The Gym finally opened..

I work for a company that has on site gyms on most of the company campus's throughout the U.S. I have worked in the same building since 1991, and we finally got our really fancy new gym.. and the benefit of our office having the newest gym, is everything is brand new!

They had the "ribbon cutting" last Tuesday they even had a real ribbon! And it officially opened for business on Wednesday, unfortunately it is only open 6AM to 7PM M-F.

I have gone every day they have been open, as I quit my old gym last summer, and have been patiently waiting(and putting on a pound,and another pound, etc) for our new gym!

Because I am still trying to get in the overtime, I will work an hour overtime after my shift, and than go to the gym for an hour. It sure feels good to leave work after being at the gym..

We have really fancy treadmills, someone said they found out what kind they use on the Biggest Loser, and got those. Really fancy Elliptical's, the TV's, to watch while working out, and free headsets, to keep. Weights, and weight machines, cable machine, leg press's and spinning bikes, and THREE on site personal trainers..free as part of the gym! Just book a session, and than you can book the next session..ain't that just to cool!

Oh, believe me, they know what they are doing. I work for a company where you sit in front of a computer, on your fanny all day. It is to the companies advantage to keep us as healthy as they can, cheaper than people going out on disabilities, and medical claims.

The first month is free, after that it is one $15.00 payment that is taken out of the second paycheck of the month.

Pretty soon I'll be so buff, that people will think I am only 55! You never know, I may still do that Seattle Rock n Roll 1/2 marathon yet!!

PS..notice the handle on my gym bag looks a little chewed up... that is a little
reminder that I used to have the Roscoe dog!

April fools prank.. Blogger.. was that you?

Here I am being busy on the blog...... and than I notice that the 25 lovely folks who were kind enough to say.."hey I 'll come along for the ride..." well.. you all rode off, and left me behind, my "Followers" were gone!

I honestly think it must be an early April Fools thing, please, say that's what it is!!

Than I came back.. and you were there again, it was a bad dream.. or a nasty Blogger April Fool prank!

I feel much better now, your all back..as I have grown rather fond of you all!

Peggy s home in Virginia.. Hare Forest

The picture above is the "Hare Forest" sign, and date 1784.

This shows the house and the horse fields...

These are some pictures my friend sent me, when I emailed her trying to remember the name of Peggy's home in Virginia....Hare Forest.

Just by "Googling" the farm name I found that it is on the National Registry. The Small picture is the "Hare Forest" sign.

You can see her childhood home in the trees .. and the lovely fields. This obviously was the vision behind her little farm in Washington as well!

I just wanted to share this extra information after my post about Peggy! And I want to say "Thanks" to all of you for all the nice comments about her as well!

Quotable Sunday..

I feel I must stick to a particular author for my "Quotes" today, and I must say I love his Quotes (can you tell?) he is a favorite of mine...

Ronald Reagan


The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.

The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'

Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

I don't believe in a government that protects us from ourselves.

"It is not my intention to do away with government. It is rather to make it work -- work with us, not over us; stand by our side, not ride on our back. Government can and must provide opportunity, not smother it; foster productivity, not stifle it. This Administration's objective will be a healthy, vigorous, growing economy. "


"Government growing beyond our consent had become a lumbering giant, slamming shut the gates of opportunity, threatening to crush the very roots of our freedom. What brought America back? The American people brought us back -- with quiet courage and common sense; with undying faith that in this nation under God the future will be ours, for the future belongs to the free.


"I, in my own mind, have always thought of America as a place in the divine scheme of things that was set aside as a promised land. It was set here and the price of admission was very simple: the means of selection was very simple as to how this land should be populated. Any place in the world and any person from those places; any person with the courage, with the desire to tear up their roots, to strive for freedom, to attempt and dare to live in a strange and foreign place, to travel halfway across the world was welcome here."


"If all of this seems like a great deal of trouble, think what's at stake. We are faced with the most evil enemy mankind has known in his long climb from the swamp to the stars. There can be no security anywhere in the free world if there is no fiscal and economic stability within the United States. Those who ask us to trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state are architects of a policy of accommodation."


