Lapdog Creations

Lions and Tigers and Bears... vacation recap part 5

2009-07-15T09:54:00.006-04:00

Happy Wordless Wednesday! Today is all about a final vacation recap with pictures from our day spent at the amazing Tiger World in Rockwell, NC! This is truly one very special sanctuary run by an amazing group of staff and volunteers. I was so intrigued that I'm actually working on becoming a long-distance volunteer myself (and we'll certainly be back to visit each time we go to Charlotte)!

Warning.... picture heavy post! Did I mention we have 350+ pictures from this year's Charlotte trip... well over 1/2 (maybe 2/3?) are from Tiger World! Enjoy...

Aren't they just beauteous?

This adorable little baby was only a day old when we visited!

The bears, Brutus and Cleo were really fun to watch. We came back to them several times, once finding Cleo wrapped up in a garden hose, rolling all around having the time of her life... apparently a volunteer mowing the lawn moved it too close to the enclosure and she stole it, resulting in some amusing tug-of-war games between Brutus, Cleo and two staff members...

This is Miracle ... she was born at Tiger World.

Some various beauties..

I feel in love with the tortoises, who were fun to feed!

More big kitties...

I'll leave you with Mufasa, who was having fun charging at the fence... I was told that he doesn't usually greet visitors and must've liked us... awww!

Foxy Tuesday

2009-07-14T11:26:00.009-04:00

Happy Tuesday (although I'd really wish it were Friday)! Hopefully this week goes by smoothly... and fast!

I'm also hoping to not be woken up at 4:00 am again this week by a blood-curdling scream from our newest Wild Animal Kingdom member, Mr (or maybe Mrs?) red fox. Yes, that's right... we were awoken from a dead sleep early Monday morning to the awful sound. I'm still not sure what the distress call was all about, but it sounded like what I would imagine would come when a Mama fox had just lost her young or a fellow fox was hit by a car or something. We didn't see any signs of a struggle (or loss of life) the next morning, so hopefully it was just a tactic used to scare another animal away. The fox was back in our front yard yesterday evening around dusk and I was able to get a couple of pictures after ~~Princess Huntress~~ Sophie alerted the whole house that there was something in the yard. She's taken a keen liking to sitting on in the window and just watching for wildlife...

I had seen a fox walking down the side of the road (entrance to really wooded areas) a couple weeks ago and saw something late Saturday night on the way home that I think was probably the fox as well. We normally don't see too many fox around, especially in our yard. The town is doing some work along the old carriage trails in those woods (think they are paving them to prevent the dirt bikes and make them more useable for walking, bicycling, etc) and I'm really starting to wonder if they've disturbed some dens in the process. Or perhaps with all of the rain we've had, some may have been flooded or collapsed. Remember we had the skunk family relocating across the bottom of a driveway last month? hmm...

Our (or one of?) resident bunny was also back yesterday. Apparently he likes bird seed because he kept coming back to the feeders, sitting under them and munching away. I managed a couple of pics from inside (he'd scatter every time I opened the door and the dogs started barking like crazy), including this cute "cotton tail" shot (you'll have to click to see it) and this action-hop shot...

3 of my 4 security alarms keeping a close eye on Mr Fox last night...

I've just downloaded tuns of pictures, so stay tuned for more "catch up" photo posts this week. I need to post a final Vacation Recap with photos from Tiger World and I've got a bunch of great new doggy shots to share! I'll leave you with some pics of the day lilies on the side of the house...

Chucky, the 4th and some Fill Ins...

2009-07-10T13:41:00.008-04:00

TGIF! The sun is actually shining today and there's no rain in the forcast... well, until tomorrow night anyway.... Why can't we go more than 36 hours without rain? The grass is already overgrown again... I'm going to have to round up a few more woodchucks to help in the manual "mowing!" Here's Chucky trying to do his part a couple weeks ago...

At least I assume that's Chucky... could be a grown up Baby Chuckita for all I know.

At least the rain held off for the 4th of July BBQ at my parents place last weekend. Although some people didn't show up, a nice time was had by those who did!

My half sister who I hadn't seen in quite a number of years (oh, I'm guessing maybe 20?) came and I finally met my niece & nephew (Amber & Austin above), which was very nice. I think my Dad was very excited to get a picture with his two daughters...

