The Gang of Seven

Ms. Fancy had seven beautiful puppies on Tuesday, May 10,2011.

Four girls, 2 are tricolors, 2 are red and white. Three boys, one tricolor and 2 red and white.

So far, things are going very well. Everyone healthy, strong and gaining weight.

Puppy Watch

Knitting

There won't be much knitting in this post. I finished a second doily. I think I'm well and done with doilies for awhile. Someday I'd like to knit a Niebling and the doilies have been good practice. Perhaps I'll start next winter. I'll need to find a period of time when I'm staying home and not off to dog events every non-working hour. I don't think knitting a Niebling is very compatible with agility trials or even obedience trials. Maybe an obedience trial...

The doily above is the Knit Flower Doily. It honestly looks better in person than in the picture. It's quite small. It was knit on 2.25 dpns using DMC Baroque crochet cotton thread.

Dogs

We're on puppy watch here. Fancy is expecting 6 puppies Wednesday, May 11th. It's a very impressive breeding on paper if you look at championship titles, performance titles and most importantly, the health clearances of the parents. These little puppies will have a lot to live up to. But at this point, all I'm hoping for is a safe delivery for the babies and for Fancy. It's so nerve wracking. I've been breeding for 30+ years but I haven't had a litter in 3+ years. I'm hoping I haven't forgotten how.

After using nothing but little kiddy pools for so many years, I decided to invest in a "real" whelping box this time. I set it up last weekend and Fancy hopped right in and started nesting. However, in the last few days she's gotten too big to get in and out by herself. Her temperature is still up and she's still eating all her meals and treats, so no puppies for at least the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile, I've started a shape-up program for Tinkerbelle, Rumor and myself. All three of us need to be in better shape for the summer agility trials. We're up to two miles, not much but better than nothing. We use the Sakatah Singing Hills trail. It was raining this morning but I'm proud to say I stuck with the program. Can you tell Rumor is related to Bunny? Who knew no-ears-up-for-the-camera was hereditary!

My view on the walks.

Yesterday, when it was so sunny and warm and the lake so beautiful, I forgot my camera. Today it was cloudy and gray but at least there was no ice and snow on the lake.

JJ gets a walk also. He's finally getting a little bit better. Still limps on occasion but can actually walk quite a ways before he starts to limp. JJ gets a separate walk as he isn't allowed yet to go at the speed Belle, Rumor and I move at. JJ is suppose to go at a 'smell the daisies' pace. It's not a pace JJ is too familiar with.

Despite getting a little better, I'm afraid this could be the end of JJ's performance career. Even if he walks perfectly after this, I can't imagine allowing him to do herding again, and certainly not agility. Maybe he can do a little obedience. I'm bummed, JJ is such a fun dog to work with, he loves working with me, never tires or gets grouchy. To think it all started with a little limp when he came in the house after his bedtime potty break.

Birds

Spring has finally come to Minnesota and all the summer birds are back. They seem extra colorful and noisy to me this year. I suspect this is related to the extra long, extreme winter we had. My only disappointment so far is no bluebirds in any of my houses. They are here, they are back perching on the weave poles looking for food. Maybe they have decided not to nest yet. Maybe they have found natural nesting spots in the trees which would be great. I hope they stick around for the summer, I'll miss them so much if not.

White Lawn, white knitting

There's snow in my yard still. It had finally all melted last weekend but then it snowed again Friday evening and it's still on the ground. Ugh. I know I'm not alone in asking, when will this winter ever end?

Knitting

I've been wanting to knit a few doilies. Don't ask me why, I certainly don't have the kind of house one would think of as needing doilies but they are quick and small projects, don't take up much space for storage and I enjoy lace knitting.

So here's my first doily. This Doily With Star. The pattern called for a plain cast off. I didn't like the look of that at all so I did a knitted cast off. It's not quite right for this pattern. The edges want to curl up. I've blocked it and starched the heck out it but the edges still want to curl. I should have done a crochet cast off as is shown in the pattern picture. This was knit on 2.50mm dpns and circular needles using size 10 crochet cotton.

