Where does time go

Were does time go? A year ago Lovely sister #1 was pregnant, now I have a beautiful nephew. Sir is 4 , into being a girly girl and in looking after her new bro. Lovely sister #2 in back in a cold Kentuck, at least for now. And I am still loving my home and yard.

I do love the holidays but after spending weeks getting ready I just don't know what to do with myself. Ok, I will take down the holiday decorations, add to my Christmas card list for next year and... If I am really honest- I will kick back and read the great books I received for christmas, peruse the garden catalogs, watch sappy movies and do absolutely nothing.

My 4 legged family has grown in the last month. Smokey Joe has moved in permanently. He came over to visit (and to work on housebreaking), it is now permanently. I never thought I would have a poodle. He is a love bug, a bit dizzy, doesn't seem to understand why the cats won't play with him and has springs instead of legs. He has learned to sit, walk on a leash, and the housebreaking is about 95% - if is really cold or windy he has to be forced to go outside..and you have to watch or he will just run from one door to the other- then you will have a potty inside.

Charlie and Monty are taking Smokey Jos arrival in stride. Charlie has decided that Smokey is fair game for the bate and switch game (Smokey has a chewey- charlie starts squeaking a toy- smokey jumps up to see what charlie is doing - charlie drops toy, grabs chewey and runs). Monty does not seem to mind Smokey - unless Smokey is being overly hyper, barking and jumping and occasionally landing on Monty. The you see little Monty teeth and hear growls- I can't blame him, I would not like it either.

Catching up after ThanksGiving...

Well, It seems like it has been forever since I have been on here to post. We had a great Thanksgiving, with family and friends from all over. I always say that I am just going to try a bite of all the great food. This year I actually tried to do that...and still felt like I should be rolled downhill hill home. uggg...

Now, We can get ready for Christmas. I am looking forward to decorating this year. I found a really great faux white Christmas tree that is small enough to go on top of the entertainment center. (Yes, my lovely little princesses, Fiona and Moragan, will demolish it if I put it lower). I have also decided to try a nice wide ribbon on the stairs instead of a garland.

With the price of gas (most) everyone in the family has decided to try making most of our gifts this year instead of driving to a store. If nothing else it will make Christmas day interesting. I am making Sir a sleep pillow. I ordered the Hops and Lavender last week and it should be in soon. I thought I could order just a little Hops but no..I will have something like 40 cups. I may have to learn how to make beer!

Falling for Fall

If anyone wants to know how to jump start a Toyota Prius email me. Not only was I watching Moms pooches for a couple of weeks but I was suppost to drive the car. Ok, so I thought that it was no big deal not to even start it for a week and a half. WRONG!

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So after I called the dealership and got passed around to a couple of people. I was finally talking to a guy in the shop. He was great walked me throught it step by step - FYI the battery is in the trunk and the trunk has an auto lock when the power is dead. Then he said that I need to actually drive the car for awhile to charge the battery. No more just jump starting and just letting it run.

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I decided to load the pooches up and take some fall pictures. I have to say it was fun to drive around for over an hour and not even use 1/8 tank of gas.

is 5 dogs to many?

As many may know I have been puppy sitting so my house is quite full..5 dogs and 4 disgruntled cats. Ok, so maybe I have finally realized just how many animals I can handle at one time but that is a personal thing.

What I have come to realize is that if you are on the greenway or in your car - say at a drive thru- people can not seem to help themselves from making some sort of comment. "Wow, how many do you have in there?" " Are those all yours?" " Do you really have 5 in there?" You get the idea.

All of this has made me want to do one of two things. One- call all of my friend with small dogs, ask them to let me borrow their dog for a day, then drive around and go to the greenway (at say 5:45pm). Just to see how many stares and comments I can get. Two- Ask each one of the people who has made a comment if they would actually say to a mother with 5 human children in the car.

lovely sister #2 will be here in a few weeks with her movie camera, so I may just have to go with option one.

Maybe I should just look at them and say "Hey, this is nothing. I used to drive around with around 3 hundred pounds of dog -3 Rotties- in my Jeep. "

Feels like fall

Evan though we have not had our first frost it is really feeling like fall. All the 4 legged kids are feeling it too. I actually had the heat on the other night.

It was a great weekend to be in the yard doing all the cleanup for the year. On Saturday I thought I'd run over and recycle some paint cans, on the way I say a sign I could not resist- 3 family yard sale. Now, I don't consider my self a garage sale junkie but I do like to see what they have. This time I hit paydirt. I found a HUGE composter..with turning crank and stand and they would deliver it too me!!