Since I often talk about two particular knitters in my life, my Mom (who's name is Sue) and my Mom-Sue (obviously also named Sue, she is Matt's stepmom), I thought a photo of Mom and Mom-Sue would be fitting, although you'd expect to find knitting in their laps at a BBQ, no?

Somehow the day went by without a pic of Matt & I, but here we are from the weekend before... at NHMS for the races in the nice suite!

Now... time for a little Friday Fill Ins!

1. The last thing I ate was a Lean Cuisine chicken panini and Diet Pepsi.
2. 2 skeins of Lorna's Laces special June colorway for Jimmy Bean's Wool (gorgeous!) is something I recently bought.
3. When it rains, it rains for a month straight in New England lately.
4. Matt was the first person I talked to today.
5. Hugs are essential.
6. I'm in need of a little extra comfort.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing, tomorrow my plans include going to see Joel McHale and Sunday, I want to see some racing - that is, if the rain holds off!

Lola's Woofy-Day!

2009-07-09T09:25:00.007-04:00

Happy Doggy Thursday - and TGI-almost-F! For those of you who only stop by on Thursdays, Lola would love it if you took a second to look back at her birthday post. I can't believe my baby girl turned seven on Saturday! Also, for both dog lovers and NASCAR fans, take a peak back at yesterday's post for some Killer pics.

Now... onto the woofy-day celebration! Both the cake and Mr. Bumble came from one of our most favorite stores, Woof It Down!

I thought I'd get some cute licking shots by putting the cake down here, but she only stared at it and then her pesky little brother came along to take a ~~bite~~ look...

mmm... "Mommy look, CAKE!!!"

Zeus kept an eye on things and then snuck in for a lick when Lola wasn't looking...

Lola got a birthday Hard Boiled Softie Bee, much like Zeus' birthday sheep... which of course, everyone wanted to steal (that's Tut, Sophie and Lola on the right)!

Sophie won the first round of steal the ~~bacon~~ bee...

Lola finally got Mr. Bumble all to herself...

Happy Birthday baby girl!!!!

Killer Vacation Recap - part 4

2009-07-08T11:45:00.007-04:00

I was going to save these for a Dogs on Thursday post, but Wordless Wednesday works too (although I have a few more words on this Wednesday than usual)! Miss Lola's birthday will grab tomorrow's spotlight and I really need to finish playing catch up with posting pics...

I got to hang out with my favorite Southern pooch, Killer again this year! I simply adore this boy and was quite happy when we stopped by JR Motorsports and his Daddy's niece just handed me the leash and said "here... you take him" (boy, she really didn't know what she was saying, huh?)!

Mr. Handsome posed and smiled for me...

I'm pretty sure I'm still the only chic who would rather hang out with Killer than his Daddy... but I'm positive I'm the only chic would would rather get kisses from Killer too!

I bumped into the big guy again at the track later that night (and no, I was not stalking him... really). He was actually making an appearance at his Daddy's JR Motorsports merchandise trailer!

Shake Your Bootee

2009-07-07T12:57:00.006-04:00

As promised, I have not one, but two FOs to show off! I should hold off on one, as its still in the mail on the way to the recipient... but you know me, no patience! So Teri, if you're reading this, please stop now and come back after you get your birthday box!

First up are the Cuff Bootees from my new favorite Debbie Bliss book, which has grown a number of itty-bitty post-it legs, marking projects to do...

I originally cast these on for my great niece Emma, then set them aside while working on 101 other things. Then set them aside again when I realized the ~~useless, sticking~~ very un-trusty row counter in the Knit Kit failed me... I'd missed a row causing the second bootee's cuff to be backwards and threw them aside in disgust. Well, this past weekend I finally ripped back the cuff and fixed the issue.

Aren't they just stinking adorable?!?! And they are uber-soft as they are knit with Baby Cashmerino. The only problem now is I don't know if they will still fit Emma's growing feet and hence, not sure if they will go to her or a younger babe. These were a really fun knit and even with the dreaded seeming, I am sure I will make more.

Speaking of Miss Emma, I think its been awhile since I shared a photo, so here you go!

My other FO from the weekend is (finally!) the Nalu Mitts, which I call Mountaineer Mitts. I had Heather custom dye the yarn back in November and planned the mitts for my friend Teri's Christmas gift. I started a couple of other patterns but nothing was turning out quite the way I wanted, so they got tossed aside... and are now her birthday gift!