The picture isn't very good. I took it early this morning and wasn't happy with the flash so figured I'd take new ones later in the day. However, my camera battery died and I can't find the charger. Although some people may think I have too many dogs, no one could accuse me of being a hoarder. I'm quite the opposite. I can't stand junk laying around and sometimes I get over ambitious with my cleaning. I remember straightening out the drawer the camera charger lived in and I must have accidentally tossed out the charger with other "junk". I found and ordered one from the internet today. I hope it arrives soon. I don't fancy myself any kind of photographer but I enjoy taking pictures of the daily occurrences here.

I also knit up two swatches this weekend (which I'd show you if I had a camera...). One swatch is for Jordan using Louet Euroflax and the other is for Delphine from French Girl Knits. I can't decide which one to start on. They are similar. Knitting with the Euroflax was like knitting with a rope. I plan to use Patons Grace for Delphine. I've used Patons Grace before and have plenty in my stash. I like Patons Grace, the poor man's Rowan Cotton Glace. I think I'm leaning toward knitting Delpine because it looks like it would be easier to modify to fit properly.

Dogs

JJ is still limping. He's been limping since January because of a tricep muscle strain in his left shoulder. JJ has finished up ultrasound treatments and is now doing rehabilitation work which includes the water treadmill, some walking and stretching exercises at Twin Cities Animal Rehabilitation Clinic. It's expensive. It's also discouraging as I'm not seeing a lot of progress. Meanwhile JJ is not allowed to do any of the fun things he enjoys, no herding lessons, little obedience training and certainly agility is off limits.

Fancy is expecting puppies May 11th. She has really popped in the last few days. An ultrasound showed 5 puppies but I'm starting to wonder if there may be more. I left her in the bedroom last weekend while I was at agility trials and came home to find her all curled up on my bed. I have no idea how she managed to get herself up there and sure glad I arrived home before she decided to jump down.

Percy had is yearly physical and shots one morning last week. He was zonked for the afternoon after his trip to the vet.

Uncle!

Okay Winter of 2010-2011, you win! I've had enough. I'm crying UNCLE! We are once again in the middle of a huge snowstorm. Early this morning it was heavy snow, then it turned to heavy ice pellets, now it's back to snow. Enough already, I'm sick and tired of this!

Knitting and Sewing

There hasn't been much knitting progress here though I've very much been wanting to knit. My RA has flared this winter and despite new meds my fingers are swollen and so painful   I can only knit for a short while.



This is a pair of socks I was hoping to complete for my mother's birthday, February 1st. I obviously didn't make it. The pattern is Dublin Bay Socks. I first saw these socks knit up on my blogger friend Bridget's site. The pattern is easy to memorize and the perfect take-along project. The yarn is ... is ... I thought for sure I still had the ball band but now I can't find it. I do remember the colorway is Denim. I'm a little worried about running out of yarn but otherwise have enjoyed this project. If only my fingers would co-operate a little more often.

A friend asked me to make her a Kindle cover. I wasn't sure what colors she would like so I made up two. I'm worried about sending them to her because she is an excellent seamstress who is without a sewing machine at the moment and I don't want her to see my sloppy work. I'm teaching myself to sew and haven't gotten the details down yet, the finer points which make something beautifully handmade rather than sloppily homemade. At least I'm trying.

A New Hobby

I know, I know, I so don't need another hobby, but I have one. I've been stalking the AeroGarden website for over a year now wondering if I would like one and if so, should I order the biggest they make or the smallest. This past Thanksgiving weekend they offered a deal I couldn't refuse, buy the largest AeroGarden and get the smallest one free. Now I actually have 4 AeroGardens and I love them! I have two growing lettuce, one with herbs and the extra large size currently has about 2 dozen green tomatoes slowly ripening in my basement.

I'm waiting for the sheriff to come and inquire as to my high electricity usage.

I realize I'm not saving money growing a few of my vegetables and herbs this way. In addition to the extra electricity I also need to buy water for the plants because neither well water nor softened water is  recommended. Here I have softened well water! Still, it's loads of fun and there's nothing like picking your own salad greens for supper in the middle of a Minnesota winter. The tomatoes and mature lettuce are water hogs though. I always thought other people were silly to buy water...


Dogs

I've been keeping myself very busy with agility trials in January. I do this on purpose as I'm not at all a lover of winter and staying busy every weekend makes January pass much faster. It also exhausts me - not as young as I used to be or would still like to be.