"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.


"[N]o arsenal or no weapon in the arsenals of the world is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women."

OK, here is the rest of this. I am still new to this, but this is how it works...

Post a new post on your blog with some of your favorite quotes.
~ Go over to "A Daily Dose of Toni" and post your link in the mister linkey.
~ Go check out all the other cool bloggers that are joining in Quotable Sunday, check back all day as people are posting throughout the day.

Roscoe our rescue dog .. don't believe every thing they say when you rescue a dog!!

The Craigslist ad was from a non- profit animal rescue place from eastern Washington.. and it was a good three hour drive from my house.


The ad said "Part Corgi, part English Bulldog..very mellow, not at all hyper.. 10 month old"...


Well, it had been a while since I had lost my little Rocky dog, and I was ready to get a new dog, and a friend for Randy. When I saw the ad I liked the part about "part Corgi" and I really liked the "not at all hyper" part especially!


It was fall of 2007, and the mountain pass was open, so my sister was game for a car ride and off we went! We drove, we talked, we almost got lost.. and finally found the place.

It was a long driveway way out in the country, and the place was a home/shelter for both the animals and the people. We found our way into the house.. and there was Roscoe (they had called him something else) but his face said he really should be "Roscoe" !


These people were very dedicated to rescuing animals, as they had dog kennels stacked with dogs and cats of all sizes, and in all kinds of condition. It is a farm community, and obviously not enough animals are being fixed, and then are left stranded in the country.

Oh, she tells me ( now that I have driven 3 hours..) by the way.. he has a recessed testicle, which they could not find when they were neutering him.. so he will need a "little" surgery.. and yes he is still $150.00, to recoup the $$ we have already put in him...

Well animal lover that I am, I say OK.. he is kind of cute.. but I really am not seeing the "Corgi".. oh she said, look at his rear, doesn't that kinda look like a Corgi rear end..umm, well, maybe..

So Roscoe comes home with me. When I show him to my girls, they kind of chuckle and say.."so this is your Corgi- English Bulldog mix, huh..". Well, that's what the rescue lady said..my girls obviously knew a Pit Bull when they saw one, and smiled at their old naive mom.. as she shows them her new dog!

My vet says.."so this your Corgi-English Bulldog mix, huh? " Well, that's what the rescue lady said... My vet than says "if anyone ever asks you what kind of dog this is, never say..bulldog..you know as in Pit Bull..just say part boxer". Don't get me wrong, I don't have a problem with Pit Bulls..I do have a problem with what irresponsible dog owners have made Pit Bulls aka "Bullies "..into.. (just watch Daddy on the Dog Whisperer, that is the Pit Bull for me!)

So.. lets fast forward to today.. no, you do not see Roscoe's picture on my list of critters on the farm.. he was part of our family, I really did try, for at least 6 months. The dog was as high energy a dog as you could find, way more than my energy level for sure!

Lets just say the only time he was not hyper.. was when he was getting a quick nap.You could not wear that dog out!

I was very fortunate to place our boy Roscoe with a very energetic young family in Portland Oregon, they had another high energy dog that needed a friend. He ended up getting his "operation", and it was a Win/Win for all of us in the end, especially for Roscoe!

As you can see, we now have the two Corgis Milli and Oscar; aka "Trouble and Troubles Best Friend"

Yes, I will share the stories of the two evil (but dearly loved) trouble making Corgi's..at a future date..and yes they can be a bit hyper as well, they are just a lot smaller!

VLNO.. need I say more!

It was so fun last Friday.. I am ready to enjoy..Virtual Ladies Night Out.. I will be sneaking in and out through the night.. ( as I don't want to be to rude to my family who will be popping on by a little later). .I will have to take a lot of "potty" breaks and excuse myself.. you know, "I'll be right back!!!" After all ..it's Friday Night, and I don't want to miss the party!

Welcome my new friends!

Whoo Hoo!

PS. By the way.. I am sorry, I really do know it is actually.." VGNO"..Virtual Girls Night Out..my goodness, you would think I was either a bit of a space cadet, or might of had a sip of wine!

hmmmm?