Bird with a view

Well, It has been awhile since I have been here. Sometimes work just gets in the way of life. Moms has gone on vacation out west and left me with the whole show to run and a gaggle of pups to watch. Yes, I did say gaggle. When you have 5 dogs all under the age of 6 (three of them about 3 and 1 only a year old) and weighing from 5 lb to 16lb, I just can't consider them a pack. Well, my kitties may consider them a pack..a pack of mess! Smokey Joe got a good smack from Indy when he decided he was going to push Indy out of the food bowl he was eating from. Smokey has not tried that again, now he just sits there waiting for Indy to finish and helpfully cleans up any crumbs that are left. He has also learned that kitties do not like it when he walks up behind them and licks there bottoms.

I have confess that last night I did something I really never thought I would do...I forgot Lacey in the car.. Well, Lacey is moms new little shitzu/mix girl and she is a bit scared to get in and out of the car so I have to lift her. When we got home last night it was late and I was really looking forward to the focaccia that I had picked up earlier from Stick Boy, so when the other 4 jumped out of the car running to bark at a tree, I just grabbed the bag and walked into the house. About an hour later I was looking all over for Lacey, calling and calling. I felt like a worm terd when I looked over at the car and there she was sitting in the car seat just waiting for me to lift her out.

Fall has finally started to come on the mountains and hopefully we won't have that first hard frost until the trees have had a chance to put on their show. I was over in Trade, TN the other day and on the way back Snake Mtn. was just beautiful. Trees with their bright fall color at the top bleeding down into a deep green at the bottom. My fingers were just itching for my camera which I had left at home. uggg!

The photo above was taken on Junaluska Rd about a week ago. I tried for the photo of him/her landing but it is just a bit fuzzy. Makes me think of the song that goes..."I can see for miles and miles..."

The ten laws of gardening.

THE TEN LAWS OF GARDENING!
1. Nothing ever looks like it does on the seed packet.
2. Your lawn is always slightly bigger than your desire to mow it.
3. Whichever garden tool you want is always at the back of the shed.
4. The only way to ensure rain, is to give the garden a good soaking.
5. Weeds grow at precisely the rate you pull them out.
6. Autumn follows summer, winter follows autumn, drought follows planting.
7. Evergreens go a funny shade of brown in the winter.
8. The only way to guarantee some colour all year round is to buy a garden gnome.
9. However bare the lawn, grass will appear in the cracks between the patio paving stones.
10. "Annuals" mean disappointment once a year.

Ah yes...it is so true.
I found these at http://www.organicdownunder.com/tenlaws.htm which means that it is true on both hemispheres.

Cat nip dealer

I felt a bit like a drug dealer over the weekend. It is time to harvest the cat nip (mint) in moms yard, which I did on Friday by literally pulling up the whole plant and depositing it dirt and all in the back of my car. I thought it made the car smell nice (kinda sweet and earthly). Sir did not agree with me - with no uncertainty she said it was icky. By the time I got home on Friday I was not in the mood to deal with it so I left it in the car..Saturday I went to the farmers market, then ran around in town for awhile with these large plants in the back. Each time I saw a cop I just had to smile.

When I did get home I pulled the plants out of the car and set them on the kitchen floor on newspaper ( in an attempt to contain the dirt). It took only about 7 min for Indy, Moragan and Fiona to settle in for a good munch. If you have ever seen cats high on cat nip you know that they like to munch out then run around like crazy - or in Indy's case, roll around on the tan carpet leaving bits of black fur- then they sleep. Hummm. This somehow vaguely reminds me of ... things best left in the past.

Wonder if they cats were seeing the world this way...Yes,I did take it and no, it is not photoshoped at all. I will admit that I'm not sure what I did -I pointed the camera at a wooded lot (yes it was facing into the sun) and this is what I ended up with. Very Psychedelic.

Laborless day

We had great weather for Labor Day, which is also Sir's birthday this year. You only get to turn 4 once and she made the most of it! All the kids played in the creek, slid down the water slide and played pin the tail on the donkey. (Flopsy the goat is just glad they did not want to pin the tail on the goat!)

I know that we are still in a drought so I should feel guilty about watering my garden but I just can't seem to help myself. Each evening I go out, talk to the still green maters, and turn the water on. Now I don't water if we have had an afternoon shower (cross fingers and knock on wood) but I do go out to see if there is even a hint of red on the maters. I will give them another week or so then if they have not turned they will be fried.

On another note: Indy did something unusual for him- he brought in a chipmunk. Bringing in a chipmunk is not so unusual, what was is that it was still alive. Needless to say it got lose in the house and all 6 of my 4 legged companions felt the need to "help" get it out of the house. I decided to go out and weed while this was going on...All I could hear was an occasional squeal and bark. 10 min later out came Indy with his prize, who stalked off into the lower part of the yard to enjoy his meal in peace.

Happy Cats

I can hardly believe that it is Wednesday already! Where does the time go? Last Sunday I went to A and T's in Wilkes county for a cookout. A must have some kind of internal radar because each time she plans a cookout it rains!! And yes this time it stared raining as I was heading down the mountain. Now we don't let that stop us from having fun we just give the weather the required 10-15 minuets for it to change and we carry on.

