First Storm of the Season

The news has been talking about the storm this past week as it traveled across the states. The weather here was lovely with sun and mild temperatures - and it was hard to believe we would need to worry about SNOW. And Saturday I was watching TV in the Family Room with Honey in my lap. And around 9:45PM I took her out and when I turned on the outside lights I was shocked at the amount of snow on the ground! And the wind was howling. Out we went after bundling up in my knee high rubber boots, hooded coat and gloves. And the wind blew and waved back and forth with the trees creaking, ice stinging my face and Honey very skittish. And the snow continued all day Sunday and overnight. And except for quick walks for Honey, we stayed in the house. This morning we awoke to drifted snow and grey skies. The wind has died down but is still noticeable. And while the roads are clear because the township plowed starting Saturday night, our driveway is full of drifting snow with patched of wind swept driveway showing. Our afternoon job is to deal with the snow so we can get a car out of the driveway. I did take some pictures. 

The table on the deck shows the depth of the snow

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And branches were down in the back yard

And you can see the wind swept yard and more branches

And then I came up to my office with Honey to post.  And she kept me company. 

June is over! Summer is here!!

As you can see, Honey is enjoying her with a new rope toy. This picture was taken on my iPad and I just uploaded all the pictures to my computer to look at in Windows Live Photo Gallery. That allows me to then upload pictures and I believe video to the blog. I cropped this picture so the program lets me do basic editing. I’ll have to try video once I figure how to orient it the correct. I took all the video in horizontal and it looks like it’s sideways. So I’ll have to fool around with that.
June was a crazy month with cool, cold and now hot and muggy weather. The boat is in the water and we did take a couple rides – one to get gas. B is a great captain and I’m a very good first mate!! I just jump off the boat and tie it up when we get gas. Boating skills learned on our larger aft cabin have not been forgotten so I’m OK at securing the lines when we dock. Other than that, I sit back and enjoy the view!
This year I cut back on planting – just put herbs in the containers on the middle deck. I did plant flowers on the back patio in the two in ground planters. The chippies appear to be enjoying some of the plants but they do look nice from the kitchen window. I put red mulch in the beds today after weeding. One bed gets more weeds than the other.
We had the house and decks cleaned and painted in the beginning of June. No change in color – but the cleaning really did make a difference! We have done painting and touch up as well as cleaned parts of the house (solid cedar house) but this guy used a power washer and did the entire house (we don’t do ladders) and it really made a difference.
I’m going to post this as a draft and see if I can download pictures from the phone and then open and post….

While the picture and text was saved as a draft I could not upload a video. So, I created a video and lets see if that will upload...  It worked! The video is actually two one short (VERY short) of Honey playing with some cardboard we were ready to take to the trash and the other Honey playing with a little toy newspaper. I'll try to get some more pictures posted shortly.

Spring in March

The warm weather continues! It was raining yesterday and today - we do need rain. As we walked around outside we both noticed the daffodils were in bloom. Well, only two but there are several more on the way!  And the bushes are budding. And it's only March 21st - however, spring is officially here.

 The flowers are blooming in the Spring!

And the buds are budding

And Honey is supervising.

Christmas Eve Day

Here it is 9:45 AM and I just finished a batch of Spritz cookies. I'm on a "break" and then will make pineapple squares, a recipe from my mother-in-law. B requested it.

The weather has turned cold so it feels rather wintry - Makes it seem more like Christmas. We are ready - and the decorations are minimal and high - so Honey doesn't get to them. While she is improving with age, she still gets into things - toilet paper is her "thing" this week! She also loves B's shoes and you know when you hear her run from one room to another, she has something she shouldn't!

