More deocrating

Staying home from work yesterday (and again today) allowed me to do a little decorating in the time I wasn't feeling like I would fall asleep at any moment but never did. I am actually feeling ok...just so tired from not getting the sleep I need. I had a spurt yesterday where I wasn't feeling too tired and was able to get up off the couch. So I went over to Barry and Lanette's. They have some frames they got from a friend who's framing shop went out of business. She said I could have some if I wanted any. I took a couple. I played around with different combinations and ended up wih a very large one and an oval one. The oval one is Lanette's favorite (and mine too) but I told her that if she ever wanted it back, she could have it back right away. I don't plan on putting anything in it so it will be really easy to get it back to her if she does want it back.

In the unpacking I found a box of shower curtains, valances, table toppers and a runner. I haven't gotten rid of any of them because I love them all even though I have no use for shower curtains in this house or any we've lived in since our furst house. So I figured that if I like them so much, then they should be out. But where to put them all?

Well, we return to the frames. I knew I wanted them on the cabinets and was toying with the idea of leaving them both blank frames. But an idea came to me. I decided that a crocheted tablecloth that I loved and used for a few years would go perfect in the large frame. It's a square tablecloth and my table is round so I was never really happy with how it worked with my table. I hot glued the tablecloth to the large frame. I was going to staple it but decided gluing would be easier. The oval frame, like I said, is being used empty and I really like how it turned out. It hardly took any time at all to boot...which was good because my energy level was/is extremally low.




closer up view of the frames and table cloth

The runner and two table toppers (draped over the two sides of the entertainment center are now sitting on top of the unit and some hydrengas are lying on top of that. I think I want a basket for the hydrengas to go into. I'll have to wait and see what baskets I still have when I come across that box. We'll see. I think I got rid of most of them.



Then, the last place I used the table toppers was on the small bookcase in the living room. It holds some books of course, but also holds a statue of the SLC Temple and a frame I got for Christmas. (I still need to get a picture in the frame.) The toppers need to be ironed since they were folded up for four years but that would take too much energy right now. The one on the bottom is actually for the night stand I made in middle school but since that's in the basment until the remodeling is done, I decided to go ahead and use it here so I wouldn't have to go dig it out later. So there you have it...the little bits of work I was able to accomplish in my tiredness.



And writing this post has wiped me out again so I am off to bed to hopefully sleep some more.

Above the kitchen cabinets

My kitchen has some decorations now. I've been colecting decorative stuff even though I wasn't using any of it the past 3 1/2 years. Since I've been collecting it, packing it and never seeing it again (until now) I'm pretty surprised by how well the things seem to go together. Everything was thrift or garage sale finds or on super clearance. The frame and picture was $80 at Joann's but I got it on clearance for $10. I didn't think I'd actually use it with the picture that came in it but I kind of like it with this stuff even if it is pink. I can't think of anything else that I will unpack that I'll want to add to this so I think it's done...

What do you think? Does it need something? Is there too much already?


I kind of feel like something tall needs to be added on this side...I don't know what though. I currently don't have anything I would want to use.


Those cob webs are on the outside...I can't reach them so you'll have to ignore them.

Happy birthtmonth Jasmine and Jack

We got Jasmine in April 2003. She was 2 months old. She had a lion's mane and was so docile but a pretty thing, almost as big as Bear full grown already. Poor Jasmine, really got gnawed on by Bear while he learned what his limits with her were. Over the years, I have really appreciated her calm attitude, especially in comparison with Bear and Jack. If she wants atenntion, she just wags her tail and looks at you with a happy look on her face. She doesn't like a lot of attention so when she wants it, I want to give it to her for as long as she'll let me. She can only take a couple of minutes worth before she'll get up and walk away. She's a great biking partner and I have enjoyed getting to know her abilities and smarts in a way I didn't know them before. This year she'll be 7 and she shows no signs of slowing down yet.




I got Jack in February of 2004. We don't know his exact age but when I foung him, the vet said he estimated him to be 1 year old and they're pretty good at getting the age from their teeth so I say he was born in February too. Though Jack has been hard to deal with sometimes, he has brought a lot of laughs into our home. He can be intense about certain things...like the moment you finish eating and set your fork down on your plate, you had better share something or he'll start whining right away. Or, when he wants attention, he'll stand in front of you and bark, and bark, and bark until he gets the attention...but you have to work for it. You can't just reach out and pet him...he'll back away. He wants to be held. So you have to get up, pick him up and bring him to the couch where he likes to lay in the crook of my arm upside down and be loved on for a while. He loves to shake hands now. He's still pretty lazy but runs a good bit when we're out with the other dogs. Jack will also be 7.



