Look whos coming to Dog Days

Murphy
Fergie
Hank
Ashley
Cody
Cassidy
Hard to believe these dogs were dumped, abandoned, abused, etc.
isn’t it?  And yet all who come to our events are still loving dogs
who believe in us humans, finding a way to trust and love despite their experiences.
If you live in driving distance of Old Saybrook, CT or know someone
who might be interested in one of these dogs or the other 80 or so
dogs and puppies who will attend this weekend’s Dog Days Adoption Event,
see flyer below for more information.

For the love of pie

  Is there any comfort food that says “LOVE” more than a home made pie?  For me, there’s nothing better. My grandmother Elsie would have us for dinner frequently, and oooh, could she cook.  In a tiny galley kitchen wearing high heels and a proper apron, even!  Along with a gourmet meal, there would usually be pie for dessert.  Not just one pie, usually two.  Blueberry was my favorite,  but the combination could be any of  these as well –  a delectable lemon meringue, chocolate cream, banana cream, or cream puffs that melted in your mouth.

 I’m finally getting around to catching up on my favorite blog reading, and I came across this recipe this morning.  My grandmother came to mind immediately. I’m so thankful for those memories and the traditions I still cherish.

 This is a wonderful blog that drew me in because of her focus on the love of home and food and dogs and ocean (Maine!).  I hope she doesn’t mind the share –  click on link below….

http://oceanbreezesandcountrysneezes.blogspot.com/2013/05/lemon-meringue-pie-for-mothers-day.html

 Do you have a favorite comfort food?
Or one that speaks to you of family and cherished traditions?
Let us know in the comments section, and feel free to share a link to a recipe!

MOM

Truly, my most cherished roll on this earth.
I’m grateful every single day that I have been blessed
 with two pretty terrific kids.
Today there is a magnolia tree planted next to This Old House.
 …a Star Magnolia..
 Mike and I went to the garden center yesterday
for some plants for our moms, and also for a few
more perennials for my “seaside real estate” garden.
This rock is a gift from my daughter last year…
and I love what it has to say.
It’s a clear reminder to find joy in each day we’re here.
This is a painted rock about the size of  a hand spread out..
I found it yesterday on the steps of a house one of Mike’s customers just bought.
 It’s going to be gutted and re-done.  
 The heart rock was left behind by the family who rented the house before the sale
and the house will be used by more renters.
I couldn’t leave it behind, as I knew it would end up in the dumpster.
I love that someone, probably a child, saw the heart shape in this rock
and painted it red, keeping it on the front steps for I don’t know how long.

 So back to Moms…
My mother and I were like oil and water when I was a young person. 
Now? I talk to her almost every day.  
Don’t want to imagine life without her in it.   
When I need an honest opinion, a shoulder to cry on,
a compassionate ear, She’s my  – go to –.
These days, it’s more like oil and vinegar… we make a nice salad dressing 🙂 
Our relationship has grown and flourished over the years..
weeds pulled and cherished things added as time rolls on,
just like my little seaside real estate garden.
Happy Mothers Day all,
and especially to my Mom. xo

Random Thoughts on a Wednesday morning

 I’m full of them today… are you ready?

 
  I’d really love a magnolia tree to plant in the yard as a mothers day gift.  Do you think the family will read my post? 

   Do you know, the least likely people to read your posts if you blog, will be your family?  My mom is a writer, a reader, a supportive mother, and a computer user.  Other people in town tell her the latest recipes and stories and pictures of family I’ve posted on the blog.  My husband walks into the local breakfast place and a favorite resident of mine will tease him about the latest silliness. And yes, silliness lives here.   That same favorite resident friend also knows more about my family than an Uncle whose family I lived with for four years when I was young.  Perhaps it’s redundant… after all, they already know you, right

  I’m maybe a little bit horrified that the jury in the Jodi Ar*as trial is still deliberating.  Really?  Do they really need three days (so far!)  to figure this one out?  It’s kinda cut and dried information they were given, no?  Actually… stabbed!..27 times, slashed throat, then bullet to the head…and left to ferment in a shower stall naked for five days…  that kind of cut and dried.  If they come back with anything like a hung jury, a mistrial, an aquital… our system is shot and millions of dollars have just been wasted on this waste of a human being.  She’s selling T-shirts and artwork and tweeting online… that’s disgusting, after what she’s done.  How is this allowed?

this is her MUG SHOT… seriously?

  Amazing and also horrifying, the story of three woman and a child held captive and God knows what else for 10 years, all living within two miles of where they were abducted.  By three brothers.  That means three brothers all agreed that this was an acceptable thing to do to these women and the child.  And they did it for ten years.  TEN… YEARS…. of those young lives, spent locked in a basement and God knows what else.    Long road to recovery for them, so glad they made it out alive.

   I just noticed I’m starting to sound like Nancy Grace 🙂

 
 The Monsanto Protection Act – Anonymously added to a recent budget bill, the controversial rider would protect U.S. biotech companies from litigation if their GMO seeds turn out to be dangerous. GMO means Genetically Modified Organisms.  GMOs are created by Monsanto and other biotech firms. While there’s no hard evidence that GMOs can harm humans, some worry about undiscovered health risks and the possibility of manmade genes spreading to wild plants, potentially wreaking ecological havoc.  

  That’s bull.  If you’re gonna mess with the food supply, you better take responsibility and be held accountable.  Producing GMO’s is a huge money maker… that shouldn’t have anything to do with jeapardizing your health, and yet it always does. 

