Oscar and Piper

Good news, everyone! (I can't say that phrase in my head without saying it in Professor Farnsworth's voice.) I found my card reader, so now the photo-dumping can commence again! Before I post some of the older pictures that were sitting in my camera, though, I had a little bit of fun this morning.

I'm way overdue for getting new pictures of my pup-pups, so I decided yesterday that it's photo shoot time. Now, I pretty much can only take decent pictures when I'm outside, but it's been WAY too hot to take the puppies out during the day just for some photos. Luckily, I was already up early this morning to go to grand opening at a new Dollar General (freebies!), so it wasn't too terribly hot this morning.

Of course, I can't take ALL the puppies out at once (can you say chaos?), so I'll be taking them out in shifts of two until everyone gets a few pictures. I was originally going to take Dolly and KiKi today, but I picked up a new collar for Oscar at Dollar General this morning (his old one was getting really dingy), so I decided to take Oscar and Piper this morning instead so I can get pictures before his new collar gets dirty. ^.^

Photo time!



For those of you who aren't familiar with my dogs, I'll tell you a bit about Oscar and Piper. Oscar is the black and tan, and Piper is the silver dapple (that is her silhouette in the picture above, also). Oscar and Piper are littermates, along with KiKi, and Dolly is their biological mother (Oops! They're all spayed/neutered now!). They are Miniature Dachshund/Shetland Sheepdog mixes and were born in June of 2006. They've been with me since birth. =)



Oscar and Piper are practically attached at the hip. They do everything together - they sleep in the same crate at night, they eat together, they groom each other, they play together - everything. They've been together since birth and I would never dream of separating them. I often refer to them as twins, even though they don't look alike.



Oscar is a total chunk - he takes after Dolly that way. In fact, he takes after Dolly almost exclusively - it's hard to tell he's actually a mix. He is absolutely precious and loving, and his eyes get so big and black sometimes that you think you might just fall into them. =) But, of all my dogs, Oscar hates change the most. He hates each new addition to the family until someone else comes along that he can divert his attention to. Big Boy has been with us for over a year now, and he STILL hates him. Oscar also hates strangers, and is our most fierce guard dog. Oscar will let you know every time someone slams a car door outside. Oscar is a hilarious dog, though, because he's harmless, but when he gets excited, he puffs himself out like he's Mr. Big Man and struts around like a rooster. We make fun of him all the time, but he doesn't seem to mind. ;) What a clown!



Piper is our athletic girl. She is kind and gentle, and very patient. She is more shy than aggressive, and it doesn't take her long to warm up to new dogs, although she is afraid of new people. When Piper wants kisses, she doesn't just ask for them - she smacks you in the face with her paw, so we have to hold her feet sometimes when we're cuddling with her. Piper is a super jumper, and definitely takes after the Shetland Sheepdog in her. She's not at all afraid to leap off the back of the couch onto the floor. And because she is such a sweetie, she made a fantastic babysitter when Munchie was just a wee thing and needed someone to watch him while we went about our business.



One day while the dogs were playing outside, I heard a commotion, so I went outside to check on them - but Piper was nowhere to be found! I was really, really starting to worry where my sweet girl had gotten off to, and I called Jason out to help me find her. Finally, it occurred to me that our super jumper, who liked to climb on things, could have climbed on a cage I had setting next to the fence and jumped over, whether she had intended to or not. So I peeked over, and lo and behold, there was Piper in the neighbor's backyard, looking positively terrified that she had ended up over there with no way back! The neighbors were cool with it and their feisty bull terrier was caged at the time, so there was no harm done, but poor Piper never pulled that trick again! We've since fenced that part of our yard off because the boys like to fence fight with the neighbor's Bull Terrier.



Oscar loves small stuffed toys. His favorite toy that we ever bought him was a small, fluffy ball that looks like duck. He carried his Duckie everywhere with him! They were best friends. Not only would he play with it, but he would also groom it, set it in his food bowl to "eat," cuddle with it at naptime, and carry it outside to go potty with him. I think Piper felt a little left out, as occasionally she would try to play with Duckie, too, and Oscar was NOT ok with that! Unfortunately, when Munchie came along, he got a hold of Duckie and ripped all his stuffing out, so Oscar can't have his little friend with him in the living room anymore, but I've sewed Duckie back together so that he can still sleep with him at night in his crate.



