Things I've Been Thinking About

I spent 3 hours this morning gardening, which is about my favorite thing to do. Well, snuggling with Kris is better, and reading a good book or eating chocolate probably tie.
So I usually start thinking, which is not always a good thing, but today I just had lots of questions running through my head. Like:
*Why did my camellia die? Was it overwatered, or just too hot this summer?
*Why is the sun so much harsher than it used to be? It is, really.
*Do rabbits eat snails? I have always had snails in my yard, but I haven't seen any in ages. Is Frank eating them?
*Do rabbits eat snapdragons? (I'll be able to answer this soon.)
*Why does it sting when you get sweat in your eyes, but not tears? Higher salt content?
*Why am I only comfortable talking on the phone to about 6 people?
*And with that said, why can I talk on the phone to almost anyone at work?
*Why do I like watching really scary movies only when I am home alone all night?

Next post, I'll show pix of our newly completed tile projects. Kris is awesome! If you're doing a project, and he's involved, it turns out. Maybe I should have him cook more--

Thigh Stocks

Here is Miss Gracie modeling our new baby seat. It's called a bumbo or something like that, and is available in Shrek green, Barbie pink, grape, and blue, which for some reason I preferred. Kind of a cool seat because even an infant can sit in it and won't slide around. And as we discovered, Gracie likes sitting in it, but cannot get out! Steve has dubbed this wonderful invention the "thigh stocks".
And do you love the thighs? Gracie has the cutest legs. There is only one time it is cute to have chubby thighs in life, and you're seeing it right now.

St Francis of Assisi

I have finally gotten a shot of the bunny I mentioned in my last post. He and 2 doves are enjoying their evening repast (or silflay if you've read "Watership Down").
I have been calling him Frank, in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. I had two thoughts in mind here- first, St. Francis is the patron saint of animals, and he was celibate. I am hoping Frank wants to remain single like his namesake.

Brownies and Bunnies!

I made the most awesome brownies this weekend. Well, actually I made them twice because my guys inhaled the first pan in two days. I got the recipe from Jamie's brother & sister-in-law, Rick & Emily. You mix up your brownie batter and put half in the pan. Next, break up a giant size (is their any other size?) Symphony bar with toffee and almonds and put it all over the brownie batter. Spread part deux of the batter on top and bake. I gave this an extra 5 minutes since it's so thick. (Maybe don't give it the extra 5 minutes-then they'll just stay chewy).

I've made these a bunch of times, but something that tasted even better than usual, due to the extra baking time I think. The brownie and toffee chips seemed to carmelize at the edges of the pan which tasted awesome, but of course anything that has carmelized is hard. Tyler heard his retainer go "ping" when he bit in to his third brownie. He had knocked his retainer loose from the resin holding it to his tooth. We have dubbed these "retainer-breaker brownies". Good thing we know a cute guy who can fix this kind of thing, as well as almost anything else we can throw at him.

On to other news--our back yard is gorgeous right now. The flowers are blooming, my little cherry tomato is growing lots of fruit for us, the pond sounds lovely with it's little waterfall, The trees are lush and green, and the windchimes sing whenever a breeze dances through our garden. I have put up a bird feeder and after trying all different sorts of food, we have decided the the birds like Finch Supreme the best. We have beautiful little gold finches with bright yellow chests and black wings, house finches with sparrow brown wings and red faces and chests, robins, and doves, all visiting our feeder. It is so fun to watch them. Sometimes the doves will sit on the feeder and eat until I think they will be too heavy to fly away. And beneath the feeder, pecking around with the sparrows and doves looking for seed on the patio, is the cutest little bunny. He comes right up on the the patio and eats birdseed, hops on to the grass for a little greenery, then wanders around the planters nibbling on this and that. He seems to be stuck in our yard, and he seems to be making friends with all the birds. He'll even come and eat about six feet away from me. The cutest thing though, is to see he and the doves eating side by side.

Yard Art

Okay, here's the car in our front yard. We have to rebuild the wall and replace some plants but no one got hurt. There's a lovely little Japanese maple under the back wheels though. I guess it's an excuse to buy plants, right?

Here's Gracie in action. We are in love with her! And it's so fun buy be able to buy her clothes! We got to babysit last Saturday nite so her mom and dad could go on a date.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRIS!!! (Aka-Robbi or Dad-dad-daddio)

Okay, here goes. I am so much more comfortable in front of a sewing machine, or a pile of dirt with a shovel in one hand and a plant in the other. Let's see if I can post something.

I'm a week late but I wanted to start with the cutest guy in the world's birthday. It was a typical day for us over the last couple years--good stuff, great stuff, not so good stuff, but it's all okay if no one has cancer.

And that began his birthday--we went to the oncologist and Kris's latest tests show he wins! Cancer free! Can a day start better than that? On the way home we got a call from our neighbor On Whidbey Island--a 4 year old accidentally put his mom's car into drive (where was the mom?) and drove through our stone wall and the car was now stuck in our front garden. 4 year old was not hurt, missed our house by 3', so everything is okay. Was the 4 year old a boy? Yep.

I can't believe--I added a picture! Okay, so the rest of the day was lovely and included eating Scottie's BBQ pulled pork sandwiches (actually I think Kris had brisket). If you haven't eaten there, it's the best pulled pork. Jamie and I used to plan road trips to Cambria when we wanted pulled pork, and now we can just drive up to Collins and Glassell and eat killer food.

Jamie, Steve, and Gracie came to visit for the weekend which made for a really great birthday weekend.