the first man that comes along that can read latin is welcome to rob me

back in AZ after being home for 10 days...

lotsa rain in the area, so it's super green...little too much rain for the hay though...

got to spend time with my family and the ponies

and take in the scenery and the wildlife...saw antelope, deer and a big bull elk...

got to ride a bunch...dang I miss it!

wish it was 2 or 4 or 3 days ago...

dang, i'm homesick!

ps, cowboy pix coming soon kim ;)

outta here-part 2

After staying up waaaay too late the night before, the next day we got up early and headed out for our hike...gorgeous weather and scenery...we found an older guy who was more than happy to take pix of us-proving that you can still be hot at our age, you just have to choose your audience wisely, LOL!














We hiked somewhere between 5 and 80 miles, depending on who was counting, lol!

(p.s. Some People, I know we went around the lake TWICE, Nancy W and I were counting! ha!)












after the hike we stopped in town and did some shopping, I looked mahvelous darling!


Stopped at the grocery store on the way home for more provisions-coughcoughwinecoughcough...














then Patty treated us to a spa day...Thanx Patty!


then we had to have another fashion show, cuz who doesn't love a giant denim shirt? lol!









Nancy bought us all these cute glasses to commemorate the weekend...I am not usually allowed to have actual glassware, and promptly broke mine, natch!









then we on-line dated for a while...again quite shocking and embarassing to a simple country girl like me...dang, people just feel very free to say ANY thing apparently!
Stayed up way too late again, then got up the next morning and headed home...


Speaking of home...headed to Big Wyo for 10 days tomorrow morning...see ya' all in a couple weeks, and happytrails!

I said to my reflection lets get out of this place

So a couple weeks ago we had a little girls weekend up at a friends cabin in the high country...so nice to get outta the heat!!!












here's a glimpse of the 'cabin' from the road...it's pretty much a dump, and the 7 of us had to share 3 bathrooms...yeah, we were roughing it for sure, lol!












as soon as we got settled we took a little hike around the hood...some people went the full 2 miles, but I kinda cheated... I figured I didn't really need the excercise after my tots and orange cremeslush from our Sonic stop, lol!

then of course we had to eat again after our walk...lots of chick food and beverages consumed over the weekend, lol!







While we were on our walk, we saw a house under construction so we had to go check it out, natch!
I don't know wth this room was supposed to be, but it had this stage, maybe a very very exclusive 'gentlemans club', lol which promted Tam to treat us to a pole dance...I gave her a five, she earned it...














and I'm not even gonna tell you what Patty is talking about here, I'll just tell you that I was completely shocked and embarassed, lol!













So here's the thing about me-I always start out looking like a normal person on our little adventures...


















but I rapidly disintegrate to this literally every time, I can't seem to control myself I just keep grabbing random items of clothing and putting them on so I end up looking like a bag lady, lol!

just thought you'd wanna know just in case you ever have to travel with me, lol!
Back tomorrow with part 2!

Surfin' USA

Daisy was waiting impatiently for her turn on the board while I was trying to drown poor little Pearl...











if you can get the 'surfboard' under the diving board just right, Daisy will totally jump off the diving board and surf across the pool-
















missed the jump, it happens fast, lol! But dang, it's cute!



















and then it was this homeless looking hippie dudes turn (aka Dane!)

















and he lands it!



















sweet! I wanna learn to do this so bad, I've tried a million times and can't ever land it, but with great junk comes great responsibilty, so I gotta be careful I don't hurt myself, lol!!!

peace out y'all, have a great weekend!

ya'll step back so a girl might could get started...

had an excellent weekend at Casa Unruly! Went out to happy hour Friday night to celebrate another June birthday...go Gemini's!

a good time was had by all, ;)

and see, I do occasionally get to wear something that isn't hiking/running gear or boys shorts with their weird giant zippers, lol!

after we left the bar, my buddy Ron took me on a ride on his new bike...it is Sah-weeet! Who needs a sissy bar when I've got you to hold onto Easy Rider? LOL! Look, he's trying to hit me before we even started!

then on Sunday, Tiny Pearl got to swim for the first time...there's only one place in the pool where little dogs can get out on their own, so I make all the Yorkies learn where that is just in case they ever fall in and I'm not there...

