Daily Dash

O Christmas Tree

Any snow yet?

Winter Storm Watch issued for tomorrow night
Anywhere from 3-8 inches.

With this being said we would like to welcome an addition to our family.

An Ariens SNO-TEK Snow Blower! woo hoo

We will put you to work very soon.

Ornament Exchange

Last night we exchanged ornaments.
I gave Jimmy a Texas A&M ornament. This completes our college collection. We now have Appalachian, NC State and Texas A&M - representing the schools we have attended.

He gave me two ornaments. One really frisky leopard print ornament and a pretty glass one with doves. Both are quite pretty!

Now to make room for them on the tree....

Deck the Halls

My favorite time of year.....

On Saturday we went to Pine Hill tree farm near Freeport, IL and cut down our Christmas tree. She is a beauty. My niece Ella helped us choose the lucky tree this year. We decorated the house Saturday afternoon.

I just love ornaments! They all have a story. I have collected them for many years. My oldest is a glass horse given to me by my Auntie Gene (Hey Gene). This has always been my favorite. When I was little I would get excited to see it again and place it in a nice location on the tree - so the lights would hit it just right. When Christmas was over I would carefully wrap it up in paper so it would be safe all year long.

Then there is my App State ornament. I bought this one my junior year in college and was so excited about it! I think of my friends and the fun times we had every time I place it on the tree.

My oyster angel from Emerald Isle. My mom made this one out of white oyster shells. What a pretty little angel!

When Jimmy and I got married we started a ornament tradition. We choose a special ornament for each other each year. Our first year - I got a fairy ornament and I gave Jimmy a golf cart ornament -for his love of golf and for the infamous golf cart birthday fiasco.

Then there are ornaments from trips. The NYC ornament when Sara, Keith, Jimmy and I went to New York a few Octobers ago and then there is the thistle ornament from Scotland from our trip this summer.

I love the ones that have stories and I remember them each year.

I made cookies and Russian Tea for our decorating extravaganza. Then Jimmy and I snuggled up and watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I do believe I have finally caught the Harry Potter bug - it only took me 13 years. I am buying the box set this week and will start reading.

It’s beginning to look a lot like winter.......

As I look out of my office window the traces of bright orange and red leaves are disappearing and giving way to bare trees. Today is gloomy and cold and you can feel the air changing. That cold arctic air is returning.

I can't complain though. This fall has been wonderful. November is normally rainy and cold but at least the first half of Novemeber has been warm and sunny. Especially last week when we had sunshine and highs near 70. Next week looks quite different on the other hand, with highs around 40 and lows in the 20s...boohooo.

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week, which means Christmas is just around the corner.
Anyone have fun holiday plans?
We are headed up to the Wilderness for Thanksgiving with Ginger's family and then to dear ole' NC for Christmas.

I love the holidays. Decorating the tree, putting up lights and wrapping presents. fa la la la

The absent minded professor...

Just a little jab at Jimmy, who has lost the 2nd pair of sunglasses in less than a month. He keeps leaving them places. I think he needs a purse. I wonder what Santa will bring......hmmm

Seasons are changing....

The weather has been wonderful for the past several weeks. Over the weekend we decided to take full advantage of it. Here are some pictures of our day at Devil's Lake State Park.

Daily Dash

Dash at Viking Park over the weekend. A fenced-in dog park so he can run.

Picture of the Day

The Capitol ceiling.

Just saying hello!

Thought these pics were cute. Hope everyone is having a nice week.
These were taken at a wedding over the weekend for one of my co-workers.

Daily Dash

Dash and I at Lake Mendota

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Why the long face?

House Happenings

We finished up two projects over the weekend. Putting knobs and pulls on the cabinets and drawers AND painting our shutters and front door. Here are the results.

Before and after of the house

Before with faded blue shutters:After: with darker shutters

Obama Craziness hits Madison.

Wow....when Barack Obama visited Madison on Tuesday this place was a Mad-House. Whether you are for or against Obama the pure excitement in the air would have been enough to get you off your feet trying to find a glimpse of anything presidential.

My claim to fame....I took a picture of Airforce One has it passed over campus, right before it landed at the airport. Not the best picture....

The crowds were happy, excited and anxious. Anxious because the event would only hold 12,500 people and the line to get in was over a mile long. They chose to hold the rally at Library Mall, which is in the middle of campus. The event started at 4:45 and people were lining up at 8am.