  Here’s a link if you’re interested in reading about the bill on the table to label our foods GMO if they contain genetically modified ingredients.  It also explains why some are opposed.  MONEY has everything to do with it, not your health.

http://vtdigger.org/2013/05/07/gmo-labeling-bill-positioned-for-action-next-session/

  I want my food labeled, I don’t think that’s too much to ask.  At the very least, I should be able to make my own decision on whether I want my family to ingest GMOs.  It is believed by many that so many people are now having trouble ingesting wheat (you are probably aware of the Gluten-Free issue.. not only for celiacs but others who are finding they feel a heck of a lot better when they don’t ingest things that contain Gluten).  WHEAT… (gluten) is a big GMO crop. Modified to be more disease resistant and grow faster, heartier.  Perhaps that is why the wheat of years ago, before GMO, was a main stable and not the serious allergen that it appears to be today.

   
 It’s gonna rain today, I’m doing a happy dance.  I can’t tell you how very dry everything is here at This Old House.  Bring it!

   After the horses and chickens are fed and let out and barn is mucked and gardens are watered and laundry is switched and folded and put away and the dishes that piled up in the sink after this morning’s breakfast are cleaned and stacked,  I’ll be working on my found treasure – that old dollhouse I told you about.  Why do I feel guilty about that, I ask you?

  It’s a new day, all – make it a good one!

The Tale of Two Tuxes

   One of my son’s friends is staying with us for a few days while his parents are away. 
Yesterday, at breakfast before school…
ME: Boys, put your tuxes together for me so that I can return them today.
THEM:  (the obligatory head nod acknowledgement of the request)
Later in the morning I go upstairs for the tuxes…
Someone understood the instructions.
The other?… my husband would say..
he’s just like is mother.
(*ahem)  

Letting it Go

       I like people.  I like to get along with people.  I really don’t want drama in my life if I can keep away from it…most of the time I’ve been successful, but not always.   The way I see it.. we only come through this life once.  We only get this one chance to live our best life.  Negativity, jealousy, meanness, attitude,  drama, and all the things that go hand in hand with it… shouldn’t be given any valuable space in a person’s life. 

     I struggled with a relationship that for a long while left me frustrated and hurt.  I knew I was extending myself to try and grow it, but it just wasn’t taking.  And occasionally there were obvious slights or a coldness or I heard remarks of disapproval.  And that would hurt too.  I looked for what might be done differently on my side of things to change the outcome, but I knew that I’ve always had good intentions, so what could I change?

     I am finding that one of the gifts of aging is having the ability to see things more clearly as you go, appreciating what  is good and nourishing in your life and recognizing what is simply toxic.   I was trying to forge what I thought was an important relationship with a person who just wasn’t interested.   I believe now it’s as simple as that. We’re very different, not much in common. She would never choose the path I walk and I would never choose hers.  Nothing wrong with that.   One more revelation –    I didn’t need her approval and I’m still not sure why it bothered me  for so very long that I didn’t have it.  It doesn’t matter the reason.

    And so I’ve stopped trying,  I’ve accepted that it is what it is, and I believe I have finally let..it..go.  There is a peace in doing this, give it a try if you find yourself in a similar situation.   

“95% percent of the time, whatever the crap is you’re being handed by someone that is totally perplexing to you… really has nothing to do with you. “

” Why grieve over a relationship that never really was? What exactly do you think you’re missing? “

And.. LOVE THIS…

Holding on to anger
is like drinking poison
 and expecting the other person to die. 

Just sayin – Amen.  

Junior Prom

aaah, Youth.
Best buddies since kindergarten…

I’d never make a good wedding photographer, (tis TRUE, Tim!)
The girls were freezing, and the boys were fidgety – like maybe all had temporary ADHD…
or something.
We did the best we could, but jeez, aren’t they all beautiful?



Blooms & Green

What a difference a few weeks makes..
We’ve got blossoms on the fruit trees….
The pasture grass is rich and green…
The Phlox in my seaside real estate perennial garden is happy…

Onions are coming up…  The actual onion stays in the ground.
Once the greens start to fall over you know your onion is ready to harvest.
Our little greenhouse is loaded with baby vegetable plants..
and the roses and peonies outside are happy.
All those pots are full of dirt and ready for replanting of smaller seedlings on the right.
All are in need of thinning out so that the main plant can grow strong.
 Are you gardening this year?
Have you planted seeds or will you buy plants at the garden center?
Trying anything new this year?
I’ve got purple dragon carrots to plant and Italian Ice tomatoes on the way.
They’re white!!..

Sprung from the pound!

Dog Days is gearing up for another Adoption event in Saybrook on May 18th.
Here’s what happens…
See Okie girl below?
Sitting in a kill shelter just days ago…

A rescue group found her waiting to die,
spent time with her and realized she was a loving pup who would
most likely find a family to love her if she was in the right setting.
So they sprung her from death row along with another pup.
Here they are on their “freedom ride” .
Look at the Joy on their faces already. 
Do you have goosebumps yet?  
Both are vetted and in quarantine now, being loved by their rescue group,
getting ready to come to our adoption event May 18th.
So that’s how it works. 
Here are a few more lucky dogs who’ve been sprung and will be available
May 18th and 19th at Dog Days. 
This little girl yet to have a name…
Sporty…

Terence

Dee Dee