Fletch

We finally got a dog.  Mr. Fletch came to our home on December 17.  We got him from the Humane Society.  Fletch is 2 and is a lab/English spaniel cross.  That's what we were told anyway.  Who knows if anyone really has any idea of his pedigree.  Here's a picture of Fletch, looking out the sliding door.

 

 That first day, Midnight totally ignored Fletch.  If Fletch entered a room, Midnight left.  But, they soon came to a truce and co-existed those first few days.  Since it was the start of my Christmas Break, I was home with they "boys" for two weeks which gave them plenty of time to get acquainted with each other, and for Fletch to get acquainted with us.

 Since we don't allow our dogs to be on the furniture, Fletch decided that the bay window was his spot.  Which is fine with everyone, even me.  However, I find that I have to wash that window more often because it gets covered with dog kisses now.

 After about a week, Midnight decided that Fletch was OK, and he lowered his dignity enough to "play".  It was half-hearted, but they did play.  By the first of January, they played a lot.  Inside, and outside.  Midnight has always been a timid dog, but he's mentoring Fletch fairly well.  He's taught Fletch that they stay in the yard instead of chasing cars.  (Fletch is slowly catching on to that.)  When they are outside, Fletch will watch Midnight to see where he can and cant go.  One thing Fletch needs to learn quickly is to leave my chickens alone.  He's been punished  for chasing them several times and, unfortunately, he was severely punished for killing one. 

He's also had to be punished for marking the couch in the basement...and helping himself to a stick of butter from the counter... and Kev's waffles...but he's learning.

He still isn't sure exactly where our boundaries are, because he ran toward the cattle in the neighboring pasture one day.  I called him off, and he came right to me, but he watches them from the bay window and growls at those trespassers.  He'll learn.

He's adopted Andy, and sleeps with him.  He'll get up in bed with us, but he wants to sleep between us, and that just won't work.  He's a good quiet dog and he did so well at Christmas with all the extra people of all sizes at our house. I think we got a good dog. 

Today will be the first time they'll be penned all day long.  Let's hope they both are good dogs and are in the pen when we get home tonight!

One last final shot. Of Midnight.  He wouldn't pose with Fletch, and I just had to take his picture...although, from his expression, you can tell how he enjoys photos!  Poor guy :)

Books read 2011

I finished entering in all the titles I read over Christmas, and then counted.  I read 100 books this past year!  Well, maybe more, because sometimes, when I re-read something, I don't write it down.  And I don't write down all the magazines I read either.  But, wow!  What an accomplishment.  This might explain why I haven't done much stitching this past year...

Part of the credit for me reading so many titles goes to Mrs. Coach, who I hired in late January.  She's a young thing--only 21, but she likes to read and she likes to read the same kinds of books I like to read.  I'm not sure if we're good for each other or not, and I'm not sure if our husband's appreciate us enabling each other.

Rather than give a brief review of each title, Let me just tell you my most favorite book of the year:

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness.  What an excellent book.  Yes, it has witches, and vampires, but neither fit any of our typical images.  It was a fluke that I picked up this book, but it was so well written.  I was even frustrated to reach the end, because it ended on a cliff hanger.  I'm eagerly awaiting the sequel which should be published sometime in 2012. (And I'm not giving you a synopsis...you can look it up on Amazon or Barnes & Noble to see what it's about!  Just take my word for it...it's GOOD!)

My least favorite book, and the one that disappointed me the most was Jean Auel's final novel in her Earth's Children series, Land of Painted Caves.  I felt that she recycled most of the book and didn't have any real plot until the last 1/3 of the book.  If she'd dumped the first 2/3 and started with the ending, I think it would have been a much better ending to a series that first appeared in 1982.

I read lots of series this year.  Lots of Fantasy titles (thanks Mrs. Coach) and I read the entire Sookie Stackhouse books.  I still managed to fit in some non-fiction titles.  Some to make me think and question my beliefs about many things, and some just for fun.

I apologize for not correctly formatting my book titles.  I should underline them all, but I'm not.  On a few titles, I did make some additional comments, but not all.

Without further ado...here's the list...


Once a Princess  by  Johanna Lindsey


Deep Down by Karen Harper

Endless Forest  by Sara Donanti --this one WAS a great ending to a great series.  The epilogue had me in tears.

