Take The Time…

During this hectic work week don’t forget to take time to rub the belly!!

PS: Please ignore the fact that we haven’t put the new wood baseboard trim up yet since putting in the tile floor. We aren’t finished with the tile work yet.

Pictures

My son-in-law has taught a class on photography and when I told Samantha that I was going to need to get my picture taken for the cookbook she suggested having her husband do it.  Before they left this morning Ben took my picture. We decided to add one of the hounds into the picture too.  Max loved the attention and as long as Samantha held a spoon of macaroni and cheese above the camera we had his cooperation. haha

You can see the pictures and vote for which one you would like to be used on the cookbook by following me on Facebook and voting there.

I had a wonderful visit with Samantha and Ben this week and being able to walk away from the blog was a nice break too. It allowed me to focus on family and spend time discussing baby things with Samantha. She had an ultrasound done while she was here and the baby is growing nicely and has wonderful little tiny fingers. It is too early to see gender yet but we are all in agreement that healthy is all that is important.

They brought their dog with them as always. We love Katie and she fits in well with the hounds but she has to be the most neurotic dog I have ever met. She only cares for women and will follow Samantha around everywhere she goes. They left her here with me a couple of times and she became my best friend. It was like having a toddler in the home again.

We have a no pets on the furniture rule here and Katie really felt that she should be on the couch.  Look at this poor thing asking for permission to get up there with mommy.

Another thing that happened this week was Caleb spent the night with us on Thursday while his mommy went shopping all night. This has become a tradition here and I look forward to it every year. When it was time for bed Caleb said something totally random and Samantha and I couldn’t help but stare at each other trying figure out exactly what it meant.

It was time for Caleb to go to bed and I said, “It is time for bed now.” He then replied, “I no like sleep. I love Jesus but I no like sleep and I no like snakes.”

HMMM??? What do you think sleep, Jesus and snakes have in common? I had no come back for him. Luckily Samantha said, “You know what I don’t like? I don’t like it when I am wearing socks and I step in water and get my feet all wet.” Caleb just shook his head in agreement and he went to bed.  She will be such a great mom!

Buford Is My Sweetie

Buford is my 15-year-old Basset Hound. Isn’t he handsome?

There is nothing Buford likes to do more than to sleep on the back porch. He gave up chasing squirrels a few years ago when his cataracts kept him from seeing the squirrels.

Buford has always slept on the couch until a few months ago. He started not being able to get his back legs on the couch and he would get his front paws up and then wait for Mike to lift the back of him up. Then after a couple of months he stopped that all together. We knew that he was getting older and that things would be changing for him.

This morning he couldn’t walk on his back legs. We had a muscle relaxer from a small injury he had a couple of years ago so we gave it to him and took him to the Emergency Animal Hospital. He was such a sweetheart there. He got all of the employees to love on him. They said they haven’t seen a Basset Hound this old in a very long time.

He was placed on 2 prescriptions. One is for muscle relaxation and the other is for swelling in his joints to relieve his pain. I am not sure how much longer we will be able to have Buford with us but for now I am cherishing every day as a gift.

To read about Buford’s life you can go to the following link.

http://grace2882.wordpress.com/2008/09/30/the-hounds-great-escape/

 

The Hounds and Snakes

The hounds love to lounge on the back porch and watch the squirrels in the woods behind the fence. Mike does an excellent job of keeping the woods back and weeds cut down so that we don’t have a snake problem but this year has been unusual regarding snakes. While mowing the lawn he killed a snake in the backyard. It was only a little brown water snake but we can’t have those around the hounds. They still bite and they would still make them sick.

Mike had hired a man a few weeks ago to cut down a tree in my front yard and while he was here he said he saw a copperhead go under an old tree stump on the bank of the creek. Upon further inspection last week Mike found that there was a den of copperheads under this stump. So what is a man to do? He poured gasoline on the old stump and torched them. We have too many children in the neighborhood that like to ride their bikes through the creek just about 10 feet from the stump. I wish that I had taken a picture of the stump on fire but this is the after picture.

For those who think we should have humanely moved the snakes let me just say that in WV that isn’t an option. These snakes needed to go and immediately. This is what we were protecting.

Scenes From My Back Porch

I thought that I would share a few pictures taken from my back porch. Does anyone know the difference between a deck and a porch? Hmm?

This is Max. He wanted to be on the porch so badly but we had Caleb in the swing and he likes to stand directly behind the swing which isn’t a good thing. So he stood on the ground looking for permission to get on the porch.

