A Really Good Book

A man ought to read just as inclination leads him, for what he reads as a task will do him little good. ~ Samuel Johnson

Thanks to all for your comments on books yesterday -- I'm actually reading one of the best books I've picked up lately. Mary mentioned it in her comments, and I'd just picked it up from Carina Press a few days back because it sounded like a hoot. It's "Exclusively Yours" by Shannon Stacey, and the author has an absolutely fabulous voice (especially if you're a fan of romantic comedy -- this book isn't "comedy" per se, but it doesn't exactly take itself seriously, either). I'm only about 60 pages in, but I read until I couldn't keep my eyes open last night and then laid there and thought about the thing, and can't wait to open it up and read some more. Provided something awful doesn't happen, this will end up being one of my favorite books of the year so far.

Thank heavens. It was such a breath of fresh air after the last two that I read.

So, THANK YOU Shannon Stacey. I owe you, big time.

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Hey ... if you didn't notice, I've been responding to your comments IN the comments section. I'm trying to be better about doing that, and am getting over twice a day to do so. Because, yanno, I appreciate you all swinging by and saying "howdy". I'm also almost caught up with visiting the folks I was behind on (I missed you!). I wish I had hours a day to blog hop. I really do enjoy it.

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So, yesterday I went to the dollar store for pantyhose to wrap the stems of my squash plants. They didn't have any, so I bought these incredibly chincy trouser socks in a gawd-awful shade of puce that are pretty much the same texture. This morning, I'm going to spray the pogees out of each stem with my poison -- in case there are already eggs there (so when they hatch, when they start eating they should die) and then wrap the stems in the socks. I'll have the best dressed squash on the street. With any luck, I won't lose my squash plants this year. :::fingers crossed:::

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In Pillar Place: Monarch, I found two more butterbabies yesterday while harvesting food for the OTHER twenty-five. Cuz, yanno, I needed more to tend to. One of them did a Kamikaze leap from his leaf (monarch pillars do this for protection -- but they attach a web first). I saw him dangling there, in mid-air, so nabbed him. Another was on the back of a leaf ... he's not looking too healthy, so I'm not sure he's going to survive.

We also have HUGE numbers of Tussock Moth caterpillars. They hang out together for the first few days and utterly decimate milkweed leaves. Once they're a bit bigger, they move out on their own, and are just the prettiest looking things. I know I've posted pictures of them before, but I can't stand it... don't you just want to pet them? (And, yes, I actually DO pet them when I find them. They don't seem to mind).



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You Are Shampoo

When a problem comes your way, you jump at the opportunity to solve it. You're especially good at "cleaning house" and making sure a tight ship is being run. You find it easy to let go of the past and move on with your life. You're a big believer in fresh starts. You don't leave a lot of room for junk in your life. If something doesn't suit you, you're eager to toss it to the curb.

Are You Shampoo or Conditioner?

Um... yeah. That's about 85% right. I'm not so good at letting go of the past, but the rest? Right on! LOL...

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This Ain't Nothin'

The man who doesn't relax and hoot a few hoots voluntarily, now and then, is in great danger of hooting hoots and standing on his head for the edification of the pathologist and trained nurse, a little later on. ~Elbert Hubbard

We found two more monarch eggs yesterday -- and we aren't even looking! I found them while getting food for Xi and Pi. I had purchased some new containers at the store, but I'm out AGAIN. We're now up to 22 monarch egg/pillars. Dear heavens.

We're expecting rain today. YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!

Maria Zannini is having a blogfest -- she's sharing some of her fave blogs (she shared mine yesterday :::blushes:::). If you're looking for aome cool new blogs to visit, you should check it out.

That's it from my neck of the woods, except for this video I feel I have to share. I love the meaning in it -- whenever you think your load is heavy, remember it could be so much worse.

This Ain't Nothin' by Craig Morgan ... my new fave song:



Have a great weekend!!

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You Are a Realist

You are a down to earth person, but you know how to have your fun. You strike a good balance. You see the world clearly, and you're good at anticipating problems. You are very proactive. You are sophisticated and classy. You don't try to grab attention, but you always get plenty of it anyway. You are rich in personality, spirit, and probably even wealthy. You never flaunt your advantages.

The Coffee Shop Test

First part, absolutley. Second? HAHAHAHAHAHA... no.

