SMALL TOWN SHOPPING, DOG SITTING & MIXED UP VACATION PLANS

 

Remember my granddog, Tulo?  He looks a little different as Jeff has him groomed drastically during the warm months.  See his pink tongue hanging off the side of his chops?  Yes, Tulo Droolo for sure.  We had the big guy yesterday and overnight.  We don't really do this much as our house is small, he is relentless in wanting to play with Milo, and since Milo is going on twelve---well, it wears my baby out.  And of course, I have to give Milo a good scrub in the bath after all the Droolo (if you know what I mean).  And Layla cowers in our bedroom.  We play a sort of musical chairs rotating them indoors and out, to eat and have water.  It's hard but we love Tulo, he's really only comfortable with Milo as far as other dogs and I spoil him terribly.

 

 

 

In spite of a 4 day heatwave with temps hitting 92 degrees in the shade, I had to get these dogs outside.  As I watered all my pots and garden beds, I also watered a big section of grass to cool it off for the dogs to lie in, and that they did.  I also bought Tulo a big bone to keep him busy.

 

 

 

Emily popped over early evening with her pup, Rusty (the Boston Terrier you see here).  They roughhoused and really wore each other out.  And now you can see that Rusty has confiscated The Bone.  Milo had it for awhile and as I write this very minute, Layla is gnawing away on it at my feet. 

 

I awoke this morning to Tulo howling and crying---pitiful.  Thankfully Jeff came for him about 10 a.m.   As with grandkids, you get to give them back to their parents. ;-) 

 

 

We had a rather nice Labor Day weekend.  We were sort of like fish out of water.  I asked The Husband, "What does everyone do on Labor Day?"  We have always been at the lakehouse (and what a wild weekend that is as it's sort of the grand finale of summer).  We each discreetly texted the kids inquiring what their plans were and they all had something going on.  Ouch!  Come on, I said to The Husband-let's get out of Dodge. 

 

I think I've mentioned that we like to explore small towns.  We even make vacations of it.  One of our favorites is a historic town about a half hour away,  Most of the homes are well over a million dollars.  The downtown area is fantastic, while most of the shops are a little over our budget we love to browse and the restaurants are great.  I know some of us have problems budging our husbands to do things like this.  My guy has always been pretty accepting of strolling through towns, having peeks into various shops and sometimes actually finding something he wants to buy.  But most times he finds a bench like this and sits and does a little 'people watching'.   This little town had an abundance of spots to sit and the flowers and plants made it all so pleasant.

 

 

 

I love all the little shops.  One complaint I have is with most of the apparel shops.  If you are over a size 8 you can absolutely forget finding anything no matter how gorgeous it is.  Clothing in these places are teeny weeny and it's so disheartening.  I focus on things like purses and scarves and sunglasses.  I'm not a size 2 or 8 or 10 and I feel the sales ladies simply avoiding me---what can they show me?  It's not snobbery, it's just the way things are. 

 

 

 

There are two floral design shops I love to visit.  I have a few cute pots that look sort of weathered and aged that I picked up awhile ago.  I never used them outdoors and I was really wanting to have some houseplants although I'm a notorious indoor plant killer.  This is one of my fave shops.  Love the name. :)

 

 

 

Here's a happily potted couple of ivy plants in their new home.  You know I love ivy as my brick house is covered in it.  Indoors...well I lost a few  pots.  The owner of the shop advised me to keep the soil moist always.,  Any other tips from you ladies?

 

 

 

Another plant I went gaga over was an ornamental oregano plant.  Not as tasty as it's cousin that's used for cooking, it makes for a gorgeous potted beauty.

 

 

 

Look at this close up photo.  The flowers resemble little roses with pink leaves.  Lot's of sun will give you this effect.  I'm going to give it some time outside where it will get some sun (it's also adaptable to low temperatures so that's good).  This is my new baby.  I'll be heartbroken if anything happens to it.