 

Buford is a smart old dog. He likes to stay on the other end of the porch when Caleb is visiting. He won’t come near that swing.

Mike hired a local farmer to come and cut down the tree behind our fence. Normally he would have done it himself but since I am so highly allergic to poison ivy and that particular tree was covered in poison ivy he hired that job out. Luckily Crouch can roll in the stuff and never catches it. I am jealous.  While sitting on the porch I kept watching this one bird land on the stump.

I bought this birdbath/birdfeeder last week but the layout for this doesn’t work. The food falls into the water of the dish and it gets NASTY very fast. I plan to turn the bottom of it into a planter and continue to use the top as a birdfeeder.

I love this next birdfeeder. Mike has always complained about birdfeeders but for some reason this year he has agreed to them. Yay!!!

Mike and I love to sit on the porch and relax on our glider. Buford likes to relax on the porch too. He puts those long ears to good use blocking the sunlight.

In the next couple of weeks we will have a new porch which will be bigger. I am sure that Buford will love it just as much. Have you noticed that Daisy isn’t anywhere to be seen? She is a little princess and she prefers to take her naps on the living room couch where she has the luxury of air conditioning.

Update on Diatomaceous Earth to Kill Fleas

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was looking for a natural way to treat our dogs for fleas. You can read about it here. Well, I bought the Diatomaceous Earth and put it on the dogs. None of the dogs seemed to have a negative effect from this but it didn’t work entirely. We did notice that the fleas were not as bad as they had been but they certainly weren’t gone.

We also had to reapply the product every 3 days or we saw a invasion of the fleas again. Last year we were using Frontline and it alone did not get rid of the fleas. We were having to give Capstar at least once a week on top of the frontline. So we went back to using the Frontline and the Diatomaceous Earth as well. Mike now gets about 3-4 fleas a day off of Daisy. The boys don’t seem to be bothered as much as Daisy is.

We still have fleas and are waiting for the Frontline to kick in. I would love to have more input on what works for you if you use a natural product for the fleas. Daisy is just miserable. Wouldn’t you like to see this little princess happy?

My Weekly Menu for 5/30/2010

This past week was a killer at work. I figured I worked about 60 hours with the hours I needed to stay over to get the job done and with what work I had to bring home with me to complete. Because of this I didn’t get to cook all of the meals that I had planned last week. I did make the weeknight chili recipe and both Mike and I hated it. For that reason I won’t be sharing it with you.

While I am typing this my neurotic little dog Daisy is under my desk hiding from the mean old fly that is in the house. From spring until fall she hides as soon as she comes into the house whether there is a fly in here or not. There happens to be one and I can’t kill it so she just lays under there with her eyes open watching to see if it can find her. Isn’t she cute? Gotta love a beagle/basset hound mix.

Looking at her from this angle I may need to put her on a low carb diet too. hahaha

Speaking of the hounds. Whenever I am cooking this is what I see when I look down at my feet.

Max is my husband’s dog but he prefers women so he prefers to be where ever I am. As I come out of the bathroom he is waiting in the hall for me. He stands beside my computer chair and constantly puts one huge paw on my seat begging for attention. He is also a very jealous dog. The only time he is jealous is if I am giving anyone attention. Then he will intentionally chew whatever belongs to that person.

The first time that Samantha came to visit after Max entered our lives he was very jealous of her. We had him for several months and he had never chewed anything. She and I went into the craft room for a bit and when we came out he had chewed her favorite sandals.

Once Caleb arrived I realized that it was anyone I gave attention to he was going to destroy their property. Caleb has learned that he can’t leave his toys in the floor at all or Max will destroy them. His little Noah’s ark is down to 2 giraffe and one zebra. We use a clown fisher price toy instead of Noah. I miss Noah. I need to get Caleb another Ark set because he does get a lot of enjoyment out of that.

I seemed to have veered off of posting my menu for the week. Oh well. You get to look at a cute dog.

All of the recipes this week will be new recipes. If we like them I will post them to the blog.

Sunday- Asian Barbecued Skewers

Monday- Leftover from Sunday

Tuesday- Sausage Stuffed Green Peppers

Wednesday- leftovers from Tuesday

Thursday- Beef and Lettuce Bundles- new appetizer recipe

Friday- Grilled Sausage with Summer Vegetables and low carb pasta

Saturday- leftovers from Friday

I think I am going to make a large batch of Orange Coconut Pecan Pancakes to take to work each day for my breakfast using this recipe. I will share more about that later this week.

http://grace2882.wordpress.com/2009/12/26/orange-coconut-pecan-pancakes/

For lunch this week I have bought a large amount of fresh vegetables to take, as well as my usual Kroger’s low carb yogurt. I get strange stares when I am buying 30 cartons of it at a time, but it is so worth it.