Last night I made soup from a bit of leftover chuck roast. There was some pan sauce that I started with and added a can of beef broth and then some beef base and water. Added the diced roast. The pan sauce had onions, carrots and fire roasted canned tomatoes so we were good to go! I then added some frozen cut up cabbage I had frozen after making pigs (stuffed cabbage). There is always the inner leaves that are, for us, too small to stuff. Rather than throw it out or have it sit in the refrigerator in hopes I would do something with it (which means wait until it turns green and THEN throw it out) I chopped it and froze it. So I added a few handfuls of that and let it simmer one glass of wine in length. I drink my wine slowly and don't fill the glass up, so that would be about 20 minutes. I then checked the soup, added a bit more water, salt and pepper and then added pasta - a mixture of small pastas that were mixed together in a jar. And then, in about 15 minutes we ate. Now B is not a soup fan but he liked this. I served it with rolls - Hawaiian bread - that we had purchased at Sam's for Christmas dinner. The meal was very good and we both enjoyed it!

The brown blanket is a new one - A Christmas present from Aunt Mary. She loves it. She is next to B's chair. Honey is asleep and B is on the iPad - a favorite pass time for both of them!

And while at Sam's the other day we picked up some flowers. I put them on the breakfast area table and with the red table cloth it really looks nice. Of course, if we go out, the flowers get moved 'cause "the girl" would love to check them out!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!!

Yep, we got snow

When we woke this morning it was grey, dismal, overcast, mild and dry. So we thought - maybe the forecast has changed, and we won't get snow. So we went out to breakfast and back home and still now snow. And it was still rather mild - in the lower 40s. Then the wind picked up...and in the midst of all the leaves that were falling were flakes...maybe snow....yes, SNOW.  And here it is, 3:37 and it's STILL snowing.
So, what to do on a dismal, snowy day?? Well, I made cookies. While I don't expect any trick or treaters, you never know so I'm now able to offer chocolate chip cookies.

They turned out quite good - it was a new recipe. It made 6 tray fulls. Honey was very interested in what I was baking. However, I don't feed her people food and especially no chocolate. I'll have to make her dog bones sometimes. Honey did get to go outside and just LOVES the snow! She enjoyed snow last year and she still loves it. B put her out on the deck that runs around the house. She was playing and eating the snow. B was throwing snow balls at her and she would bit them and wonder where they went. Below are some pictures of Honey.

As well as seeing Honey, you can see how much snow we have so far.

Right now we have about 4 or 5 inches. More to come. UGH!

Where did the snow ball go?????

Eating can be fun!

In anticipation of the rain we will get today, I cooked chicken out on the grill last night. I've found it easier to purchase a whole chicken (generally in the 4 to 5 pound range) that generally sells for 99 cents a pound at WalMart (Purdue) and then cut it up. I grilled half of the chicken on the grill adding BBQ sauce at the end. The wing tips and back bone get frozen separately as does the other half cut up into 5 pieces. Along with the chicken, I used a grill pan to grill veggies - potatoes, carrots and beets. B doesn't like the carrots and beets so I get them all! We shared the potatoes and I also made a salad. A very good meal! Below the grilling pictures are some pictures of Honey enjoying her meal!

The chicken goes on skin down for about 5 minutes. Then I turn it for another few minutes and then cook with indirect heat by turning the middle burner off and closing the lid.

The veggies then went on and the outside burners were turned to medium. The lid closed and I checked it every so often. About 8 minutes before the chicken was done, I brushed the chicken with BBQ sauce. Since I'm out of the sauce I make, I used one we purchased.

The meal was very good, if I do say so myself!!

And then there is Honey - who scarfs her food down like it's her last meal.

So, to slow her down a bit, we've been putting most of her kibble in these orange balls that she rolls around and as it rolls, kibble pops out. She can pick the ball up and move it around, something she does to be sure she gets every last bit! When one ball is done, she comes back into the kitchen and I give her the other ball which she drops, spilling out kibble. And around the house she goes, nosing the ball and then picking up the kibble.

 Here she is in the foyer - she likes it there as she can push up to the walls and move it along. The pictures are a bit blurry as she was moving rather fast!

And below, she is in the breakfast area and you can see the kiddie fence we use to block her from the lower level steps. She could push it aside but she doesn't. She goes all over the house with the balls and then will re-run her route to make sure she didn't miss any food. It does slow her down and we enjoy watching her.

Busy September So Far!

Labor Day is a wash out this year. But we are still enjoying the day even though it is raining off and on. Right now Honey and B are in the living room - B on the Ipad, Honey on the floor sleeping. I'm at the breakfast area table on the computer.

