Jun 292012
 

Rick & I both have the first week of July off from work.  Or what I like to call a sanity break.

And let me tell you we both need it desperately!

We’re packing up the vehicle, hitching up the camper and heading toward the South Shore (of Lake Superior).  We have some wonderful friends (Hi Eva and family!!) that are going to keep an eye on the house for us while we’re gone.  These are the same people that give us lots of goodies at Christmas.  Fantastic, lovable and downright super people.

Thor will keep guard of the house while Calie becomes a camping cat once more.

If I get the chance and have internet access, I’ll try to throw a couple posts up, but if not I hope that everyone has a wonderful and safe 4th of July!!

 

Jun 232012
 

We have a very temperamental lawn mower.

Remember last year when she got all huffy and decided to combust into flames?

Well, her little snits are starting up again.  Rick will take the time to rid the lawn of all the junk assorted extras that come out in the summertime, turn the key on the ignition and YAY, she starts!  And then DAMN, she quits.

The latest escapade was drawn out over a full week.  Last Sunday all ready to mow the lawn, fired her up, mowed approximately 100 feet and Pffftttt… sputter… cough… blah.

Dead.  Nadda.  Nothing.

The next 2 hours were spent checking the spark plug, air filter, fuel filter and gas tank (for any wayward debris).  Everything was clear (except for a couple ladybugs taking a siesta in the bottom of the gas tank).  Out comes the battery charger to see if that would give her a jolt.  Nope, she wasn’t having any of that.

After a week of letting her sulk, Rick gave it one more try this morning and viola!  She started.  She’s running!  She’s mowing! 

Sure, the old girl is getting up there in age, but if coaxed enough she’ll do her job.

Kinda like me.

 

Jun 182012
 

Rick & I went to the eye doctor today for checkups and new glasses.

The Doctor was a pretty nice guy and the whole procedure was fairly straight forward:

1.  See how many number/letter combinations you can guess without making a total fool of yourself

2  Have a bright light burning into your retina while he sees if your retina’s are doing OK

3.  Get your eyes dilated so he can shine an even brighter light in your eyes to see into the back of your eye for any possible damage that may or may not have been caused by the first burning light.

Now you can deduce by this event that there is nothing drastic that occurs.  Until you walk out of the office into a sunshiny day.

With dilated eyes.

We. Were. In. Pain.

The sun immediately seared our enlarged pupils.  If that is what terrorists would do in interrogations, they could extract more information than waterboarding.

Once we made it to the relative safety of the car 8 feet away, the real fun came:  I had to drive 12 miles to drop Rick off at work, drive back into town and get out of the car at 2 stores to do my shopping, and then drive back home.

Trying to do this through slitted eyelids and tears pouring out of my eyes hoping that I didn’t cause an accident or hit a jogger on the side of the road should earn me a gold medal.  Hell, I think that they should make that an Olympic sport!

Every person that participated in it would look like a Japanese animation character.

Or someone high on drugs.

Which is quite possible that a couple people in the store though I was today.

 

Jun 072012
 

This isn’t a real post, it’s more like a trip down memory lane for all those people that used to come into my store and purchase my baked goods.

Last week I found the neatest pan on the planet and just had to buy it.  It got me to thinkin’ about how everybody would tear into the crispy sugary tops of their muffins and eat the not-so-glorious bottom part as an afterthought.

And since I’m constantly reminded (for the last 3 years) how much people miss those wonderful treats, I though maybe I need to start baking a little more.

The lucky recipient of the first batch of raspberry muffin tops went to my friend Joanne.  She (along with quite a few others… Hi Denise!) constantly hound beg me to whip up a batch for them, so I thought I’d give her a little gift.

I’ve either calmed down her craving for a while or created a monster wanting more.

Only time will tell.