And those are my twins, Oscar and Piper. =) I'm hoping to be able to do photo shoots with the rest in the coming week, so hopefully I'll have the whole set done and uploaded soon.

Changing Names: Everybody's Leftovers

I was out in the garage today, sorting through boxes and letting my mind dance its little daydreams, and I couldn't help but smile. Because, you see, people may think we're crazy for salvaging things on big trash day, recycling and reusing containers like the world will end tomorrow, taking in sick, incontinent dogs, and all the other things we do that no one else would, but I find so much joy in living life with everyone's leftovers. And so, as you may have noticed, my blog has a new name. Not that I use it much to make it really matter, but I felt it time for a change.

And so here I sit with everybody's leftovers, only they aren't leftovers to my husband and I. Because in truth, we're kind of leftovers. We've been driven out, abandoned, ignored, and rejected, too. And so we welcome people, animals, and things into our lives that are unwanted and unloved, because we know all too well that just because someone or something isn't wanted, doesn't mean it doesn't have worth. They'll always have a home with us. A home where they are wanted. A home where they matter. And a home where they are loved.


Our Beagle/Basset mix, Junior, on the day I brought him home - the day he was scheduled to be euthanized because no one wanted a dog his age. He's been with us two and a half years now and is still going strong.

My card reader is still MIA (where did that thing get off to?), so today's pictures are brought to you compliments of my Droid. ^.^

A while back I posted about the silver maple seeds I had collected for planting. Well, today I show you a picture of how the little guys are doing. Soon I will need to transplant them from the Styrofoam cups I started them in and move them to bigger pots!



In an attempt to save more money, I've been learning the tricks of couponing. Yesterday we hit up Homeland (a local grocery chain) and CVS to grab a few freebies with my carefully collected coupons. ^.^ Here is what I managed to get:



I ended up paying about $2 in tax, but the items themselves were free with the coupons. I was especially excited about those pastas, as the husband and I love pasta for dinner. =)

Once a month, our neighborhood has Big Trash Day, when then garbage men come by to collect all your trash that is too large to fit in your trash bins. You wouldn't believe the perfectly good items that people throw away! Jason and I enjoy the weekend before Big Trash Day by perusing the neighborhood for items that we can use. Here is a picture of what we snagged last weekend:



I plan to post pictures of what I do with these items, so keep your eyes peeled for updates. =) Here are a few to start off with:

See that big black futon mattress? Our neighbor told us that the people who tossed it out also tossed out the frame for it, but someone already grabbed the frame before we came along. No matter, as what I really wanted the mattress for was this:



A nice, big, comfy dog bed to put out in the sun room! ^.^ The dogs love it and enjoy laying on it while they watch the world outside or taking a lazy nap. Plus, it's big enough that several of them can fit on it at once without starting the "he's touching me!" fussing.

I also found this Little Tykes art easel that was pretty dirty, but overall in good condition and still perfectly usable!



I took it out into the back yard today and gave it a good scrubbing. Now it is practically as good as new!



Jason and I don't have any little ones of our own (aside from the animals) yet, but it will be nice to have when we do, as if they are anything like me, they're bound to have an artistic streak. ^.^ Until then, I bet I know another little one who will get some use out of this. =)

I'm Not Dead, I've Just Lost My Card Reader

My card reader (the thing I plug my camera's memory card into in order to upload the photos) is MIA at the moment, which has contributed to my lack of updates lately, but I am alive and well!

Husband and I have been setting the wheels in motion for us to purchase some property outside of the city and start a farm. If all goes well, we should have a place and be moved in before autumn (hopefully in time to plant a pumpkin patch!). I am excited about living rurally again. I enjoy the city and its conveniences, but I dislike the constraints of living so closely packed with so many other people. It's hard for a hippie to live in suburbia!

I look forward to having a huge backyard for my dogs to play in. I plan to build some agility equipment for my more athletic canines, and, although I will be busy with the farming much of the time, I am still hoping to get them dog scout-certified through the mail, since there aren't any Dog Scout troops in Oklahoma. Soon I want to start uploading videos of their training to my Youtube channel.

The puppies I posted pictures of a while back found a great home together with a country boy and his fiancé who live outside of the city. They send us pictures of them every now and then, and they are getting big and doing well. I am very thankful that they now have a loving home and are still together.