Enjoy and have a good week. Are you making plans for your weeks menu?

It’s A Miracle

Those who personally know my hounds know that Max absolutely loves cats. The problem is my cat hates all dogs. She knows that she has to live with them but she never,  and I mean NEVER, shares personal space with them. That is why I say it is a miracle. I came into the living room the other night and this was what I saw.

I was shocked. Every morning when I let Max out of the living room he runs through the house until he finds the kitty. He then pushes his head into her until he smooshes her to the ground. Three years ago when we got Max she would hiss and swat at him. Now she just gets a frown on her face and knows that as soon as he hugs her he will go away. I think sometimes she sits around and plots his demise. The other two hounds learned very early to leave her alone. Max, however, is a very stubborn hound and will not be discouraged. Apparently it has paid off. She is now sharing the same rug with him.

Buford Got Cold- Poor Baby

Buford was so happy to see the Christmas tree taken down. I had put a blanket in front of the baseboard heater for the cat but instead of her he began pawing at the blanket trying to spread it out. I unfolded it for him to accommodate his long stature and he quickly snuggled in for a nap. Isn’t he cute on that red blanket?

For Christmas I bought Mike a Sunbeam Electric Throw for when he is watching TV in the evenings and he gets cold. The first night he used it all three of the hounds fought to cuddle up with him and this blanket.  I know many people leave their dogs outside but I can’t imagine doing so in the winter. I know my Basset Hounds get cold easily. Just seems mean to me.

A couple of days after I put the red blanket in the floor Max and Daisy were snuggled up on it and Buford wanted it back. I saw him pacing in front of them and whining low. He did the funniest thing when they wouldn’t move from it. He went to the backdoor at a run and barking like something was out there he had to get to. Of course the other followed to see what the excitement was.

As soon as the other two ran out the door barking at who knows what, Buford ran back into the house and jumped on the red blanket. The other two were still standing on the back porch barking and looking to see if they could find what they were supposed to be barking at.

A couple of minutes later the two outside came back in and Daisy realized that they had been conned. She tried to get on the blanket too but Buford wasn’t sharing. So she ran to the backdoor barking to go out and it was so obvious that she was trying to excite Buford to get off the blanket but he wasn’t budging. hahaha Once she realized it wasn’t going to work she got on the blanket on the couch instead. hahaha I love these silly hounds.

Katie’s First Visit

When Samantha and Ben came to visit for Thanksgiving they brought their new dog Katie. The hounds are used to animals coming in but I was a bit concerned that Max would LIKE Katie a bit too much. He does love the ladies. haha

When Katie entered she was a bit shy at first but she set boundaries with the boys. She seemed to bond with Daisy the most out of the hounds. Could be because she doesn’t sniff her butt as much. lol Of course with Daisy being so little and Katie being so tall I really don’t think it was possible. lol

Samantha went to her biological fathers family for lunch on Thanksgiving and left Katie with us. She was so funny as a new ‘mommy’. She kept asking me if I was worried about keeping Katie and what to look for in case Katie needed something. I thought this was so funny. It is not as if our door isn’t a constant home for dogs. We have had more than our share of critters over the years.

Within a few minutes of her leaving this was the scene at my home. Do you think Katie looks stressed?

Mike has never met a dog that didn’t bond with him immediately. Until yesterday Mike didn’t know that I had taken this picture of them napping together.

Now Samantha and Ben have funny rules about Katie not being allowed to have table food. They of course did not explain this to Caleb and technically  if it came from Caleb it is not table food. It is highchair food. hahaha Katie is soooooooooo tall that her head is exactly at the highchair tray level. Caleb loves to eat slices of american cheese. So do the hounds and for this reason we always put Caleb in his highchair to eat his cheese. Caleb however found it amusing to share his cheese with Katie.

It was obvious that Katie had been around babies before.  The second that Caleb was removed from the highchair she would scope out his seat to see if he left any goodies there for her. Caleb accidently left something for her of course. Katie loves gushers too. Who knew? hahaha

Then to show that the two bonded I have to share this picture. Caleb loves Katie and Katie loves Caleb. It was an immediate bond. Perhaps Samantha will get me a grandchild so that Katie can feel the love on a daily basis at her house.