Twi-Hard Alert!

Excuse me for a second while I act about half my age...

The official New Moon trailer was premiered today!!!

OMG! OMG! OMG!!! I SOOOOO can't wait to see the movie!!!

If you want to see it, you can go here or here.

November 20th baby!

Ok, that is all.

What the... ?!?

Could someone please tell me just what the heck kind of deer this is? I'm pretty sure it's not native to the area. It's certainly not the typical little black tails you see!

I think this little guy may be one of the babies of the odd ball group of deer we saw hanging around the neighborhood about this time last year. Of course I didn't get any pictures of them at all, but we saw them quite a few times. There were two does and three babies. One of the does looked like this guy and the other one was all white. Not albino, it had dark eyes and no pink skin that I saw, but white. I guess she would actually be grey in the horse world, but not sure if it's the same in the deer world. The white doe's baby was mostly white with some brown spots. The other doe's twins pretty much had this coloring.

Makes me wonder where the rest of the clan is. I wouldn't mind seeing them again. I'd love to get some pictures to prove that I wasn't imagining them! :-)

Sunday Stills Challenge - Powerlines and Landscapes

So this week our challenge is to actually capture those pesky powerlines that always seem to be in the way of that otherwise great landscape shot. Funny, as soon as you're trying to get them, they are suddenly ellusive!

I've got this mountain practically in my back yard and the boyfriend drove me around hunting for powerlines. He mostly kept his laughing at me hanging out the window taking pictures to himself. Mostly.

On the way back home we passed this cow pasture. I was facing the sun so the closer ones were all washed out, but there is a powerline running right through the middle of it (I promise, it's really there!) and the little black cow standing up was watching us drive by and it was too cute.

Happy Sunday everyone!

It's a darn good thing she's cute!

I just love my dog!

And really that's only slightly sarcastic. I really do love her. I don't know what we would do without her. But man oh man, it's lucky she's cute sometimes!

I decided to take her to the vet today. She was three legged lame yesterday, wouldn't hardly put any weight on her left front paw and would try biting or licking us to death any time we tried to look at it. I had noticed her licking and biting at it like she had something poking her last week, but she was only a little sore on it and I couldn't find anything in there or any puncture wounds. It got progressively worse over the weekend until we were watching her hobble around on three legs yesterday. She wasn't even interested in chasing the cars up and down the fenceline and was hesitating to follow us around while we did lots of yard work so I decided to take her to the vet and make sure it wasn't something serious that needed attention.


When we got to the vet's I was reminded that we really do need to get her out and socialize her more. She was pretty good considering how little she does get out, but she was still beyond excited about everything in there. Then she saw the resident feline basking on the window sill. She about knocked me out trying to get up to sniff it! She was still listening to me, as in sit, lay down, off, etc., but her attention span was like one one-millionth of a second and then she was go-go-going again. Crazy dog!

And of course with all the new excitement that was way more interesting then any pain she may be feeling, her lameness amazingly up and disappeared. Go figure.

The vet couldn't find anything. Nothing. Nadda. Zip. Zilch. Not even a twitch or an "ouchy lick".

I swear she was limping when I loaded her up in the truck! I think she just likes to make me look like a fool sometimes.

And have I ever told you that she gets car sick? Ya. She's a barfer. And I'm a sympathy barfer. And she likes to snuggle when she barfs. Luckily I saw it coming and was holding her on the passenger seat. Actually I was trying to push her onto the floor but I can't reach that far. I atleast wanted it on the seat. One thing I like about leather is it cleans up pretty easy! Atleast the older Dodge leather does.

Did she yak on the seat or the floor mat? No, of course not. She yakked right down in the crack between the seats. It's fabric there also. Goodie.

So $45, a couple hours of sick leave from work, a car sick puppy, a roll of paper towels, half a thing of Lysol wipes and a few really good gags later, we have a soft tissue injury that could take up to two months to heal completely. TWO MONTHS! It was worse over the weekend because we were home so she was out running around, being her crazy self the whole weekend. We have to keep her quiet and off of her paw as much as possible for the next three to four weeks (weeks!!!) and see how she's doing then. If it still bothers her when she starts running around on it, then we need to keep her quiet for another four weeks.