I've talked about canning, but I've also been dehydrating! I used to dehydrate back in the 80s when I also was canning. However, the dehydrator I had was rather basic - on or off with no ability to adjust temperature. So this time around I decided to get one that did have temperature adjustment and I've been experimenting. Saturday I decided to dry some of the herbs I'm growing in pots out on the deck. I did 3 racks of basil leaves, one of oregano stems and one of marjoram stems. The fact that it was rather humid probably extended the time. I kept the temperature low - 95 - as per instructions in one of my books. I started at 2 and at 7 the stuff was kinda dry but not brittle. Turned the temperature up to 105 and at 8 turned the thing off. Sunday I started it again with another temperature boost and finally the marjoram and oregano were dry. The basil took a bit longer. Below are some pictures:

This is the marjoram at the start. There is a liner on the tray since once dried it will be rather small!

And here it is done and you can see the plastic liner was really needed. I use an empty coffee filter for lots of things and here it was just the thing to drop the leaves in as I striped them off the stem. I was then able to use it like a funnel to pour into a small jar.

Didn't get a lot...but there is more in the pots and this was an experiment!

Yesterday I served skirt steak for dinner. I never had that before and found a recipe in one of my 2 Weber grilling cook books I had gotten at BJ's a while back. The recipe suggested serving it with grilled red potatoes which sounded good but I had potato salad in the refrig so we went with that. The cooking time was fast! And it cooked using direct high heat. I first made a rub consisting of kosher salt, ground cumin, granulated garlic and black pepper. This was spread on the steaks and then they sat out a bit to come to room temperature. Heated the grill and in a flash...about 6 minutes... they were done! The steak was good but next time I would reduce the salt in the rub. Very tasty and I served it with the potato salad and a tomato and onion salad with Italian dressing. Picture of the steak before cooking follows....



And finally, an update on Honey! She has been going for short rides with B in the VW and just loving it! She loved riding in the SUV but she bounced all over the place and got very hyper. So, we are hoping that a little ride every day or so will get her used to riding and less hyper. Truth be told, I think they both really enjoy their little outing even though B insists that he is the one who will drive! The picture below is of their return from the little drive yesterday. As you can see, Honey makes a great navigator!



Catching up on my pictures

Back in May, Honey and I were spending some quality time in the living room. I had my IPad and find it works better up on the arm of the sofa since she often lands in my lap. When we first got her I was very adamant that she not be on the chairs or sofa. That didn't last very long! I cover the sofa with a sheet and have accepted doggie tracks on the two leather chairs by the front windows that she bounds into to see outside. The sofa still looks OK but it's hairy as she really sheds!

 We got a kiddie pool since our first lab loved to splash in the water. It's up on the deck that runs around the house and with the gates, that is an area that she can run around in. Well, she is interested in the water but looks upon the pool as a VERY large water bowl. Here I am trying to encourage her to "come on in".....

 This is as far as we got... and she still doesn't go in the water!! Thought labs were water dogs???

Maybe some day.

 My day lilies continue to look good. I took a lot of pictures because this is the first year they have done well. Really pretty.

 And it's not all fun and games around here, either!

I did a beer can chicken on the grill last night that turned out very good! Since it was a large 6 pound Purdue chicken it took about 2 hours but was worth the wait. I made potato salad that was exemplary, if I do say so. Along with that fresh green beans that B purchased the other day when he stopped off at the store for me. And he also purchased Kirby pickles so I could make another batch of Ma's pickles.  This time I purchased some dill at the store since my dill is not doing well. I also cut up 3 green peppers and put the vinegar/water mix on them as well. And, to fill up the final jar I added some sweet onions. Never did onions before with this recipe so it remains to be seen how that will taste. The pickles sit out for several hours and then into the refrigerator. Much easier than canning and very good! I think of B's mom and what good things she made whenever I make one of her dishes.

