Did Somebody Say ICE CREAM?????????

Busy, Busy, Busy............

...that's what we have been for weeks....busy as bees..taking care of those little fledglings paid off.....Momma bird one day came calling and decided it was time for them to hit the road...and away they went! They have been back with Momma full time (who looks a wee bit tired now that she is feeding them without the help of moi.....but they know they are welcome here all the time!)

July is the Birthday month in our clan, and we have several weeks where they come one after the other...so party time it is.
The most special one was for Mom, who at 94 is looking just as bright eyed and bushy tailed as Becky!

We have also been spotting many of our regular Summer visitors, as well as a few new ones..


It has been a record summer harvest for our blackberries! We have already been making blackberry muffins, blackberry frosting, blackberry sauce for BBQing.
One of the best recipes we found combined both lemon thyme and blackberries for a simply scrumptious treat. We are hoping to post some pix of our next creation...that's if we can ever get back into the kitchen again with this heat wave!! When we do we will be tackling this recipe: Lemon Ricotta Cupcakes with Blackberry Frosting.

We are also very happy to report that Angus is responding very well to his thyroid medication...he is however going through his annual allergy bout, and is feeling just a little cranky ( like all allergy sufferers are no doubt!)It never ceases to amaze us though, how much bringing Becky into his ( and our) life has turned him into a puppy again..he really keeps Becky on her toes and vice versa!
Keep cool everyone.....drink a lots of fluids, stay indoors and take it slow!!!

"I Had A Ruff Week Here Guys!"

Boy do I mean RRRRRRUFFFFFFFFFFF. It started all a week ago Monday.
First I had a little fever, then I started shaking, then I peed and Ma noticed that it was a color she is NOT used to seeing...needless to say, I was fit to be tied.
So off I went with Uncle Richard ( who loves me more than ANYTHING in the world...yes even you Beckers) to see Dr. Campbell.

Remind me to find an alternative plan if I ever feel that badly again.
I only went willingly because I felt like a dog......a tired crabby dog who wanted to feel better.Anywaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.................to make a longstory short I had an infection in my bladder. Dr.Campbell said that older dogs get them sometimes...but the other thing that they found out was that I had hypothyroidism! Now Ma told me that the infection was a bit of a blerssing in disguise...you know like the silver lining in the cloud you see often after the fact...

NOW I am going to have to take my antibiotic for a few more days, but the thyroid pill I have to take twice a day for the rest of my life ( which Ma tells me will be a long and happy one.....maybe she's a fortune teller!)
The one who really had it the hardest here while I was recouperating was Beckers.SHE had to play guard dog in the yard to Ma's little charges, who are not looking so little anymore!
Boy did that little gal have her paws full.....no job was too big for her...
...she even tried to help locate food for the mommy bird. We're not certain that she appreciated Becky's snooter bein' in the grub, but hey, her intentions were good!
Once I was able to go out in the garden again, I gave Becky a little down time to help Ma eat.....er....I mean prune the roses...

Now Ma wanted to hare a little bit of news with all of you.......we all know that Ma was born on Father's Day...
and that this particular birthday was very special for Ma...special because now she was going to able able to start getting REALLY big discounts at fabulous places
A lot of people when they reach that double digit number are looking to relocate to one of THESE PLACES

Ma and Pa however are choosing another path.....well at least Ma is...she kinda had to present it to Pa in a roundabout way. Hopefully very soon we will be able to share some very exciting news about what's in store for them....I think it may be involving a horse of a different color, but it's too soon to say.

Well we think we have been yapping long enough here today...Ma & Pa may be going to Chincotegue over the wekend to see if they can locate that horse.or maybe a place to keep it for awhile ;o)
Have a great weekend.we'l check in with you all next week!

Drumroll Please............

Bet you all thought we fell off the face of the Earth....we promise to do our best to keep up our blogging, now that we are back in stinky( errr,,,,,,,,we mean wonderful NJ.....BOL!!!!!!!!!)

Miss Jean in the Garden, come out of the garden for a spell and claim your prize!
Not to worry, we cetainly will be popping in with other events soon. Today Miss Becky went to the vets and was told that she had beautiful eyes, terrific knees, and a strong body.......woo hoo!!!!! All Becky could say was "no way jose, and get that needle away from my heiney!!!"



Now on to our next bit of news...we have baby birds.yup...two of them. It appears that all that wind we had last week knocked their nest down the chimney.and oh what a time we had coaxing them out of the crevice in the brick they were stuck in. We can now say that we are fostering, Heckle and Jeckle:..and yes we CAN tell them apart..one is just a wee bit bigger than the other...

