Pruning

No, I did not sit in the bath too long and turn into a prune this weekend (if you know me well, you know that I detest baths.  I can't remember the last time I took one).  This afternoon Uncas and I "pruned" our lilac bushes in our backyard.  They were very over grown and in need of some serious love.  Check it out:

 

Above is the "before" picture.  I actually took it last year, right around this time, when we had our home inspection.   I didn't think to take any before pictures today.  It's a little hard to see, but it makes more sense when you see the "after" picture.

AFTER

Yeah - can you really call it pruning when we basically hacked off all the branches?  Lilacs are hardy and if not next year, then the year after we should have some pretty nice bushes.  Of course, the result of our work was this:

 

That was only one pile.  I know you are thinking - wow - what a lot of work for you and Uncas.  But don't you worry.  We had some help from Sammy.

 

Ok - so maybe his idea of help was taking the sticks off of the piles we made and chew them or else get in the way as we were sawing, but he sure wanted to be in the middle of everything.

As a result of the fresh air, sunshine and hard work, we are all exhausted tonight.  But it feels good to have worked out in the yard.  I am glad we were able to enjoy the day.  I know that folks in WI and IL were treated to some lovely snow.

Here is one last picture of Sammy, from earlier in the day.

What Do You Read?

This week it has become even more apparent that what my husband and I surf on the internet is completely different. Even though we get along fabulously, we are quite different in a lot of areas.

I spend most of my time online reading other people's blogs, updating my own blog, on Facebook (he doesn't have an account with them), on Star Tribune.com, CNN and various entertainment sites like People, TV Guide and Entertainment Weekly.

On Monday on our drive home from work Uncas turned to me and said "I was reading about soap today."

OH - really?

Then he said "Yeah, I am pretty confident if we were stranded in the wilderness, I could make soap for you."

Oh gosh - thanks Sweetie! See, he really does live up to his name Uncas! It was my father that gave him the nickname before we took our last Boundary Waters trip in May of 2007.

But, back to the soap - Uncas then proceeds to tell me how he would go about making it. Thankfully we were blocks from home, so I didn't get the long version. My mind was already wandering when he started about how he needed a source of fat and that would most likely come from a small aninmal that he would have to kill (which could also be our source of food.)

When I retold this story to my friend, she suggested that he should use lavendar oil to make it scented. What a great idea!

So - I can tell you which celebrity got married over the weekend (Bruce Willis) and my husband can tell you how to make soap.

UPDATE - on tonight's drive home, before I even told him about this blog post, Uncas said to me "Guess what I read about today?" This evening's topic was wood burning stoves.

Best Friends

This weekend my in-laws came to visit and they brought their dog Sophie with them.  Sophie is Sammy's best friend.  Fortunately the weather was beautiful on Saturday, so they spent some time outside in the yard.  Here are a few pictures.

Posing sweetly for the camera

 Sharing a rawhide.

 

I know Sammy will be sad to see Sophie leave today, but I also know that he will sleep amazingly tonight!

Won't be Shopping at Whole Foods Anytime Soon . . .

The headline on CNN said "Deadly Spider Found in Store" and of course it was a video. When I read the headline out loud, Uncas's comment was "I was hoping you wouldn't see that". I actually clicked on the link, thinking there would be a commercial before the actual story. So, I read underneath that it was at Whole Foods in Oklahoma (I had to know where this spider was found) and when I glanced at the video, I saw the damn spider. It was huge and I screamed, and nearly dropped my laptop off my lap and then Sammy starting attacking me. I had to have Uncas change the webpage because I was freaking out.

One of my big pet peeves is when CNN just has a video. Sometime I don't want to watch a video (read that sometimes as almost always) because when I am at work, I just want to be able to read articles. All I wanted to know is where they found the damn spider so I can avoid it like the plague!

Also - this week I finally got over my fear of buying grapes. Two years ago a woman found a black widow spider in a bag of grapes that she bought at Cub Foods here in Minneapolis. Yup - it has taken me that long to buy grapes again and I still probably won't make it a habit.

