Puppy Pictures Coming Soon

Last night on my way home from the church I noticed a cardboard sign stuck in a pile of snow and I thought it said dachshund puppies for sale. But, I couldn't read the number fast enough, so I went around the block and went real slow, but of course there appeared out of nowhere several cars behind me, so I only was able to see and remember the first three numbers, so around the block I went again. It definitely said dachshund puppies for sale. Now I just needed the number. Before I made the last turn around the block and headed down the "puppy street" I made sure there were no cars in sight so I could drive by real s-l-o-w. But once again cars appeared from nowhere, so as I approached the sign, I noticed a driveway and pulled in. The sign said to call or stop in. So I went up to the door to check out the puppies. They were so cute. There are three puppies left. Two girls and one boy. I fell in love with the little black one. I could tell that these puppies have been loved, kissed, and played with everyday of their short eight weeks of puppy life. They are so precious. They have the cutest little puppy legs and floppy ears. I could hardly wait to get home and call Tina. I looked and looked for her home telephone number, but I couldn't find it anywhere. Then I remembered I had written it on my map quest which I had thrown away at work after completing my expense report (I'll have to retrieve it from the trash). I tried her cell phone. No answer. So I decided I would e-mail her and wait for a response. After e-mailing back and forth several times and talking to the owners, I'm leaving work a little early today so I'll have time to stop and take a few pictures of the puppies and the momma and papa dogs. I'll post their pictures tonight after I get back from the church women's Bible study. After the Bible study we're putting together five baskets for the battered women's shelter. I can't wait to show the ladies all the "special" lotions, shampoos, and soaps that Tina gave to be put in the baskets too.

My Trip to Massachusetts

It was a great trip. I left early enough to make several stops along the way and still arrive an hour early at the Public House Inn. While waiting I took a few pictures of the delicious looking pastries at the Inn's bakery. I then sat next to the fireplace and waited for Tina and Diane to arrive. Tina immediately recognized me and we all hugged and began talking and the talking didn't stop for four and a half hours. Just imagine three women talking non-stop. And we managed to eat a full-course dinner including dessert. Nothing was going to slow us down.

It was great hearing stories about each family and looking at pictures. I must say that I took way too many pictures albums with me. They were more balanced with the amount of pictures they brought to share. I'll have to work on being able to make up my mind, so I don't have to take everything to share at one time. I learned that Diane's husband has spoiled her more that Bob has spoiled me. She doesn't even pump gas! She told several hilarious stories about herself. I'll just say that when she finished the stories she pointed to her hair and said, "blond". Oh, it was such a wonderful evening.

I learned that Diane raises dwarf bunnies and at that point my ears perked up (even more) because just last Friday evening, little Hannah mentioned that she wish she had a bunny. So Diane is going to give Hannah a bunny. We just have to figure out how we're going to get it. She said if she called her husband that he would bring it down to the restaurant, but we didn't put that statement to the test. She also has an angora bunny and she spins the fur making yarn to knit with.

Tina told stories about her two little granddaughters whose pictures look so angelic, but the stories didn't hold true to the pictures. The girls are adorable and I loved the sweet picture of her two granddaughters and my Katya walking arm in arm in Russia. That's where this whole friendship began. If it wasn't for the three girls, we wouldn't know each other. It's amazing how God brings family and friends together. She is still looking for the perfect doxie. She has several leads, but no final decision yet.

And I have to tell you that the dinner was delicious. We all three ordered the same menu item. We started off with a green salad. Tina and Diane were brave and tried the house dressing made with maple syrup. They said it was delicious, but I was afraid I wouldn't like it, so I stuck with ranch. They brought out homemade rolls. Not your typical rolls either. When I uncovered them, my eyes lit up! Miniature pecan rolls, corn bread, slices of banana bread, and whole wheat rolls. Of course I had to try one of each. (little piggy) The main course was butternut squash ravioli and it was wonderful. For dessert Diane and I had Indian bread pudding with vanilla ice cream and Tina had apple pie (to go - smart girl).

We've decided that we're going to meet in New York City this summer and then in September both Tina and Diane are coming to my house to help me with freezing corn and green beans and canning tomatoes. I am so excited. I love it when friends come to visit. Thanks Tina and Diane for such an exciting memorable evening together. Too bad we live so far away.

It was so nice to see signs of spring.

The cakes looked beautiful.

I wanted to try one of everything!

An open hearth fireplace in the dining room.

Diane, Me, and Tina

I Am So Excited!

Tomorrow morning I leave on a business trip. No, that's not what I'm excited about. I'm excited because I'm going to be meeting a friend for dinner that I have met through blogging. It just so happens that my business trip is taking me within an hour of where she lives and so we are meeting for dinner. I've been busy today, getting everything ready to take. I don't want to forget anything. But, I don't know exactly what to take. So, I've packed and unpacked several times. We're both grandmothers and from our blogging and e-mails I think we have similar interests. We both keep ourselves very busy. We enjoy spoiling our grandchildren, traveling, scrap booking, and we love having a little friend with four legs and a tail to follow us around and curl-up beside us for a nap (only I can't have one until I retire). Tina and her friend Diane will both be meeting me for dinner and I can hardly wait. I don't think I have looked forward to Monday with such anticipation in a long time. I plan to leave early allowing plenty of time to stop and shop if I see something interesting. And, I want to allow extra time just in case I get lost. I know I have a GPS and I printed a map quest, but neither one are fool-proof for me.

