I hope it isn't driving you crazy that the backgrounds for my blogs keep changing. I am having a lot of fun creating backgrounds and learning new tricks in Photoshop. I love messing with the filters, brushes and pattern maker in Photoshop; it is such a fun versatile program. Also with the number of free 'digiscrap' art (Ribbons, bows, design elements, etc), I am having a great time. If you like to mess with digital scrapbooks, Starynight.com has some wonderful elements. I hope to 'graduate' to creating a lot of my own elements in the future. I have been messing about with creating preset brushes from old pics, which is a lot of fun!
Anyway, I try to leave the backgrounds up for at least a week....Sometimes I don't make it that long.....I love the color purple, but also get tired of looking at it! Hence, this recent 'change' to a blue lace background.....
Chat later!
Cheers
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Pet Stories V
Well, I think this will be the last post on pets.....(unless I can think of more stories)....
Christmas:
Fritz and Shilo always had a 'stocking' hung up with ours at Christmas time. After a couple of years, Fritz figured out the stocking. When I hung them up, he would start checking them, to see when they got filled. He would literally guard the stockings. On Christmas morning, there he would be, right under his stocking waiting. We would put the stockings on the floor and he would empty his quickly. I don't think Shilo ever really caught on to the stockings, she would just follow Fritz's lead...Of course we would have to make sure Shilo got her stocking contents, and not Fritz!
The Dog House:
After we had gotten Shilo, Dave decided the dog's needed a 'Dog House'. We found a really nice, expensive, kit of redwood that had gingerbread trim; so one weekend Dave spent the day putting it together. It took a long time, but once it was finished, it looked great. Dave was proud of his work and the dogs seemed to have fun, going in and out of it....About a week later we were awakened about 3am by this loud banging noise in the backyard. We couldn't figure out what it was, so we got up and looked out the window.
There was Fritz with a section of the roof in his mouth, swinging it around and banging it into a tree. We yelled at him to stop it. In the morning we got up and went to see what exactly Fritz had done. Well, all of the trim was chewed into dozens of 2 and 3 inch pieces. The roof was off and only one wall was left standing. We couldn't believe our eyes. Dave was so angry, he said the dogs could just sleep on the ground. We cleaned up the wood pieces, and that was that....
Until my In-Laws came to visit. Dad, just couldn't stand that the dogs didn't have a dog house, so while we were at work one day, he went to the building center and bought supplies. He built a dog house out of cinder blocks, so that Fritz couldn't destroy it....That worked! But Dave was still pretty angry with Fritz....
Dog Toys and chewies:
The dogs had lots of toys and chewies. Their favorite were those rawhide squares that they could chew on for hours (or days). Fritz was terrible about chewies. He would sit close to Shilo and watch her chew on hers; while he sat on his..After a few minutes he would get up and run over to one of us. Jumping about and wagging that stump of a tail he had. All the while glancing at Shilo. Of course Shilo would run over to see what we were giving Fritz. As soon as Shilo came over, Fritz would dart back over to where Shilo had left her chewie, grab it and then lay down on his. This way he had 2 and Shilo had none.
Fritz would do this all the time. When we would take the dogs on a trip, we would always have a pillow and blanket for the dogs to lay on, and give them each a bone or chewie. It never failed, after a bit, Shilo could be seen pawing at Fritz. The first time we saw this, we told her to lie back down. She would for a minute or two, but then would be right back at bugging Fritz. We discovered that Fritz would watch for Shilo to leave her chewie alone, grab it and then lay on top of it, while chewing on his own chewie...Talk about 'children not playing together well'....Like I have said....Fritz was smart.......Shilo was loyal....
When we both lost our jobs one year; Dave got a job offer in Florida, but it was hard finding a place to rent that would accept pets. Dave finally found a place, but they would only allow one dog. We decided to keep Shilo because she wasn't as active as Fritz was. I refused to take Fritz to a shelter because he was a good dog and I was afraid he would be put down if they couldn't find someone to adopt him. I talked with our vet and made a deal. She would help me find a family for Fritz, or Fritz was going to be put down, in my arms.
Thankfully, the vet found a family on a ranch who had a handicapped daughter and 2 other German Shorthair Pointers. Fritz and the little girl took to each other immediately; Fritz and the other dogs got along well too. I called the family after about 2 weeks to make sure all was well with Fritz. They told me that they were very happy with Fritz, he was extremely protective of their daughter and felt she was safe with him around. I can only hope he had a long happy life.
Shilo was 13 when she had to be put to sleep. She lived a long happy life I think and I still miss her.
Christmas:
Fritz and Shilo always had a 'stocking' hung up with ours at Christmas time. After a couple of years, Fritz figured out the stocking. When I hung them up, he would start checking them, to see when they got filled. He would literally guard the stockings. On Christmas morning, there he would be, right under his stocking waiting. We would put the stockings on the floor and he would empty his quickly. I don't think Shilo ever really caught on to the stockings, she would just follow Fritz's lead...Of course we would have to make sure Shilo got her stocking contents, and not Fritz!
The Dog House:
After we had gotten Shilo, Dave decided the dog's needed a 'Dog House'. We found a really nice, expensive, kit of redwood that had gingerbread trim; so one weekend Dave spent the day putting it together. It took a long time, but once it was finished, it looked great. Dave was proud of his work and the dogs seemed to have fun, going in and out of it....About a week later we were awakened about 3am by this loud banging noise in the backyard. We couldn't figure out what it was, so we got up and looked out the window.
There was Fritz with a section of the roof in his mouth, swinging it around and banging it into a tree. We yelled at him to stop it. In the morning we got up and went to see what exactly Fritz had done. Well, all of the trim was chewed into dozens of 2 and 3 inch pieces. The roof was off and only one wall was left standing. We couldn't believe our eyes. Dave was so angry, he said the dogs could just sleep on the ground. We cleaned up the wood pieces, and that was that....
