Daily chores.......

.....include feeding my menagerie of furry friends. Twice a day (or whenever they are whinnying, meowing or begging for food actually, ***sigh***

No, I don't blindfold my horses. For you un-horsey folks out there, this is a fly mask. It is a mesh mask that fits over their face to keep the pesky flies away that make them crazy and cause eye infections. They can see through the mesh, so they are still able to function,.... especially eat, although I did take them off since the flies were taking a break.

I always have my dogs come out with me to feed them so that they can get some exercise, do their business, etc.
Peanut is a good eater ***(pig)***, and  always wants to eat the horse's food. Harmon is  pretty gracious about it. That's just the kind of guy he is.

But wait....... It looks as though another dog is wanting to share in the night feeding.
Enough is enough!

So Peanut goes over to Mel.

Then she thinks, "maybe not".

Mel is not into sharing his food.

A "Thumbs Up" from my family!

I''m at it again.

Needed to use some leftover veggies in the fridge so they wouldn't go bad. Soooooooooooo...........
I sauteed some cabbage, green peppers, and celery in sesame oil. After they were cooked, I added green onions, mushrooms, more cabbage, a little chicken broth, garlic powder, Tai seasoning and boned rotisserie chicken pieces marinated in teriyaki sauce. If it hadn't been so early I would have cracked open a Shock Top, but honestly 8:00 a.m. was just too early!
After sauteing everything for a few minutes, I poured the mixture over cooked spaghetti noodles and mixed it all together.

I made this Thursday morning in about a half  hour and this is what was left when I got home...

Next time I make it, I will not saute the veggies as long and will add more spice, but my family loved it and even went as far as to say it was "restaurant quality", so you can't really argue with that.

Easy, quick, inexpensive!

The Six Mile Walk........

started here.................

Gas Works Park. We took a walk to the top of the hill before starting on our walk down the Burke-Gilman Trail to our destination, University Village. Just a little bit about the park as plagiarized from the Seattle Parks and recreation web site. 

HISTORY

This 20 acre point on Lake Union was cleared in 1906 to construct a plant to manufacture gas from coal - later converted to crude oil. Import of natural gas in the 1950's made the plant obsolete. The city acquired the site for a park in 1962. The park was opened to the public in 1975. The boiler house has been converted to a picnic shelter with tables, fire grills and an open area. The former exhauster-compressor building, now a children's play barn, features a maze of brightly painted machinery.

ABOUT THE PARK

Gas Works Park has a play area with a large play barn, and big hill popular for flying kites. Special park features include a sundial, and a beautiful view of Seattle.

Access to Lake Union is restricted at Gas Works Park, as the lake sediment contains hazardous substances. Entering the water or launching boats from the park is prohibited (SMC 18.12.070) There is no swimming, no fishing and no wading in the park.


Burke-Gilman Trail runs past Gas Works parking lot and follows the Burlington-Northern Railroad 12.5 miles north to Kirkland Log Boom Park.
Acreage: 19.1

We started our walk at Gas Works Park to U Village (one of my fave destinations!) by way of the Burke Gilman Trail. Here is a little history of the trail;

Born as a Railroad
In 1885 Judge Thomas Burke, Daniel Gilman and ten other investors set out to establish a Seattle-based railroad so that the young city might win a place among major transportation centers and reap the economic benefits of trade. Their plan was to start along today's Burke-Gilman Trail route and go north to Sumas and connect with the Canadian Transcontinental line. Their Seattle, Lake Shore and Eastern Railroad, though it never got past Arlington, Washington, was a major regional line serving Puget Sound logging areas. The line was aquired by Northern Pacific in 1913 and continued in fairly heavy use until 1963. The Great Northern, Northern Pacific, and Burlington lines were merged in 1970 to become Burlington Northern Railroad. In 1971 Burlington Northern applied to abandon the line.

A Multiple Use Trail

Citizens quickly recognized the non-motorized transportation and recreational potential in the railroad line and launched a movement to acquire the right-of-way for a public biking and walking trail. Objections from residents living near the proposed trail were overcome and the City of Seattle, the University of Washington and King County cooperated in developing the route. The original 12.1 miles of the trail connecting Seattle's Gas Works Park and King County's Tracy Owen Station in Kenmore were dedicated on August 19, 1978.