This may look like just a bunch of weeds to the human eye, but to a cat it is heaven! We planted cat mint in the yard a couple of years ago and now find it popping up everywhere. I like to pull the whole plant up, dry it, and store it for over the winter. Then in January or so when the cats are getting a little house crazy I just rub some onto there cat scratch and watch them go nuts.

Michael Vick takes plea

I don't know whether to do a happy dance or scream with pain...Michael Vick is taking a plea.
That man- no strike that- that morally debased ass should be tied to a tree and beaten around the head, shoulders and groin with a baseball bat, then staked to the ground, his mouth stuffed with salt and covered in honey and stinging ants... All of this is still way to good for that SOB.

Summer shots

On my way to work this morning it was only 71! Whahoo! We did have a bit of a storm come through yesterday and what a difference it has made. The lower humidity is a welcome relief to all of us including my four legged friends - All three of the dogs at work are going nuts! Chasing each other round and round the house.

I have been a bit of a shutterbug this week and have gotten a couple of great summer shots. The one above was taken on the ridge above the holler on my way home last night.

I found this little gold finch at the edge of Moms garden having a blast with the thistle. I tried to get a little closer and of course that last step was one two many and he flew away.

OK, So I just can't help but add this photo of Fiona sleeping..I guess the light was just too bright!


There is a "chance" of scattered thunderstorms this weekend but you know how it is..it may rain in Boone but not on my side of the mountain. I do have a new way of getting it to rain at my house that is even better then washing the car...I hang out laundry.

I did not get all of my planting done last weekend so I will finish that on saturday, after I go to the farmers market..and my maters have fallen down..that is my fault, I did not put cages around all of them. When I finish all of that I am going to sit in my big orange chair with a mint spritzer and watch for my resident bat to make his/her nightly apparence.

All the chicks in a row

Ah... Monday, Monday...Another week begins and all I am thinking about are the projects left unfinished at home. I have to remind myself that they will all get done in time.

I took this photo a couple of days ago out in Bethel. That rooster looked so sure of himself as he herded all his "ladies" out of the barn. I know several folks (including myself) who would be happy if the people in their lives would/could be maneuvered, coerced, or gently dircted so easily into going in the direction that we deem correct..at least some of the time. Perhaps we are using the wrong reward...bugs and grubs seemed to work for this rooster.

Trumpet Tree

It's Friday and once again I am looking forward to the weekend. As it is supposed to "cool down" (only in the low 80s) on Saturday it will be a good day to work in the yard. The soil in my yard seems to need a humongous amount of help so I will be adding mushroom compost - great stuff with out the manure smell. I added some to the pot of this beautiful trumpet tree a friend gave me and look at the number of blooms I got. Watching the humming birds fly into the flowers is a trip, they hover under the flower, scoot up and disappear into the flower then back out. All without actually making the flower move.

Yard work is one of the joys of home ownership..and a good work out. I figure spending 30 min weed eating is at least the equivalent of 200 push ups! I really don't mind weed eating- once I get the darn thing going. It usually takes me 10 pulls and 2 really good curse words.

Dog days of Summer

This has been a crazy week! It must be true that the dog days of summer really do make people crazy. Or maybe it is just me. Here in the High Country we have either tied or broken several heat records this week. Our local forecaster has said for each day "Rather hot & hazy". That is an understatement, I would call it sweltering and sweaty.

On a cooler note, I went to the Spruce Pine Gem and Mineral show last weekend with a couple of the girls. It was hot and humid but we had a blast. As everyone knows I turn red after 10 minuets in any kind of heat so you can imagine what I looked like after several hours...Several vendors offered me a seat by their fan and asked if I was drinking enough water. Anywho, we all left laden down with treasures and smiles on our faces.

Saints, sinners or animal instinct

As long as I can remember four legged fur babies have figured into my life so I am well acquainted with the habits of hunting cats. I have been left many "presents" and have tried to show my..ah...gratatued....for each one. Well, the 2 cute little Manx girls, Moragan and Fiona, I adopted last November from WHS have really outdone any I have ever known. This spring Indy took them out and showed them the basics that was the end of my peaceful life. I am no longer sure if I should call my girls Princesses or Assasins. As the photo shows they have become quite proficent hunters...Of all the critters they have brought me the most unsual were the frogs (or maybe the same frog caught twice).

Last Saturday my worst fear was realized - as I sat down on the sofa and turned on the tv I saw a little 6" snake scooting across the floor - without the providing kitten in attendance. I managed to keep my wits and grabbed my trusty flower pot and extra long paint brush. This method has worked well on the myriad of other critters I have attempted to remove but this time the snake was having none of it and I was forced to actually touch it.

Missing the sun

I took this photo several weeks but since then it has been raining and raining and raining. Ok, I know that we are in a drought and need the rain but I would love to see the sun. So would my maters, basil, and beans.