Dirty Girl!!!

Normally she sits quietly on the porch or in the flower beds watching for the FedEx guy or squirrels, but yesterday I guess she got bored....either that or the "greenie" I gave her as she went out the door just wasn't enticing at the moment and she decided to save it for future use.

When we went out to check on her, this is what we found....tail wagging (hers, not ours!):

The hole she dug was as big as she is! She had tiny root systems all tangled up in her hair and her tail. What a mess....and although she normally looks like prissy little white dog, she is anything but! She's quite the Tomboy....prefers to be outdoors rather than indoors....loves to chase birds and squirrels....runs around the yard like a bat out of hell....and sniffs everything in sight!

When we put her in the bathtub, she looked quite insulted and jumped on the side as if to say, "I don't need a bath....I look and smell just fine!". After her bath we put down a thick blanket so she can rub off the water (and I think she's trying to rub off the sweet smell!)....then she heads to the basket in the bedroom that holds the hair dryer. She sits quite nicely while you blow dry her...although it wasn't that way in the beginning.

I love being a Mom....dog or human!

I'm Going Public.....

....in my quest to get my daughter back on the blog roll again. I know she's been busy, especially with her new "baby" in the house, but I really miss reading her blogs AND I really, really, really would like to see some pictures of my new grand-dog! The only one I have is below....and she's in a cage!

C'mon, Shelby.....get back on the "roll"......you're missed!!!

I'm Changing Careers!!!

In light of this past weeks events, or rather non-events, I've decided to have a go at a new career. I'm going to apply for the position of Weatherman at our local TV stations! I figure I've got a great chance!

As a mortgage loan officer, I have to be very accurate in my figures when assisting homebuyers and homeowners in their financial choices, but as a weatherman you can be off as much as 90%!!!! Dang, I like those odds!

On Tuesday we had a 90% chance of getting 2-4 inches of beautiful white snow......what did we get????? Nothing, I tell you.........nothing!!!!! I had my ingredients for snow cream ready...I had cancelled all appointments (the schools and city governments were closed, too!) and had picked out several movies to watch while I looked out the windows at the snow white wonder. Didn't happen!

So, I'm going to be a weatherman.....or weatherwoman....I don't care....all I know is that it would be nice not to have to be so precise all of the time!

Wet Without Water and Cold!!!

It's been a wet and cold weekend.....and there's more to come!! On Thursday night Dennis decided to turn off the water to the outside faucets so they wouldn't freeze....he turned the knob, then nothing......you could turn it 100 times each way and it wouldn't stop. The next thing we realize is that we have NO water in the house! It only took us until Saturday afternoon to realize what had happened. In the meantime, we had a huge contractor's heater set up under the house to keep it warm (my ceramic tile doesn't get that warm in the summer!) and gallon jugs of water to cook with, make coffee, wash dishes and brush our teeth.....we showered at the neighbor's house. I think I sometimes take for granted how nice it is to turn the faucet on and have something actually come out!

It's warmer today, but this is what the creek looked like late yesterday....

This is a picture of the creek on a "not so cold" night!

They're calling for the possibility of snow on Tuesday, but you know how I feel about "they"......all promises and no snow! I just love it when it snows....if it is gonna be this cold, at least make it beautiful! But what I like most is walking through the woods when it is snowing....it's so quiet and peaceful!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!!

Next post will be to Aprons Required! I've been cooking today!

She'll be home tonight!!!

I wish I was talking about Shelby, but I'm not. I just spoke to her briefly and Lily is coming home tonight! I know they are both so excited and it seems like they are getting a very sweet dog. She is small enough that Shelby can bring her home when she comes to visit......I can't wait to meet her! Here's an updated picture....can't wait until I have one WITHOUT the bars...I mean cage!

Breaking News!!! I'm going to be a Grandma!!!!

At this very moment Shelby is standing outside of the building waiting to claim our new GrandDog!!! Her name is Lily and she's a long haired chihuahua! Here's the picture Shelby sent to me yesterday.....she looks sooooo sweet!

Howling at the Moon!

I've always wanted to know more about cameras and how to take a great picture. I had hoped to sign up for a class this month, but with things as busy as they are, I just don't have the time. Instead I've been playing around with the many, many dials and buttons and taking tons of pictures to see how they come out.

Last night there was such a beautiful moon and it looked awesome seeing it through the pines. Dennis helped me get the camera onto the tripod and I took several pictures..........here's the best:

I also tried taking pictures of "things" around the house, playing with light and texture. Can you guess what this is???I hope to look back months from now and see a big difference in the pictures I take. Keep posted (pun?)!!!

Isn't this the cutest thing..........

Although she looks like a typical fluffy white dog, she acts like a hunting hound! I just looked out the front window to check on her and she's sitting in the yard watching for squirrels to chase! She's been chasing them all day, the same as she does every day.

Our neighbor has a son who is 5 that just adores her and he gave her a stuffed racoon for Christmas (he gave her stuffed squirrel last year...didn't I tell you she's obsessed?). She's been carrying it all over the yard with her, but it looks as though she's using it as some sort of decoy right now. She keeps us so amused!!!

Shhhhh.....don't tell him it's over!