Teri is a WVU alumni and has Mountaineer football season tickets, so I thought what better thing for fall football games... fingerless mitts! I got the idea after we attended a game in November and I saw all of the fans' custom knits. I just hope she loves them as much as I do (yes, I was a fingerless mitt skeptic at first but now I'm sold... what better fall accessory or driving gloves is there??!!). I also recently got confirmation that the colors were spot on, after I had debated whether or not the blue was "right," so I'm extra excited about that...

The yarn is Sereknity Perfect Sock, which knits up wonderfully! I had Heather custom dye me a Patriots colorway at the same time as the Mountaineers one. Although I do like the cable on these mitts, I think I want something more simple for mine so thanks to the wonderful Kathy (and Chan for the suggestion), I'll be making her mitts which she so graciously adjusted the pattern to fit the yarn!

Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday... its raining here... again.

Vacation Recap - part 3

2009-07-06T15:49:00.005-04:00

Happy Monday... since we're all slowly getting back into the swing of things and I'm still catching up with Charlotte vacation photos, well... what better blog post for this slow moving Monday?

Charlotte is always a great time spent with wonderful friends! Since we had two days of Coca Cola racing this year, I'll try to give you a variety of pics from both.

Teri, Nic, Brenda ~ day 2

Matt, Nic, Teri, Brian ~ day 1

Matt and I, on day 1 & day 2 respectively...

I think this is my favorite shot of us from the trip. Even though we look kinda tired, at the same time we look pretty relaxed... taken in our seats on day 2...

I managed to add a few bags to my ~~almost as large as my yarn stash~~ WIP/project bag collection this trip...

The three bags in the photo on the left were all free! Yes, I said free (knitters always love that word). The Army backpack and Tony Stewart #14 Old Spice shower bag (aka nice size notions bag) were both from the Ryan Newman fan club picnic. The Coca Cola 600 / Lowes Motor Speedway backpack was given to us on the way into the race, stuffed with samples & coupons from various sponsors. I especially love that one because it has the special 50th anniversary logo. The bag on the right is a Stewart-Hass racing tote bag, which I purchased on the day of the Newman fan club picnic and had Ryan sign. Its actually a very nice project size tote and I probably should've grabbed a couple more for gifts, but I wasn't thinking about that at the moment...

Speaking of WIPs, I have two FO's to show you... tomorrow.

Baby Girl Turns 7

2009-07-04T20:57:00.006-04:00

Happy Birthday to my baby girl!!! Yes, that's right... Lola is 7 today! If you want to take a look back in blogging history, here is last year's post, here is when she hit 5 and here's when she turned 4. And now... the annual photo recap!

Lola being... well, Lola...

Modeling some of Mommy's knits...

Checking herself (and Tut) out in The Bark! magazine...

Hanging - and cuddling - with her siblings...

Surviving 9 days without power during this past December's ice storm...

Spending time with Mommy & Daddy...

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!

Happy 4th!

2009-07-04T00:01:00.001-04:00

I hope that you are enjoying all of the burgers, hot dogs, potato salad, cole slaw, watermelon and ice cream that your heart so desires! Have a safe & happy 4th!

Filling in on Friday

2009-07-03T14:28:00.004-04:00

Happy Friday Fill-Ins!

1. When I heard several local towns have already postponed their 4th fireworks, I figured its not a good sign weather wise....
2. Furbabies are the best medicine.
3. It's late, but I hope Teri likes her birthday gift as much as I liked the idea.
4. Love and laugh, always.
5. My eyes have seen the sun... yes, the sun is actually out right now (for the moment anyway).
6. Live strongly.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to watching the Nationwide race from Daytona, tomorrow my plans include a cookout at my parents' place and Sunday, I want to relax... not sure what else yet!

Wanted: 1 Doggy Ark

2009-07-02T09:31:00.005-04:00

Seriously now... it has been raining for 3+ weeks!!!!!! This has gone well past the ridiculous stage and is now into the cursing at Miss Mother Nature on a ~~daily~~ hourly basis stage. The grass is now well past Sophie's belly, which means Princess has to practically be forced onto the wet, icky grass to do her business. Zeus now hides everytime he hears rain drops... and the poor kids are home alone today as thunderstorms roll through New England (they are not fans of the thunder even more than not fans of the rain). Sigh.

