North Cascades Splendor

We spent the weekend with friends in Mazama. We hiked into Rainy Lake - where Darin and Jay fished, Sara played with Chloe, and I stuck my foot in the lake. The water was the perfect temperature - mountain lake freezing cold. It was a gorgeous day and a fantastic time. If you look closely, you can see Jay in the background of this shot. Jay braved the log jam to get to the fish. It appears as though fish control his brain, too.Sara took a break from throwing the stick for Chloe to grab this shot. Another hiker asked her if we'd seen the bear across the lake, so we spent a good half hour watching the opposite bank. I think they were fooling us.

Here's Mr. Wonderful enjoying a cigar and fishing - two of his favorite things. (You can spot Jay in the background of this shot, too!)

"Big Lion"

Jake's favorite TV program - Into the Pride - is on Animal Planet Thursday nights. He jumps up on the ottoman to get as close as he can to the TV, and then he just sits there with his eyes glued to the set.

My Mental Tarsal is Broken

Darin is taking tomorrow off to go with me to my drs. appointment in Seattle. What a nice man, my husband. I've promised not to talk about my foot all the way to Seattle, and I won't - I'll talk about my "friend's" broken foot. :)

I'm taking all of my x-rays to the appointment, and I'm hoping this doc looks at their progression and says, "I have fantastic news; you are healing very, very well!" Hope that's not delusional thinking on my part. For the last seven weeks, I've been sporting a beautiful black walking boot that serves as a wonderful foot sauna, a convenient place to stash cash, and a great conversation piece. My foot must be healing; eight weeks ago, I was in a splint and couldn't put any pressure on it what-so-ever.I'm dwelling on my lameness and healing process. I don't think my broken foot bone is connected to my ankle bone. It's connected to my whine bone. I believe I'm pretty good at turning lemons into lemonade, and I promise to be back to that soon - broken foot or not.

Sleep, Creep, LEAP!

The first year, plants sleep. The second year, they creep. The third year, they LEAP!

The beginning of the front yard project, and first year photos of plants below. This year to follow soon...

Deep Hound Dreams

Ben snores - loudly. His distinction in this area is surpassed only by his ability to fling drool across the room, and oh yes, he's pretty good at smelling, too. When he's really snoring, you can hear him anywhere in the house. Many years ago, Ben figured out that napping on a leather chair is much more comfortable than napping on the floor. Smart dog.

He's claimed the chair as his, and from the sound of it, it's working out for him very well. He needs his beauty rest; his night cream is no longer taking care of the gi-normous wrinkles around his eyes.



After a long day chasing birds away from the bird feeders, barking at quail on the other side of the fence, and patrolling the backyard for mice, snakes, spiders and stink bugs, Jake prefers to nap on the couch with a fluffy pillow. He looks pretty happy to me - almost grinning. It's obviously been a good day.

Jake also likes comfy blankets - the bigger, the better. He prefers being wrapped in blankets fresh out of the dryer with just his head sticking out. He normally follows this up with his wickedly absurd 'Shorthair in a Blanket' skit - which is a real hit with his in-house fans - and absolute proof that we watch WAY too much Monty Phython.

Local Wildlife

We spent Monday afternoon golfing at Rock Island. There were turtles everywhere - adorable! There was goose poop all over the greens - guilty party below.

We drove around the Clockum on the 4-wheeler last weekend. We saw a bunch of deer and wild turkeys!

I need to ask Brad about wild turkey calls. What I tried didn't work at all. They just ran away.

Smells Like Teen Spirit

My most adorablest niece, Jordyn, is now a part of the West Minico Cheer Squad. Congratulations, Jordyn! We love you!

Ben Konrad, Basset Hound Impersonator

Here's Ben doing his best impression of his good friend, Obie Hakensen.
And - here's Obie. Good job on the impersonation, Ben! Both Ben and Obie have it tough. :)

Da BOM

I'm working on a Block-of-the-Month quilt, and so is Nicke. I took my first block on our trip to the cabin, so I could get Nicke's professional instruction. I broke my foot during that trip, and I convinced Nicke that my foot hurt way too bad to sew. (hee, hee) Since Nicke is such a fantastic sister, she cut and stitched the block for me. It's perfect - all the points match.The next block I cut and stiched, and as it turns out, it's not so perfect. Damn it! This is the hardest block I've ever stitched by far. I've ordered another kit, and I'm going to do my best to get it perfecto! At the end of this project, I'll probably have two quilts - a crooked one and a straight one. OR I'll just send them to Nicke each month, and they'll be perfect. :)