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Bloghopping and Dog Torture

Being an author is like being in charge of your own personal insane asylum. ~Graycie Harmon

Once again, I'm writing this the night before so that I can use the morning to write in the NaNoWriMo challenge (my word counts can be found at the JaNoWriMo blog).

So, it occurs to me that I'm going to get some weird keyword searches with "Dog Torture" in my blog. Let's get that out of the way first...HERE is our version of dog torture:



Yes, DD made Dakota her own witch's hat. As you can clearly see from the dog's expression, she was underwhelmed by the gesture.

Okay -- I took the time to do a little more blog hopping, per your suggestions. It's so fun to find new blogs to read! Here's what I found:

Dru suggested Cozy Chicks ... so I hopped over and saw a rant about the panic regarding H1N1. I so totally agreed with what she said, I HAD to comment and then kept reading. I think what I like most is that there are several people writing posts, so it's always different, and they are writing about diverse topics, so I'm not bored. I'll definitely be back to this one. Thanks, Dru!

Brandy sent me to the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee -- and for sheer cuteness, this one wins. The blog author fosters kittens for a local shelter and takes pix of all her babies. Is ANYTHING cuter than a kitten (well, except maybe a puppy *G*)?? If you want to get all warm and fuzzy, you should check them out. Awwwwwwwwww....

Tori reminded me how much I love, Love, LOVE Chickens in the Road. I started reading this blog a couple years ago when I read a book of Suzanne McMinn's and I loved it. At first, she still talked about her writing, to a certain extent, but she was just starting to build her house and the blog didn't have the focus it does now. NOW she talks about cooking from scratch (she has the BEST EVER recipes for just about anything -- including one for making yogurt in a crock pot that I'm going to be trying soon), raising goats and chickens and ducks and dogs and cats, gardening, and .... just about everything you can imagine when you read a blog written by a woman living on a farm. I can't recommend this blog enough if you're into that kind of thing. Plus, she has lots and lots of fun pictures. I visit almost daily, and always find something interesting and something to smile about (well...except when two of her goats died, and one of her chickens was gotten by a raccoon -- but, sadly, that's life on a farm).

That was it for my time to blog hop today -- but HEY... gotta a blog you love? Leave me the link in the comments. Very, very soon (like after the first of the year) I will probably replace my author interviews with a post about a blog I found and enjoy. We'll see how that goes!

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Today, I went to the dentist and had my teeth cleaned. It was uneventful. :-)

Got home and found a note from my DH telling me he was taking down trees at my SIL's house. So, yes, I did do more brush dragging and log hauling and wood stacking again. And, about the toe -- it's not broken, thankfully, and I think the *snap crackle pop* was related to whatever has made it hurt for the last decade or so. It felt mostly better today, right up until I reinjured it moving wood -- in nearly the exact same way I did the first time. You'd think I'd learn. So, yeah, it hurts again. It's swollen again.

And tomorrow? MORE fun with logs. We're heading to the neighbors to start pulling out all the stuff DH cut a couple weeks back.

Bet you wished you were me. Right?

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Bloghopping and Being Frugal

In the old days a man who saved money was a miser; nowadays he's a wonder. ~Author Unknown

So... a few days ago, I asked my blog readers for some suggestions, and I got several.

Anne-Katherine said: "Most of the blogs I follow are dog/pet related lol Not sure if that is something you would be interested in."

LOL, you should know by now that my interests are wide and varied. After all, I write about dog food, poop and training on this blog, don't I? Not to mention cat behavior, vomit and kidney problems. Clearly I have an interest in pets. Bring them on! *G*

I won't have the time to go through them all today, but let me touch on a few. Incidentally, I'm thinking I might start a blog spotlight day on this blog to share new blogs I've found and talk about why I like them. Stay tuned! It probably won't start until after the first of the year (which is closer than you think... holy smokes).

For now, due to time constraints, I'm going to choose one blog from each person... I'll do more this weekend, because bloghopping is so much fun!!

Mary suggested Jill Shalvis' blog, which I HAD to go look at because I enjoy her books so much. I almost didn't get any further than Jill's blog because it was so much fun to read! She's random, which I love, and talked about... well... anything that tickled her fancy. There was a YouTube video, some pictures from a walk she took (by the Truckee River -- so pretty), an excerpt from one of her books, talk about writing and more. So, yep, added to my Google Reader.