Our friend Peggy..

I just do not want to forget the stories about our friend Peggy, she has been gone a while now. She was such special lady to have known.

Peggy was truly a 'grand' lady. She is our older lady friend I had mentioned in the previous blog. She was from Virginia. When we got to be close friends with her, she had lived on a beautiful 5 acre farm near to where we lived at the time, before we bought our farm.

Keep in mind this was in my old "stomping ground" home area
where as a teenager when I had my horse, my friends and I would ride by her house often, and I was always attracted to her beautiful farm. At that time I knew her, but really did not know her...if you know what I mean.

Much later, when Ken and I got our horses, we kept them at Peggy's. This is when we became very close to her.

Her beloved Joe had passed on previously.. and I will share some great stories about him later, we have one really funny one!

Joe and Peggy had settled on this absolutely beautiful farm after he retired from the Navy. Joe got a job as the timekeeper at Longacres Race Track near Seattle, and they raised some wonderful thoroughbreds...she never had children so the horses and dogs were her kids.

Peggy told me that when her mares were ready to foal, she had bedded them in straw up to their knees, and when the babies came, they were loved like you would want your kids to be loved. She said the hardest part was when they left in that trailer to become a racehorse..which is a very sad life for a horse, they are a commodity. She said she could no longer do this....it was to painful to know the life she was sending them to, and she stopped raising the babies she loved so much.

Peggy's farm had beautiful well maintained white four rail fences. Her home was like an English Cottage, and truly looked like it came out of a storybook. She had a beautiful
English flower garden in the "circle" area which you drove around as you came up and around her driveway. She had one of those cute jockey statues to tie your horse to, as you came down the other side of the driveway, near the beautiful old red barn.

Speaking of that red barn, she had a tiny (and I mean really tiny) "apartment/room" in the front of that barn that she would rent periodically. My daughter Tamis rented that little room when she was getting out on her own.. and we laugh, because she had her "sisters" (mom's horses !) greeting her when she came home at night.. she had to walk through the barn isle to get to her little apartment. You know what is funny, she is allergic to horses!

Peggy had shared stories with us about when she was growing up, her family had lived in an antebellum, you know.. one of those wonderful southern mansions. She said Thomas Jefferson had stayed there once, of course long before her days. She had told me the name of it.. I wish I could remember it now..(lesson for your younger ones, write it down while you remember!).

She talked of riding their elegant saddle horses throughout the countryside when she was a young girl, I can just envision her as a young girl out on those horses! As I recall she said that with the depression, her family had to sell off the property, or at least a large part of it.

Peggy would invite her dearest friends for the most unbelievable corned beef dinner for St Patrick's day. She would cook it on the stove first, and than it went into the oven..and came out glazed and delicious, oh it was amazing. She would special order the corned beef from her butcher, not some grocery store corned beef for her dinner!

In the summer we would plan barbecues at her house, as she loved to have friends over to just visit and laugh, talk and enjoy her farm. Ken reminded me than when 9-11 happened, and all plane traffic stopped, we had gone over to Peggy's to have an outdoor dinner ... and she said she had never heard it so quiet overhead. She was close to Lake Washington, and where the planes came in and left SeaTac...

And this women loved her dogs, her last dog was Millie, a wonderful Australian shepherd that absolutely was her pride and joy. Can you imagine what it cost for Peggy to run Invisible fence around 5 acres? She did it for her Millie. Our Milli is lovingly named after Peggy's Millie.

I believe it was when Millie died, that Peggy also died. It was not long afterwords that cancer took her from us.. I believe she was 79..or there bouts. This was about 8 years ago.. I think.

So.. if you stayed with me this long..thanks.. I know I can ramble.. this is as much for me as for you!

The Farm..on Mt Forest..

I thought I would take a moment to share a little bit, about our "Farm"..

which is what we lovingly call our little 5 acre property, here in Snohomish, Washington.


Lets back up to say..1994..

Ken and I had 3 Paint mares, two of them were bred, and we were ready to find a little chunk of land to call our own.

