Lucie and Lily Tails.

Here are some new photos of the besties, Lucie and Lily. I must admit they struggle for the alpha role sometimes. They also still want to own Little Princess. But, most days they just tear through the house, up and down the stairs and stealthily steal toys from one another. Sneaky they are.

Tug-a-war is a favorite game.

Unfortunately, this was right before Santa Dog met his demise. LILY!

They like to spend time lounging in the yard and basking in the sun.

There is almost nothing cuter than dogs smiling.

Well, maybe dog butts.

Or dog butts in the morning. I know, me bad.

More Lucie and Lily Tails to come.

My Newest Roommate.

I will soon share a room with the best roommate in the world. My granddaughter Butterfly. I am in the process of moving to a new city. Same state, just a new city. I am still unemployed and hoping to find better job prospects in my new town.

Butterfly and I are not strangers on the roommate front. She and Cinderella lived with us when Butterfly was an infant and she spent many a wonderful night with me as a young child. We get along like peas and carrots and she already has plans for activities.

Of course, Lucie my big, red dog will join us on this adventure. I already warned Butterfly about the possibility of Lucie joining this pajama party. We have plans to swim, walk Lucie, play with her little brother, D. D., and surely have some interesting conversations.

Here is a photo of some of the texts I received from Butterfly.

Not the best photo, although, the point is clear.

I am blessed.

See How My Garden Grows – Winter Harvest Continued.

A couple of days ago I went to check out my winter garden. I found more leaf lettuce along with onion and carrots. I made them into a delicious salad.

Here is some spinach that will soon be mature enough to eat.

I left a few onions to see if maybe they would mature into full-fledged red onions. We shall see.

Of course, Lucie my big, red dog always has to get into the picture.

I was pleased to see flowers blooming in my pots. Spring is in the air and flowers always fill my soul.

Lucie and I try to walk daily. Sometimes that does not happen, but we give it our best effort. I found these precious wildflowers on one such outing.

Of course, Lucie loves to smell the flowers as much as I do.

Love that big, red dog.

See How My Garden Grows – Dang How Long Has It Been?

The summer before last I attempted to grow a plethora of veggies and flowers.  I succeeded with some and failed with others. Considering I live in the Desert Southwest where the temps reach over 100 degrees on most days during the summer, I think I did my best.

Last September I decided to throw out a few seeds to see what what would happen. My conclusions are, not to try so hard. Give it your best shot and God willing, you just might get something without working so hard.

I was pleasantly surprised to find life in the garden. Not much life, but still. Life

Here are my onions that are providing me with some tasty chives. I added them to ham and beans, egg salad, and breakfast burritos. I am hoping the onions will mature, but I am not counting on that happening. Oh, and a couple of carrots came up too.

This is a small patch of lettuce. We shall see how they turn out.

While I was out picking up Miss Lucie my big, red dog’s poo. I found a couple of plants growing in the yard. I am quite sure this is a succulent. I love the red color. I promptly picked up a shovel and transplanted it into a pot.

This pretty little plant now resides next to a succulent that I picked up at our local home improvement store last summer. The bright green accented with red pleases my eye every time I gaze upon it.

My very best friend, Lady Red gave me some aloe and a plant that for the life of me I can not remember the name. I thought the plant was gone. While picking up poo, I was pleased to see that the plant was still there, small yes, but still alive. I once again grabbed the shovel and transplanted to a pot. Also, notice the one small marigold in the pot. This lonely, little flower was growing next to this plant. Anyway, I figured they should live together in the pot as they did in the yard.

Of course, Lucie my big, red dog likes to have a hand in planting and gardening.

I guess she was once a farmer in another life.

Sharing a Pizza With a Friend.

Yesterday I was dog-tired. Apparently so was Lucie my big, red dog. (No pun intended.) I also was hungry as a dog. (Man, I am on a roll.) I pulled a frozen pizza out of the frig. It was one of those private label pizzas one can buy at the local grocery store. The pizza was not as big as a normal pizza and I think it was intended for two people. Covered in mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, and other assorted veggies the pizza was just what I was craving after all the holidays filled with turkey, ham, and stuffing. You see, I could probably eat pizza everyday. I love it. My butt on the other hand, not so much.

Anyway, I only intended to eat half of the pizza. Of course, I shared the crust ends with Lucie. She and I have a food understanding. If she does not beg then she receives the last bite. It is a win, win situation for both of us.

When I was done with the first half of the pizza, it was clear to me that I was still hungry. Lucie is always willing to eat. No news there. So, I scooped up the other half, sat down to one of my favorite TV shows and ate the rest.

Mmmmm. So good.

Afterwards I did something I rarely do. I took a nap. A nice, long two-hour nap. Of course, Lucie joined me in this endeavor. Lucie takes naps all the time. Day, night and even as I write this post, she is napping.

Here she is taking a last lick of my hand. Probably going for stray pizza juices.

