Ear plugs work!!

Leigh is off on an adventure, with his brother Randy, so it is just me and the dogs and the cat . . . . and the neighbors (The Montoya Family). I went to bed late last night. I didn't lock the dogs into the house but allowed them the option of going out into the dogrun; this required ear plugs for me because the banging of the doggie door is distracting, annoying, irritating, etc. Sometime in the night I became aware of an odor. .which I didn't identify right away. I don't know when it became clear what the smell was but when it finally registered (SKUNK!!) I was perplexed how the skunk would have gotten into the dog run. As morning approached and my earplugs worked their way out of my ears, I became aware of the dogs barking. Rather than get up I just yelled at them to be quiet, which seemed to work. Long story short: The dogs' dogrun gate had been left open and Ginger and Pepper had been roaming; they had been sprayed, and by 12:30 A.M.they were barking and barking at the neighbor's house. :( Becky had to move to the back bedroom to get some relief from the dogs. Thomas suffered in silence murmuring threats against Pepper specifically. When I woke up at 8:30, I called Becky and left a message for them NOT to get too close to the dogs as they seemed to have gotten sprayed by a skunk. Then I noticed that I had 12 missed calls with the bulk of them from . . . . . the Montoyas, beginning at 12:40, 1:00, 2:05, etc. Becky didn't get my message but about 9:00 she and Thomas came down to the patio and cautiously stepped into the house. . . .thinking that something must have been terribly wrong at our house since I hadn't answered the phone and the dogs had been so persistent. Crazy night for them but a testimony to me that those 200 pair of red earplugs that I bought all those years ago wasn't such a silly purchase after all; they still work.
Sorry Montoyas.

Old Habits Die Hard

For years (probably only 3 or 4) our YW made and sold Valentine Cookies as a camp fundraiser. Each year since, I make a few to give away. I had some good help this year in Joslin as she really has the knack for decorating. I was saddened to know that there are so many I would like to give them too but can't because of the distance. So check out the results. . . .know that if you were here, you'd have gotten one and make plans to come visit next Valentines so I can deliver it in person!!

I send you all my wishes for a happy Valentine's weekend. Hug tightly, those you hold dear. We all need each other.

Happy Ground Hog Day

Just doing a shout out to Becky and Katie for hauling wood in for Dad a week ago.
To be honest I was a little nervous to use our stove again. You know, since we had
that chimney fire on Christmas Eve 2007. Yeah. Well, we are using it and it has
made our livingroom such a cozy, comfy place; our heating bill has been cut by
more than half . It is a little messy AND it proves difficult talking Leigh out
of the whole "charcoal starting fluid" means of fire building, I like it!!