1184 miles

Tonight... 5 miles out of 1184. 5 miles closer to some place special. 5 miles less then I what I will work at tomorrow.

Garage Sale Super Find

Alex and I found the best garage sale buy ever today! We scored this bookcase for $20. It is hard to see in the picture of it is backed in bead board, in perfect condition and is exactly what I didn't realize I was looking for! I have been chattering at Casey that we need some bookcases because I have piles of books in various places and I never quite knew where to stick them. I mean they aren't cookbooks or knitting books or Fiction or technical manuals, they are just pretty books. But today we found them a home... AND the best part the husband drove it to our house and came back an hour later with those baskets and lamp. His wife said that they went with the bookcase originally and figured if she didn't sell them before it rained again that she would give them to us. WOO HOO!!! The bedroom is coming together and I just love our blue nest.

A Pre Vacation

She is coming out for a visit! YIPPY!!

"I am leaving on a jet plane as well as a Prop plane..".

We did it! Casey and I just booked our first family vacation! Woo Hoo! Can't wait for it to come up.

We are taking creative routes to get home from our destination, in fact that route will bring me back to California soil for the first time in 4 years. Not that I get to step outside LAX, but hell it is Cali.

SSSSSSsssssoooooooooo Completely EXCITED about this trip!

This Carrot Cake has my heart

This is all that is left of the carrot cake I made last night to take to Bunko. Seriously go make this right away, www.thepioneerwomancooks.com There were only 8 of us at Bunko last night, but those women snagged cake pieces before I left for "their kids". Sure, I know it will be your breakfast today. But that is okay I was planning on the same before it was all taken.

It is more of a spice cake then a traditional carrot cake, but so damn good. And the Cream Cheese frosting, let me just say now that the mixer beater was licked clean and not by Alex. This was also the first time I bake a cake Ree's way, that is in a sheet cake pan, which I would call a cookie sheet. And it was perfect! I will do it this way again and again.

So go make that cake! Now!

Towels and more Towels

See I wasn't joking about our large amount of Kitchen towels. I would guessamate that there are about 50 in there. We wash at least half of the basket weekly. It is a running gift in our family that my mom and I exchange a big bunch of kitchen towels every Christmas. Costco has the best ones for the cheapest, gotta love great cotton that is uber durable.

Easter Egg-O-Rama

Alex was invited to a Mega Easter egg hunt on Saturday. With 20+ kids and over 600 eggs the odds were that each kid would get a basket full, and they did!

Alex was throwing eggs into his basket left and right, I was mightily surprised at his speed!

Look at these cute cupcakes, Jenny made them. How a nine month pregnant mother of three kids who had 600 eggs to stuff made these cupcakes as well is beyond me. She is super mom. And she is even hosting Bunko at her place tonight, 5 days before her fourth ( and first girl) is due. Geesh!

It was so much fun to see all the kids scrambling about and some of those eggs were really really hidden, I wouldn't be surprised if a couple are unearthed as we get more into spring planting and yard clean up. Such a fun day!

For the love of Cotton

I have recently found myself making cotton dish clothes. Why(?) might you ask, well for a couple reasons. One, Sponges are nasty buggers, literally full of germs and bacteria. Two, they are so much more reusable them sponges, all I have to do is pop it in the wash with the other daily towels and put out a new one each night. Each one has a lifespan of about a year before they start to fall apart. Three, they are a cheap easy portable knit. Plus the cotton colors are hard to resist. And none of my other knitting works out to be 33 cents for each finished piece. Four, the patterns are infinite and usually always free, gotta love free.

Eventually I know they will be just as numerous as our cotton kitchen towels, which have turned out to be a much better investment then paper towels will ever be. They get used for years, and then can be used for many more years as cleaning rags and then finally they can become bird nesting. So much better then filling a landfill with precious paper. Now I must admit that we are not a strictly non-paper towel household, because honestly bacon cooking goes much easier with a paper towel on top. :) But we do our part.

What do you do?

The Happy Puppy Recipe

Situation: Puppy who plays in her water bucket, mucking it up for all the other dogs.
Solution: A Puppy Pool
Ingredients:

• 1 Puppy
• 1 Plastic pool
• Water
• Kiddo to entice before mentioned puppy
• Stick
• Patience
• Camera
  

The Pool, which was the small size and uber cheap at the grocery.

The Puppy, who we don't think has ever been a small size.

The water handler.

At this point she just thinks it is a big water bowl.