A rainy weekend

     What a rainy weekend. No, not constant rain but enough to dampen plans. Yesterday we (The Friends) held a book sale at the library that was held inside due to the rain. We had a good sale considering the wet weather
     Today we went to breakfast and I had blueberry pancakes - very good! Also nice not to cook as I've been doing breakfast several times a week. I got laundry done and dusted the glass tables in the living room. With the pollen and such in the air they were quite dirty - at least my efforts showed!
     I made peanut butter cookies and I really don't remember ever making them before. No recipe in my files so I went on line as well as checked cookbooks and ended up making one found on simplyrecipes.com. It turned out well and we are enjoying them (Honey liked them too). Dinner is in the oven - a small roast. I'll pop some potatoes in and that will make a nice meal with not too much for leftovers.
    The exciting thing was the snake we saw on the patio. We have seen snakes around the property in the garden. A week or so ago a snake slithered in the bushes as I was moving the hose in the front. Today I was looking out the kitchen window and saw what appeared to be a snake curled up by the fire pit on the back patio. I called B over and yep, he agreed. He went down and sprayed it with something and it slithered off. Earlier we had a bird bounce off the sliding glass door off the living room - it was a wildlife day!
    And finally, Honey has eaten the face off her favorite toy better known as "the alien". It is this orange wobbly shaped rubber toy that makes (well, it used to) this very distinctive sound (even I can hear it) when squeezed. She runs around with it and offers it to one of us to squeeze or throw. She has been focusing on it lately and it was starting to show the love --- and then I saw her chewing with the alien in her paws minus the nose. Awwww - poor alien --- and sad Honey! She has now moved on to a rawhide chew so I guess she is out of her sad funk.
   A busy weekend!

At Last - Warm Weather

May has been a very cool and wet month! Wednesday it started to warm up and we actually had sun! Thursday was down right HOT! It was muggy with temperatures in the upper 80s. After heavy thunderstorms and a tornado watch last night, today is clear, dry and comfortable. A great way to start the Memorial Day weekend!

Honey has been enjoying using the deck since we got the gates. She especially enjoys laying in the sun.

On Thursday B headed out to Kmart to get a small kiddie pool for the girl. Our first lab enjoyed playing in a small pool, splashing the water and staying cool. So, we wanted to get Honey a pool also. At first she thought it was just a big water bowl. However she is figuring out what it's really for.

Honey tries the pool out while empty

B then filled it up for her

After lapping the water, she took a cautious step.

Happy Mothers Day

What a lovely morning! Honey and I were outside at 5:25 this morning as she needed to take a walk. Right now I'm at the breakfast table and can see outside the front windows. We put the hummingbird feeder up and I saw three hummingbirds swooping around. Naturally they disapeered when I went over to take a picture. Taking pictures through the window is a great motivator for keeping windows clean. Fortunately the window is too high for Honey's nose prints.

Honey has been enjoying the upper deck that runs around the front of the house. We crack the sliding door a bit and she can get out and walk around. Sometimes in the early morning, when it is warmer than 40, we go out and play toss the rope. This is not her bathroom area so we still do walks for that!

The picture below is Honey out on the deck. I had to remove the pots I had in this area as she was digging in the dirt and bringing in clumps of dirt. Notice her crooked tail..so cute!

Another round of thunder storms this morning with VERY heavy rain!! We went out around 11 AM and found storm damage light but lots of water flowing down and across roads. Our stream by the house is full and noisy. The rain was so heavy you could just about see to the road. I'd say an inch or so fell in 2 hours.

We also found out Honey is not "fond" of lightning and thunder but will tollerate it!

Here are 2 pictures of Honey taken this week...

The orange ball you can see on the floor behind her gets filled with treats. She rolls it around with her nose and the treats fall out....fun for Honey, quiet for us :)

This is down stairs in what I call my library. She is behind me as I sit at my computer looking out over the lower patio. She looks like she was asleep. My, she is getting big - 66 pounds.

It's Wednesday already! The sun is out and the temperatures are above freezing - right now 45. Most of the snow has melted (again) and it's rather nice out. And then there is that forecast for more snow. A front from the south that just might track inland enough to create snow in the Pocono Mts. and we COULD get 6 or more inches of snow!!! GRRRRR  So sick of it.