Until my In-Laws came to visit. Dad, just couldn't stand that the dogs didn't have a dog house, so while we were at work one day, he went to the building center and bought supplies. He built a dog house out of cinder blocks, so that Fritz couldn't destroy it....That worked! But Dave was still pretty angry with Fritz....
Dog Toys and chewies:
The dogs had lots of toys and chewies. Their favorite were those rawhide squares that they could chew on for hours (or days). Fritz was terrible about chewies. He would sit close to Shilo and watch her chew on hers; while he sat on his..After a few minutes he would get up and run over to one of us. Jumping about and wagging that stump of a tail he had. All the while glancing at Shilo. Of course Shilo would run over to see what we were giving Fritz. As soon as Shilo came over, Fritz would dart back over to where Shilo had left her chewie, grab it and then lay down on his. This way he had 2 and Shilo had none.
Fritz would do this all the time. When we would take the dogs on a trip, we would always have a pillow and blanket for the dogs to lay on, and give them each a bone or chewie. It never failed, after a bit, Shilo could be seen pawing at Fritz. The first time we saw this, we told her to lie back down. She would for a minute or two, but then would be right back at bugging Fritz. We discovered that Fritz would watch for Shilo to leave her chewie alone, grab it and then lay on top of it, while chewing on his own chewie...Talk about 'children not playing together well'....Like I have said....Fritz was smart.......Shilo was loyal....
When we both lost our jobs one year; Dave got a job offer in Florida, but it was hard finding a place to rent that would accept pets. Dave finally found a place, but they would only allow one dog. We decided to keep Shilo because she wasn't as active as Fritz was. I refused to take Fritz to a shelter because he was a good dog and I was afraid he would be put down if they couldn't find someone to adopt him. I talked with our vet and made a deal. She would help me find a family for Fritz, or Fritz was going to be put down, in my arms.
Thankfully, the vet found a family on a ranch who had a handicapped daughter and 2 other German Shorthair Pointers. Fritz and the little girl took to each other immediately; Fritz and the other dogs got along well too. I called the family after about 2 weeks to make sure all was well with Fritz. They told me that they were very happy with Fritz, he was extremely protective of their daughter and felt she was safe with him around. I can only hope he had a long happy life.
Shilo was 13 when she had to be put to sleep. She lived a long happy life I think and I still miss her.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Pet Stories IV
So the saga continues.....
Well, before I share any more stories about Fritz, I will have to introduce you to our other dog, Shilo. Shilo was a pure bred Golden Retriever, and a fuzzy,little butter ball. 'Butterball' ended up being my nickname for her! I named her on my way home from picking her up, when the Neil Diamond song "Shilo" came on the radio. I have always loved Neil Diamond's music, so it seemed fitting.
Shilo as a puppy (okay, even as she got older) always rested or slept a lot. When she was a puppy, I would run over and check to see if she was still breathing. I don't know what she was storing her energy up for, but she slept a lot. Dave always said that she was so laid back that she would probably be dead for a week before she realized it...When Shilo was 8 years old, we heard her bark for the first time (scared me to death); she had never barked before, and I could only figure that it was because Fritz barked all the time! Shilo was a sweetheart, loyal and loving and very mellow.
Fritz and Shilo were great camping dogs, they never wandered off and loved being out in the wilds. One weekend we decided we were going to go camping at Mt. Palomar. Friday night was great, Saturday it started raining so we spent a lot of time in the tent playing cards and stuff.....It kept raining (fairly hard), and at one point the side of our tent caved in. We got out of the tent to find that Fritz was laying on the tent, trying to stay dry. When we shoo'd him off the tent he went and wrapped himself around one of those barbque stands that you find in campgrounds.... We watched Fritz for a minute and then I started looking for Shilo. I didn't see her anywhere; so Dave and I started calling her. We were a little surprised because she wasn't one to wander off....And we were right, she hadn't wandered off. After calling a couple of times we witnessed this mound of mud rise up from a little depression in the campsite. Pink tongue hanging out and ears perking up, there was Shilo, every inch of her covered in mud....But she was happy!.
Fritz hated water; Shilo loved the water.
When it was bath time, I would say; 'Shilo, bath time', and she would run and jump into the tub waiting for me to turn on the water....Fritz? You mention the word 'bath', and you spent hours trying to 'catch' him....
When we lived in Parker, CO, we lived near Cherry Creek and would take the dogs for walks down by the stream. Shilo would immediately lay down in the water; Fritz on the other hand would be looking for stepping stones to get across.
Fritz was smart (too smart); Shilo...was loyal. Fritz used to love to take off across the fields (tall grass) making sure that Shilo was right behind him (he would wait for her if she wasn't), then a few minutes later, Fritz would show up without Shilo. We would then start calling and calling her until she got back. We swear Fritz was trying to lose her so he could be an 'only dog'.
One of the funniest incidence during our walks (with the dogs) down by the stream was during one winter. The creek was frozen over, of course Shilo managed to find an opening in the ice and layed down in the cold water; icicles forming on her coat. There was a flock of Canadian Geese about 200 yards away from us sitting on the frozen creek. Fritz saw them at the same time we did, but before we could grab him, he took off down the ice after them.....One of the large male geese turned as Fritz approached and opened his wings making those threatening wing flaps that they do, and hissing. We don't think Fritz realized how big those geese were (they look pretty small at a distance) until he got close. When that male started flapping his wings, Fritz started to back peddle on the ice. Of course there isn't much traction on ice and next thing Fritz is on the ice sliding into the geese. Both parties were unharmed, and needless to say Fritz didn't chase geese anymore. And we had a good laugh at his experience!