Daisy took the water right away when she was a pup, and we can't keep her out of the pool now...Tiny Pearl, not so much...



















have you ever seen a more pitiful little drowned rat creature in your whole life? I think the water is just too cold for her, she has like zero body fat...hopefully she learned how to get out just in case cuz I feel too mean to put her in again!

more pool pix to come, peace out for now!

Grand Canyon Redux

just when you thought it was over, there's more, lol...because SOME people are very tardy sharing their photos, tsk-tsk!

since it's been sooooo long ago, I don't remember what we're doing here, but I do recall that we were hilarious! ;)

this was actually a really fun bar, I wanted to stay longer but was over-ruled lol! probly just as well, har!

run forrest run! I don't know wth I was thinking, shoulda been saving my energy for the hike...

I believe this is where some people were making fun of the boys shorts I bought at Old Navy for the hike...they were pretty stupid, but they had lots of pockets for my stuff, and I could wear them over my tights...actually I coulda worn another pair of pants under them as well, lol! Here's a question...why is the zipper soooo long on mens pants? It took me 10 freaking minutes to zip them!

so now that I have all the pix, I could totally print them out and finish my hiking scrapbook, except I ran out of pages...I went to buy another album and they stopped making them, yikes! SO if anyone has a 12 x 6 wire bound kraft colored album they wanna sell me I would be sooo happy! :)

ciao!

gonna drink Bacardi like it's my birfday...

The twinlets and I share a kind-of birthday...we're all born on lucky number 7!

So today the girls turned 6 months old...and I turned...um, substantially older than that!

The lovely Moreno family stopped by to wish me a happy b-day and we had a little photo session...

I don't know about the twins, but I've been having a great time celebrating my b-day, will check back in a couple days with a run down of all the celebrations! thanx to all for all the happy b-day wishes, I really appreciate it & happytrails!

Grand Canyon Adventure Part 5

AKA-I Cried a Watermelon...(that one's for you Hernandez!)

So when last we left off, our intrepid heroine had been to Plateau Point and saw the Colorado, and was heading back towards the rim and civilization...and food, and showers, and womens clothing, and most importantly, NOT HIKING, lol!

It was a relief to see the trees and green grass at Indian Gardens...

It was getting pretty hot by now, the stream and the shade were awesome...I did manage to make it across the creek without falling in...can you imagine wet shoes for the hike up? Yikes!

If I recall correctly, this was the last happy moment I had for the next few hours, lol!

uh yeah, wish someone coulda got this memo to me a little sooner, har!

Although I will say that at one point I asked my hiker grrrlz to please just give me their extra supplies, as I really felt like I could make a nice little life for myself living at the bottom of the canyon...there were moments when that seemed preferable to hiking anymore, lol!

Not nearly as fun hiking up as it was hiking down! Next time I want to stay the night at Phantom Ranch and have some beers, a steak and a nights rest before I head back to the top!

And we were so much better prepared and in shape than many of the people we passed...there were people in sandals with one measly water bottle from about the 5 mile mark and above...they had NO idea what they were in for, no wonder there are so many rescues there every year!

So, not so many pix on the uphill hike, just concentrating on getting outta there! Those last 3 miles were brutal!

But guess what? I DID make it out alive! :) And I wanted to share with you all how sweaty and gross I was...You're Welcome! I'm just sad that you can't really see in greater detail the full beauty that was mine...

I literally had mud caked on me from all the dust mixed with sweat, it was lovely!

So had a little spit bath and jumped into the cars to head home...

We stopped in Flagstaff for gas and went to Wendy's for burgers and fries...I am not a fast food fan, but can I just tell you that Wendy's hamburger was the most delicious thing I have EVER eaten in my life! LOL!

Got back home tired, sunburnt, dirty, smelly and with super sore calf muscles (who knew? I woulda though anything besides calf muscles!) and my back totally out, but it was worth it! happytrails! ;)

no boys allowed!

Had a stitch-n-bitch session with Linz & Sam

a couple days ago...can't believe how big the twinses are getting!

Here's one of 'em...

and here's the other one! OK, I all of a sudden couldn't tell them apart when I put their pix up, LOL! I'm 90% certain the one on top is Boston and this one is Teagan...Linz?

What a bad Auntie I am! ;)

We had a little birfday party for Linz...

and Sam made us a delicious salad and a creme puff dessert...YUM!!!!!

We watched The Wedding Date and died over how hot Dermot Mulroney is...

