Home on the Range

My little house, back in time

Headed back to the SBC this weekend, divine, as usual. You know you are home when you are thinking, gosh, it is freaking COLD in here-- and you go to check the thermostat and it is indeed freaking COLD in there- as evidenced below. The best part was, CBC asked me why I didn't turn up the heat--don't know, I replied, just went and got the BIG blanket.

Home is where the "heart-y" is

 The dog has always loved to "bury" his treats in key places around the living room. After a good "digging session", in which he will dig that carpet or couch cushion to his little heart's content,  he will drop the little treasure into whatever gap he can find, and come back for it later. Often, he ends up dropping his treats down the heater vent, which ends badly for both our heating system and the dog. He will stand over the vent, knowing it's down there, but completely baffled as to how to retrieve it, looking longingly down the shaft...

More recently he has discovered the gap in between the couch cushion and the arm. He jumps on the couch, digs digs digs, and nuzzles the little morsel until it is secured between the two sides. Satisfied, he then turns around and settles in for a bit of a nap. Unfortunately, he sometimes forgets his little treasure and leaves one to find it when they sit down hours later. Other times you can see his elation upon the reunion of dog and buried treasure.

 CBC and I ducked into Lenny's for their yummy blackened scallop Caesar salad (it was lunch, so I held off on the shore dinner) and I could not help but share their "light menu".  Notice the key cooking descriptor for all but one item on this list...

This is where the "range" bit of this post comes into play. The MAIN accomplishment of this weekend was the attack on the massive overgrown plant/vine/shrub/thicket from hell that was eating our back porch. I cannot count the number of times I have gotten snagged by this thing trying to make it out the back door. I have fantasized about taking a weed whacker to it on numerous occasions. Saturday was it. Armed with some pretty intense looking hedge clippers, I let this thing have it. As I got down into the thicket- literally- I had to get the pull saw involved. It. Was. Serious. I was so into it that I did not even get a before picture-- but just to give you the idea, this thing below, had entirely engulfed the porch.

After over an hour of indiscriminately hacking, I had begun to fight it back. The thought briefly crossed my mind that this thing had become so intertwined with the porch, that it might in fact be the only thing holding that baby up--- and therefore I was weed whacking/pull sawing my way towards my own demise in a tragic porch collapse, but luckily, this did not come to pass.

The second and far less satisfying portion of the endeavor was the hauling of all this debris back into the marsh.


 My poor little city boots had no idea what hit them. But whatever it was, it was muddy.

And,  in final news. About 6 months ago I started saving up for an IPad. Contributions to the fund have included proceeds from knitting projects, gift certificates from the generous family I babysit for, and sales of old Mac products (for my mom, who has some confusion surrounding the Mac of Steve jobs vs the Mac of Morange lipstick, this is the former) along with random change that I have been able to spare over the last half year. About four months into this saving extravaganza I realized it made sense as well to wait until the new version was released.  Much to my surprise I received this email from SG late last week:

The day has come sooner than I planned!! I hope to pull together the last portion of funds in time for Friday- possibly through a combination of singing on the subway and an abridged trip to Trader Joes. To say that I am more than mildly excited would be an understatement.

I plan to get it engraved-- they do it for free! Yay! Will report in when it's in my little paws.