today I'm grateful for....

We went to a birthday dinner party last night for a friend of ours who turned 50. Why do we make such a big joke out of turning 50? We act like it's the end of the world. But in reality, it's a great age to be. Today I'm grateful for friends who are eligible to sign up for AARP!

I'm also grateful for four-legged animals that give us comfort and love; pets. The humane society called yesterday, checking up on our Sadie. We adopted her a year ago and they wanted to make sure things were going okay. I told her Sadie is still working hard at trying to overcome her issues, but we're patient with her and just love her to pieces. What is it about a dog that can provide such unconditional love regardless of whether or not we deserve it? I suspect she would have done anything for her previous owners as well, despite the fact it appears she was badly beaten. This was Sadie a year ago; about an hour after we brought her home. So happy to be with us, yet she didn't know us, didn't know what type of people we were. Bless the dogs that give us so much love and joy.

I'm especially most grateful for this time of year. My favorite season. Christmas! I love love love Christmas! My husband won't let me play music or decorate until after Thanksgiving though, so I'm grateful for tv commercials and stores that are already playing Christmas music so I can sing, or hum, along. My husband just shakes his head, knowing he has no control of this.

Today I'm also grateful for

beautiful skylines
a nice, warm room
a good book
hot cocoa
chocolate covered cherries

it's the weekend

I love weekends. Still. Even though I'm retired, weekends are still my most favorite days of the week. Especially "Fridays." Excepting my Fridays are now Mondays. And I get so confused as to what day of the week it is with my screwy work schedule. I work Fridays, Sundays, and Mondays. But having three days off, in a row, is good. I've been a little lazy since returning from vacation, but hopefully won't waste these upcoming days :O

So what do I have planned for this long weekend? I just popped a rhubarb brunch cake in the oven. If you love (or even like) rhubarb, you must try this recipe.



This sloppy mess turns into





this golden brown beauty.










Which then looks like this when cut. Flop some whipped cream and.... yummy!

Rhubarb Brunch Cake

1 pkg Pillsbury Plus Yellow Cake mix

1 cup water

1/3 cup oil

3 eggs

4 cups sliced fresh rhubarb or frozen rhubarb, unthawed

1 cup sugar

1 pint (2 cups) whipping cream

Heat oven to 350. Grease and flour 13x9" pan. In large bowl, combine cake mix, water, oil, and eggs at low speed until moistened. Beat 2 minutes at highest speed. Pour into pan. Top with rhubarb. Sprinkle with sugar. Pour cream over top. Bake for 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 hours or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm (or cold) with whipped cream (or not). Store in refrigerator.

Now.... the sad part of this story. As I was typing the recipe up it dawned on me that I forgot the 1/3 cup oil.... certainly not on purpose.... but what will it do to the cake? We'll see in an hour's time. Crap. Anyway, if made with ALL of the ingredients, is THE most delicious cake you'll ever have.

Also "this weekend" I'll be doing surgery on our sweet little Sadie's toys. Before we left on vacation she was doing really well at playing with her stuffed toys and not chewing holes. Since we've been back.... she's been showing us, I guess. I sew them until there's just no more sense to, then she'll get new ones.

Have a great week!

believe it or not

Yesterday was somewhat of a weird day. I saw two things I never thought I'd see in my life.


Sighting One: Mike and I were driving home from doing errands. As we drove past the pond just up the road, we saw an eagle. He was dive bombing a duck! It flew INTO the water; it was actually laying IN the water! It came up with the duck in its claws but dropped it! It dove BACK into the water to try again! It was struggling and struggling, flying just on top of the water, dive bombing to get its prey..... then we drove out of sight.... I told Mike I wish I had had my camera with me, but he reminded me that this really is not something I would get any enjoyment out of seeing. But from a distant, where things weren't too focused and clear.... just enough that we knew what was happening.... I feel badly for the ducks here; especially baby ducks as they don't have a chance with the eagles. What are the chances of seeing something like that?


