Live Laugh Love and Write It Down

This has been a fun week. I posted up a photo scavenger hunt for June and I am having a blast watching my friends and family post photos for the hunt. I've added 4 new friends and their photos have given me so many new ideas.

 

I really needed this. I've been in a long writing and photography slump since winter. A conversation with a co-worker last week reminded that I just need to sit still and write, no matter what. That same friend has a blog and she is strongly considering shutting it down on its one year anniversary. She asked how often I post and she was surprised when I said I used to post every single day for about year and a half and then I just slowly quit posting at all for awhile. I hope she doesn't shut it down. Her blog, Sippy Cups and Prada, is funny, sweet and genuine ... just like her. I truly enjoy her posts and I try to say so in the comments. 

 

I think a lot of us are looky-loo's but it is nice to read comments. However, I've come to the conclusion that more than anything I love going back and looking at my posts so I can remember the things hubby and I have done together.  For about the first 8 years of our relationship I didn't take a lot of photos or write.  Oh, how I wish I could go back and record all the great places we've been and the snapshot moments we've shared. Relying on my memory was a very bad idea. Oh how I wish I could go back and record it. But I can't.

 

What I can do is start fresh today. I can grab my camera and record my life just as it is today. And write.  To be continued .....

 

Do you record your life?

 

love, susan

Weekend Update

What an interesting weekend. We went into it with very few plans besides going to see the AC/DC tribute band on Friday night which, by the way, was pretty good.

Saturday, we went to a friend's place in Finley for a late afternoon bbq.  It was super nice and we enjoyed watching our friend do a little horse training before the burgers hit the grill. Attending were a small group of good friends along with some new friends we hadn't yet met. I love going out to Finley. I'm very envious of our friends' place out there ... it's so peaceful and relaxing. I wish my dogs had a place like to be able to just run everyday.

Today we took a drive out to Milton Freewater to eat a late breakfast at Heather's. It was a perfect day for a Sunday drive. We took some back roads coming back that we had never been on and made note that we would definitely be riding our motorcycles out that way when hubby's hand is mended well enough.

We packed a lot of other things into the weekend and it has now come to an end and it's back to work tomorrow.  That's how it goes.

I hope you had a great weekend filled with friends and family and good times.

love, susan

May Days

Today is the last day of May. Life has gotten really different since my hubby had surgery on his hand. We've been home every single weekend, all the plants in the container garden are thriving and I've almost finished reading a book.  Today I had a fleeting thought about going on a road trip but the idea didn't really take root ... yet.  I'm thinking a trip to Vancouver B.C. would be just the ticket for a sweet road trip with my guy. Anything to get away from these high maintenance dogs!

Last weekend, we took them for a 2 mile walk. It's never been an issue before we adopted "Remi".  Remi is a horrible walker.  The worst. At points along the way I just wanted to unbuckle her lead and if she decided to follow us home, so be it.  But I didn't. That dog pulled the entire walk and I can't wait to never take her for a walk again. Love her to pieces but she's gotta get some schoolin' on proper walking etiquette. Before "Remi", we thought the border collie was a poor walker. Perspective is a good thing.

My cousin, Lil P, pictured above, was here last weekend. She's a free spirit and shows up occasionally to hang with us. I don't believe we've ever had an easier house guest ... although we decided this trip that we can't really call her a guest anymore. She's more like a frequent flyer. I hope she hurries and comes back soon. She needs to just get a job here and stay!

 

Gene's youngest daughter sent some "lunch" money for my birthday so I think we're going to take a road trip tomorrow to Naches to our favorite out-of-the-way eatery for lunch. It's been far too long since our last road trip.  I'm scheming up some other road trips and I'm sure rolling tomorrow will get the ideas flowing.

 

Hope you had a good May!  Here's to June!!

love, susan



Dirty Birds

I'm seriously hanging on to the end of a runaway train.  I know I've said that before but it hasn't felt more true than right now.

 

Last night hubby and I went out to a friend's house in the country for a lovely dinner. After supper, my hubby drove down the road to visit other friends who live in the area while I got to visit and take some country photos. I haven't really had my camera out much lately. Last night really trumped sitting in front of the 40" flat screen. If every night could be like that, I'd get rid of the damn thing. 

