L.B. the Chiweenie - 37/365

Little Bit is just so cute - he has taken over our house and our hearts in such a short time.  We are so glad we gave him a chance. We knew we would save him from impending death at the shelter, even if it meant fostering him until a suitable home was found, but we had no idea he's march into our lives and take over!

Lazy Buddy - 36/365

This was one of those last minute "crap I forgot my daily photo until right before I head to bed" photos. Luckily Giant Dawg is always a willing subject.  And this shows me that I need to clean the mirrored doors to the pantry ( and the rug but that's a daily chore with all the dog hair in this house ).

National Dog Day - 35/365

Since today was National Dog Day we spoiled our pups a little extra.  This is L.B. napping on the ottoman that sits between my and Jason's desks in the office.  Jason fluffed up a pillow for him and slipped it under his head for added comfort.  Spoiled little fur kids!

Laila and Papa J - 34/365

Laila, Portia and Chris came to visit us this morning while they were out this way.  Laila turned 2 weeks old yesterday and is doing awesome.  She is the most content, sweetest baby!  :)

Dirty Girl Mud Run - 33/365

Today was the Louisville Dirty Girl Mud Run 5K obstacle course race. I had a team of 8 women running for our "Breast Friends" team. It was so much fun! I'd love to do this every year!  All the muddy photos can be found here.

Fair Day Girls - 32/365

Today I went to the Kentucky State Fair with two of my girlfriends, Beth and Christina, and we had a blast! We walked 4.5 miles, visited exhibits, rode some rides and acted like a bunch of kids. Awesome day!

Pink Knockout - 31/365

This is one of the four knockout rose bushes we currently have in the front yard.  We have a red and yellow one also. We plan to line the driveway with these in the longrun.  They have at least doubled in size from when we planted them last year.

Waiting for the Thaw - 30/365

Waiting for my frozen strawberries to thaw so I can add them to my cup of Danon Oikes plain Greek yogurt.  A great 130 calorie snack that helps curb ice cream cravings - which seems to be the only thing I always crave these days.

Banana Plants Planted - 29/365

Today we went over to the old house to dig up a couple of the banana plants that have been out back for many, many years, before we close on the sale of the house ( hopefully this week ).  We got three of them - the one pictured here and another about the same size on the opposite corner of the back lower deck.  There is also a third tiny one that is with the other plant for now until it is large enough to transplant.  The leaves got a bit torn up on the drive from the old house to our house since they were hanging out the back of the truck, but the new leaves should be fine.  Besides, it's always windy here so they may just be fringy banana plants anyway!

We're finally starting to get some decor going on the new porches - most of the rest will come next spring.  We also plan to plant lots of shade trees in the backyard since right now it's bare of trees until you get to the back or sides of the lot.

Work in Progress

This is a swinging frog statue that hangs from a tree with rope ( rope is removed for painting ) that I am repainting for my parents.  These little guys tend to fade over time and I like to repaint and seal them so they are weather proofed as well as bright, shiny and like new!  I always forget how horrible they look after just the first coat of dull paint, before any touchups or detailing is done.  Should have an after photo of this guy soon along with another one!  ( I promise it will look much better in the end - here is the before and after of the bear I repainted. )

Legends of Atlantis: Exodus - 27/365

So my tablet is my new "one thing I can't live without". I LOVE my tablet. ( I have the ASUS Infinity, for anyone interested in the techie details. )  I rarely use it for anything work related, but I use it daily, mostly for down time games and social media.  I really like the time management games that are available.

One of them I am currently playing is called Legends of Atlantis: Exodus.  I have actually played and completed it before, but liked it so much I started over to play again a few months later.  It is a time limited, strategy game that keeps you on your toes. And you just can't beat over 50 levels of game play for under $3.00!

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly - 26/365

This is a Eastern Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly that was on a butterfly bush at my aunt's house in Loretto, Ky.  We drove down to pick up some whiskey barrels she got for us and visited for a bit. While we were there we got a tour of the property where they have a full size authentic tee-pee decorated in full native american decor.  It was very cool - see photos below!

Dragonfly Zentangle - 25/365

This is another Zentangle inspired piece I did for my Aunt Cindy as a thank you for finding and obtaining decorative whiskey barrels that we've been looking for to use as decoration accent pieces on our back deck.  She loves dragonflies so...voila!

Lounging Buddy - 24/365

I was testing out my new SD Card and Buddy was  willing subject.

Welcome Bear - 23/365

This  is a bear statue I picked up at one of our local Goodwill stores for $4.  When I purchased it, it was in all shades of gray and pretty chipped up, at that.  I took it home, repainted it, sealed it and now this guy lives on my back deck.  I'm always on the look out for fix 'r up statues like this to put around the porches and in the yard.  :)

Here is a bad before photo:

Just Ducky - 22/365

This post is for a reminder that me and my "Breast Friends" team are running the Dirty Girl Mud Run in a couple of weeks. Check out my Breast Friends blog post for information on donating or participating in the Louisville area!