Here are some pictures from early June... when we actually saw a little sun and the dogs were hanging out on the back porch watching Daddy mow the lawn.

My girls...

My boys...

Sibling fun...

Nosey pooches...

Happy Doggy Thursday... aka Little Friday, which is actually my Friday this week thanks to the holiday!

Race Pics - vacation recap part 2

2009-07-01T12:52:00.006-04:00

The 50th Annual Coca Cola 600... which turned into the "24 hours of Concord" due to rain ... in photos for today's Worldess Wednesday!

Day 1 ~ May 24th

Pre-race feativities...

This shot sums up the day... the cars never even got on the track!

Day 1 ~ May 25th

Finally... cars on the track!

On lap 165, NASCAR brought the race to a standstill... stopping cars on the front stretch while all of the crew members lined up along pit wall to observe the 3:00 pm National Memorial Day Moment of Silence for our fallen heroes. This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience to see and I'm so proud to have been there!

Tony Stewart showing his American pride during the moment of silence!

Happy Wordless Wednesday and Happy Birthday to my WT, Chan!

A Day with The Newmans - vacation recap part 1

2009-06-30T09:47:00.007-04:00

Finally... I've managed to find the time download, sort, tweak (i.e. photoshop fixing) and upload all 350+ pictures from our Charlotte vacation last month! In case you missed it, I posted the kids' vacation pics a couple weeks ago.

The morning after we flew into town, we headed off to Stewart-Hass Racing for the Ryan Newman fan club picnic. This was the first Newman event I've attended and was very impressed! They gave everyone a goody bag which contained all sorts of sponsor items (baseball hat, leatherman tool, can cozy, Old Spice products & shower bag, trading card, a zipper bag full of office products from Office Depot, etc.), had a free raffle for loads of Ryan items (we all got 3 tickets and then had to choose which items to put them in for) and fed us a really yummy lunch ... and it was completely free for fan club members and a guest (you're welcome honey...)!

We also got up-close and personal tours of Stewart-Haas by either Ryan or his Dad (sorry no pics - they asked us not to take any inside). We were his Dad's first tour of the day, in a group of about 10 people. I may've been laughed at for a paying a little too much attention to an adorable little yorkie who was on the other side of the glass (visitor's window at the front of the shop) with his human parents, but that's okay.... If people are going to gawk through the visitor's window at you, you need to gawk back, right?

For those of you who know me well, you know that Stewart-Hass Racing is my dream team! Tony and Ryan have been my two favorite drivers for years and its wonderful to see them as teammates now! So, needless to say, this was an extra cool way to see the brand new Stewart-Hass shop for the first time.

Here's Ryan doing some Q&A and calling the raffle winners (we didn't win)...

Ryan & Krissie really put on a fabulous event and made us all feel like a part of their family. Of course, the only thing missing was their pack... which may have grown by another. Ryan told us how Krissie had just brought yet another stray dog home that she had found at Dunkin Donuts... he kept trying to give the dog away during the raffle, which was very amusing. For those of you who don't know, Ryan & Krissie are both very active in dog rescue and working with shelters. Be sure to check out Pit Road Pets - a second edition is coming soon!

Here we are with Ryan...

A couple more shots from the day...

After lunch, the crew got back to work and had brought one of the #39 cars outside to fire up (the event took place behind the shop in what was obviously their work area)...

If you have the chance to attend one of Ryan & Krissie's events, go!!!! You will not be disappointed! I can't thank them enough for the amazing time we had!

Stay tuned for more Charlotte stories and pictures...

Who Stole Sophie's Sunshine?

2009-06-25T10:51:00.017-04:00

Another doggy day already? Excellent... that means its almost the weekend! Be sure to hop on over to Dogs on Thursday and check out Chan's great review of Pedi Paws. I have nail duty in our house and have been fortunate enough to get all 4 kids trained on letting me trim their nails with no great antics, but it sounds like Pedi Paws is a great tool for those who don't like to trim with clippers!

So, I've been playing catch up with downloading pics from the camera (even got the vacation pics sorted out... all 352 of them, but that does include the dogs pics of going & coming from their vacation and our trip to the amazing Tiger World where we might've both been uber shutter bugs... but I'll save those for another day), and although these photos are actually from last month, they are quite fitting of the kids' moods! Its been raining here for at least 2 weeks straight now (although the sun is trying to peak thru today), which makes for some drab doggy days.