 

There are so many distractions it seems.  Early in the week I told my husband "I'm turning off my phone Friday night and I wanna go on a date."  The truth is that Friday nights I'm about as tired as a working person can be but I'm gonna girl-up today and try to get a second wind by the time he picks me up from work.

 

In the meantime, I'm relishing the time I spent out in the country last night. I love going to my friend's place in Finley. She has her very own bird sanctuary right in her back yard complete with a bird bath that has a water dripper to draw in all kinds of dirty birds looking for a cheap bath. She also has giant containers of bird seed that she scoops feed out of for those dirty, hungry birds.

 

So last night, I was watching these little chicks poke their beaks out and could never really get a good pic. We got closer to the bird house and because it is up about 7 feet I couldn't see in it. I got the bright idea to turn on my flash and just blindly snap. I felt really horrible subjecting these babes to such rudeness but my friend assured me they would survive.

 

Gotta go step into my jeans now and get to work.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE jeans day!

 

Hope you have an awesome day wherever you are.

love, susan

My Mad Scientist

Happy Sunday! We are having what I can only describe as perfect weather this weekend. In the 80's, a slight breeze to keep us cooled off and the sky is the color of energy. My batteries, having been depleted by a long winter, are being recharged.

So, with my hubby's hand being casted and pretty much rendered useless (the hand, not him) we've been hanging at home a lot more.

We decided to try starting some seeds on dining room table which we pushed in front of the big window to catch afternoon sun.  I bought a new bright red spray bottle and asked him to spray those starts every time he thought of it.  They were going sooooo well for about the first 10 days.

And then ... he spotted some aphids on a couple of pepper plants I had purchased at the store. My "mad science" hubby decided to make up a home concoction of water and borax to spray on the the leaves. Not sure where he found that idea on the internet (or if he just made it up!) but he forgot to tell me he had put Borax in the water bottle and I used it to spray my new baby seedlings that were, up to that point, coming up great.

No bueno. The nasturtiums seem to be riding the chemical storm but the other seedlings are looking really sad and burned.

I could only laugh.

Hubby and I do not have a great history of growing a garden together. The first spring we moved here we planted over each other in the beautiful garden that used to exist. For most people, this would be most irritating but it's a common theme in our lives. Life is far too short to get mad about such silly stuff. It actually provided a good laugh!!  So, I just went to RiteAid and bought some nice starts.

He got the topsy turvys down for me and I'll be replacing the dirt in them today and get these 'maters going.

Mostly, this has kept his mind off the ever-present dull ache in his arm since he had surgery. He starts physical therapy next week, which may not be very pleasant. I'm glad we have something to laugh about and truthfully it's just nice to be outdoors and doing something besides thinking about how we won't be riding motorcycles until it's so hot we won't want to ride! 

I'm enjoying just putzing around the house. I haven't really done that since we moved here 5 years ago. We are usually rolling somewhere and nothing much gets done at the house all summer. 

I actually read almost a whole book yesterday.  I putzed awhile and then made a pot of coffee & sat in my lounge chair to read. Took a 2-hour nap. Gave myself a mini-pedicure. Played with the dogs a lot. Watched an old movie. Made cookies.

Life is good. And it's funny. And I love my mad scientist!

love, susan



Truth and Justice

Yesterday was a pretty awesome day.

 

I got to be present while an attorney in our office who just passed the Washington State Bar exam was sworn in. Her grandma, a friend and her mentor had driven 3 hours from Spokane to arrive just on time for the swearing in at 5:00pm. I've never witnessed a ceremony of this type and I have to say it was really moving. It reminded that justice isn't just for the beautiful people, or the rich, or the connected.  Justice is for everyone.  Truth. That's what it's about. Truth and justice.

 

I caught this image as I was walking out of a building last night.  A perfect ending to another good day.  Love that.

 

love, susan

This is Your Life, This is Your Month

Happy May Day!  We woke up to freezing weather this morning so it's kind of hard to believe it's spring.

