Spring time is here and that means we’re able to spend hours outside and by the pond.
Everyone’s loving it.
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| Who’s walking who here? |
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| Loving the ducks and geese! |
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| Lil’ climbing monkey. |
The beautiful weather allowed us so many opportunities to be outside this week. I couldn’t get enough of it, and neither could my little babe. She wanted to go out from the moment she woke up every day. She would actively turn off the tv, get her hat and shoes, and push us towards the door. So naturally, we’d oblige since I prefer her to be out doors rather than in front of a tv.
Her favorite are the ducks and geese at the pond. But I believe we’re firmly in the mating season as the male geese are extremely aggressive. She started to walk right up to one with no regard for the fact that it was hissing at her. I jumped in there right away – to stop her and to show the goose that I’m dominant and get it to stop hissing. Man, that could’ve gone badly. Figures, a male showing off for the ladies!
Happy Sunday!
Getting the yard ready for spring, cleaning out the house, and generally decluttering. All while giggling at this little independent, smart, and stubborn little girl. She loves to go outside, and she loves to help, whether you want her to or not! She’s definitely a riot.
True Story:
Andrew put together the patio table with a wrench.
Once he was done, she grabbed the wrench and went over all of his work.
You know, just in case he missed something.
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| Before… |
I’ve got a beef with my owner – Joanna! I was totally rockin’ the long, mangy, just-rolled-out-bed, too-cool-to-care look that I’ve been meticulously working on all winter. It took me three months to get that not-do-a-thing look to it! Then what does she do? She up and takes me to the salon! The salon! I’m a cool guy, I don’t go to the salon.
Wait, it gets worse.
Through a miscommunication with the groomer I came out looking like this:
They shaved me and gave me that long face and puffy tail look. That’s so not me. I’m a scrapper, a rogue, a trot to my own drum kind of guy…I’m not a pretty boy. At least Joanna agreed with that because when we got home she trimmed my face and cut down my tail. Made me look more of a man!
To add insult to injury, for this morning’s walk she made me put on this stupid looking coat just because it was cold.
Come on! I can take it, I’m a tough guy remember? I don’t need accessories, just the wind in my hair and the sun on my back. *okay, well it was so cold I would’ve frozen my you-know-what off…if I still had them of course…but that’s a rant for another day* So to show her how uncool she made me look, I walked behind them the entire way pouting, trying to shake off the darn thing every two minutes or so. I didn’t run, pull, jump, or yank on the leash once! That’ll show her!
I tell ya, it’s tough being a dog. Sheesh…
Mama, this is the greatest toy ever!
I love a simple healthy delicious meal and that’s why I like this quinoa salad. You just make a whole bunch and keep it in the fridge for when you’re feeling peckish. And it’s so simple!
Cook quinoa: 2 parts water for every 1 part quinoa – bring to boil and simmer covered until water is gone.
Let cool.
Then chop up a whole bunch of fresh parsley *I like to grab a huge couple of fistuls* , lots of cucumber *about half- 3/4 of a large one*, one tomatoe and one red pepper. Mix it all in with the quinoa. Then I pour in a crap load of good quality olive oil *tons and tons until it’s well saturated but not soupy* and the juice of a lemon *or two depending on how tangy you like it*. Yum!
I don’t follow a recipe so much as put in as much as I want of each
thing depending on what I want that day – more cucumber, more red
pepper, etc, etc.
We’ve all got a bad case of the cold, but at least we’re in high spirits!
Happy Sunday.
Games night with friends is possibly one of my favorite things to do. You’ve got a trifecta of fun – good people, good activity, and good food. We played Twilight Imperium – a game that takes upwards of one hour per player – so this game would’ve taken over five hours to play except that since we started late I had to leave and we had to end before it was finished. But it was still a great night except for one thing. Halfway through I started having stomach troubles – I didn’t know it then but I had been poisoned by the salad I had bought and eaten just before the start of the game.
That night and the following day were not at all fun to say the least. It was a different trifecta, but let’s not go there shall we?
Hope you had a great weekend!
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| The wicker baskets are from Walmart, and the rest is Goodwill and DIY restored. |
I tweeted a while back that I was working on creating a new home office space for myself. I was desperately lacking storage and and my tiny one drawer desk just wasn’t cutting it. So armed with very little cash and a fierce determination I set to task.
First, I found a used desk off Kijiji, where someone was selling it off for super cheap ($130). It came with two large storage areas and a hutch. Then I set about creating a fun storage space. Choosing a white, blue, and silver color scheme I set off to Goodwill *a second hand store* to pick up some things I could turn into creative storage areas. I picked up mugs, glasses, wicker things, and large bins – and all of it came to about $15.
Then came the DIY part. One can of white primer and one can of silver paint, and a lot of taping.
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| Some items primed. |
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| Before: a box taped up and ready to be primed. |
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| After – silver and I decided to keep the gold. |
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| Before – plain wicker kitchy duck |
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| After – silver and fun. |
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| Before: old rusty and wicker mail sorter. |
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| After: sparkly! |
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| Before – three simple mason jars. |
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| After – silver and shiny! |
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| Bought a new fun mousepad off ebay for $7. |
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| Here’s the complete desk and storage creation. |
I decided to use an old canvas above the desk as a corkboard type thing where I can display some of my favorite pics from shoots I’ve been in and shoots I’ve shot. As well as my recent amazing showing my first time learning to shoot a gun.
I’m pretty happy with it, and I like the whole shabby chic look of everything. It’s really cool that everything was used and re-used and nothing is new, but it feels new to me!
I won a Ruche twitter contest recently and my prize arrived in the mail. I opened it at the breakfast table and of course, my nosy little monkey was very curious and eager to see what was inside as well. When I took out these bright red earmuffs she said, “Wow!” One of the few words she can say very well along with ‘Gone!’ ‘Cakie’ *cookie* ‘Uh-oh’ and ‘Mama!’ *Those are definitely her favorite words right now* Shortly after this excited and breathless “wow!” my earmuffs were ‘Gone!’ They were no longer my property. I had no claim of ownership to them.
And just in case I had any doubts, trying to take them off elicited a
very loud and angry scream. So Ruche, you’ve just got yourself another
customer. A very demanding one, but a very cute one, if I do say so
myself.
