Accidental Theft... or maybe not.

I might have accidentally stolen some plants for my perennial gardens yesterday. So I'm conflicted... Do you bring attention to the accidental theft or assume that you're good and nothing wrong happened? A lady in my neighborhood cleaned out and thinned a bunch of her gardens, taking out quite a bit of mainly grasses. She then put them in some 5 gallon buckets out by the curb... making it look like they were free for the taking. Me, thinking that free was a pretty sweet deal, loaded them up in my truck and brought them home. It wasn't until this afternoon that I noticed the very tiny sticker on some of the buckets that looked like a label with what the plant was and what could have been a price. Hmmm... who in their right mind, wanting money for their stuff, would have put it out by the curb without a BIG sign stating "FOR SALE"? So, I'm still not sure if she was expecting payment for them... and if so, was she charging extra for the baby slugs that were also in the buckets?

Wherein I become a crazy pet owner

Having a new puppy around the house is an adventure. Especially when the puppy is currently a 3 month old Siberian Husky who is already a hefty 28 pounds. Is he going to stop growing soon? :) Anyway, I'm always interested in collecting recipes and have now started becoming one of those crazy pet owners who makes homemade dog treats for their pooch. Here's the latest that has Gus jumping for joy:

Beef & Veggie Dog Treats

Ingredients:
1 egg
2 beef bouillon cubes
1/2 cup boiling water
2 Tbsp flaxseed oil
1/2 cup vegetable oil (approx.)
1 3/4 cup white flour
3/4 cup wheat flour
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
1/2 cup carrots (shredded)

Directions:
Dissolve bouillon cubes in boiling water. Set aside. In a measuring cup, put the 2 Tbsp. of flaxoil, fill the rest of the way to the 1/2 cup line with vegetable oil. Mix with bouillon/water mixture, egg, and shredded carrots.

In a separate bowl, mix the remaining ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to this.

On a floured mat or table, knead the mixture into a smooth ball. Roll out with a rolling pin until it is about a 1/4 inch thick. Cut into any shape or size you would like and place on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake at 300 degrees for 30 minutes. they will continue to harden after you take them out of the oven.


So far, Gus the puppy has seemed to like them fairly well... but keeps begging for additional "taste tests" just to make sure. :)

Peeves... Pets and otherwise

Since my parents moved in with me about 7 months ago, I have started developing odd pet peeves. Things that I never would have imagined would have bothered me. Not sure if these things would annoy anyone else, but here is the newest list of things that get on my nerves:

1. Opening all the shades in the house and parading around in front of them in their pajamas in the morning. (I should probably tell you that I would do the exact same thing... but pet peeves aren't supposed to be rational)
2. Collecting all the towels in the house to wash and not replacing them with clean hand towels in the bathroom and kitchen.
3. Getting on my case about my bedroom being slightly cluttered and messy, but taking over the office and having papers and stuff strewn all around without ever cleaning it up.
4. Nasty, smelly hockey equipment sitting in my laundry room so that it can dry out.
5. Not telling me when mail has come for me and just piling it up where I won't find it.
6. Constantly trying to hold a conversation with me through the door of the bathroom.
7. Calling me in to look at something "really cool" on the computer every 10 minutes, when I am trying to read or watch t.v.

Ticklish thoughts...

I'm not quite sure why this tickled me so much this afternoon... but I received a mass email from a co-worker titled "I'm out of office on certain days." I love that! Seriously. I so desperately want to send out an email just like that! But it would just look like I was copying her. Now, I realize that her email really did have a purpose (which was to inform us when she wouldn't be available). But, if I would have been the one sending out that email, I would have just sent it with that subject and left the rest blank. Good titles of emails are like good titles of books. (Am I the only one that likes to go through book stores just to read the titles of the books?) I used to make a point to make the subject of all the emails that I would send to a certain friend as embarrassing as possible, just in case someone was reading over her shoulder. It probably was only mildly funny for her... But for some reason it would make me laugh hysterically every time I sent off another one. So... here's to those that take time and effort with their subject titles. May you forever be blessed with endless creativity!

Join my petition...

If you work in an office with cubicles, loud talking should be banned. And maybe even punished with extreme torture... like stapling your fingers, being forced to collate a multi-page document in a limited amount of time, or tied to a chair and having to listen to training presentations for hours on end. What has ever made you think that I wanted to listen to you placating an account on the phone? Do you not have an "inside voice"? If your conversation cannot be had in normal decibles, can you please take it outside? I really don't care that it's the middle of winter and you forgot your gloves. Don't you think that my ears deserve the break from your rather grating voice? Please?

Home remedies and unknown perils...

Like many people right now, I am dealing with a cough that I just can’t seem to kick. And I have tried most of the over-the-counter cough meds that might allow me to have a full night of sleep without waking myself up with a coughing fit. Do you know how expensive that could get if none of them work and I have to keep experimenting? So the other day I gave in and decided to try my great-grandma's remedy for everything... Hot Tea, whiskey and honey. Can I just say "amazing"!?! Seriously. It soothes the throat, takes care of the cough, warms you up... and furthermore, relaxes you so much that all you want to do is crawl in bed and sleep for days on end. Yep, unless you are normally an all-star drinker, this little "remedy" will make your knees a bit wobbly. Who knew that Granny was such a lush? I have to tell you that this is by far the best fix that I have found so far. So in view of that... bottoms up!