New Lucia Pictures

Mom sent these pictures of Lucia this afternoon. She is a Halloween princess in her "too cute to scare" shirt from Aunt Pam --

Trick or Treat!!

Happy Halloween! I hope everyone is signed up for treats instead of tricks this year...

Jack and I are on the treat wagon with baby back ribs currently in development for our dinner. Who needs candy corn when you've got sweet, spicy pork?

We had a few invites to Halloween gatherings this year, but neither of us felt like dressing in costume, which has become an expectation. It's much nicer sometimes to just stay home and watch a football game (that we might actually win) and eat ribs.

The picture that I just placed at the "top of the blog" is one I took earlier this evening. I thought it appropriate that we're almost at the full moon on Halloween, and after seeing the results of my experimentation with "moon photography" decided this was perfect for the sharing here. The picture is great, even if I do say so myself...

Aside from some rain last night and earlier today, the past few days have given us perfect and beautiful fall weather. I cannot remember a year that the fall foliage has been more colorful, and this week has been "classic autumn".

I worked from home yesterday and was able to get a lot accomplished work-wise and spend time working with the new camera, getting more accustomed to the ins and outs during a couple of different "photo sessions" with the dogs outdoors. I'm attaching a few of the better results -- the chocolate lab is Roxie Bell. She belongs to the neighbors...

Enjoy, but don't eat too much Halloween candy!

Fall is really here. Leaves are everywhere, though Jack is doing his best to stay abreast of the falling foliage with his leaf blower. Our weather is decidedly cooler, and we've had to build several fires during the past week as nightly temperatures have dipped to the frosty part of the thermometer.

Jack and I had a wonderful weekend, but for whatever reason, I couldn't seem to string together enough thoughts and sentences to come up with a decent blog post on either Saturday or Sunday. I may do no better tonight, but I can at least check on things and say, "Hello".

I wish I had some new pictures of Lucia to post, but I haven't seen her in two weeks (entirely too long), and she's had a bad cold. I know I certainly don't like having my picture taken when I'm sick, no matter how cute someone else might think I look. Ask Jack. I can only imagine Lucia will feel the same way when she's older.

Have a great week, everyone. Check back for a mid-week update...

Chili and Firewood - Fall is Here

If we had pumpkins, tonight they would get frosted.

Yes, our first frost of the season is forecast for tonight, so Jack has already moved the avocado indoors, so all that's left to be done as far as plant protection is concerned is for me to drag in two pots of shamrocks. As much as I love houseplants, I'm actually glad that we don't have bunches and bunches to have to accomodate in our very small house during cold weather any longer. A couple of winters ago, we had potted plants sitting everywhere, but thanks to the pets and periods of bad care, we don't have to worry about that any more.

I can't believe how cold it has been all day today. Cold. And windy. Jack is making chili, and earlier this afternoon, we journeyed to Mom and Dad's place to grab a quick load of firewood, so we'll be able to stay warm for a few days, both inside and out!

To accomplish the firewood thing, Jack purchased a new chain saw this week. His old one was sporting a death rattle by the end of last season. We cut and burn enough wood that our chainsaw-of-the-moment sees a lot of hours of work, and the one that we've used for the last several years barely made it through this past winter. His new Stihl seems to do the trick!

The dogs are frisky with the cooler weather and the three big ones had a fun time romping about this afternoon. And I know it seems that Moose is getting what seems to be more than his fair share of time in front of the camera and featured here on the blog - he's just SO stinking photogenic, I can't help it.

Weekend Wrap-Up

It's ballgame time; what better opportunity to catch up on a little blog posting, since we're going to be sitting here watching the game anyway? Tennessee is playing Indianapolis, so I can only hope it will stay a game beyond the first half. We will further hope that the Titans are "in it to win it" this evening and will be victorious for the first time this season in a game as significant as this one.

Jack and I have had a great day and continue to recover from our H1N1, feeling better today than yesterday and actually approaching something that feels close to "normal".

The day started out chilly and cloudy, but the afternoon was clear and sunny and perfect for getting out with the new camera for a few more adventures in photography. I'm still getting accustomed to checking the settings to make sure they're' appropriate for the light and situation, so the first pictures I took this morning were as bad as any I've taken in a long time, but that's to be expected, and with digital there's no worry about the cost of film and developing. There's also no wait to see just how bad they look!

I remember Mom saying something years and years ago about my ability to take two dozen pictures of the same cat on the same day... Well, nothing has changed other than that the cats have been joined by a pack of dogs, and digital doesn't limit me to the 24 or 36 shots on a single roll of film, so I don't have to worry about shooting "throwaways". When nothing looks right, the delete button is my friend.

I did manage to catch several (what I think are) pretty good shots and particularly like the close-up of Moose in the grass. I'm not sure what had captured his attention, but the expression on his face was wonderful. Like Dudley, Moose is proving to be an excellent photo model -- he will actually sit and pose; he's great at following directions, which is more than I can say for the others most of the time. Moose also generally keeps himself fairly clean, unlike Jimmy, who continued his digging project earlier today, though not with the gusto he demonstrated yesterday.