We had a very precious older lady friend, who used to raise Thoroughbreds.. and told us that once you buy your own horse property, the fun stops, as the work starts.. boy, in hindsight maybe we should of listened to her!!

Well, we did not heed her advice, and threw caution to the wind and wound up here.

Don't get me wrong, we love where we live, we love having family near by, we love not hearing highways, or cars ..well.. on a Saturday night in the summer we do hear the car races over in Monroe at the County Fairgrounds.. but that doesn't count!


In the spring we hear the frogs so loud from the pond out behind the house, that it drowns out all other evening noises.


When our mares were due to foal, we would put baby monitors in the barn, to listen for the straw rustling around if they were getting restless and about to foal. Because the frogs were so loud, at the time the mares were due, all that came across those monitors were FROGS..so guess who got to sleep in the barn.. that would be me..it was that or making multiple trips to the barn in the middle of the night. Oh, those were long nights, especially with us both working full time as well!


We had as many as 8 horse at one time, weanling's, yearlings two year old's, broodmares ... I really thought of my older lady friends statement more than a few times during that period!

Now we have just "The Girls", and Buddy, the antique pony...which is a breeze compared to when the barn was overflowing.

In the summer we can listen to the coyotes at night way in the distance, and sit out on our deck with family and grand kids, and friends.. and have a fire in the outdoor fireplace, or a bonfire down behind the house ( to keep the men busy, they do like fires!) and just enjoy .. all of it..family.. friends, the farm..all of it..

And when summer comes to an end, we always wish we had enjoyed even more of those evenings, even more than we had..


I really look forward to the days being longer and warmer, the sun shining, the flowers and tree's blooming, the horses shedding, and getting slick , and running in the fields, and the dogs having more time to be outside playing..... anytime.. I am ready, anytime....so ready..

Amazing...Grace

Yesterday at church the pastor was "preaching" his sermon, it was titled "If God is Good why do Bad Things Happen? " Hmm, I think everyone of us has asked this question..


It was about why bad things happen to good people, and how God gets blamed. He talked about two kinds of evil in our world. Man made evil, where humans choose to do evil to hurt another, or others..


Yes, we sure have plenty of this going around. I think I will add greedy bankers, car manufacturers and AIG to this group, as if we didn't 't already have enough of "man made evil" happening in our world!!(my embellishment comment, not the pastor's!)
.

And natural evil such as disease, illness, cancer, as well as natural disaster like tornado's, hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis. We all know what that is all about as well!

Also, how we really did have a perfect world..once.

This was until someone (whose name we all know) decided that she was going to "choose" to eat an apple from a particular tree. There goes our perfect world...

Can you believe it ..just an apple .(.not a cute little Mercedes Convertible?)..I know, I know..she was deceived.. But still, an apple, while she was surrounded by all that 'good ' stuff from day three of creation, she had to have the apple..( my embellishment comment, not the pastor's!)


It was at that point, we heard sirens were going nearby, somewhere. He stopped for a moment, and said he always prays for those at the other end of the siren when he hears them....

I have done this since my kids were little, we would always pray that the Lord would be there..in the midst of the emergency, whatever it was..

So he/we prayed for the "parents", yes.. he specifically said "the parents". Now at the end of the service we found out the aid car came to our church, a child downstairs in Children's Church had a seizure..

The good news is she is doing fine, she had never had a seizure before, we pray never again as well, and..... it was not God's fault.

I must say.. what an unplanned illustration was provided!

Quotable Sunday...

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wager payer".... Abraham Lincoln

As a small business owners..this says a lot..no, we are not rich, in fact far from it. In order to keep our employees working, we need to keep from being so over taxed and regulated that we cannot do this. We covet your prayers for our small business, and for our Country!

My quote is along different lines as others, as I guess my days of "Mommy" have faded, and the joys of being Gramma have replaced them.

Also, as a small business owner at this time, this quote is very relevant to my time in life, at least the earthly carnal part.

I know, my "politics's" is showing.. bear with me!!

