First of all, some extreme cuteness, I hope you can handle it:
 
Friday was a Holiday, so I took Winston to the vet for all his shots and then we went to dog beach. Winston was a little overwhelmed by it all, and I think he was probably not 100% after all the vaccinations (I think he had 3, including a rattlesnake vaccine), so he spent most of the time like this:

That’s my knee his head is resting on. Oh well, it was a beautiful day, and it’s always fun to go there and watch all the dogs running around and having fun. Afterward, we went to the dog wash. Winston is not fond of baths, but we made it through and then went to a dog-friendly place for lunch. He got a lot of compliments for his good behavior.

I’ve also been feverishly working on quilts, and I just might make it in time, thanks to my mom who is helping out by doing all the hand-quilting of one quilt, while I do the other. There may even be pictures in a week or so.

I also thought I’d try coloring some Easter eggs. Here’s what you get when you start out with brown and blue eggs:

I like how the speckles came through on the yellow-y egg. Now I just have to figure out what to do with a dozen hard boiled eggs. I love deviled eggs, but there’s only two of us, I don’t think we can eat 24 deviled eggs.

One last bit of cuteness:

Lucy always has to get involved when I take the camera out.

I’m pretty sure I’m not going to have much time for writing the rest of the week, but I’ll try and post a few photos here and there. Happy Spring!   

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Does your to-do list ever get completely out of control? Mine seems to have developed a mind of its own, but I’m showing it who’s boss and whipping it into shape, although I may soon collapse from exhaustion. I may be exaggerating a little, but still, sheesh, I have a lot to do right now. I even had to add ‘clip fingernails’ to the list, because I kept forgetting and I just don’t do long nails, and they were getting annoying.

I did take a little time out for a couple nice activities, however. First of all, I took some pictures of the ornamental plum trees at our post office, which are currently fully in bloom. I think I’m going to send one of these to my sister for this week’s Photoshop picture, and see what she comes up with. I played around a little with giving it a cross-processing effect, which I kind of like.

Before:

After:

I like them both. The sky was so brilliantly blue this morning, it was just perfect for taking pictures.

I also needed to make an Easter bunny egg cozy, because I didn’t have one.

The pattern is from an Yvestown/Cherry Menlove collaboration. I used a felted angora sweater, which I thought was apprpriate. And notice the egg cup matches Yvonne‘s (from a previous Christmas swap). My bunny is quite startled by the fact that he has an entire egg inside him.

You can see more bunnies in the Flickr pool.

So now, for the rest of the month I have to buckle down and finish two quilts for a new book from Lark. I was just looking at their website, and the one with my little yo-yo quilt is coming out soon and it looks really good.  Two quilts in one month? No problem. Heh.
   

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You all are really great at naming pets; I liked all the suggestions, thank you so much! Shortly after I finished that post I was looking at lists of pet names, and I found Winston, which was also mentioned in the comments a couple times. It fits him very well, being English and all, and he seems to like it. I loved Henry, but my grandfather’s name was Henry, so I couldn’t use that. Funnily enough, I had several beta fish while I was in college, and they were always named Fred. I thought Ned and Charlie were so cute too. Ned makes me think of Nancy Drew’s boyfriend, and is a great dog name (no offence to Nancy Drew). Buddy is a nickname I always call animals, so that will undoubtedly be used regularly. I think his middle name should definitely be Lucky, because according the pet rescue lady, he came from a shelter with a four-day limit before animals are put down. Lucky also, because although I’m sure these pet rescue people have the best of intentions, I’m not so sure they really know what they are doing.

Caution: mini-rant ahead.

We adopted our cats from the Helen Woodward Animal Center. I can’t recommend that place highly enough. They take excellent care of the animals, and will not adopt out any pets that aren’t in perfect health. Petey and Lucy both had ringworm when they arrived there, and underwent six months of treatment before they were eligible for adoption. When we wanted to handle various cats they made us wear gloves and wash our hands in between playing with the various cats. At the time we thought all these precautions were a little excessive, but we took home two healthy cats, so we didn’t complain. Paperwork and adoption fees were all very straight-forward, and while they asked a lot of questions to make sure we knew we were committing to a lifetime of care for these cats they weren’t overly intrusive.

The pet rescue people, on the other hand, set up a bunch of pens in front of the pet store and have two or three dogs in the pens together. People are constantly walking by, petting one dog and then another. A couple dogs, including Winston, had diarrhea. The lady cleaned it up right away in each case, but still, it wasn’t a good indicator of the health of the animals. It was so busy that it was hard to find out about the dogs, let alone be able to spend time with them. When I came back with Mr. Heylucy it took forever for the lady to give us a straight answer on the adoption fee and for her to give us the paperwork to fill out. She kept telling us the same story over and over, about how he was at a shelter in San Bernardino, she had to have him neutered, she had him groomed, but he got muddy, how handsome he was right after he was groomed, she needed to cover her costs for the trip to Los Angeles and the neutering and the grooming, blah, blah, blah. Finally, I went inside to buy him a food dish, and Mr. Heylucy told her to cut the drama and tell us what the fee was, let us fill out the paperwork and take the darn dog already. He has a soft heart when it comes to animals, but no patience when it comes to getting the run around. I was starting to feel like we really needed to get the dog out of there, to rescue him from the rescue operation.

