too funny

Cooking for the birds!

On Friday, school was closed due to the weather.

Curly Girl and I took advantage of our time together by fixing up some yummy treats for the birds!



We made some with birdseed and popped them into the oven...


and we did some simple orange slices too....

Here they are... along our fence.

Curly Girl LOVES the angel because it looks like she has shoes on!



the orange slices add a nice punch of color on an otherwise dead fence....


We didn't clear the dead vines off yet because the birds search through and find bugs to snack on.....plus we see them hiding in it and yanking pieces off of it.

Destashing through the year....

I've joined Destash-Along 2010 hosted by Crafting with Cat Hair!

I am really looking forward to this.

I've been buying 'things for projects' these last few years and haven't made them.
I thought it would be fun to go through and see how much of my stash is used.
I've made myself a little list on my sidebar to add projects I make using my stash.




If you want to play along too, run over to CWCH and sign up.

Just like on TV!

While in Florida, we spent some quality time with my family. I thought I'd share just a few of the more memorable photos....

Here is Linds modeling a snuggie for us all to admire, just like on TV:


look ma, HANDS!

and notice how warm and snuggly she looks, so happy with her book and beer.


Don't worry folks, the beer is just a prop (and Lindsay IS of legal age anyway...)

And now I give you Phil.

Phil is Lindsay's dad and my sister's beloved husband.

Phil is just like all other men in your life.

He never falls asleep in front of the tv. No, not Phil.

He never tires of watching football all day and night. No, not Phil.

Phil simply likes to rest his eyes from time to time....

oh wait, where's the prop?


ah, THERE it is!

Rest assured, Phil has NOT BEEN SHOT! He's simply 'resting his eyes.'

And now my lovely, funny, sister Sheri.

She's REALLY having a good time.

Funny thing though, she has so many props in front of her, its actually hard to SEE her....



Oh wait, THERE she is!

Now, I know what you are all thinking!

But let me assure you, we are not a bunch of heavy drinkers!
All these drinks you see in the above photos were simply PROPS.

Just like on TV.
We all KNOW those actor's don't actually DRINK all the beer, margaritas and martinis, right?

Well, we don't either!

Vintage Thingie Thursday

Okay, so I stole someone's title.

I don't normally do vintage thingie posts but since I got a special vintage thingie in the mail last week, I decided I HAD to post it.

After all, it made me squeal. Even my husband loved it....and he isn't necessarily fond of elves....

But just LOOK......and I think you'll agree, these are the cutest elves ever!

Here they are climbing up their little ladder....



Hey little blue guy!

further down the ladder are a few more....

Now I'm sure you all want to know where I got such a wonderful vintage thingie, right?

My sweet bloggy friend Very Mary mailed it to me as a surprise! Oh my gosh, I can't tell you how much I love it! Thank you so much, you truly made my day!

What a life.....

Another dog post? Really?

YES!

Okay, so Saturday our heat broke. (Always on a weekend, right?)

Lucky for us we don't live up north but even so, the house was a chilly 50 something degrees and everyone was cold...even the dogs and cats!

Dean lit up a fire in the fireplace and I put the dog's beds in front of it.

Within SECONDS both dogs were happily toasting themselves in front of the fire! They even brought a few toys to share the warmth with.




Don't they look cute!

We are so blessed to have these happy creatures in our lives.
To be honest, we don't really spoil our dogs.
We play with them, we feed them and we love them. We take care of their boo-boos and make sure they go to the vet for their checkups.
They play chase with a ball and love to play with bubbles (saving that for another post)

No fancy clothes, no fancy foods (Ginger barfs), no fancy dog houses, no fancy collars or leashes. Just dog stuff.

EXCEPT.

EXCEPT once a year when I make special dog bones for them.
Usually only at Christmas...because Santa can't make'em like I can!

That being said, for any of you out there that want a good dog bone recipe, read on.
And yes, I tasted them and they really ARE good!


I got the recipe out of a 1985 Woman's Day magazine and use it EVERY YEAR!

It is entitled Jason's Doggie Biscuits. According to the article, Jason was an 8 year old in 1985.....hmmmm....I wonder if he still makes these?

I usually make 2 batches of these bones and give some away as gifts for my friends who have pooches!

Jason's Doggie Biscuits

I use a giant dog bone shaped cookie cutter but any shape will do.
Also, I make these at night because they need to harden in the oven.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Ingredients:

31/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup rye flour
2 cups bulgar (cracked wheat)
1 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup instant nonfat dry milk powder
4 teaspoons salt
1 envelope active dry yeast
1/4 cup very warm water
3 cups chicken broth (I make turkey broth from our Thanksgiving turkey and freeze it to use)
1 egg, slightly beathen with 1 teaspoon milk added (don't skip this step, it makes the bones pretty.)

Mix first 7 ingredients in mixing bowl
Dissolve yeast in the water and add to bowl of dry ingredients
Add your broth and mix until a dough forms. I use a dough hook because it is thick.
Roll out until 1/4 or 1/2 thick. Use 1/4 for little dogs and 1/2 for big dogs.
Cut out your bones and lay on a parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 45 minutes and leave in oven overnight*

If making thick bones, you'll need to bake for an hour.

In the morning, if the bones aren't hard, re-bake for about 15 minutes and let sit in oven until it cools!

Christmas with the dogs.....

Sometimes our dogs are so darn cute!
I thought I'd share some pictures of them enjoying their Christmas goodies!

Here is Mojo loving on a new toy.
Mojo will keep a toy forever and play with it, carry it around and even sleep with it. (Until Ginger discovers it and destroys it FOR him.)


Here is Ginger with one of her new toys.

Unlike Mojo, Ginger doesn't love on her toys......*sigh*

See?

This toy was advertised as great for those dogs who can chew through ANYTHING.
Yeah...right.

It took her about 2 minutes to rip its guts out...including the 3 squeakers.....
We knew it had 2 squeakers in it so we stood by and quickly took them away from her.

But there was a THIRD squeaker we didn't know about.....until we found it yakked up on the carpet the next day.... Yuck.

And here they are with the braided toys I made...these have lasted the longest so far.


They have had so much fun playing tug of war together!

But guess what their all time FAVORITE gift is?

PAPER!


They LOVE it!
They even tear up birthday card envelopes, paper wrapping tubes and empty boxes.

Once Ginger snatched up a check Ripstick Boy got for his birthday...he had put it on the coffee table.
Luckily, she knows what 'drop' means and we were able to retrieve it still intact! (but a bit on the gooey side...)