We've had some nice runs. TinkerBelle and I are finally running as a good team. Feels great to be out there on the course with her. Fancy and I are struggling a bit in the Open classes. Fancy started her agility career on January 2nd and breezed through the novice classes so I'm not too surprised Open has been a bit troublesome. It's a huge jump in difficulty from Novice to Open and although I know Fancy is trained well through the Open classes, the stress of being at real trials as opposed to home practice and lessons is hard on a young dog. Fancy has 2 legs on her OA and one on her OAJ. I'm confident we'll be advancing soon. Rumor was also entered in trials but went into season so had to sit out the month of February. I hope to have some good progress to report on Rumor in March.

I've been keeping a secret....

And her she is. This is Sassy, my Toy Manchester Terrier. Sassy is two years old. She's been with me since puppyhood. It hasn't been all smooth sailing even though I'm totally smitten with her. Sassy came down with Leggs-Perth disease at 7 months and had major surgery to keep her pain free and much rehab work to make her as sound as possible. She also suffers from seasonal alopeica, thus her bare nakedness in the photo. Sassy started her agility career in February. She is excelling in the jumpers classes, not so much in the standard class where the chute (or closed tunnel) scares her and suddenly this week, the teeter has her scared also. Still, I'm not complaining. Sassy is a total blast to work with and I'm sure we'll get this all figured out soon enough.

Not to worry though - the Pembrokes - they're still my kind of dog.

'Tis The Season

I started getting ready for the Holiday Season on Thanksgiving weekend. Decorations up, online shopping completed, some knitting and sewing projects completed and others started, but then I fell behind. Finally mailed my packages last week with fingers crossed they will arrive by Christmas. I'm doing Christmas cards while I wait for pictures to be uploaded to blogger.

(Dear Santa, Could you please bring me a faster internet connection for Christmas?
"Only if you move to a better neighborhood Mary where such things actually exist."
Okay Santa, I figured there was no harm in asking.)

Knitting and Sewing

I've finished knitting several small projects and still have one more hat to complete before Christmas.

Here's a scarf knit in Misty Alpaca Chunky. I think I've made at least half a dozen of these over the years. It's quick knit and the yarn, 100% baby alpaca, is so soft and luxurious. I finished this on Thanksgiving and stuff it in a plastic bag! Good thing I got it out today to take a picture of it as it needs a good washing and blocking now.  And there's ends to sew in also.

I made another reversible hat of one of my brothers. It's much more attractive on than it looks here.

When completed, it looks like a closed tube.

But once shaped, it becomes a reversible hat. This is knit in Elann's Sock It To Me yarn on size 3 needles. Miles and miles of mindless stockinette knitting. I did a lot of this over a three day agility trial and yes, I still need to wash the dog hair out of this hat and block it.

One last hat, this one done in Cascade Cloud Nine with a pattern from The Rainey Sisters. Yet another hat I need to wash and block yet.

My quilting skills are improving bit by bit. I finished this table runner and am very proud of it. My blocks fit together almost perfectly and my quilting stitches are very nice. Still struggling with the binding though. This was made from a kit by Connecting Threads in fabric "Wrap It Up".

I received a Kindle as a Christmas present (yes I open my presents early!) so made a cover for the Kindle. This pattern is loosely based on The Bookeeper pattern I found in the Moda Bake Shop. I loved it and was proud of the job I did - right up until the binding. Still struggling. Oh well, practice makes perfect right?

Birds

We've had so much snow this year feeding the birds has become somewhat of a chore these days what with having to wade through all the deep snow. It's a lot of fun though to watch the birds from inside a warm house.

The pheasants are back.

And of course the turkeys.

I buy cheap, mostly corn based, bird seed for the pheasants and turkeys because they eat me out of house and home. However, cheaper seed attracts the house sparrows who then compete with and kill the bluebirds in the spring for housing. It's a dilemma for sure.

Dogs

I had a successful year with my dogs.

Ch Kantishna Make Believe
Fancy finished her championship in 4 weekends in May making up my 26th champion. She's already entered in agility trials in January and starting to work on her heeling and retrieving. She is a fun, fun girl.

Ch Busy B's Dakota's Bright Sunshine UD RE AX AXJ VC
Dak completed his OAJ, AX and AXJ. Dak should finish up his MX and MXJ in early 2011 and we'll see where we go after that.