This was the entrance gate. Lots of police on horseback.

After you got into the event you had to go through security. This was the first security line. This is University Ave. and Park Street (near my office). The line stretches through campus to the very end of campus. Over a mile. This is as close as I got...Bucky's back-side. Library Mall is right in front of Bucky. I was in between people looking through a chain length fence to get this picture, while being closely watched by cops and snipers.....weird!!

What's Happening?

We are finally getting around to some house projects this month.

We are changing the shutter color of the house and have two more sets to go before that project is done. We were all set to finish them up last weekend but discovered two hornet nests and had to fix that problem before we could finished up the last two windows. We also changed the front door color too.

We also decided to install knobs on the kitchen cabinets, which has been quite a hassle. We have a lot of cabinets. Not sure why we decided to do this in the first place.

I will post pictures when the projects are complete.

Hello Fall

The weather has taken quite a turn this week. The low last night was around 45 and it felt great! I love fall weather and wish it would just stay around until March. After fall is when you know who will come a knocking....Old Man Winter.....he is not welcomed.

Does anyone know about the wolly worm? Well I saw one yesterday and bad news for me it was all black. Does anyone know that means? I thought they were suppose to be black and brown.

Dash is has crazy has ever especially since the weather is cooler. He runs and flips around the house. It has almost been one year since we got him!

I need a laugh.

Right now we are so busy at work and when I need a good laugh I listen to this song. It isn't really the song that is funny...its the video. (I actually like the song quite a bit.)

Plus, it reminds me of our time in Scotland. When I first saw this video we were sitting in a bar and this came on the tv. I almost wondered if I was dreaming when I saw it....or maybe I had a few beers too many. It may not be funny to you but it makes me sit at my desk and laugh.

Robbie Williams, You Know Me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyg3RtALnwg

Wow for Weather

The last few days have been beautiful. Cool in the morning and around 80 for the high. Sorry North Carolina peeps, I hope it isn't too bad there!!

Believe it or not it has been hot here. Not as hot as NC has been but last week we were up to about 100 and let me tell you...people here can't take that! Everyone was complaining about the heat and the sun and the humidity. I over heard one person say they can't wait for winter.

WHAT, WAIT....that really came out of someone's mouth. NO WAY JOSE!! No winter yet for me!!! I just can't believe that someone would trade heat, blue skies and sunshine for the frozen windy snowy tundra!! CRAZY I TELL YOU, just crazy!!

Well that is all for now.

Oh yeah two tidbits of wisdom:
1. Don't watch Marley and Me while running on the treadmill. Not good for motivation.
2. Don't let your dog eat a bowl of olive oil and half a loaf of bread. Not good for your yard! Dash sure liked it though....sneaky dog!!

At a glance..

As promised I tried my very best to narrow down my picture selection. It was difficult. If you want to see more, click on the Snapfish link at the top right of the blog.

Below is an view of Edinburgh from Calton Hill. (sepia)
Falls of Bruar

From a phone booth in St. Andrews....(Garth Brooks reference here....anyone get it?)

Jimmy and I near the Edinburgh Art Museum. Overlooking New Town.

Blair Castle

Scotland is #1, taken in Inverness on our last night.

Urquart Castle with Loch Ness in the background

Blair Athol Distillery

Lochleven Castle

St. Andrews Castle

Mom, Dad, Sara and I on Calton Hill in Edinburgh

Bonnie Bonnie Scotland

We did it!!! The trip of a lifetime was accomplished. On July 14th 8 people set out for the land of kilts and bagpipes only to find out it offered so much more.

The trip was perfect down to every last second. The apartment in Edinburgh was as cute as could be. Our tour guide was awesome. The B&B was gorgeous. Breakfast perfect. Just perfect.

This trip meant a lot to me. Not only was my entire family there but I also planned the entire journey. Once finished I felt like I had accomplished a huge play or production of some sort. Maybe I have a new job? Travel agent extraordinaire. I guess I will brag, everything was just seamless.

Hope everyone liked the journey.

Our Scottish adventure consisted of the boys going to The Open and the girls exploring the village of St. Andrews, castles, cathedrals, graveyards, pubs, dungeons, forts, waterfalls, pubs, Loch Ness....did I mention pubs?

Scotland is like nothing I have ever seen. Historical and beautiful. Gothic. Buildings dating back to 1100. Ruins dating back to 2000BC. Like walking through pictures you have only seen in your school day history books. I loved every second, every noise, everything.