In perspective, I know I have still stored my real " riches in heaven". And next Sunday, I will go lighter on my choice of quotes!

OK, here is the rest of this. I am new to this, but this is how it works, if you are a Newbie like me!

Post a new post on your blog with some of your favorite quotes.
~ Go over to "A Daily Dose of Toni" and post your link in the mister linkey.
~ Go check out all the other cool bloggers that are joining in Quotable Sunday, check back all day as people are posting throughout the day.

Bad Corgi's!!

I wanted to take some pictures on the first day of spring, because the weather was changing every five minutes. Pouring rain, clouds flying faster than airplanes, blowing wind, sunshine.. yes all of the above!

That's when I noticed all those little pieces of paper, everywhere, all over the ground..

Keep in mind I had recently been to "Frugal Chic Living" blog (I think it was there, yes it was her 3-11-2009 post!)..anyway, I took advantage of the website info for free business cards, including FedEx shipping, yes.. all for free!
So I create my little cards, and think, wow this is wonderful, I can't wait for them to be delivered!!

Ok...so fast forward to yesterday. So the dogs were out earlier that morning, and they were unusually quiet, and not begging to come back in...I should of known they were up to NO GOOD!

Bad Corgi's...yes, very bad Corgi's!!!

On the upper middle picture, you may be able to see small specks of white paper on the ground, oh yes.. they were everywhere..all wet, and some chewed up..so much for my new cards.I have them all over my dining room table, drying off..
Again, I say..Bad Corgi's!!!

Click on the picture for a closer look!

Welcome, Ladies (and gent's ) from VLNO..Virtual Ladies Night Out..so good to meet you!

I welcome you to Snohomish Washington... and PAR TEE ON! I have a sippy of
Chardonnay
to get the Party started here!!

Vacation day...fun?

I am feeling a bit out of whack, as I took the day off as a "vacation" day to run errands, get some calls done.. that are nearly impossible to do on a work day (sure I can sit on hold 10 minutes during my 15 minute break) to try to resolve an insurance claim issue in 5 minutes). Oh yeah.. like I can do that, NOT!

Went and had my most favorite hairdresser person trim the locks, as the curling iron I am addicted to fry's the ends so quick. My work friends think my hair has "body", boy.. do I have them fooled.

What, you are doing highlights for 20% off? I like a bargain as much as the next dull haired, not so young chickadee, who needs "highlights". So sure, lets at least look like I have been in the sun.. give me some highlights!

Then I trot next door to the Albertsons store, (as I read "Frugal Chic Living" blog, and I am really trying to get into the grocery bargain shopping thing more seriously) I get some bargains.. roast for $1.99 a pound, whoo hoo, I am excited!

Oh,have some stuff to drop off for the eldest daughter, who is home with sick kids that didn't go to school, who are lounging all over her couch. My mom had dug out some old cast iron pans to give her. Crazy how this daughter has a special love for cast iron.. who'd of guessed that there are those who love collecting cast iron.. but it appears to be so!

Ok, back home, make a couple of those "important" calls, one more check off my mental list..

Now, how come I can't get the Pix to open with my IPhoto, and it only shows the jpeg#? I am still trying to figure that one out.. as I am not the most computer (Mac) savvy one on the block.

This one has been baffling me since I bought this Mac off younger daughter, when she got the GIANT new Mac.. She said it didn't do that for her..hmmm.. what am I doing wrong?

Call the other half, to remind him to try to get our old computer that died (due to me not being careful and getting some deadly virus's, so he tells me).. from the guy who supposedly has resurrected it back to life, please let me have all my Pix back, that's all I ask!

So, I look at the clock, the house is still a mess (yes that was on the list) and it is 2:15 pm.. I usually get off at 3:00, so it really doesn't feel like I had a "vacation" on my vacation day..

Oh.. happy first day of Spring!!

Vegas Baby!

This picture is from .. Vegas.. yeah.. Vegas baby!

My mom lives in Vegas part of the year..so I sometimes get to sneak down to visit and get some SUN.. we all need our vitamin D you know..


