Hurricane-Induced Insomnia

It's a little after 6am right now, and I've been wide awake since 4:00.

This is what I get for taking a nap on Sunday afternoon. Which I needed after Saturday night.

Thankfully, the worst of the hurricane for us was a power outage, no damage to the house. But the wind was loud enough that I kept waking up all night.

My biggest concern was our dog, Elvis, who spends most storms hiding under the bed, barking his poor little head off:



However, it seems that spending the better part of Saturday afternoon and evening playing with a couple of other pups, along with a dose or two of Richard's Organics Pet Calm makes for a very relaxed Elvis. He barked only once in the middle of the night, and didn't even spend any time under the bed!

And despite the horrendous weather, I actually had quite an enjoyable weekend. We spent a lot of time hanging out with friends and family, drinking beer, playing board games, and laughing at the antics of our ridiculous dogs.

I hope all you East Coast folks were as lucky as we were with your Hurricane Irene experience! How did you spend this stormy weekend?

Hedgie Bath!

My husband showed me this video a little while ago, and tonight I spotted it on Cute Overload.

I used to have a hedgehog, so naturally this made my heart melt a little, and I just had to share.

Note the Eskimo kisses at 1:15 and 1:50. :-)

Mood Lighting

If you've been reading my blog for awhile now (or if you know me in person), you probably know that one of the highlights of the summer for me is the Perseid meteor shower in August.

You might also remember that back in June I mentioned that I got some cool ideas from the garden tour I went on with my mom.

One of the ideas I got on the garden tour was to use mason jars to make lanterns to hang near the firepit. I decided to check out a local thrift store for mason jars, but no luck. I did find some cute little glass containers that would work just as well though! I rigged them up with wire and tealights and hung them from the cherry tree in our back yard:



This year, the Perseids peaked August 12-13, Friday into Saturday, so naturally I decided to take advantage of the timing and throw a party. I think the lanterns hanging from the tree near the fire pit created some nice mood lighting for the event:


It was a clear night, and despite the bright moon we managed to spot some meteors! Definitely a welcome change from the last two exceedingly cloudy years.

Also, there were s'mores. Lots and lots of s'mores. :-)

Saturday in the Park with Elvis

I spent yesterday afternoon hanging out at the park with Glen, Elvis, and a whole bunch of extended family for a family reunion. It rained, so a lot of time was spent inside the pavillion, but Elvis had a fantastic time putting his paws up on the wall and watching the birds fly around.

Yup, stole another picture from my husband!

This week is going to be a busy one. Playing a concert, extra library hours, hosting a party to watch the Perseids (keep your fingers crossed for clear skies this year!!), and another family reunion. Silly me, I thought my schedule would calm down once the wedding in Texas was over. ;-)

Garden Photos: Part VIII

It's been awhile since I've shared photos from the garden, and the pond has some new additions!!

One of the ladies who works at the courthouse with me has a pond as well, and her water hyacinths were starting to take over so she gave some to me:


They help balance out the pond nicely, since there are a ton of water lilies on the bottom section, but nothing in the top.

And over the weekend I stop by Petco and picked up some new fishy friends!


We did have fish in the pond the first two years we were at the house, all named after Charles Dickens characters, but we learned our lesson the hard way: If you give you fish names like Smike and Little Nell, they WILL meet an untimely demise.

As of yet, these fish remain unnamed. ;-) Here they are settling into their new home:


And as I type this, there are some Japanese trapdoor snails en route to my house. They should help keep the pond water clean, they can survive the winter, AND they give birth to live young instead of laying eggs, which I think is adorable.

And moving to the other side of the back yard, here's a close-up of the vincas:


It's hard to believe that when I first bought them, they looked like this:


Needless to say, the vincas are definitely on my "buy it again next year" list!

And check out the daisies:


I wasn't sure how they'd do since I transplanted them from the front of the house, but I think their new home agrees with them, don't you? :-)

Tickling the Ivories

My husband spent the day watching our nephews, and he took this incredibly sweet pictures of the two of them at our piano:

I just had to share. :-)



And I followed through on my plan to not neglect my business this past weekend. So far I've found 3 craft shows to do this fall!



Also, there are some new additions to our pond. But that's a story for another post. ;-)