Well, he ended up getting a phone call from my brother yesterday morning saying “I’m riding to Richmond on my Harley, want to come join me on your Harley?”  Well, hubby was out of here like a shot and didn’t come back until about 9pm.  They got caught in a severe thunderstorm on the way home and had to wait it out under a bridge for about an hour, but they seemed to have a good time overall.

I thought it was funny because my hubby swears he will never ride in the rain, and will never ride if rain is forecast, but the forecast yesterday said only a 10% chance of rain, so he went.  Now he says he won’t ride if it is even a 10% chance of rain.  I told him that there is ALWAYS a chance of rain, so he ought to just buy himself a rain suit and some motorcycle bags and be prepared!

Was not sure what to give away this year for candy, so I went to Walgreens and got 10 bags of assorted candies to give out. Always a fun time seeing the neighbors and their kids this time of year, all dressed up and happy. Even the weather is supposed to be nice – no rain and not so cold that the kids have to wear coats that cover up their cute costumes.

Anyways, I am off to get dressed up for the night. I will write to you all later.

I changed it a little bit by using a burnt out vanity light bulb instead of a Christmas ornament ball.  I think it came out adorable!

I’m very excited about the event because it is featuring local, fresh food instead of something foreign, frozen or canned.  I think that promoting local seafood is important.   I’d love to be able to enter my Aunt Johnnie’s baked seafood recipe in a seafood cooking contest!

This is her recipe:

Aunt Johnnie’s baked seafood casserole

1 pound of fish (suggests scallops, shrimp, or crab)

2 T butter (or oleo)

2 T flour

1 c chicken broth

1/8 t nutmeg

salt & pepper

Parmesan cheese

Bread crumbs

To make veloute sauce:  In a saucepan, melt butter, stir in flour, slowly add broth.  Return to heat, stirring constantly until thick & smooth.  Blend in salt & pepper & nutmeg.  In a separate frying pan saute fish in butter for approximately five minutes.  Combine the fish with the veloute sauce and put all in a shallow baking dish.  Sprinkle top with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese and brown it quickly under the broiler.

This recipe does not specify what KIND of bread crumbs to use, whether to buy the canned seasoned bread crumbs, or crumbs made from fresh bread.  So I’ve tried it both ways and I think I like the the fresh bread crumbs version the best.

If you’d like to share your favorite recipe with me, I’d love to hear from you!  Feel free to leave a comment with your recipe in it!

They camp out in the parking lot the night before so they can be one of the first 100 customers. Chik-Fil-A gives out “free Chik-Fil-A for a year” coupons to their first 100 customers. This couple has gone to eighteen of these grand openings in the past year, and have decided that they can’t use all the coupons, so now they just go for the fun of it and give the coupons away.

I don’t understand what is so much fun about camping out in a parking lot to be one of the first 100 customers to get free food if you then give away the free food! I’m udderly confused.

Hope you have a fun and safe Fourth of July!

I was shocked to see that Cookie Monster has learned to eat healthier foods in recent years – he now loves fruit too!  It was a cute very cut episode; if you would like to watch it click here.

When he came to us, he was not housebroken or obedience trained in any way.  That’s one reason I thought he was a puppy.  Turns out that he was NOT a puppy, he had all his adult teeth!  But, apparently he was kenneled outdoors with other dogs, and never trained.  We found out that he was deaf and partially blind!

That made training the little guy very challenging, since he can’t hear, and can barely see!

So far, we have made great progress in the housebreaking department, and have trained him with hand signals (and treats!) to walk with a leash, come, sit, shake hands (paws) and lie down.  We are working on the fetch, but he only will do it as long as he is interested in playing tug of war with us when he brings the toy back to us.  I’d like to train him to do more tricks, but he is resisting the roll over training.

I’ve seen photo blankets in various places, pet stores, craft shows, and now I’ve found a website that sells them. The website also sells products that have photos on other items, photo throw pillows, photo shower curtains, photo pillow cases, and photo duvet covers.  The site is easy to use, and they offer a discount if you order two of the same thing (one for him, one for me!)  I’ve never seen the photo shower curtains anywhere else before.  They say they can add custom lettering, too, it is 100% customized!

A custom comforter with a comical picture of our little doggie would surely bring a smile to his face every time he sees it!  I think this would be a unique gift that he would treasure forever!