Spring Begins

Rainy weekends and late freezes have been hampering my spring yard projects.  I think we are finally past the freezes so in between a few rain storms this weekend, I was able to get a little bit done.  I started with some color to get me in the mood to tackle the larger projects...like my weed issues and building out flower beds in the back.

I also refreshed the soil in my garden and planted a few items.  I am starting with 3 tomato plants, 1 jalapeno, 1 habenero and a squash plant.  This year I've removed the lattice squares.  This will help give the squash room to spread, as it tended to do last year.  In the pots I've got sweet basil, cilantro and then I'm trying my hand at some strawberries.

I actually planted the tomatoes a couple of weeks ago and they have really grown.  The others I just bought Saturday.  I still have plenty of room for a few more veggies but I'm still deciding what to add.  In the mean time I've got beds to build and weeds to kill.  The only thing still alive in one of my back bed seems to be my dog, who is really going to have to find a new place to hang out.

Biscuit's First Overnight Guest

Biscuit had her first over night guest this weekend!  Hank came to visit while his mom when to watch KU's basketball team get stomped in Waco Saturday night.  Casey has been Biscuit's only dog friend so far so I was excited to see how they hit it off.

It went great!  After a few sniffing sessions, they started playing and became inseparable.  Here are some shots of their weekend.

They slept back to back.  It was very cute.  After nonstop play they would rest pretty hard and by the end of the evening they were both conked out.

Tails are wagging up a storm in this picture

These two have become great friends and Biscuit can't wait for her next play date with Hank!

Biscuit Update

Biscuit is still loving life.  She recently redid her crate with a new Molly Mutt duvet.  The old one had several holes from the previous owner and she was enjoying digging on the holes.

Hopefully this one will stay in one piece for a while.  She is also still obsessed with the squirrels in our yard.  In her defense I really think the squirrels taunt her.

They get in the longest staring matches until the squirrels finally run off.  All of this excitement wipes her out by the end of the day.  Excuse the photo, but she's not the most ladylike sleeper.

We are both excited about spring around the corner.  We have had a few nice weekends and have really enjoyed jogs at White Rock Lake.  Biscuit also enjoys rest breaks.

I'm glad she has adjusted so well.  Even if she does torment Pablo on occasion.  Let's be honest...everyone torments Pablo by their mere existence.  He's not the most social character.

Bathroom Window Treatment

I searched premade window treatments for my little window in my guest bath but I either didn't like what I found or didn't want to fork over the money for it.  Story of my life.

I decided I was better off just making my own.  I searched fabric stores online but nothing really jumped out at me.  I liked how the ugly old shade let in light so I didn't want anything too heavy yet I didn't want just plain white.  I decided to just roam Target in search of fabric I liked.  I checked out their drapes, table clothes, sheets and shower curtains.  Random, yes.  But a cheap way to find fabric.  I found a keeper in the shower curtain aisle!

It is white with just a simple border pattern around the bottom.  My goal is to eventually sew this into a roman shade with the border along the bottom of the shade.  But until I get around for that, I figured I would just wrap it around my existing shade since the curtain was basically twice the width of my shade.

Biscuit was helpful as always with this process.  What's it with dogs and the need to sit on things?  I rolled the shade back up and stuck it on my window.

Not bad for a temporary fix.  Once I actually sew the roman shade, there will be less white at the bottom so the border will be lower.  And since I was at Target buying stuff (my new alarm clocks included) I picked up a couple more things for the bathroom including this awesome plant that I can not kill because it's plastic!

And I got a new print to hang above the towel rack.  It is a little bigger than the one I had hanging there before.

Hopefully I will finish painting all the trim tonight and be able to clean the bathroom back up.  It should be good to go until I get around to sewing my roman shade.  Note to self:  Google 'How to Make a Roman Shade' soon.

Office Rug

Back in November I finally bit the bullet an ordered a rug for my office.  I couldn't decide on a pattern so I just ended up going with white shag for now.  I found it on sale at RugsUSA and it arrived a little before Christmas. 

It was a little wavy at first so it has been relaxing for the past few weeks.  Biscuit seems to be a big fan.  She's in this room more than I am because it gives her a good squirrel watching view.  Here it is now, settling in with a few less waves.