When I am there... in the sun, it feels so good.. everything is so NOT Washington. The sun shines, like every day! Here it shine's .. well let me think.. does it shine here? OK, I have to admit, the sun is shining all the time here..on the other side of those gray clouds overhead.

Their "mountains" are these funny hills with no trees, and I love the way they call them mountains! And the coyotes and jack rabbits with the long ears and those cute little cotton tailed rabbits, just wander through the back yard(not a yard like in Washington, either!).Oh.. how bout a roadrunner, yeah the bird like in the cartoons? They will run through her backyard too! You will not see roadrunners in Washington, nope, nada, won't happen.

Vegas is a great place to fly into, and than drive on to somewhere else. We drove to Williams, Arizona - "Gateway to the Grand Canyon." My mom and sis and I rode the Grand Canyon Railway to the Grand Canyon, it really isn't that far.. and how cool is that handiwork of God, it is like, WOW..really something. Oh, if you have the opportunity to ride the old train to the canyon..the kids will love it..


..dare I mention real train robbers on horseback!!!!


Yes, I love Vegas, but not for the reason others may really like Vegas..

Yes.... they robbed the train!!!

Old Chloe Cat

Have you had a pet, that was special, I mean..when you think of the best ones you have had over the years, this one stands out as an exceptional one. You know what I mean?

That was our Chloe, I think when this picture was taken, she had to be about 14.. she lasted about 3 more years. When she was ready to die, she kept trying to go outside, and I knew if she did she was going to go off to die, and I was not ready to let her go..finally she got out, and when my husband came home, she was "gone". He cried, I cried.. and we took her to the area behind the barn where the beloved farm animals rest, and she joined our beloved old dog, Ziggy.

Tamis still loves her story of bringing Chloe home as a tiny kitten when she was a teenager. She had a sob story of how her and her friend Anna, found these abandoned kittens...
she fessed up later, yeah, sure.. from a box at the Safeway store that said "Free Kittens", and some folks more than happy to send them off with the girls.

Chloe outlived many pets we had, and she stayed away from my evil neighbor as well...She was quite the hunter in her younger days, and would be gone for days sometime, but she would finally come home. When she got older, thank goodness, she had gotten her traveling over with, as she stayed close to home, when she was out.

We have learned the hard way, that you can never replace a special pet with one that appears to be like it, as they never are. I have found this with dogs, horses, cats.. the special one's cannot be duplicated.

Yes, this applies to those special people too..

Frugal shopping .. treasures waiting to be found..

I just have to share my great "finds" from yesterday, after I left work. I will start at the beginning..

I was at my 85 year old Mom's on Thursday.. and she had some old cook books that she asked me to drop off at "Value Village" for her..(who uses cookbooks anymore when you have the Internet, and all the wonderful recipes you Blogger's who cook share with us anyway, right?!)

So yesterday after work, I take a bag of her old books to the "Drop Off Donations" door and the guy gives me a 20% discount coupon to use in the store. This is my lucky day, let me tell you!

If you do not have a Value Village, you probably have something like it, you know what I mean! The one I like to go to always is always clean and organized.

On the Seattle "Eastside" there are lots of nice big name stores, and many people seem to end up with something from those many nice stores that they don't wear, don't like, or most likely it just doesn't fit.. so off it goes to 'charity donation" and ..DA DA, I get to buy it at Value Village for a tiny fraction of the original cost!

I felt like I hit the jackpot at the Casino, I was finding great stuff everywhere I turned:

• BRAND NEW black pants from Talbot's, ...$6.99 (I love these pants!)
• Ralph Loren Polo Jeans (cute red stitching down the sides).BRAND NEW $6.99
• Gap Jeans..NEW ..yellow tag 1/2 off that day..so from $6.99 to $3.50!
  
• Cute lightweight reversible "PING" ladies golf vest, brown on one side, plaid on the other $6.99 . Yes, it looks brand new!
• Fancy smancy "AGSI" cool white leather shoes (I Google'd, and they run about $140.00)..$4.99, like new!
  
