A Trip to the Groomer

Elliott, Smoke and Dani hadn't been to the groomer since the end of March. That was their last trip to the only groomer they'd ever been to because she had decided to close her shop. We were all very sad.

She did give us the name of another groomer in the area and so I called her up a few weeks ago. Yesterday was the first appointment she had open. A little longer than their usual 5 to 6 weeks grooming schedule and let me tell you - they were getting pretty shaggy! (No pictures - I don't know why I didn't take any.)

I must say I was a little anxious about our kids going to a new groomer. Poor Elliott has never liked going although his old groomer always told me what a good boy he was. I was concerned about Smoke because of his hip dysplasia which can make him cranky sometimes. And Dani, our little Diva girl - I wasn't sure how she would behave.

We'd decided with the hot weather, we'd have Dani cut shorter than her normal "do". It will take some getting used to on our part but she seems very happy. Basically her legs are the only real difference.

Elliott is his same handsome self.

And Smoke? If you've seen pictures of him before you know that his coat was a silver color. Back in January I did a post about some reverse graying he had going on. Well, it looks like he's now gone from his dark puppy coat, to a silvery coat, and now he's dark again on his back. Interesting, I think. We'll see what happens when his fur starts growing out again.

Looks like we found a good groomer and one that the "kids" did well with.

I am so relieved!

Yard Sale

Some of my bloggie friends - and you know who you are - like to go "junking" and they find incredible things for amazing prices.

It's been a long time since I've been to a good garage or yard sale but last weekend I had to make a trip to town for milk (and ice cream as it so happened). On my way back home I noticed some balloons flying above a yard sale sign several feet in front of a driveway.

As I got closer I looked quickly over at the yard and saw lots of tables set up out in the yard. They were completely covered with stuff. Curiosity aroused!

But I couldn't stop. I had to get home. It was pretty hot outside and I didn't want the milk to spoil or worse yet, the ice cream to melt. And it would take some time to look at all those tables and inside the garage as I later found out.

AD was at Daughter's house so I stopped by there (it was on my way home) and told AD I wanted to go back to the yard sale. He said he'd go with me if I could give him a few minutes and he'd be home.

Uggghhh! I wanted him to come with me but I didn't want to wait long. I drove on home, let the dogs out, put the milk and ice cream away, let the dogs back in and waited. And waited some more.

Finally he got home and was ready to go -um, as soon as he made a trip to the bathroom. Now it didn't take him long but still, I wanted to get back to the yard sale. After all, I could miss some incredible deal!

Finally he was ready to go. And it's a good thing I waited for AD because as it turned out I needed him to carry some things to the car.

I found 2 cake plates, the glass dish on the right and a glass container that I thought would be perfect for a low flower arrangement.

And I found this partial set of old dishes - not antiques, just old. A few of the pieces have small chips but nothing that is so bad that I can't make good use of them. The one dinner plate and the serving dishes are in fine shape so I can use them on our dinner table.

I think I'll use some of the cups for candles. The others I'll use along with the saucers, the sugar and creamer and the dinner plate to have a tea party with Girlie the next time she comes to visit.

Of course a tea party will be perfect for a photo shoot. And after all, I do scrapbook.

I can't wait!

Oh, and the total cost for all my treasures? $8.25.

Unsolicited Recommendation

Sometimes when AD and I make a trip to Wally World or his larger warehouse store we enjoy taste-testing new products that they are demonstrating.

99.9% of the time they are things that we're pretty sure we'll like. After all, who wants to try something they think they'll NOT like?

So a couple of weeks ago I was shopping in Wally World and a demonstrator asked if I'd like to try a new flavor of Triscuit - Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil.


Now she happened to ask me at just the right time because it was past noontime and I hadn't had lunch yet. I was pretty hungry.

And let me add that, #1 - I've never liked Triscuits. The taste and the texture are too close to shredded wheat for me and #2 - I don't like pepper.

But like I said, I was hungry so I tried one along with a piece of cheddar cheese. It actually had a taste - a little zip - to it other than the plain old 'shredded wheat' taste. Not an overwhelming pepper taste, just a little pizazz if you will.

I liked it so much I bought a box and brought it home. I told AD I had something for him to try. Now he likes Triscuits but he likes pepper about as well as I do and he was pretty iffy on olive oil part. But he tried one and agreed. The Cracked Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuits get our seal of approval - not that it counts for anything at all but you might want to give them a try sometime.


This is one of the ways I'll eat them for sure. Back in the day when my dad would be watching baseball or football on tv, he'd often make himself a plate of crackers, cheese, bologna and dill pickle slices as a snack. And I took a liking to that same snack.

P.S. Pardon the Christmas paper plate but we bought a big bag of them at the warehouse store last year - or maybe it was the year before that? - and we're still using them.

It's That Time of Year

Time for mowing.

Here it comes.

Mowing time is one of the things I like about living where we do. I like watching the whole process.

I missed the raking but was home when the baler came. Watching the bales come out the back of the machine is fascinating to watch - but then I'm easily entertained.

On another note - Mikey has been grounded to the backyard for awhile now. AD takes him for runs in the morning, in the afternoon and again before it gets dark. He also gets to be outside the fence if AD is outside or working in his shop.

A few weeks ago Daughter called and asked if Mikey was at home. She thought she saw him in a pasture close to their house. I was on my way home from town and got there as quickly as I could.

Yep - it was Mikey and his buddy from across the road. Seems they were chasing some cows. NOT a good thing in these parts. Luckily they were spotted by someone who knows them. Dogs that chase cows can get shot on sight.

G2 loaded a very muddy Mikey into my car. (It had rained that day.) We drove slowly (less than 5 mph) home and had his buddy follow us. That sounds bad but both dogs in the car would have been worse.

So, not wanting to take a chance on Mikey being shot - he now has to stay inside the fence.

All that to explain what happened this morning. Mikey was going nuts in the backyard. Barking and running round and round. I went outside to check what was going on. I kept looking and looking but couldn't see what the problem might be.

Still I couldn't get Mikey to calm down. He ran up and down the fence barking like crazy. Finally I saw it - there was a coyote just beyond the gate that's in the first picture above. He was rather camouflaged by one of the big bales of hay. But eventually he started to run across the pasture and I saw him.

I would have liked to snap a photo but my camera was in the bedroom and the coyote would have been gone by the time I got the camera.

So Mikey got a treat and lots of hugs for being a good watch dog. He's still grounded to the backyard though.