The trail was recently extended west through Seattle's Fremont neighborhood to Eighth Avenue NW. The trail also reaches east to Redmond by means of the Samammish River Trail.

A Major Urban Route

The Burke-Gilman Trail is an outstanding success and has been beneficial to the neighborhoods which it passes through. The trail has become a major transportation corridor that serves thousands of commuter and recreational cyclists. It demonstrates that when the proper facilities are provided many people will chose healthy, pollution-free, non-motorized modes of travel.

********************

Once we arrived at U Village, we were ready to eat! We stopped at the QFC which has tons of food choices and after a pit stop, we decided on Sushi. It was nice to sit and relax and restore for the 3 mile walk back to the car. So, for extra fortitude, John treated us to a cone of wonderful gelato. YUM!

Another great day spent with the people I love, and cherishing the last of summer vacation!

Card trends

As one who loves to paper craft, I am constantly on the lookout for the latest trend that gets the immediate "how cool!" reaction out of me as opposed to the yawn. Since I have been making cards for over 10 years, I see many trends come and go but some that have been around for a few years now and still make me happy when I see them, are the fabric flowers. Still love to see them on cards!

I came across this one on Moxie Fab world and was immediately drawn to that flower!

Some other trends I still enjoy seeing on cards, are birds, (even owls, though lots of crafters are bored with the owl phase!), butterflies, newsprint or script, music notes, and the use of felt, canvas, sewing, baker's twine and other textures just to name a few!

bird and music notes

fabric flower and sewing

bird, clean and simple style

canvas, script, great textures

butterflies, ribbon

more music notes, baker's twine

butterfly, lace trim, paper flower

Aren't these great? There is so much inspiration out there in the blogosphere that unfortunately, I spend more time gawking and less time actually creating :(   

Pinterest is a great way for me to file all these image for quick reference when I need some inspiration!

Maybe I'll whip out a few cards today, I'm feeling inspired!

Beautiful Sunday!

We are finally getting a little good weather so Whitey and Buddy decided to mow the yard. Buddy loves to ride on the tractor, Peanut won't have a thing to do with it. I just had to take a few pictures because it is so cute to see Buddy cradled in Whitey's arm as he drives the mower around the yard!

And while I was snap happy, I took a picture of this beautiful Crocosmia.

Have a great day!

more picures....

My Clematis is growing like a weed. Not sure if it will flower this year since it got such a late start.
I guess we'll see.

My newly planted Lace Cap seems to be doing fine as well as my wild strawberries. They are from Sylvia's garden. Still have a few to plant that are her most recent donations!

Hydrangeas

 are starting to bloom. This one is now in a vase in my kitchen! It was the first bloom hiding in the back of the bush next to the house where you could barely see it.

These sweet little guys below are sheltered by the Hydrangea to the left of the ones pictured. They have been very faithful to bloom every year despite the weather variations. Hardy little guys. They need to be, to survive my fickle gardening habits!

Last but not least, the Cannas. Whitey planted them at the end of the driveway and although I wasn't sure they would get enough sun, they seem to be thriving! Lots of new growth and height!

I'm sure I'll have more updates soon!

A few August pics!

Even though this looks like an apple, it is actually the last cherry from one of my 5 cherry trees. The birds must have gotten their fill and were kind enough to leave me about a half dozen cherries and this is the last one, so I let it live, as kind of a "trophy".  Maybe i'll eat it today, since I have proof of it now!

Next, the Clematis that I thought was dead from our late frost has come back to life and I can just about watch it growing. I am really happy about it's recovery since it was a Mother's Day gift from mom several years ago and was doing beautifully last year.

Below is what it looked like last May!

Sylvia gave me a Lace cap Hydrangea this last spring, I think, and I finally got around to planting it.
She also gave me some ornamental strawberries that make great groundcover, so I planted those too.
They are so cute! :)

 I got these beauties from either Syl or mom several years back, but neither of them remember. I put them in Whitey's vegetable garden for safekeeping until I knew where I wanted to plant them and they have spread from one flower to this group! Maybe I should leave them there. (?)   :)

 (Whitey hasn't thown them out yet, so that is a good sign!)

And last but not least for today, a couple shots of Whitey's pride and joy Poppy.

Pretty, huh?