The magic stick should do the trick to get the puppy in the pool!

Think she'll buy it?

She did!!!

Now we have a puppy who plays in and mucks up TWO big water sources in our backyard.

I wish it was a REAL mud bath...

Texas gets weirder every year. Today it rained Mud. Literally.

At first we thought it was because we had parked under a tree...
But then we noticed all the cars around us also looked like they had had a bucket of mud thrown on them...
And it wasn't pretty, it was dirty and smeary, and a very unfortunate shade of brown...
and then I learned while watching the news that you should hose it off your car asap because it not only doesn't look good, but also scratches your paint. So I just spent ten minutes outside hosing off the cars while it was raining. Seriously Texas confounds me sometimes. But I still love it here. :)

March Listed

• Winds, everyday, all day, brushing my hair with crazy strokes, making knots.
• New corners are being decorated and happily made into homey nooks.
• Pictures, tons and tons of pictures to be framed and loved and seen!
• Garden growings... love me some green.
• Grieving with crayons and construction paper.
• Listened to Counting Crows, Omaha three times in a row tonight, for two reasons: Old School Casey and New School Casey. :)
• I love colored felt tip pens to write with.
• Food, fresh growing plant food, so good.
• Compost, I want to compost.
• Seriously.
• I am not joking.
• Can someone give me a Hippy Hat now?
• A trip is coming up SUPER soon! So excited.
• My BFF is coming home soon, I so miss her. But soon is relative, but still sooner then it was yesterday. Got you to say Love you! *wink wink*
• Music is awesome... more awesome then I can say. Music makes me full inside and bright in the eyes. Music makes me dream like the Cove on a Starry night. Music is infinite.
• I am cheesey.
• I have a love affair with plastic tumblers, current favorite is all blue paisleys.
• Spring break can be a really long time...
• Alex is a Lego addict. Not joking.
• I have found myself driving the coastline from Carlsbad to Encinitas in my mind lately.
• Duma Key by King. Awesome writing, lines that stick in my head like burrs. Missed it when I finished.
• GardenGirlTV, awesome. I want chickens, goats, and angora rabbits too!
• I have been crafty, with stuff I all ready have, which is the best kind of crafty ever!
• Flat Stanley school project... gah it is driving me crazy.
• I have missed listing...

Heaven's To Betsy, it's the start of Strawberry Season

My local farmer cart guy sold us 6 crates for $5! Can't beat that! And local produce no more then 50 miles from home, even better.
Best way to eat fresh strawberries, dipped in whipping cream with a smidge of sugar. Perfect.

Wrong side of the bed.

Dear Mister Man and Bugman:

I woke up GRUMPY, really grumpy. Sorry guys, I really don't mean to be grumpy, I just feel out of sorts. I do love you oodles and oodles, even if my actions and words don't show it today.


XOXO,

Nikki/Momma

Legs in "capris"

I am sure that Alex will be mad at me someday for posting this, but tonight we just couldn't resist. Look at that long body and long legs in what are really full length sweats that are about three sizes to small and four years old. For the record and length reference, that is a queen sized bed, gonna be a tall one! But they are his favorite PJ's, and we can't argue with comfies...

Thanks...

Thanks everyone for your condolences and emails, we really appreciate. Today we all woke up with puffy eyes and heavy hearts. He went so quickly last night, maybe an hour and a half at most, which was a shocking but a blessing. He ended his life in Casey's arms, surrounded by his loves in the middle of his home.

We will greatly miss Twain and know that this hole will never be filled just right again. We were the lucky ones that day four years ago at the Human Society. So lucky that Casey found him, that he was still there regardless of the fact that he had heartworms. Lucky that someone surrendered him to the shelter instead of to the pound. So lucky to have the wee Nub to wag at our presence. Just so lucky to have Twain own us.

RIP Twain

We lost Twain tonight. It was quick and we are devastated.

What I have been growing...

Tomatoes, carrots, tomatoes, and bell peppers!
Snap peas, Zucchini's, and green Onions Oh My!
And some tiny little basil sprouts to brighten my day.

Roor Beer & Wine

Reward the end of your day with root beer and wine...
And crazy faces.

Muddy Girl

When I went out to the yard today to get some pictures of Penny for her portfolio and this is how I found Jenna, covered in Mud in various places.

She had it around her mouth...
... on her paws...

... and she tried to get it on me.