The silver maple seeds that I planted in saved Styrofoam fast food cups have sprouted and are doing quite well. I haven't counted to see exactly how many have come up, but I believe it is around twenty. I would love to plant them on whatever property we end up buying (away from the house, of course). I plan to have a flower garden tucked into a grove of trees, so perhaps they will get planted nearby, where I can enjoy their beauty.

We have one of those cheap $5 or $10 plastic wading pools in our backyard that we used for the dogs last year, but it has since developed a leak. I am hoping to fill it in with soil and plant some watermelon vines in it. It seems like it would be a good planter for vining plants, anyway, since we can just pick it up and carry it with us when we move.

Husband showed me how to change spark plugs on his Grand Am a few days ago, and I really enjoy the learning experience. I am oddly intrigued by mechanics. I suspect I get that from my dad, as he always loved to tinker with machines. I am hoping to get a clunker for a project car sometime after we move so I can get more hands-on learning in that area. I am a big believer in hands-on learning.

Hopefully soon I will find the card reader so I can upload some of the new pictures I've taken over the past several months. Until then, live wisely and love deeply.

The Seeds of Change

Now that spring has finally dug in its roots and taken hold, I've been wandering out into our rather bleak backyard more often than usual. And since this is the first spring I have spent here when I wasn't holding down a job, this is the first time I have started to notice the seeds dropping off our silver maple tree.



Aren't they wonderful? Look at how beautiful they are! They remind me of little fairy wings. In fact, I may use a few of the wings for some mixed media art along those lines.



Since I share a love of all things that grow, I've collected a bowl full of them to try and plant. I've seen a lot of discouragement on the internet about this, saying that there are much better maples to plant than these and silver maples tend to be a very "dirty" tree, forever dropping twigs, branches, leaves, and seeds, but I have dealt with all of these things, having one in my backyard, and they do not bother me tremendously. And it is really such a lovely tee with beautiful leaves; I would love to have a grove of them (away from the house) when we finally move out of the city. Besides, I already have thousands of these seeds raining down on me, and lord knows I enjoy using what the earth readily provides.

So for now, it is my little horticulture experiment. And who knows, if I end up with a bunch of little saplings that I don't want come winter or time to move, I can always give them away.

And so the cycle of seasons continues.

Showing Off the Niblets

These are my little niblets. They're both four weeks old and male. I can't keep them, of course, but I've certainly enjoyed having them here, particularly now that they are, in my opinion, in the cutest stage of puppyhood - they're tottering around quite well now, have started eating (face first) softened dogs food, they have the most adorable little barks, and they give sweet little kisses when you pick them up.

Oh, puppy love. <3 There isn't anything better.







That first picture is when the babies were just a week or two old. Sweet momma kisses! She's ready to be rid of the little leeches now, poor thing. ^.^

A Little Experiment in Gardening and Usefulness

So, I'm doing a little experiment. Some of you may remember, back in kindergarten, doing an experiment to sprout a potato in a cup of water. Alas, I never enjoyed that experiment so far as I can remember, as my class went with the bean-planted-in-a-cup-of-dirt route. But now I find myself with five potatoes and an onion, happily suspended over cups of water atop my old piano. Whether or not this experiment will succeed, I haven't the foggiest, but I'm hoping.

Of course, this wasn't just a whim. I've been jones'ing to do some gardening lately, but, what with it still being in February, I have a feeling that the deceptive warmth we've been having lately may soon relapse into a final cold spurt before spring finally sinks its roots in.

This all started when I found an onion in a little bucket we use for produce atop my refrigerator. Well...truthfully, it was more like an onion *plant.* It had sprouted amazingly well, and while half of me was regretting that I hadn't cleaned off the top of the fridge sooner, the other half of me hated to throw out something that had such a strong will to grow. Hence, we started our little experiment, and since I was already going to the trouble (if it, in its simplicity, can be called that), I went ahead and sorted through the potatoes to see if there were any likely-looking candidates as well.

So here we are, and only time will tell if it will actually work and I will indeed be able to start off this year's container garden with my produce-gone-bad. In the meantime, I've named them. ^.^





And not only am I being thrifty by trying to sprout something that most people would have thrown out, I'm also using empty yogurt containers to do it in. Bonus points for me! And for the record, most non-meat, non-dairy food waste that happens in our home gets added to our compost pile, which happily resides in a large trashcan in our backyard. So one way or another, we put our food waste to work for us. I just thought that sprouting these items would not only allow them more potential than just composting them, but would also save us a buck, since we won't have to buy as many onion or potato plants when we get ready to plant the garden.