Can someone watcht the video and tell me what fruit specifically they found the spider in? Oh - nevermind - Uncas just did and it was walking around the bananas. I started sweating just listening to the video! And Dad - this does not mean that funny spider pictures should be sent to me! I am serious!!!

Thief!

You better watch out!  In my family there was a thief loose in my parents house this weekend.  She was captured on film stealing the remote!  There is nothing worse than a remote robber!!!

Muffins, Cookies, and Pie - Oh My!

I was a busy little baker today.  I made some blackberry muffins and sugar cookies this morning.  Then later this evening I made a banana cream pie in honor of Pi Day. 

Check out the goods:

 

I have never eaten a banana cream pie before, so I tried a little piece tonight.  Turns out, I am not really much of a fan.  Oh well, I guess Uncas needs to eat this one himself.  I did quite enjoy the crust that I made with it.

Sammy and I have been on our own for most of the day because Uncas is off hanging with the guys.  We spent some quality time outside, but now he is cuddled up in my lap.  Earlier today I caught him trying to chew my clog!  That dog will not leave my foot apparel alone!  Here is a picture of his new toy that we bought him on Thursday night.  He managed to destroy it in less than an hour.

And here is a picture of him sitting sweetly.  Can you imagine that this cute little puppy can be so destructive?!

Slippers 0, Sammy 2

This afternoon when I got home from work, we did the usual drill. We opened the door and too Sammy outside. As usual, I stood out there for a minute before I declared that I was cold and going in. Uncas then stays outside with Sammy for a bit. As I came in today, I walked through the dining room and took down gate #1. We confine Sammy to the kitchen and dining room during the day. As I was making my way to the living room, I noticed it was strange that our camera was on the floor. I was trying to figure out how it got there, when I looked up and into the rest of the living room.

Oh! The first thing I saw was my slippers on the floor and one of them was clearly torn up. Also on the floor was a ball of yarn a complete mess, a torn up tissue and then on the couch a torn up receipt. Sammy brought part of his bed from the bedroom out to the living room (this time he did not unzip and take out the stuffing, which he has done many times before).

What I had forgotten to do this morning was put up gate #2 in the kitchen. What a grand old time Sammy must have had today. I called Uncas in to see the damage. Then it occurred to me "crap, he probably went upstairs!" Sure enough, he tried attacking the plant at the top of the stairs, dragged my straightener across the guest room floor and pulled out a quilt that Uncas's mom's made when Uncas was a child. Fortunately there was no damage done to those two items other than moving them.

Fortunately for us - it could have been much, much worse. He managed to chew up my right slipper again, so I have two left slippers - argh! But that was really the only thing of any worth that he got at. The last time I forgot to put the gate up, he didn't even notice. I bet I won't forget to put it up any time soon!

In other news, I did my first post to Twitter via my cell phone. I wasn't sure if it worked, but I just logged on now to see that it did!

Tweet What?!

This week I found out my mom joined Twitter! What?! I don't even understand it, but I figured that I better join it too. God forbid my mom ends up trendier than me! So, I signed up and you can follow me @sallysacnu.

Problem Solved!

One way to prevent me from smashing my nose on the towel rack is to take it out. And that's just what Uncas did this weekend. I sweet-talked him into taking it down, since he had to replace the soap dish in the shower anyways. And the replacement titles cost a total of thirty-two cents. We haven't been able to shower since yesterday morning, but at least I know Monday morning's shower will be free of fear!

The rest of this weekend has been spent finishing up the kitchen cabinets. Uncas is hanging them as I type this. He is nearly done, and hopefully the electric drill will have enough power juice to make it until he is done. I probably won't post pictures until later this week, but trust me when I say that it looks fabulous. Uncas has done a great job. I helped just a little with some painting today, but it's pretty much been his project.

To thank him for his hard work, I made him homemade raspberry muffins this moring, a roast dinner tonight and for dessert - brownies with a pecan, caramel and white chocolate layer. Everything was pretty tasty and I even did all the clean-up (including the mess he made in the bathroom from the retiling - but that was part of the deal).