 

I love changing the calendar that I stick up on the fridge. When I take the old one down, I look at it to see where the time went last month. I try to write down upcoming events so I'll know what my choices for entertainment will be but April was full of doctor appointments, surgery for the hubby and a haircut/hi-light for me and a very nice surprise visit with a high school buddy who breezed into town.  The big event was the cow round-up I wrote about in my last post. It was not a bad month, just different.

 

May's calendar went up this morning completely blank. With hubby's hand casted it will definitely change how we spend our off time. I'm totally okay with this. No plans yet but we've got some container gardening goin' on and that will require some time and effort on our part. I'm thinking a trip to the dog park and I wanna make time to go see the Dock Dogs of Tricities practice on Monday nights. For those who don't know what that is ... it is simply throwing a floating object off the end of the dock and seeing how far your dog can fly before it hits the water. They've made a competition out of it and I'm very interested in seeing it done. I have a border collie who is part bird and I think she'd like it.  Thing is, I don't know if she can swim ... (laugh out loud).

 

One of the lawyers at work retired yesterday. It was literally his last day of work. At the end of the day, we had a gathering for cake & cookies. A lot of folks showed up and gave him a nice send off. He had worked every day for 38 years. Imagine that.

 

This is your life. This is your month. How are you going to spend it?

 

love, susan

Baby's Got Back

 

 

B A C K    S I D E S

 

Today's blog post is dedicated to back sides.  Weird? I know.

I was looking at my photos from the round-up I attended yesterday and realized I shot of lot of people's backsides.  Here's why.

I spotted these two cowboys leanin' up against the fence and I was wondering what they were thinking about. I mean ... really. They've probably seen a million cows in their lifetime. Do you suppose they're thinking, "gosh, I should be home mowing the lawn"? Perhaps not.

I like this backside shot but not for reasons you might normally think.  What?  What were you thinking?  I love this guy's paisley shirt.  OMGosh it was beautiful. I wonder if his mama knows he wore that shirt to do such dirty work? 

I adore the long sleeve, sturdy 100% cotton shirts most cowboys sport. So colorful and they look so professional, like they should be wearing them with their Wranglers on casual day a tthe office.  I wonder who picks them out for them? Likely some cute cowgirl fashionista, no doubt about it.

 

C O L O R

 

 

And then there's the backside of this very old border collie. I've seen him out here before and he's pretty much lost his stuff but he keeps a close eye on all the happenings.  There was very little running around like a lot of border collies do. I could hardly get him to even look at me.  It was all about the cows for him today. Faithful even in old age. Love that.

Oh, hey!!! See that purple shirt on the left?  Don't you just love it?

Branding really stinks.  Literally.  It smells really gross when the hair singes off the calf. I kept trying to get a position to snap pics where the wind wasn't blowing that awful smell in my face. I'm such a city girl.

I was impressed by how fast this operation was conducted. Talk about a well-oil machine!  They had probably 60 or 70 calves to brand, castrate and immunize. They dragged them out of the pen two at a time. The branding guy has an important job cuz the iron must be super extra hot, just like I order my lattes. That branding guy gotsta focus.  Oh, hey, do you love the red shirt??

I loved this little girl's braids. Come to find out, this little one was a pistol! I think this is her brother with her.  I visited with a couple of little squirts throughout the day. Love those country kids ... so friendly and not one cell phone or video game to be seen the entire day.  Just good old-fashioned, play-in-the-dirt and hold puppy dogs kinda day.

 

Well, that's about all the backsides I have to write about. It was such an awesome day, I hated for it to end.

 

Did you do something fun this weekend?  See any great backsides?

 

love, susan



A Different Kind of Week

It's been a different week around the homestead. My hubby had surgery on his thumb Monday which landed him in my lazygirl chair for most of the next five days. The doctor warned that the first 48 hours would be rough, and he wasn't wrong. It was hard to see him struggle to get comfortable but I put up the medication schedule on a dry erase board and placed his pills in a cup so he could simply pop 'em in his mouth and wash 'em down with OJ. Thank goodness I had the foresight to write down the schedule.

 

So I had a short conversation with a work friend and fellow blogger yesterday about blogging.  I admitted I had really slacked off on my posts and she wondered whether blogging would be crowded about by all the fast social media. I thought about the conversation last night and remembered why I started blogging to begin with.