The Templar Salvation  by Raymond Khoury

Star Crossed  by Elizabeth Bunce

Last Templar by Raymond Khoury

Jesus Interrupted by Bart D. Ehrman

Misquoting Jesus by Bart D. Ehrman

Great and Terrible Beauty  by Libba Bray

Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

The Exile by Diana Gabaldon--this one is a graphic novel based on Outlander

The sweet far thing by Libba Bray

Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins--an excellent series.  Who doesn't love a girl with a bow?

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Treachery in Death by J D Robb

Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

Sapphique by Catherine Fisher

Lost to Time: unforgettable stories that History forgot by Martin W. Sandler

A discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Sex, Time and Power by Leonard Shlain--his basic concept (in my mind) is that women were the first to develop a sense of time...That's not all, but that's what I remembered the most :)

Land of painted caves by Jean Auel

The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman

Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

Calling for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

Talking to Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts

Rangers apprentice 10: Emperor of Nihon-Ja by John Flanagan

Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning

Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning

Faefever by Karen Marie Moning

Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning

Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning

Throne of Fire by Rick Riordan--Riordan's books look at Mythology in a new way.  Makes it fun for kids to read these and then actual mythological stories.  They're fun, fun, fun!

Crying Blood by Donis Casey

Immortal by Gillian Shields

Betrayal by Gillian Shields

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Deadly Hollows

Dragon's Time by Todd McCaffrey

Smokin' seventeen by Janet Evanovich

Hold me closer Necromancer by Lish McBride

The Dark is Rising Series (6 books) Susan Cooper

Dead until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris

Club Dead by Charlaine Harris

Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

The Sun Witch by Linda Winstead Jones

The Moon Witch by Linda Winstead Jones

The Star Witch by Linda Winstead Jones

All that is bitter & sweet by Ashley Judd

Mapping Human History by Steve Olson

Dead as a Doornail by Charlaine Harris

Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris

All Together Dead by Charlaine Harris

From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris

Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

Dead in the family by Charlaine Harris

Prince of Magic by Linda Winstead Jones

Prince of Fire by Linda Winstead Jones

Prince of Swords by Linda Winstead Jones

Untouchable by Linda Winstead Jones

Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris

Game of Thrones by George R R Martin

22 nights by Linda Winstead Jones

Bride by Command by Linda Winstead Jones

She-Wolves: the women who ruled England before Elizabeth by Helen Castor

New York to Dallas by J. D. Robb

Tears of the Sun by S. M. Stirling

Centuries of June by Keith Donohue

The Unquiet by JD Robb

Harvest by Tess Gerritsen

The Sookie Stackhouse Companion by Charlaine Harris

Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan

None wounded, none missing, all dead: story of E.B. Custer by Howard Kazanjian & Chris Enss

Ranger's Apprentice: The Lost Stories by John Flanagan

Growing and canning your own food by Jackie Clay

Stories of a self-reliant woman by Jackie Clay

The Next Always by Nora Roberts

Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

Second Grave on the Left by Draynda Jones

Sex with the Queen by Eleanor Herman--Yes, this is a book about sex.  Actually it's about Queens and their lovers.  Quite interesting.  Ms. Herman also wrote one about the Sex with Kings too.

Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich

The Scottish Prisoner by Diana Gabaldon

Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer

Sword Dancer by Jennifer Roberson

Sword maker by Jennifer Roberson

Sword Breaker by Jennifer Roberson

Sword Singer by Jennifer Roberson

Sword Born by Jennifer Roberson

Sword Sworn by Jennifer Roberson

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Wagon Wheel Kitchens: food on the Oregon trail by Jacqueline Williams

Midnight, the escape artist

Two weeks ago, we lost our Lab, Emily.  It was a sudden, unexpected death. 

Kev and Andy were home with her and they buried her in our pasture.  While they were taking care of Em, they made sure that our other dog, Midnight, was with them the entire time--to ensure that he knew where Em had gone and that she was gone.  They were buds. 

For the first couple of days, Midnight would look for Em.  He wouldn't eat because he was waiting for her to eat.  He would go around the house and look for her.  When we'd let him out, he'd wait for her to join him.  It was heartbreaking.

He'd go to their pen and wait for Em to join her and would look at us with such pitiful eyes when we'd shut him up alone.  We've always penned our dogs when we're gone for the day--to ensure their safety, and the safety of my chickens and goats (when we had them.) 