Jack and Jasmine have been good play mates. Tug of war is the game of choice since Jack won't play with toys, really. But they also like to play fight and both Jack and Jasmine are pretty good about quitting when the other one wants to...unlike Tucker.

Happy birthmonth, guys!

Working with poly rope & making bikejor lines

I've been looking for a better alternative to the leashes I've been using for bikejoring. I found my alternative in hollow braid polyproplene rope. I found out how to do a simple loop splice and then I ran with it.


All you need is hollow rope and a fid (the black thing in the above pic). Lehigh company supplies one with each bag of rope.


Simply thread the end of the rope into the fid. You need to have at least 6 extra inches of rope for the the splice. Put the end of the rope into the fid and thread it through the rope and pull out the other side.


Then, thread the fid through your loop (which has been pulled down to the size you want it to be).

By the spot where you originally threaded the fid through the rope, put the fid down the center of the hollow rope.

Feed the fid & rope through the center of the hollow rope until all the extra rope had been pulled through. Snake the fid out and you've done a loop.

So, with this new piece of information, I built myself a bikejor line for two dogs. I still have to buy the bungee to insert but other than that, it's done. I got all the parts at Lowe's for $18. (That's the rope, 2 steel rings & 2 swiveling hooks.) I made sure each piece was rated for more weight than my dogs are. The various parts are rated for 170 - 300 lbs working load.

I'm not sure how long it is but it's longer than what we've been using so I'm happy about that. I've been nervous about running into the backside of one of the dogs.

This is my favorite splice of the whole line. I had to add a second line to allow for two dogs. I did my own splice that seems to be as strong as the other. I think it looks the most professional of all the splices.

Signs of growing old

Bear is 8 years old now. We got him in December of 2001 when he was 2 months old. He was the cutest puppy I have ever seen. Look at that CUTE face!!! His legs were short compared to his round body and he kind of had to waddle the first couple of weeks we had him. It didn't slow him down though! He was always a spitfire. He has always been full of mischeviousness and he does have a cute personality....unfortunately, it comes with a side of meanness when he feels it needs it.

Our first pic of Bear. Back then, he could fit on Adam's shoulder. I remember crying to Adam a couple weeks after getting him that I couldn't live for 15 years with that monster. He had already developed a mean streak that neither of us could control. He was super destructive and his little, sharp teeth made contact quite often.

Bear's first Christmas....it was a lot of work running to everyone and playing with wrapping paper, bows and ribbon. He spent the day at Barry and Lanette's with their dogs.

He could always sleep anywhere and in places that seem very uncomfortable to me. Shortly after this picture, Bear came down with kennel cough. He was miserable and couldn't breath so he just laid there day after day, coughing. It was so sad. It was then that I feel into his trap. He had me wrapped around his paw.

He got better and was back to his old ways. He has figured out that there's a treat in the jar and he was trying to figure out how to open the jar so he could help himself. The color on his face, ears and paws was growing out into his current color. I was sad to see it go. I really liked the coloring of his puppyhood. His ears are still a bit gray so he retained just a little of it just for me. ;o)

Any chance Bear has to get muddy, he takes it. I let him out one day and came out later to find him like this! He was so happy! (This is no ordinary mud, mind you...this is Georgia red clay that stains instantly. Can you say orange carpet??)He still likes to get muddy on occassion. In fact, I've had to give him a bath every few days recently since there was a puddle in the backyard. I finally dug a drainage ditch for it this weekend so it was drying out...but it's raining again so we'll see.

I've grown accustomed to living with Bear...as long as he's not biting me or one of the other dogs, I can deal with his moods pretty effectively. He has settled down some as he's grown older. He still doesn't like kids but can stand to be in the same room with them if they give him plenty of space. He still hates dogs and tries to chase them all down so he might show them who the alpha dog truly is. He hates getting his fur trimmed but no longer feels the need to bite my hand off when I take the pile of fur away from him, then eat as much as he can before I collect it again. (A behavior I never understood.) He has basically resigned himself to the fact that Tucker is here to stay and that he is no longer the sole owner of the rawhides and tennis balls. He still loves to run as much as I can manage to let him.