Queen Lola, who decided the coffee table made quite a fine headrest...

Sophie has been pulling out her Princess card lately when it comes to not wanting to walk in the wet grass, yet despite Mommy's horror, she doesn't seem to mind dining on the bountiful slugs hanging out on the steps and in the driveway! Here she is dreaming of her sunshine and wondering just who had the nerve to steal it!

Zeus just keeps giving the "is it still wet out there?" and "please Daddy, mow the lawn!" looks...

Tut's been doing a whole lot of lounging... when he's not being his annoying self and trying to climb into someone's lap... or making sure he gets between Mommy & Daddy on the couch so they are sure not to pay attention to each other instead of him...

Is it still raining where you are? Here's to finding some sunshine soon........

Wordless Wednesday Knitting

2009-06-24T08:38:00.005-04:00

Happy Wordless Wednesday! This one is for those of you who forget that this crazy dog lady also knits!

Not quite a FO yet, but soon... these are for a friend's ~~Christmas 2008 gift~~ birthday in a couple weeks...

Owls and Otters and a Gibbon... What a Wild Affair!

2009-06-23T12:09:00.005-04:00

Let me start off first by pointing out that I missed my own Blogiversary this year (apparently I was more on top of things last year), which was June 15th (I must have been preoccupied with telling you about those Buddy Cases!). So... please join me in wishing a bleated 3 year Blogiversary to Lapdog Creations ... this is post #567! Although I didn't have a contest this year, I do have another ASPCA fundraiser banner at the top of my blog for anyone who's interested in donating or becoming a member with them. Won't you help me raise funds for the animals?

This past Saturday evening we attended Stone Zoo's A Wild Affair for the second year in a row. The rain held off and it was a wonderful night for fun, food and friends... especially the furry ones! I made sure to remember my camera this year and snapped a few cute pics.

These guys & gals were at the entrance greeting folks as we arrived...

Isn't this snow owl one of the most beautiful creatures you've ever seen? I think so!

As you know (especially if you scrolled back to last year's post), I love otters. I can sit and watch them frolic for hours... I managed to make one of these guys squint and shake his little head after the camera flashed in his face.

There is a brand new Gibbon exhibit/enclosure this year, which (so far) features just one female gibbon who was very energetic!

When she wasn't zipping around, she was hanging around...

Speaking of zipping, as we were walking out we poked into the bat exhibit once more and boy were they zipping... a little too fast for the camera to catch them in flight though, so you get more of that hanging around...

This lazy porcupine reminded me of our dogs... just lounging and giving the "leave me alone, I'm sleeping here" look.

It was a fun night for a good cause! I did try my luck at the $25 bears again this year and wound up with a $30 LL Bean gift card. Not bad!

Pharaoh's Gold & Fill-Ins

2009-06-19T16:15:00.009-04:00

Happy Friday! I figured today was a good day for some randomness blogging and a little bit of catch-up (read: she's finally starting to download, touch-up and upload pictures from last month)...

If you read regularly, you'll remember that we found a second set of robin eggs shortly before we left for vacation... here they are!

First to hatch on May 15th...

By the next morning, all 3 had hatched ~ May 16, 2009.

Sadly that's it for photos of set #2, since we went on vacation and they had flown the coop by the time we returned... So, how about a couple more tulip pictures from the same time (of course they are long gone now)?

I got my hair done earlier this week... nothing new really, just the usual ~~covering of the greys~~ color and a trim. I remembered to take a couple pictures the next morning since I still had the nice blow-out going (right now its one frizzy mess!). Lola seemed to approve of Mommy stealing her color...

Yesterday I stopped at a favorite spot to shop for a certain someone's upcoming birthday and couldn't leave without snatching up this for myself...

I don't normally lean towards gold colors (the photo to the right and below are more true to color), but I couldn't resist this skein of Sereknity Good Harbor in Pharaoh's Gold... gorgeous!!! I think Sophie really liked it too... my baby girl's got taste!

Happy Friday... I'll leave you with some fill-ins.

1. All children alarm their parents, if only because you are forever expecting them to steal the steaks off the stove (remember... my children all have 4 legs).