• Made in Italy "Massimo" summer shoes..(cute polka dots!) $4.99, did I mention they are NEW!
  
• 2 pair of Franco Sarto leather shoes..black, and maroon..$6.99 each, not new, but do not look worn at all!
• 2 of my favorite color (green) tops, one is a Lands End tank top..$3.99 , the other a REI sleeveless with yellow tag.. so 1/2 off $4.99..reduced to $2.50!
  
• Finally last, but certainly not least.. a very cool NEW Grayish black REI fleece jacket, with these cute turn up cuff's, so cute cute cute..$14.99!

(click on Picture for closer look!)

Keep in mind, these were not the final prices, as I also got 20% off all of it, yep..you heard me, all of this for about $55.00, before our outrageously high sales taxes of course!

My friend at work, has a Goodwill that she goes to, and finds lots of good stuff at. She just recently found a really cool new designer belt, with lot's of BLING.. she paid $9.99, and when she got home she checked on EBay to see what she could find out (as she knew it was a really good belt.)..similar belt, same brand ..in the $300.00 range!

Well, I think I will get my act together now, and trot in to work a bit of overtime..(my company has had open overtime in my department for months). After all, I am following Dave Ramsey's plan..no credit card use, pay off bills as fast as you can, and make as much money as you can, when you can, to do this! He calls it "living like no one else", so later you can really " Live Like No One Else"!

I feel I can justify my purchase's here.. he says you have to wear clothes!

Overtime is calling, you all have a great weekend..I will be browsing through your Blogs later today!

Ear's more proof...

I just want you all to know, that I am really not kidding, his ear's are exceptionally large, even for a Corgi!

Oscar love's to pose as well, so I could not pass this cute picture up either.. I am going to tell you how we ended up with this matched set of Tri-Colored Corgi's someday.. don't be surprised when "CraigsList" is mentioned..

Just remember they were not puppies, or from puppy mills.. no, I would not do that!

We think it was meant to be..some say we just don't know when to stop!!!

Ear's to you..Corgi Ear's that is!

Our dog Oscar has Large ear's..I mean LARGE ears..they just look like two big sails on his head, tossing him to and fro, sweeping him which ever way the wind blows..

And of course he has very good hearing, if you open a kitchen cupboard or even sneak into the kitchen, he is there..staring at you. He can look very intently at you..if he had that little "balloon thing" over his head, like in the cartoons.. his Corgi "voice" thoughts appear to be something like this:

What are you getting.. is it for me?.. Is it food? ..Can I have it anyway?..please..I will eat it..I promise..don't let Milli have it.. I was here first.. I am bigger than her..no not Randy either.. me .. just me.. I will sit up.. look.. I am sitting up..just put it here.. OK, I will come to you..come on..come on..I am waiting..can't you see I'm waiting??

The Left and the Right..

Isn't this just something.. a peace gesture between the left and the right in the United States .. yes, non partisan..
and a little "Dancing with the Stars" thrown in. If it could only be this easy!

Cats and Dogs on the Farm

It's Friday...Woo Hoo! It is quite lovely in the Seattle area this afternoon, they are saying SNOW this weekend...that word is becoming a four letter word around here..
(oh, come to think of it, it really is a four letter word)!

I was playing around with my Picasa, and put this little collection of pictures together of some of the cats and dogs who have lived, or are living on the Farm (If you click on the picture, you will see them better!).

The little brindle colored "Rocky" aka Rocketdog ( Chi/Jack Russell )was especially dear to us... he disappeared one morning about two years ago, and we have suspicions of what happened to him.

I hate to say it, but I have a neighbor that may have something to do with it. Can you believe someone would hurt their neighbors pets? We have had probably 5 cats disappear over the years as well. Now you know why we have invisible fence on a 5 acre piece of property.

The small pictures of the man in orange laying on the grass being overcome by Corgi's is my other half.. we are still debating who is really the better half!

Zoe..thats her barn name.. her registered name is "Nugget A Gold"

Family and Friends comments about Zoe, are usually along the lines of.....everyone loves Zoe!