Ch Kantishna Star Kissed CDX RE AX AXJ AXP AJP VC
Dot finished her OAP, AXP and AJP this year. She will soon be 10 years old so is retired - I think, might go back and do some Rally with her as she hates being left out of all the activities. In addition to her own accomplishments, Dot has produced several wonderful working dogs. Thank you Dot!

Ch Kantishna Jump For Joy PT AX AXJ VC
My wonderful JJ. With a lot of hard work and I'm sure every jumping exercise ever known to the world of agility, JJ managed to keep the bars up long enough to finish his Excellent titles. I'm pretty sure he's retired now from agility. However, JJ's back taking herding lessons and doing very well with his obedience training.

Kantishna Keep'n A Secret MX MXJ
Whisper finished her MX and MXJ this year. She's very consistent in agility but not very fast. I've yet to decide what goals to set for Whisper next year. Perhaps some obedience...

Kantishna Keep'n In Motion CD RN
Shy little Bunny held it together long enough to capture her CD. This is a huge accomplishment for Bunny. I will continue to torture :) her in 2011 with more obedience training and trials

Ch Busy B's Dakota's Moon Dust CD PT MX MXJ VC
There was a new CD title for Dusty in 2010 and definitely more obedience planned for Dusty in 2011. Dusty produced two litters of puppies this year and we have high hopes for successful conformation and performance Pembrokes for these puppies. One already has her TD!

Ch Busy B's St. Patricks Day Parade CD RN
Shamrock also finished her CD title this year and should be starting on her open title in early 2011.

Kantishna Believe In Me OA OAJ
I sure do believe in you Tinkerbelle! After a rough start where Belle and I had to work through some injury issues, team work and training issues, I think we're back on track for a successful 2011. In addition to agility, Belle is also doing lots of obedience training.

Whew, I think that's everyone!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Three Green Ribbons

I don't have much to say today but I'm trying to pay more attention to my blog. Feeding it daily is beyond my capability. However, I think I ought to be able to stick to a weekly schedule...I think I've said this before though.


Knitting

I'm working on small projects I'd like to gift at Christmas. Above is a reversible hat I'm knitting without a pattern. I'm trying to model it after the small, tight wool hats I noticed my brothers and nephews wearing last year. I suspect they cost a small fortune and thought I could easily make them myself. I'm pleased with my first attempt. Other than the yarn that is. I picked two balls of sock yarn from my stash to make the prototype before I invest in good wool sport yarn. This sock yarn was inexpensive and is 75% superwash wool and 25% nylon. The nylon gives it a nice stretch and longer wear which is perfect for socks, but a bit too much stretch and "scratchiness" for a hat.

I have a ball of Misti Alpaca Chunky waiting to become a scarf. I know I'm repeating myself but this yarn is so soft, it's one of my favorite all time yarns. And knitting a scarf on size 13 needles is a breeze!

I sorted out Christmas themed material for the two table runners I want to make but that's as far as it went. Maybe I'll get back to it this afternoon yet, but I need to clean my patio, get rid of the outdoor potted plants and vegetables, train a few dogs, clip a few toenails (canine ones that is!) and put away the folded laundry.

Dogs

This morning I drove to Hugo for an obedience trial with Shamrock and Dusty. They each qualified! Shamrock received a decent score but she's capable of much better. She was so distracted during her on leash heeling. I think she thought she was back in the show ring and she should strut her stuff out in front of me for her clamoring fans to appreciate. Thankfully, she settled down for her off leash heeling which was quite good.

Dusty worked above what I think I've trained him at. I was very pleased! If it hadn't been for his one no sit he would have scored way over what I was expecting. I haven't put the time into Dusty's obedience training that I should but after today, I'm motivated to do so.

Bunny picked up her first leg (that's a qualifying score towards an obedience title for my non-doggie friends - I think I still have a few) towards her CD (companion dog) title back in August. So I made all three of them sit for a picture with their little green ribbons. You can tell how thrilled they were to pose. From left to right it's Dusty, Bunny and Shamrock. I'll try to get ears on Dusty and Bunny next time. Good grief but they were lacking a sense of humor for this picture.

Catch Up Time

After a busy summer where I've been absent from my own and my friends' blogs, I decided it was time to do a short update.

Knitting and Sewing

I finished my Watershed shrug. It was a fun knit, a very different construction than I've done before which made this an interesting project. Watershed should be a quick knit, unfortunately my RA really flared up this summer and affected my wrists and fingers the most. I could only manage a few minutes of knitting a day before the pain was too much. What a bummer. I wanted to knit, it just hurt too much. Still, the sweater is finished, I enjoyed knitting it and it's something I will actually wear.