2. Show me a good loser and I will show you a person who's just having a good 'ole time.

3. Chasing vodka with hot chocolate is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs at one time.

4. Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy passing the blame and arguing about stupid stuff.

5. I have yet to hear a man ask for advice on how to combine work and family.

6. It is impossible to think of any good meal, no matter how plain or elegant, without seasoning or cheese in it.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing, tomorrow my plans include Stone Zoo's Wild Affair and Sunday, I want to see Matt race... if only the rain would go away (once again, its looking to be another wash-out)!

Doggone Vacation

2009-06-18T09:41:00.007-04:00

Wow... finally Thursday... almost Friday... almost the weekend!

Be sure to hop on over to Dogs on Thursday today - Sue has a great post this week with alot of information on what you can do to protect pets in the event that they get lost. Don't miss it!

As most of you know, we went on vacation last month and I've ~~been lazy~~ not had a chance to download pictures yet.... Well, I finally started and of course who comes first? The kids...

The car ride on their way to the doggy country club...

This was a huge step for Sophie... who for the first time actually seemd to enjoy a car ride! She still drooled a little bit, but no where near the amount she has in the past.... and she moved around in the car!

If I didn't know better, I might think Zeus was all too happy to be going on vacation and leaving us!

These shots were on the ride home... after vacation, when everyone was a little more pooped... and maybe a little bit crammed, since Mommy & Daddy had all their pesky luggage in the car!

Zeus, still happy as a clam...

Some tired hooey hounds...

Smiles on Wednesday

2009-06-17T09:18:00.005-04:00

Happy Wordless Wednesday! I was ~~reluctantly~~ driving to work this morning when I happened to see this in front of me...

What's that you say? a car? driving down the road? Sure... but look a little closer!

REVIEW: Namaste Buddy Case

2009-06-15T09:48:00.005-04:00

Namaste Bags: Buddy Case
Where To Find: Namaste Inc.

With summer day trips and car traveling season upon us, I'm sure I'm not the only one constantly grabbing one of my current WIP bags and hoping that I remembered everything I need - stitch markers? yarn needle? row counter? scissors? There is still a lot of hype buzzing around the knitting world about The Knit Kit, but I wanted to turn the spotlight on another great little on-the-go contraption, Namaste's Buddy Case.

Unlike The Knit Kit, the Buddy Case does not come pre-stocked with subpar notions. Personally, I find that a preferable and more suitable option, given that you can choose what items you want - and need - to tote along with you. You choose what to stuff inside, inculding you're favorite decorative stitch markers and the quality notions you're already accustomed to using.

Like many knitters, I turned to the bait & tackle stores and have been using a plastic box to hold most of my notions at home (see above right - I also use a Bass Pro Shops bag to hold my shorter circular needles!). While fishing lends a great hand to knitting and the box works great, it can get a little cumbersome to take on the go - especially with small projects like socks, hats and fingerless mitts. The Buddy Case is the perfect answer to on-the-go notion needs. I can stuff it with exactly what I need for the project I'm working on, toss it in my knitting bag and know that the items are securely stowed and easy to find.

The Buddy Case features magnetized interior walls to keep your metal items in place and a removable interior divider. And of course, it is made of the lush animal-friendly faux leather that you've come to expect from Namaste. With contrast stitching, solid construction, and snap button closure, Buddy Cases look great and can be used not only for your crafting needs, but for your make-up and other personal items as well!

The Buddy Case measures 5.5" x 1.75" x 3" and comes in eight of Namaste's signature colors; Charcoal, Eggplant, Hollywood Pink, Lime, Olive, Peacock, Saddle and Turquoise.

Hurry, grab a Buddy Case - or two! - and hit the road this summer with your travel knitting, resting assured that you'll have all the notions you need with you!

Don't Have a Cow Man

2009-06-12T09:26:00.005-04:00

TGI-finally-F! This has been one long week. I don't really have too much to say or show today, so how about some cows?

OK, you might be asking "what's up with the cows... you can't knit their fiber" Well nothing special really... these guys live at a farm up near where Matt races on Sundays and they were hanging out just on the edge of the road last Sunday when we left. So, you know me and the camera...

Time for a little Friday Fill-Ins ... Enjoy your weekend!