Mere seconds before falling asleep. Sweet dreams sweet pea.

Gifts Turn Up In the Craziest Places.

This afternoon I was sitting watching a free preview of a pay channel that I can not afford. It was cool because I was able to see a couple of those popular vampire movies that everyone younger than thirty or maybe a little over thirty goes gaga over. You know, team E or team J. (personally I like team E, but the body on team J, nuff said.)

Anyway, I let Lucie my big, red dog out to take care of business. She rarely barks and mostly chases the doves that like to frequent the yard. Today she barked. A lot. I went to investigate and saw a bag sitting on top of the fence. At first, I thought it was for my neighboors. As I got closer I saw it was addressed to me and Lucie. Just a side note, Lucie tried her best to keep me from approaching the bag.

This is what I found.

This is what was inside.

Dog toys. Quite a few. The bag was from my neighbors. Apparently their dog does not play with toys.

That is Lucie playing with her new Santa dog.

You think she might like them just a little bit?

I only gave her two because I am a big believer in only giving kids (dogs) a few toys at a time.

P.S. I know Santa dog will not be long for this world.

Taking Care of My Best Four-legged Friend.

Bedtime Conversations.

Me: Hey Lucie what’s up?

Lucie: Nothing. I’m tired.

Me: You look pretty comfortable there.

Lucie: I am.

Me: Lucie. Oh Lucie

Lucie: ZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Me: Lucie Lucie Lucie girl. I see you.

Lucie: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!!

Me: I know your not asleep.

Lucie: GO AWAY!

Me: Hey, what’s up Buddy?

Buddy: Don’t even think about it!

Me: Oh Lucie.

Lucie: Oh for Pete’s sake!

Me bad.

Fitness Update – Not

Well, what can I say. The report is not so good. I knew it would not be. Considering I was sick for a whole week this month and did not exercise. And let’s not even talk about the macaroni & cheese, mozzarella sticks, and pizza comfort food. Hey, I was sick. Plus, this week for some reason a couple of co-workers just had to give me a HOMEMADE bean burrito in a lard ridden tortilla. We won’t talk about the egg salad thick with gooey, yummy mayonnaise.

Oh, and did I tell you how hot it is here? Monsoon season is in full swing complete with humidity. My 20 minute workouts have turned into a 20 minute sweat fest.

It’s. not. pretty.

I gave up my morning workout slot to walking Lucie my big, red dog. No point in both of us participating in a sweat fest. But really, walking her in the afternoon would be nothing short of abuse anyway. I would not think of walking barefoot on the asphalt at 3:00 in the afternoon and I certainly do not expect her to.

I have come up with a new plan of action. I am going to alternate walking days with workout days in the mornings. When it is cool. And comfortable. And cool. And quiet. Did I mention it is cool?

Back to the salads and protein drinks. Be gone pizza! Be gone mozzarella sticks! Oh, ok be gone mac & cheese. We can meet up again in the future, but only if you promise not to show up every day. Lucie has been told to intercept you at the door. You can not argue with 63lbs of dog.

Dear God,

Please make summer go away. It is not working for me.

Where Have I Been? In the Nurse’s Office.

So to speak. After waking up two days in a row with a major sore throat I decided to go to the doctor. I have a cold. It just has to go away. I was thinking strep throat or some other kind of infection. Not that I really wanted that but I spent $25 for nothing. Plus the nurse practically choked me taking a throat culture. I swear I gagged and coughed for 10 minutes straight! No lie!

So all I get out of this is time off hopefully paid but I do not know. Nothing like sitting at home sweating while you feel like crap. I did pick up some chicken noodle soup for comfort. Ok, I got some mac and cheese and mozzarella sticks too. What? Totally blowing the workout schedule too. Not to mention Lucie my big, red dog has not had a walk since last Saturday. She brought me her tug toy last night and insisted I play. So I did. Still have to take care of the kids.

Speaking of Lucie, she got sick on the 4th of July. She started acting like she was going to throw up. Then she started shaking and one eye was closing. Yes, I was freaking out. Never mind that my dog was sick, it was the 4th of July for God’s sake! Oh, not another emergency pet trip. Anyway, she tried to eat the dead grass in my yard so I decided to run up to the pet store and pick up some grass. Yea, for those of you that do not know they sell live grass. I assume for all of us people that live in the desert and do not have grass.

She managed to throw up yellow bile before I left. I came back with the grass and she munched about half of it. Not too long after she perked right up. Maybe I should try some to feel better. I do not know what she ate but I did catch my freako neighbor feeding her yesterday. I jumped out of my house and let him know that he is NOT to feed anything to my dogs. They are not allowed people food since the fight. This neighbor does not like my dogs so I do not trust him. Plus, he keeps calling Lucie a boy. Told him 10 million times she is a GIRL! See nothing hanging out down there dude.

So I will stop ranting now. It is hard when your throat hurts and you are bored. Why is there nothing but infomercials on TV during the week?