Not a very lady-like pose

Obviously it looks a little better with sun coming in the windows but I took these pictures last night.  I'm still working on tweaking a few things in the room but it seems to be coming together!  And Biscuit's happy so that's all that really matters.

Biscuit's Stakeout

Since Biscuit moved in I've grown pretty used to toys being strewn all over my living room.  She's actually the first dog I've had that played with toys.  My other dogs never really showed any interest.

In the last week or so I've noticed that my living room was a lot neater than usual.  Maybe only one or two toys on the ground.  I also noticed she was wandering out of the living room for long periods of time.  Turns out she's started a new playroom in my dining room.

She had nine toys moved up by the front window.  She now sits up there for hours staring at the squirrels in the front yard.  It's become an obsession.  She's normally sitting on the bench but I couldn't catch her in action.

Luckily she's only barked a few times and that was at a cat.  She just likes to spy on the squirrels.  Weirdo. 

Biscuit Update

We have survived our first week together and so far, no casualties.  Biscuit has spent the week getting to know her surroundings thanks in part to her super long legs.

Pablo gets a little annoyed with her always trying to get him to play.  He's not really one for doing much other than sleeping. 

Pablo does enjoy having someone back in the house that is big enough to knock over the Kong Wobbler and make food spill out.  He could never quite master that on his own.

Biscuit is having fun in the backyard.  She chases an occasional squirrel but luckily hasn't caught one yet. 

And when she's not running around playing with every single toy she owns (sometimes all at the same time), she's learned to appreciate the art of napping.

She loves the sock monkey she stole from Pablo.  She seems pretty content with her new life other than the fact that the chihuahua won't play with her.  Maybe she can meet some friends after the holidays.

New Roommate, Take 2

So things didn't work out so well with Stewart and it was very sad.  Since then, I've been keeping my eyes on rescue dogs around the city.  I've been to more adoption events than I thought possible.  Yesterday, I grabbed my mom and headed over to Operation Kindness's no-kill shelter.  In just a couple of hours, my mom and I were wrangling this girl into the car.

Operation Kindness had her listed as a 2 year old Spaniel/American Cocker/Poodle mix.  Yeah...no.  She's a terrier mix of some sort.  Maybe a little Wheaten Terrier mix.  She looks very similar to my sweet Gracie that we lost a couple of years ago.

Gracie 2000-2011

Gracie was 25 lbs and short.  New Dog is 36 lbs with long legs.  Her name at the shelter was Adora.  Not the greatest name, especially considering I had just finished Gillian Flynn's book Sharp Objects with a horrible character by the same name.  She will now be known as Biscuit.

The ride home was a little crazy.  My mom had to sit with her in the backseat for the first leg of our journey back to my parents house.  She shook the whole way!  When it was time for me to drive her home, I had to get in the back seat with her and then climb up to the drivers seat.  Unfortunately she too decided that was a great idea and popped between my legs as I was climbing.  I thought I'd never get her home but she settled into the front seat and was good the whole ride.  Guess she just prefers shotgun.

Biscuit and Pablo get along as well as expected.  She follows him around and he growls at her.  That's true friendship for you.  She's settled in quite nicely, napping after sniffing around her new digs.

This morning she figured out she could get on the couch.  Oh well, I at least tried to curb that. 

She slept all night in the crate, whimpering just a little when I first put her in.  She is doing her potty business in all the right places and loving her dog food.  When the temperatures dropped this morning, we discovered she fit into Gracie's old polar fleece (which was always a bit big for G).

Hopefully our new roommate Biscuit will fit right in and like living with us! 

More Pins!

My parents located my old ski jacket and sure enough, my ski pins were still attached!  I was allowed to take the pins on the condition that I also took the jacket.  They claim that last part was a joke but I'm pretty sure a small part of them was trying to hint that they are not a free storage facility.  :) 

Upon seeing the jacket once again, I think the real reason they wanted it out of the house was because it was probably keeping them up at night.  It is seriously Day-Glo green.  Think green highlighter.  Here's a better picture of the actual color.

My nickname on the slopes was Lightbulb.  This jacket paired with my black stretch ski pants ensured nobody was losing me on any mountain.  It is actually a great coat, color aside.  Very warm and comfortable.  Maybe I should lend it to Pablo.  He's not loving our recent cold snap.  You know it's bad when he willingly wears clothing.

Anyway, now I have 5 pins to add to my shadow box and still room for plenty more adventures to be added!