We're into the third quarter of the game now, and it's not looking good for the Titans, down 19 points to the Colts. Oh well...

Visiting with Lucia

In my blogging about the flu, the camera and the dogs yesterday, I completely forgot that I hadn't yet posted any pictures of Lucia from my visit with her earlier this week.

I had an early meeting on Tuesday morning and did another little sleepover with Mom and Dad at the baby house Monday night. If I'd known I was going to be diagnosed with the flu two days later - if I'd had any indication whatsoever that I was sick - there's no way I would have exposed anyone. So far, so good, and none of the "baby bunch" are showing any signs of illness. Sis thinks Lucia may be teething and having some discomfort from that, but otherwise, things are fine.

Now that Lucia has been crawling all over the place for a few weeks, she's beginning to pull herself up using her crib rail or anything, really, that's close enough to work. And she loves books...

Thanks, Mom, for your contributions to this week's pictures --

Dirty Dogs

Jimmy showed up dirty this morning. Filthy-dirty with red mud. He was so orange, he looked like he'd decked himself out for the UT-Georgia game. We've seen this before when he's been in one of his chipmunking moods, and it can be bad. I think the most we've ever bathed him in one day is twice, and that's not because there haven't been times he hasn't needed it more than that.

Today might be one of those days.

This afternoon while out playing with the new camera (which I totally, totally love), I discovered why Jimmy was such a mess. Lucky for us, the "new hole" isn't in the yard. It's in the woods across from the neighbor's house and half as big as a bathtub. Not quite large enough to bury a body, it is definitely big enough to bury, say, a microwave. I was quite a distance away, but thanks to a great camera with zoom lens and the magic of digital photography, I am able to share the scene --

Later on, after it was much darker, we heard a disturbance down the hill from our deck. Chipmunk? Perhaps. Here's Hole #2. It was much darker outside, so the best way to share this one is in paparazzi-style black & white --

Jimmy seems to be in charge of digging, while Diva keeps the lookout and provides some quality control functions, evidenced by one small muddy spot on her nose.

H1N1 Update and New Photos (taken with the new camera)

This week I have a better than halfway decent excuse for not being a better blogger - Jack and I were both sidelined with the H1N1 flu --


First of all, we're both feeling much, much better thanks to Dr. Hooper and Tamiflu, which I believe qualifies as a "wonder drug" for minimizing our infection and down-time.


Jack began feeling sickly on Tuesday and told me that he felt like he had the flu. Neither of us have been around any ill people, and we've both been very diligent with our hand hygiene and exposure to large groups of people, so I was skeptical. Skeptical, that is, until Wednesday morning when I woke up with a splitting headache and almost threw up in the shower. I decided it was best to stay home and watch my symptoms, which only got worse over the course of the next few hours.


By afternoon, Jack and I both felt that the best course of action was to get diagnosed and started on Tamiflu. We were lucky that we could see our favorite local physician without too much trouble, and his verdict was "yes, you have the flu".


The symptoms weren't pleasant, but the Tamiflu really did its job of stopping the virus from multiplying and getting any worse. Whatever flu virus you already have in your system has to go ahead and do its thing, but no new flu virus is created, making the course of illness much shorter and less severe than in "the olden days".


With everything we'd heard about H1N1 and how dreadful it can be, we are truly lucky that we caught ours early. While this was no walk-in-the-park, Jack and I both agree that we've been sicker and felt worse with other bouts of the flu.


As of today, we've both essentially returned to normal aside from some minor coughing and lingering malaise.


Despite still recovering from being sick, I DID venture out for a couple of hours yesterday to go camera shopping. After planning for this purchase for months and months, I don't think anything short of a natural disaster would have stood in my way. Considering the high winds and rainstorms that moved through after I returned home, natural disaster looked like a possibility for awhile, but I made most of my little trip to town without having to use my windshield wipers.


The new camera outfit is great, but it's definitely going to take me awhile to figure out all the bells and whistles. I've wanted a digital SLR for years and years (since they were first introduced), so finally getting a nice one is a big deal for me. The digital camera Jack gave me for my birthday a couple of years ago has been wonderful and has taken any number of great photographs, but having used SLR cameras since I was a freshman in high school, I wanted more flexibility and options once I decided that digital photography isn't some evil plot hatched against the film industry.


Here are a few pictures that I've taken so far --




Squirrel in the neighbor's front yard. I was standing on our front porch, using the zoom. Pretty cool, eh?




Moose, both before and after he got tired of the flash .


Fuzz, yawning and looking like VAMPIRE-KITTY.

Sunday Evening Wrap-up

It's another one of those "two post" days. Don't blame me. Blame the weather.

Yesterday was beautiful, sunny and perfect for early October, but clouds moved in overnight and hung with us all day long. Sometime during the afternoon we started to get rain with no signs of letting up any time this evening. After having almost two weeks straight of rain, I'm more than ready for some sunny weekends - and that means both Saturday and Sunday. October is much too lovely to waste being trapped in the house.