More water stories:
Dave loves to fly-fish so we would visit many of the great rivers in the Colorado mountains. Because Dave fishing and Shilo splashing about in the river didn't work, I usually took the dogs up or downstream a ways so as to scare the fish in Dave's general direction. The South Platte was one of Dave's favorites, and there were some lovely shallow spots in the river, such that I could wear waders and take the dogs across the river to play. Hhmmmmm......Fritz and water.....Shilo would follow me right across the river. Fritz would disappear and eventually show up on the other side (perfectly dry); I never saw him; but I assume he found 'stepping' stones somewhere along the river!
One year we took a 2 week camping vacation with a friend and the dogs, driving through some of the most spectacular vista's the Rocky's have to offer. We visited Mt. Antero, the towns of Crystal and Marble and some ghost, mining towns. It was a wonderful trip, but it rained every afternoon. It got to a point we had to stop in Salida to use the laundromat to dry our sleeping bags and clothes! Fritz managed to find somewhere to hide from the rain; under the vehicles, under the bbq stand, under tables, anything he could find....Shilo, yes you guessed it, always wet and muddy! I remember one night was particularly chilly and about 3am I got up to take care of nature. I looked around for Fritz and couldn't believe it...He was lying in the fire ring in the ashes, against the heated rocks...But the dummy was also sitting among some dying embers so he had singed fur spots in places....He didn't seem to care because he was warm.....
Well, that's it for this bit, more to come soon!
Well, before I share any more stories about Fritz, I will have to introduce you to our other dog, Shilo. Shilo was a pure bred Golden Retriever, and a fuzzy,little butter ball. 'Butterball' ended up being my nickname for her! I named her on my way home from picking her up, when the Neil Diamond song "Shilo" came on the radio. I have always loved Neil Diamond's music, so it seemed fitting.
Shilo as a puppy (okay, even as she got older) always rested or slept a lot. When she was a puppy, I would run over and check to see if she was still breathing. I don't know what she was storing her energy up for, but she slept a lot. Dave always said that she was so laid back that she would probably be dead for a week before she realized it...When Shilo was 8 years old, we heard her bark for the first time (scared me to death); she had never barked before, and I could only figure that it was because Fritz barked all the time! Shilo was a sweetheart, loyal and loving and very mellow.
Fritz and Shilo were great camping dogs, they never wandered off and loved being out in the wilds. One weekend we decided we were going to go camping at Mt. Palomar. Friday night was great, Saturday it started raining so we spent a lot of time in the tent playing cards and stuff.....It kept raining (fairly hard), and at one point the side of our tent caved in. We got out of the tent to find that Fritz was laying on the tent, trying to stay dry. When we shoo'd him off the tent he went and wrapped himself around one of those barbque stands that you find in campgrounds.... We watched Fritz for a minute and then I started looking for Shilo. I didn't see her anywhere; so Dave and I started calling her. We were a little surprised because she wasn't one to wander off....And we were right, she hadn't wandered off. After calling a couple of times we witnessed this mound of mud rise up from a little depression in the campsite. Pink tongue hanging out and ears perking up, there was Shilo, every inch of her covered in mud....But she was happy!.
Fritz hated water; Shilo loved the water.
When it was bath time, I would say; 'Shilo, bath time', and she would run and jump into the tub waiting for me to turn on the water....Fritz? You mention the word 'bath', and you spent hours trying to 'catch' him....
When we lived in Parker, CO, we lived near Cherry Creek and would take the dogs for walks down by the stream. Shilo would immediately lay down in the water; Fritz on the other hand would be looking for stepping stones to get across.
Fritz was smart (too smart); Shilo...was loyal. Fritz used to love to take off across the fields (tall grass) making sure that Shilo was right behind him (he would wait for her if she wasn't), then a few minutes later, Fritz would show up without Shilo. We would then start calling and calling her until she got back. We swear Fritz was trying to lose her so he could be an 'only dog'.
One of the funniest incidence during our walks (with the dogs) down by the stream was during one winter. The creek was frozen over, of course Shilo managed to find an opening in the ice and layed down in the cold water; icicles forming on her coat. There was a flock of Canadian Geese about 200 yards away from us sitting on the frozen creek. Fritz saw them at the same time we did, but before we could grab him, he took off down the ice after them.....One of the large male geese turned as Fritz approached and opened his wings making those threatening wing flaps that they do, and hissing. We don't think Fritz realized how big those geese were (they look pretty small at a distance) until he got close. When that male started flapping his wings, Fritz started to back peddle on the ice. Of course there isn't much traction on ice and next thing Fritz is on the ice sliding into the geese. Both parties were unharmed, and needless to say Fritz didn't chase geese anymore. And we had a good laugh at his experience!
More water stories:
Dave loves to fly-fish so we would visit many of the great rivers in the Colorado mountains. Because Dave fishing and Shilo splashing about in the river didn't work, I usually took the dogs up or downstream a ways so as to scare the fish in Dave's general direction. The South Platte was one of Dave's favorites, and there were some lovely shallow spots in the river, such that I could wear waders and take the dogs across the river to play. Hhmmmmm......Fritz and water.....Shilo would follow me right across the river. Fritz would disappear and eventually show up on the other side (perfectly dry); I never saw him; but I assume he found 'stepping' stones somewhere along the river!
One year we took a 2 week camping vacation with a friend and the dogs, driving through some of the most spectacular vista's the Rocky's have to offer. We visited Mt. Antero, the towns of Crystal and Marble and some ghost, mining towns. It was a wonderful trip, but it rained every afternoon. It got to a point we had to stop in Salida to use the laundromat to dry our sleeping bags and clothes! Fritz managed to find somewhere to hide from the rain; under the vehicles, under the bbq stand, under tables, anything he could find....Shilo, yes you guessed it, always wet and muddy! I remember one night was particularly chilly and about 3am I got up to take care of nature. I looked around for Fritz and couldn't believe it...He was lying in the fire ring in the ashes, against the heated rocks...But the dummy was also sitting among some dying embers so he had singed fur spots in places....He didn't seem to care because he was warm.....