Auntie Sam gettin' some baby love!

Now that the twinses are a little bigger and can entertain themselves for a few minutes, we are all actually getting some stitching done! Sam finished a piece she was working on and Linz and I made some headway on our projects too!

So let's review-We had a little party, ate salads and creme puffs for lunch, played with babies, watched a chick-flick and sewed...

I'm thinkin' it was pretty much an estrogen ocean up in that joint, lol!

Grand Canyon Adventure Part 4

When I left off, we were just heading out from Indian Gardens to Plateau Point to see the Colorado River...After a mile and 1/2 hike through scrubby desert, we got our first glimpse of the Colorado...










and when we went to the lookout, guess who was waiting for me? Yup, Quoth the Raven, see him there at the point of the rail? Told ya' he followed me the whole time, lol!










Another album cover perhaps? LOL!
It was starting to get hot, so the breeze felt really good...













I was having my doubts while we were hiking here, but I was really glad that we went out to Plateau and saw the river, it was totally gorgeous!


















then we turned around and headed back towards Indian Garden and the rim...It was at this point that my calf muscles starting aching, and I was realizing that I had over 6 miles and 3,160 feet to hike back UP...
What will happen? Do our intrepid heroines make it out alive???

stay tuned....

Wildflower Folio

Some of my Wildflower Folio project is featured in the current issue of Somerset Life-I thought I'd show you a few more of the pieces here...

















I used a variety of vintage papers, stamps, photos and photo album pages with some faux vintage images, transparencies, tags, stickers, rubber stamps, and even some sugar packets and a temporary tattoo...


This is the prairie grass panel...












and bound it all together with the pressed wildflowers on styrene using beeswax...


this is the lupine panel...














and along with cinquefoil, of course Prarie Rose Henderson belongs in the rose family!

















my sugar sage panel...lots & lots of sage in Wyoming...


















lots of beautiful-but deadly to cattle-larkspur as well...

I'm working on making a class sample using a combination of my Wildflower Folio and my Born Again mobile for a class I'm teaching at Mystic this summer...stayed tuned for more details, and have a great week!

happytrails!

Grand Canyon Adventure Part 3

OK, so I thought this hiking stuff was supposed to be good for you? Definitely not so pretty for the feet! My wicking socks work so well that they also wick all the moisture out of my feet, giving my ashy feet...I didn't realize someone with as white of skin as me could get ashy, LOL! Also lost my second toe toe-nail from all the down-hill even though I trimmed them down as far as I could...oh the tribulations of a pro athlete, LOL!






So when last I left off we were at the 3 mile rest house heading towards Indian Gardens...

the pic doesn't do it justice, but you can see the moon over the rim of the canyon a little bit...it was so cool IRL!

We're almost to Indian Gardens here, we must all be smiling in anticipation of eating our PBJ's, LOL! (For some reason, this pic reminds me of an album cover...)

It's starting to get a little warmer, and there's more vegetation, not as scrubby looking...

and for those of you who asked-yes, I am the shortest one, it's not just a trick of the camera, I really am that 'sawed off' as Carl would say, lol!

When we got to Indian Gardens, Quoth the raven was waiting for me! Not only waiting, but seriously vogue-ing for me!

We had a little rest here and ate...I don't dig PBJ's at all, but I have to tell you, that PBJ was one of the most delicious things I've ever eaten! Also stripped off some of my layers of clothes...even tho my tights were a great fashion statement, HAR! And can I just tell you how heavy those tights and thermal shirt were in my Camelbak? Um, at least 10 pounds!

We started out at 6860 feet above sea level, and in approximately 4.7 miles of hiking, we're now at 3800 feet above sea level, a pretty steep drop, around 700 feet per mile...

Heading out about another 1 & 1/2 miles to Plateau Point...it looked pretty grim and "deserty" at this point, I was hoping the extra miles was gonna be worth it!

Do I make it out of the Grand Canyon? Do I get pecked to death by ravens? How will it all end? Stay tuned...

Busy Week...

Lots going on last week, here's a few of the highlights...

Went to lunch and shopping for a good friends birthday last week...I just happened to glance over at the cart the 3 of us were sharing, and it cracked me up-crammed to overflowing with junk...good junk though, lol!










Tiny Pearl went to the vet for her 6 month shots...she has most of her adult teeth and weighs a whopping 3.5 pounds...the vet doesn't think she'll get a whole lot bigger, yikes!
She looks so cute in her little pink carrier, AKA Pearl Prison...