Can you imagine the stories they will be telling their feathered friends once they take flight finally?
"Yea it was crazy, we got blown down this big tunnel, then a big thing with five smaller things grabbed us and stufed kitten food in our beaks!"


ANYWAY, that's it for now. We'll be updating our bird tails ( err...tales) hopefully during the week! Miss Becky is proving to be the most gentle soul with her little charges!

A Day Late, A Buck Short............

however.....

....... we didn't forget what yesterday was...........BECKY'S FIRST GOTCHA DAY ANNIVERSARY........

We have been very disorganized of late with all of the comings and goings at our house...what better way to take a break and regroup, than a road trip! This is the first time that the Beckaroo and I have EVER spent time together away from home base.....whew.. .I'd be lying if I said that she wasn't a challenge.......but in the end it has proved to be an adventure that neither of us will forget...and oh the things that we are seeing together!

Like this....
.....and this....
.......and even this....


We will be posting as much as time permits, but wanted to take the time out to say thank you..to ALL of our followers, many who have turned into friends over the past year..and what better to say thanks, than with a

G I V E A W A Y!!!!!!!!!!!

At the end of our trip, we will once again be using our friend, RANDOM GENERATOR, and the ninth blogger to leave a comment will be getting a very special gift from the best store on the Eastern Shore of Virginia...none other than....HOWL NATURALE

Keep checking back this week and before you know it we'll be popping in with the name of our winner...until then, we did not come to the end of the world, only the ramp...

.....and for Becky, the end of a VERY long day!

About That Tree...........

"Well Becky you know we have to work on planting that tree today...better go get Gus so we can get an early start!"
"Humph! I can push that tree all by myself now...what does Ma think I am, a baby?"
"Whew this is gonna be a little harder than I thought!OK..on the count of three..one.....two............."


"grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....hey Becky?"
"Whatcha doin' little one?You're not trying to move that big tree all alone are you?"
"Boy am I glad to see you G-dog.I heard Ma & Pa talking about using a doggie to move this here ol' tree......I figured she meant me, being the younger and sassy one..."
"No Becky.... they need a DOLLY"...."You mean a toy?"
"No Becky.you better let Ma & Pa do the work today..I'm sure they'll find something else for us to do....as a mater of fact, see all that grass seed Ma and Pa planted..I think they need us to help smoosh it into the soil for them, so it'll grow quicker!"
"BECKY.......ARE YOU DIGGING UP THAT GRASS SEED?"

"Uh-oh...gotta run now..See Ya........."

May Day & Murphy's Law

MAY DAY........MAY DAY....ahhhh the visions of youth dancing around the Maypole.....I can still recall last year when in an attempt to engage my 93 year old mother in "blogging",she told her own tale about May Day....what lovely images her story conjures up..I can almost smell the lily of the valleys.

Our May Day was a little different this year, as was Arbor Day

and Easter,
and well just about every day the last few weeks. We have begun to embark on a journey that no homeowner wants to....renovating, beginning with a new window in the den...
...and trust me any work in an 85 year old home is filled with surprises......

Take AC...no not Atlantic City, although had we won a million or two it would be easier to begin working on our "home". We do not have duct work....we have working ducks
.... but no duct work. That means that in order to install the central air conditioning, we have to have ducts run throughout the house, the closets, the walls, and anywhere else they feel we need them.

Why are we doing it now, after living here for twenty years? Well we currently have not one but SIX window units, and for all of you who think that if you live 3 blocks from the ocean that it is a cool breeze that you feel on hot summer nights...WRONG!

Sorry Charlie, but it is warm air...stagnant warm air. Also after the electric bills from last year, we decided to bite the bullet and get it installed. It gets a little insane turning the window units on and off, with the fans, all day long for Mom who is hot, then cold, then hot..no wait that's me now ;o) (hint hint)

That's where Murphy's law comes into the picture ( and the picture I will be referring to is none other than, "The Money Pit"

Right after we signed the contract to finance our major purchase, we had a storm here....and the roof began to leak....and then the hot water heater began to leak...and then my brains began to leak...I know that my brains leaked as well, because I saw Becky and Gus running away with them in the yard, trying to find a place to bury them
......that would be in the deep holes that we dug for the two trees we were planting for Arbor Day.

So here we are....with new trees, a new hot water heater, a repaired roof and awaiting the destruction of our home..be it ever so humble,as Dorothy said, "There's No Place Like Home!"