Well, that's it for this bit, more to come soon!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Pet Stories III
Well this series of Pet Stories will have to be split into 2 or 3 sections; otherwise the blog stories will be too long and cumbersome.....So to start:
This section on pets is about Fritz, a German Shorthair Pointer
We bought Fritz first, he was a cute little thing with long legs and big ears and about 12 weeks old. Dave fell in love with him, and that was that, we had a dog.
We were living in California at the time and liked to go for rides in the Mountains on weekends. One weekend we put Fritz between us in the front seat of the truck. Since we like to camp and travel, we thought it would be a good idea to get Fritz used to the vehicle. So we decided to take one of our favorite trips on the Angeles Crest Highway.
Now, if you are not familiar with this highway, it is in the San Gabriel Mountains and also goes through the Angeles National Forest. So, you have a 2 lane road (one lane each direction), that has a lot (I mean a lot) of s-curves and switchbacks, and has very beautiful scenery.........The trip started out fairly uneventful, it was a beautiful sunny day, and Fritz seemed to be doing well. As we traveled down the road we encountered more and more switchbacks and fairly tight s-curves...
I had my hand around Fritz's tummy kind of holding him in place on the seat when I started to feel these strange movements against my hand......Too Late! I yelled to Dave to stop at the next pullout we came to. Dave did, but it was too late! Fritz was so very sick! To make matters worse, I was trying to push Fritz out Dave's side of the Truck and he was trying to push Fritz out my side of the truck! Just when you think it can't get worse then having a puppy 'heaving' all over the front seat of the car......His bowels gave............Needless to say, it was a rough 3 hour trip home.
Fritz never fully recovered from that trip; anytime we went anywhere, he at some point was 'car sick'. One of the worst was when I made a 60 mile trip to a German Butcher's called Schreiner's. I had grown up going with my dad and sister to visit this butcher. They knew exactly how thin to cut the meat for Roladen (My favorite German dish). I was going to make some and wanted to revisit my childhood memories of this shop. I took Fritz with me (Why? Momentary loss of sanity? I don't know....). Fritz was great the whole trip there; we pulled into the parking lot and stopped. Then it happened, however, I was unprepared for his getting sick on me! I mean 'On' me....I had learned my lessons in the past so had a roll of paper towels in the truck. However, I am sure they couldn't wait to get rid of me due to the melding scents of perfume and Fritz's breakfast.....Oh well, the Roladen was great!
I tried various concoctions from the vet to help with Fritz's weak stomach, without any success. The best we did was to give him about 2 tums or pepto bismal tablets before we got in the vehicle........Because Dave had to go out of town soon after we brought Fritz home, Dave likes to swear that I traded his 'good' dog for 'Fritz'...
Fritz was quite the clown and stinker, and therefore has provided me with a wealth of short little stories to share with you. Here are a few of them:
One Christmas, I kept finding these little balls of foil on the floor. I finally took one apart and found it was the wrapper from a 'Hershey kiss'. I told Dave to stop throwing the foil on the floor and he informed me that he wasn't doing it....
Then I made a discovery, I happened to 'catch' Fritz very carefully pulling a 'kiss' (by the little paper ribbon) from out of the bowl on the coffee table. Chewing on it until he got all the chocolate out and then spitting out the foil. Needless to say I moved the bowl out of his reach.
Then there was the electric blanket incident. Even though we were in Southern California, the nights do get chilly, so we had an electric blanket in the winter that had dual controls. One night the blanket stopped working; we figured it died because the warranty was up (isn't that usually what happens?!). The next morning I went under the bed to unplug the blanket, what do I find? The cords were chewed into pieces about 8" long. How Fritz managed to chew through the cords without being electrocuted is beyond me.....
Then there was the time that Dave called me at work one morning (he had the day off), and asked me why my slipper was in the cereal bowl on the kitchen counter! Silence on the phone for a minute, mainly due to the fact that I couldn't believe Dave was asking me about this.....I told him, it was probably Fritz; as I wasn't in the habit of putting my slippers into my cereal bowls...
Fritz had this cute little 'self entertainment' trick he did (Dave hadn't ever seen him do it). Fritz loved to take balls, bones, slippers, whatever was in his reach, and he would toss it in the air and try to catch it.....Hence, the slipper in the cereal bowl....
More stories to come, but I need to introduce you to our second dog 'Shilo', because a lot of the funny stories involve the two together. So the next installment will be about Shilo.......
This section on pets is about Fritz, a German Shorthair Pointer
We bought Fritz first, he was a cute little thing with long legs and big ears and about 12 weeks old. Dave fell in love with him, and that was that, we had a dog.
We were living in California at the time and liked to go for rides in the Mountains on weekends. One weekend we put Fritz between us in the front seat of the truck. Since we like to camp and travel, we thought it would be a good idea to get Fritz used to the vehicle. So we decided to take one of our favorite trips on the Angeles Crest Highway.
Now, if you are not familiar with this highway, it is in the San Gabriel Mountains and also goes through the Angeles National Forest. So, you have a 2 lane road (one lane each direction), that has a lot (I mean a lot) of s-curves and switchbacks, and has very beautiful scenery.........The trip started out fairly uneventful, it was a beautiful sunny day, and Fritz seemed to be doing well. As we traveled down the road we encountered more and more switchbacks and fairly tight s-curves...
I had my hand around Fritz's tummy kind of holding him in place on the seat when I started to feel these strange movements against my hand......Too Late! I yelled to Dave to stop at the next pullout we came to. Dave did, but it was too late! Fritz was so very sick! To make matters worse, I was trying to push Fritz out Dave's side of the Truck and he was trying to push Fritz out my side of the truck! Just when you think it can't get worse then having a puppy 'heaving' all over the front seat of the car......His bowels gave............Needless to say, it was a rough 3 hour trip home.