Also went to the chiropracter and had an adjustment for the first time ever...more on this later, but let me just say for now that it was like the heavens parted and a choir of angels sang when he adjusted my back...I'm a believer!

Cutie Sam posted a video she did for school about composting featuring moi on her blog, I think she did an amazing job and love that my grrrrlz are in it!






Took a soldering class at Mystic on Saturday...I wasn't positive that I'd really like soldering, but I looooorve it! It is so super fun and I can't wait to get a chunk of time to just practice, I've got a ton of ideas of stuff I want to make! These are the little charms I made in class...

We also celebrated Dane's birthday this week...my little girl is growing up, LOL!

He turned 19...I just don't get how that is possible, since I'm only 25 myself!

Stay tuned for another installment of the

Grand Canyon Adventure coming soon!

Peace out, happytrails, and have a great week!

ahh...ahh...ahhchihuly!

Bless you! On Sunday we went with our friends Gene & Debi to the Chihuly exhibit at the Botanic Gardens...me, Greg & Debi were all sick with colds...Gene was fine until we got there, then his allergies kicked in, so all 4 of us sniffed and sneezed and coughed our way through the garden...I'm sure everyone thought we had swine flu!


These gorgeous lime green yucca things are placed as you walk into the garden...










and this crazy piece is right at the entrance...it is HUGE and amazing! One of the docents told us that they received 750 crates of glass and set up a circus tent in one of the parking lots to prep it and put it together before it was installed in the garden...















Here's the 3 of them diligently reading their guide books and being good little rule followers...













or so they thought...the sign says "Please do not sit or climb on wall" HA!!!












Thought this boat filled with fishing-lure reminiscent pieces was very cool...













Here's me & Deb reading about how the leaf trees nurture baby cacti...the baby cacti have a much better chance at survival under a leaf tree as it provides shade, shelter and protection. BUT, as the cactus grows, it develops lots of shallow roots just under the soil, and soaks up all the moisture before it can get to the roots of the leaf tree, thereby literally sucking the life out of the leaf tree...

Debi said "Just like being a mother" HA!!! We were cracking up over that one, truer words were never spoken! Good one Deb!

We learned that the reason creosote bushes smell so good and the actual creosote product smells so bad (as I was wondering about here) is because the creosote product is actually made out of coal tar...why it's called creosote at all then remains a mystery...

I totally want this spider-y thing for my backyard...

We also learned that while some of the pieces were made especially for this exhibit, many of the pieces already existed, and Chihuly spends some time at each venue, then decides what he wants for the look and feel of each locale and re-designs the existing pieces to acheive his vision. All the major glass pieces in the Bellagio in Vegas are by him as well, and he exhibits around the country at different venues regularly.

This may have been my favorite piece...the pic doesn't do it justice, but these colors together were spectacular...

It was an amazing exhibit, if you ever get the chance to go see his work, do!

I'm just glad I'm not in charge of packing it, HAR!!!

peace out & happytrails!

I carried a watermelon...

On Friday me & Becky took a little trip to

Mystic Paper for a little celebration...


All the aprons for the auction are hanging in the store, they are so cute! Make sure to bid, besides getting an adorable and useful apron, you are helping so many needy and deserving dogs & cats!

A little back-story on me & Becky...our sons have been friends for years, so I had seen Becky around at PTA stuff, swimming lessons, you know, the whole mom routine! But I had no idea Becky was into the whole artsy-crafty scene until she started her blog! And now, here we are celebrating her first time being pubbed in Somerset Studio! Her first time, but I'm sure not her last, she is so talented! So since we're both pubbed in this issue, we went to Mystic to ham it up for Jennifer and her mad photography skillz (har!)

Kim called Ranger Mike



(I swear I came up with that independently Mike, you know I would totally blame Kim if I could, lol!)

and tricked him into coming into the store so I could meet him...I needed to meet the man who gets all the Peddlars good junk before I have a chance at it, lol!

Looking forward to taking his Grandmothers Woods class...check the Mystic site for dates!

Grand Canyon Adventure Part 2

So here we are at the very beginning of the trail...see where the it leads through the gorges and onto the flat area of land that's pointed at the end? That is the aptly named Plateau Point and where we will see the Colorado River before we turn around to come back...