Melissa sent me Yes I read It. It's Stupid -- which is a chapter by chapter blog on the Twilight Series by a blogger who didn't see the charm in the series. Now, I read "Twilight" and enjoyed the first book a lot, but never could get in to the rest of the series... and so didn't read it. I figure I'll watch the movies on DVD when they are out. OTOH, I know there are thousands (millions?) of rabid fangirls who adored the series (one of my LASR reviewers can be numbered amongst them), so it's amazing the spectrum of readers for it. The blog author is a hoot, and I completely enjoyed reading the blog -- BUT -- the last post is September 14 so I have to wonder if she's going to keep it up. It's a "maybe" for now. I'll add it to my Google Reader, cuz it doesn't cost anything to do so, but I don't hold on to blogs that don't update regularly.

Dru sent me Mystery Lover's Kitchen which tickled me pink. Some of my fave cozy authors write food-based books, and I like to cook (and eat!) so I was all over this link. And, I spent WAY too much time reading posts and clicking through on the recipes. This one is a MUST READ for me. So, thanks, Dru!!

Maria sent me to Genreality -- what a fantastic writing blog!! It has a diverse group of writers so you get input from every angle. We have Candace Havens, Lynn Viehl, Sasha White, Jospeh Nassise and Carrie Vaughn talking to us about writing. Another blog I could have spent hours on and one I'll plan on reading regularly (I can't say "daily" because I don't have time to read daily). They've even got timely tips on NaNoWriMo, so I know this is a place I'll check out during November's insanity. Awesome!

So... those were my first forays into your suggestions. There are more, so keep an eye open for my comments on them. AND... if you have more suggestions, send them my way! Please! Don't assume I wouldn't be interested because I'm a reader and a writer which means pretty much anything is interesting to me. I've got enough curiosity for fifty cats.

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In other news, Dakota has decided she doesn't like sleeping on the couch any more which is a bit of a problem. See, about halfway through the night, my bones start to get achy, so I get up. I stretch and walk around a little until they feel better, but I'm a light sleeper, so can't get BACK to sleep in my bed cuz DH is usually sawing Z's, so I wander downstairs to the couch (which is so amazingly comfy... ahhhh). The dog comes with me, and has always just curled up on the cushion at my feet. The last week or so, though, there is something about the couch that freaks her out. She'll only get up on it under duress and then only sits, tense and worried until I tell her she can get down. As a result, my sleep hasn't been all that great and I'm trying to figure out what the problem is.

Today, I'm shampooing the couch and washing the cushion covers ... maybe there's a smell I can't smell that she doesn't like. Cuz, yanno, I needed a few more chores to add to my list.

BTW, a few weeks ago, I'd talked about making refried beans. I did so, and they turned out great -- though they weren't actually "refried". All I did was cook the beans until they were really, really soft (softer than I cook them just for eating) and then mashed them with my potato masher. I used a bit of the broth I'd cooked them in to get the consistency right, and they are AWESOME. I froze them in 1 cup containers and I've since run out, so today, I'm cooking up another batch of beans to smash up and freeze again. I plan on doing a massive batch at some point, and canning them, but they'll need to be pressure canned and I'm too lazy to dig out my pressure cooker right now, lol.

So--two bags of dried beans cost me about $1 each. Count in the electricity from cooking (which wasn't that long, since I soak the beans in hot water for 2-3 hours first) and the fact that, even after DD and I raided the beans for a couple bowls apiece (so yummy with a little salsa... mmm....) I still had nine 1-cup containers in my freezer. If we hadn't raided them, I probably would have had closer to 14 cups ... for a total cost of about $4- $5 or the equivalent of $0.35 a can. Yay me.

Today, I'm dehydrating sweet potatoes to use as treats for the dog (yes, really -- they LOVE them). If I bought dried sweet potatoes, it costs about $15 a pound. I bought three HUGE sweet potatoes yesterday for $0.79/lb -- So, even adding in the cost of dehydrating (slicing and putting them in the oven at 200 degrees for a few hours) I'm still so far ahead of the game it's not funny.

I'm also making homemade crunchy dog treats. I'll make those first, and then the sweet potatoes, because after I bake the treats at 350 for 20 mins, they have to sit in the warm oven for a few hours to get crunchy, so I get two for one on the cost of the heat! *G*

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Wanted: New Blogs to Follow

A friend is one of the nicest things you can have, and one of the best things you can be. ~Douglas Pagels

I'm stuck in a rut. I haven't found any new blogs to read and be entertained by in quite some time. Not that I don't love all of you -- you're like my "keeper shelf", my comfort reads that I return to time and time again. But sometimes, I really want something new, yanno?

