Wolf Pack Wanna Be

Was sitting on my back porch today during lunch enjoying the sun when Stubbs began barking. He had snuck out front then came back, turned toward the lattice where he sneaks out, and began barking like a madman. I scolded him and had him go in the house. Turning back, in lumbered across the yard a huge wolf-like dog!  A few cats, the squirrels and some birds are fine but it's getting out of hand when a large dog invades my space.

The dog turned out to be friendly. He climbed up on the porch, sniffed, then walked around the yard looking for snacks. Had to get back to work so went inside closing the sliding glass door behind me. Stubbs proceeded to begin the barking in earnest while Mr. Siberian Wolf Dog peered through the glass.

As I left to return to work, the dog came out of the backyard and began trotting down the street. Looked later at Facebook and it appeared he had visited several of my neighbors as many pictures of this lost dog were posted. Was clear he lives in the neighborhood but had escaped to do some exploring!

Running and Runway Recap

Was watching with baited breath off and on Friday and Saturday as nephew Matt ran in an ultramarathon in Canada.  Each participant had to run 6.7k every hour and it was last runner standing who won. Videos were posted on Facebook along with updates. Started out with 158 participants and each hour the number slowly declined. Matt ran for 32 hours and over 200k to end up being the last runner standing and wound up in first place! So exciting! Stupendous achievement Matt!!  Here's some more info on the race and the conditions facing Matt to win.
https://runningmagazine.ca/trail-running/inaugural-outrun-backyard-ultra-a-mudfest/

Spent some more time this weekend bonding with the animals. Birds are out, squirrels are playing and one of the local cats came to visit. Still have not seen one hummingbird at the feeder darnit.

Today was Project Runway day. Took a denim duster I had picked up for $3 at Walmart and transformed it. Bleached it then ripped apart an old sequin tank. Sewed that to the back of the shirt then tacked on a mermaid tail that had previously been created as part of a picture. Took in the side seams, added elastic around the waist, then cut apart and reset the arm cuff to make the sleeves not only shorter but more interesting. Voila! Duster done!! Sure it's funky but that's my vibe!

And tomorrow is Monday already!  Let's make it a good week. 😊

Birds, Bran and Bouquets

This weekend spent some time celebrating my bird and squirrel friends in my backyard.

Saturday morning there must have been ten squirrels chasing each other acrossa the fence, jumping through the trees, and having a grand old time playing. I set out in a hanger a block of suet seed for the birds. Well those squirrels smelled it and several spent time jumping on to a tree, scouring down to the grass, and attempting to make their way to the feeder before chickening out and racing back to the tree. Looked out the window later on and one big fellow had made his way to the feeder and was sitting on it with his paws in the sticky seed as if he were King of the Hill.

Steve was visiting so I tasked him with hanging my hummingbird feeder. He screwed a piece of driftwood onto the back porch and hung the feeder from one of its branches. I've seen plenty of hummingbirds but they haven't visited the feeder yet. Should be soon!

Had an extra heavy hanging candlelabra so glued some tea cups and Pioneer Woman bowls to it.  Filled the cups with peanut butter pellets and hung it to spoil the critters. Turned out great.

Received a visit on my back porch from a young blue jay. He flew right in next to where I was sitting to chill for a bit. I know a photo op when I see one so immediately took some photos of my little friend. Looks like he was showing off a little.

Sunday morning whipped up some bran chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. Does the chocolate cancel out the bran? Or perhaps it's the other way around. Threw some still warm muffins in a basket and gave them to my next door neighbor to give to her mom. Hopefully they were enjoyed.

Steve brought me a bouquet of his mom's roses when he came to visit. Inspired me to pick a few of my newly blooming hydrangea. Pretty!

Battles, Broadchurch, and Baking

Life has been happening which has left no room for my blog!

Last week was one of personal stress. One sister is going through a tough time and my daughter in law has also been fighting some battles. Both situations occurred on the same day within minutes of each other. Nothing makes your heart stop more than having a sister call you twice and your son once within ten minutes while I was at work. I knew something was wrong.

Stepped outside to call both back. Stressful calls and when done went back to my desk. My co-workers asked if I was okay and I immediately burst into tears! Had to leave work early as my brain was not in production mode. Saying my prayers to help each get through successfully their battles.

Returned to work the next day and my co-worker Pam brought me a rose from her garden to lift my spirits . Isn't it gorgeous??!!

Over the weekend did my favorite activity to relax - baking. Made whoopie pies and cherry pie bars, which (well, most of them anyway) went into the freezer. 

Trimmed Stubbs on Saturday and gave him a bath. Sunday took him on the back porch to trim his nails. What a nightmare! He was so wound up he was levitating off my lap as I straddled him to clip his nails. It was like trying to hold on to the Tasmanian Devil and give it a manicure!

Sunday got a few photos developed at Walgreens. Also stopped at Walmart for the auto dudes to fill up the air in my tires. The tire pressure symbol had come on the dash. This rarely occurs so had to dig the manual out to see what that symbol actually meant. Whew, just tire air not "car is about to explode" symbol.

This week started training our new hire in Tacoma. Been doing it using phone and screen share, which frustrated the holy hell outof me! Can be challenging to coordinate what screen you are going to share, if the person can see it and tackle a process when you've never used it before. I like my tasks to move along quickly and efficiently and this mode of training slowed me down. Grrrr!

Summer has finally arrived. These past few days have been sunshine and heatwave into the 90's. Nothing puts a person in a good mood like seeing blue sky. The boob sweat and humid air I could live without, however.

Last week started watching English crime series Broadchurch, which stars former Dr. Who David Tennant and Oscar winner Olivia Colman. It was awesome! Ended up binge watching all three seasons then started The Killers, set in Seattle, which is an American version set up in a similar way as Broadchurch.

And that's it! Consider my blog caught up!