Fritz never fully recovered from that trip; anytime we went anywhere, he at some point was 'car sick'. One of the worst was when I made a 60 mile trip to a German Butcher's called Schreiner's. I had grown up going with my dad and sister to visit this butcher. They knew exactly how thin to cut the meat for Roladen (My favorite German dish). I was going to make some and wanted to revisit my childhood memories of this shop. I took Fritz with me (Why? Momentary loss of sanity? I don't know....). Fritz was great the whole trip there; we pulled into the parking lot and stopped. Then it happened, however, I was unprepared for his getting sick on me! I mean 'On' me....I had learned my lessons in the past so had a roll of paper towels in the truck. However, I am sure they couldn't wait to get rid of me due to the melding scents of perfume and Fritz's breakfast.....Oh well, the Roladen was great!
I tried various concoctions from the vet to help with Fritz's weak stomach, without any success. The best we did was to give him about 2 tums or pepto bismal tablets before we got in the vehicle........Because Dave had to go out of town soon after we brought Fritz home, Dave likes to swear that I traded his 'good' dog for 'Fritz'...
Fritz was quite the clown and stinker, and therefore has provided me with a wealth of short little stories to share with you. Here are a few of them:
One Christmas, I kept finding these little balls of foil on the floor. I finally took one apart and found it was the wrapper from a 'Hershey kiss'. I told Dave to stop throwing the foil on the floor and he informed me that he wasn't doing it....
Then I made a discovery, I happened to 'catch' Fritz very carefully pulling a 'kiss' (by the little paper ribbon) from out of the bowl on the coffee table. Chewing on it until he got all the chocolate out and then spitting out the foil. Needless to say I moved the bowl out of his reach.
Then there was the electric blanket incident. Even though we were in Southern California, the nights do get chilly, so we had an electric blanket in the winter that had dual controls. One night the blanket stopped working; we figured it died because the warranty was up (isn't that usually what happens?!). The next morning I went under the bed to unplug the blanket, what do I find? The cords were chewed into pieces about 8" long. How Fritz managed to chew through the cords without being electrocuted is beyond me.....
Then there was the time that Dave called me at work one morning (he had the day off), and asked me why my slipper was in the cereal bowl on the kitchen counter! Silence on the phone for a minute, mainly due to the fact that I couldn't believe Dave was asking me about this.....I told him, it was probably Fritz; as I wasn't in the habit of putting my slippers into my cereal bowls...
Fritz had this cute little 'self entertainment' trick he did (Dave hadn't ever seen him do it). Fritz loved to take balls, bones, slippers, whatever was in his reach, and he would toss it in the air and try to catch it.....Hence, the slipper in the cereal bowl....
More stories to come, but I need to introduce you to our second dog 'Shilo', because a lot of the funny stories involve the two together. So the next installment will be about Shilo.......
Saturday, April 18, 2009
On French Cooking
French Cooking...... Heavenly. Though we have yet to visit France (hopefully one day), I have had a long love affair with all aspects of their cookery and pastries.
I grew up enjoying eclairs; absolutely love eclairs! Not the ones you find today that are filled with some kind of whipped cream concoction; but the lovely ones that are filled with custard. I used to make eclairs, but have found it a bit difficult over the years as we have been living well above 7,000 feet, and they just don't turn out as nice....
Diverging from Recipes for a minute: I have been working on the designs for remodeling our kitchen; and have finally settled on a French Country look. I plan to use beadboard as a wainscotting, and have already purchased some lovely fabric to make a valance for my 6 foot window. I have also purchased this really neat mural out of tile to put behind the stove. I have never understood why people have the walls around their stoves painted. Tile is much easier to keep clean. Below is a picture of the elements of remodeling my kitchen; which currently features brown paneled walls and carpeting (two items which have no business being in a kitchen). Because our house is old (Built ca. 1915), I am trying to return it to its former 'Edwardian'/'Arts and Crafts' era splendor. I will probably have some blogs about the remodeling before and after.
Okay, now back to recipes....
I have several cookery books on French Cooking, and they are chock full of great recipes, but alot of the recipes are complicated and lengthy. For now, in the spirit of French Cooking I thought I would share three recipes; one for beef (boeuf) and one for chicken (poulet), and one for eggs (oeufs), (bet you didn't think you were going to get French lessons in this blog)! There are many versions of these recipes that can be found; these are quick and simple recipes (I mean no dishonour to the French by modifying these fantastic recipes, but with todays hectic lifestyles; quick can still taste great). (You can click on the recipe cards to make them larger and easier to read)!
The Egg recipe is a favorite, not only with Dave, but with friends of ours. Whenever I used to visit, this recipe was requested for breakfast.
Bon Appetit!
I grew up enjoying eclairs; absolutely love eclairs! Not the ones you find today that are filled with some kind of whipped cream concoction; but the lovely ones that are filled with custard. I used to make eclairs, but have found it a bit difficult over the years as we have been living well above 7,000 feet, and they just don't turn out as nice....
Diverging from Recipes for a minute: I have been working on the designs for remodeling our kitchen; and have finally settled on a French Country look. I plan to use beadboard as a wainscotting, and have already purchased some lovely fabric to make a valance for my 6 foot window. I have also purchased this really neat mural out of tile to put behind the stove. I have never understood why people have the walls around their stoves painted. Tile is much easier to keep clean. Below is a picture of the elements of remodeling my kitchen; which currently features brown paneled walls and carpeting (two items which have no business being in a kitchen). Because our house is old (Built ca. 1915), I am trying to return it to its former 'Edwardian'/'Arts and Crafts' era splendor. I will probably have some blogs about the remodeling before and after.
Okay, now back to recipes....
I have several cookery books on French Cooking, and they are chock full of great recipes, but alot of the recipes are complicated and lengthy. For now, in the spirit of French Cooking I thought I would share three recipes; one for beef (boeuf) and one for chicken (poulet), and one for eggs (oeufs), (bet you didn't think you were going to get French lessons in this blog)! There are many versions of these recipes that can be found; these are quick and simple recipes (I mean no dishonour to the French by modifying these fantastic recipes, but with todays hectic lifestyles; quick can still taste great). (You can click on the recipe cards to make them larger and easier to read)!