Maria Zannini was talking about why we blog, whether it's worth blogging, what causes people to comment and lots more stuff over at her blog today. If you haven't read Maria's blog, you should, btw. Not only is she a dog lover (this gives her many points in my book), she's also got some great information on being frugal, homesteading and lots more. OH, and she wrote a really great book *G*.

But on this post of hers, she asked some questions, and as I was answering I realized that I haven't gone looking for any new blogs for a while, because I really used to rely on Romancing the Blog's blog listing that they don't have any more.

So, I'm asking all of you -- everyone of you (even you folks who stop by and don't leave a comment -- would you make an exception today?) to leave me at least ONE new blog in the comments and why you think I'd enjoy visiting it.

Please?

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Thanks for the comments on DD's store yesterday. She's very proud, and quite industrious. I'm proud of her, too. Hopefully she'll make a few sales (especially since Christmas is coming up) and it will give her more encouragement. This is her version of a lemonade stand, lol.

BTW, beading is hard! And, beads are a little like drugs ... totally addictive and you Can't. Stop. Buying. More. It's AWFUL. I carefully clip our 40% coupons to AC Moore, JoAnn's and Michaels every week and we go and buy one strand of beads from each place. Every week. The hardest part? Keeping it to only one strand. Dear heavens, if money were no object, I could go hog wild. I made my first pair of earring two days ago, and it was fun (hard, but fun -- seriously, we have six pairs of pliers, four kinds of head pins, two kinds of earring backs and 8 gazillion beads. Who knew beading was this complicated?) and I wish I had time to just sit and work for hours.

Next item: bracelets. We're going to start making matched sets. Or, that's the plan for now.

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You Are a Blue Pumpkin

You are unique, fascinating, and even a bit mysterious. There's not a lot of people like you around. You believe life's too short to not seize the moment. You embrace every opportunity and live each day like it's your last. You are playful and energetic. After a hard day of work, the last thing you want to do is lay around. You love to get your heart racing, and it's hard for you to say no to an exciting or interesting invitation.

What Color Pumpkin Are You?

Blogthings: Our Quizzes Weren't Written By Bored 12 Year Olds

Hmmm... not so sure about that one... lol

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Bad Dog, No Cookie

"Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside..." - Lance Armstrong

So yesterday started out with a bang... or perhaps saying a "boom" or a "thud" would be more appropriate. I took Dd for a walk in the morning and, as I circled the loop at the end of the cul-de-sac, I started getting pinged by a deer fly. They HURT when they bite and (as I mentioned yesterday) once they find you, they do not stop trying to get you. So... I ran. It's only about 1/8 of a mile back to my house, so I figured I could beat the deer fly home.

Dakota, OTOH, thought I was playing, grabbed the leash in her mouth and started bouncing and leaping and... well, at one point she zigged when she should have zagged and bounced right into my path. While I was running. It was one of those things where you see it coming, and everything goes into slo-mo but you can't do anything about it and...

Yep. I fell. Hard. And slid several inches. In the gravel on the side of the road. Ow. I rolled over and lay there for a few minutes, just processing what had happened and trying to keep the dog from crawling all over me ("Oooh... mom's on the ground, she must want to wrestle") and realizing that 1/8 of a mile seemed like a really, really long way when I was bleeding from the knee, elbow and hand.

Why don't we bounce when we get older like we did when we were kids? Today, the pain in my knee, elbow and hand is mostly gone, but all my muscles hurt.

Bad doggie.

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I was reading Denise Robbins blog yesterday and laughed when I read why she opted out of the RWA conference. It's so true what she said about a new WIP bouncing around in your head.

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Speaking of blogs, Romancing the Blog took their author/reader blogs down from their sidebar and I am sad. I used to go there now and then and randomly read new blogs and now I don't know where to go to find new blogs. Anyone have any ideas?

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You Are A Train

You are a true romantic. You have big dreams about how life should be. You take life at a slow and steady pace. You try to appreciate every moment you have. You are a very visual person. You are always on the lookout for beauty and inspiration. You are able to relax and let go more than most people.

What Type of Transportation Are You?

That is almost completely wrong, lol... how about yours?

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The Eagle... er the Eyeglasses Have Landed!!!

I'll post pictures later. Now, I have BLOGHOPPING to catch up on!!

And, yes, at least thus far they really, REALLY help!!

WOOT!!!!!!!