I used only two balls of Rowan Calmer in a purple-ish pink color. Knit on size 8 Addi Turbo needles.

I'm currently taking advantage of my good working fingers and wrists and working on small projects, a few hats and scarves for Christmas gifts.

Back in May I made a big purchase, an Elna 7300 sewing machine. Isn't it pretty? This machine is meant for someone with far better sewing skills than I have, but my reasoning is this, once I'm retired and have more time to sew and improve my skills, I won't be able to afford such a nice machine. So I bought it now while I'm still working. It was my contribution to the stimulus program too! I'm still learning all the features and there are many I haven't even read about yet, all in good time I figure.

I finished my Pink and Green quilt and am happy with it. It's a simple pattern which gave me lots of practice sewing straight seams and making my pieces fit properly. I wanted to quilt it myself so I split the quilt into three sections and created a "quilt as you go" project. I'm so happy I did this. It was much easier to quilt smaller sections rather than wrestling with a large quilt. Blind hem stitching the sections together by hand wasn't quite as much fun...

I love the back of this quilt. I have a bit of the fabric left over and think I'll make a few place mats out of it.

 

Here's a quilt top I worked on but is in hiatus for a while. I will quilt this in sections also and haven't decided yet on a quit pattern. Meanwhile, I am going to start on a few Christmas themed table runners. Time to work on a few smaller projects and concentrate on improving my skills.

Dogs

The dogs and I did many agility trials this summer and even a few (very few) obedience trials.

Happy boy JJ came through for me in the end and finished his AX (agility excellent) title which gave him his Versatile Corgi (VC) award. While I plan to continue to trial JJ in agility and chip away at his MX and MXJ (master agility titles) I am concentrating on his obedience training. JJ in obedience? I'm probably crazy but I do so enjoy working with this silly, happy dog, so obedience it is.

Fancy finished her Championship in 4 weekends in May. That went fast! She's so pretty though, I wasn't surprised.

Tinkerbelle started her agility career. I thought she'd breeze right through to the excellent level but we've hit a few snags. We're getting back on track now, still have a few teamwork issues to work out and some fears of strange contact equipment like the teeter and especially strange dog walks. That's what it's all about though, working together, spending time together training and having fun. The picture is proof at least Belle is having fun! This great picture was taken by Great Dane Photos.

Here's a picture of Tinkerbelle and Rumor aroo-roo-rooing together. Wish I had the sound to go with this picture. They start and stop together and stay in tune the whole time. It's so cute!

More On The Neighbors

Thank you to those who commented on my previous post. I tried to reply to each of you but found out I'm missing some current email addresses.

Chris asked why I don't turn my neighbors in. I don't need to turn in my neighbors as they are constantly being watched and inspected. Although dumping their dog waste next to my driveway was probably illegal (they cleaned it up with one warning phone call from me) unfortunately, there is nothing illegal about the way they keep their dogs.

It's a bit of a dilemma for me. Dog breeders are constantly fighting against legislation to limit or halt the breeding of dogs. Naturally, I don't want to lose my freedom to breed dogs. Still, as a responsible dog breeder and lover of dogs, I'm saddened by the sorry life many dogs live. Responsible dog breeders are so afraid of losing their right to their hobby that we just scream No! to every piece of legislation. I'm not convinced this is the best tactic. Perhaps instead of standing in place, shaking our fists and hollering No! we should sit down and come up with some reasonable compromise. Otherwise, we're leaving dogs like my neighbor's quite literally out in the cold.

On to more pleasant topics.

Knitting

I actually finished something! This is a face cloth from Fiber Trends Bath Time Blossoms pattern. I plan to start on a pink one today and am hoping to finish up my Mother's Day gift on time. Actually, I've made a number of these as gifts over the past few months. They knit up quickly and are great portable projects. I like using the Cotton Fine for these because the bit of wool in this yarn feels better and gives the cloth a better shape than 100% cotton.