Last week, Midnight got out of his/their dog pen.  He then tried to get into the house.  We found pieces of the brick molding from around the door scattered on the ground.  The trim around the door itself was destroyed.  There were claw marks in the siding and even beside the garage door.  (We have cedar siding, so it's relatively soft.)

I checked beside the sliding door upstairs, and discovered a nice "hole" in the trim and a pile of splinters.  I wouldn't put it past him to figure out how to open the sliding glass door.

Andy and I discovered that he'd chewed a hole in the chain link of his gate and pushed through it.  We blocked it (we hoped) and made sure we left him toys and chew treats the next day.

He was out when we got home.

Kev spent the weekend reinforcing the gate and put up some stock panel on the gate.  It's a heavier gauge than chain link, so he was fairly confident that it would deter more escapes.

It didn't.

Midnight was out again last night.  He didn't chew through, but had pushed the gate frame enough it's stretched and created a gap large enough for him to squeeze through.  And this time, he tried to open the screen door on the sliding door.  He managed to yank the screen door completely off--but left incriminating teeth marks on the aluminum frame.

Obviously, he doesn't like being alone in his pen.
Obviously, he doesn't like rawhide bones, beef bones, or chew toys.
Obviously we have a problem.

We either need to find another dog--soon, or figure out a way to stop the destruction.  If we can't...well, we won't think about any other options at this time.  He's a good dog...most of the time...he's just never been alone and obviously doesn't cope with being alone well.

It's frustrating.  I'm not so sure our house can survive Kev's remodeling and the dog...

Stair project, the continuting saga

Christmas is 3 weeks away. 

I'm hosting the family Christmas dinner. 

And THIS is what my house looks like..

.

Yep, I have a hole in my floor. 

A hole that also has a water line, furnace duct work, electrical wiring and cable wiring that all goes to mystery locations.  All need to come out and be re-routed before the stair framework can be put in.  Which has to be completed before the staircase can be put up. Which has to be put in before the old stairs get removed which will require more wiring to be moved... and so on and so on.

And, Kev thinks he can have it all looking nice before Christmas...

Right.

Christmas is in 20 days...

And we still don't have any stair treads.

And I've expressed my doubts about any real progress being made before Christmas.  Which  Kev shrugs off...

sigh...

We've made a bet.  I bet Kev that he won't have this project completed in a year.  Completely finished in a year.  If he loses, I get a weekend trip planned by him.  If I lose, he gets the satisfaction that he's right, "as usual."  (That's what he picked folks!)

I just want it somewhat put together by Christmas.  USEABLE by Christmas.  Safe for little ones to maneuver by Christmas. 

Stay tuned...

Always a bridesmaid

So...I'm going to be in another wedding.

You'd think that at my age, all of my friends were done with the wedding thing, but that's not so.  One of my friends, of over 20 years is getting married--again.  It's her second marriage, but the groom's first.  And, since she didn't have a wedding the first time around, they've decided to go for it.  And she asked me to be one of the bridesmaids.  Or matron.  Whatever.

Saturday, we met in Salina at the David's Bridal Store to find dresses.  And everyone who reads here knows how much I like to shop.  And you all probably know how much I detest dresses.  Yep, I was NOT looking forward to this...not at all.  And, the bride knew it and let me pout and pretty much ignored me and made me do it.  Basically she reminded me it's all about her and not about me.

She knows me pretty well.

But you know what?

It wasn't that bad.

Granted she made me try on 786 dresses. (and I even shaved my legs.)

But it still wasn't that bad.

It was my first time ever actually trying on dresses for a wedding.  In all the ump-teen weddings I've been in, I've never had any input in what I was wearing.  I was just called and asked, "what size of dress do you wear?" 

And I didn't have a "real" wedding dress when Kev and I got married.  My dress came from a department store.  I saw it in the window, went in, tried it on and bought it probably 2 years before Kevin ever proposed. 

So I never tried on wedding dresses.

The bride did try on a dress--she'd been in before and had narrowed down her choices to two.  The first dress she put on was the one she bought.  We all agreed it was the right dress, and shared a few tears too.

So...all in all, I'm glad that I'm a bridesmaid...again...at my age.  Cause otherwise, I would have never gotten to experience this custom.

Miss Kat was with us.  She soaked it all in.  And...somehow, I think that someday, I'll find myself in a bridal shop, trying on dresses and watching a different bride and I'll probably cry on that day too.