Dog sitting Mimi and Mandy

Mandy the Japanese ChinMimi the Papillon

This weekend we are dog sitting for Mitch and Carole's two dogs, Mimi and Mandy. Mimi is a beautiful tri-color Papillon and one of Laura's line. She reminds me of Mona who belongs to our friends, Brenda and Todd. Mandy is a very pretty sable colored Japanese Chin who has a silly personality. She will throw her head back and talk to anyone who will listen. She's just too funny! She loves nothing more than running around the yard trying to get the other girls to chase her. If that doesn't work she will body slam the nearest Pap in an effort to get a chase going. LaLa doesn't think it's very funny when she has her ball in her mouth. It's just too cute to see them get the zooms and do laps around the yard as fast as they can go. All those beautiful coats flying in the breeze is a sight to see.

Mom's Valentine

Mom loved the flower's we gave her for Valentine's Day. She also enjoyed going out to dinner. It was good to see Mom eat so well. She even enjoyed a dessert. We were joined by my brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Cindy. It was nice to get together with everyone and catch up on what's happening in our lives. We enjoy getting together with Mike and Cindy and are lucky that we live in the same town. Glad to hear that Cindy's finally found a good job. She will be a closer for a title company in Lake Mary and will be working with some of the girls from her old job at Kampf Title, which closed down last year. Hope she's happy and successful in the new job. OK Mike, you can relax now!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Happy Valentine's Day to all!!! Hope you have a great day and get lots of hugs and kisses. We plan to take Mom out to dinner tonight. I just had to show off the beautiful arrangement of flowers in a pretty purple vase along with a very nice card given to me by John. He also delivered a nice flower arrangement to my mother while I was at Jo-Ann's store for a brownie demo this morning. While I was there I HAD to take advantage of their 50% off sale. With my coupon for an additional 25% off I got some great bargains. I picked up an electric melting pot for a great price. I sure could have used it yesterday. Also got some additional silicone baking forms and cookie cutters. 50% off....I couldn't say no!!! Think of all the money I saved.

Brownies

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. I had purchased some heart shaped silicone pans and had some heart shaped brownie cutters that I wanted to try out, so I figured what a better time than Valentine's Day for making brownies. At least that way I can give them away and don't have to eat them myself. I covered them with a dark chocolate/raspberry ganache which I thought tasted very good. Warm brownies...mmm, mmm, GOOD!! By the time they were ready to decorate I was so sick of chocolate (yes, that can happen to a woman) that I just wanted to get it over with so I really didn't get fancy with the icing. My daughter, Sherry, dropped off her dog, Reno, for me to dog-sit while they are in Gainesville for a soccer tournament this weekend, so I gave her some brownies to take along. I plan to send a bunch to work with John. Well, we may eat one or two between now and Monday.

Flutterby

Boy is it hard to get a good photo of a feeding butterfly. This little pretty little thing was bouncing from bloom to bloom on our Azalea bush. I was using my 300x zoom so as not to get too close and still wasn't able to get a good sitting still shot. I'm not sure what kind she is, maybe a Zebra Swallowtail. I've also seen some small bright yellow butterflies fluttering through the yard. Hope I can get some shots of them too, but boy are they fast.

Where'd the lake go?

See, didn't I tell you that sometimes the fog was so thick that you can't see the tree line across the lake. Compare to my January 23 post titled "Misty Morning". These pictures were taken at around 7:30 this morning. Actually, according to John, earlier you couldn't see the docks. I missed that cause I was sleeping in. Snuggled all warm and cozy with Icee, LaLa and Chili. They still didn't want to get out of bed when I rose to the smell of coffee brewing. Lazy dogs!!

Daffodils and Azaleas

I put out around 100 Daffodil bulbs a month or so ago and they've finally started to bloom. I didn't realize the blooms were so small, about an inch across. I love the color and just had to snap some pictures. This is the first time I've tried them. I scattered them all over the place because I didn't know where they would like to grow. Next year I plan to concentrate them in one or two areas. Also our old Azaleas are just bursting out in bloom for the first time in around three years. I think that when we built the new house three years ago it must have affected them somehow because we were worried that they might never bloom again, but here they go. The bloom buster fertilizer must have really helped too. I also have three Amaryllis sending up bloom spikes. Can't wait to see what colors I get. Ain't Florida just great for growing stuff all year.

Sundog

I saw my first Sundog today. At first I thought it was the sun obscured by a cloud, but the sun was further left (not in these pics). The sundog was pinkish on the southerly side and bright on the other side. My pictures don't do it justice. We didn't know what it was until our neighbor, Dr. Smith, who had stopped by for a visit while out in his little sail boat with his dog, Molly, told us what it was called. We learned something new today. Check it out on the web. It's an interesting phenomenon.

February in Florida

Time for a dip?

I'm dog sitting my daughter's Min Pin, Reno, this weekend and he just loves swimming in the lake. I looked outside to find him jumping at the gate wanting to get to the lake so I said "OK dog, but it's cold". Apparently it's not too cold for him. I let him play in the water for about twenty minutes before I had to make him get out. I was afraid he'd get too cold. The air temp is around 58 degrees right now. Not sure what the water temp is, but it's cold to me.

Icee is perfectly happy to stay in the yard hunting for bugs. It's just too funny to watch her leaping into the boarder grass trying to catch who knows what. Yep, that's my hunter dog. She doesn't know she's supposed to be a fufu lap dog.

Blooming Cattleya

Sixteen blooms and more on the way. This Cattleya orchid just doesn't stop blooming. I e-mailed a local grower who shows his orchids and he said this plant would do very well in a show. Too bad I don't know where to begin showing an orchid. I'm just enjoying it's beauty. These blooms are at least two weeks old and look as good as the day they opened. My Daffodils are starting to send up bloom spikes. I've planted 100 of them. Hope the frost we're having right now doesn't hurt them. Look for some pictures....coming soon.

Ima Majestic Gent

Old photos....

Yep, that's me at a local horse show (1989) after I had shown my black QH, Ima Majestic Gent, better known as "Gent" in a Halter or Showmanship class. Don't know why I didn't band his mane on such a windy day. Notice the blue ribbon hanging from his halter. Gent was a nicely bred 2 year old QH. He and I won a lot of blues together. Can't believe how skinny I was at 40. Boy, those were the days.