The sun was just coming up over the rim..











so part of the Canyon was sunny and some was still in shade, it looked amazing in real life, but I have to admit that at this point I was really wishing the sun was fully up, because I was still freezing!!!








I hadn't realized that there were places they'd had to tunnel through the rock to make the trail...the little window is natural though...












I couldn't get over how much different the Canyon looks when you're inside it, nothing like it looks from the top, this yellow cliff for instance doesn't even look that yellow from the rim...














"Hi you guys!" OK, so here's me taking a shadow pic waving to my blog readers...but I forgot to put my arm in the sun for the waving part...DUR!!!
It was still really early, give me a break! ;)















OK, I'm sure many of you know that I dig Edgar Alan Poe...
Guess this raven knew about it too, he hung with me the entire trip...more photos of "Quoth" the raven as we progress...
















and here we've made it 3 miles down to the resthouse...I for one am still blissfully unaware of what awaits me...

stay tuned for the next installment of the Grand Canyon Adventure!

urth

happy earth day! I know we're all trying to do our part to help make our home cleaner & healthier! In the last several months I've stopped using paper towels & napkins, I make my own green general purpose house cleaner, I hang most of the laundry out to dry and I started composting again...the most surprising thing to me about making these changes is how much I don't miss doing things the old way! And I was completely surprised by how much money I save not using the dryer! Go Green! ;)

Go here to find out about chemicals in our food, etc. (scary!) and here to find out about your carbon footprint and fun challenges to participate in that reduce it, go here for the Lorax project that is cute & kid-friendly, and go here to find out about the new Stampington mag devoted to being earth-friendly in artsy ways!
peace out!

Grand Canyon Adventure Part 1

100 Things To Do In My Lifetime List
#47-Hike the Grand Canyon-CHECK!!!

We packed up the cars and were on the road early Friday afternoon...had a fun & uneventful road trip to the GC, arrived about 5 p.m...saw this elk cow as soon as we pulled through the gates, very cool!







After we checked into our rooms and unloaded our stuff, we took a little hike (WTH?) to an overlook to get an idea what was in store for us!

See everything that looks like a trail in this pic?That's a small portion of our hike on Bright Angel Trail.

It took us quite a while, but we finally found someone who spoke English to ask to take a group photo for us!













The Nancy's were very naughty!























After our mini-hike, we were freezing and hungry, so we headed back to the cafeteria, where we decided a toast was in order...so we went to the little bar and had some wine! This Grand Canyon wine was surprisingly yummy!














After dinner, we all came back and hung out in the middle room, while Debi read aloud to us from the "Death in the Grand Canyon" book that Kelley brought for the occasion! All true stories about mishaps, murders and suicides in the Grand Canyon, it was the perfect bed-time reading to prep us for our hike the next morning!

Then everyone went back to their rooms, and it was lights-out by 10:00 p.m...tho I don't think any of us slept too well, we were too excited!





Time Stamp: Saturday, April 18th 2009 5:55 am
Altitude: 6,860 feet
Temperature: 35 degrees

7 women start out on the Bright Angel Trail hike...how many will return???
Stay tuned...

A Place to Bark

My girls at Mystic Paper asked me to alter an apron to be auctioned off to benefit the SO worthy Place to Bark shelter run by the amazing and admirable Bernie Berlin...I haven't had the pleasure of meeting Bernie in real life, but I have to tell you how very very much I admire her and the work she does...just read a little about her, and I know you will feel the same way...She rescues dogs & cats from high-kill shelters, she rescues dogs & cats that everyone else has given up on, she is hands-on, day to day, out of her own pocket and donations...she is the real deal...

The aprons will be available for viewing at the store today and tomorrow, and they will also be posting pix of the aprons on their blog, and will accept bids via email with ALL the proceeds going to benefit A Place to Bark, where she is desperately trying to get funds to finish the shelter facility she is so close, and yet so far from seeing completed.

So please bid, or join the "10 to Life" fundraiser...it's such worthy cause!!!




Pix of my apron, and I can assure you that these aprons should last for many, many years, as they are made out of some space-age material that is impervious to bleach, tea-staining and all number of other things used on it in an attempt to change it's rather fugly natural state, lol!