The Titans-Jaguars game today was a total waste of three hours in front of the television, though Jack and I did bail on the game before it was all the way over. When it's a runaway score with no chance of turnaround, even the people in the stadium call it a day. After last year's great season, both Jack and I were hopeful that Jeff Fisher and the boys could have another winning year, but this late into the season, it's going to be impossible for them to acquire a playoff-worthy record. As bad as I hate to use the term "fair weather fan" to describe myself, more often than not, it's what happens when one of my favorite teams starts tanking. I can cheer for a losing tennis player for years, but when it's the Titans or the Volunteers, my attention span isn't so forgiving.

The dogs weren't so deterred by the nasty weather today and spent a good part of the morning chasing chipmunks and digging holes in the yard. Hopefully chipmunk-chasing is a seasonal pastime and they'll soon quit with the excavation projects. I suppose I could look forward to the ground freezing solid...

Once the rain got started, they moved their activities indoors. Here's a funny picture of Moose and Diva that I snapped during one of their wrestling matches.

Moose is really getting big. When he went to the vet for his puppy-stuff, he weighed 51 pounds, and the girls there speculated that in addition to Golden Retriever, he might have some Great Pyrenees in his pedigree along with no telling what kind of long-tailed dog. Seriously, Moose's tail touches the ground when it's limp, and he's becoming a tall dog. They believe he's around six months old now, so he's got some more growing to do. He's so pretty and so good. He was a real hit at the vet's office, remaining calm and holding still for everything from shots to toenail trimming. FINALLY a dog that doesn't act like it's being killed whenever it gets a pedicure.

With the return of cooler weather, I've been hitting the coffee again and will probably have a hard time sleeping tonight, because I made a second pot at 4:30 this afternoon. It was so warm and tasty with a smidge of sweetener and a spatter of creamer. We've discovered a delicious coffee at Trader Joe's in Nashville that's organic and fair-trade at a competitive price, and I've been loving it lately.

I suppose it's time to call it an evening and start looking foward to the week ahead. My Friday meeting has been cancelled, so there's a distinct possibility that I might be able to work from home. Keep your fingers crossed that it'll happen.

Have a great week all!!

A Note about Dinner

I forgot to take pictures of our steak dinner last night, but I should have.

Jack did a fantastic job, and it was not only beautiful but delicious as well. He rubbed two beef filets with a blend of finely ground coffee and dark cocoa, a rich flavor combination that works well with red meat. Acorn squash with pineapple and cinnamon and collards braised with garlic and red onion rounded out the meal.

I've never cared for collard greens, but these still had bright color and a bit of an al dente bite that made them much more appealing than the collards I'm accustomed to encountering. I will definitely be eating them again.

Today really feels like fall - cool, crisp, overcast. Football on television. Every moment brings us closer to the first frost.

Saturday Evening Post

As you've probably noticed, I'm working on the blog this evening, updating the color scheme in observance of Breast Cancer Awareness month and cleaning up some of the features, slideshows and text that have been here forever.

If anyone wants links to any of the slideshows that have previously been featured to the right, please e-mail me, and I'll gladly provide whatever you like.

Jack and I are having a wonderful weekend so far, enjoying the slightly cooler, more autumn-like weather. Jack fired up the grill and is currently working on what I can only predict will be a delicious steak dinner. I will take pictures and post them later.

Thursday night I did another sleepover with Mom at the baby house and, as usual, had a wonderful time. I stopped by to spend some time with Sis and Lucia on my way there after work and really enjoyed my visit. Lucia is so very cute and personable and happy - I can't imaging there being a better baby anywhere. I can't wait to see her again - she's so much fun.

Mom and I did our "regular" Thursday night thing, tuning in to the trashiest thing on television. Hey, everybody has guilty pleasures, and for some people it's The Real Housewives of Atlanta.

In addition to some pictures of Lucia, I am including a photo of Roger (top) that I took during my visit. While he's a lot smaller than Moose (bottom), there are so many similarities that we can't help but believe they're littermates with Sassy, Mom & Dad's little pooch. Moose is definitely the basketball player of the bunch.

Once again I'm blogging while watching Tennessee play football, and they seem just as doomed this time as last. The Volunteers just blocked an Auburn kick, and we aren't to the half yet, but 13 to nothing isn't much of a score to be going into the half.

The picture at the top of the blog is Euonymus americanus, a native plant commonly known as "hearts-a-bustin'" or Strawberry Bush because of the appearance of the seed apparatus this time of year. The creamy flowers, which appear in the spring, are beautiful but discreet and easily overlooked amongst the excitement of everything else in the garden. During the fall they bring a welcome burst of color to the woodlands. We have a number of these in the yard - a couple of them are quite thick, and they're so pretty right now. The seeds and pods stay colorful and attached for several weeks, which is nice. They're easily sprouted, so if anyone would like to try adding a few to your yard, let me know, and I'll send you some seeds when they mature. We like natives such as this, because they require absolutely no upkeep in our landscape.

I have an exciting week ahead, and I'm planning to treat myself to a goody that's entirely too fantastical for me to even blog about yet. Let's just say that those of you who enjoy my photographs are in for a treat!! ((MAJOR hint))

More on that later -- steak now.