Moving On Up

I have made a huge decision in my blogging career and now have my very own website.

It is ....

http://www.dorothysmountainhome.com/

How exciting is that?  Don't answer that question here - leave a comment at my new place.

Soon, or as soon as my in-house computer expert can assist me, my archives from BlogSpot will be moved over to their new home.

See ya there~

Have the BEST day ever!
~ Dorothy

Speaking Of ...

When Roxy and I went outside this morning about 5am, it was just starting to rain.  We did our business, snuggled back into bed and listened to the rain and a bit of thunder.  Even though it was 60° when we got up for good about 7am, it was a cold 60° - cloudy and with a breeze.  However, neither one of us were detered from enjoying our morning coffee on the deck with the hummingbirds and the Cardinal Family.

You know the Itsy Bitsy Spider song - where the sun comes out and dries up all the rain?  That is what we have now.  The sun is peaking through the clouds, the birds are singing and the breeze is gone.

I now will have the Itsy Bitsy Spider song stuck in my head all morning, maybe the rest of the day.

Gardening 101

Just off our back deck and up against the garage, we had an eyesore of a garden spot that I didn't know what to do with.  My first plan was to just take the planting area out all together, rake it smooth and fill in with rock.  

Somewhere along the line two thoughts made a connection in my brain:

1) I want a herb garden.

B) I want to do something with this eyesore of a garden spot.

Obsessed

I have had two things come in to my life this week that didn't take me too long to get obsessed with.  So much so that I have made a chicken dish for dinner two nights in a row.  Unheard of for me, as I evenly distribute the chicken, beef, pork and Cowboys (*) throughout my two week menu plan.

With all the hoopla over the recent release of the movie, The Hunger Games, I decided to check the book out of the Amazon Prime lending library.  I have had it for - dare I say - a couple of weeks,  and I finally broke down and decided to start reading it Monday.  With no due dates to contend with, I guess I was hoarding it just in case I blew through reading the other 500+ books that I had on my Kindle.  Lord knows, I always gotta have one book in reserve for emergency situations.

Good Things

Randy surprising me with a new cordless vacuum and ...

Speak Softly ...

... And carry a big stick.

Accredited to a West African proverb, this phrase was used by President Roosevelt in 1901 less than two weeks after the assassination of President McKinley, the event which made him President.

I don't know about the chances of me ever speaking softly, but I have learned in the last week or so the benefit of taking a walking stick with me when Roxy and I ... wait for it ... go for a walk.

Roxy the Dog

Roxy loves to be wrapped up in a blanket.  Any blanket will do, but of course she has her own.  She has had this ratty old blanket since she was a puppy.  It is so threadbare that she can see through it.  Because of that reason, it is Roxy's favorite blanket to play 'Blanket Monster'.  

My New Baby

I had just finished making myself presentable Thursday morning when Randy called me over to the living room.  "Look at this," he said.

On his laptop screen was a picture of Bonnie, the dog of the week in our local paper, the Baxter Bulletin.

"NO!" I cried.  "Do not click on the picture!"

The picture has a direct link to our local Humane Society where all of Bonnie's particulars were listed.  To make matters worse, Randy then started to look at all the other dogs and found a cute little puppy named 'Skippy'.

Ugh ...  That started the conversation about whether to get a companion for Roxy.

Salty Sesame and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies

Randy's fifth love is ice cream, specifically Dutch Chocolate made by Blue Bell.  Me, well, just to be sociable, I went through an ice cream phase, too.  However, cookies are my fifth love.  Randy and I trying to be adult about our fifth loves and working, quite successfully, to enjoy them only on the weekends.

I was perusing joythebaker.com last week in a quest to find a new cookie recipe for my sweet treat for the weekend.  I had narrowed my choices down to two recipes.  One was Brown Sugar Cookies, the other contender was Salty Sesame and Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I wavered on the decision like Whirled Peace was solely in my hands.

It's A Jungle Out There

Roxy and I went for a walk just a bit ago.  We were almost all the way up to the vineyard when I looked down and spied a June bug skedaddling across the road.  He was huge and he was moving.  I am sure that if I would have looked closer, he would have been kicking up some dust.  

I was lucky enough to have my close-up lens on my camera but I was all thumbs and fumbling around trying to get to the button to up the shutter speed to get a picture.  Mr June Bug made it to the side of road and hid in the leaves before I had a chance to snap a picture.

I figured the best way to get a picture of him was to wait him out.  I should have counted on my photography assistant making a mad dash right smack across the photo composition area.

Wordsmith

I love to read.  Absolutely love, love to read.  As a kid, I couldn't wait to get the newest Nancy Drew book.  I would finish them fast and then I would snag the book that Debbie was reading whenever she put it down.

It dawned on me a few months ago that sometimes there are words in books that I just don't know the meaning of.  I assume the meaning from the context of the sentence and the book itself, but I never have taken the time to actually look the words up.