Yesterday I took him to the vet to get all checked out. He’s healthy and perky, but of course he has kennel cough, is susceptible to getting a doggie cold, and has a pretty nasty parasite. All of the above are the result of too many dogs being too close together. Of course, now Bear and Reggie have been exposed to all these things, so we may be paying the vet another visit. It may not have been so wise to bring Winston home so quickly, but at least I know that we will take care of our animals, and make sure that they get healthy as quickly as possible if they start showing signs of any illnesses (just an aside, if you live in East San Diego County, the Singing Hills Animal Hospital is an excellent place, I highly recommend them!). I just don’t know if people should be in the business of rescuing pets unless they are committed to keeping them healthy and have the facilities to isolate those that are sick. I find the whole thing really frustrating. So, just be aware, and if you go to Petco while they have a pet adoption group out front, don’t bring your dog in the store with you (our vet said that just walking by a dog with kennel cough is enough to catch it, it’s that contagious), and don’t even look at those poor animals unless you are prepared to take them straight to the vet’s office and have them treated for one or more illnesses. I don’t want to knock someone for wanting to help animals; I just want them to do a better job. It seems that if you really love animals, you’ll do what you can to keep them happy and healthy. Okay, that is the end of my rant for today.

Isn’t Winston cute? I know this picture is fuzzy, but Winston is fuzzy, so it’s a good representation. He also got a bath yesterday, and he cleaned up so nice, even if he didn’t enjoy the bath all that much.

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across my forehead that says, "Sucker". This little guy was in a pen outside Petco this weekend when I dropped by to pick up some cat food. I called Mr. Heylucy and asked him to tell me no, I cannot bring home a dog. Unfortunately, he didn’t. Then I called my sister-in-law. She told me to get the dog. I went all the way home, and Mr. Heylucy said we should go back, if I really thought he was a nice dog, and bring him home.


He’s three years old, and a sheepdog or bearded collie, or some combination, and seems to be settling in just fine. He doesn’t have a name, so suggestions are welcome.

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This picture has nothing to do with anything, I just walked out this weekend and saw this sight, and it cracked me up. Why were the chickens lined up on the steps? I have no idea. They were just hanging out.

I don’t know if anyone really wants to read about my healthy eating
quest, but there were a lot of comments on the vegetable post the other
day. I’m not sure what that means, however, as the comments, mostly by
my family members, quickly degenerated into talk of um, er, bodily
functions. I’m also not sure what that says about my family. Anyway,
I’m going to continue to talk about the healthy eating thing, because
it’s my blog and I want to.

I’ve found myself at that awkward stage, where I’ve lost a few
pounds, and my pants are getting too big, but I don’t quite fit in the
next size down. It’s a dilemma, a couple pair of my favorite pants fall
down a little too much for comfort, and I may be risking plumber’s
butt. I think I’ll put in some waist darts in the meantime. Sadly, I
haven’t lost enough that people have commented or asked if I’m losing
weight. That will be a happy day when that happens.

All that was to say that I’ve been trying to find ways to add more
vegetables to my diet. I actually like vegetables, but you can only eat
so much steamed broccoli. It’s nice to have a little variety. One of my
favorite vegetable inventions is this version of fried rice. It’s very
satisfying, and packed with vegetables, and doesn’t actually have a lot
of rice. It’s also really versatile, you can substitute whatever
vegetables you have in the fridge (or even in the freezer), the main
thing is to finely chop or shred whatever you decide to use.

Super Vegetable Fried Rice
This is about 3 servings
All measurements are approximate

One large carrot, shredded
One medium zucchini, shredded
One small onion, diced
4-5 mushrooms, thinly sliced
A couple baby sweet peppers, thinly sliced (I used yellow and red)
A handful of snow peas, sliced on the diagonal
A small broccoli floret, finely chopped
A handful of frozen peas
A couple handfuls of fresh baby spinach leaves
2 eggs
A cup of cooked brown rice
A drizzle of canola oil
A
few tablespoons of ponzu sauce (a kind of citrus-y soy sauce, found in
the Asian foods aisle), if you can’t find ponzu sauce, soy sauce will
do, maybe add a dash of rice vinegar and lemon juice
Chili Sauce to taste (I like a little spiciness, but you don’t have to add it if you are not spicy like me)