Since I do not possess the mad sewing skilllz necessary to structurally change the apron, I was stuck with just trying to tone down the beautiful '80's fabric...so I painted it, added a vintage cowgirl pocket, another denim pocket over the

existing pocket-you can never have too many pockets on an apron! Added some conchos, and a little play on words quote "as for me and my horse, we shall serve The Lord"

Here's me, being all "modely", showing off the apron I made, watch out Heidi Klum, LOL!

So if you're local, or in town for a special event, please go visit Kim and Jennifer at the store this weekend and check out all the altered aprons! If you can't get here in person, be sure to go to the Mystic Blog to bid!

On another note, I'm heading to the Grand Canyon this afternoon, and will be doing the hike tomorrow, wish me luck!!! If you don't hear back from me in a few days, send help, LOL!!!

Have a great weekend!

The Idiot Girls Adventure Hiking Club

(post title plagiarized from her)

Today was supposed to be our 10 mile final Grand Canyon prep hike...and because of that, it rained here for the first time in like 7 years or something...
Some of the group showed common sense and called it a day, but some of us decided to hike anyway...this is the very beginning of the hike, hardly even sprinkling! HAR!






The desert was really beautiful, everything smelled like creosote (the creosote bush smells really good, I don't know why it smells so awful after they turn into that black creosote gunk)

















Everything was going great, then we came across a vicous rattle snake, and Patty poked it with a stick!!!
Ha/HA, not really Tam, no snakes would come out if you're not with us, LOL!!!










then we came to this teeny, tiny little pass through the rocks...

But first, let me give you some background...SOME people in our group are ALWAYS in the front...Perhaps they are in better shape, perhaps the Hiking Gods love them more and gave them much, much, much longer legs, perhaps they are aliens that have tricked me to hiking as part of some alien science project, I will probably never know for sure...but just remember, Carlene is VERY seldom in the very very front of the line...










SOME members of the group were afraid to go through the teensy little pass, I heard talk of mountain lions lurking waiting to jump down and eat us, or possibly there were evil cave mutants living in there, waiting to rip us to shreds, etc.

Patty grabbed a rock for protection (note to self, do NOT give Patty a real weapon!)











So, can anyone guess what is remarkable about this photo I took of the pass?





There's NO-ONE in front of me!!! Carlene is in the very, very lead!!! What a magical co-incidence that I would just happen to get to be first through the scary, scary pass!!!
We weren't able to go much further on the trail because it was getting too slick, so oddly enough when we came back through the pass a little later, I was no longer in the lead...hmmm....






It rained lightly but steadily during the entire hike...hard to tell here, but we're much damper than when we started...

I believe my husband referred to me as a "drowned rat" when I got home and I don't think he was entirely out of line, LOL!








We ended up getting about 6 of our planned 10 miles in and got to enjoy some weather that is pretty rare around here...one last respite before the loooooong, broiling summer that's just around the corner!

This time next Saturday, we will (hopefully!!!)
be finished with our Grand Canyon hike!







Last but not least, Happy Easter everyone!!!

(that's the Easter Bunny in case you couldn't tell...after Easter, I'm just gonna erase the part that says "hippity-hoppity" and write "Pearl" instead, LOL!)

Stuff

OK, this is supposed to be an entirely different picture, one that actually goes with this post, but I accidentally got this one in here instead and don't know how to change it, so just deal with it, LOL!!!

Went & saw my girls at Mystic to drop off something for a charity auction they're doing-more deets on that soon-I swear I think they're day drinking in that joint, cuz it's always like a party in there! Love it! Also, Kim talked me into teaching a class based on my article in this issue of Life (which is chock-full of spring time projects & inspiration!) So, more deets on thatas well as the date gets closer, I'm exicted about it!







Another hike on Sunday-did you know that every 300 feet of elevation you climb is equal to a mile in physical exertion? True story Lori. So since there was a 960 foot elevation change, and the trail is a mile and a half, that's equal to walking 6 miles...feels like 60, lol! On the upside, my leg muscles are visible through my pants!














Sometimes when I'm walking around my house, I feel as if there are beady little eyes boring into me and that's when I look up...













and see Yorkies on the landing! They think it's hilarious to be up there looking down at us...I kind of worry about Pearl though, she could totally slip through the rails and fall...Daisy has a little more, uh girth shall we say? No way she's fitting through those rails, lol!








Today cutie Sam (AKA the next Diane Sawyer)came over and filmed a feature story in my back yard about composting...it was very fun! I'm excited to see the way she'll stitch the whole thing together!