Until ..

Sleeping With The Enemy

I love spring.  Nothing does my heart better than leaving the dreariness of winter behind me and watching the colors of spring emerge.  Just looking out over to the lake and seeing a hint of green on the trees or watching for random wildflowers that bloom here and there makes me very happy.

In the yin and yang of things, there is always a downfall to good things.

The downfall of spring is pollen.  

Firsts

... Turtle this year

Happy (belated) International Waffle Day

In honor of last Sunday being International Waffle Day, this week's cooking blog will be about ...

Lemon Bars

Kidding !

Well, not about the part that Sunday was International Waffle Day.  That is a fact.

Gymnosporangium Juniperi-Virginianae

Always on the lookout for something interesting and new to take pictures of, I discovered this substance on a few cedar trees last year.  I have been waiting for it's appearance this spring, and I wasn't disappointed after the rains we have had the past week.

Randy and I call it cedar jelly.  And no, we don't spread it on our toast.  The layman's name for this is Cedar Apple Rust Fungus.  Basically it is a rust colored blob of goo found on some unfortunate cedar trees on our property.  Randy and I both noticed the blobs early last spring after a day or two of storms.

Link and I

I am relatively sure that I was the first one on my block to get a copy of the Wii game 'The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword' when it was released around Thanksgiving of last year.  I immediately started to play it and by the end of December, I had put in over 70 hours of game play.  I figured that I was just over half way through with Link's quest to rescue Zelda.

The game has this wonderful feature that tells a player how much time they have wasted playing a video game.

My in-house eternal optimist is of the opinion that one is not wasting time if one is having a good time.

I am having a good time with the game.  Therefore, no time wasted.

Mornings

Roxy and I are on the deck enjoying the morning.  I am drinking my coffee and she is watching for critters to either protect us from or to chase.

Maybe both.

Good Things

I peruse padgadget.com every morning for any news on the iPad.  Almost every day, they have a post that details apps that have been put on sale.  I am mostly interested in the games and seldom look at the apps in productivity category.  I happened to give it a glance the other day and noticed an app called simply 'Menu Planner'.  This app is right up my list making and organization neurotic-ness ally.  It has taken me a bit to get the database set up, but I am lovin' the project of adding all my recipes, ingredients and making shopping lists.

West African Chicken Stew

I came across this recipe in the most recent issue of Taste of Home Cooking Healthy magazine.

Thanks, Dad, for the subscription!

Cut up the chicken breast.

No Woman's Land

Since late last year, Randy has been spending a lot of time in the garage.  Roxy and I wander in there every once in a while to check on him and to bring him provisions.

Armed with my camera, I decided to sneak into the garage and try to find out what as been keeping Randy so entertained.

Lots ...

What's the Difference?

I upgraded to Photoshop Elements 9 when it was released in September 2010.  I can't remember which version I had before that - it really didn't matter.  I have been way too intimidated by the program to do anything other than a bit of cropping or adding text to a picture.  Sometimes, on my spunky days, I actually was brave enough to crop and add text to the same picture!

I have no clue why I had an abnormal fear of learning Photoshop Elements.  I usually have no problem jumping right in and playing around.  I think it has to do with the huge array of stuff that one can do to a simple photograph.  Layers, masks, color saturation, hue, cloud rendering- it all is enough to make my head spin.  Way too many options to play with and it gives me a headache.

WalMart and I Are Breaking Up

It is official.  It is over between WalMart and myself.  I just can't do it anymore - to be the only one in the relationship willing to work on the relationship.

Doggone

For the second time last week, I narrowly missed having a heart attack.

Or a stroke.

Or a heart-a-stroke. (*)

Or all three.  Consecutively.

On Friday afternoon, Roxy and I headed into town for some girl time and to run a couple of errands.  First stop was Miss Tammy's salon for Tammy to work her magic on my (very functional) man hands.

Where There Is Smoke ...

It was a balmy 55° and a beautifully sunny morning yesterday.  After our morning walk, Roxy and I decided to play a bit of chase with the frisbee.  We had just finished playing and decided to sit on the rocks and spend some time enjoying the warm sun, the singing song birds, our coffee and each other.

When out over yonder there arose such a clatter

I jumped to my feet to see what was the matter ...

... Roxy ran towards the woodshed and started barking at the trees

Randy came outside and said, "Did you see that cloud of smoke?"

Tennis, Anyone?

Newsflash ... This was written in December of last year

As of the 16th of this month, Randy and I will no longer be land barons or landlords.  Truthfully, we haven't been landlords since Cristy and family moved out of the Plano house last June.  We are now ever so grateful to be ending this year with a respectable amount of mortgage payments.

Ein.

Uno.

One.

Our first pool party - and we hadn't even moved in yet!

