Why did I start this d#@% blog again??? Oh yes, to keep track of life altering events.

Yeah. Right.

And how's that going for ya so far??

June. July. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH. Completely freaking gone.

I have no good excuse really. I mean, I do sit at the computer .. usually first thing in the morning or last thing at night, checking the news and my mail and finding info about dogs or goats or chickens or pigeons .......

Oh yes ..... and let's NOT forget that bloody addicting program called FACEBOOK. Ugh.

Yes. It served a great purpose during the whole High School Reunion thing (which is story all on it's own), and the Aunt Virginia/Uncle Ray Anniversary thing (and yet another interesting story), and the surprise birthday/retirement party for Cheri and Kathleen (which neither guest of honor attended due to illness).

But now that the dust has settled, I'm finding that I'm not as interested "sharing" my daily activities with the folks who may or may not call themselves my friends. I mean, does anyone REALLY care that I just washed my car? Or that my kids finished their school play? Or that I'm sad because my last puppy left for her new home?? I doubt it.

In this 24/7 news update world that we live in, I don't that it's really necessary to share everything that is going on in my life. Which one reason I never joined the Twitter league either.

Reality shows dominate the TV and we're all looking in through a peephole at someone else's life, watching their train wreck.

I feel the same about Facebook. I'm not saying I refuse to go on it anymore; I do still keep in touch with people that I don't talk to on a daily basis and I comment or send messages to friends, but I'm not sure now how much I'm willing to share on an open forum.

I don't consider this an open forum for several reasons. One, only a few people even know about this blog and two, this is sort of like talking to yourself (which I do a LOT) and not having to hear a response (which I also like a LOT).

So, my goal this month is to write a little bit each morning or night (depending on when my eyes are open the widest) BEFORE I go on FB.

Yes. I can do this.

Now, the latest event in my life was the Silvana Fair. Felix did really well showing the Spawn of Satan (also known as Cadberi) as her Fit and Show goat and Tyger as her type for Wether. She won Reserve Champion in the Overall Category for Fit and Show with Cadi and she was so pleased. There is more detail about the categories but I just don't feel like going in to it. Just know she did great.

Felix with Kristin, Amanda, Rhonda, Cori Wreggelsworth and there's me in the back.


Also, we sold all of our puppies to terrific people. Every single home was a winner and was meant to be. It's always a nail-biter when one is trying to sell their babies and hoping that they're not going to abusive homes or some person who is actually going to feed them to their 15 foot boa constrictor. Yes it does happen.

Our new puppy, Clyde, is now seven months old and I'm ready to kill him about every other day. Just like I did when we first got Porter. I sort of forgot what a young Golden was like for the first two years or so. And now that memory comes back with a vengeance. Ugh. I cannot COUNT how many things he has destroyed and I won't attempt to log them here.



My little baby girl turned 13 on July 11. Just as I have done for the past 13 years, I woke her up at 8:36 and sang Happy Birthday to her. I'm amazed that this Amazon Girl is the same tow-headed baby that I used to see over the end of the bed when she would come scurrying into our room in the morning. This baby now has feet the same size as mine, towers above one older sister, has another older sister looking slightly up at her and the third sister is eye-to-eye .... for now.



My garden was literally thrown in during a three hour free time I just happen to have and is finally growing. The Spring rain NEVER ended this year; it was very wet. Most gardens went to mold and lucky for me (due to the fact that I'm supremely lazy) I chose not to put it in when it was pouring down rain. Now of course, we haven't had rain for about a month I think and things are looking dry. I believe I've lost two of our live Christmas trees we planted due to lack of rain. Sad.



Thomas and I actually were able to get away by ourselves for a night and half a day. THIS is monumental. You have no idea. The kids were gone to camp for the week and it was planned down to the minute due to the fact that we rode the ferry to Orcas Island which is part of the San Juan Islands. We stayed in a wonderful B&B and relaxed for a night and slept in for a morning ... un-freaking-believably wonderful. I think we need about two weeks of that to fully appreciate the wonder of being together again. We truly enjoy being together and hanging out talking about whatever pops into our minds.

The view from our room looking at the sound and Shaw Island.

The Orcas Inn.

Ok. That's the best I can do tonight. My contacts are now sticking to my eyes and I'm worried that Clyde has destroyed something (pick ANYTHING in my yard right now and I'm sure it's gone) due to boredom and the fact that I haven't checked on him for the last hour. Sigh.

Ta for now.