I asked the vet if she has seen this dog. She wouldn't even sit still for the exam. Besides the fact that she's going to go totally nuts being cooped up for that long and I feel horrible even attempting to keep her quiet, I'd really love to know just how exactly I'm supposed to keep a one year old Aussie quiet?!?

Sunday Stills Challenge - Yellow

The SSC this week was yellow. I decided that since the whole point of my doing the Sunday Stills Challenge was to challenge myself so I told myself no flowers this week! I had to get a little creative, but when I started looking around I found plenty of yellow to take pictures of. I just had to stretch my imagination a bit.

Here is my yellow collander in the kitchen that I use for a fruit bowl. It sits next to my horse shoe wine rack.



This is my yellow flying frog that I got from my mom. You may remember her pink flying frog from this post.


Now for some creepy crawlies. I was sitting on the porch admiring my new hanging baskets and pots and heard some buzzing. I found this little guy hard at work building his new nest. Poor guy, I didn't have the heart to tell him that it would be removed shortly. Mostly I just didn't want to piss him off. While I do have a lot of zoom on my camera, I really wasn't using much of it to take this picture. I really was within a foot or two of him. Eeks!




Then I happened upon this guy when I was taking pictures of my Lilac tree. A yellow spider, perfect!



And because I can't just end on those icky creepy crawlies, here's a pretty flower for you.


Happy Sunday! Hope you're having a great weekend!

3 Day Weekend!

Yeehaw! It's a three day weekend!

Of course I have a to do list that's a mile long, but I have three days to do it all and as of this post (10 am Saturday) I've already put a pretty good dent in it.

Sleep in Saturday morning: check
Laugh at my drill team who has already been at a drill competition for 2 hours this morning, not including the time on the road to get there by 8 am: check!

I know, I know, I'm not very nice. But I gotta say, while I have had the itch to go back to a full time riding member of my drill team, it has been kinda nice not having to go to all the day competitions we've already done! I really am getting a lot of stuff done around my house that I wouldn't be getting done if I wasn't just an associate member.

I get to go chase some buffalo later today which should be very fun! I might even get to ride both the girls on the buffs since the boyfriend may not be available. I've been dying to ride Sugar for a while now. We've got a bbq to go to at a friends house later tonight and then it is yard work, yard work, yard work! Oi!

I bought lots of sunscreen so hopefully I won't get fried again. My back is just now peeling so that is loads of fun. It's supposed to be sunny and low 70's all weekend, which is just perfect. I'm really looking forward to having a productive, fun and relaxing weekend!

Happy Memorial Day weekend to y'all! Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

Good Food, Good Friends and Hanging Baskets

I have a couple of good girlfriends that I get together with every so often. Sometimes it's just because Pioneer Woman posted a new recipe that we have to try, but we also get together to do crafty projects and figure out some tasty something or other to make for dinner.

About a month ago I had the brilliant idea of doing hanging baskets when the weather permitted. Well, the weather finally permitted yesterday and we had a blast. I grilled up some of my "Patchesburgers", my top secret recipe for the best burgers ever. Ok, totally kidding. It's super easy (bbq sauce, garlic powder, pepper, Johnnys) and they are tasty, but I'm not sure they are the best ever. I got a little creative this time around and tossed in some blue cheese (Mmmm...blue cheese!) and grilled some onions for the top. I also decided to give Pastor Ryan's Monkey Bread a try. Jrosie brought her now famous Stuffed 'Shrooms. Oh. My. Goodness. If you haven't tried them yet, go do it. NOW. Even if you don't like mushrooms. They are heaven in a baking dish. I stuffed myself on them. And then some more with my burgers and one of the super delicious 'Ritas that my bff Sarah brought over. I'll have to share that recipe with you guys some time. Hands down, best margaritas ever.