1. I grew up thinking men would only end up breaking your heart... and just who the heck invented fairytales to fool us?!?!.
2. Facebook was the last website I was at before coming here.
3. Why don't you give me a few days of sunshine, Miss Mother Nature?
4. Knitting & my dogs helps me relax.
5. Thanks for the rain... but I'm done with it now... please take it away.
6. Lying, purposely not giving details and deceit are all very off-putting.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to being at home with the dogs, tomorrow my plans include knitting and maybe some cleaning and Sunday, I want to see a rain-free day (which is highly doubtable)!

Happy Doggy Day

2009-06-11T06:58:00.006-04:00

Happy Doggy Day! Hop on over to the Dogs on Thursday blog and check out the very informative article on anal glands (to express or not) today. Today is my last "on duty" post over there, as I have decided to bow out of group for now (not as a member, just as one of the hostesses - Chan, Sue & Natalie are still there keeping things moving along smoothly). Things are just too busy and too hectic for me to have the time to put into it as I would like to right now and I feel as though if I can't give it 150%, I shouldn't be doing it.

Now... some photos of the kids from this past week...

Lola & Zeus sharing a sun spot...

Tut & Sophie sharing one of their own...

Tut posing in the closest thing we could find to a blue bandana for Sue's Blue Bandana Day (if you didn't see her awesome post yesterday, be sure to go check it out!)...

Enjoy your little-Friday, as Chan likes to call it... I've got one of those super hectic out-of-the-office days ahead of me today... oh joy!

Ice Storm flashback

2009-06-10T08:47:00.003-04:00

Happy Wordless Wednesday (is it really only Wednesday??). If you're looking for cute on this Wednesday, hop back to yesterday's little stinker post...

Sometimes an overgrown mess can look kinda cool...

If you're a regular reader, you probably remember ~~our 9 days of hell~~ the ice storm we endured this past December. Here's a little flashback and current views...

Still plenty of damage left behind, but what a difference six months makes...

Cute Little Stinkers

2009-06-09T14:55:00.008-04:00

So I look out my living room window on Saturday afternoon and what do I see?

Yes, that's right... a skunk in broad daylight! Through all the barking and carrying on of my own 4-legged kids, I was able to look closer and realized it was a Mama with baby. They were just waltzing across our driveway and front yard...

I slowly walked down to try to get better photos (hey, when else do I get a blog photo opp like this?) and Mama dashed off to the side and left the poor little baby crying. I felt bad so I snapped a few quick pictures and then went back to the porch. She quickly returned and led the baby off to the side. A few minutes later, Mama reappeared and started acting as though she were searching for something. Within a few minutes she retraced her steps back across the driveway and yard... and then about 5 or 10 minutes later, she reappeared with...

Can you see them all there? Yes, that's four more babies in tow! We finally realized Mama must've been relocating her kids to a new den. The area in our front yard where she was taking them has a few woodchuck ~~craters~~ holes and we suspect she moved in there. What a site to watch!

I have to say... those little babies are the cutest little stinkers I ever did see! Let's just hope they move on once they grow up. So far ~ knock on wood ~ we've been lucky enough to have only had a single skunk incident in the 8 1/2 years at the house... when poor Zeus got sprayed in the eye. However, with ~~my little huntress~~ Sophie around, we're bound to have her try to hunt one down... or make playmates...

Winning Weekend

2009-06-08T16:12:00.005-04:00

Is it really Monday already?? ugh. At least the weekend was fun! We managed to get out to a movie, which is something that does not happen very often around here! We saw Night at the Museum 2. I think I liked the first one better, but the sequel was still good.

Yesterday was racing and Matt won for the 2nd week in a row! This shot is from last week, his first win of 2009 (and probably this photographer's favorite shot so far this season)...

I didn't take very many pics last week since it was raining off and on all day, so I made up for that yesterday. Actually, it was quite a beautiful day for racing...

Did I mention he won yesterday... and led every lap?

It didn't rain after so we managed a few Victory Lane photos... please don't pay attention to the nasty looking checkered flag they have for photo opps...

Thanks to Andrew who played photographer for us... after he finished his own race of course!

Tut wasn't exactly happy to know he missed the Victory Lane photo opp this week, so that just means his Daddy will have to win another one!

There was some knitting going on during racing too. I worked on my Trekking to Charlotte socks, which seem to be appropriate race knitting...

Did you have a winning weekend too?