Entitled Corgi.

Really, Mads? Just lying on top the tip of the couch is not enough for you? You have to lie ON YOUR BACK?

She totally knows she's too much, don't you think?

And yes, I totally tickled those paws. And scratched the belly.

But the moment kibble was heard in the doggie bowl, she was off and running. This dog is controlled by cuteness, ridiculousness, food, and scratches.

Yawn.

Two of our friends got married to each other on Saturday.

On an island. In the Puget Sound. Across the water from Seattle.

So, we drove this weekend.

As my sister lives in Kirkland (right next to Seattle), we visited her on Friday evening and Saturday morning, before heading across the water by ferry to Bainbridge Island.

And then yesterday, we drove back home, stopping in Portland to visit some friends briefly. There were more people we needed/wanted to visit, but time just didn't permit.

I should add: we had both dogs with us. Again, I'm amazed that our dogs take traveling so well. We knew it would be good with Maddie, but Bailey, who turned 12 weeks yesterday, was a bit up in the air. We knew he liked cars, but long car rides was a different matter. Turns out he either looks out the window, gnaws a bone, or sleeps. Mostly the last one.

And, our dogs who normally don't get to see human beds (because ours is in a loft with a ladder... not pup-conducive) got to see TWO beds this weekend- one in each hotel. Dog bliss. I woke up on Sunday morning with a corgi snuggled on the upper part of my pillow and sort of wedged in the crack between the end of the bed and the headboard. She thought this was just brilliant. Sensing a potential crack-down on this behavior, before I could say anything to her, she rested her head on my shoulder. I'm a total softie.

Then, of course, they rolled around in something in Portland and smelled to high heaven for the next two hours home. First matter of business upon getting home? BATHS.

Regardless of dog smells, it was a GREAT weekend. I'm just pretty darn tired. This is why no photos are yet uploaded and why this post is just text and my ramblings. Heads up: the same thing may be coming tomorrow too. Brief vacations away do this.

We came, we saw, he conquered.

The new Matthew Knight Arena opened up just last month. It's pretty stunning, I think. Kind of crazy to think what was there (a 7-11 and a few other scattered stores), and now what is there.


The first, BIG, entertainment show (non-basketball): Sir Elton John!
Tickets sold out in about 6 minutes, but WE GOT TWO.

And we saw ELTON.

Our seats were not shabby. And, we had great positioning to fully appreciate all the crazy backgrounds his crew threw up. Rock? Sure, here's your flaming skull.


Need something nicer? Here are some flowers.


Oh, and the performer's name again, in case you forgot. Also note that the name is appearing in the flames of a ROCKET-- of COURSE part of "Rocketman"!!


And the legend himself, bedecked in a long overcoat with a sequined mermaid on the back and a purple ruffly undershirt. Or an ascot? I couldn't tell, but it was rock star level awesomeness.

Elton singing "Rocketman" as an old photo of him on screen goes into a rocket.


And let me say: The man can play.


Gotta have some Marilyn.

"Goodbye Norma Jean," dedicated to Matthew Knight, whom the arena is named after.


"The Bitch is Back"!!!

One of my favorites: "Crocodile Rock"!! Yes. I sang. And the entire audience belted out the Naaaa----nananana-naaaaaa parts.

Mermaid sequins.


He was very flamboyant in his audience salutes.

Three whole hours of singing and playing. No intermission.

Rock star.

We meet him tonight.

Well, by "meet" I mean "see."

I hope you don't mind! I hope you don't mind... if I put down in words.... how wonderful life is, while you're in the world.

Though, I must admit that I hope he plays "Crocodile Rock" too! And "Benny and the Jets" (but only so I can sing "B-b-b-enny!")!!!

He's a well-behaved giant.

He's a well-behaved giant. Well, generally speaking.

Our Bailey, who just turned 11 weeks old, has gained over 8 lbs in just over 3 weeks. The vet says he's growing perfectly and must be eating the right amount of food. But, now topping the scales at 18.9 lbs, he's become a tad difficult to carry places like a purse dog, especially if he wiggles or gasps and needs to be readjusted. This is why we're especially happy that he's had his second round of shots and now we can be a bit more adventurous in our walks. Sidewalks are now ok, but you still can't nose around off the sidewalks, little guy.


I should add that while I'm writing this, he's decided to jump in the still- damp bathtub and prance around.

He's a darn well-behaved puppy, and we couldn't be happier. He loves Maddie and vice versa. He generally leaves the cats alone and has learned which ones to ALWAYS avoid. He's learned "sit" and "down," and he's done very, very well with housetraining.

(Knocking on wood as I say this) He doesn't chew things. Well, he'll chew his bone. But, so far, no furniture or shoe mishaps. This is also likely also due to the fact that he knows what "no!" and "knock it off" mean.
He can't yet jump up on the couch, and for this we are grateful, though we suspect this inability will last for approximately only 3 more days. He's growing like a weed.