 

 

 

All I purchased on our little Saturday excursion were these plants.  Here you can see my assistant, aka, The Husband (remember my bad arm).  Oh, and he has a bunch of fresh cut lavender in his right hand that I scored for free.  Yes!  By the way, he fell in love with a wallet.  Man oh man, this guy has had the same wallet for possibly longer than the 34 years I've known him.  A guy and his wallet are a beautiful thing.  Never interfere no matter how tattered and wretched it looks.  This one is curved in a way that it fits into a front pocket very easily.  So glad he found something for himself.

 

 

 

Some shops are simply overwhelming.  You have to take them with a grain of salt.  Most times my eyes flit over everything and barely rest on anything.  I may pick up a book or a funny greeting card but 9 times out of 10 we say hello, thank you and goodbye.  I feel very differently about places that feature items from local artists and creative people...in this case so many things are so massed produced it wears on me.   I thought of some design advice I recently learned...leave some blank spaces, the eye needs a place to rest to absorb the beauty and interest of everything else.  These sort of shops make me dizzy.  Oh, I sound terribly critical.  It really was a pretty place and smelled so good!

 

 

 

Whoa, I hope I didn't bore you silly with canine stories and our adventures in shopping.  I have to mention the highlight was having dinner at the Mexican restaurant we have grown to love, Cine.  Incredible as always.  Sorry. this is not a picture of my gorgeous dinner there, it's a quick meal I made one night this week while we were in the midst of our heat wave.  Our outdoor grill is not working and while we wait to get a person out to take care of it I'm doing everything possible stove top.  I try to tell my kids that they can make some fast and budget friendly meals that taste like a gourmet restaurant (or diner).  Chili dogs with cheddar cheese and chips?  Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches with a make ahead potato salad.  I'm not a frugal gourmet by any means but I try to balance the budget and nights when I simply don't want a lot of prep and cooking time with some simple but interesting meals.  Last week I picked up a small, sliced, cooked ham.  I have one of those flat grill pans that fit over two stove burners so you can do pancakes, bacon, burgers, whatever you want,  Simultaneously I cooked up slices of the ham, layered Munster cheese over the pieces the last minute to melt and at the same time at the other end of the pan, heated up some slices of good French bread rubbed with fresh garlic cloves and a smear of butter.  Meanwhile I had one sweet potato cut into thin slices in the oven (save time and heat from the oven by starting off the potatoes in your microwave foe 2-3 minutes).  We were loving this dinner.  Totally thinking outside of the box and killing it with frugal, fresh and tasty new ideas.  A little Blondie tip. :)

 

 

 

So, from the heart and soul, I'm sure you're tired of hearing about the old arm.  4 more weeks of therapy ahead,  Still not moving anything above or beyond what I was able to do since this happened.  I've been having an indescribable ache the last few days that only icing it helps---as in 3 times a day minimum. Sometimes when my thoughts get a little dark I freak myself out imagining I may never be able to move my wrist again.  Silly.  But I am left handed.  But the therapy and icing helps. The Husband frowns on me bringing the ice pack to bed which I had thought was grand since it's about the only time I stay still.  A cold bag of ice rolling on to your husband's bare back in bed in the middle of the night does not a good marriage make. 

 

So I found this little stenciled saying on canvas last week at Marshall's.  My mantra these days.  I continue trying to find the time to map out a vacation for us at the end of the month.   This morning I met with an itinerary which The Husband left under the jar of my flavored coffee so I couldn't miss it.  A little weaving of flying into Nashville, visiting several towns in Tennessee including Gatlinburg (no offense but Gatlinburg?) and then on to our place in Asheville.  I had mentioned I sort of wanted to be by the ocean for a bit.  He looked at me like I had two heads.  "Why do you want to be by the ocean?"  Duh?  We have less than a week to decide where we want to go if we want to get good air fare. 

 

Now, I know I'm whining about vacation and some may just never get the opportunity to have one.   Bear with me.  My life never seems to be easy.  However this sign that now hangs very prominently  where I can see it everyday is the darn truth.  It keeps me moving.

 

See you soon!

 

Jane x