The Egg recipe is a favorite, not only with Dave, but with friends of ours. Whenever I used to visit, this recipe was requested for breakfast.
Bon Appetit!
Friday, April 17, 2009
On Reading
While I am still working on the post: Pets Part III; I thought I would throw this post into the blog...
I Love to read.
I just recently finished 'Angels and Demons' by Dan Brown; and am currently reading 'Digital Fortress' by the same author, and 'The Children of Hurin' by JRR Tolkien. All Excellent reading by the way......
I don't read books very often, hmmmmm that doesn't make sense does it?
Well, even though I love to read, I am an 'addictive' reader (otherwise known as a 'bookworm'); once I start a book, I can't put it down. For example, about 4 years ago, I read the first four Harry Potter books in three days (that is not 24 hours each day). I am terrible about reading, when I start, nothing else matters. Dave puts up with it once in awhile, but I doubt he would be very happy if I did it all the time.
When I was in grade school, junior high and high school, they used to have these book challenges. You raised money for charity by the number of books you read. Needless to say, I always did real good in these challenges. I read, comprehend and remember; but at a very fast rate. My total attention if focused on what I am reading; poor David can be talking to me and I not only won't hear what he is saying, but don't even realize that he (or anyone else for that matter) is even talking! I know that irritates him something awful. Sigh........
There is just something about reading a story; the use of your imagination, bringing the story to life in your mind from the words written on the page. I think that is why I am never really happy when they take a book and make a film of it. When you read a book, it becomes your personal story, because of the way 'you' interpret the words on the page; and rarely does the director or writers of the film have the same mindset that you do. I also am not really happy when they make books into films, because they always seem to change something, (which they think 'improves' on what the author originally intended), or to make it more 'marketable'.
I won't go into detail, but a classic example of what I am talking about is 'The Lord of the Rings Trilogy'. Overall, I was very impressed at how well the story was presented (in regards to the books), however they just couldn't make the film without tweaking the story and also deleting some very important scenes...Well, enough of that rambling. So back to my love of reading. I have a lot of favorite authors:
JRR Tolkien probably being at the top of the list; not just the 'Lord of the Rings' and the 'Hobbit', but Tolkien wrote so many other great stories; one of my absolute favorites being 'Roverandom', a story about a little dog who gets on the wrong side of a wizard, and his many adventures to return to his owner. I am also currently collecting and reading the 12 volumes of 'The History of Middle Earth'.
Lewis Carroll; Alice in Wonderland, and Through the looking glass; I love these stories.Still read them regularly. (And yes, I will see Tim Burton's version of the film)
Stephen King; I started reading his stories when he was under the pseudonym of 'Bachman', his stories are great, I love his ability to always have that struggle of 'good vs evil', no matter how sublime.
Agatha Christie; probably my greatest weakness, I have all of her books, and have reread them numerous times over the years.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Sherlock Holmes, my dad's copy of Sherlock Holmes had these really neat maps of London as the end papers. I remember using a pencil to mark Sherlock's paths through London as I read each of the stories.
Edgar Allen Poe: I have always loved all of his stories. If you are an EAP fan, you also might want to check out Alan Parson's Project "Tales of Mystery and Imagination", a fantastic CD where Alan Parson's has set some of EAP's stories to music.
Carolyn Keene; Probably the author that started me down the road to becoming a bookworm. By age 13 I had all of the Nancy Drew Mystery books and had read them cover to cover multiple times.
Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens; I love his short stories (with their wit and morals) and his novels too. One of my favorite short stories is 'The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg'.
Some of my other favorite authors include: Charles Dickens, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Brothers Grimm, Michael Crichton, Chaucer, Shakespeare,Thoreau, PG Wodehouse, The Bronte Sisters......The list could go on and on.......but I will quit here.
As you can see; I have varied tastes in literature. I also enjoy reading books on Mythology, Religions and Science.
Reading has always been a great part of my life. I can't imagine a world without books. Films are fine, but to me they are more a visual stimulus (Sometimes even a visual overload!) whereas books I regard as more of a stimulus for the intellect and imagination.
I Love to read.
I just recently finished 'Angels and Demons' by Dan Brown; and am currently reading 'Digital Fortress' by the same author, and 'The Children of Hurin' by JRR Tolkien. All Excellent reading by the way......
I don't read books very often, hmmmmm that doesn't make sense does it?
Well, even though I love to read, I am an 'addictive' reader (otherwise known as a 'bookworm'); once I start a book, I can't put it down. For example, about 4 years ago, I read the first four Harry Potter books in three days (that is not 24 hours each day). I am terrible about reading, when I start, nothing else matters. Dave puts up with it once in awhile, but I doubt he would be very happy if I did it all the time.
When I was in grade school, junior high and high school, they used to have these book challenges. You raised money for charity by the number of books you read. Needless to say, I always did real good in these challenges. I read, comprehend and remember; but at a very fast rate. My total attention if focused on what I am reading; poor David can be talking to me and I not only won't hear what he is saying, but don't even realize that he (or anyone else for that matter) is even talking! I know that irritates him something awful. Sigh........
There is just something about reading a story; the use of your imagination, bringing the story to life in your mind from the words written on the page. I think that is why I am never really happy when they take a book and make a film of it. When you read a book, it becomes your personal story, because of the way 'you' interpret the words on the page; and rarely does the director or writers of the film have the same mindset that you do. I also am not really happy when they make books into films, because they always seem to change something, (which they think 'improves' on what the author originally intended), or to make it more 'marketable'.