The weather was great here this weekend. A little cool and overcast, but the roads were dry enough that I took Sammy for a walk on Friday, Saturday and today. If there is snow on the roads, he won't walk. But thanks to the warm weather this week, it was pretty much melted. On Friday night when we came up to some puddles, he would be sure to walk about 10 feet away from them. It was pretty entertaining.

And while I am not looking forward to the dark mornings for the next few weeks, I am looking forward to the light skies at night. Now I better go encourage my husband as he hangs the last of the doors!

*UPDATED*
I wasn't going to post pictures tonight, but then I decided to after all. Here is a before picture. It's from the first weekend that we moved into our house. It's to remind you of how dark the kitchen was before.

 

Here are the after with some paint and new lights:

Out to Get Us!

You know what's out to get us?  Our bathroom!  Yes, you heard correctly.  Our downstairs bathroom is on the attack and it's not quite what you are thinking either. 

Last week Uncas was cleaning the bathroom.  I was in the living room on the phone when suddenly I heard a loud crash and the sound of something glass-like breaking.  I went running into the bathroom to see Uncas staring down in the bathtub.  Our soap dish that used to be attached to the wall, fell and broke in the bathtub.  The catch - Uncas didn't even touch it.  It just fell and fortunately Uncas wasn't in the way.

Fast forward to this morning.  I was taking a shower and bent over to replace the soap into it's spot.  Keep in mind that the soap dish hasn't been fixed yet and the soap's temporarily is housed in the corner ledge of the bathtub.  Now our bathroom has a towel rack in the shower.  Yes - attached to the wall opposite of the shower curtain.  I know it seems like it doesn't make any sense, but the previous owners didn't have a shower head in the bathroom.  They had a gross shower in the basement that we had taken out before we moved in.  So you see, the bathroom had never really been built to have a shower in it, but yet we rigged one up when we moved in. 

Anyhow - back to the scene this morning - as I was bending down to replace the soap in the corner, I managed to smash my nose on the stupid towel rack!  Screaming and crying and tears ensued!  Poor Uncas - first I woke him up because the dog was puking and then 10 minutes later I am hysterical in the shower.  Fortunately there was no blood, but my nose is killing me and I have had a headache all day long.

So - we think our bathroom is out to get us.  In fact, we are a little worried for Sammy that something might happen to him in there next.

Before I go, I need to post some pictures of the peanut butter torte that I made for the Oscar party.  I promised Lisa, so here you go.  The torte I made:

Here is a picture from the baking book ( I am frustrated with Blogger.  I had this picture turned, but it won't show up that way for me on the blog - what the heck?!:

More Weekend Pictures

I am not a fan of Monday. Surprisingly it's been a pretty fast day. I ran home over lunch to check on Sammy. We don't have any cabinet doors on in our kitchen and I was hoping the paint fumes weren't bothering him. Fortunately we put a window fan in the dining room and set it to exhaust. It seems to be airing out the house quite nicely. Perhaps we'll get the hardware purchased this weekend and then I can post kitchen pictures. It sure looks nice and bright in there with the cabinets re-painted.

I also waited to take pictures of my parent's kitchen. They repainted the walls, but their new counter and sink weren't installed yet, so I held off. We'll be going there for Easter, so I will take pics then.

And finally - speaking of pics. Here is the link to all the pictures that I took this weekend.

Saffron-Time

This weekend Sammy and I drove 600 + miles to WI and back to visit my neice (her parents too), my grandma, and my parents.  It was a wonderful weekend - the weather couldn't have been nicer.  There was lots of sun and the roads were clear from the snowstorm on Thursday.  I am super tired tonight (Sammy is too), but I wanted to share a couple of pictures because my neice is so darn cute!

Enjoying some cereal (the dogs also enjoy licking the extra cereal off her face.)

 

Mommy giving Saffy some love!

Daddy and Saffy hanging on the couch.

 

Cutest Cubs Fan!

While Sammy and I were out visiting, once again Uncas tackled a kitchen project.  This time I knew about it, so it wasn't a surprise.  He sanded, primed and painted the kitchen cabinets white.  They look fabulous!  We need to pick out some new hardware which is the project for next weekend.  When it's complete I will be sure to post pictures.