So after dinner, we rolled our stuffed selves out to the yard to play in the dirt for a bit. I had fun with two rounds at different stores picking out plants and I found some really cute, reasonably priced hanging pots at Home Depot. I ended up having way more of everything then I actually needed, but that's ok. I would always rather have too much stuff and have to return some then not have enough and not be able to finish. This is my mess...



Miss Sarah went to a nearby nursery and had a way better selection of plants and was Speedy Gonzales putting her hanging basket and box together. These are hers (minus the pink flower in the front, that's mine). See the box in the top left? Isn't it the cutest ever?! Both of her baskets turned out really nice!
On a side note: isn't that a cute shirt she has on?!? I love it. It has a bit of a yoke and snaps Henley style down the front. Very cute!

Jrosey was all ambitious and also made quick work of her FOUR baskets! She also was able to hit a nursery on the way over and got some very nice looking plants. She had a great variety and her baskets ended up really great! I can't wait to see them hanging around her house, I'm sure they'll look awesome!

Eventually I stopped taking pictures and got back to work. These are my pots hanging on my porch. I got some not so big and healthy, from the grocery store and Home Depot plants and am hoping they fill out quite a bit. There are a few trailing varieties in there that should grow and hang over the sides eventually, so hopefully it will look much more impressive before too long. I just have to remember to water them.

I only used about half of the plants that I purchased in those baskets so I decided to go find some big pots for the corners of the porch to plant the rest of them in. I have big, very fun plans for the porch, but it's another "Someday" project. It has nice lighting and a ceiling fan but I would like to get some nice patio furniture and an outdoor area rug and some more flowers and make it a great outdoor living space for summer. Someday. For now, I'll settle for a couple hanging baskets and pots in the corners.

I found pots tonight and put them together and I like the way they are looking so far, but I don't have pictures yet. I will get some of my much more homey looking porch when everything gets established and starts filling in and looking a bit better.

So it was a very fun night. The Monkey Bread was heavenly, everything else was super duper tasty. I love my hanging baskets and my perked up porch! It was a fabulous night with great friends! I can't wait to do it again.

What's next girls?!?

Jinxed Myself

So, you know how yesterday I mentioned that I like sunburns?

Ya....

I'm a lobster. It sucks.

Off to find some aloe vera.

Sunday Stills Challenge - Eyes

I love eyes! Obviously. I had fun with this one this week.

This is Sugar. She just loves posing for my eyeball shots, when we're at home. I had no luck with her at the show yesterday.

I just love this picture of Mister. I was standing behind him on his right side and he had turned around to the left to look at me. Unfortunately he still had his blanket on which has a big ugly patch right on the hip, but I zoomed in enough that it doesn't detract from the picture.

And of course we have Cheyanne. I think I was just talking to her in this first one. I love how expressive she is!

The shadow on her chest in this one is my hand holding her ball. I was teasing her with it. hehe You can totally see her focus though.

This horse was tied in the outdoor arena at the show yesterday. I liked the way his eye was peeking thru the rails while he was snoozing in the sun.

Can't wait to see what everyone else came up with! I love eyes!

What a great day!

Yesterday totally rocked! It was very exciting for a few different reasons.

1. We had a cutting show. I love cutting shows.

2. Midori totally cowed up at the show so I was able to concentrate more on trying to make her correct instead of getting her to chase the cow. It was AWESOME!!!

3. I won my class.

4. The boyfriend got 3rd in the class! He had a great run also! Sugar was pretty cowy and much more focused this time. Also AWESOME!!!

5. It was sunny and upper 70's.

6. I got a sunburn. I love sunburns! Well, slight sunburns anyways. The bad ones aren't so much fun. But it's already turned to tan this morning so back out to the sun I go today! YEEHAW!!!

I love Saturdays like that!

The Great Debate

The great debate around our house (or maybe it's just my head) is what to do about our vehicle situation. We revisit the subject often, but don't seem to really come to any conclusions. Or, rather, we don't seem to actually act on anything that we sort of decide to do.

