Sunday, July 31, 2011

Psalm 18:1-2


I love you,
O Lord my strength,
O Lord my stronghold,
my crag, and my haven.

My God, my rock
in whom I put my trust,
my shield,
the horn of my salvation,
anjd my refuge:

You are worthy of praise.

Psalm 18:1-2

Saturday, July 30, 2011

A Wonderful Kind of Mess!




The news at our house is, EVERYTHING IS A MESS!

I'm very happy about it!

What?

We're getting new carpet, at least upstairs.  The basement will have its day but not yet.  I decided that since I don't have a regular job right now, I could do the carpet rip-out.  I must be using some rather dormant muscles because I wake up SORE!

  It's hard work but rather satisfying.



To make it more manageable, I cut the carpet into strips.  Then, I just pull and pull until I have a piece off.  I roll it up and put it in a big garbage bag, then, I start  pulling up the padding.  It doesn't pull up smoothly so I always have to go back and pick off the broken pieces of it.  I learned to do that part quickly as Bode, it turns out, believes carpet padding is yummy.



Next, I got a little stool and sat down with a pair of pliers and hand-picked the staples out.  There are tack-strips around the edges of everything but I'm leaving those in place for the attachment of the new carpet.   It is a bit risky as those tack strips have little nails pointing upward.  It's really best to NOT step on them.  Trust me, you know when you've done that!



The man who is laying our new carpet heard that I was plucking staples by hand and kindly offered a scraper tool for me to use.  I declined.  In fact, he offered it several times and I continued to decline, stating it wasn't that hard to pluck out the staples.  One day, he just couldn't stand it anymore and brought the tool over to me.  What do you know?  It is a job that now takes just a few minutes. You slide it across the floor and it pops out most of the staples.  Those that don't pop out are sheered off.  Either way, all I have to do is sweep them up!



Next, I'm painting KILZ over any spot on the floor that looks like it may have a pet stain on it.  If you ever need to use KILZ, you need to know there are several kinds of it.  If you are dealing with pet stains, don't wimp out and choose the water-based KILZ.  I did that in our basement and learned that it just doesn't do a good job.  This time, I chose the oil-based KILZ and it works well.  However, good ventilation is a MUST.  It has a very, very strong odor that lingers.  I opened all windows and it still took a full day to remove the odor after I'd just painted the floor in 2 rooms.

Our carpet-layer-guy has already completed those 2 rooms.  He is working us in between other jobs so Monday he will return to do a bit more and then later next week come back to finish the job.  The biggest mess is simply that I have to pile everything from the rooms being carpeted into the dining area.  The Rose Room has been the worst.  This is the room where I have miles of fabric and skeins and skeins of yarn, not to mention oodles of containers with our jewelry-making supplies.  It is my favorite room, but all those things made for quite a mess in our dining area!


 I don't mind; I'm just so excited to have new carpet!





Reminder:

Wyoming Rose is doing a give-away! 

Simply leave a comment at our store blog:



Next Friday we will place the names of all commenters in a hat and draw for the winner!

Friday, July 29, 2011

Jewelry in the Sun

Another thing I enjoy is making jewelry.

It is another addiction, much like crocheting.

Recently, I had a chance to share my addiction with two of my friends.   We were out on a deck at the beautiful home of one of them and we just enjoyed being together.  It was really a pleasant morning.

They made some lovely pieces for themselves.




I made a couple of pairs of earrings, one for Wyoming Rose Boutique...



...and one for a GIVEAWAY!


Entering is NOT complicated. 

Simply leave a comment at our store blog:



In one week we will place the names of all commenters in a hat and draw for the winner!












Thursday, July 28, 2011

Vacation for a Day... Installment #3

OK... let's wind this thing up, shall we?  I've saved the most interesting part for last...


Thermopolis, WY
Home of the World's Largest Mineral Hot Springs!

There are hot springs popping up all over the place, flowing down to the river.  Some places smell pretty strong of sulphur (think rotten eggs) so all your senses get involved.









We left Thermopolis and went through the Wind River Canyon, through some tunnels, and out near Boysen Lake.  The beauty just came coming at us!



And when I wasn't driving, I crocheted as we rolled along....


It was a day to remember!

Thanks for patiently letting me document such a lovely day!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Vacation for a Day... Installment #2

In yesterday's blog I showed you the beginning of our day trip through the Big Horn Mountains and beyond.  I kept making Mike stop to take pictures.  At one point he commented that he missed the days of film when I only had 21 photos available and so had to use them carefully.  On the other hand, he pointed out good shots for me.  He has a good eye!
So, after we left Meadowlark Lake we headed out the East side of the Big Horns along Hwy 16.  As we headed down we noted that there was some transitional scenery.  That is, the mountain vegetation was mixed with sagebrush and other prairie vegetation. 


 Then, we turned a corner and Ten Sleep Canyon was before us.... so beautiful!









