainment is seldom what's in the galleries.
As long as I can remember, there have been a few men who hold up hell, fire, and damnation signs downtown on the weekends. These men seem to have their own take on the holding of signs. Some of you will recognize the man on the right. :) David was brave enough to ask to take their picture, while I stood on the other side of the street pretending not to know him. I'm glad he did though - it's a classic!

We also hosted Pork-A-Palooza at our house last weekend. What do you get when you combine a yard full of people, 12 slabs of ribs, 28 pounds of pulled pork, 12 pounds of potato salad, 6 quarts of homemade ice cream? A great time! David spent a lot of time getting the food and yard ready, and I spend a lot of time hoping and praying for good weather so that we could all be outside. David has a couple of pictures of the food prep on his camera, so I'll try to share those next time. I have a couple pictures of the yard before anyone arrived, but I didn't have the foresight to charge the camera battery so I have no pictures of the actual event.

Today I'm heading to the Ozark Craft Festival with my friend Lorie. I've never been to this one, and I'm excited! Hope everyone is enjoying fall.