Now I'm off to the dentist.....uuuughhh! I have a slight toothache, which ordinarily I would have put off doing anything about for much, much longer, then I started thinking how bad it would be to have a toothache during the Grand Canyon hike, kinda like in Castaway, lol, and decided to just go get it taken care of...so wish me luck, and

happytrails!

What were you doing in April 1988?

Going through some old photos and came across this one...thank goodness I had written "April 1988" on the back, or I would have had a hard time remembering when this was, although there are some visual clues...

Such as my long spiral perm with pompadour style bangs...hey, the bigger the hair, the closer to Jesus, right?

And the Rockies pulled up to the middle of my rib cage...also, if you look closely, you can spy some Wayfarer sunglasses hung around my neck with my Croakies...I was a fashionista for sure! :)

I was living on a ranch in Dewey Arizona where the owner stabled horses that we took care of and excercised, I was riding for hours almost every day, I really loved that part of it...

And there are my Foxy Fox Horse and my sweet sweet Katie...can't believe they're both gone now, I miss them both so much...

Seems like another lifetime and also seems like the blink of an eye...the one constant? Big Hair!!!

happytrails!

a barbeque sauce of shame & rage

is what I've been marinating in all day as I try to learn my new photo editing software...see all these photos? All done with my old software cuz I freaking HATE my new software...lovely!
So, the good stuff since I last posted is...Linz & Sam came over for a stitch & bitch last Thursday...I bought the twinses some bunny hatz...OMG, SOOOOO CUTE!!!
Here's me & Boston Baked Bean with her pink bunny hat on...from the look on her face, you'd swear I was pinching her, but I hardly pinched her at all, she was just being a big baby, HAR!











and little Miss Teagan, who does not look like her mother AT ALL, LOL!!!

I love to zerbert her!!!















That's right Boston, don't tell Mommy, it'll be our little secret ;) har-har!

Dang, they looked so cute in those hats, we were laughing soooo hard!















and more hiking...went with Debi & Eddie on Wednesday...Eddie is a good good boy!!!

















and on Sunday we went on another hike with Kelley & Rob to a secret hiking place not too far from our 'hood...shhhh, I'm sworn to secrecy!












us girls are gonna OWN the Grand Canyon on our hiking trip next month!!!!
(Please be the bigger person, and don't remind me of my bragging when I'm whining about how much pain I'm in after the Canyon hike, lol!)

xoxo happytrails!

This is what I see

when I eat breakfast...














this is what I see when I eat lunch...
















this is what I see when I eat dinner...

I hope my cooking really is tasty enough to merit all this attention, lol!
happytrails!

Hike-O-Rama

Hiked Telegraph Trail on Sunday, a warm but gorgeous day!

Spied these cactus wrens on a cactus...makes sense I guess ;)

These orange wildflowers were starting to bloom this week. They look a lot like Indian Paintbrush, but are waaaay bigger than any Indian Paintbrush I ever saw in Wyoming...

I'd heard there was a little stone house about 1/2 mile further up the trail, but I'd never been so we decided to go check it out...

That extra 1/2 mile turned out to be the easiest and prettiest part of the trail!

So there's this little "house" with a little oven built into the stones and a little table and benches made out of stone inside...I have no idea what it's for or how old it is...

It's very cute and cool though...

and very scenic views out of the windows...

Clear down there past the first set of houses is the parking lot and our car...

We were starving when we got home, so I made us some huevos rancheros...it was a very Southwesterny kind of day, lol!

Guess they heard I was coming, lol!

happytrails and have a great week!

2lips

Happy First Day of Spring! :)

her hair is so big because it's full of secrets...

So I was going through some pix from this weekend and noticed in this pic of me & Dane at Rennaissance that his hais is almost as long as mine...

Don't you think it's precious that Dane loves his Mommy sooooooo much that he's trying to wear his hair like hers? HAR!
There's no way that I'm gonna have a son with longer hair than I have, so I guess I'll be growing mine out too...Dane'll have to get a little more familiar with conditioner if he wants his hair to be in as good of shape as mine though, LOL!!!



Went on a hike Sunday, still not a whole lot of wildflower activity, but these cactus are blooming, love the fuschia pink blossoms!

and you know you wanna see some Pearl Pix!


