Hi Everyone!

I thought I’d use today’s post to catch you up on various happenings.  

First, many, many thanks to Bassa at Bassa’s Blog, who has awarded me the Just Kidding award.  Here is the link to the award post:  http://bassasblog.wordpress.com/2012/04/17/35-today/

Per Bassa, the award is given to “those who bring a smile and chuckle in our lives; or appreciate our humor and brighten our day with their posts.  They [Author’s note:  I assume “they” refers to the inventors of the award] said that to receive this award you need to have a good sense of humor, and appreciate others who like to have a chuckle or laugh with you.” There are no rules attached, either.  Simply receive it, and enjoy!  Still, since I can, I am going to award it to a couple of the blogs I read.

If they hadn’t already received it, I definitely would give the award to Bassa and her tall person for Bassa’s Blog.  Bassa is an 18 month old Caucasian Shepherd dog who lives in the city of Tbilisi in Georgia.  Bassa  and her tall person write about their adventures and share pictures from their walks in and around Tbilisi on the blog.  De and the little person round out their family, along with a new addition – Barnaby, a kitten they rescued and whom Bassa is training. 

I also would check out Cecilia’s blog, TheKitchensGarden, where she shares her adventures on her and her husband John’s self-sustaining farm, recipes and stories from her past in New Zealand. 

Another fun blog is Kana’s Chronicles; Kana looks at the funny side of life, but spares no punches either.  It is a difficult line to walk to remain funny while staying unabashedly honest, but she walks it well. 

Just Ramblin’  is another dog blog, replete with pictures of Miss Stella, a young Newfoundland, and Sadie Lou, a Chesapeake Bay Retriever.  It also is a blog replete with amazing photography; Just Ramblin’s author is quite a photographer! 

Oh, and you shouldn’t miss Lisa’s blog, The Big Sheep Blog, where she looks at the funny vignettes that arise in daily life from a sarcastic …  smart aleck unique point of view.

 I am sure there are many more of you that deserve this award, so please forgive me if I have left you off the list.

To turn to another topic, congratulations to Mark K. and  Lisa F. who won the drawing for my sooty tern notecards.  They will be mailed to you soon.  (My family will tell you that my normal definition of “mailing soon” ranges anywhere from three months to the current record of three years.  Actually, the three-year item never did get mailed; the relative it belonged to just came back to visit after three years and remembered to take the item home with her.  However, I will try to make it sooner than that for the winners.) 

Finally, our move is proceeding fairly well.  We have gotten the essential furniture and other items to our rental house, and are settling in.  I have taken Kayla back to her old school and picked her up two days so far, and have managed to survive getting up at 5 a.m. without too much trouble.  

I have some pictures of our rental house before we moved into it I will share with you soon; anyone wanting pictures of the house once we are completely settled and set up the way we want will have to wait a while; there is quite a bit of arranging still to do. 

Those of you interested in the dogs will be happy to know that Tyra has adjusted to the house in a way that is quite amazing.  It helps that the house is smaller than our old house, and that it is all one story with only two small steps that she needs to navigate. 

This is Darwin’s first move with us as a family, and it has caused him a little anxiety.  Sunday, Darwin dived into the back of the Escape when we opened it to get something out, thinking we were going back to the old house.  Not wanting to be left behind, he refused to come out of the car.  I couldn’t coax him out, but Mark finally convinced him that it was okay to come out, since we were staying put.

Mandy –  well, Mandy is happy about anywhere with only one small problem, which any dog owner will recognize.  Mandy requires specifically placed geographical locations to complete certain necessary biological functions.  Those spots, unfortunately, could not move with us to the new yard, although the grass in the new yard looks even better to me than the grass in the old yard did.  However, Mandy has not yet found anything in the new yard she is very comfortable with.  That problem should solve itself naturally quite soon. 

And on that last indelicate note, I will say thanks again to Bassa and the tall person.  Have a great day everyone!

Nancy