This is Bear after a bike ride in Wanship and his fill of snow...he was a happy boy!

But things are starting to change. He very rarely wants to play with his basketball these days (though some of that has to do with the awful yard). He doesn't really like spending a whole lot of time outside either. He almost always heads up to bed when I leave for work rather than jumping to go outside. He can only chase the tennis balls I toss for a few minutes before he has to lay down to rest. But the saddest change of all came just a few weeks after I decided Bear would break the world record for fastest bike ride with a dog. His rear legs started shaking when he really exerts himself. He is fine with my running speed but when we got out on the bike and he reaches 15-16 MPH, by the time we make it up to the top of the subdivision, his legs are shaking so badly. We rest until they stop and we finish our ride. I don't know if he realizes that they're shaking because he ran hard. He doesn't seem to care...he just keeps running fast.

Through all the ways he has hurt me, or Adam, or the other dogs, or the bad attitude he's shown to family and visitors I really do love him and I am very sad to have been reminded that his time is coming....it's still sometime off, I'm sure. But it's never an easy thing to be reminded of how short the time I will have with him (and my other dogs) is. I just hope that the shake remains a minor thing and that Bear will be able to run long intop his life and do the one thing that makes him happy.

Bear believes he can conquer anything...here, he's contemplating the best way to pull me and my bike up that hill on one of our last rides in Wanship.

I've decided against trying to break the record with Bear. It's just too much for him. But we do go out for rides still...I just have to make sure he doesn't go as fast as he'd like to and that he rests more often.

Bikejoring this weekend

I took the dogs out this weekend. These guys went out for about 4 miles, Bear went out for 3 1/2 miles (too long) and Jack went for a shortish walk. I took them to a future park. I was hoping that there would be a trail already. It turns out that there was a short trail that led to a current park. They had two of these cows with different designs.

Tucker was scared to death of Chatamoochee (that's the cow's name) it took a couple minutes for him to get this close and, as you can see, he refused to put his back to her lest she should do a sneak attack! I decided not to check out the other cow.

I love all the little churches around here. They're so cute and they make you feel like you're in a small town. This one is in historic downtown Suwanee.

Suwanee Creek Greenway...the same trail we were on last weekend. No dogs to chase this time though.

Water break on the boardwalk above the beaver pond. The pond is mostly dry right now...soggy but no deep water.

Tucker was tuckered! Notice the ball between his elbow and his face. He slept like a baby all the way home. Jasmine didn't sleep much. She was enjoying the wind in her face from the open windows.

Dog treats

Of my dogs, Jasmine and Jack are more picky. Jack has to be petted before he'll eat milk bones. Jasmine will but only after realizing nothing better is coming her way. I used to make treats for them a lot and both Jasmine and Jack have always scarfed them down immediately (of course Bear does that with every treat he's given). Tucker isn't too picky, he just doesn't like sweet stuff, especially if it's chocolatey which he doesn't have to worry about since he never gets any since it makes him sick. I made up some cornbread bater and halved a squash to bake at the same time. While I was waiting for the oven to heat up, I threw together a batch of dog treats that baked at the same time. The dogs all liked them though the smell was a little weird...maybe too much garlic. But the dogs think they're just fine the way they are.

Honey Oat Dog Treats

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal


1 Place first 5 ingredients in medium mixing bowl.blend with a whisk.

2 Add honey, water and eggs.

3 Mix.dough will be sticky --

4 Sprinkle half of the cornmeal over a sheet of waxed paper.place dough on waxed paper and pat it out to 1/4" thickness.

5 As you pat, sprinkle more cornmeal over the dough.and on your hands to make it easier --

6 cut with 2 1/2" cookie cutter or cut into rectangles.

7 Place on sprayed cookie sheet --

8 Bake at 325* for 30 minutes.40 minutes for a little harder treat.

I used sugar instead of honey since honey is more expensive and I just patted them straight into the pan on a layer of cornmeal. I didn't bother to cut them into any shapes. I just cut them into pieces after they had cooled then put them in an airtight container.