Doggy Treat?

Don't you just love to look at a beautiful hybiscus blossom? But are you wondering why the title of today's blog is "Doggy Treat?" Well, rather than LOOK, my poodles love to EAT hybiscus blossoms! Crazy, huh? Here's Turbo in mid-pounce: Mmmmm.....crunchy.....tastes like chicken..... I have seen these little poodles actually climb up the bush to reach a new blossom! (Trust me on this, but my hybiscus bushes have NO blooms on the lower 4 feet of the tree!) "And don't try to act all innocent, young man - I know you ate it!" "Happiness is a warm puppy." ~Charles M. Schulz

Go Bananas!

Ready for another fun summer treat? Last time we made Rootbeer Floats. Today we are going to make frozen bananas! First cut the banana in half and slide in a popsicle stick. (This is a good use for over-rip bananas, by the way.) Then dip your banana into a bowl of melted chocolate. For a lighter version, just drizzle with some melted chocolate. Add some sprinkles or chopped nuts... Set them on a piece of wax paper and pop in the freezer for a few hours. Then ENJOY! Pretty basic process, but maybe you prefer a RECIPE? By the way, if you forgo the chocolate, your frozen banana will be just 50 calories! With chocolate: add another 100--all in all, not too bad for a summery treat! "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana." Groucho Marx

Pig Sitting

Okay - what popped in your head when you read today's title? (Were you thinkin you might see me sitting on a pig?) Sorry to disappoint. (But read on, I do have an odd little picture of me in today's post) We are guinea pig babysitting for Lisa while she's on vacation! Get it? PIG SITTING....? (hee hee, ha ha, oh I just kill myself....) Meet Vanilla. Isn't she just the CUTEST? Look at that sweet little face! Here she is dressed up a bit. This is Vanilla's pal, Oreo. (Don't you just love how she has one white ear and one black?? Is that precious or what?) We are having so much fun playing with these two precious lil critters, we are going to be sad when Lisa gets home from vacation and we have to give them back! BUT Let me show you who will be the MOST sad: Turbo spent the whole week parked next to their cages on guard duty, snarling at Rocket if he walked by. We don't think Turbo was guarding them as in "protecting them...." We think he considered them to be HIS DOGGY TREATS to eat later. sheesh.... Okay - I promised to show you a self portrait. Here it is: Did you see me? Okay, let me help: Here's that same photo, but this time I've enlarged his little eye: (Sorry...I'm silly, I know....) And to continue the silliness:

Cruisin' with my guy....

Well, Sort of cruisin.... Our local 50's Diner hosted a classic car show, so Mike tossed on his black leather jacket and I grabbed my pink poodle skirt and off we went! (you know I'm kidding about that don't you? Even though I have secretly always wanted a pink poodle skirt, the only thing I grabbed was my camera!) As you might have noticed, I played around with the images in my Photoshop Elements program -- kind of fun to do every once in a while -- “In less enlightened times, the best way to impress women was to own a hot car. But women wised up and realized it was better to buy their own hot cars so they wouldn't have to ride around with jerks.” Scott Adams Drive carefully! Remember, it's not only a car that can be recalled by it's maker. - Anonymous "No other man-made device since the shields and lances of the ancient knights fulfills a man's ego like an automobile." Sir William "The car has become an article of dress without which we feel uncertain, unclad, and incomplete." Marshall Mcluhan "People can have the Model T in any colour--so long as it's black." Henry Ford “the winner ain't the one with the fastest car its the one who refuses to lose” Dale Earnhardt Look what's under the hood of that corvette: And lastly, dog as co-pilot! Doesn't the doggy in the front seat just make you smile??? Come on, admit it, you are smiling! "All Fords are exactly alike, but no two men are just alike. Every new life is a new thing under the sun; there has never been anything just like it before, never will be again. A young man ought to get that idea about himself; he should look for the single spark of individuality that makes him different from other folks, and develop that for all he is worth. Society and schools may try to iron it out of him; their tendency is to put it all in the same mold, but I say don't let that spark be lost; it is your only real claim to importance." Henry Ford

Snowballs in Summer

Did you know the Hydrangea is also known as the Snowball Bush? We love the way they brighten up the garden, so we have lots of them! Aren't the colors amazing? This one looks like a wedding bouquet! "Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into." ~Henry Beecher

The Quiz

I have a little quiz for you. I'm going to show you some close-up photos - tell me when you guess what the object is.... When you guess, you can slap your hand down on your desk, just like in Family Feud! Did you figure it out? No? Okay here's one more: Now do you know???? (I haven't heard you slap your desk yet...) Okay, this one will give-it-away: Shake, shake, shake: “The laziest man I ever met put popcorn in his pancakes so they would turn over by themselves.” W. C. Fields

Elephant Odyssey

The San Diego Zoo just completed a new 45 million dollar Elephant exhibit. It's unique because it begins with a focus on Southern California's ancient past and then showcases animals from today. (The part you see in my first photo is about 10% of the entire exhibit - it's HUGE!) The exhibit begins with fossils... Then continues with the elephants and their a 120,000-gallon pool and 2.5-acre yard. Lions and jaguars also call the exhibit home. This is their overnight enclosure. It also has a spot where elephants get veterary treatment where zoo guests can watch. (I'm sure the elephants are embarrassed at this though....I mean, geez, a little privacy please???) This is the "Trunk Garden." The elephants can reach their trunk through the slots and pull up things to eat from the vegetable garden on the otherside of their enclosure wall.....how fun is that? I waited around here for a bit but no elephants wandered over to take advantage of it -- maybe next time! "Nature's great masterpiece, an Elephant. The only harmless great thing; the giant of beasts." John Donne