The canyon seemed to go on and on.  It was lovely.  Eventually, though, we were out of the canyon and out to an area that had its own beauty but was really quite different.  First, we stopped in the town of Ten Sleep, population 304.  It was kind of charming...



We stopped at a place called "Dirty Sally's".  Mike went in while I walked Bode.  He came out with a cold snack, which was especially appreciated since it was 98 degrees!



I walked Bode around some more.  We stopped and walked Bode a LOT throughout the day but he only went to the bathroom ONCE!  Strange dog...he really doesn't like to potty away from home if he can help it.  Maybe it is because he saw signs like this one...  I'm hoping thye only meant on that lawn, not the whole town.


We continued on out of Ten Sleep just a few miles when we saw a sign to Castle Gardens.  I'd read that it was an interesting place with cool rock formations.  It was so hot we probably should not have gone but we were having an adventsome day, so on we went.  I think the only traffic we saw were guys working on the road.  Eventually they were far behind us as well.  Twice we approached antelope napping on the road!  They didn't look like they were expecting any travelers.  Can you see this one?


The scenery was beautiful, although very desolate. 




But this photo was my prize!


We made our way back to the highway and on to Worland.  I thought Worland was a sweet town as well.  We walked Bode around in a park where he again did not go to the bathroom.  We left Worland and made our way to Thermopolis.  I can't wait to show you those pictures tomorrow!  It is one of the weirdest places... with a very unusual (and smelly) kind of beauty!

Rest up!

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Vacation for a Day!

Monday Mike had the day off so we lit out on a lovely day trip through the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming, down through Ten Sleep Canyon, over to see the Castle Gardens, checked out the towns of Worland and Thermopolis and left through the Wind River Canyon, passing by Boysen Lake.  It was almost too much for one day and DEFINITELY too much for one blog post (I took nearly 300 pictures) so I will sprinkle it out over several days... and yes, I will edit. 

These pictures are all from the Big Horn Mountains and Forest,
 including Meadowlark Lake.  The beauty surrounding us was breathtaking.  Getting to have Mike to myself the entire day made my heart happy.  He's been so busy, today was a real gift...

  




















I have had a few people ask how they can comment on my posts if they do not have their own blog or URL.  All you have to do is click on the comments on the bottom of the blog; where it says 2 comments or whatever, click right on that.  A box will appear where you can write your comment.  It will ask your name.  You don't have to put your last name.  When it asks for your URL just leave it blank and submit it.  Give it a try!  I LOVE comments!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Bode Update

So, where did I leave off?  Oh yes.  Saturday morning, VERY EARLY, we awoke to a really really disgusting smell.  Bode was sick in his kennel, which is in our bedroom.  Eewwww!  I won't go into details but he was showing some signs of an intestinal blockage (pretty much the same stuff coming out both ends) so I ended up taking him to the vet.  The vet agreed wtih my worries and x-rays showed that he had a partial obstruction.  We could not tell what it was he'd eaten, but it was NOT food.  That did not come as a surprise to me as he is ALWAYS trying to chew and eat anything he can find.  You wouldn't believe some of the things we have found when we scooped poop in our yard... like an entire, freshly pooped out, plastic shopping bag!  I will be so glad when this phase passes.

Anyway, since he wasn't totally obstructed the decision was made to just give him fluids, as he was already dehydrated, and treat his symptoms while watching for signs of further distress.  Instead of IV fluids, he was given subcutaneous fluids.  That means they just put a lot of fluid under his skin, between his shoulder blades, and let his body absorb it from there.  As the tech said when they brought him out to me, they installed a camel hump!


Doesn't that look weird?

Can you see those streak going back from the hump, where it looks wet?  Well, it was wet!  As time passed he squished fluids out his skin.  It was like petting a sponge!  He slept most of Saturday but livened up by evening.  I was directed to hold his regular food and cook some easily digestable foods for him.  I cooked rice for him and gave him just small amounts... no problem.  Hours later, I boiled hamburger for him.  The vet explained to me that boiling it would get the grease off it.  So, after boiling and draining it I gave him a little of it mixed with rice.  That seemed to go well also.  I was glad that I took the time to avoid giving him all that grease. 

Not long after this I heard him in the kitchen and it sounded like trouble so I went to investigate.  This is what I found...


See that suspicious stuff on his chin?  I found him with his face buried in a margarine container, a previously FULL container!  Like I said, I'm so glad I went to all that trouble boiling the hamburger for him so he wouldn't get all that grease!

Sunday, Bode seemed to feel fine and was C-R-A-Z-Y with energy!  He was running from one naughty adventure to the next.  I spent the afternoon chasing him from one thing he was chewing...


...to the next...


I'm so glad that he is feeling better but I am really exhausted!  Did you see the movie, Marley & Me?  Well, we are LIVING it!  When I am chasing him down, pulling yarn from my current crocheting project out of his throat while screeching at him that he needs to show me more respect, I imagine that I look just like Jennifer Aniston, so it's not all bad.

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