So here's me...

oh how precious, Pearl is smelling the flowers!






hey, wait a minute...

Pearl, stop eating the flowers!!! LOL!

happytrails!

Rennaissance and Tagged

So my friend Lindsay (and oh, how I hate her, LOL) tagged me to take a picture of myself this minute AS IS...and then post it on the Internet for all the world to see...so this is me about 20 minutes ago...dirty hair, no makeup, sunburned and in the one room of the house that is in the middle of being re-done and is a disaster...


I think it's safe to say no-one can accuse me of not following the rules of the tag, LOL!

and I would like to perpetuate the misery by tagging some of my local girls Kim, Michelle, Carol, Becky and Maija NO cheating girls, and I hope I caught you at a really bad time, lol!!!

Yesterday we made our annual trek to the Rennaisance Festival and there were many bizarre and hilarious sights to see, as usual...here's some of my pix from yesterday...

This guy was very enterprising...made himself a breast-plate out of Budweiser cans...can't you just imagine him justifying all his beer drinking to his wife? "But honey, I haven't finished making my armor yet, I have to drink another 6 pack tonight!" HAR!















and Greg wanted one of these Viking hats soooooo bad!















There are these pavilions where they have information about adopting retired Greyhounds and the people all bring their adopted Greyhounds to hang out so people can see what cool dogs they are...


This is Penny, she was so gorgeous, but why the long face Penny?
har-har-har!















I think I need to get this t-shirt for Dane...just kidding Greg! ;)















This fairy was the coolest thing, she was dancing around and playing this flute and giving candies to little kids....















Dane's friend Eric came with us and he went up to her to get a piece of candy...every time he would take a step toward her, she would take a step away, it was so cute and she was adorable...and now Dane & Eric believe in fairies!

Getting ready to grill something for supper, the weather here is out of this world!

Have a great week everyone!

Dang!

Can't believe how long it's been since I blogged!

I blame Pearl...for only being 3 & 1/2 pounds, she's a lot of trouble!


Besides being the crazy lady who follows Pearl around talking about "potty" the whole time, I have done a few other things...

like gone hiking a couple times. The weather is gorgeous, although still a little cold for me at 5:45 a.m...also a little early for me!!!

The desert is starting to get green, but I think there were a lot more things blooming this time last year. All that's in bloom on the trail I've been hiking is this yellow flowered bush. Maybe it is still a little early in the season for wildflowers...also haven't seen any rattlesnakes yet, so that's good news! :)














Our Westie puppy friend Annie came over for a play date which was very exciting! There were lots of games of chase and tug-of-war...








and don't you just love my crazy dog lady ensemble? My friend looks all cute in her little dress pants & sandals, and I'm in sweats and bunny slippers!
I did have on a regular normal person outfit earlier in the day, but I got cold and changed the bottom half of what I was wearing, resulting in this fashion don't, lol!





And here's Daisy and Pearl playing tug-of-war...tug-of-war is HUGE in the Yorkie community!

So happy Dancing with the Stars is back on! Go Ty Murray!!!


Have a great week y'all!!!

It's Christmas Time in the City...

or this post could also be called-
Further Proof (Like Anyone Needed It) That I Can Neither Get Good Scans Nor Take Good Photos Of My Scrapbook Pages!!!

Anyway, I was still in the Christmas spirit, so did a couple more x-mas pages...several for my carousel...

and yes, it's the deer image AGAIN!!!










With my friend Constance, love that name! She goes by Connie, but I still call her Constance, unless I'm calling her something bad, LOL!!!

this post could also be called- I Really Need To Get A New Camera, Or Take Back My Good Camera From My Son...

or, for a 3rd possibility- I Need To Figure Out The Proper Settings For My Camera!!!

or, this post could be called-Perhaps If I Did A Better Job Scanning & Taking Photos Of My Scrapbook Pages They Would Look Better On My Blog...

OK, could you tell that even I was getting sick of my Christmas photos? LOL!

SO, I moved on to January!

This pic cracks me up! Daisy was trying to be super nonchalant like she wasn't digging, but had dirt all over her face! When Dane took the photo she was just like all resigned and looked right at the camera!









Then I regressed again, and went clear the heck back to 1988! I finally got a chance to use the super cute western stamps my girl Audrey sent me a while ago, thanx again Hernandez!


Now I'm off to Bunco (hooray!)
Have a great weekend!