I won't go into detail, but a classic example of what I am talking about is 'The Lord of the Rings Trilogy'. Overall, I was very impressed at how well the story was presented (in regards to the books), however they just couldn't make the film without tweaking the story and also deleting some very important scenes...Well, enough of that rambling. So back to my love of reading. I have a lot of favorite authors:
JRR Tolkien probably being at the top of the list; not just the 'Lord of the Rings' and the 'Hobbit', but Tolkien wrote so many other great stories; one of my absolute favorites being 'Roverandom', a story about a little dog who gets on the wrong side of a wizard, and his many adventures to return to his owner. I am also currently collecting and reading the 12 volumes of 'The History of Middle Earth'.
Lewis Carroll; Alice in Wonderland, and Through the looking glass; I love these stories.Still read them regularly. (And yes, I will see Tim Burton's version of the film)
Stephen King; I started reading his stories when he was under the pseudonym of 'Bachman', his stories are great, I love his ability to always have that struggle of 'good vs evil', no matter how sublime.
Agatha Christie; probably my greatest weakness, I have all of her books, and have reread them numerous times over the years.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; Sherlock Holmes, my dad's copy of Sherlock Holmes had these really neat maps of London as the end papers. I remember using a pencil to mark Sherlock's paths through London as I read each of the stories.
Edgar Allen Poe: I have always loved all of his stories. If you are an EAP fan, you also might want to check out Alan Parson's Project "Tales of Mystery and Imagination", a fantastic CD where Alan Parson's has set some of EAP's stories to music.
Carolyn Keene; Probably the author that started me down the road to becoming a bookworm. By age 13 I had all of the Nancy Drew Mystery books and had read them cover to cover multiple times.
Mark Twain/Samuel Clemens; I love his short stories (with their wit and morals) and his novels too. One of my favorite short stories is 'The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg'.
Some of my other favorite authors include: Charles Dickens, Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, Brothers Grimm, Michael Crichton, Chaucer, Shakespeare,Thoreau, PG Wodehouse, The Bronte Sisters......The list could go on and on.......but I will quit here.
As you can see; I have varied tastes in literature. I also enjoy reading books on Mythology, Religions and Science.
Reading has always been a great part of my life. I can't imagine a world without books. Films are fine, but to me they are more a visual stimulus (Sometimes even a visual overload!) whereas books I regard as more of a stimulus for the intellect and imagination.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
At War with DVD's
This has irritated me for a bit. So I have decided to 'blog' about it.....
No more!
I refuse to continue to be a pawn to the whims of Film Companies and Technology! In the mid 70's it was great fun when Beta format tapes came out. They were affordable (compared to Laser Disk or film); you could buy movies, tape movies, and watch them over and over! Then not much later the VHS format came out. Well in the early 80's Beta's were still going strong. We started buying and taping so many old films that we had over 200 beta tapes!
During the 80's there were a lot more TV channels that would play the old movies, late at night, so it was great being able to tape them and watch them later. Back then it was also popular to have 'fests'; Hours and hours of films with a theme. Like all of the 'Godzilla's'; or all of the old 'Sherlock Holmes' films.
When our Beta VCR finally died, we completely switched over to VHS....However, we never were able to collect all of the films on VHS that we had originally on Beta, but that was okay, we dealt with it. We spent years taping old movies and buying new films that were released to VHS.
Then came DVD's; they were great because they took up a lot less room than the VHS tapes and had great color and film quality......But we also started to run into issues that made us very unhappy. It seems that when the big movie studios/film distribution companies changed over to DVD, they got 'picky' about which films they would re-release from VHS to DVD.....So, unless they thought there was a good market for a film, it seems they didn't get re-released to DVD....Yes, there are a lot of places on the internet that sell 'DVD's' of old films; but they are usually either low quality (transfered from VHS tape to DVD; I can do that myself), or you can find old films on DVD, but they are usually cost prohibitive....So, now many of our favorite, old films are sorely missed.
We have had a bit of a hiatus with DVD's, which has allowed us to start rebuilding our collection of films (But nowhere near what we used to have). So of course........Now what are they doing? Blu-ray.......
Well, I say enough is enough. Over the years we have spent a fortune re-buying the same films because the formats have changed.......Blu-Ray? Forget it. I am spending the money to purchase spare DVD players, new in box to keep as backups for the future. I refuse to keep buying the same films again and again, just because technology changes.
This of course brings me to another of my pet peeves.....How many copies of a film do you have to purchase to get the complete film? Between the original Theatrical release, release for Television, Director's cut, Special Editions, Anniversary Editions, Collector's Edition, Special Extended editions and those with 'deleted' scenes, you still may have difficulty seeing the whole film. This is absolutely ludicrous!
I don't know how many times we have been watching a film that is on television, and suddenly we are saying,"where did that scene come from"? "Where did those scenes come from?"; We don't have that on our copy of the film?!
So what do you do?
Buy the film when it first comes out? Wait until all versions of the film have been released to DVD?
At what point are you able to purchase a film that is 'complete'?
It is all just irritating!
(On a slightly different note........My heart goes out to those parents of Nintendo, X-box, etc. kids.......I know those games cost a fortune and the latest versions of the 'boxes' don't come cheap either......)!
Okay, I'm done.......
No more!
I refuse to continue to be a pawn to the whims of Film Companies and Technology! In the mid 70's it was great fun when Beta format tapes came out. They were affordable (compared to Laser Disk or film); you could buy movies, tape movies, and watch them over and over! Then not much later the VHS format came out. Well in the early 80's Beta's were still going strong. We started buying and taping so many old films that we had over 200 beta tapes!
During the 80's there were a lot more TV channels that would play the old movies, late at night, so it was great being able to tape them and watch them later. Back then it was also popular to have 'fests'; Hours and hours of films with a theme. Like all of the 'Godzilla's'; or all of the old 'Sherlock Holmes' films.
When our Beta VCR finally died, we completely switched over to VHS....However, we never were able to collect all of the films on VHS that we had originally on Beta, but that was okay, we dealt with it. We spent years taping old movies and buying new films that were released to VHS.
