We Pause To Honor

Remembering all those that gave their lives for our great country.

My mother's brother, Willard, whom I never met, died in Korea. He and my father served there during the same time.

Baking, Celebrating and Coughing

Yesterday morning, I made buttermilk biscuits for the family. Continued in the baking phase on to a cake for our big family reunion today.

Mixing up a new recipe...Chocolate Peanut Butter Bundt Cake with Caramel Sea Salt Glaze. Yesterday was our 27th anniversary so last night Mr. Unplugged and I went to dinner and a movie and did not arrive home until 11:00 p.m. The Mr. has had some type of respiratory, sinus thing all this past week and he so kindly shared it with me. It has really kicked in yesterday and this morning. Right now I will be preparing a pineapple/cheese casserole and the glaze before getting ready to leave for the reunion. Hope all is well on this Memorial Day weekend. I will get around to everyone later.

Tip Of The Crown.....

Greetings my loyal peasants! Today, humbly, I share pics of a real working dog. Look closely, in the top photo, sitting behind the peasant to the left, wearing the blindingly bright shirt. He is white, appears he is a pitbull brother.

Ah, there's his hearty mug, with a toy in his mouth, right beside that worker rockin' the green tank. Mom said she tried to get a good photo for weeks as a sidewalk was installed by the road taken daily to VG's school. This guy wore a bright orange vest on his back so he wouldn't be missed....always there with them as they dug holes and progressed right beside the road. Wish she had a better photo. I tip my crown to this guy.........here's to all the working dogs out there! My dear canine friends, Snuffles, Annie, Emma, Luna, Snickers, Buddy, Dizzy, Penney, Tonka, Hope, Trixie, Bella, Zoe, Chief and Sophie, enjoy your lush life amongst the two-legged animals you tolerate. Til next week....

Barely There

Barely any artwork going on around here lately. I always plan to but then there is work, wash, cook, grocery store. Always not in the mood for art at the end of the day, always tired. Not feeling so great about what I'm getting accomplished at all. Thank you for the compliments on the header rose painting! That was one of the first ones I did back a couple of years ago when I started back into art. Hoping to catch up with everyone else soon. This quickly sketched tulip is in color pencils. Hope all is well, miss you all.

SkyWatch Friday

Rain clouds were approaching late yesterday afternoon....more today. Search the beautiful skies at http://www.skyley.blogspot.com/ !

Dogs On Thursday

It's been nice and restful this week.........for me. The pupparattzi has left me alone for the most part. Here you will find me taking my morning rest on the couch shortly before heading to my leather "throne" in dad's study. Hope your day will be relaxing, especially my furried friends Snuffles, Annie, Emma, Luna, Snickers, Buddy, Dizzy, Penney, Tonka, Hope, Trixie, Bella, Zoe, Chief and Sophie!

SkyWatch Friday

Snapped with the cellphone camera last week. Need to do some art, finish some long overdue projects AND catch up on your sites!!! Visit the beautiful skies at http://www.skyley.blogspot.com/ and have a wonderful Friday everyone!

Dogs On Thursday: Basking in the Glow

Yes, it has been pretty sweet having my best buddy here....you see that extra glow illuminating from my royal wrinkles, do you not? Hope you enjoyed my video of my best buddy's arrival home last week. Where was my close up?

Very troubling that dad and my buddy left me overnight last weekend, apparently for a quick trip of fun and folly....for themselves.

It is most taxing to watch the door and constantly getting into things.......she said something about "moi" being a real pill. Those pills must regal, not to mention - handsome.

Go! Go my friends...be a pill for your buddies! Go on Snuffles, Annie, Emma, Luna, Snickers, Buddy, Dizzy, Penney, Tonka, Hope, Trixie, Bella, Zoe, Chief and Sophie!!!