Portfolio of Penny

Name: Penny
Nickname: PenPen, Momma's, Penner Wenners
Adopted the same time as Twain, she was actually the "other" puppy. The one we really wanted had been adopted literally two minutes before we got there. But Penny was the best pick ever.
Age: 4 years, give or take
Favorite thing: Snacks and birds
Job Status: Alpha female, which is something we uphold by feeding her after Twain.
Job Duty: Penny is our working dog, she is always on alert, always patrolling the yard, and is a bit of a loner. Most afternoons you can find her wrestling with the other girls or up in Alex's fort watching the green belt behind our house.


Meet Penny, who will only sit still for a nibble of a peanut butter sandwich. Lick them chops!

Penny is our worker, always protecting and keeping an eye out. She has to date defended us from a coral snake, a series of other dogs, pigeons, grackles, neighbors, Cable guys, and random trucks that drive by.
This blurry shot is the usual shot of Penny, you must be quick to catch her still.

Unless you are Casey, who can get her to smile.
And catch right before she launches up to hug you.
And gives Yoda ears.

We love our PenPen, she is the bestest hardest working girl ever. And she is awesome at training the other dogs. To date she has trained Bella and Jenna to the "rules" of the pack. those rules include no door charging, fence walking, bird chasing, fort spying, and the art of begging. Our pack wouldn't be complete with out her.

My Favorite LeftOver

I roast a whole chicken about every other week, nothing beats it for dinner. But once you remove the breasts and drumsticks (dinner fixings here), what is there to do with all the leftover meat? Chicken Salad! Trust me that there is no kind of Chicken Salad like fresh roasted chicken salad. Forget the canned crap forever!

Yummy goodness.

My favorite part is biting into a grape. Sweet bursts!

Chicken Salad Recipe

Pick all the meat you can from the chicken carcass, or use two to three fresh baked chicken breasts. I have even used the Astronaut Chickens you can get from the grocery.
Add a handful of Red grapes and Almonds Slivers.
Chop two stalks of celery.
Enough Mayo to bind together, but not too much!
And a liberal grind of pepper and salt.
Mix.
Eat.
Enjoy on bread, salad greens, or by itself!

So great!

Portfolio of Twain

Name: Twain

Age: 12 years old

Adopted from the Human Society, ignored by others due to heartworms, best treasure we ever found.

Favorite thing: Snacks

Person he "belongs" to: Casey, totally a Daddy's boy.

Job status: Alpha Dog who watches from the deck.

Nicknames: Twainers, Lover Boy, Old Man, Nubbins.

This boy, our boy, is such a love. He is a happy dog, rescued, brought back to health, and then give rein over a pack of girls, one kiddo, and a man who loves him to bits.
His eyes, so much said in those eyes. Always willing, always happy, always excited to see us.
He is like a benevolent king looking out over the yard, keeping an eye on the girls, ready to spring forward as soon as something interesting comes up.
This boy is our "grey ghost" and I am worried about him. He has lost weight this winter, the spots of concern on him have gotten bigger, and I fear that his age has caught up with him. I am hoping beyond hope that he proves me wrong, that this spring isn't his last. I am hoping beyond hope that his nub waggles for years more. Because Twain is more then just a dog, more then just the Alpha, Twain is Our Lover Boy.

12 by 3 = 4 4 4

Last week I stumbled across a website that was more about my Hippie bent, AKA it was all gardening and having a self sustaining homestead. More about that later, what really caught my mind and heart and brain was a little sentence that explained the work ethics of a family who lived on a homestead grew all their own food, built their house with their own hands, and each was an accomplished artist or author.

How did they ever do it? And that is when this nugget of 12 by 3 was delivered to me. They broke their day into 12 hours. 4 hours spent on work, 4 spent on personal pursuits and 4 hours spent on becoming a better human being to the benefit of society and those near and far from them. This immediately appealed to me. And has been marinating in my mind for about a week. And so I have been thinking about four hours alot, on the drive to work, in bed right before I sleep, while cooking, while cleaning, while day dreaming.

And I have to say I like the 12 hour plan. I like the discipline of it. I like it.

I know it is time to stop thinking about it and start doing it. 12 by 3 = 4 4 4

Lego Master Man

Let's me just say Alex rocks Lego's. I had zero help in building this. It is all him.

The beach house is having a house party.

Everyone is enjoying the various view from the Yellow Lego house.


Dude, can I interest you in a cup of Joe the size of your head? How about a massive turkey leg, it's currently on the grill!

It's a pothole head convention upstairs.

This one is one of Alex's shots, had to get the details downstairs on the inside.