Pets Are Expensive!

I am a firm believer in good vet care for my dog so she goes for her yearly check-up, shots, bloodwork, etc. She is doing well and is at 15.6 pounds with a trim doggie waistline.

Her vet visit went well, she didn't mind getting her shot but didn't like the puff in the nose for the Kennel Cough prevention. All was going well until the vet looked in her mouth and found the broken tooth. This probably was the result of a hard chew toy, stone, marrow bone or maybe it was the corners that she chewed on my kitchen cabinets. I don't know how long it has been like that but it had to have happened since her last check-up last April. Liesel is a very aggressive chewer. Thank goodness she outgrew chewing on the kitchen cabinets.

What does this broken tooth mean? Well, it is a day at the vet's and $400 less in my checking account. That added on to today's $300 bill equals caching caching!

I love my dog so I want good medical care so I am adding to the vet's retirement fund.

After we came home, Liesel immediately curled up in her crate. Now that I am in the den, she followed me in here and is asleep under the down throw. She had a long day between playing with her friends at doggie daycare and then going to the vet's.

Dehoarding

Yup, it's a new verb I made up to show what I did this weekend.

My enjoyable part of the weekend was meeting a friend yesterday for lunch and a movie (Date Night which was funny and had us laughing).

In the late afternoon, I started in with organizing my scrapping paper by category into vertical paper holders. I was up until 2:00 AM working on organizing all my "stuff". This morning I started in around 10:00 and was at it until around 9:00 tonight. Still am not finished. It wouldn't take so long if I had a place to put everything. Trying to figure where to put everything and fit it in is so time consuming. I need a scrap/craft room but since that isn't going to happen, I make do.

Now it's almost 11:00 PM and time to close the computer and head up to bed. I just hate Sunday nights.

Tulips, Tulips, Tulips

Several friends gave me potted tulips for Easter and I went to the local discount grocery store last weekend and bought a few pots (red and yellow tulips). Then yesterday I went back and bought more. Today was planting day and after they were all in two of my perennial beds, I looked at the long perennial bed in my backyard which is an L shape. I had planted 4 in the short leg of the L and thought how pretty it would look to have those same flowers in the rest of the L bed.

Off I went to grocery store to buy more. They were 3 for $10 this weekend so how could I resist? I also went to the garden center to buy the most gorgeous purple ruffled pansies that I'd never seen before yesterday. Yesterday I was walking with the dog and we walked over to the garden center and saw them. I didn't have my wallet and couldn't carry them so went back today to make sure I got there before they ran out as there weren't many packs.

I had on my old gardening pants which are a faded red as they must be 20 years old. The elastic is shot so I have them doubled over at the waist with a big safety pin. The jersey I had on is an oversized one that my SIL left here. On my head, I had on a faded red visor that I wear when working outside to shade my eyes and hide my "working in the yard hair". Get the visual? In past years, I would never go off the property looking like that but I've gotten over that. It would be ridiculous to shower, do my hair, put on decent clothes and make-up to run an errand when I'm in the middle of a project. Of course I ran into a few people I haven't seen in a few years but who cares. I'm who I am. I told them I was in the midst of planting,needed more tulips and the next time I run into them that I should look better.

I came home and planted the tulips, watered the perennial beds again, stepped back and enjoyed all of my work.

I then came in and showered, put on my comfy "at home" flannel pants and ragged turtleneck and sweatshirt and enjoyed my supper and dog. A productive afternoon.

Spring or Summer in CT?

Since the end of last week, our weather has been wonderfully wacky. When March left, April brought late spring and summer weather. We here in CT have been loving it.

I bought a lot of potted hyacinths, tulips and daffodils along with a tray of pansies at Walmart so Saturday I spent time planting. I know those spring bulbs will get taller and bloom as they have a head start. The bonus is that they'll come back next spring.

I actually had some time relaxing on my deck with my dog reading and napping.

On Easter I was invited to friends for dinner. My contribution was a fancy cheesecake and deviled eggs. Wish I knew how to download pictures to the laptop and blog as I think my cheesecake decorated with deep pink/purple flowers, slivered almonds and peach slices belonged in the pages of a gourmet magazine.

My friends had invited lots of friends so we were a big crowd. It was lots of fun with a delicious meal. Beth's brother has a small town butcher shop/grocery store and his hams are the best I've ever had. Nothing compares to it.

A perfect weekend spent in warm weather, planting flowers and enjoying a holiday meal with friends.

Our temperatures have just climbed each day and tonight's weather was over 90. This sure is unusual for the first week of April and it won't last.

Visiting with Friends and My Daughter

The Sunday before Easter my dog went to the dog trainer's and I went to visit friends out of state for two days. Even though we don't live near one another, we picked up where we'd left off and had a great time catching up. After I got settled in, we went to our favorite swanky restaurant and luckily were seated by the windows overlooking the river and dam. With all the rain, the river was high and the water over the waterfall was rapidly flowing.

Karen and I met at a college French immersion program the summer of 1995 and that was the start of our friendship. Our daughters were friends in college so it's a small world.

On Monday afternoon I said bye to my friends and drove off to meet up with my daughter in another state. She was visiting colleges in New York and New England with a group of high school students from her school in Moscow. I met up with them at one of the colleges and we were there for two nights. It was so wonderful to have time to spend with her. She had a busy schedule but in the kids' downtime, we were free to do our own thing and we had both nights free.

Of course I went with a car full of "stuff" for her to bring back that I'd been collecting and what she'd ordered onlne.

I'll next see her the end of June when she and the girls come. I'll start getting anxious for their visit about a month before their arrival (when I will have to start thinking about the serious house cleaning to be done).

Old Sturbridge Village

Wednesday my girlfriend Diane and I met up with our friend Cecelia (Because I Said So blog) for a day at Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, MA. We'd been planning this day for about two months when Cecelia told me that she would be in MA for business on March 25.

We practically had the historic village entirely to ourselves so it gave us the opportunity to spend time talking to the Village staff in the various houses and businesses and we learned so much. For those of you not familiar with OSV, it is a historic village set in the 1830's time period. Buildings from all over New England were moved to the Village from a tinsmith shop to a Quaker Meeting House. It is a fantastic place and a wonderful way to transport yourself back to the early 1900's.

After leaving the Village and shopping in their large, fantastic gift shop, we went to the Publick House for dinner. The restaurant was a former colonial stagecoach stop and country inn. The inn/restaurant is brimming with charm and the food is excellent.

Before we knew it, it was almost 9:30 and time to say goodbye. Cecelia got on the highway to go to her hotel while Diane and I hit the highway for our drive back to CT. Another day of friendship and fun. We wish that we lived closer so we could get together more often.

At last - SPRING!!!!

Even though it hasn't officially been spring, it arrived here in CT about 4 days ago. It is sooooo nice to have all the dirty piles of snow gone, to be able to open the windows during the day, hang out laundry, have crocus and snow drops blooming (close to the house) and be outside working in the yard.

I couldn't wait for the weekend to be outside. I gathered the lingering leaves from the perennial beds and raked them. I even planted an Evening Primrose today and dug up a couple of perennials to give to a friend.

Liesel was outside a good part of the day of the deck with a couple of her chew toys within view/ear shot. She loves being out there and even got to see a neighbor's cat in my yard (staring down a mole hole). Of course that brought on very loud, constant barking so I had to put her inside for a break.

I will be back outside tomorrow afternoon after a few chores. Loving this weather.
I need to get some pansies to plant.

Hope you are sharing the same kind of spring weather.