Sunday, July 31

a perfect ending to a exhausting week...

Unfortunately I spent most of the week sitting in the dental chair trying my best (along with my favorite dentist) to overcome a horrible toothache. The nasty little bacteria proved to be more than I was able to fight off and I lost the tooth. :(   Today I am finally feeling like myself and so I grabbed the camera and headed out in hopes of capturing a shot.  Here's what I found....


                                             a dandelion clinging to the last rays of sunshine...


Enjoy your week....
val

Saturday, July 23

Camera in hand....

I received some exciting news a week or so ago from my blog friend Joan. She is the author of the blog that sponsors a monthly amateur photo contest. Every month she picks a theme and encourages her followers to capture it with their cameras. The theme for June was "circles" In early June I set off to find the shot. I spent an afternoon  at Sunken Gardens, a flower garden in the heart of Lincoln. After enjoying  all the beautiful flowers and ponds, I was leaving the garden I looked up admiring the beautiful intricacies in the metal frame of the gazebo top and there is was my circles shot!! I dropped to my back on the concrete and took the following photo. The exciting part is....drum roll please....My circles shot was the WINNER!!! I don't win any big fancy prizes, but I do get a cool little thing called a "widget" to put on my blog page, and  I think that's pretty cool. If you would like to check her blog it can be found at....www.myretirementchronicles.blogspot.com  The theme for July month is "birds" wonder what I will find??


Friday, July 15

Lions, tigers and bears....

It rained most of the day, in fact it poured, but we managed to squeeze a trip to Como Zoo and Conservatory in St. Paul between rain showers. What a wonderful little zoo and flower garden. I highly recommend a visit to this area if you are ever in the Twin Cities.  Here's proof.... looks like a trip to a winery tomorrow!!


Do you think my boots match my outfit?


Grizzly bear from Minot Zoo


Shhhh...sleeping polar bear


Dall Sheep


So regal...

This guy was just cute!!

Gorillas in the mist  :)


The Sunken Garden in the Conservatory


love all the lines


One of the many lilies.....


Road Trip...

Happy Friday!!!
 We headed to Minnesota yesterday to visit my sister Brenda, my mom visiting from Florida and Doug and Melissa( family from Montana) We loaded up the car and headed north. It didn't take Gracie long to hit  snooze button. Schatzie was more alert and hardly slept a wink during the entire drive. Needless to say when we got to my sisters place she was exhausted.
We grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed to Target Field to enjoy a great night of baseball. This was Doug's first major league game, think he had a great time. Here are some photos from yesterday...
20 minutes into the ride and we'er snoozin!!

in between naps we gazed out the window


Ron's little co-pilot



due to State shut downs the rest areas were ALL closed.


Schatzie caught a couple of winks with her head on top of cooler







must have been funny!!

Ron, mom and me
Doug and Ron

Wednesday, July 13

a taste of Nebraska...

The following photos are just a glimpse of our life here in Nebraska during the past week...I'll let the photos tell the story. Enjoy your day....get out and touch it!!

Golden wheat being harvested near our place.


Sunday was so warm here even the birds needed to cool off. A little blurry due to taking the photo thru my kitchen window.  You see 3 "cow birds" and my beautiful oriole.


found the oriole in a nearby tree preening after his dip in the bird bath


an amazing sunset tonight...


to the east the moon also put on a splendid show rising above our pond.


finally...the girlz got baths tonight,  roadtrip tomorrow~~stay tuned :)


Saturday, July 9

Finished...

New Construction just completed: furnished 1 bedroom duplex, located in rural setting, private yard, sunrise views, beautiful covered porch, well insulated/stays cool, neutral interior color scheme, private pond, 2 meals provided daily and yard cleanup. Room to Run~ What more could 2 dogs ask for~~I mean really!
We finished the dog condo today, well almost, we were 6 shingles short--don't you hate it when you get short shingled!! Ron requested 3 bundles of shingles but the guy at Menards said 2 would cover the condo....well that guy was WRONG!! Oh well, the condo is still ready for it's princesses. Here are some photos.

Ready to do the roof

How's a dog suppose to get any sleep with all this pounding going on???


Gracie sucking up to the builder  :)


Schatzie inside her new digs


The "Princess" and the "Bean" wondering where their topical fruity drinks are...


She's swimming....

Finally after years of encouragement Gracie is finally swimming. Whoever heard of a lab that didn't like water!! She does seem to like it now.

Tuesday, July 5

Typical sisters....

Do believe that the girlz are your typical sisters... Yesterday, they enjoyed life on their new porch, this morning I found them on their chair, TOGETHER!!
Enjoying the 4th on their porch



this morning on their chair...together!
The shingles have arrived, so the condo will be complete in the next few days. :)

Sunday, July 3

we've got waterfront property....

Good morning,
After almost 3 inches of rain last night we woke up to waterfront property. Everything was a little soggy, but things are back to normal now. Hope you all have a safe and happy 4th!!
Looking to the east...creek was overflowing


looking to the north

Look at Gracie...jumping right in, those swim lessons are paying off!!




Ron and the Girlz checking on the pond--yep it's overflowing

Just our little toad...the girlz love to "bug" him.

Saturday, July 2

meet the Porch Pups...

Well the condo made its way from the garage to its resting spot in the front yard. We have a few more details to complete but for the most part it is ready for occupancy. I'll let the pictures tell the story!!

the condo takes its place in the front yard


please....stop taking my picture!! Note the tongue :)


a couple of the neighbors checking out the action


Porch Pups!!


The Porch Pups with the builder


just taking a couple minutes to enjoy the view from the porch


almost complete...shingles and trim left to complete


Hey, come sit on my porch....it's great!!


Friday, July 1

condo update and other news....

As promised, here are a couple pictures of the dogs new condo. We painted it today and placed the partitions, we are now working on the front porch....yes, you read correctly, a front porch. If I believed in reincarnation, I sure would want to come back as my own dog. Seriously, can you believe this dog house!! :)

In other news, I finally was able to photograph the oriole that has been here all spring. I have placed 2 feeders to encourage them stay around. I just haven't been in the right place at the right time with the camera until today. As we were working on the condo in the garage I stepped out to get some air and found the oriole in the dogs water bowl. I had just changed the water so it was nice and cool. The bird had found a moth in the water and then decided to take a dip! So excited to finally get a shot. Good thing I had the camera in the garage.

The other news comes from the garden....I dug my 1st new potatoes and boy were they yummy!! Can't beat new potatoes and  lettuce from the garden and grilled pork, chicken and salmon for dinner. Tomorrow we shall pick the peas. Til then....




the partitions in place...yes, you are seeing color!!


The condo without the "porch"

Finally, got a shot of this bird

a little privacy please....I need to take a bath!! 


splish splash in the dog water

oh that was good


taters and lettuce


me in the garden with the goods!!

taters ready for the grill