Wednesday Dribble

The past days have been busy, working, guys went out of town overnight, this chosen one was a pill while they were gone and I have been working more. VolleyGirl's atheletic banquet is tonight. Hope to catch up with you all soon. Here's a sketch BigBoy did recently. Hope you all have a great Animal Wednesday!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Love your mom if she is still here on earth, love your children if you are a mom, hold on to your memories, if your mom has passed, be thankful, if you survived a not-so-good mom but remember, at least she had you...........

My mom always had red geraniums in the two concrete pots always on the front porch of our house in the summer. I always plant geraniums in the two concrete pots at the front door. My niece and I comment how we can't bring ourselves to have anything but red geraniums because of mom, haha, almost to the point of bad luck if we didn't! But I wanted the salmon pink ones really bad, almost had myself convinced that mom didn't have the red because it was her favorite, it was what was available. There were a couple of colors there, not many, but there were goopoodles (this means "a large amount" in the south) of red geraniums in all different sizes of pots. However, I couldn't do it. HAD to get red. Found this concrete pot, filled it with the red and put it beside this stone marker my best friend gave me after mom died. It's my little tribute to her.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all my mothering blogger friends and visitors!

SkyWatch Friday

Yesterday, lonely little cloud in a big sea of blue. Go see more at http://www.skyley.blogspot.com/

Dogs On Thursday: The Arrival

Hey! Hey! Hey! ("mechanical" tail wagging quickly as possible, not very fast) You're back! I missed you, I missed you! Let's play, c'mon, let's play! My best buddy has come home for the summer, too bad mom held the camera at an angle and can't find a way to rotate it. She said something about lying down with a laptop and enjoying the moment, whatever that means.... You see my enjoyable moment, now go have yours my friends Snuffles, Annie, Emma, Luna, Snickers, Buddy, Dizzy, Penney, Tonka, Hope, Trixie, Bella, Zoe, Chief and Sophie!!!

"FEED THE BEAST! FEED THE BEAST!"

My heart goes out to those north of me that are experiencing horrendous flooding, I have family and friends there, southwest, not far away, had deadly tornadoes, then further south, at our vacation playground, where they will be affected by the oil spill. We dodge and duck the weather, but so far, so good, we are very fortunate. Some of you were wondering, thank you for your concern. Count your blessings. Today, my attention goes to one of those awesome blessings...

My son arrives home this Thursday from college, for the summer. I so enjoy having him home as does Mr. U, VG and most of all, Apollo. While this is a joyous occasion, it does not come without consequence....OR without preparation. BigBoy is called so for a reason. He's a 6'3", 275-280 strapping 21 year old that may not be finished growing. He's also an avid weight lifter and those of you who have raised a boy can confirm, they eat large amounts of food.

One of these 5 ft. cubic chest freezers will make its home in my garage this week. Trips to the warehouse stores, Sam's and Costco, will hopefully provide some bargains to fill this baby with nutritional sustenance.

Hmmmm, perhaps one of these "park at your home" storage units would be in order to keep a full stock ready and handy.

Strategy is in the works to stay ahead of the game. I may be working more this summer, having knee surgery and do not want to go by the grocers every other day.

Why, you may ask, does the one that eats like an infant - every two hours, why doesn't he prepare for himself? He has and does occasionally, he's quite the cook, more so than VolleyGirl. However, I like to do all I can and here's why. He is a hardworking, never been in trouble and considerate son. He will take on all the Royal Canine Duties upon his arrival, helps in any way he can around the house, working full time (at home) on his computer doing graphics, will be a great help when I have surgery and is always considerate of his mom and dad. He's a protective, though often bossy, brother to VG. I keep his clothes clean and his belly full.....plus, he's still my boy and my time with him, living at home, is nearing the end. I enjoy it and want to help him. Hope he will have great memories of his mom being good to him all his years. Besides......what goes around, comes around. Circumstances may be that he provides some care for me one day - so I'm going to treat him very well! So, you see.....I'm no dummy! ;)