Then came DVD's; they were great because they took up a lot less room than the VHS tapes and had great color and film quality......But we also started to run into issues that made us very unhappy. It seems that when the big movie studios/film distribution companies changed over to DVD, they got 'picky' about which films they would re-release from VHS to DVD.....So, unless they thought there was a good market for a film, it seems they didn't get re-released to DVD....Yes, there are a lot of places on the internet that sell 'DVD's' of old films; but they are usually either low quality (transfered from VHS tape to DVD; I can do that myself), or you can find old films on DVD, but they are usually cost prohibitive....So, now many of our favorite, old films are sorely missed.
We have had a bit of a hiatus with DVD's, which has allowed us to start rebuilding our collection of films (But nowhere near what we used to have). So of course........Now what are they doing? Blu-ray.......
Well, I say enough is enough. Over the years we have spent a fortune re-buying the same films because the formats have changed.......Blu-Ray? Forget it. I am spending the money to purchase spare DVD players, new in box to keep as backups for the future. I refuse to keep buying the same films again and again, just because technology changes.
This of course brings me to another of my pet peeves.....How many copies of a film do you have to purchase to get the complete film? Between the original Theatrical release, release for Television, Director's cut, Special Editions, Anniversary Editions, Collector's Edition, Special Extended editions and those with 'deleted' scenes, you still may have difficulty seeing the whole film. This is absolutely ludicrous!
I don't know how many times we have been watching a film that is on television, and suddenly we are saying,"where did that scene come from"? "Where did those scenes come from?"; We don't have that on our copy of the film?!
So what do you do?
Buy the film when it first comes out? Wait until all versions of the film have been released to DVD?
At what point are you able to purchase a film that is 'complete'?
It is all just irritating!
(On a slightly different note........My heart goes out to those parents of Nintendo, X-box, etc. kids.......I know those games cost a fortune and the latest versions of the 'boxes' don't come cheap either......)!
Okay, I'm done.......
Monday, April 13, 2009
Take a moment to hear Susan Boyle
I don't watch these types of programs; but I found some articles and a video about this woman Susan Boyle who auditioned for 'Britain's Got Talent'. Her voice is absolutely brilliant. I have watched the video a few times now and am brought to tears each time. If you haven't heard her sing....Take a moment and watch the video; you won't be disappointed.
I have embedded the video at the bottom of my blog.........
I have embedded the video at the bottom of my blog.........
Easter
I hope everyone had a nice Easter. It was a day of hot tea and staying warm for us. Here are a couple of pictures of our Easter (Spring in the Rockies!). The snow flakes were huge at times...We were very glad that they were nice fluffy snowflakes and not hail!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Easter Memories
Easter was always one of those special times of year, when trees were starting to bud and flowers were turning their faces to the warmth of the sun.
As a child I remember that we always got a new dress, white lace trimmed bobby socks, white shoes, gloves, hat, and purse for Easter Sunday; we didn't get new clothes throughout the year as children do now (New clothes were special; School, Easter, and Christmas were the typical times of year).
Sometimes our Easter dresses were ones that mom had made, sometimes from the store. Shoes always seemed to come from the Buster Brown shoe store, I don't remember visiting any other shoe store growing up (but that may be a faulty memory).
On Easter Sunday, I remember dad checking our purses to see that we had our Quarter for Sunday School offering, a handkerchief and nothing else.
Of course being Easter, our Sunday School lessons were always at some age level of understanding for what the day stood for; Understanding that Christ had died for our sins, and was resurrected.
You can click on the picture to read it easier
After the Easter Service there was always an Easter Egg hunt for the Sunday School children. I still remember looking under the leaves of plants and in areas of tall grass, finding those colorful eggs, and collecting them in a small basket.
I remember coloring eggs as a child, the different colors you dipped the boiled eggs in; watching that white egg become a rainbow of color. I remember mom and dad always hid our Easter basket behind the Drapes in the living room. Colorful wooden baskets filled with green colored paper grass and lots of fun things. The chocolate was much better back then, and so were the jelly beans. Every year we also got these beautiful panoramic eggs made of sugar, with tiny little scenes inside. They still make them today;The picture below is of a modern one: By the
Confectioners Artists Guild of Orlando.
Then there was Easter Dinner; usually a ham, but sometimes a Pot Roast.
We don't have children; but to this day I always color some eggs and have a small basket filled with chocolate eggs.
I hope you all have a Blessed and Happy Easter!
As a child I remember that we always got a new dress, white lace trimmed bobby socks, white shoes, gloves, hat, and purse for Easter Sunday; we didn't get new clothes throughout the year as children do now (New clothes were special; School, Easter, and Christmas were the typical times of year).
Sometimes our Easter dresses were ones that mom had made, sometimes from the store. Shoes always seemed to come from the Buster Brown shoe store, I don't remember visiting any other shoe store growing up (but that may be a faulty memory).
On Easter Sunday, I remember dad checking our purses to see that we had our Quarter for Sunday School offering, a handkerchief and nothing else.
Of course being Easter, our Sunday School lessons were always at some age level of understanding for what the day stood for; Understanding that Christ had died for our sins, and was resurrected.
You can click on the picture to read it easier
I remember coloring eggs as a child, the different colors you dipped the boiled eggs in; watching that white egg become a rainbow of color. I remember mom and dad always hid our Easter basket behind the Drapes in the living room. Colorful wooden baskets filled with green colored paper grass and lots of fun things. The chocolate was much better back then, and so were the jelly beans. Every year we also got these beautiful panoramic eggs made of sugar, with tiny little scenes inside. They still make them today;The picture below is of a modern one: By the
Confectioners Artists Guild of Orlando.
Then there was Easter Dinner; usually a ham, but sometimes a Pot Roast.
We don't have children; but to this day I always color some eggs and have a small basket filled with chocolate eggs.
I hope you all have a Blessed and Happy Easter!
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