Lemony Fresh

We were busy cleaning the house and getting ready for dinner guests. We need to make sure we have regular visitors as it really motivates us to do a good cleaning!

Today's word of the day is meshuggener (muh-SHUG-uhner noun : a foolish or crazy person). I must be a meshuggener to be thinking of adding another puppy to our pack. It is spring time though and I think I'm programmed to want to extend the family every spring. It is perhaps the hardest time of year for Carm as he struggles to keep our home numbers from increasing. We were (mostly) safe when we were breeding horses as there were new foals to distract me from puppy mania.

My pleasures today: making bread (whole wheat of course) - it has been a long time - even while rising it has a homey fragrence ; cleaning the house with the lemon dusters made with lemon extract - so clean and fresh smelling! ; walking outside in the muck - it is really spring now (not so pleasurable, cleaning 3 sets of 4 feet) ; eating a handful of walnuts - I have been skipping the nut portion of my diet, trying to save calories, but I noticed my mood has been slipping which could be related to the lack of Omega-3's. Time to add the walnuts back into the diet.

Playing House

I have another follower! Welcome to Mary, who has no blog of her own that I can tell - hopefully she'll share with me when she does. I wonder if it's Oscar's Mary (see below). It seems weird to me that anybody actually reads my rather mundane musings, but maybe they come for the cute dog pictures (which I have been remiss in including). I need to take a few photos of the dogs now, especially the poodles. They are looking cute all over-grown and scruffy. Sunday or Monday will be time to get the clippers out and make them look all fancy again. I'm planning on leaving Bella with the beginnings of leg puffs (Spike already has some), but they bring so much foliage into the house I'm not sure that I will.

I got an email the other day from Dawn (Spike's breeder) that she had a litter of silver miniatures born. I'm awfully tempted to add to our pack as I just love the silver, and this breeding has produced some nice puppies. I think I will resist this year though and see what next year brings. I know that Spike would have great fun with a friend, but he doesn't like sharing much so that might be a problem. A friend from work, Mary, has a silver dog from this breeding, Oscar, that has grown to be a gorgeous boy with a lovely temperament. Oscar is planning a visit to Spike in the near future and I know that Spike will be thrilled to see him.

Oscar as a youngster

Spike and Oscar together

Mary deciding if she'll take Oscar (how could she say no?)

Today's word of the day is riddle (RID-ul noun - 1: a mystifying, misleading, or puzzling question posed as a problem to be solved or guessed : conundrum, enigma ; 2: something or someone difficult to understand).

My pleasures today: looking at last years photos of the silver puppies - oh so lovely ; playing house in the camper - changing the pillows and throws etc from winter Burgundy to new ones just made ; this one is both pleasure and pain - pigging out on hot buttered toast - I'll never loose weight at this rate.

the camper all decked out in its new finery

More Osculation Please

Today's word of the day is osculate (AHSS-kyuh-layt verb : kiss). A while back I made a resolution to incorporate more hugs and kisses with Carm everyday. I did well for a while but now the osculation has dwindled to pre-resolution levels. It is time to renew that resolution and take a few minutes out of my day, each and every day, to incorporate this good practice.

Last night we had Mexican Black Bean Soup with some cucumber on the side. It was tasty and there were even some leftovers to enjoy with our giant salad at lunch today. (Recipe here).

the fixings for last nights supper

the finished product - thick and hearty

My pleasure's today: waking up a bit early to the sounds of birds singing (although this was somewhat ruined because it was a bad dream that woke me up) ; eating a tasty fruit salad for my dessert - the mango was perfectly ripe ; cutting and then sewing together all the little squares for a throw (see photos).

next step - backing & trim

 

And here is one thing that was NOT a pleasure today: chasing down the dogs when they wouldn't come when called - some days I'd like an e-collar for Mr. Naughty as today he gave me the equivalent of the puppy finger and took off in the opposite direction. ZAP!

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Today is a free day for the 31 Day Challenge. In other words I can write about whatever I want. It is easier to have a pre-assigned topic than having to come up with one myself! I feel discombobulated from a bad dream last night so it's been difficult to find a topic that isn't morose. Today is the last day of the challenge so I'd like to write about something meaningful, yet I can't seem to get my mind and feelings away from this dream. It has affected me such that tears are pricking against my eyes.

The dream was about not being good at something and having someone else be much better at it than me. And then they got on my case about it, shouting at me that I should have done better. At the end of the dream I just went into a room and locked the door behind me. This has perhaps been the way I deal with issues that are too emotional for me and may in fact be the root of some of the mental distress that can cause a bout of depression. It is time to start facing the difficult things head on and not shut myself away from them.

Do you ever have dreams that make you think about yourself and how you deal with the world? Or that cause insight and change?