Spring... Slowly

I had a little chickadee photography subject today.
She was in a flower pot on the deck just hangin' out, she didn't mind the camera at all :)



It was a beautiful day and I did spend some time outside. I watched the guys repair the dam, and even had a few geese visitors. I just love when the geese and ducks come back. The pond is still pretty frozen, but they managed to find some thawed parts to play in.
My little chickadee hung out for awhile, even when she decided to grab onto the deck.



I'll have to take some photos for you tomorrow. The horse area is just a muddy swamp, and they still choose to roll in it. I tried to capture the rolling but it didn't happen. They are just covered in mud. Marble still tries to rub against me too.. the funny little horse.

I'll be back in Seattle next month for a couple of trips. I will go up one weekend on my own, since the hubs will be playing in LA with a friend.
Then we will head back another week to look at real estate. We hope to also head up into Canada for a couple of days also.

I ordered a new lens for my Canon 5D :).. So of course I need a new place to try it out. :)

Soggy

Not much exciting to report from here. It was a very quiet weekend.
We've had a alot of snow melting so it has turned the ground very wet and just messy. I walked around the property today and we have many trees that have fallen over.
I checked the dam on the pond and found most of the water was going through it instead of through this large draining pipe. So, I had to call someone out here to check it out. They will be back tomorrow to work on it.
I did have geese show up, but with the pond being frozen, they didn't stay long. Just not quite time yet.

And, that's about it.
Like I said, it's just been quiet.

I Made This :)

Sourdough Bread ~ Toasted
Bacon,Tomato,Egg and Cheese with Mayo.

Yum :)

Did You Hear That?

Bad Dog

So I went into the big city yesterday. I let Taylor come along since she's home alone now.
I wandered through some of the stores while the hubs did his own thing in town.
I went to Starbucks and had a White Chocolate Mocha (yum) and as I was paying, I noticed their pastry shelf. They had all these wonderful sinful desserts. One cupcake was just beautiful, and if you've ever looked at food and said "beautiful" or drooled, then you would have loved this cupcake. It didn't even look real.
The cupcake above is similar but doesn't even do it justice. It was a mixture of dark and white chocolates and shavings, a ganache like glaze going down the sides, just a piece of art. So, of course, I had to have it.
Main reason? I wanted to take photos of it :)

So, I had them put it in this little pastry box and seal it so it wouldn't get damaged on the way home. I also, put this pastry box in a bag and then on the floorboard in the back seat of the truck. It was safe. Or, so I thought.

We went on to do the normal grocery shopping and a few errands in town. When we came back to the truck, ugh, I started putting groceries in the back when I saw it.
The massacre. The crime scene.
That dog had gone into the bag and managed somehow to pull the box out of the bag and demolish the cupcake. I couldn't believe it!
She's never done anything like this before. We couldn't leave Brock in the truck with anything, but never Taylor. I seriously thought I was going to kill her.
Yeah, I know, it's just a cupcake, but the fact that she did what she did really pissed me off. Plus, she just inhaled a cupcake with about three different chocolates in it, and got chocolate all over the back seat of the truck. Heh, at least the truck smells good :)

So, that kind of put a halt on us doing anything else in town because we now had a backseat full of food. We couldn't do anymore shopping and we couldn't go out to eat like we wanted to.
And, I lost my pretty cupcake :(

So she's in trouble. She won't go shopping with me anymore.
And she just might regret eating that much chocolate, physically speaking.

I might go back to town next week.
And I will buy another cupcake :)

Darn

Scavenger Hunt : Drink

1 Sheep, 2 Sheep, 3 Sheep

I had the strangest night.
I decided to take a sleep aide. Maximum strength it said.
It started out beautifully, I got sleepy and fell to sleep.
Then...
I kept having these strange feelings like my body didn't want to stay still.
My body was having these little twitches. I can't really explain it, but it was freaky. Involuntary spasms is the best term I can come up with.
But, I was extremely tired. So the mixture of the two feelings was just horrible. My body wanted to move and get up, my brain wanted to sleep.
I got up a couple of times just to see if it would go away, but then I was too woozy and dizzy to really walk around much.
Sigh... it was awful.
Then of course, this morning I was like a zombie. I didn't want to get up and when I did I felt like I had been hit by a semi.