Oven Sweet Tater Fries

Lest anyone think that everything I cook turns out well and would impress even Martha Stewart, I decided to post about a cooking adventure of mine that turned out to less than stellar.

This family loves their sweet taters.  Even Roxy loves 'em.  I don't cook them that often, because I like to  somewhat limit the sugar and carbs that we ingest.  When we do have a baked potato - sweet or otherwise - one potato is shared by the entire family.

Randy and I are strong believers that there is no such thing as 'perfect eating'.  Demonstrated by the four monster cookies that I downed as I am working on this blog.

That is what I get for setting up my laptop within arm's reach of the cookie jar.  Notice the bag of carrots just beyond the cookie jar?  Didn't even think to expend the extra calories to grab them.

8th Annual Chocolate Lovers' Festival

While listening to the radio on our trip home from Springfield, Misery last week, I heard an advertisement for the Chocolate Lovers' Festival that was being held in Eureka Springs that coming Saturday.

I was actually quite proud of myself that I remembered to look it up on the inter-web when I got home.  I mentioned to Randy that I thought it would be a fun excursion, and since he didn't disagree, I made plans for us to go.

Quick Trip to Misery

Randy, Roxy and I went on two - count 'em - two adventures this week.  The shock to my system is enough to keep me in bed watching my DVR full of Dateline and Doctor Phil shows for at least two days.

Contrary to the title of this post, neither adventure was miserable by any stretch.  Edna, the voice that lives inside of our less-than-state-of-the-current-art portable GPS, is unable to pronounce Missouri correctly.  It comes out as 'Misery'.

One Simple Walk

About an hour ago, I was quietly sitting in my allotted spot on the couch working on pictures.  Randy was at the other end of the couch doing what he does, (reading about '56 Chevys) and Roxy was in her center postion perched on the back of the couch so that she can look out the window.  Her job is to guard the house from all sorts of horrible things that may befall it if our protection was left to just Randy and me.

Damages

I certainly have been getting my money's worth from our NetFlix account in the past week.

Most of the time, our (my) taste in television shows runs toward reality shows like The Amazing Race, Survivor and American Idol as well as the occasional sitcom.  It has to be a good sitcom, like Last Man Standing or Whitney.  There really aren't too many sitcoms that are enjoyed at our house.  Most of them are too predicable, too dumb or too off-color.  Or a combination of all three.

Good Things

Bog boots.  They are kind of pricey, so I couldn't afford to get the entire boot (these are slip ons that only come up to my ankle).  Waterproof and comfortable, these boots will last me a very long time.

Where Am I?

It is raining mice and men today.  Has been all through the night and will be through tomorrow.  When I got up at 6am to take Roxy out, I thought for a moment that the last five or so years had been a dream and I am still in Western Washington.  There is water everywhere.  

Sleeping On A Cloud

Who knew that a new, king-sized mattress would bring such joy and happiness to my life?

Oh my goodness, I have never looked so forward to bedtime in my life.  And I think Randy and Roxy feel the same way.

Last Friday, Randy, Roxy and I loaded ourselves into the truck and made the approximately one hour journey to Mountain View to pick up the head board and foot board for our new bed.

I ❤ My ,,,

Anybody who knows me knows how I love my electronic gadgets.  If I didn't have Randy to talk some sense into me, I would break our bank with updating my phone every time a new model came out.

In fact, right after Verizon replaced (for free) the mistake of the Xperia Play, they came out with a new Razr model.  

Randy ended up hiding my car keys so I couldn't get to our neighborhood Verizon store.

Kidding ~

Irish Cream Bars

When Randy and I were doing our grocery shopping for Thanksgiving, I realized that I had had not picked up any Cool Whip to go with Randy's pumpkin pie.  We were already at the checkout when I left Randy there with a panicked look on his face dashed off to the frozen food section.  He really dislikes it when I take off when we are so close to the cash register.  Not because he may have to pay, but because I may get lost and never make it back.  I can barely find our car in the parking lot, so he attempts to keep me in sight at all times.

Lucky for us both, I didn't have to do much searching.  WalMart had the Cool Whip prominently displayed at the end-cap of their first freezer aisle.  Holy Moly ~  there are a lot choices for Cool Whip.  Regular, Light, Fat-Free, Reduced Fat, Sugar Free, just to name a few.  That doesn't even include the flavors that are available.  Way too many choices for a fake whipped cream product, if you ask me.

So Far, So Good

Well, it is day four of the new year and time to rethink the practicality of those resolutions.  Actually, I didn't make any resolutions this year.  I haven't for quite some time.  Why set myself up for failure?

Well, I am trying to give up sweets.  Again?  Still?  That has less to do with a New Year's resolution and more to do with a daily resolution.  I am on day four.  There is a unopened package of pretzel M & M's taunting me from the pantry.  I didn't like them the last time I bought them, so I have no clue why I put them in the shopping cart.  It's like an invisible force that makes them jump from the shelf to my hands.