She is 18 and has been our family member for 16 years. She is very well bred, not that that matters anymore. She is the other half of the Pasture Ornament "girls"


Zoe is about 14.1, she has cutting horse bloodlines on her sire's side, and her dam is more working cow horse. She is rarely ridden mostly because we just don't ride anymore. If we do want to ride it is like we do it everyday.. she is always ready and has never bucked or reared or done any of that silly stuff! She is nice and sound, and goes barefoot most of the time, we only shoe if we are intending to do some serious riding!


We have had 2 babies out of her, the first one was Bailey, a really nice Overo colored boy, who had the best personality of any horse I ever had, he was such a clown! His registered name is "Robin Fort Knox", and we sold him to some folks in Wisconsin. We have been told he has been the favorite in his barn.. how could he not be, he is Zoe's son, thought today he must be 12!


She also had a "lethal white" colt... this was a very sad day for all of us. They call them lethal white, because they are always all white.. which is the red flag when they are born. It was my worst nightmare when I looked at him, all brand new and beautiful, and knew what we were going to have to do.

A lethal white has a genetic condition that is a very painful death, He was humanely put down.. and we all cried and mourned for him...and never bred Zoe again.

Now paints can be tested for this gene, my other mare Betsy, is negative for it. At the time Zoe was bred they were just getting started on testing for it, and we did not know if she had the gene. If they do have it, the odd's were about 25% that it would happen.

We had a friend keeping her horse with us for a while.. and when her granddaughter was showing her mother around the farm, Ashley turned to her mother while my friend was walking through the pasture with them, and said "Don't pet the yellow horse"..my friend asked her why she said that to her mother, and Ashley turned to her mother and said "if you do you will fall in love with her, everyone does.."

We keep saying we are going to find her a really good home...but in the mean time.. we all will continue to love our little Zoe horse!

I just wanted to share a little about our little yellow horse that steals hearts, Zoe.

P.S... I forgot to mention one thing about our Zoe, she is deaf! Yep, can't hear anything. But if I didn't tell you she was deaf, you wouldn't know it... unless you shook a bucket of grain and she was sleeping, she would just keep on sleeping!

Jan's unexpected find!

Have you ever been going about your business, staying out of the stores, avoiding looking at things that you know will tempt you as they scream "look at Me, Look at ME!" I was doing just that. I had a long list of things to do Saturday.. spending money on non necessary items was not on my list.

On my way to Brea's house, I about got whiplash as my little green Saab veered to the right, following an Estate Sale sign. I am sorry, to say (or am I?), I gave in to the moment and went along for the ride.

OK, so this Estate Sale was being run by one of those outfits that comes in and marks the prices on everything, and of course is cash only. That's OK, I was not planning on buying anything, I thought I would just take a quick look, and tell Brea (my daughter) if I saw anything she may be interested in..

That was until I saw this Welsh Cupboard (or early 1900 version of the same). Oh man, not that, of all things, not that. I have wanted one of these for 40 years...yes I said 40 years!

Well, as I looked at the price on it, I thought not to worry, I don't have that much money on me.. and I couldn't afford it, if I did.

This is because with the economy as it is..and my husband being a small business owner who is just trying to keep the doors open and the employee's paid as well as the bills.. we are concentrating on just making it through this economic period. You know, pay off our bills, not create new bills, and live the Dave Ramsey motto, to "live like no one else, so someday we can live like no one else!"

I left, putting the thought of the hutch I have always wanted behind me.. and visited Brea and family, sharing with her the "find".

From her house I was going to go to work to put in some overtime.. so why not just take another peak, just for the fun of it. I know.. you know.. the rest is history!

I was looking at the hutch again, and the estate lady came over to see if I had any questions. I asked what she expected the price of the hutch would be tomorrow, if it was still here. She asked how much I would pay.. I offered her what I had on me..which was much less than she had it priced, and next thing you know.. I bought my little antique oak hutch that I have always wanted for 40 years.

I must say, it goes very well with my antique kitchen queen, and other old oak treasures I have picked up over the years, and I mean over many years..what do you think? I think it is lovely!