 

I have a really bad memory.

 

Someday my hubby will ask me something about this surgery he had on Monday and I will have forgotten every blasted detail of it.  Except for maybe the hilarious pre-op nurse. She was terrific and definitely chose the right field for work. I love running into people who love their work.

 

That's why I blog.

 

Because I don't want to forget the funny little details of my life. And there are lots of them. Obviously I can't write about them all but when I'm in blogging mode, as I go throughout my day I'm always looking for the "gem" that I could write about. 

With my newest job, I've got lots of gems.  I guess it's time to get back to writing them down.

 

In the meantime, my hubby took a shower yesterday for the first time since Sunday and he was like a new man!

 

And, oh, I cannot resist posting this pic I snapped while at the surgery center. I'm sure he'll thank me later for plastering it all over the Internet. Haha!

 

love, susan



Sunday Super Spontaneous Road Trip to Spokane

We headed out this morning with the idea of just cruising up to Yakima and back. Moments later when we got to the stop light and made a quick decision to turn left instead of right, we were Spokane bound.  We haven't been up there for quite a while so it was a really nice Sunday drive.

 

We stopped for lunch in Sprague at the only little  place to eat in that little town. I was ready to chew my arm off and the hamburgers we ordered were pretty good. Twenty minutes down the road I was ready to crawl in the back seat to sleep til we got to Spokane. Instead, I simply poured another cup of coffee from the thermos.

 

It was not easy to find a free parking spot in Spokane but we did.  We walked a couple of blocks to get to the river walk. On the way, we stepped into city's transit center to take a potty break. Their transit center is two stories high and gorgeous inside.

It is easy to see why the homeless hang out in and nearby the bus station. The transit center is heated and well cared for. I told Gene there must a strict code enforced regarding begging because we were not approached at all ... very surprising with the number of street peeps. I always wonder if street people's peeps are out there looking for them. They are somebody's sons and daughter, brothers and sisters .... but seem to belong only to each other.

 

 

Heading towards the river walk, I noticed these cool runners made from steel or iron.  I don't remember seeing them before but perhaps we didn't walk down this far last time. Spokane is a very interesting city and I would love to go there sometime to spend the night and just take time to see everything.

 

 

It has been a good day ...

love, susan

Three is Not a Crowd

Meet "Remi"!  She started hanging at our house a little over a week ago and she is finding her place easily.  Don't ask me what flavor she is ... I was told she is terrier with a little bit of Great Dane but I'd add that perhaps she has a little Jack Russel in her genes and the attitude of a big dog. You should see her hop up on our laps. She may be part kangaroo.

 

"Remi" is about 1.5 years old and how she came to live with us is just another love story.  Our new pet/house sitter had to move and was looking to re-home her. She would bring her when she came to housesit and we discovered "Remi" got along with our dogs really well and especially our older "Missy", who has been pissed off at us ever since we invited "Abbie" the OCD border collie to live here.  "Remi" is our amends to "Missy".  Did you follow that?  Haha!  Note: if my pet sitter moves to a place where she can have her, she will go back with her. However that all works out is okay with us.

 

"Remi" loves to play and we've noticed even our staunchy, one-track-mind border collie is learning to let loose and have a little fun instead of always thinking about the next frisbee throwing session. "Remi" brings out the fun in all of us. What a joy!

 

Our new family member loves to cuddle and she quickly learned to find her place on the bed before the other dogs get on. She forms herself against one of us and never moves a muscle for 8+ hours.  Ah, who wouldn't love the life of a dog!

 

She's smart too!  I taught her to shake hands in two days. My favorite part of training a dog is watching their little wheels spin. It takes patience and I'm convinced there isn't a dog alive that can't be trained if you have the patience to keep trying. This week we're are going to work on "down/stay".

 

I love that she has found her spot in the middle. She may be smaller in stature but she is big in attitude and doesn't back down from these head-strong cattle dogs.

 

There is dog hair everywhere and lots of tails wagging, barking and big smiles. I am truly in dog heaven. Three may not be a crowd but it is certainly enough and unless we move to the country, we're all filled up here. 

 

Love that!!

 

love, susan