I even tried Haggis. Yes, I did. Just a wee bit and it actually wasn't bad. Whisky..tried it too. When in Scotland.......

We even learned new words
Numpty - flaky and stupid
Steamin' - drunk
Crabbit - irritable

It will be truly hard for me to pick out what pictures to place in this post. I think I will post them separately. You see when Anna takes pictures she takes pictures....all 815 of them. I am sure you don't want to see them all so I won't bother you with that I will choose a few of my favorites for you....which will still be hard. (look for them soon.)

Cheers Mom and Dad, Cheers Sara and Keith, Cheers My Jimmy, Cheers Dave and Ginger. Until next time.........

Across the pond and back.

Hello blog...I haven't seen you in a while. I have been on vacation and will update you soon.

Blue sky

I can see some blue sky and the warning is over. We are back upstairs now.
More on the way so tonight should be interesting!

Blogging from the basement

Yep, that's right. We are all hanging out in the basement during a tornado warning. I am trying to take my mind off of the weather, so I decided to get on the computer. That is all for now got to pay attention to the weather.

Before the Storm

The sunset before a storm on Friday night.

Where was my camera?

I carry my camera everywhere. Of course one of the days that I really truly wanted it by my side to document an act of nature I did not have it.

I have always said that if and when I ever see a tornado or funnel cloud I would either A. pass out. B. scream C. have to be shaken back to sanity.

Well two weeks ago B. happened.

It was a dreary weekend. Jimmy and I decided to drive up to the Dells to explore and do some shopping. It was not raining yet at our house but as we approached Madison the clouds got darker and darker. It looked like a wall of black clouds.

As we entered the highway off to the right was one of my worst fears; a silvery white funnel shaped cloud.

I pointed at it and alerted Jimmy. Alerted is a calm word. I screamed and pointed. OH MY GOD!!!!! He said "nah that isn't a funnel cloud, " as he accelerated. I was in panic mode but what did I think of first.....MY CAMERA...where was my camera!!! I didn't have it!! How can I pretend to be photographer and not have my camera! This could have been my big break...haha =)

We kept watching it, Jimmy kept trying to focus my attention elsewhere. It crept farther down the sky and a little farther and then it broke up. All that was left was a thin silver string-like line through the sky where it use to be. It was over.

In all honesty it was quite interesting and maybe even pretty...well sort of. I say this not thinking about us being gobbled up by it along with the cows, Dorothy and Toto. I really don't want to see another one.
Jimmy, I am very grateful there were no job offers in Oklahoma.

What to watch?

Okay tv fans, I need a show for Tuesday nights.
My favorite show has bid farwell.....RIP LOST.

Glee or V?

Any ideas for me?

I cooked something!

Yes, many of you think I don't cook. But I will prove you wrong. On Friday I tried this recipe and it was quite good. Nice for the summer! Try it!

Spring Green Risotto
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/spring-green-risotto-recipe/index.html

All about the yard.

Summer is here....well not quite yet, but it certainly feels like summer. It was close to 100 yesterday with the heat index. Temp was around 92. I enjoyed it.

Since many of my readers are miles and states away I thought I would post some pictures of the yard and flowers that we have planted.

Here is a picture of the screen porch. There is a beautiful lilac bush in the background.
The irises are at the back of the house. We just planted the 3 hostas. The big one is Jimmy's favorite. He chose it.

This is the back border of our property line. To the right is the start of our backyard.

We decided to plant cucumbers and watermelons in the raised bed. We will see what happens. Last year I tried broccoli and cauliflower. The cauliflower did horribly and the bunnies ate my broccoli. This year we have Dash as our secret weapon.

A tomato plant. This year I planted 8. Hopefully they will come up okay. I have sungold cherry tomatoes, roma tomatoes and some oddly colored heirloom tomatoes. One is suppose to be purple. I also have 4 pepper plants too.

Here is my favorite...the STRAWBERRIES, courtesy of the previous owners.

A view of the front porch with newly planted petunias.

A view of our side yard.

We basically took everything out of this area and replanted. We went with prairie plants since this area gets sun all day. Two kinds of daisies, coneflower, dianthus, two different types of grasses and siberian irises. We left the day lilies that the previous owners planted.

My red planter with a mix of pretty flowers.

I am proud of it.

Well that is the yard and its flowers.