Somehow I have managed to keep the Christmas tree up.....and even New Year's Day has passed, which is usually the day it has to come down. I have been known to be quite resistant to taking the tree down.....one year it came down on Valentine's Day! This year I've been hoping to leave it up a little longer since I was about two weeks late putting it up.....so far, so good! And who cares what the neighbors think?

We're back.......

.....but I can't say that we're all too happy about it. It was such a fun and relaxing 4 days that we were able to spend with Melinda at the cabin, and as always, I hate the last day when we have to pack to go home.

We left on Thursday morning....Dennis was glad to be our chauffeur, while Melinda and I chatted ourselves hoarse and Shugs snoozed in her bed in the back. Once we got to the cabin, Melinda turned on the power and water........yep, once again we had a water problem! We had to use a blow dryer to thaw out the faucets just to turn them on and find no water! First we got the woodstove going and then Dennis and Melinda headed to WalMart (the only place open on New Year's Night within probably 100 miles) to get a small heater to put under the house to heat the pipes (we sure hoped that was all it would take and no pipes were broken!).

Shugs and I stayed behind to keep the woodstove full of wood and start dinner. I can't explain to you how hard it is to dice an onion when your fingers are numb from the cold. After dinner we all settled in to watch a movie. Although it wasn't toasty in the cabin yet, at least you could no longer see fog come from your lips when you spoke! If there is any indication of how cold it was, here's Dennis fast asleep....with his coat on and a blanket! It's at times like this that I envy Shugs' natural coat!

By the next morning we had hot AND cold water, and the cabin was very toasty....and it was starting to warm up outside, even though the pond was still a bit frozen over....almost!

We got our showers and decided to head into Floyd to check out some antique shops...then we headed over to Chateau Morrisette. Yes, I know we've been there before...in fact, we go every time we visit the cabin! Who can resist!? The wine is fabulous AND we don't have to leave Shugs in the car!! We took the tour of the winery......that is such a fascinating place, with such a fascinating history!!! You just have to make this trip up! Melinda had been on the tour before with Jess and Adam, but still learned some new things on this one. I really would like to go up for their Valentine's Day celebration....it's called the "Puppy Love Dinner"!! Don't you just love it?! I can't decide if I want the tenderloin, jumbo lump crab cakes or the veal! I guess the crab cakes would go best with my favorite Our Dog Blue. We'll have to wait and see....

After that we headed back to the cabin to make dinner and watch more movies....and chat....and drink lots of wine! The next day we decided to head south on the Blue Ridge Parkway......Dennis couldn't resist the signs pointing to Mt. Airy, Andy Griffith's home town. Melinda and I went along with it, since we had been dragging him in and out of antique stores. We were pleasantly surprised when we got there.....it looked just like the old shows! There was even a guy there who chauffeurs you around town on a tour in Barney's old squad car......and he looked like Goober!

Here are a few pics from that part of our journey:

Melinda with Goober's tow truck...how cool!

Barney's Squad Car (not the real one though)

It looks just like I remembered.....

C'mon....doesn't he look just a little like Goober???

After that, we headed back up to the parkway and guess what we found???? A new winery!!!!! If there is one within 20 miles of us, we'll find it. It isn't Chateau Morrissette, but we enjoyed some wonderful wine and even better stories about the retired pharmacist who now makes his own wine. He also sells these kits with everything in them to make your own wine....and they are quite reasonable. It's an interesting process, as you can see here......she's explaining it all to Dennis and Melin:It's called Thistle Mountain Winery, and although they grow no grapes at all, the wines he makes from the grapes he imports are all fabulous! There is a great gift shop there and they have everything you need to make your own wine....check out their website for making wines at grapestompers.com. Yep, we did talk about buying the stuff and making our own........just so we'd know that we have an endless supply...........well, we did kinda throw out there that we could open our own little winery.....maybe call it Cabin in the Woods Winery??? No.....we can come up with something better than that!

After that we were starving and asked where we could find a bite to eat.....the BBQ place that was described had us drooling, so we set off in the direction we were given...or at least we THOUGHT we were heading in the right direction.

After miles and miles of fields planted with future Christmas trees, we found ourselves in the middle of nowhere......homes with 20-30 rusted out cars in the FRONT yard.....washing machines in the FRONT yard (maybe to keep dirt from tracking in the house??)......geez, you had to be there. I just couldn't help thinking what the inside of these places must've looked like!

Finally we were back to civilization and started putting together our last night dinner.....steak and lobster, compliments of Melinda! That girl KNOWS how to cook lobster....it was tender and buttery...without the butter! Later that night? More movies...and more wine......then we packed up the next day and headed home. I don't know about everyone else, but I can hardly wait to get back.....partly because I just love that cozy little cabin, and partly because I feel relaxed when I'm there......oh, and there's the part that is full of adventure combing the mountains.....I just love it, that's all. I don't think I could actually live there, but I'd sure like to practice more often.

I'm Outta Here!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year to all......how exciting that 2008 is OVER! I cannot think of a better way to start off the New Year than to head to Melinda's cabin in the mountains!!!!! We're almost finished packing and will be OUTTA HERE within the hour and I can feel then muscles in my neck starting to relax.





I'm hoping there's no ice storm this time.....well, maybe on the last day (!) They are calling for a little snow tomorrow, but that's what the forecast said the last time and we got this:

I'm taking the camera, so I'll let you know later about our adventures!!! Have a great "first weekend of the year"!!! See you next week!