perfect addition to our beige grass

I guess you never know what you will find in your yard around here.

Such a good laugh when we came into the living room and saw this sitting in our front yard.
A visit was bound to happen to us sooner or later - that we knew!
All we had to do was pay $ to have it removed.

Such a good cause -
sending the next group of Speedway Student Ambassadors to Motegi, Japan.


nothing like a florescent green toilet to perk up a dead front yard,
Denise

Ramblings on critters

Lately, we have had this stray (?) cat roaming our yard, hissing and surprising us.
I like cats, but not this one.

Yesterday, Steve found the tiniest bunnies on our driveway.
Sadly, one bunny had already gone to bunny heaven.
The other one was still alive.

Of course, Mr. Stray Cat was sitting there hissing at Steve.
Luckily, Steve was bigger than Mr. S. C. and he sent the mean thing on its way.

Taking Little Bunny to church, all wrapped up in a towel and tucked into a small bed (box), friends at church spent the morning trying to feed poor Little Bunny.
All afternoon Steve sat on the couch and held it, but Little Bunny was just too young to be so far away from her mommy.
Little Bunny was buried in her bed.

Late last night, as Michelle was getting out of her car, Mr. S. C. surprised her in the dark, hissing.
Michelle was not happy.

In the back corner of the garage, Steve has a very obvious hoarders corner.  (Stick with me here.) By this I mean he stacks things, tucks things, and buries things here.  Shopping one day, we were lucky enough to find four old barn lights (this is really another story for another day) for our kitchen.  Unfortunately, for some odd reason, he tucked those lamps into this very scary corner, even though they need to be cleaned and painted.  Thinking today was the perfect day to pull those lamps out and give them a good scrub, I plopped on my brave hat ready to do battle.

Now, I will tell you that seeing the mouse run behind my compost bin a few times didn't send me running. Outside (where mice are supposed to be) I can live with them as long as they don't run up my arm while I am harvesting lettuce for my salad.
That being said, I absolutely HATE mice indoors.  I know those are strong words, but it is just unnatural for mice to be in my indoor habitat.  Mostly the garage is Steve's habitat, but I do store my garden supplies and car in there. Still, this no place for a mouse.  But, you guessed it, big as you please, there sat Bold Mouse on Steve's workbench this morning, chewing on something and just looking at me. Once I finally took a breath and blinked, Bold Mouse hopped off the bench and ran home to hoarder's corner.

I ran inside, grabbed the keys, and pulled out my car.  I am not having Bold Mouse surprise me as I drive merrily down the highway, like Bold Mouse's cousin did to my sister-in-law years ago.
Now, why oh why, isn't Mr. Stray Cat taking care of Bold Mouse?

So for now, the dirty lamps continue to be hidden.
Mr. Stray Cat continues on his bullying ways.
And Henry continues to enjoy his summertime naps, oblivious to what is going on around him.

Thanks for listening to my ramblings!
Denise

the exploding shaving cream

I had been in the bathroom a couple of times one morning.

Half asleep, I didn't notice this until the third time I was in there.

Until I  opened the door, I couldn't fingure out what on earth I was seeing.

Steve's shaving cream had exploded.

Kind of a mess, but we got a good laugh.

Take care,

Denise

I

Surprise, honey!

Five years ago today,

I quickly headed out to the pet store

to grab some cat food before Christmas Eve.

Whenever I would go to this pet store,

I would always avoid glancing over at the rescued pets that were up for adoption.

Well, this day

I heard a couple of women talking about this dog that was blind.

So, I headed over to that area of the store.

Right by the blind dog

was the cutest, little ball of fluff.

When I picked him up, he still had that new puppy smell.

I was in love.

I was told he had been in a foster home, but was up for adoption.

I was also told that the foster mom was thinking about adopting him.

Okay, I had a million things to do, so I said so long to the little fella and headed home.

After finishing up some last minute chores and taking a shower,

I remembered that little dog and told Michelle the story.

She looked at me and suggested we get over there, at that moment, to see if he was still there.

So, off we went (me with wet hair on December 23.)

Circumstances being what they were that day, the foster mother (and her high school son)

were there, looking in on little "Dopey."

(This family's name for him.)

"Dopey" was the runt, and the only one left.

I immediately asked her if she was going to adopt the puppy.

She said, "no."

Well, my hair was a mess, and we had to be somewhere soon,

so, as Michelle was smiling ear to ear,

I went over to buy this puppy.

The clerk asked if I was going to foster or adopt.

I must have paused because she said it would take around

one hour to adopt and about five minutes to foster.

Five minutes later, we were a foster family,

ready to adopt this cutie pie in a week, when I had more time.

Wow, I usually over think purchases.

Not this time.

On the way home, it dawned on me that Steve didn't

even know about "Mr. Cutie Pie" since he had been

out and about that afternoon and unaware of our plot.

Living with a man who really likes dogs helps.

The minute he walked in and saw the little guy,

he was also in love.

Best Christmas present!

"Dopey"/ "Mr. Cutie Pie" quickly became Henry.

Boy oh boy are we happy Mookie was almost out of food on that day.

Take care,

Denise

uninvited guest

Michelle found this lovely lady on the wall

of the bathroom the other day.

Michelle didn't want to touch her.

 I thought she was so pretty.

Being so tiny

(about the size of a fingernail)

plus a little flighty,

I had a hard time getting

the little darling to

land on my finger so

I could set her outside.

Mission was accomplished.

Take care,

Denise

update on the update on the mission sale

I guess Ted spent some money

at the sale, too.

Turns out, he also bought

something belonging to Eric.

Steve suggested

we just pay Eric

next time he cleans out

his basement.

Take care,

Denise

update on mission sale purchase

When I bought the brown leather case

filled with photography items,

I immediately thought of letting Eric look at

everything inside before I pitched or gave it away.

Interestingly enough,

I forgot that Eric and Erin donated a trunk-load

of stuff to the sale.

Yes, that case was donated by Eric.

Oh, well, I figure the dollar I paid for it was

donated to a good cause.

Plus, we all got a laugh.

Take care,

Denise

so much for my guard dog

I was in bed around 12:30 last night (this morning.)

I know I went right to sleep with Henry by my side.

At about 1:15, I woke up to a sound like a car going down the street

with a very flat tire.

I dozed and woke up to that sound a few minutes later.

At that point it sounded like someone was knocking at my door.

My heart was pounding.

Guard dog was snoozing by my side.

Awake, I heard it again, and again, and again.

Until it finally dawned on me---

as I was cleaning the craft room, the closet door was open.

Of course, in typical Mookie style, she wandered in and found

a cozy, hiding place to take a cat nap.

Then I closed the door.

Mookie was pawing at the door to get out -

going at it full force.

Silly cat.

I think I turned on every light in the house to

go down and let her out.

Out she slunk, angrily meowing at me all the way.

She seems put out with me this morning.

I think Henry feels guilty for sleeping through the whole thing

and not trying to save me.

Take care,

Denise