Sighting Two: Bucky and Michelle went away for the night, up Taku River and spent the night in their dad's cabin. Kona, their dog, had a sleepover with us. Sadie loves loves loves Kona and follows her around endlessly. She's her hero! And she loves Bucky too. When Bucky comes to visit, he's always trying to stretch Sadie to learn something new, to not be so afraid of life. Remember, she was a pound puppy and came to us afraid of her own shadow. She had been badly abused and neglected something horribly. Last time Bucky was here, he taught Sadie how to jump into the bed of our truck. Not a difficult task for most dogs, but for someone who's afraid of life....this is a big deal. We were standing around the cars talking, when out of the blue, here comes Sadie running and smiling.... and jumps UP, ONTO the BACK of Bucky's Cavalier car!!! I think she thought she was showing off for him, jumping into the truck, saying, "see, I can do it! I'm not afraid!" We couldn't believe what we saw and laughed so hard. It would have won us $10,000 at AFHV for sure!

eye spy

I wish there was something other than "snow" and "spring cleaning" to talk about but sadly.... there isn't. Normally this time of year I'd be outside getting my gardens in shape in anticipation of a great summer of gardening and landscaping. After a long winter my gardens are always in need of some special TLC not to mention the projects waiting in the wings. But since we're at least a month behind schedule I have no choice but to continue with my spring cleaning inside.

Yesterday was a good day. It was sunny and gorgeous outside and inside the kitchen was sparkling. I'm excited about the new uses found for my recent thrift store finds. This urn is now holding tea bags and another one is holding garlic. I'm thinking also lemons and limes for this summer.

But I have to say, all the while I was working.... it felt like someone was watching me.... It was eerie....

The biggest part of my day was spent polishing vintage silverware. Where does it come from and why do I have so much of it? The answer is simply.... because I'm a collector; I hate getting rid of things especially if it came from family. But over the years I've learned to downsize and it's time to downsize my silverware as well. We don't use it; it's just for looks and it does require polishing at least once a year. I'll keep my favorite pieces and see if the kids want the rest.

Today is another simply gorgeous day outside.... and here I am, inside.... But it'll feel good to get spring cleaning done.

Just wish I could shake the feeling that someone is watching me....


Have a sunshiny day!

favorite things

I'm sorry to say.... yesterday turned out to be somewhat of a bust as far as shopping for the things I needed/wanted for our bedroom.... It can be so frustrating shopping in this town with our limited resources. We have a Fred Meyers and that's it for home furnishings. Needless to say, we do a lot of on-line shopping or when we travel "south," we usually have an extra suitcase to fill with "must haves." We're getting a Walmart AND a Home Depot in June and I can hardly wait.


I was able to find this darling pink flowered pillow for our bed though. Fred Meyers had re-stocked the shelves overnight and now I wish I could buy them all. They're darling!


And I don't know if saying "scored" on the baskets is a good thing or not.... I was able to buy the last of the same style to put in the closet shelves.... but they were busted.... I bought them anyway because (1) you don't know IF they'll bring the same style in or (2) WHEN. So I bought them.... at a 10% discount. I'm just going to say they're "old," have been handed down for generations :)

But I wasn't able to find any 6" deep plastic bins for our seasonal clothes; didn't like the selection of rugs; and didn't see any cute little lamps that would work on my dresser. So my enthusiasm wavered a little by the end of the morning and I still have these items on my list and the bedroom still isn't done. But it looks better! I even opened the window for some.... ahhhhhh.... fresh air!


I was walking through Fred Meyers yesterday with Mike (my hubby) and oohing and aahing over all the cute little spring dresses perfect for a granddaughter.... of which I have none.... My kids are grown; Tracy is 31 and Bucky 23 with no grandkids in sight..... But that's okay, I've accepted that. At least I have these precious dogs to spoil.





Sadie is our sweetheart. We found her at the pound where she had just been dropped off during the night. They didn't have a name or any history for her. When we brought her home she was so fearful of everything in sight; every movement; every large object; every shiny thing; every dark object; every loud noise; everything made her cringe and cower.... It was so sad. I called her Sadie Sad Eyes because her eyes had the look of death in them. It was so disturbing to think that someone could be so mean to this sweet, precious little dog. But she's come a long ways since October and will even investigate these same dark, scary things on her own now with only a little hesitation. But don't say "boo!"


Porter is the newest member of the family and belongs to Tracy and Adam. He's just a pup (about six months old), and a mischievous one at that! The stories we could tell.... :) He particularly loves stalking Sadie and taking her chews away from her! Course, Sadie doesn't have the social skills to let him know this is not acceptable; she's just very weary of him for now. So Porter takes the chew away from her and drops it three feet away, Sadie retrieves it again, and the play starts all over again. We get some good laughs when Porter is around!


And Kona is Bucky and Michelle's dog. She's been with us for about five years and knows exactly which buttons to push to get a cookie or two or three. She has THE most intense eyes I've ever seen on a dog; her stares can will that ball into your hand over and over again!


I guess these are my grandkids for now and wonder how they would look with a cute little spring dress on....