I'll take my camera and my laptop and hopefully I can post about my trip tomorrow night, if it's not too late.

Maple Syrup Update

Bob has about 60 bags hanging on our maple trees. After one day, Bob collected 95 gallons of sap. He hasn't been able to collect any more because the weather has been so cold that the bags only have a couple of inches of sap in them and it's frozen. We don't process the sap, because the old sugar shack that was on the property when we purchased it almost three years ago, was falling down, and the roof collapsed two years ago, and Bob has been taking it down and burning it. There is still a wall standing, but not for long. Once the weather warms, Bob will be cleaning-up the area and landscaping there. Anyway, a church member and friend of ours that lives just about a mile from us, does maple syrup commercially and has all the equipment to process the sap. So Bob collects our sap and takes it to our friend and he processes it for us. It is 100% per maple syrup, no other ingredients are added and we get about one gallon syrup for every 40 gallons of sap. We are hoping that the weather cooperates and we are able to collect enough sap to make 15 gallons of syrup. Last year we collected enough for 13 gallons.

Bob had an interesting experience last year when he was hanging the bags on the trees. He carried his cutters in his back pocket so he could cut off small branches if they were in the way of where he wanted to hang a bag, and when he cut a small branch off one of the trees, the sap was flowing so he decided to stick the cut part of the branch in his mouth to see what the sap tasted like. He said it tasted like sweet water. And then he continued hanging the bags. That night he was up making lots of noise in the bathroom, banging cabinet doors, and then going down stairs and banging more cabinets doors, and I couldn't figure out what he was doing. He is usually very quiet about everything he does. But, I just waited until he came back upstairs and then asked, "What's wrong?" he responded, "Look!" and he turned the bedroom light on. I took one look and started laughing. I just couldn't help it. His lips were swollen to twice the normal size and they were bright red in color. Just before he had cut that branch off, the one he stuck in his mouth, he had cut poison ivy vines that were climbing up a tree. He had poison ivy on his lips and in his mouth. He suffered for over a week, but he learned a lesson and he had a great sermon he titled "Ignorance Is Bliss".

Friday Madness

I have been working on Easter dresses for Gracie, Hannah, and Madeline. I finished Gracie's dress a week ago, and have been working on Hannah's all week. But, when Friday arrived, I still had to put the sleeves and facing in and do all the hand work. And, I hadn't even started cutting out Madeline's. Right after breakfast, I started working on the dresses. I had kinda decided that I would probably just give them their dresses next week when they come to visit. But, then I received a telephone call from Lisa telling me how excited the girls were that they were going to have new dresses to wear to church on Sabbath. I couldn't disappoint my little granddaughters. So all I did was work on the dresses until 1:30 when I had to leave for my hair appointment. As soon as I got back home I continued sewing and I'm happy to report that I finished all three dresses. I pressed them and hung them on hangers and Bob and I left for Ryan and Lisa's house around 7:00 p.m. The girls were so excited when they saw the dresses and they tried them on and they fit perfect! They twirled around and ran around in the house. Hannah told me she liked the dresses a lot! Especially because they were matching dresses. The smiles on their faces made all the work worthwhile. I told the boys, that I didn't have time to make their dresses. Maybe next year I'll have time to do theirs. They laughed and said, Oh, grrrandma!! They were pretty happy to watch their sisters and cousin having fun twirling in their new dresses. Then we put the girls pajamas on them and visited for a few minutes before we had to leave. Everyone was in the living room, except for Gracie. I asked Lisa if she had put Gracie to bed and she told me, no. No one knew where she was so we started looking. We found her in the bathroom having a great time playing in the water in the sink. Her pajamas were soaking wet, and the floor was standing in water and the basket of laundry was soaking wet too. What a mess. Bob and I thought it was funny to see what Gracie had done. Ryan and Lisa had a different reaction. We helped change her pajamas, Lisa mopped up the water in the bathroom, and Gracie was off and running chasing her kitty.

We couldn't seem to get a good picture of everyone at the same time so I'm posting several of the same picture session.

Gracie's all wet from playing in the water in the bathroom.

Before we changed Gracie's wet clothes, she wanted to give Checotah a hug.

Ryan and their two dogs, Molly (Golden Retriever) and Checotah (German Shepherd)

It's Maple Syrup Time

Bob went out early this morning to hang the bags on the maple trees on our property. He will be collecting sap for a week or two depending on the weather. The sap flows during the day after the temperatures have gone below freezing at night and it warms to above freezing during the day. Last year Bob collected over 500 gallons of sap and we got 13 gallons of syrup. We only have two gallons left from last year.

Bob will empty these bags into five gallon buckets every morning for processing. I think the metal buckets look nicer, but these bags are much cheaper, so we went with cheap.

Signs of Spring

Although there is still snow on the ground, we have signs of spring all around our property. This afternoon, Bob and the girls (Punkin and Lola) went for a walk. The girls enjoyed chasing rabbits and checking out the territory and Bob enjoyed taking a few pictures for me to write a blog about. I think he's getting into this blog thing. He sits in a chair next to mine and reads along with me when I'm checking the blogs and even suggests comments to leave, too (sometimes).

Wasp or hornet nest found out back.

It appears that something got into the hornet's nest and the hornets are no more!

Pussy Willow's just starting to open.

Daffodil's emerging from the ground.

Tulips poking their heads up.

Foxglove waking up from their winter nap.

Canneberry Belle's waking up too!

Bob has tomato plants growing in our windowsills. (every windowsill)

I finished making Gracie's dress this evening.