I think I prefer being up until 4am.
No more over-the-counter sleep medication for me.

I went into the big city today, another adventure I'll be back to tell you about, but ponder this while I'm away...

Anyone want a dog? Small terrier mix.. free. I'll even ship.
She's in big big trouble.

Kitty Torture

I headed out for a bit this morning. The sun was shining for awhile and I actually had some things to do. I didn't drive into the real big city since hubs and I will go tomorrow, but I did head into a larger town in Idaho to do a few things.

I looked around for photo opportunites but just nothing inspired me. So... I came back and tortured the cats for awhile.



I got them this new toy, it's like a tube to run in and out of, and closes like an accordion. Of course, Trout just kept smashing it and sitting on top of it. He did get inside of it once while it was sitting on end.
And of course, he tortured any other cat that wanted to get in it.



Sinclair did get a few minutes to herself to enjoy the new toy :)

.

While reading at all hours of the morning, one of the helpful ideas for insomnia was to exercise. So, I WILL get back on the treadmill tomorrow and might even start my yoga again.
We'll see how this helps :)

No Glass, Please

Is it too early to put this on my Christmas list?

How about St. Patricks Day?
Easter?

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

I've figured out that my body is accepting just snippets of sleep lately. An hour here, an hour there. Sometimes even a half hour will do. It seems when this happens, I awake almost refreshed. Not that that lasts, but it seems satisfied anyway.
I read up on insomnia tonight, as I have before. I have all the signs and symptoms. I read all of the recommendations and have even tried some. I read some tonight I might give a try.
I don't drink half the caffeine I used too.
I do drink alcohol sometimes, but not everyday.
I have sleeping pills, which sometimes take the exact opposite effect.
I have the "white noise" which I already know I need. I can't sleep in complete silence. My mind still just races.
I've tried sleepy teas.
I don't exercise before I go to bed. Even though, they do recommend exercise which I've been meaning to get back to doing.
Do I worry and think too much? Of course.

There are many recommendations for sleep and many reasons why I may not be sleeping listed on these sites.
And a lot of their signs are right on. I'm not going to list them all here, I've posted them before. But it makes sense and I just need to do something about it. Without prescription medications if I can.

I do have a list a natural remedies to try, but it's hard to get to the right store for these items, but I'm going to try. Maybe I should look online.

People always joke that I must be part cat, or have been a cat in a previous life.
Heh.. I WISH I had half the sleep in me that these cats do.

If Only

I could sleep this easily.

They Play

Mine's Bigger Than Yours

We cleared off some land this last fall. As you see, this is what's left of it after the snow melted today. And in the background you can see the GInormous burn pile.
This is along the driveway. You can't actually see it from the house, so at least it's not an eyesore. But, it's there, waiting.



This will of course be cleaned up, seeded,and fenced in for the horses at some point, but now it's just a big swampy mess. I almost ran out to take my pic with it so you could see how really big it is, but there's no way I could have done it in time with the timer. And, who knows how far I would have sunk in.
You know, Leesa's Law.



I can just imagine my nerves when they decide to burn this thing. I just know I'll be left alone with it at different times and imagine all kinds of scenarios of it going out of control and causing havoc.
I know, know, they do it all the time. But I don't.
And not SO close to my house.

Just wait for those blog entries :)

Caption Me

Fever

I decided to stay home today, for two reasons... I was up until almost 5am....I know, don't ask. And, it's just gorgeous outside. I wanted to enjoy this sunny warm day while I had it.
The idea of sitting in my car an hour each way, walking around stores and crowds just didn't do it for me.