Out to Dry - 21/365

I first posted about my line drying back in April when I was using the umbrella hole in the patio table for the laundry line.  Turns out it's just too windy here for that to work well for me, so Jason screwed down a handy dandy brace on the corner of the upper deck to hold the cloths line through any kind of winds!  He attempted to dig a hole to put it in the ground, but since we live on a giant rock it was just more trouble than it was worth.  Plus this works out better anyway since it's upstairs, thus making it easier to put dry clothes away and I don't have to fool with putting shoes on to get to the line.  Since it's in the outer corner of the deck, and it's collapsible and removable, there is no issue with it getting in the way when not in use ( or even when in use, for that matter).

Shakeology - 20/365

This is what I look forward to every day for lunch. It may seem like a boring old diet drink - but it's not.  It is a meal replacement. It is full of natural vitamins, minerals and nutrients that the body needs on a daily basis. It DOES taste like a milkshake! I am not kidding. Lunch has become my favorite meal because of these bad boys.  It is called Shakeology. This one is the vanilla variety - there is also chocolate, tropical strawberry, greenberry and vegan alternatives.  The shake shown here is the Shakeology mixed with one cup of almond milk, 2 tablespoons of almond butter and six ice cubes, all blended into a perfect, yummy lunch!  And I do mean yummy!

I'm a Grandma! - 19/365

Laila Naome made me a grandma (CeeCee) on August 10 at 12:36 a.m..  She was 7lb 7oz and 20" long and has a beautiful head of black hair!  Momma and baby are both doing fantastic!  She's a prompt little lady, arriving 36 minutes into her due date!  ;)

Chris & Portia - New Parents To Be - 18/365

Chris and Portia stopped by today after their doctor appointment. Portia is due with my first Grandbaby...TOMORROW! Baby is a girl named Laila and I don't actually think she will arrive on time, but I expect to meet her in the next week or two!  To Laila we will be CeeCee and Papa J, to help eliminate confusion from all the various grandparents, great grandparents and great, great grandparents she will be meeting. We just hope she a health, happy baby!

If we are friends on Facebook  you can see the Baby Shower photos here.

UPDATE: Turns out Laila decided to arrive on her due date and just a few hours after Portia and Chris left from their visit to our house.

Photo of a Photo - 17/365

I had one of my cardinal photos printed to canvas. This is my third canvas bird print and I'm very please with how it turned out. I plan on lining the wall of our stairway with nature photos from around the house - all printed to canvas. Now that I have three I can start hanging them!

Flame Angel - 16/365

This is the Flame Angel that lives in our 75 gallon saltwater aquarium in our living room.  We have a few other fish, but this one is by far the brightest and most prominent of them all.

L.B. In Bed - 15/365

Another "saved by the cell phone" photo. You can't tell so much from this photo, but L.B. decided to unzip his bed, fluff up all the stuffing and he gets INSIDE the bed to sleep at night now. Silly pup!

Little Chillin' Chiweenie - 14/365

L.B. has now been with us since February, so almost a good 6 months. He has settled in extremely well and very quickly.  As with most chihuahua's, he took longer than most dogs to house train, but he crate trained immediately and fit right in with Giant Dawg and Lois Lane.  He gets along with just about any dog that comes around - especially dogs his size who he loves to play with.  You can read more about L.B.'s adoption on the dog's page. He's just a funny little red chiweenie with a big attitude!

A Bowl Full of Cherries (Tomatoes) - 13/365

Our cherry tomatoes in the garden exploded over the last couple of days.  This is a very large bowl and it was filled to the brim with nice, sweet, delicious cherry red tomatoes!  None of them will make it into a salad or other meal if I keep snagging one to pop in my mouth every time I walk by the bowl.

Fruitful O's Cereal - 12/365

It turns out you can eat good for you and organically and still have a similar cereal to Fruit Loops!  Yes!  You heard me correctly - Cascadian Farms makes an organic cereal called Fruitful O's and they taste a LOT like Fruit Loops! I eat mine with almond milk and they are so GOOD!  Don't care for fruity cereal?  They also make a cheerio's alternative called Purely O's...!

Fruitful O's Nutrition Info (Image from Amazon.com)

Cat Woman - 11/365

This is "Cat Woman" one of my four female gerbils and the only black lady of the bunch.  Her brother "Bat Man" lives with my friend Christina.  Cat Woman lives with Tilty.

Oldham County Fair - 10/365

This evening we headed out to El Acapulco with Christina and Charlie, a fantastic Mexican restaurant here locally that we all go to often.  Then we headed out to the HUGE Oldham County Fair!  ( Ok, I joke, it' s a tiny little county fair). The boys don't do rides so Mrs. C. and I rode a few, including the Ferris wheel where my project photo for the day was taken (see below for the video).  After that we watched the truck mud races and then headed home for the evening.  It wasn't much, but it's been nice getting out of the house this week to do little things we normally don't do during the week. Plus the fall-like weather in July/August is fantastic!