Dogs

I've been keeping up with my self-assigned dog training challenge. Bunny has the nicest retrieve now! It's exciting because there were days I wondered if she'd ever get to this point. A few years ago I trained my Winger, a shy, quiet, lacking in confidence dog, and swore I'd never train another dog with such a temperament. So here I am training Bunny. I think I know a little more this time around. I've always known and thought I understood that dog training is all about breaking the final desired behaviour into smaller pieces. Training Bunny has taught me there's always an even smaller piece I can train and perfect. Make the right behavior easy to do and the wrong behavior difficult to do. That's how to train Bunny. It's slow going at times, but it sure is fun when it all comes together.

Practicing their down stays, with their bright green flash bulb eyes, is Bunny, Shamrock, Dusty and Whisper. 

Food

I lost the ten pounds I've wanted to lose so I celebrated this weekend with lots of white food, white flour and white rice. Not good diet food that's for sure. It's okay though, I'll get back on the wagon. You can't deny yourself everything forever.

Shrimp risotto with asparagus and red peppers

Buttermilk and currants scone

Percy

It's the time of year Percy has to stay in the house. He hates it. I'm not too crazy about it either. He has moments of acceptance though and I managed to capture one here.

We Need To Talk

It's time for a confession. I am a breeder. Yes, one of those horrible, politically incorrect breeders of purebred dogs. I've owned and bred Pembroke Welsh Corgis since 1980. Thirty years. I've finished 25 AKC champions, many of them group placing dogs and 3 breeder/owner/handler group winners and almost all of them with more than one performance (obedience, tracking, herding or agility) title. I'm not bragging, I'm just saying. 

In this day and age, it's extremely unpopular to be a "breeder" of purebred dogs. Yep, I know all about those dogs in shelters. I am as sad for them as you are. I hate to see any dog suffer. I don't care if it's a purebred dog or a mutt. I don't even care if it is a new designer dog which, let's face it folks, are sweet, lovable mutts. But those dogs in shelters are not my dogs!

I follow up with all my puppies. My dogs all live in my house. I clean up my yard constantly. I buy the very best dog food available. Each of my dogs are individually trained and worked with daily. In contrast, my neighbor breeds "quality pets" in her unheated quanstet hut. What is a "quality pet"? It's any little furry, fluffy dog which can be bred to another little furry, fluffy dog. Health cleareances? None. Temperament testing? Nope.Early puppy training? You've got to be kidding.

My neighbor once asked me how I kept my puppies alive in the winter. Excuse me? I honestly did not understand what she was asking me. Me, I have heating pads and heat lamps, my puppies are kept in my bedroom until old enough to move into the dinning room/kitchen area. My neighbor, on the other hand, hangs a 40 watt light bulb over her winter litters out in the unheated quanstet hut. And yes, she has muliple winter litters. So sad. Again, I'm just saying.

This is what my "breeder of quality pets" neighbor dumped along my driveway last week. I didn't take a very good picture of it so I'll tell you, it is a winter's worth of pee and poop soaked sawdust scooped out from under the wire cages her dogs have for living quarters in the unheated quanstet hut.

Why am I blogging about this? Because I want you to think about the difference in "breeders" and think before you purchase your next dog, purebred, designer dog or shelter rescue. Because you could very well be "rescuing" a dog from my neighbor, which will only keep her breeding more (cough, cough) quality pets.

So let's move on to more enjoyable topics.

Dogs

We've had some nice success in agility trials lately. Dot finished up her Excellent Preferred titles and the next day picked up her first double Q. Yeah Dot. Dak also completed his Excellent titles and the very next day his first double Q, go Dak! Whisper and Dusty have also been doing nicely. Whisper has gained so much confidence and speed lately it's difficult to remember she's the same dog who spent 5 days in the ICU at the U of MN Vet Clinic where we twice talked about letting her go.

Tinkerbelle, my 16 pound wonder, my little "corgette", made her novice agility appearance for one day and aced both her Standard and Jumpers With Weaves (JWW) runs. Belle is so much fun to train and run. You should be able to view her JWW run here.

And my JJ? Well, after taking forever to get his Open Jumpers title, he whizzed through his Excellent Jumpers title but now is taking a little longer than forever to get through his Excellent Standard title.

It's a good thing I love you JJ!

Food

I've been so in love with quinoa lately. Here's my rendition of quinoa with sauteed peppers and onions along with some grated lemon peel, lemon juice and parmigiano reggiano cheese. Yum!

Birds

I love my cardinals. Love how they always show up in pairs either very early in the morning or far into dusk in the evening.