Heat the oil in a wok or skillet, and start adding the vegetables,
the hardest ones first (carrots, onions, peppers). Stir occasionally.
Keep adding until all the vegetables, except the spinach are in there.
Meanwhile, beat the eggs and scramble them in a separate pan. Once the
vegetables are cooked and softened, but not soggy, add the rice,
spinach, and then some ponzu sauce and chili sauce. Heat through (I
prefer my spinach just barely wilted, which is why I add it last). Once
it’s seasoned to your liking, add the eggs. Stir it all up one more
time, and eat. You can also garnish it with some thinly sliced green
onions and/or fresh cilantro. I sometimes make it with sauteed chicken
or shrimp, but you can add whatever kind of protein you have at the
moment. It’s also pretty filling just the way it is. I like this
because the ratio of vegetables to rice is really high, probably about
3 to 1, but shredding and chopping everything makes it all very similar
in texture, so you still feel like you’re eating lots of rice, even
though you’re not really.

I’ve been looking around for food blogs that focus on healthy foods,
but I haven’t had a lot of luck. I really like Noshtopia, which I found
the other day. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

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I joined Elsie Marley’s mobile swap and finished up my mobile this weekend. I have to say, mobiles are not easy to photograph, but you can sort of get the idea.


This is going to live in a little girl’s room, so I decided on butterflies and hung them from blossom covered branches which you may remember from last Easter.


It was a bit tricky getting the butterflies to hang straight, but overall I like how it came out, although the photos don’t really capture it very well. Now to find a box to ship it in…

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I was tagged by Claire of Needlebook to share 7 things about me. Thanks Claire! I mean, who doesn’t love to talk about themselves? So here you go:

1. I have to sort my M&M’s by color and then eat them so that there is always the same number of every color left. Thankfully, I don’t eat them very often. Oh, and on my semi-annual trips to the movie theater, I must have popcorn, peanut M&M’s and a diet coke. And then I have to run to the bathroom as soon as the movie is over, because I always get the big diet coke. Luckily I only go to the movies a couple times a year. I really like Netflix.

2. Some things that make me inexplicably sad: old men eathing alone in restaurants, and flat bed trucks with stacks of smushed up cars going to the dump. I’m tearing up just thinking about those two things.

3. I better think of things that make me happy. Here are a few: watching my chickens and collecting fresh eggs, homemade cookies and snow.  Having pajama days are good once in a while, especially when they include snow, homemade cookies, and laying in bed watching a good movie. Hanging my clothes on the line to dry on a sunny Saturday morning is nice too.

4. I’m a bit of an Anglophile. I watch a lot of BBC America, and I think I should live in a thatched cottage in a small English village. I get a little thrill when I see how many British visitors I have to my blog. However, I do not pretend I am British and speak with an accent like Madonna, because that is just ridiculous. I secretly wish that I could pronounce schedule and vitamin and herbs in the British way though. I’ve only been there once, and it was as wonderful as I imagined.

5. I am generally a very nice, mild-mannered person, but one thing turns me into a raving lunatic: getting behind the wheel of my car. I have terrible road rage. My biggest pet peeves are tailgaters and tailgators at night with their headlights on bright. Since I spend a couple hours every day in my car, this is probably not a good thing. I may have embarrassed my sister slightly while she was visiting when I got angry at a lady for cutting me off in a parking lot. Parking karma was with me, however, when the person she followed to their car ended up just putting something in and walking away. Meanwhile, I passed her, followed a second group of people to their car, and parked while she still had to look for another space. Also, I drive a Turbo Beetle with flower taillights, so I can be very intimidating on the road. Don’t be jealous.

6. When I fast forward through the commercials on my Tivo, I have to hold my breath. I don’t know why.

7. Despite the fact that I am 6 feet tall, I am the shortest in my family. My three brothers and sister are all taller than me. A downside of being tall is that I have large feet. Not that I mind, if they were smaller I think that would look funny and I would probably fall over more. Finding size 11 shoes is not easy, finding cute size 11 shoes is even harder, and finding cute size 11 shoes that don’t have 3-4" heels is the hardest of all. Last month I spent way to many hours searching for shoes and finally found a couple pair that I didn’t hate at Nordstrom. They were quite expensive, but I was tired of shoe shopping so I sucked it up and bought them. I also think that we have just gone through a non-cute shoe season, and I have high hopes for the Spring/Summer shoes.

The tagging forward is the hard part for me, I think this has been around for awhile and a lot of people have already done it, but I am going to tag some family members and some recent commenters whose blogs I have discovered lately. So if you’re on this list, consider yourself tagged:

Sijbrich (my sister)
Vanessa (my sister-in-law)
Jenny
Lisa
Odd Dotty
Ellen
Judy

Write seven things about yourself, and then tag seven others. Leave them a comment to let them know you tagged them!

Oh, and Photoshop Sisters is up and running and posting is happening quite regularly. There are already some fun things to try, so go visit! I’ll come up with a button for you to steal in the next week or so. 

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