The runoff from snow has overflowed the creek so you can hear it rushing by. There's a slight breeze, which can be chilly, but makes the day even more springy-like. 65 degrees and few clouds...nice :)



I spent a large part of the morning doing things outside. The cats were very happy to be in the sun, and also very helpful. I picked up a lot of stuff in the yard that seems to disappear under the snow. I also located many of Brock's outside toys, that was kind of a bummer :(



I had to break up a bunch of hay today (fun), and so much nicer to do it in sun with dry ground. Me and my friend the pitchfork spent some time together. The horses were also very helpful. They don't seem to mind getting their noses stuck with the pitchfork either. Not too bright.



I did walk around the property some, but with the brown and wet and yuck, just not many pretty photos to be had right now. The pond, although melting, is still covered in ice, and there's just not much green yet.



Otis, as usual, follows me around while I do these things, rolling around and wanting attention. I decided, as you can see, to go for the up the nose shots on the animals. And yes, I laid on the ground for some of these. Wow..what I'll do for my friends ;)
Look at the great sky above him!



Tweet really didn't care what I was doing. He found himself a nice warm spot and took a nap.

I had a lot of stuff to talk about between 4 and 5am, but I couldn't decide whether I was writing to write, or if I was writing because I was delirious at that hour.
I decided blogging-while-delirious wasn't an option so decided against it.
I still might write about it later. But for now, I think I'll enjoy the rest of daylight while I have it :)

Blue

Look.
It's blue.
The sky is blue today.
Spaz is happy :)

Melting

Heat wave today, I think it's up to 50 degrees. It feels great, even though I wish sun were with it.
A lot of the snow is slowly melting away.
I walked around the property some this morning, checked on the thawing pond, making sure the dam was holding up. Our front yard is like a swamp at the moment, you practically need rubber boots to walk around.
It's weird to walk around a yard that's part swamp, part ice.
I did find some antlers lying around, but that was about the excitement of the walk.

Most of you remember the little fawn with the burnt leg, she was here this morning. Her leg is doing great and you can see where only white hair grew back in where the burn was.
It's cool to actually recognize the deer that hang out. A few of them followed me to the pond and back, I guess wanting some kind of treat. I threw out a few carrots, which the horses seemed to disagree with.
Oh and something new I learned.....deer love pumpkin. Smash up a pumpkin and throw it in your yard and the deer will engorge. Maybe I will grow pumpkins in the garden this year :)

I'm going to drive into the Big City tomorrow, I found a store I want to check out, full of pretty-shiny-girly things. I might actually even splurge and hit Starbucks while I'm there. Should I take my laptop in and blog from Starbucks? Talk on my phone and have my ipod in my ear? Oh..and take my photo for 365 all at the same time?

Yeah, I know.
I need caffeine.

Let's Have Cake :)

Feelin Lucky, Punk?

Each weekend that the hubs is home, it turns into guy-movie weekend. Since he isn't home much, I reluctantly go along with it. I can usually tune it out by playing here, or chatting with a friend. I don't dare turn on a chick flick..heh.

Now, I can handle some of them. I like The Bourne Identity & Supremecy, and I even liked The Rock the other night.
But..
If I have to sit through Die Hard, National Treasure, Cliffhanger, ANY John Wayne movie, Tombstone, The Unforgiven, Wyatt Earp, Lethal Weapon, Goodfellas, Terminator, Dirty Harry, Bullitt, The Untouchables or any of the numerous war movies, I'm going to implode.

Now.. I'm not saying I didn't like some of these movies the first FIVE times I saw them, but seriously.. it's gettin old.

I'm watching You've Got Mail right now just to push out all the testosterone I've endured this weekend.
Ok ok.. so I won't go into how many times I've seen some of my chick flicks, but that's different :P

Oh and the wildest thing. Last night I was watching The Towering Inferno and I dozed for a few minutes. When I woke up, it was an HOUR later! And, the movie was still about in the same spot as when I dozed.

Imagine that ;)