B and Honey are upstairs while I'm down in the lower level using the larger computer. My laptop, purchased in December bit the dust - the hard drive gave a message that indicated it was dead. I've never had a computer tell me it was failing before. This one had been acting funky for a month or so, hard to get Windows started so I backed up just about daily. While I do back up, I don't usually do it that often. Since I was spending time learning how to catalog my pictures using LightRoom3, I didn't want to lose all that work. So when it finally did die, all I had to do was figure out how to move the backup to this computer. I wanted to be sure to not only save the pictures but save all the tags and folders I created. So much to learn with this program along with Elements 9 and I'm enjoying the learning process. I must say I do also get frustrated at my learning curve but sometimes I walk away and then click, I see how I should have approached the task and go back to the computer and it works. I have two books I'm using and it helps to see how two different people explain something.

So here are some pictures of Honey. She is getting better every day but is still doing funny and often frustrating things. She is into the trash - literally. We recycle and she just moseys into the kitchen and checks out the recycling bin and takes out assorted paper things. This morning it was the paper egg carton and the empty pasta box. She also has been going into the laundry basket that did not have a lid. While we try to keep the door to the bedroom closed, sometimes we forget and out she comes. Her favorite is our socks. So, when we were at Sam's the other day, B noticed an outside trash container that was made out of plastic and brown. It looked rather nice and he said, how about using that for the laundry. So we brought it home and it fits in the corner and looks good. It's also taller and has a hinged lid that keeps Honey out and yet is easy to open to remove dirty clothes. We are thinking maybe another one for the living room papers and other paper stuff. I'll keep the cans and bottles in the kitchen and hope she learns to not pick trash!

This picture was taken yesterday.

We bought her a little rabbit dog toy that she shakes around. Here she is "loving" her toy.

What Goes Up Must Come Down

We knew once Honey mastered the stairs to the loft, she would figure out that going down to the lower level would be fun, also. She did! Yesterday she got a lot of exercise just running up and down the steps. The lower level is used as a family room on one side and storage on the other and is divided by the steps. I did a quick put away since Honey can get into anything – and we spent the day learning what was still available! First came books...we have book cases down there and so she was bringing first paperbacks and then a hardback up to play with. Ripped the cover off of one and just played with the others. I realized that if I gave her a treat she might think I was rewarding her...so I called her name and when she came she got a treat and I quickly got the item. After the books it was an assortment of things including dental floss. Now where did that come from??? Oh yes, put in a basket to put away along with the key holder she found. We laughed the most when she brought up a battery pack. The package held 20 AA batteries and she was really enjoying chewing on them. For some reason this really cracked us up...and we did get them off her. This morning she was at it again with another batter pack (different in a different location) and finally she fell asleep while eating a piece of paper. We have now closed off both the loft and the lower level with gates. While I intend to take her up or down when we are there, allowing her the run of the house is NOT working as there are too many things for her to get into. She is getting better...today I wore some fluffy bedroom slippers and she didn't try to eat them which she did do several weeks ago. I guess it's all about growing up. She is now 4½ months old. And still growing. Below are some new pictures.

She was really going to town on the batteries

And below, this morning she got a piece of paper and while playing, fell asleep..one piece in her mouth, the other on the floor..

tired little girl!

Honey Ventures Up to the Loft

We knew this day would come. Honey, along with many puppies, does not (or rather did not) so stairs. She does go up and down the stairs on the deck to get to the great out doors. However, she has been very reluctant to even approach the steps to the loft and the lower level. In some ways that was good as we didn't have to worry about her getting into things (and thus I didn't put stuff away). The bad part was when I would go upstairs to work in the loft or down to the lower level, she would lay at the bottom or top of the steps and cry. She has, on several occasions, gone up several steps to the loft. It was almost like she got a few steps up, said OMG, and went back down. Yesterday she got up to the landing....and there were only 4 more steps to the loft. But, down she went without attempting the rest. I continued to do my work and then...Honey was up all the steps! And into everything! The teddy bears I had on the sofa, the trash, the plant I had moved up there to get away from her.... well, you get the idea. So the kiddie gate is up at the bottom of the steps and I have mostly dogie proofed the room. We will let her up when we go up but otherwise, the gate stays. I'm anticipating that her next thing will be the lower level. So this weekend, that's where I have to work puppy proofing that area. We also need to purchase a second gate...