He's learned how to walk on a leash, and we're working on "come," the all-important command. He's learned that people are fun, and other dogs are cool, two traits we really wanted to instill in him. Oh, and cars are fun too, but don't hop on the driver because that's not allowed.

And he LOVES Maddie.
And she loves him. I must admit that we felt some pangs of guilt in getting another dog because Mads would not be an "only dog" anymore. With her friendship with the pup? Those pangs are 100% assuaged. Maddie acts like herself, but she wrestles and chases (and gets chased) and pins (and gets pinned) with Bailey.

Bailey is back in the tub again. DEFINITELY more of a water dog than a corgi. I can hear him gleefully scampering around in there. And, now, out of the tub... but with a shampoo bottle. What a nut. I gotta go.

Evolution of a tomato field.

This was our tomato field last May. We added some dirt to make rows. You can see our berry boxes in the background. The tomatoes were in between our berry boxes and all our other boxes with our vegetables.

Once the dirt was added, the tomato plants were planted.


We made crazy tomato cages (which worked!!) out of dead laurel branches.


And the tomatoes grew and grew.

And then, the season ended.

Which brings us to earlier this month. B removed the tomato cages. We decided to shift our vegetable boxes over to next to the berry boxes, giving us all our produce garden beds in one location, rather than in two locations in the yard. It also gives us a bigger field in front of our house for dog play.

It took a lot of hard work, but we leveled the ground and moved AND filled fifteen 3'x6' boxes.


Now all our boxes are together.

Here are the boxes in their old location, just a week or two ago. You can see our tarp-covered deck and our teeny cottage in the background.
And now: Today. No more boxes. We left the pea boxes in place because they provide a nice barrier and they're pretty darn close to the edge of the other boxes.


Yup, no more big boxes. The chickens' temporary coop is still there. We still need to move the six low-lying boxes too. But those are much easier. And we're not going to move them... simply REMOVE them and rake the dirt down. Much easier.

Now we just need to throw some grass seeds down. It's been a lot of work, but we think the yard will look a lot nicer. And, once we get mulch in between the boxes in their new location, the weeds will be a lot easier to contain.

Whew!

Elliptical

B and I have been looking at gym memberships. UGH. I really wish that we could just buy an elliptical, but there is no space in our tiny little house. I suppose we could clear out the laundry room, but I think our heads would hit the ceiling. Literally. The ceiling is just too low. And inside the actual house, we need the space.

Drat.

Another item to chalk onto the "someday, when we've gotten over the financial shock of buying a house" list.

In other news, taxes. Bleh. I know I know... it's a good thing to have to pay them because otherwise, you've given the government a interest free loan. I still hate writing that check.

Kids

B: Our kids someday will be lucky.

Me: Why's that?

B: Because they'll hopefully inherit my awesome hair genes.

***

Picture my reaction of one eyebrow raised while neighbor Vince practically falls down laughing.

Scrapbook and yard updates

Well, we have 7 of the 12 garden beds moved, and 6 of those 12 are filled.

Let's just say that's a lot of work. And, our yard, mid-project right now, looks a little strange. Like some giant garden bed plucker came along and took our garden beds. All that's left of the ones that have been moved are these rectangular footprints. Weird.

I actually may have semi-miscalculated, and we are likely able to fit 15 beds into the spot. Whether we'll do this or not is to be determined.

Scrapbook-wise, I've completed Nov '09 through March '10. That means all my "old" months that I already did have been redone. And wouldn't you know it: April and May arrived in the mail yesterday. No rest for the weary.

Well, the morning is filled with meetings, so I'd best be off... after grabbing another cup of coffee....

Scrapbooking update

January and February are finished! Yup, I did both yesterday.

I'm waiting on April and May to arrive in the mail, so I decided to go back and redo months before March. To make sure everything goes well together with no accidental missed pages, I have to work my way forward or backward from March, since March is finished. February was done first, then January.

I only have December and November left in the old album, so I'd better be better about ordering photos with time to spare.

So.... here's January:
We had just moved into the cottage, so there were many projects. First up: renovating the laundry room:
And then fixing the pathway and getting chickens.
Then there's the garden work and, of course, animal shots.
On to February:
Wine tasting, cats, and, well, animal shots.
February also brought on the building of the chicken coop...
I know each of my pages aren't perfectly laid out, but I'm trying to do more categories for each month. It just goes nicer with the flow. And since I don't have TONS of photos for each category, you're bound to see some color from the backing.

These photos were also cut out in weird shapes for the first album. I tried to remedy that as much as possible by making straight lines and squaring photos off (if possible). It wasn't always possible. But, with the exception of one Maddie photo I cut out with curves, all the photos were able to be backed with squared backing. I think this makes the new months much alike to March and what I hope to do in the new months I just ordered.

Here's a question though: does anyone decoupage their scrapbook pages? How well does decoupage hold? Hm. I really don't want anything to ever fall off, and I know, no matter the glue or tape or anything I use, someday this will happen. So how to prevent it??? Just be vigilant about taping down strayaways?