So this is the situation...we live in the boonies. Combined we are currently commuting 180 miles a day. My commute is always the same, 60 miles round trip. The boyfriends commute changes as he is in construction and moves to different job sites. His round trip commute at this moment is 120 miles. Yes, that's 1-2-0. I don't think you could pay me enough to make that commute, but he doesn't seem to mind too much.

Anywho, on top of racking up a lot of miles commuting we each have a Dodge Ram 2500. They are atleast diesel so we get a little better mileage then gas, but it's still a huge expense every month. Especially when diesel was almost $5 a gallon! Luckily, the boyfriend had about a 15 mile round trip commute when that was going on!

So we talk about different options for our vehicle situation all the time, but a year later, we still have our big trucks. One problem is the value of our trucks have gone down the drain lately so we don't have many options. I have a year left on my loan, which is very exciting and hard to get motivated to get something new and start over again. Plus, I love my truck. I get teary when I start seriously thinking about getting rid of it. I've had it for almost 5 years, put about 80,000 miles on it and have many great memories with it.

Another problem is that it's been very convenient on more then one occassion that we had 2 big trucks. We've got the horse trailer and a flat bed trailer and have headed different directions each with a trailer quite a few times. It's nice having them both. We are definately truck people and put them to good use.

Commuting so much in them is not good use of them though!

Yet another problem is what the heck do I/we get instead?!? Most of the vehicles that I want are not practical at all. My truck probably gets the same or better gas mileage then most of them! Or, they are more along the line of a luxury car, which I don't need and is also completely impractical. But then, I've never been known to be practical. See Exhibit A. (Still haven't worn them one single time)

I would love to trade my truck in on a newer Dodge truck, but those suckers are expensive!!! Of course I want the leather, heated seats, power everything, spoiled brat, cushy truck. $50 grand please. OUCH! I love my butt warmers though and I'm pretty sure that is going to be a requirement in anything I get.

So, because our trucks aren't worth jack poop, I love my truck and haven't found anything worth giving it up for, don't want to spend the $50k that would make giving it up worth it and we're just indecisive lazy bums, we've still got 2 big trucks. We did manage to scoop up a little commuter car for really cheap for the boyfriends insane commute though. It's made a huge difference in the fuel bill already! But that doesn't solve the two big trucks issue.

The reason it's reaching a critical stage right now is that I need new tires. My brakes are also pretty much toast. And I'm way over due for some major maintenance work. I'm not worried about the engine so much, it is a Cummins with only 120,000 miles on it, but I'm sure the transmission will be costing me some money in the not too distant future. So I'm torn. If I'm going to get rid of it, like we've been talking about for a while now, I don't want to spend the money on the tires and brakes and maintenance, which means I need to get rid of it soonly. But, on the other hand, that would be cheaper then buying a whole new truck.

I know, I know. Tragic. What an awful problem to have. But that is the great debate around our house lately. I really just wanted an excuse to take pictures of my truck. lol

Apple Blossums

I was all excited when I got home tonight because a big rain cloud had just passed over my house and it was sunny. I knew my apple tree would be in bloom and I wanted to get out and take some pictures of it, but I was super excited that I'd have some rain drops and sun in there too!

And yes, yes I am a total nerd and get excited about taking pictures. Really excited.

Anywho, here's the tree with the barn and hitching post behind it.

These are some of my fave pics from my photo shoot with the tree...

Alrighty, that is all for now.

Sunday Stills Challenge - Black and Whites

Wow. This one was difficult for me! I don't have an eye for black and white pictures at all. I went out on a mission to get some shots that I thought would be cool in black and white and they weren't very good.


Once I started converting the other random pictures that I took while outside to black and white and messing with the contrast a bit though, I really liked the way they were turning out!


So this weeks challenge was to pick two previous challenge topics and shoot them in black and white. I went back to see what some of the topics were before I started and discovered "Pets". Wohoo! Here's some pics of Cheyanne in black and white.










The other topic I chose was Flowers and Plants from last week. They are my very favorite thing to shoot after all. I reeeally like the way some of them turned out!

Here's more of the bastard dandelions...

And some other interesting plants and flowers around my house...







That was fun! Can't wait to see what's next!