A Slushy Mess but a Nice Day

A rainy/sleety/slushy/messy day. And although we had a period of snow this afternoon, the precipitation didn't add too much to the mess that's on the ground. However, it's to go down to the teens tonight and the wind is picking up. That means the stuff on the ground freezes...UGH  The good news is that Monday should be in the 50s so the frozen stuff will melt.
There is a rather large puddle at the bottom of the front porch steps. It was just a bunch of snow but yesterday the area turned to water. Now Honey has enjoyed the snow, danced in it, sniffed it with her nose that then holds the flakes, jumped and sat in it. But she does NOT like this puddle. I took her out. She sat at the top of the steps – no, Mom, I don't want to go down. I could hear her saying this. Well, down we went and she, the wuss, went into the bush on the side of the walkway to not get her little toes wet! Then off she went to cavort in the snow and really, got wet all over. On the way back in, same route – around the puddle and up the stairs. Smart dog!
We had plans for dinner. However, that plan didn't work. So, at 5:30 we were without a plan for eating. Now I spent the afternoon going through my typed recipes and making sure all of them were saved to a flash drive in Word 07. I also printed any out that were still hand written in my file. So you could say we were recipe focused. However, at 5:30 there was a limit to choices. So, in the oven is Barber chicken (broccoli, cheese and ham). I love Barber chicken!!! B is not so liking them but given several choices, he is OK with this. I also have a small pot pie size cherry pie in the oven and conveniently it needs the same temperature. Add a salad and there is our meal.
I have to add that Honey just jumped up on the sofa and is laying beside me. She did try to nibble on the laptop..guess it didn't taste too good as she is now asleep with her head against my leg but not on my lap as that is where the lap top is. Such a good girl!!!

Well, it's warm inside!

Another cold morning! It's 11 AM and the temperature is up to 31. Quite a lot of snow melted during the brief warm spell. The roof is just about clear thanks to the warm temperatures and the sun! The slope across from the front door, a favorite potty stop, is quite icy. So we now go to the back of the houseby the septic mound where there are bare patches and flatter land. She is so interested in the acorns, twigs and branches she finds. Yesterday, with the wind blowing, she spent enjoyable time chasing the dancing leaves. She even managed to get one or two. Honey then brings these prize treasures back in the house. I then remove them when I give her a treat. I swear we could start a nice fire with all the twigs and such she has brought in.

This morning she was under the table as we ate breakfast. Then she stretched. This is Honey relaxed... such a cutie!!!

Yesterday she was playing with her newest favorite toy. After covering the sofa with a fitted sheet, we have allowed her to get up. In the evening, she often sits next to me with her head on my lap. In this picture she was really enjoying this toy (that you can just about see by her mout)h and the sofa was one "stop" on her play time.

It was warm today!!

It was above freezing this morning when we went out at 6:10. You could just feel the difference. Right now at 2 PM it is 48 out. The wind has started to gust and there is water dripping off the roof. It's overcast and we are expecting show showers. However, it's to then warm up again by Wednesday and stay warm. B got the VW out of it's spot - between the snow blower and the melting he was able to move it.

Yesterday I took pictures of Honey while she was eating a treat and she relaxed and fell asleep in the middle of eating. That's unusual...nothing gets in the way of our girl and her food. You can also see how big she is getting!

She opened her eyes when I got down to take a picture

And then closed them. The treat - a rawhide bone, is between her front paws.

The sun is out!!

Sun out... so even though it's cold we aren't complaining.

Honey was busy yesterday...snuck up on the chair where she is NOT supposed to be!

OOPS....better get down

I love this treat

A warmer day

Yesterday's rain helped to start the melting of the snow. Today it's "warm" in the mid 30s and the melting is continuing. We are due for a cold blast tomorrow and snow is expected several times this week. Quite frankly, we are sick of the snow!! All three of us slip and slide!

Honey was on solid ice while B was on the plowed driveway

Wheeeeeee!!!!

I'm tired....